The Low Tech Way Resident Evil Tricked You

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Video Sources:
T-Rex Tech Demo: • T-Rex Tech Demo 1 Play...
Manta Tech Demo: • Manta Tech Demo 1 Play...
Die Hard Trilogy: • Die Hard Trilogy (PS1)...
Tomb Raider: • Was it Good? - Tomb Ra...
Vagrant Story: • PSX Longplay [143] Vag...
Resident Evil 1: • Longplay of Resident E...
Resident Evil 3: • Resident Evil 3 : Neme...
Soul Reaver: • LEGACY OF KAIN SOUL RE...
Resident Evil 2: • Resident Evil 2 [USA] ...
City Environment used in the game: blendswap.com/blend/30474
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[@LordMagden]

Just because a play style was invented because of a technological limitation of the time doesn’t mean it isn’t still fun. We didn’t give up dice completely for bits

[@redomagnus4762]

Is this you saying that fixed camera is cool or isn’t cool? I have been playing some classic RE games this year, and going back to fixed camera angles has been AMAZING. So fun to play through, and the angles are a large part of the magic

[@Wolfstanus]

@@redomagnus4762 Fixed camera angles and tank controls are still good for games built around the idea of it. Also the youtuber for this video forgets another very important aspect. Art style/art direction for modern indie games. Because pre rendered background/sprites do not look the same as a fully rendered environment.

[@elderjose9662]

if it was fun t begin with yes, but this mecanic was suposed to be confusing and ''scary'' in the first time, and is not like this this days so no it's not funny because it was never suposed to, and not scary anymore because we all learn how to deal with it, is just, clunky

[@lukefortune8314]

@@Wolfstanus did you skip through the video? because he does bring that up.

[@Don_Shake]

​@elderjose9662 I disagree with this take. It's not "clunky", as these games are built around these controls and are essential to the game design. It is fundamentally fun if these games actually appeal to you at all. These games don't just exist to scare you, they are video games first and foremost and everything about the controls and camera work to make these games what they are. I wouldn't be able to have fun replaying RE1R dozens of times if the only appeal is the initial "confusion" and fear. Modern controls and camera do not automatically make a game a better or more well crafted experience Just look at RE3 vs it's remake.

[@verygoodfreelancer]

choosing one specific angle allowed the artists who worked on the game to create truly memorable scenes and customize and direct every little bit of it. in MANY ways it leads to more sophisticated and customized art direction than larger games now.

[@jonoghue]

This sort of thing is exactly why I'm pretty tired of open world games. There's something about a curated experience that you can't get when the devs instead focus on "you choose how to proceed." It's why I like the first couple Metal Gear Solid games more than MGS V.

[@Jomster777]

I miss fixed camera angles. They could tell a story and create a sense of suspense quite effortlessly

[@ashwin4224]

absolutely

[@christiangottsacker6932]

Dude even metal gear did this well till guns of the patriots

[@metalslayergameplays6089]

Many indie games now using it.

[@Broockle]

What about only using fixed camera angles for intense moments? Could make for some interesting moments.

[@christiangottsacker6932]

@@Broockle a lot of new adventure/horror titles do that and do it well

[@Johnnywilsonforever]

I've always said one thing that made Resident Evil scary was you didn't know what you were gonna find at the other side of the corner. The angles are a key element to help in the horror aspect of the games.

[@GugureSux]

This. Also a skilled dev could use the camera like a real movie director, guiding players nonverbally towards points of interest.

[@White927]

RE 4 ruined it.

[@White927]

RE 4 was the downfall.

[@waled7564]

Resident evil 1 - 3 are hilarious they aged poorly

[@secondhandevil]

I enjoyed the old school RE games, but thy relied too much on their own self-imposed limitations to make the games artificially difficult. Basic movement was clunky and frustrating, exploration was slow and disorienting, aiming was hilariously bad, and combat would always occur on the line between two cameras making it impossible to see the enemy. These weren't features. They were flaws. Serious, unaddressed, flaws.

[@sparda9060]

Games back then had very short draw distance due to lack of VRAM and system RAM in order for the game console to render more stuff on the screen. Developers had to start thinking outside of the box to work around those constraints like Crash Bandicoot developer who used the C library as extra RAM to store more textures so he would have a fully 3D polygon rendered character with large amount of detail while also being able to still render the map for the level design.

