Resident Evil 7 is going to blow our minds, says Capcom Producer.

[News Bot]

Going by Outbreak's epilogue scene, it pretty much is a desert. There's no potential in its ruins and frankly Raccoon City needs to remain a distant memory. I wouldn't mind a short segment as a government employee collecting samples on the ground, but that's it.

[Jimmy_Jazz]

Firstly, you're assuming that a bombed city is the same as a desert area. Secondly, you're not thinking about the gameplay each of those involve. Thirdly, you're ignoring successful titles set in wastelands that combine horror and survival (Metro and Stalker spring to mind).

A bombed Raccoon City wouldn't necessarily be totally flat, and as you mentioned. The US government are / were stationed there for a period of time to observe B.O.W.s and there may be underground locations / Umbrella facilities that haven't been discovered yet.

There is potential in RC's ashes. That is all. You can't extrapolate a single game idea out of that from your own point of view and write off whole potential. Nor can you compare the BIO5's teams previous attempts at setting a game in a desert to a bombed city because a) you don't know what they did or did not experiment with and b) the two areas can be developed to be different physically.

I said it before, there's nothing wrong with not liking an idea, but at least consider the possibilities of the idea, not limiting yourself to what has been tried and failed in the past.

[News Bot]

So...Resident Evil Zero then?

Got me there.

BUZZ: LOGICAL FALLACY. You can't judge whether a non-existent game is boring on not based on the vague idea of a setting alone and the game itself hasn't been discussed.

Thank god you run a gaming website and don't work at a dev studio.

So is that why the BIO5 team abandoned the concept of a desert area? Because it's the same thing. They abandoned it because it would be dull.

[Jimmy_Jazz]

For the most boring game ever, yes.

BUZZ: LOGICAL FALLACY. You can't judge whether a non-existent game is boring on not based on the vague idea of a setting alone and the game itself hasn't been discussed.

Thank god you run a gaming website and don't work at a dev studio.

And thank you Lanzagranadas! I'm gutted I missed that survey or I would have given Capcom a piece of my mind ;-)

[Wrathborne]

For the most boring game ever, yes.

So...Resident Evil Zero then?

[Lanzagranadas]

That'd be awesome, thank you

Ok, here you go. Questions from Q.03 cover the following list:

Spoiler:

show spoiler

RE
RE (remake/remaster)
RE2
RE3
RE4
RE5
RE6
RE0
RECV
RER
RE Mercenaries
REORC
REUC
REDC
Outbreak series
Gun Survivor series

Q.03-01-01
Please select which titles in the Resident Evil series you have played.

Q.03-01-02
Please rate each Resident Evil game you have played (from 1 to 10)

Q.03-01-03
Please tell us what you loved and hated for each Resident Evil game you have played

Q.04-01
What do you like about the Resident Evil series? Please select all that apply
(Here they gave many options, such as Genre, Story, Game system, Survival elements, Action elements, Puzzles, Characters, Zombies, Coop, Weapons, etc.)

Q.04-02-01
Which game in the Resident Evil series has the best story?

Q.04-02-02
Why do you consider it to be the best? (optional)

Q.04-04
Please rate the entire Resident Evil series as a whole. (from 1 to 10)

Q.04-05
Please add any thoughts or suggestions you have for the Resident Evil series (optional)

Q.05-03-02
Which titles in the Resident Evil series did you recommend?

Q.05-04-01
Do you think you will continue to recommend the Resident Evil series to your friends (1 to 10)

Q.05-04-02
Please add your reasons for the above (optional)

Then there were many other questions on your thoughts and opinions about the RE.net web service, as well as your expectations for Revelations 2.

[News Bot]

So in theory, they could go back to Raccoon City then?

For the most boring game ever, yes.

[Ultimacloud123]

So in theory, they could go back to Raccoon City then?

[News Bot]

Raccoon City wasn't irradiated. No nuclear weapon was used. The epilogue scene in Outbreak leaves some vague possibility that some B.O.W.s survived the city's destruction and the U.S. Government continued to observe them.

