I'm not exactly sure where I stand right now. I'm not sure if my modeler and animator are still with me, so this particular part of the project is uncertain at the moment. EDIT: My modeler is still with me.
I'm really wanting to explore the possibility of what I call a 2.75D game. It's the combination of a realtime world and prerendered and/or hand drawn art. It different from a 2.5D game or at least an evolved version of it.
Here's the basic concept behind it.
You have your realtime level as you always do. Within the world are a series of parallel planes that face the camera. The artwork is mapped onto these planes. The camera can still move around in the world, however it has to be a cinematic camera like I've been using. Each level is basically a series of layers of artwork, and everything must be designed around the pre-scripted camera moves to insure it looks right and to eliminate any dead spots where there's not artwork shown. It's certainly something that most likely requires storyboarding and advanced planning. Characters would remain realtime.
Here's an example of what it could look like. The zooming in of the camera and the depth of field type effects are something I'd definitely explore (although using non-shader means):