[@PopStrikers]

Did you get that from watching the Ars War Stories interview he did? That video was INSANE. Dude is a programming god.

[@Gosti85]

I think a small part you didn´t reconsider for the Tank controls is that back then, those games were designed to be played with a D-Pad, not a Stick. When the first RE came out, the typical PS Dual Stick Controller wasn´t even out, you just had your base controller without them, and even with later games, I´m not even sure if RE3 supported the sticks. But nowadays, trying to play tank controls with a stick just feels strange

[@PopStrikers]

That’s actually one of the things I go over in the Extended Cut haha

[@TheRealSephiroth]

Re3 did support the sticks it was 1 and 2 that didnt at first. They both got duel shock editions later after their initial releases re1 got its duel shock in late 1997 and 2 got it in later of 1998. Re3 came out in 1999 when most games started to shift to analog stick controls by that point. A little off topic but Final Fantasy 7 started off with just use of the D-pad but there is a gameshark cheat that allows use of the analog stick on the original ps1. 8 and 9 used both the pad and sticks.

[@GugureSux]

@@TheRealSephiroth Correct, but literally nobody played any of those games, or the future titles in the same genre, with the analog sticks. To this day, the first two protips I give to anyone planning to play a late-90s / early-00s horror games for the first time are: 1. Google and read up the MANUALS, and 2. Use the D-pad. Sadly, Xbox controller has terrible D-pad, which is why I use and recommend Playstation controllers.

[@josesanchezrodriguez1783]

Playing those games with a Playstation D-Pad feels great.

[@TheRealSephiroth]

@@GugureSux thats not entirely true. I never play with the Dpad unless thats the only option. I always used the sticks. I couldnt stand the pads 🤣

[@Cargo_Bay]

Yeah, "pre-rendered" was code back then for "static background", hah. But it worked. By golly, the fixed angle thing worked.

[@Quenlin]

It's called "pre-rendered" because it wasn't made from a sprite sheet.

[@ramrodbldm9876]

​@RianQuenlin yea these ppl aren't to smart

[@paulbunyangonewild7596]

​@@Quenlin well technically it was "code" for these kinds of "above their means" graphics by rendering them before hand on a graphics workstation. They didn't HAVE to be static, I mean heck, these games HAVE video playback. But I don't think they could run all the game code while ALSO playing the game on top, and considering the loading speed, alot of effects could be done bit-wise or by messing with the whole screen. Lightening? Just brighten and darken the background image. Dumpster fire? Essentially a small gif. Same for alot of other smaller effects. And let's not forget the ps1 is really a 3d game system, so nothings stopping you from doing regular modeling tricks like uv scrolling.

[@todesziege]

@@Quenlin No? Pre-rendered 3D graphics were used to make sprite sheets too, like in Donkey Kong Country (and a hundred other games of the era).

[@jimbotron70]

​@@todesziege When the hardware wasn't fast and powerful enough to render 2D scenes in real time it was indeed pre-rendered.

[@Ricsard001]

The fixed camera angle make a feeling like the player watch a security camera record, just during can able to control the protagonist. It completely created an experience as if we were part of an archive recording. Brilliant. This solution is perfect for a detective-horror game, because the rendered fixed background show the players a lots of clues and background information, and a good envirovment for mondter encounters. And a photorealistic gamplay background is a very beautyful thing.

[@SaberVS7]

Regarding hiding and rendering layers - The "layered" look can actually be achieved with a single-layer image from a single render, by mapping a depth-mask that's 1:1 with the game engine's distance units and rendering individual pixels in front of or behind 3D elements based on their in-engine distance from the camera.

[@GraveUypo]

the depth mask counts as a layer

[@philcoast1031]

That's a cool idea, but I wonder how well it would work with transparency (like glass windows, and bloom like the candles at 13:25), and antialiasing.

[@NuttachaiTipprasert]

PS1 doesn't have a Z-Buffer so if you want to perfectly emulate the old PS1 games, layering is the only way to do it.

[@garethjohnstone9282]

I loved everything about RE2. I feel the static camera angles added to its atmosphere.

[@luismarques8905]

I love fixed camera angles and i really appreciate the art of the pre-rendered graphics.

