A timeline of RE15's history and the hunt for it (1996-2013)

[Rombie]

Talking about my custom book cover? It was inspired by Umbrella Rising. I'm also remaking the Umbrella Rising box art and it's looking good.

I will have to send Rammy the link when you finish. He'll get a kick out of it. We planned that for a few weeks only to have it unravel in a few hours. Imacwesker was the guy who picked it apart straight away recognising the Psycho 2 cover. Speaking of...

@imacwesker - My apologies for some reason I always assumed you had SuvivHor up by the end of 1998. Aside from E-O I spent most of my time in late 98 and early 99 at GX Site and Forums (which eventually became the base of of the very first version of 1up). I remember you having Play 2 Power maybe I just confused the two.

@Scream - Ah I didn't know you'd only really been around the scene since then. The TRG guys were only really the only webmasters I seeming had issues with. Not me personally but they never seemed to want to talk to me. Dunno why.

My designs were shit until 2000, so I am surpised I ever made sites at all too. Haha. Evil Online and Evil Gaming Network has great designs even in the early days, as did Tom's Resident Evil Extreme and later Survival Horror site which I also wrote for. And of course BIOHAZARDextreme and related sites of course.

[Zombie_X]

Talking about my custom book cover? It was inspired by Umbrella Rising. I'm also remaking the Umbrella Rising box art and it's looking good.

[Scream]

The first part with the Capcom game development timeline of 1.5 would be great as HTML/PDF. Just add inline media with before/after background images changes, the voice sound files you talk about, trailers etc.

I like that "Umbrella Rising" cover art coming out of the woodwork again. I guess its quite suitable The other parts are kinda interesting if you wern't there I guess.

Rombie: I joined the RE scene in 2002 so don't know too much about RE2 beta 1 origins, however I was lurking on New Blood and I think THIA in 2001. They gave some inspiration in not just creating a site but realizing how awesome RE is (or was). I did have access to the Internet since around 1996 with AOL *shudders* but the dial up Internet plans at that time were so horrendously bad I only used it to experience the awesomeness that was Ultima Online rather than check RE/PlayStation stuff. Good times I'm surprised you guys were even making sites then.

[Darkness]

First the 1.5 story movies on youtube and now this, im counting on you to direct the 1.5 live action movie once IGAS finishes the game and we know all the plot.

[Eteponge]

If these guys weren't from Japan, I'd wager that they were all trading around the PSM build.

I'm pretty sure they were American. So yeah, probably the same PSM build we have now.

[Kegluneq]

This is one of the greatest forms of journalism I've seen been produced in the gaming community.

Congratulations for such a meticulous and thoroughly work, Mandel. I look forward reading the remaining section.

[Enigmatism415]

If these guys weren't from Japan, I'd wager that they were all trading around the PSM build.

[Eteponge]

Eteponge, when you say that it looked like the game was of the same era as the one we have now, is this because the pictures only depicted areas which were already available in the PSM build?

Yes, it was just the character select screen, the first room, and the shutters room. I recall nothing that looked any different in those areas at least. But later on in the game it could be a different story. This same #psxtrade group back then where I found this guy was also passing around burned isos of other unreleased games like Thrill Kill and a few betas of other titles.

[Deathlygasm]

1.5 is legendary and deserves no less then a new york bestselling novel

[Enigmatism415]

Eteponge, when you say that it looked like the game was of the same era as the one we have now, is this because the pictures only depicted areas which were already available in the PSM build?

[Zombie_X]

RE1.5 is not the only beta to spark a shit storm. I know someone who's in possession of an extremely rare Soul Reaver beta and that thing is so sought after. I has the Turrelim Clan territory in it as well as early vampires. This guys own the only known version of this beta.

[Gaia Revane]

This is an excellent read, RMandel! It really helps paint a picture of the earlier years for those of us who weren't around at the time. It's fascinating that one beta is able to inspire such a vast history of drama and intrigue.

[Eteponge]

I'd just like to give some additional information on my entry in PART 2 ...

"sometime in 1999 or 2000"

- Eteponge relates the following personal experience from his early days in the
hunt for RE15 ....

Back in 1999 or 2000, I began searching for the game online, through
prototype collectors, traders, etc, and after a few months of jumping
through hoops, I found a lead, a person gave me the contact of a person
who allegedly had the game. I contacted this person via email, asking for
proof he had the game, and he sent me a few scanned camera photos of the
game being played on a TV set in a living room (I remember distinctly the
selection scene of choosing Leon or Elza and the opening areas), but he
said he wasn't interested in trading or selling it, and that he wouldn't
burn me an ISO of it either. (This was many computers ago, and sadly, I
don't have those screens or email contact anymore.)