[Jimmy_Jazz]

I guess every RE onwards will be closer to RE6 in terms of gameplay. Modern gamers would barely tolerate things such as tank controls, not being able to walk while aiming, lack of sprint, etc.

The perspective, controls and balance are three different components that are combined to make a specific type of gameplay. Whilst 6 was third person, its big trick was to have three playable characters representing three different types of gamepaly: survival horror, cover based shooting & melee combat. All with varying levels of success. Capcom probably believed they would create a title that would excel in each area and appeal to everyone as a result.

Interestingly (and from what I've heard, I haven't played it yet) they've gone for a slightly more subdued version of this approach with Revelations 2, in which Claire and Barry have slightly different gameplay styles. Whilst I doubt we'd see a return to non-third person cameras, I wouldn't be surprised if Capcom have a 2 character count in RE7, with slightly different gameplay focus for each (both in third person) so as to not to stray too far from 4/5/6 and also keep traditionalists happy.

Personally, I think there is more than can be done with dynamic cameras and non-tank controls to make a traditional RE experience more accessible and fluid without ruining its essence & vulnerability, but since I'm a game developer, I'm going to sit on these and hope I can convince someone to fund these ideas later in my career and not give them away ;-)

I took screenshots of all RE related questions from that survey, it was a pretty long one . If you're interested I can transcribe them when I get to home.

That'd be awesome, thank you

I've been thinking alot about the ashes of Raccoon City recently, and games set in wastelands with varying levels of survival mechanics (mostly Day Z, Stalker, Metro). Would the Umbrella labs under Raccoon City be deep & reinforced enough to survive 1 or more nukes? What kind of cleanup operations were needed outside of the City limits to contain the outbreak? What is left of the radiated Raccoon City? What if there was a reason to return? Etc. Ok, so I don't see Capcom returning to RC, but maybe there are some interesting possibilities for a series that's going through an identity crisis..

[Lanzagranadas]

but even resident evil 5 and the resident evil 6 are very different game in style. what style 7 will employ and focus?

I guess every RE onwards will be closer to RE6 in terms of gameplay. Modern gamers would barely tolerate things such as tank controls, not being able to walk while aiming, lack of sprint, etc.

What was in the survey Rombie? By the time I heard about it, it had closed :'-(

I took screenshots of all RE related questions from that survey, it was a pretty long one . If you're interested I can transcribe them when I get to home.

[Jimmy_Jazz]

What was in the survey Rombie? By the time I heard about it, it had closed :'-(

[B.Zork]

With their top sales chart updated as of the end of last year, I think things aren't going to change at all. RE5, and "the failure" of RE6 are in top 3 Capcom best sellings of all time while the "amazing Revelations" (on the same, and even more, platforms, didn't reach 1.5 million yet.

but even resident evil 5 and the resident evil 6 are very different game in style. what style 7 will employ and focus?

[Rombie]

With their top sales chart updated as of the end of last year, I think things aren't going to change at all. RE5, and "the failure" of RE6 are in top 3 Capcom best sellings of all time while the "amazing Revelations" (on the same, and even more, platforms, didn't reach 1.5 million yet.

http://www.capcom.co.jp/ir/english/business/million.html

I know many other factors have to be taken into a account but I wonder if Capcom would actually take them into account, considering they already only blamed "The Survival Horror" in the past for RE Remake sales failure and not the GC exclusivity, well...

Not really other factors other than you know... development costs, sales context and actual original sales targets. "Nothing that important." :p RevHD did better than it's original targets, RE6 obviously well under. The former probably didn't cost too much, the latter probably Capcom's most expensive title ever. The bottom line especially is something I think any company, Capcom included, would be taking into account at all times. More so than the content or style of the games.

The recent survey was a lot more telling for what they might be wanting to know with the future of the franchise than anything.

[Ultimacloud123]

^This^ I enjoyed Revelations 2 raid mode more than its predecessor. I think they stepped up raid mode this time. I don't mind if they use Rev2 as a base for RE7.