[@marcuscarana9240]

The fact that so many moderm horror games like Chillas art and Puppet Combo are purposefully recreating the retro ps1 esque kind of graphics, shows that the technological limitations created a style that to this day is loved and never forgotten. Same with 8 bits. We now have graphics cards and pcs capable of virtual reality and yet 8 bit style games still sell and are thriving. Technological limitations gave birth to a style and genre that never dies.

[@OblivionFalls]

I had a pretty good idea for how this stuff works already, but seeing you do it in real-time really makes me feel inspired to try it myself. It was also pretty crazy hearing the File City theme near the end there... That brings me back, holy fuck.

[@PopStrikers]

I only played Digimon World BRIEFLY at a friend's house waaaay back but parts of it lodged themselves in my brain permanently haha Also deff give game dev a shot if you're interested! Tons of tools exist now that make the process so much more approachable 👍

[@R3TR0J4N]

Reminds me of RTS and side scrollers

[@xard64]

One of the problems with the background images is that the resolution is pretty much fixed as any down or upscale usually looks just worse. Now we could use really high resolution images to counter the problem but back in the 90's the resolutions were kept down the QVGA levels due to SD television resolutions. Even if there would exist some of these 3d assets the issue is that as far as I understand the raw 3d renderings were very rarely used outside of animation sequences and the static background images and layers were usually heavily edited and digitally painted over to cover the early CGI rendering flaws and adding level of small detail not feasible to render at the time.

[@panegyr]

Ocarina of Time also famously used this technique for its fixed camera angle interiors, most notably Castle Town

[@kylespevak6781]

Also, lots of N64 games use 2D images that are forced to show towards the camera and adjust in real time. Obviously Mario Kart is a shining example, but also stuff like coins in Mario 64

[@contactalig]

@@kylespevak6781the technical term is ‘billboarding’ if anyone is interested.

[@JaxBlade]

The King has returned haha also incredible video loved all the angles 😂

[@PopStrikers]

Thanks dude! 👍

[@williansnobre]

Silent Hill 1 and Dino Crisis 1 did it in a middle of the road kind of approach, by having the player able to partially control the camera outside of cutscenes but having the camera either on rails or struggling against the player. It kinda helped with the spooky atmosphere and those games were fully rendered 3D, they just used the same tank controls because the camera snapping and framing shots was really cool and effective.

[@iFukuyama]

On the comments at the end about modern pre-rendered backgrounds: It's still a very common or even universal technique for sky boxes and far away objects. Up until recently everyone used Clarisse for this. Not that recent any more but the example that impressed me the most is from Resi 6, there's a scene fairly early on where you're moving down a day time street and there are enemies and explosions and things happening in front of you at the end of the street -- Only it's a video. It completely seamlessly transitions into 3D geometry when you move closer. To hide the load and better integrate effects, if I had to guess. You're walking in a straight line towards it, there's nowhere to hide a cut.

[@GameTalesHQ]

Love the way you put this one togheter! Pre-rendered backgrounds hold up so well

[@rolandomamuri4809]

Not knowing what's lurking in the next frame is the best in giving you jump scares

[@ryanarchuleta6231]

I still think fixed camera is the way to go. A horror game just isn't as scary when you can play it like a shooter.

[@jettesides420]

There is another vid on youtube about pre rendered backrounds. But you actually showed how its done, great video! It really is interactive art when everything comes together.

[@PopStrikers]

Thanks man

[@2l84me8]

The concept of fixed camera angels and pre-rendered backgrounds was ingenious. I truly miss this era of gaming.

[@frecio231]

I think a God of War (1, 2 , Chains of Olympus, Ghost of Sparta, 3, & ascension) have a good compromise of this, with fully rendered backgrounds in (for the time) astonishing detail but being the camera effectively only capable of render a part of the scene at any moment made those graphics possible.

[@simval84]

Tank controls were also the result of trying to provide full freedom to a player to move in a 3d environment with a controller that, at the time, had no analog stick and only a d-pad for movement (original PS1 controller and Saturn controller).

[@korawichbikedashcam6293]

5:54 As a DMC fan, I like that you highlighted this issue. Going into the hallway one way can suddenly become another.

