Some cool 1.5 exclusive screenshots (**As seen on TV!**)

[biohazard_star]

Aside from someone trying to sell custom CD cases for the vanilla build for 50 euros each, nope. It doesn't even look authentic.

[Guest]

To be honest, the majority of the drama specifically surrounding some of the designs/decisions being made is that they don't all line up with what I'd like to label the "wishful thing" of others.

Pretty much. I think part of it stems from disagreements or for some people straight up misunderstandings of what a restoration project is or should be about. For me personally I can't pick any part of 1.5's development and say "that's what 1.5 should be." Even with the most complete examples of the game at that time like can be seen on Bioflames. Taking consideration of Biohazard 2's development as a whole (alpha, prototype and retail) is what's important to me, as each version of the game is still Biohazard 2, regardless of what remained or changed, and each equally relevant to each other.

When we ask the question "what do we have to do to restore 1.5 to its full potential?", I sometimes think we're asking the wrong question. The real question to ask is "what can we do to restore Biohazard 2 to its full potential?", something we already have the answers to thanks to the work Capcom did. That's not to say that the retail game is a superior product, or that the prototypes content doesn't have value, but Capcom have kind of addressed this issue already and there is no reason to be asking these kinds of questions, or in this case arguing over these kinds of details.

Some people want the game to be as true and perfect in every way to how they remember it, but what has to be remembered is that this is a piece of unfinished work which Capcom have already discarded. The decision had already been made that this version of Biohazard 2 is no good, and I feel we have to respect that fact in order to be truly faithful. To take that view as I've seen it is to ignore everything else that happened afterwards, every discussion, every design change, like it had no relevance to 1.5 at all, all for the pursuit of making something perfectly flawed.

Personally I think this is a mistake and where a lot of the stupid arguments and criticisms have came from. The idea of dumbing down a restoration just to suit something that never was seems like a truly backwards way of doing things. The lessons we learned from Capcom is that in order to take a failed product and turn it into something greater we have to be open to change, even if it's just a little bit. What they showed us is that you can change something so much to the point that it's almost unrecognisable, and still make it true, and still make it a masterpiece.

To be a purist as I see it you have to trust Capcom and make the same kinds of decisions they did to stay as true to Biohazard 2 to as possible, within reason of course. I honestly feel a restoration team could change every detail about this game just like Capcom did and still make it something worthy of the name Biohazard 2. It's what the game deserves, to perform smoothly, be well written, detailed and full of artistic character. The original is lacking these things on so many levels, and yes to some that might be part of the charm, but you have to let some of those things go in order to get something truly better.

I think people should just love and enjoy the prototype for what it is and not worry about changes or differences in a restoration project. Change is a good thing, it shows development and progress, and if Capcom's example is anything to go by that should be nothing but a good thing.

[Unmasked]

Pretty much. I think part of it stems from disagreements or for some people straight up misunderstandings of what a restoration project is or should be about. For me personally I can't pick any part of 1.5's development and say "that's what 1.5 should be." Even with the most complete examples of the game at that time like can be seen on Bioflames. Taking consideration of Biohazard 2's development as a whole (alpha, prototype and retail) is what's important to me, as each version of the game is still Biohazard 2, regardless of what remained or changed, and each equally relevant to each other.

When we ask the question "what do we have to do to restore 1.5 to its full potential?", I sometimes think we're asking the wrong question. The real question to ask is "what can we do to restore Biohazard 2 to its full potential?", something we already have the answers to thanks to the work Capcom did. That's not to say that the retail game is a superior product, or that the prototypes content doesn't have value, but Capcom have kind of addressed this issue already and there is no reason to be asking these kinds of questions, or in this case arguing over these kinds of details.

Some people want the game to be as true and perfect in every way to how they remember it, but what has to be remembered is that this is a piece of unfinished work which Capcom have already discarded. The decision had already been made that this version of Biohazard 2 is no good, and I feel we have to respect that fact in order to be truly faithful. To take that view as I've seen it is to ignore everything else that happened afterwards, every discussion, every design change, like it had no relevance to 1.5 at all, all for the pursuit of making something perfectly flawed.

