Stålenhag casts a pretty wide net, so some of his pictures are an easier fit than others. You’ve already mentioned the one with the tanks and the flare, and this old stalwart could fit right into GZ as one of the prototype bots, but in the end, GZ is great, a lot of Stålenhag’s work is great, and I’m happy to be a fan of both, I guess that’s the long and the short of it.
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It wasn’t called smurf pocahontas for nothing. 
A more recent question might be, “annoying earthman finds himself among more sophisticated space aliens, makes cultural references they don’t understand, teams up with non-humanoids, and falls for space-girl” – are Farscape and Guardians of the Galaxy actually the same story?
But that would take us completely off topic, I fear.
I agree here aswell. Well stated saddletank.
One have to remember the 80-ies Mech warrior games that also contained different types of walkers.
The theme of the game is somewhat typical 80-ies story line. You have ‘Terminator’ series from 1984, Knight Rider and several other robot and machine themed things.
Simon Stålenhage art is excellent and I recommend ordering it.
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And very reasonably priced too I believe (www.simonstalenhag.se). Already put a few on my Christmas wish list. This might just turn out to be good karma for everybody 
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I feel like the game is more so inspired by terminator than Simon, as Simon’s work has much more of a retro feel to it, and is less realistic and more fluent art-wise. It feels much more fantastical as well, with the grand scale and alien landscapes. I’ve played the RPG tales from the loop with some prior friends of mine, and it is very very different from generation zero.
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I believe this thread was about the look more than about the plot (of TftL vs GZ vs Terminator).
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Aint there going to be TV series from “Tales from the Loop” in Amazon?
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There is. It will be on Amazon Prime Video. I think it’s still under production tho.
Personally I feel like it’s a mix of both, as the Game’s main theme sounds a lot like the original terminator theme, and it takes quite a few elements from tales from the loop. I feel like it may be kind of polite of avalanche if they at least admitted to taking some inspiration from Simon. As Simon said; “Borrowing, referencing, and modifying other artist’s work is a very important part of art.”
Simon also said he was fine with the team taking some inspiration from him, but the problem he had was this; “The minimally decent thing to do would have been to at least acknowledge the similarities when pointed out.”
I feel like avalanche should admit to the similarities if they haven’t done so already, as I think it would be rather polite.
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Never heard of Tales from the Loop. I checked it out on IMDB and found nothing about it.
What is it about?
It’s an upcoming Amazon Prime series that is still being worked on. 
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If you’re the role-playing type (as in, a bunch of people telling a story together, not sex, not a videogame with stats), you might also enjoy the Tales from the Loop RPG.
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I’m not sure whether in Sweden, you’d be answerable to your shareholders if you as much as gave the impression of needlessly volunteering something that could be construed as the basis of a lawsuit. So I always figured they were cautious on that count.
It would’ve been kinda nice though if they’d talked beforehand and TftL had a little note to the effect of, “Enjoyed this? You may also enjoy the TOTALLY UNRELATED™ video game Generation Zero.”, and GZ had a little note saying, “Enjoyed this? You may also enjoy the TOTALLY UNRELATED pen-and-paper RPG, Tales from the Loop.”
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It bothers me a teensy bit that the devs really do seem to be plagiarising Stalenhag’s work a bit too obviously. The FNIX Rising DLC has towers that look so much like this; colours, shapes, cables…
I agree that the new look of the South Coast has a more Stålenhag’ish feel to it, but in a very positive way. I do not believe Avalanche has ripped him of in any way. Nobody has a patent on «set in 1980’s Sweden», not even when you add robots, and GZ has it’s very own story and lore to rest upon. Both his art and this game is very atmospheric in a unique and nostalgic kind of way, and I think that’s the essence of how these misunderstandings occur.
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I understand your point, but its very close isn’t it? Avalanche could have created a machine-built landscape that had a quite different feel.
I don’t think there’s any resemblance other than the setting. Stålenhag has done loads of other works, but people tend to get hung up on that both Generation Zero and some of his art have a similar premise.
There’s a strong, weathered, post-apocalypse feel to some of his art. At the same time, much more along the lines of sci-fi with huge towering structures, floating craft and so forth, than just robots. There’s also a lot of mystery, sure there’s robots, but so much else in stark contrast with the 80’s Sweden setting.
Of course, there are similarities. But Generation Zero isn’t plagiarizing on Stålenhag’s art. It’s doing something vaguely similar, with the same setting. I don’t mind if concept designers of GZ are inspired by other art around them, as long as they try to do their own thing and keep that scene alive.
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No, I’m glad they created exactly what they did. It’s actually the GZ concept art that bears the most resemblance. In-game, I have never really felt that Stålenhag vibe, maybe until now in the South Coast. GZ is it’s own thing. I do see your point, though.
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I think there has been a genuine opportunity missed here that could have elevated this game above, and beyond our expectations in visual impact.
Considering the subject matter, the colours, the tone, feel - it amazes me why he was never taken on. At least in some capacity in consultation, or an external creative source.
Seems the walls were put up way before the paint dried - which would only imply one thing.