[@SageX85]

Thats not quite right how camera triggers worked on resident evil. They had a way more complex system, 2D shapes that cover the area, lets call those "zones", each camera could only hold 4 zones. A level could have a maximum of 16 cameras, so maximum 64 zones. But they werent 3D, boxes, they were 2D shapes, only 2D collision was checked, some trigonometry as done. Those zones could overlap with zones of other cameras but they wouldnt work unless the correct camera was active. The simple trigger volume doesnt works quite well compared to how the guys at capcom made it. Also the main reason to use prerendered BGs in today tech would be to get better antialias. And you could waste all the resources in either higher resolution at high framerate, or saturate with detail the character mesh. Like real buttons instead of normal maps.

[@PopStrikers]

Interesting! My goal wasn’t to recreate the camera system as it was done in RE 1:1, but rather show how it could be accomplished with modern tools. This is hardly a perfect system and would have issues scaling, but I think it works well enough for the demonstration. I had no idea the intricacies of the actual system used in the classic RE games, though. Is there a place I could read more about that? Sounds fascinating.

[@SumeaBizarro]

I think one reason to use "pre rendered" backgrounds in modern game is for unique aesthetic. Hand painted world. Like. FF7 meets Okami, and being able to make a guilty gear xrd detail level protagonist and enemies. Claymation meets resident evil, neverhood, darker. Pre rendered does not need to mean actually rendered, but photographs, paintings, drawings... A video file. And also. Vibe. Point of using actually live 3D like code veronica does was made but you could give it bigger Final Fantasy 9 vibe by having keyframed animations without tweening, like guilty gear xrd. 8frames for a spinning windmill, or three "frames" for water flow animation for a river. Signalis already embraced and still changed it's idea for new indie title borrowing from the vibes of PS1 horror. I kinda would love the same for PS1 RPG's. Though, partially this is kept alive as fantasian apparently uses dioramas that were digitized into the game's environments. Few 3DS games that still feels recent to me darnit also used hand painted or such static parts in their games, though not for all of the game, just select places.

[@White927]

​@@SumeaBizarroSurvivor was the first 3D Resident Evil game.

[@patyos2]

I wish Capcom did a remake of Haunting Ground and kept the classic fixed camera and tank controls that game was a masterpiece

[@djking44151]

My first thought when I started this video was MAN I hate fixed camera angles... but you know what you're right they are cool! Really enjoyed seeing you break it down and re-create it!

[@Homunculus97]

Great video and overall a damn solid way to illustrate how fixed camera angles work in game dev perspective, also you get an extra plus for using the Digimon World OST. Subscribed.

[@jaywebster7508]

Yess someone else heared it haha

[@mila1195]

I swear I played the old RE2 for the first time this year and fell in love with the fixed camera angles.

[@ramrodbldm9876]

I swear you look like a resident evil zombie

[@mila1195]

Thank you. This is exactly what I wanted to look like.

[@ManicBestia]

Absolutely loved this, great work and really well researched too, can't wait to see more stuff like this from you, Tom!

[@PopStrikers]

Glad you enjoyed it 👍

[@blushslice]

I still think code veronica and the outbreak series are the perfect blend of fully rendered environments w fixed or panning camera angles, it’s perfect

[@magnifician21]

All they need to do is just improving the graphics to make it look real, without changing anything else

[@R3TR0J4N]

it's genuine creative in retrospect to hardware limitations; fixed camera angles and claustrophobic corridor levels heightens the suspense as an audience. Linear game design alone has less hardware demand reminds me of TLOU2 being able to run on previous gen PS4

[@saryakan]

An interesting game that uses them a lot without you noticing it was FFX. Pretty much all indoor maps, but through clever use of layers and parallax scrolling, even a big amount of outdoor areas trick you into thinking they are full 3D environments, when they actually are just pre rendered. It also had the best way to make things work with "modern" control style and abrupt camera changes, by keeping the character running forward after a camera change and only resisting when you change the input. Not perfect, but a decent solution.

[@LadyEmilyNyx]

Parasite Eve used the same controls 3 years earlier, and was also a Square game.

[@sealiteral432]

I kinda like how simple those cameras were: modern ones try to solve many problems at once, including "stay behind the player" and "avoid obstacles getting in the way of the camera seeing the player", but then they often don't handle indoor environments very well (player turns around a corner, camera gets janked 90 degrees, player enters narrow corridor, camera follows, player turns around, camera realises it's on the opposite side of the player as where it should be, breaks the 180 degree rule and now the controls are reversed... tank controls could have avoided that problem). Oh, and prerendered backgrounds in PS1 games could be wider than 256 pixels: they just split the screen into vertical slices and had one image for each slice. Not like the exact resolutions of PS1 games really matters for explaining how prerendered backgrounds worked. But yeah, I don't even know which resolution RE1 used. I'd guess 384x240 or something like that, but I haven't played that game, so I'm basically assuming it would use a similar resolution to what some other PS1 games that I have played used.