Personally I think this is a mistake and where a lot of the stupid arguments and criticisms have came from. The idea of dumbing down a restoration just to suit something that never was seems like a truly backwards way of doing things. The lessons we learned from Capcom is that in order to take a failed product and turn it into something greater we have to be open to change, even if it's just a little bit. What they showed us is that you can change something so much to the point that it's almost unrecognisable, and still make it true, and still make it a masterpiece.

To be a purist as I see it you have to trust Capcom and make the same kinds of decisions they did to stay as true to Biohazard 2 to as possible, within reason of course. I honestly feel a restoration team could change every detail about this game just like Capcom did and still make it something worthy of the name Biohazard 2. It's what the game deserves, to perform smoothly, be well written, detailed and full of artistic character. The original is lacking these things on so many levels, and yes to some that might be part of the charm, but you have to let some of those things go in order to get something truly better.

I think people should just love and enjoy the prototype for what it is and not worry about changes or differences in a restoration project. Change is a good thing, it shows development and progress, and if Capcom's example is anything to go by that should be nothing but a good thing.

I personally never shared or understand the bitching about this. Some people forget that 1.5 was always a prototype and has constant changes before they decided to scrap it. There's no a definitive versión of Capcom vision apart from retail 2, only that 80% build is the most completed version of capcom's 1.5. The purist should wait for that build if wants the game in all Capcom's glory. I allways supported the changes that IGAS showed on Facebook with videos and pics. I really hope they finally realese it.

[Gemini]

It looks like many users have several different visions of what 1.5 really is. Just to sum up some of the peculiar aspects that make 1.5 stand out as an interestingly different product:
1) Zombies have the ability to crawl inside holes, interact with short collisions. Same applies to a few more enemies, like Cerberus being able to climb.
2) Gear extended changes and outfits ripping.
3) A wider cast of support characters.
4) Scenario objects have more interaction patterns (say shutters dealing damage, crates roll when they fall down).
Obviously what appeals about 1.5 is that most of these got lost with retail 2, and while they are indeed appealing most of them were discarded/replaced/simplified because it was easier for the engine to make sense without them. Well, not only easier - sometimes it was just more logical to have stuff done in another way that keeps things somehow close (sidepack vs gear upgrades) and Kamiya's team realized this during development. What makes it real bad is that fans recently felt even more depressed by what the series turned into. 1.5 represents a nice trip to the past that would quench the thirst for old school action with a sorta new flavor. Unfortunately this seems sometimes to be obfuscated by zealotism (call it "purists" if you want, it's the same crowd) and high expectation.

Imagine a world where 1.5 was released with the original scenario but a technology identical to what retail has. Now ask this to yourself: would it still be a great game?

[Jimmy_Jazz]

Some people forget that 1.5 was always a prototype and has constant changes before they decided to scrap it.

I thought it was 80% of the way through development before it was scrapped. You build a prototype to showcase a few key parts of a game as part of pre-production before moving onto production of the whole thing, Although I don't know if that's 80% of all content completed, content complete is generally referred to as Alpha, or 80% complete including bug fixes & polish, so more like Beta.

[biohazard_star]

To me, the "cleaner" looking environments is what really sets it apart from retail. The developers were never really happy with those environments though; had they decided to salvage 1.5, a lot of the current rooms would've definitely been reworked to match retail's level of quality. Rooms like the shutter hallway and factory lobby would have never survived the transition unscathed. The artists would have added in a bunch of furniture and made them feel more lived-in. I think the lab rooms that got carried over to retail speaks a lot about what would've happened to the RPD, had they decided not to scrap it:

Spoiler:

show spoiler

IGAS' redesigned sewer is also another good example of 'what could've been'.

[Burt Mustin]

Concerning the more 'clean' aspect to them, agreed-- it's also interesting how, that same look can be seen in parts at the end of RE1, notably the lab. With the exception of that poorly aged main 2nd floor hallway, environments such as the 'power room' definitely take on a similar aesthetic, without that Minority Report blue-esque hue, of course.

