Biohazard 1.5 Comparative Analysis

[Enigmatism415]

Perhaps the warehouse behind the fence represents an earlier version of that area and it had not yet been updated in the background to relect the changes?

Yeah, the shutter in the left image is over twice as long as the shutter in the right image... I hadn't noticed that before. Very, very odd...

[Ys1]

Check out this view just over the other side of the fence from the trailers:

Is that the front of the blue trailer? If so, then it was supposed to be in the room early on.



November 1996 (above) and the other side of the trailer facing the large shutter:


Here's a look at both from two rooms over:


And the new screenshot again (right):



Since we've already been to this area a few times in this thread, I slapped together a crude map of the area. It's probably not very accurate and it's just meant to add to the above. Any corrections are appreciated.

[DXP]

Yeah it is the front of the blue trailer. As for the map looks accurate enough to me, had to model that entire area so I had to map it out myself and more or less your map matches up with mine.

[Ys1]

Backgrounds By DXP You're doing the backgrounds for the Biohazard 2 Mod with MartinBiohazard? Awesome work from all of you, can't wait to play it. I just checked and saw some of your other posts here and great renders!

I wanted to add that with the blue trailer being seen in the (last modified on) September 28 background, the trailers were at least supposed to be in the room earlier than when they don't appear in the new screenshot. Perhaps like the later version with the blank backdrop the room was just very slow to update it and what we see in the new screenshot would be a fairly early version.

[Deus Flux]

This is gonna sound weird and maybe out there, but I do some amateur photography. Whenever you shoot anything from "above" (a person or place), it instantly removes the viewer from that situation. You become an observer, and are safe, so to speak, to scrutinize or survey. The reason the Oct. camera angles may look better or more appealing, is because they're closer to where eye level would be for a person standing in that room. Generally, as a viewer, you would feel more connected, and maybe it's just me, but there's a tone of fear, since the zombies are on the same walking "plane" as well. Hope that made sense, if anyone is even curious lol.

I agree. I'm also into photography (well video mostly, low budget movies, some concerts, music videos etc). The higher camera angles would work fine if say the actual camera view was of a creature's perspective crawling on the ceiling, looking down at the player but this isn't the case with this game. So I agree that the closer camera adds a lot more tension in this case.

While I hope to get the latest build possible, I wouldn't mind any build. I agree about the camera angles, but for me it's not a worthy tradeoff for a less complete game.

I agree but at the same time I disagree. Ideally, i'd love to have all builds of 1.5 but the earlier build seems creepier and more .. I dunno how to really descibe it .. "pure", in design, maybe?

What I mean is, in the later build, it seems like perhaps is when some of the internal conflicts were taking place between the game designers and the higher-ups (too many cooks in the kitchen)? As in a new guy comes in during the middle of the game's development: 'No, no, no, change this, change that, and change the camera angles like this'.

Of course then as we all know, this changed game eventually would become the retail version of RE2, with those same styled camera angles. The later build just doesn't feel as sincere as the earlier one in it's intentions or tone, which is why i'd prefer the earlier one. In my opinion, i'd rather have 30-45 minutes of intended gameplay than 2 or 3 hours of something that strays away from its original vision.

I hope this all makes sense, it's kinda hard to explain.

[chrisliam2]

thank you for taking the time to make all this, really is great !

[killer7ITA]

Really interesting thread!

[MiLØ]

That's the kind of discussion about 1,5 I've been craving to see for some time. Bookmarking this tread to get back later.

[Enigmatism415]

The reason the Oct. camera angles may look better or more appealing, is because they're closer to where eye level would be for a person standing in that room. Generally, as a viewer, you would feel more connected, and maybe it's just me, but there's a tone of fear, since the zombies are on the same walking "plane" as well.

The later build just doesn't feel as sincere as the earlier one in it's intentions or tone, which is why i'd prefer the earlier one. In my opinion, i'd rather have 30-45 minutes of intended gameplay than 2 or 3 hours of something that strays away from its original vision.

One of the reasons for the camera angle changes might have been ease of playability. I agree that having the camera closer to eye-level allows for a more intimately frightening experience, but the developers might have found the game-play to be more annoying because such angles don't agree as well with tank controls, which are more suited to aerial views; for example, if the camera is at eye-level with Elza and is pointed at her face, her body would rapidly enlarge as she walks toward the camera before the change of background. It would be much harder to anticipate an enemy coming straight at her (in the direction of the camera's view), which I suppose would make the game scarier anyway, but maybe the higher-ups didn't find it acceptable.

[doriantoki]

It makes sense from a game play perspective, yeah, but it largely depends on the intentions of the developers. For example, the monsters in almost every Resident Evil game make both vocal and footstep sounds when they are in the room. You don't even have to see a monster on-screen to know it's in the room, and in many cases, is a more effective indicator of a monster's location even versus their actual physical location.

[Carnivol]

In a static camera environment without proper surround sound, especially if you have no way of manipulating the camera, audio cues are pretty useless for positioning of stuff (unless the object placement is purely alligned on a horizontal axis) :/

[Enigmatism415]

I forgot to mention something more obvious...

If the camera were eye-level with Elza and pointing at her face, and a zombie approached her head-on, the zombie would walk right through the bloody camera, exposing ugly polygon glitches (they would be rendered at the same rate as the zombie's sluggish approach).

[doriantoki]

In a static camera environment without proper surround sound, especially if you have no way of manipulating the camera, audio cues are pretty useless for positioning of stuff (unless the object placement is purely alligned on a horizontal axis) :/

I think that's the point, though. It's more "oh there's something in this room that wants to tear and/or eat my face off, I should be careful", instead of "oh there's something in this room and I know EXACTLY where it is". Knowing exact enemy placement would kill all of the tension.

Enigmatism;

That's a great point. I think this is probably the best answer as to why they moved the cameras higher.

[geluda]

^Agreed, as dynamic as the angles were the technical problems that come with it would probably outweigh the benefits.

[Deus Flux]

Good points have been made, but still, I must disagree. I stand by my choice of the camera in the earlier build. It closely resembles the one used in the first Dino Crisis, and that game plays fine and can be really tense with the camera being the way it is.

But one thing however: Dino Crisis uses a "chase cam" which follows the player. I wonder if that early build of 1.5 played the same way?

[geluda]

I doubt it because they're not fully 3D environments.

[Enigmatism415]

It closely resembles the one used in the first Dino Crisis, and that game plays fine and can be really tense with the camera being the way it is.

The environments in the first Dino Crisis are rendered in real-time, precluding the camera issues inherent to games with static pre-rendered backgrounds.

[drunkdog]

Great thread but where are you getting these dates from? by looking at the file information?

[geluda]

Great thread but where are you getting these dates from? by looking at the file information?

I don't know the specifics but yes the backgrounds contain information on the date in which it was last modified.

[drunkdog]

I don't know the specifics but yes the backgrounds contain information on the date in which it was last modified.

I figured that's where he was getting it from, this is all very interesting, hopefully we can keep digging out new information while we wait.....

Ys1, that map is a beauty and looks correct, do you plan on making more?