[@Bane_Amesta]

The modern version os this for me is the camera floating by itself that's used in Eternal Darkness and Kuon, both allow for modern stick controls but keep the cinematic angles, and I think it should be done more often. It also make them easier to play to people like me who never got used to tank controls.

[@hawkbirdtree3660]

Combining a how to video, with a retrospective is very clever. It shows others you know what you are talking about, and trials and tribulations along the way. Great work.

[@erebo._.sapien]

The "fixed camera angles bit" was wicked neat.

[@epicon6]

Tank controls are so amazing in Resident Evil. It gives weight to a character. Most modern games let you teleport to change directions and it looks like running in place. And it makes navigating the world and the zombies more intresting because you can’t run circles around them.

[@Wootsk]

When I play the game, I had this idea that the director will make a good fixed CCTV camera planner.

[@kri249]

I think the point of the fixed camera angles, besides compensating hardware limitations, was that it was made to have a cinematic feel. Like watching an actual horror movie. Some of those angles were purely artistic shots. Like the top down view from the ceiling as your walking down the stairs with the hanging lights in the foreground. The devs were definitely inspired by cinema.

[@XzaroX]

They did not trick me. I always knew the environments were 2D. Many other games did that.

[@EmeraldOtringal]

I love how you kept using the Legacy of Kain soundtrack way way longer than the short Soul Reaver clip ♥

[@PopStrikers]

The OST is just so good

[@ZiddersRooFurry]

Capcom recently settled a suit with a photographer whose work they used without permission. Starting in the 90's they used photographs from a book of reference photo's taken by Judy Juracek. The photos were from a book called 'Surfaces' that came out in '96 and the book came with a CD-ROM with over 1200 images. The 147-page court document was full of evidence showing how they'd used hundreds of her images in games like the Resident Evil series and Devil May Cry.

[@AnhTran-bp1eo]

I love the pre-rendered 2D background of the original RE2 & 3. They're nostalgia fuel to me now. Whenever I look at these backgrounds, it feels like the late 90s was just yesterday.

[@Pitchguest]

I haven't noticed this before, when he said subscribe in the video the subscribe button lit up and was surrounded by a colorful border. Just for a second though. Neat!

[@masterneme]

The Gamecube version of Resident Evil and Resident Evil Zero look amazing, imagine what could be done with today's computers, 4K photorealistic backgrounds. And with some tricks like having multiple layers the same way was done in Alone in the Dark 4, dynamic lighting. And if instead of using flat images you rendered a cubemap, the camera could have some rotation and it would look awesome.

[@cube2fox]

With a modern engine like UE5 they could probably do it in real-time, no pre-rendering needed. The resolution would just be substantially lower than 4K.

[@EliahNebb]

i like the filming and editing to underscore the point. very nice combination of analysis and application!

[@PopStrikers]

Thank you!

[@carlchapman4053]

Soul Reaver one of the best PS1 games made and one of my most favourite games ever, I even had the demo disc from the PlayStation magazine.

[@Reds-Retros]

What a really well presented and informative video, you got a sub from me. PS: I miss talk controls. To those confused about that statement: Yes, we exist, and we enjoy and miss not every single game feeling exactly the same. Variety, experimentation and risk is something I miss dearly from the AAA games of the 90s and 00s.

[@GugureSux]

Seconded. It's a very weird, post-2010s zoomer narrative that the control and camera scheme of classic survival horror would've ever been a problem. OG PS1 Resident Evils alone sold dozens of millions of copies, back when 250k was enough for the game to get the "Platinum" / "Greatest Hits" release.

[@loiedonn4192]

Nostalgic. Brings back my elementary days but thankgoodness we are done with this. I cant imagine playing Resident Evil with fixed camera. RE4 spoiled me so much hahaha it changed Resident Evil for me forever.

[@Insanabiliter_In_Linea]

I was half expecting you to reveal that you were standing in front of a green screen of your room the whole time before I started the video lol.

