I'm not sure if this belongs in the upgrade project forum, but since it doesn't have to do with upgrading models or textures and the like I'm putting it here.
So, the SCP graphics are now more realistic than even the pre-rendered cutscenes. I think a good project for a dedicated group of modders would be to recreate FS2's cutscenes with in-game footage. However, I can foresee a few problems.
1) You'd need to make a new model for the constructor ships in the Colossus cutscene, as well as one for the unfinished Colossus itself... and a freakishly large Ganymede.
2) You'd need to add pre-rendered bits for, say, when the narrator starts rattling off the Colossus's specs and it shows wireframe representations of what he's talking about (though this could be circumvented with in-game footage, if this was found to be too hard).
3) The dialogue and music would need to be taken from the original cutscenes without any of the ship-type sound effects (which would ideally be present in the form of the actual in-game counterparts to the custscene sounds). Rerecording the dialogue would violate the authenticity, however I remember reading about someone getting the original, uncompressed music files for FS2 from a Volition guy just by asking, so the cutscene music could probably be acquired that way too.
4) Choreographing the dogfight in the FS2 intro would be hard as hell, and I'm not sure how one would go about making the on-planet bits or the smoke with the in-game engine. Though I suppose using the existing pre-rendered version of that particular scene would be acceptable - however I would at least want to have the uncompressed version, which is still probably laying around at Volition somewhere.
5) I don't think the Bosch monologues could be made with the in-game engine (except the second to last one that just shows the Iceni and Ravana) but they're not particularly interesting anyway.
You could, alternatively, show the Iceni in the locations of the cutscenes without showing Bosch, but if the uncompressed cutscenes could be acquired that would be preferable IMO. In fact, the one place where the cutscene quality outclasses SCP quality is the aforementioned monologue in which it shows just the ships - the cutscene nebula soup is sextastic.
6) Models for planets and a star for the outro would need to be made, as well as custom animations for when the Sathanes' arm things are bending. Plus an effect for the subspace distortion thing that said arms form in between them. And I have no idea how to make it look like the planets and ships (the Deimos and Moloch at the end) are disintegrating. Once again, a case where the uncompressed cutscene might be better.
I do remember seeing on youtube once an "extended version" of the fall of Vasuda Prime cutscene in FS1, but I don't remember the story behind that. I think that might have been user-made, or maybe a product of someone contacting Volition. That was like a year ago, I don't remember.
EDIT: It was user-made and that's exactly what I'm talking about.
Anyway, most of you out there probably know more about SEXP than I do (the most I ever did was make a three mission campaign with Ancients ships in Inferno) I'm wondering
how plausible this is and, if it is, why no one has tried it why no one is doing this.