In one of my online searches for RE 1.5 in 1999 or 2000, I had been scouting through various IRC channels in the Playstation iso trading scene. (Basically a bunch of people who would mail trade burned isos of PSX titles among others who also played burned isos on their modded playstation consoles, this was back in the 56k dial up days.) I came across a channel called #psxtrade I believe (on either EFnet, DALnet, or Espernet, those were the IRC networks I hung out at back then). I noticed on some people's "list of titles" in the channel they had various beta and prototype games in iso form for trade (such as Thrill Kill for PS1). So, I asked around if anyone knew anyone with a copy of Resident Evil 1.5, and I got a PM response from one of the Main OPs in the channel, as well as from one of the normal regulars, who both told me separately that they had traded a lot for a burned copy of the game from a particular former OP there, whom they were close friends with, and gave me his email address. They wouldn't trade it to me, but told me to contact him. So, I contacted him, asked him for proof, and he sent me a few screenshots of him playing the game on his TV in his living room, it shown the character selection screen, the RPD very beginning rooms, and it looked like the same build or at least same era we have now. He wouldn't trade me the game, and came across as a total asshole. I then spent the next few months pestering the two others from the IRC channel for a burned copy, and they still refused, got all paranoid, and stopped talking to me all together. That experience is what got me so hell bent on playing a copy. So close, but the owner was an asshole, and his friends started ignoring me. This was MANY computers ago, so I don't have the screenshots or email from back then anymore. Whoever the guy was, two of his personal friends of his on IRC got a copy, then clammed up. And since it wasn't leaked until recently, they clearly kept it quiet and all to themselves.

[Deathlygasm]

Here should be the cover of the book:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8985[/ATTACH]

I bow down to RMandel

[imacwesker]

SurvivHor's been around longer than you stated. imacwesker will tell you the specifics, but I'm fairly certain it goes back to later part 1998 at least.

Well... SurvivHor was created in late 1999 but I had a few other websites previously to this date ;)
Here is how my internet story goes:

For visuals, you can check http://survivhor.biohazardfrance.net.../01/index.html

As an experiment, trying to learn web design, I create my first RE-only website in 1996, Survivrez-vous à l'horreur? (Can you survive the horror?)

In 1997, my host cancel my subscription and I work on other people's websites (English and French, about Resident Evil, Tomb Raider, etc). I start to create "storage websites" on Geocities where I take dozens of screenshots of videos and let other webmasters use them on their own pages.
This is why the "falling head" of the zombie in RE2 beta animated gif survived for so long: it was hosted online, not stored in one of my hard drives.

In 1998, I create Play 2 Power - A website about survival-horror games/adventures games/RPG/games for Macintosh.

Early 1999, I create Maximum Play (every previous games non-RE) and RE Inedit (everything RE) and merge them later during the year into one site called SurvivHor.
The website's name is the contraction of "survival-horror" and a play on the word "survivor". The website is about every survival-horror games available at that time.

End of the year 1999, I buy the domain name survivor.com (I don't own it anymore).

In 2001, I decide to focus SurvivHor only on RE betas. There are half a dozen people helping me with the website and the forums since a few years. They all have their own agendas and interests in the series. I remember Evil Online from a few years back and decide to give them their own websites, hosted inside a portal. That's how and why Biohazard France is created.

On a side note, I decide to leave the RE community in 2004 for various personal reasons. Then I have a car accident and to prevent myself to become crazy during the long painful rehab process, I polish and complete most of my files during 2005. In 2007, after I move to the US, I complete the last files and "close" the website.
Of course, that's when Curator starts his whole mess
Since 2007, I have "moved" to THIA because this website is the only one focusing so much on the RE betas, since I closed SurvivHor. Still, I stay quiet most of the time and just lurk in the shadows...

Text 3 - "This is how c2keo got involved with the RE15 effort, since he was called in to replace yami as the project's primary background artist."

I read somewhere else that you were talking of Yami and Dominion has if they are 2 different persons. They aren't. Dominion is Yami.
Not sure if you want to talk about the modding community in your 4th text. Dominion, Markgrass, Darkness, etc. have also their influence on the whole RE1.5 story.

In case you want to do it, here is what's publicly known about him. Dominion is a Spaniard, fluent in English and Japanese. He is also some kind of hacking genius. He has been helping me/SurvivHor/BiohazardFrance since 1998. Because of the economic situation in Spain, he has been incredibly scarce the last 5 years.

Dominion, like most of the "old hands", as you call us, is fascinated with RE1.5. This is obvious in his various MOD.
In 2008, I have made a "walkthrough" video showing his various MOD here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLQpUE8Sv4Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzWV8gyV6B0&list=TL3O5P3chXSt4

John/Dot50Cal has been kind enough to do the voice over.

Dominion also provided countless gems to the RE community:
- tons of Action Replay codes for all RE betas and demos publicly available
- first translation of the Trevor's Letters ( http://survivhor.biohazardfrance.net.../01/index.html ) back in 1999-2000
He was the first to dig into several demo and find
- The "tazer" from Rebirth was already build for the original RE1 ( http://survivhor.biohazardfrance.net.../04/index.html )
- The zombie's "falling head" from RE2 beta ( http://survivhor.biohazardfrance.net.../01/index.html )
- There was a Partner Menu a la RE Zero created for RE2 beta (or a late version of RE1.5) and a watch was part of the inventory (replaced by the lighter in the final version) ( http://survivhor.biohazardfrance.net.../02/index.html )