[@CHamlin86]

What really interests me about the controls is how they can also change the way a RE game is played. RE1 Remake and RE0 both were updated with 2D controls when they were re-released in 2015, and these controls kind of broke those games. Although you might need to adjust the position of the stick when the camera angle changed, this was a small price to pay for the advantage: being able to instantly move in any direction at full speed. REmake and RE0 were not designed with this ability in mind, so the 2D controls make both of those games far easier. Even killing enemies with the knife is easy since after attacking you don't have to back up or turn or around, you simply flick the stick away from the zombie and you instantly run away from them at full speed. I understand they added these controls schemes because they didn't want to alienate players with the tank controls, but I swear players today are so impatient that they can't take the time to get used to the game's controls anymore.

[@TheStolenBattenberg]

I have to mention 9:26 . Technically you are right, but this limitation is only for normal textures. The JPEG textures (called MDEC) can actually match the screen resolution of 320x240 (or any other compatible resolutions). This is because the image is loaded and decoded like a single frame of a video file.

[@PopStrikers]

Good to know!

[@thatguyStrike]

Resident Evil: Code Veronica did pre-set cameras (but in actual 3D space) but gave them movement sometimes. That, to me, was the perfect way of bringing this iconic style onto new hardware that is capable of more intense renders. It kept the old feel which I, for one, think was super "horror", but gives it a modern edge.

[@SmogHobbit]

Dude I just had to subscribe after this video popped up on my feed. Please keep making this high quality content. ❤

[@user-yy3yx5lf1e]

The PC game Nocturne, released in 1999, also utilized a pre-rendered approach to achieve its visuals. However, what makes it unique is that the game actually employed untextured 3D modeling for the scenes to differentiate between foreground and background, and to handle collisions between characters and objects in the environment. Only at the final stage was the pre-rendered game imagery applied to complete the visuals. This technique reduced the number of rendered images required.

[@ariessalazar2940]

when less than 1gb gives you a masterpiece that will live forever in your memory...

[@Lilithe]

I almost didn't watch this one because of the thumbnail. I already knew how games like this did things and I didn't think I wanted to watch it over other things. It turned out to be really interesting and I subscribed because I like your style of showing a Unity example. Nice stuff!

[@Gosti85]

Well, that was a strange experience. Just showed up in my recommendations, thought why not, saw your face and was like "Wait, is that Tommy Oliver from my old MLP times?" Taking a closer look at the channel as the name didn´t ring any bells and... yeah, nice to see you again^^

[@PopStrikers]

Welcome back 👍

[@zibberebbiz]

I live for prerendered backgrounds.. I've been replaying Grim Fandango and I am literally drinking it in

[@derekgonsoulin116]

That Tomb Raider 1 to Vagrant Story transition at the beginning of the vid is pretty jarring considering that's the same system running them. It's also 1994-1995 development vs 1999-2000. Edit: The Parasite Eve music with the City scape images makes me hate we did not get a proper sequel (PE2 was a reworked RE-sytle game and Third Birthday's story was just... wrong.)

[@AvantHorizon]

Awesome vid! I remember the moment I realized how they did this, was I love with all fixed perspective games. I remember being actually disappointed that code Veronica moved away from it

[@mielthesquid6536]

I always loved tank controls and static camera angles. That's why the first 3 RE games are among my favorite games ever. They aged like wine.

[@RedditLurker-wr6iz]

Fixed camera angle is better than 3D simply because the static image tell more story than what polygon can achieve. Take a look at Digimon Word 1 on PSX. The static image really convince you that you are in some alien digital world. Each time you explore an area, the static background and camera angle convince you that you are really on top of canyon, inside tunnel, etc. Now take a look at the soft remake, Digimon Re:Digitze on PSP. The town are all boxy and all area has similar feel even when you are walking on a cliff edge. You can only feel something is different when the sky is different but if you keep looking downwards, to see where you are going, then you'll miss the scenic feeling.

[@ersia87]

I love static cameras. In general I love games with a focused concept, and fixed camera angles takes that to the visual presentation. With fixed cameras much more effort can be put into making those specific angles as interesting and beautiful as possible in full 3D. That and all the other things you mentioned about developer control, etc.

[@RTheu2109]

RE might have been the most notorious for using fixed cameras and tank controls, but i think that this camera style peaked with Final Fantasy 9. Specially with the way they pretty much perfected the way to blend the CG cutscenes with the static images and gameplay all together, not to mention how gourgeous the scenary of that game is. I would love the return of fixed cameras and tank control games, even if it's "arcaic" style, it's perfect for games with fixed cameras and it definetly has room for lots of improvements, it would be amazing too see what the devs could pull off with today's tech.

