Resident Evil: Behind the Mask [+Hazardous Battle]

[Gemini]

If you get creative, this will definitely get people's head scratching trying to figure out how to get the best time possible through battle mode. I'm still confused how the time attack idea will play out.

It gives you a total time to complete certain tasks. If you succeed your final rating is drastically increased along with Biohazard Points, otherwise you get a penalty. It's just a little mode to spice the game up a bit, like most extra options you can set before you start a mission.

Hey Gemini, what's the news on your pre-rens? Sonic still hard at work with the restaurant or am I behind on this news? I'm sure your trying to not throw out too many spoilers.

Sonic will post something when there is something relevant to show.

Out of curiosity what tools did you use to rip the DS models and textures? Can't seem to find any info on it.

I convert models to COLLADA with my own code. Console Tool can view them, but it can't extract anything due to the way the DS draws polygons via OpenGL commands.

I love how that 2 player video demonstrates that co-op in RE doesn't work well...

There is a much bigger problem: manage camera changes and backgrounds, not to mention hardware resources. The only way to make a coop mode is to use a cable link and even in that case it needs to have a heavily simplified gameplay (like support players in RE2). No wonder why Kamiya was "fuck it" about the whole idea.

[RaccoonSurvivor]

^ Oh yeah.. I know that (about the camera problems and stuff) I was talking about the game difficulty would be easier with a partner (5 and 6 I felt could have been so much harder if they were fully Solo)

[skyrunner14]

I found about this project after seeing BZork having favorited a video of it on his YouTube page. This is really impressive! I swear, the effort you and your team are going through for this is incredible. Also, a quick question: I know it'd be REALLY far along before you'd give something like this any serious thought, but would a Dreamcast port be possible? It'd be cool to play this along with 2, 3, and CV on there.

[Gemini]

Everything is possible, but I'm not sure I understand why so many people ask for Dreamcast ports.

[SheyGrell]

Probably because the Dreamcast versions were next to definitive in their release. For a start, the VMU had it's own HUD that was a handy bonus. Secondly, due to the controller it was analogue compatible from the word go. Not that it was a particularly good thing for RE2 though, as the sensitivity for turning is ridiculously high. You'll be drunkenly swerving all over the place.
Resi Evil 2 = Extreme Battle & various touches like a unique options screen. The GC version is essentially this one, minus that options screen.
Resi Evil 3 = Uhm... Well it had the your health status on the VMU... ^^;

Basically, they're good solid versions & the hardware could be advantageous, graphics wise. However, this is just a bit of information & even speculation, rather than an argument for you to do more work than you already are. I think it'd be nice to simply see it released before making any decisions on ports, no?

[skyrunner14]

SheyGrell made a lot of points about the DC versions of Resident Evil that basically sum up why I/other people would like a DC port, but there is another reason. PS1 emulators don't work too well with my computer, or, at the very least, I can't seem to make heads or tails of it. And burning the PS1 ISO on a disc is all fine and good, but you'd also need a modified system to play it, and I'm only technologically sound up to a point. Not to mention that there could well be other people in the same boat as myself regarding those points.

With the Dreamcast, though, I know for a fact I can burn an ISO onto a CD-R and play it immediately. Heck, the addition of that VMU ECG thing would just be icing on the cake, but I wouldn't be torn up if you ported it and it was just the vanilla game without any exclusive features. I also agree it's best to focus on this initial version before worrying about ports, but... at the very least, I hope you keep a DC port in consideration for the future.

[Getta robo]

While a huge fan of Dreamcast, I can't say that I favor any thoughts upon porting behind the mask to DC. It's a PS1 flavored game, porting won't solve nor improve really anything except having another porter game to it's library.
However, I had this idea regarding how RE:CV / RE 2/3 were handled by the VMU. While PS1 doesn't have an exact same hardware, perhaps you guys could somehow include a similar function for all those owning a PocketStation. If I'm not mistaken it should be feasible to program the game utilize PocketStation and have your health and ammunition for example appear on it's screen for example.
Think about it!