[Guest]

It looks like many users have several different visions of what 1.5 really is. Just to sum up some of the peculiar aspects that make 1.5 stand out as an interestingly different product:
1) Zombies have the ability to crawl inside holes, interact with short collisions. Same applies to a few more enemies, like Cerberus being able to climb.
2) Gear extended changes and outfits ripping.
3) A wider cast of support characters.
4) Scenario objects have more interaction patterns (say shutters dealing damage, crates roll when they fall down).
Obviously what appeals about 1.5 is that most of these got lost with retail 2, and while they are indeed appealing most of them were discarded/replaced/simplified because it was easier for the engine to make sense without them. Well, not only easier - sometimes it was just more logical to have stuff done in another way that keeps things somehow close (sidepack vs gear upgrades) and Kamiya's team realized this during development. What makes it real bad is that fans recently felt even more depressed by what the series turned into. 1.5 represents a nice trip to the past that would quench the thirst for old school action with a sorta new flavor. Unfortunately this seems sometimes to be obfuscated by zealotism (call it "purists" if you want, it's the same crowd) and high expectation.

Imagine a world where 1.5 was released with the original scenario but a technology identical to what retail has. Now ask this to yourself: would it still be a great game?

Imo the answer to that question would be yes. I think Capcom have already showed us what needs to be done, how to treat the game with respect and make it a superior product. That's not to say that any design choices, core scenario or gameplay elements need changing, they are by far unique, but that the game needs at least the same amount of time and attention as what Capcom did with the retail game to make it on par with what their vision of what Biohazard 2 should have been.

Biohazard 2's development was a progressive and continuous thing, this is why we see so much left over material in the Trial Edition and why we can see clear examples of Capcom's artwork replacement process. Even mid 1997 parts of 1.5 were still being used, that's half way into the retail games development and somehow the prototype was still relevant. To me that doesn't describe a cut off point like "December 1996", it describes a game that while being cancelled still continued on to grow and develop.

This is why I can't say for certain exactly what 1.5 is, to me I think it's a bit of everything, that each example of Biohazard 2 is as relevant as each other. Take the RPD offices in the alpha for example, or the laboratories in the prototype, both of which share similarities to the retail game; even though everything else had changed by this point elements of 1.5 were still surviving.

Capcom are literally showing us the development process of how to turn the prototype into a superior game, not how to scrap ideas and change everything, but how to continue on a failed development and give it the love and care it needs to be great. For me that's the kind of ideas that need to be applied in order to stay true to Biohazard 2, how to solve problems and fill in the blanks, because I think this is how developed 1.5 was supposed to be. Had Capcom actually done this I definitely think it would have been a good game, by far better than anything we would have had in 1996.

[blackpower]

Some scrap ideas of resident evil 1.5 we can find them in parasite eve 2, Parasite eve 2 was designed by the developers of the prototype of resident evil 1.5, after they have been laid off.

[Unmasked]

Some scrap ideas of resident evil 1.5 we can find them in parasite eve 2, Parasite eve 2 was designed by the developers of the prototype of resident evil 1.5, after they have been laid off.

And Resident Evil 3 (the scene of Carlos with Murphy i think its the same with John and Roy), Nemesis following us saying STARS! like Birking screaming Sherry! and im sure there are a lot of things recycled. On Code Veronica i saw a room similar to the 1.5 RPD too. The one with the metal shutter where you can access to control monitors in the training facility.

[Guest]

Some scrap ideas of resident evil 1.5 we can find them in parasite eve 2, Parasite eve 2 was designed by the developers of the prototype of resident evil 1.5, after they have been laid off.

Indeed, that complicates my views some what, as I guess one can argue that influences from 1.5 extended across the whole genre, not just being limited to the game its self. The development and the situation as a whole is really interesting, I think it's partly what draws me to the game so much.

[PROTOBOY]

And Resident Evil 3 (the scene of Carlos with Murphy i think its the same with John and Roy), Nemesis following us saying STARS! like Birking screaming Sherry! and im sure there are a lot of things recycled. On Code Veronica i saw a room similar to the 1.5 RPD too. The one with the metal shutter where you can access to control monitors in the training facility.

Dont forget the weapons.

[OfficerRedfield]

Or people just get similar ideas. its not like 1.5 is the end all be all they referenced to when they made future entries.

[Unmasked]

But has material that was used in the next entries. It was scraped but its not a complete waste if they used some ideas and things from that version.

[OfficerRedfield]

Common ideas, not specific to Resident evil 1.5. coincidences if anything. Just because a staff member moved on to another project it doesn't mean they took specific concepts from the previous one.