[@basedprime6979]

Happy to see youre doing videos again!!!

[@PopStrikers]

Happy to be back

[@nachofernandezcomics5238]

Absolutely. The Games with fixed camera angles and tank -type controls still have lot of posibilities, and not just for horror titles. It´s another manner to keep alive the wonderful legacy of graphic adventures.

[@lunasam9]

yes there are invisible hit boxes to prevent you from walkiing past walls and simulate item/box/steps (which is separate from stairs which seem to be 3d rendered but only used for scene transitions) collision also flashing lights are literally floating lights in the 3d space they just happen to be placed on switches that appear in the static image And yes there are teleport lines that tell where to place your character in the next scene, for transitions at the edge of image eg the teleport line A is 5 units long and you touch it at unit 2, it will correspond and place you on the unit 2 suggested from the image A to B, onto the image B spot literally like 2 lines and a tunnel connecting them, except it only takes 0.5s to load

[@lunasam9]

I liked that he illustrated with cubes containing the spaces which the player moves, but can be clunky if you have all scenes working in one giant layer space

[@Synesthesiaum2]

Great video. I think you naild it. Thanks for taking me back in time 🙏

[@steelman774]

I was never a fan of the Resident Evil games BECAUSE of the locked in movement controls and cameras… but Man, this video was just so good I not only watched to the end (and “Liked”) but now I’m interested in downloading some of the older ones and just letting them play and see where my thumbs take me. I teach beginner level programming and these are some of (or mostly better versions of) tricks I teach them. Excellent video! Thanks!!

[@Dargonhuman]

In the PC port of RE2, they did give the option to use camera-relative controls instead of tank controls, and how they handled scene transitions was to lock the relative directions from the previous screen to the new screen until you let go of the directional controls. So, for example, if you're in a room that starts with an East facing camera (so that Up moved East), then transition to a camera angle facing North would keep the Up=East direction until you stopped to, say, shoot a revealed enemy, pick up an item or whatever interaction was required. On stopping, though, the controls would reorient to the new camera meaning Up was now North, and if you went back to the East facing camera, Up would continue to be North until you again let go of the directionals. That sounds like it would be clunky and confusing, but the seamless way they integrated it into the port never felt weird or out of place. In fact, it took me about three whole playthroughs just to notice what was happening because it felt so natural.

[@J4Y84]

Your Mustache ...kinda Got Me Fixed in a Camera Angle way 😳🤣🤣

[@TwilightWolf032]

I much prefer the pre-rendered graphics of early RE to modern ones. Sure, the modern ones are technically more impressive, but the older ones were ARTISTICALLY more impressive and allowed the developers to know exactly where the camera would be and what the player *wouldn't be able to see.* That allowed the developers to make spaces look more oppressive and claustrophobic, and players feel less in control of the situation by removing the ability to control what they can see and the angles they have at their disposal.

[@LosMSR]

This concept didn't work nowadays, bc this was made a tons of times before, so right now with the power of graphics will be odd.

[@TwilightWolf032]

@@LosMSR Just like it is odd that some games would use 8/16-bits graphics nowadays that we have much higher resolution and graphical power? Tell that to Shovel Knight! And let's not forget Octopath Traveler and other 16-bit inspired graphics utilizing modern technology to bring that art style to the modern era of gaming with their 2DHD style. The concept itself is perfectly fine, and the oddity is just a matter of getting used to it. Th value is in how it would be used.

[@LosMSR]

@@TwilightWolf032 Check the cinema of terror, they reused a lot the method of Blaire Witch Project, that was bored at the end, bc of that, over and over the same. That's a thing that some people forget about the past, that something was trendy before, bc was new, but later was just overuse.

[@TwilightWolf032]

@@LosMSR Exactly. Overuse. Now it's not being used anymore and we have plenty of variety in the industry. A revival of this style with finesse would do wonders.

[@LosMSR]

@@TwilightWolf032 That's not the meaning of overuse, especially if there is a record of all.

[@LadyEmilyNyx]

I love how a video about Resident Evil, has "Out of Phase", from Parasite Eve playing in the background (9:45 - 11:43). As much as I came to love RE in time, PE was then, and always will be, my favourite. And I would recognize it's soundtrack anywhere.