[Gemini]

PS1 emulators don't work too well with my computer, or, at the very least, I can't seem to make heads or tails of it. And burning the PS1 ISO on a disc is all fine and good, but you'd also need a modified system to play it, and I'm only technologically sound up to a point. Not to mention that there could well be other people in the same boat as myself regarding those points.

There are literally a million alternatives to a modded gray PlayStation, these being the swap trick and several different emulators for most platforms, even on smartphone.

Back to the Dreamcast port, a VMU HUD doesn't seem like an appeal factor to me (the battle mode will have it on screen), and RE2 and 3 are nothing more than simple ports of the PC counterparts with two exact extra options which are more or less a standard for said console. Also, the DC wouldn't add a thing to the mix, other than making the process tediously longer just for a few more users to enjoy the same game with bilinear filters on textures. On top of that, the only way to play it would be through hardware or a PC emulator. Is this all worth the effort? Certainly not, especially when I can achieve the same stuff with better portability and visuals (plus a true wide screen) on PSP or straightaway on PC.

[J0shuaKane]

just to clarify, the dreamcast version of re2 is very different, even using updated effects for the rooms.

however, more importantly, it is the only way to play it 480p@60fps. something people gloss over but, when you see it you never wanna go back.

do you plan on your release to support 60fps? not on ps1 obviously...

[Gemini]

The DC port doesn't run at 60 fps, it's 29.7 for all 3D sections and 60 for menus (i.e. like the other versions). As for effects, I haven't noticed anything updated other than lights as all the other data seems to be a 1:1 copy of the PC packages. The port is so lazy they didn't even bother to use the Z-Buffer to draw 2D elements and most 3D drawing is pretty much emulating the PSX GTE like on PC.

[Rick Hunter]

Are you sure about that? I always felt it was much smoother than its PSX counterpart.

[Gemini]

Smoothness should depend on the actual screen refresh rate, which does look indeed different on Dreamcast, yet it's still skipping one frame like every other version. They wouldn't dare and mess up synchrony I guess, just like they couldn't care to achieve a real 480p resolution with the backgrounds following along the upscale. What I find funny about all these poor ports is that the N64 build, while it's the most atrocious of all, actually did go all the way to change more than a few internals of the engine, most importantly by taking some advantage of the different hardware.

[Rombie]

It's because the DC port of 2, while indeed based on the PC, was also based on poorly kept archives (which explains the quality of materials and port itself) while still having some original elements because it was at least developed somewhat for the platform. It's also probably because it was a quick turn around to get the game out in Japan before the end of 1999 to hype up CV (because the Value Plus version had the demo of course) so the short timeframe probably didn't allow great planning to get it better than working on the console.

RE3 on the other hand isn't a port of the PC at all, rather it was developed alongside the PC version at the same time and share most of the same assets and all the same extra features... and time was taken to get both of them reasonably right. Thankfully also obviously the archives were better maintained from the original PlayStation development when used to create both versions probably because people had the foresight to see that ports would happen sooner rather than later.

The N64 thing is easily explained by the required development by the team at Angel Studios at the time to make the damn game work on that platform as you mention... it is still by far one of the most amazing ports ever to be made, especially given the amount of audio and video required to fit. The fact they got it released at all still stuns me to this day.

[J0shuaKane]

The DC port doesn't run at 60 fps, it's 29.7 for all 3D sections and 60 for menus (i.e. like the other versions). As for effects, I haven't noticed anything updated other than lights as all the other data seems to be a 1:1 copy of the PC packages. The port is so lazy they didn't even bother to use the Z-Buffer to draw 2D elements and most 3D drawing is pretty much emulating the PSX GTE like on PC.

its 60fps with a vga cable.

fire and explosion tim files are different for alot of rooms, looking bigger and better.

[Gemini]

its 60fps with a vga cable.

Nope, it's definitively 29.7 and this is why it looks smoother with a VGA cable. For the last time: it's just the PC build with two exact changes, even the assets are just copies. CAPCOM didn't bother to make real RE ports back in the day, maybe with the exception of 1 for Saturn and 2 for N64.

@Rombie: the differences in development processes for RE2 and 3 would kind of explain why 2 uses Windows CE and 3 the regular Sega ROM, plus all the differences with the Sourcenext builds.