Biohazard 1.5 Comparative Analysis

[Ys1]

Thanks for the comments! I've been working on a comparative analysis for the first three games in the series for a little while and I was hoping some of this would be interesting.

One thing I have been curious about myself, has anyone ever done an analysis of the zombie models? The different kinds that existed, and how much they've changed? You can see in the later builds, the skinny zombie cops in full blue uniform were altered throughout the builds, with added details and blood stains applied. Would be an interested analysis, at least I think.

I'll reply with some within the next week if you'd like.

One other thing you need to do a comparison of is the factory front from the image leaks since there is no squad car whatsoever in that render/image of Leon standing there.

There were comparisons in the new screenshots thread but here is a re-visit:


The police car is parked the opposite direction in both the middle image and the Inflames comparison images in the first post. It's probably from a version before Dec 7 and a leftover that had not been updated. While the indoor and that first outdoor view show the car backwards, the other shots on both Dec 7 and Dec 21 do not.

The black background and the lower than usual quality of the renders may mean that the detailing for the area was not completed and having them all match was not a priority yet. Also, the blood stain seen on the wall but blocked by the version with the added cars can be seen in the close up view.

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?

These two rooms are probably from the same era (November 1996) but unfortunately there is no direct comparison from the Curator videos if that's true.

Another view:


Here's a view from directly behind the gate:


There aren't many alternate views of the roofing, but here might be some from nearby:



Another change from December 7 - December 21 is that a missing window on the front of the lobby has been replaced. Maybe it had to be broken, or the entrance was moved to the front or side doors?






The backgrounds for the factory were updated on December 20 1996, this could be one of the changes but I don't know if the boxes in the Inflames screenshot were in-game objects or part of the background. An earlier version is even less detailed:



A known difference dated with the last of the backgrounds:



Here's another small difference from within the background data itself:



Sure, the room has been burned but there are a few other differences such as the vents going missing on the walls and changes to the piping on the left of the first shot.


Another one from the new 1.5 screenshots:


As with many other rooms, not every angle is updated when a room is updated, it's possible that the change was to add any of these shots:


Edit: I should add that since some of the newly released screenshots are from a version of the game that is being modified (I believe) it's impossible to tell what was originally part of the game data and what has been swapped or imported at this point but I've included it there for comparison's sake.

[Guest]

Nice work, keep it up! I'm curious, does anyone know if there are any 1.5 ADT masks buried within the Trial Edition?

[Ys1]

Does anyone have a more complete set of the Bioflames exclusive images that they wouldn't mind sharing? Thanks in advance.

[DXP]

There were comparisons in the new screenshots thread but here is a re-visit:

I see you see what I see when I did my own comparisons ages ago. That factory could be much earlier than we actually know and since we never see that particular section within the curator's footage we have no idea how much that changed. And you did point out the missing trailers again they couldn't be any other way within that room which leads me to believe they hadn't modeled those yet, similar to that squad car since its different in design to the ones in the RPD garage.

That window could have just being in the process of being built, it could have had its normals reversed, which is why you can't see it in those images but can in others. Another thing i'll point out is the quality of the renders, the ones on the trial edition are IPR rendered(or the equivalent that Softimage 3D had) its used to not only generate a quick render its for adjusting lighting in real time that's why the overall quality is different from footage to renders we have(as you pointed out.)

Again nice observations and I can't wait to read more.

[Enigmatism415]

Does anyone have a more complete set of the Bioflames exclusive images that they wouldn't mind sharing? Thanks in advance.

PM me, I can definitely hook you up.

[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.