[@MrStupidlook]

Great video! I love the pre-rendered backgrounds and tank controls. Interesting to see some of how it was done.

[@NefDarknight]

Nah dude, that shit never tricked me, it always looked awfuly bad to me😂

[@kuromiLayfe]

The original FFVII utilized pre rendered background to a master level… to a point where if one would upscale all the images to modern day resolutions you would get the same amount of hdd space as the 3 or 4 cd’s of the game back then but as DVD’s

[@Trid3nt861]

Hi. I remember you from the tablet reviews. Even back then in the late 90's I saw that those fixed images are just single jpegs.

[@vtoumpakaris]

Such an enjoyable way of presenting things! Thank you Tommy!

[@bazem]

I always liked that style of camera for exploration/horror games. The earliest one that I know is Alone in the Dark from 1992, a really good game. I think new games could use this style but making the camera a little more dynamic when needed, like panning or changing position in certain scenes. The part where you enter the nightmare alley in the beginning of the original Silent Hill is an example of this, the camera has some predetermined placement but it also followed the player's direction in some parts, but limiting what you could see, adding to the tension.

[@Snotnarok]

I see a lot of folks go "I hate tank controls" no- you hate fixed cameras. Easy evidence: You like OG Resident Evil 4? Congrats, you like a game with tank controls. It's the exact same thing as the old Resi games and the only difference is the camera isn't fixed. But tank controls even in fixed camera isn't that bad. Maybe it's because I grew up playing the Strike games on the Genesis (Desert Strike, Jungle Strike, Urban Strike) which also used tank controls- but I don't think they're that bad. You just go "I want my character to go forward. So you hold up. It's that easy.

[@jugandoclasicos]

I miss those types of games, they were incredible. I hope someone develops fixed camera games.

[@andyalain6212]

I think the fixed camera has a charm all of its own. It's a shame we don't see it anymore. It allows you to have a cinematic vision, to show what the developer wants to show, but without cutting off the action with a cinematic. When I started playing serious computer games on Steam, my first purchase was going to be a Resident Evil. And I asked myself whether I should start with the fixed camera of RE1 or the shoulder-mounted camera of RE4. RE1 (2002) was the very first horror game I really got into. A great way to get started. I prefer RE2 on PS1, which I found more rhythmic and controlled. As for RE4, it has not stolen its title as one of the best games of all time, with its meticulous level design and a combat system that is still refreshing 20 years later.

[@Joe_334]

When your house is the save point in this fixed camera world we seem to live in. 😂😂😂

[@felixvids7238]

glad to have you back :D

[@HaakonAnderson]

N64 RE2 actually has an option for somewhat dynamic control and it works wonderfully

[@patrickbailey2799]

Good video. This touches on the time and genre of games I played growing up with and loving. Thanks for the clip of Echoes of the Living too. Looks great!

[@nmrn148]

I call this the cinematic age of gaming

[@thebaffman4898]

This kind of setup with fixed camera angles is, surprisingly, much easier to do in Unreal Engine.

[@Krazy_Kenny]

Wow, you're such a genius. 15 year old me wasn't able to figure that out. Thanks for letting me know the real reason for Resident Evil graphics after almost 30 years. 😒😒😒😒🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

[@musachi5999]

Solid video essay/tutorial. Pretty awesome, thanks.

[@dorktales254]

We saw that peach at 2:23

[@candybeans]

Amazing that even after two years and some mishaps, you still got this one out the door. And I learned that this worked pretty much the way I expected, but it was neat to see from the dev side.

[@alexanderwingeskog758]

Also done with The Last Ninja series on C64 btw... which also was awesome 10 years earlier (lots of games had this ofc, but that just came into my mind... beautiful static scenery and character/gameplay got focused and turned out beautifully!

[@scottlurker991]

I remember the exploit in N64 Goldeneye where you'd strafe and use the tank controls at the same time to move twice as fast.

[@MemoirsofaGamer1982]

It's such a genius way. I miss technical limitations; it made people more creative and inventive

[@zerozeroone4424]

Not only do i want a new RESI game in this fixed camera, jpeg style. But i want a new Mortal Kombat game to use "digitized"actors and backgrounds, but instead of being pixelated it's all in true 4k or even 8k quality. Smooth fluid video or animation too