The Low Tech Way Resident Evil Tricked You

[@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.

[@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.

[@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 🤣

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@monsterrun]

art direction over graphics complexity.

[@inplane9970]

It's like comparing listening to a song and reading its lyrics. Two very different experiences, with listening being more enticing because you can hear the vision and direction behind the artists'. The lyrics themselves can be amazing, but the lack of direction could make it lackluster.

[@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.

[@jeffreymontoya9933]

This is true of many art forms. Limitations breed inspiration and ingenuity. 👍

[@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.

[@SammEater]

Also, since you are using Crash as an example, the level designs in those games are even made with this limitation in mind, in both 3D and 2D sections.

[@KasumiRINA]

@@SammEater Yeah that's why widescreen patches work so bad in Crash as the game just outright doesn't draw most elements of levels outside the normal screen. Spider-Man games and Silent Hill used fog to hide buildings popping out in the distance as PS1 was NOT made to render entire CITIES.

[@SammEater]

@@KasumiRINA Yeah, this is one of the reasons why I never use widescreen mods for games that were not designed for it.

[@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

[@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

[@garethjohnstone9282]

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

[@JaxBlade]

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

[@PopStrikers]

Thanks dude! 👍

[@luismarques8905]

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

[@GameTalesHQ]

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

[@VincentDuDouze]

"Resident Evil" (Biohazard in Japan 1993) is a copy of "alone in the dark" (1992) in many ways !

[@perholmstrom9789]

I do not believe I had to scroll this far down to find a comment about Alone in the dark. Yes, there are ALOT of similarities, events ("zombie chicken" jumping throught the window later mirrored by the zombie dog in Resident Evil) , camera angles etc. I really like this video, so I found it annoying that Alone in the dark wasn't mentioned since it also had prerendered backgrounds.

[@sudafedup]

Resident Evil was '96.

[@rolandomamuri4809]

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

[@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

[@EliahNebb]

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

[@PopStrikers]

Thank you!

[@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.

[@dixie_rekd9601]

Final fantasy 7 famously merged full motion video and fixed backgrounds to transition from one to the other 'seamlessly'

[@kylespevak6781]

@@Stinkyremy Facts, but I meant for stuff that's very visible to the player. I believe most games up until the HD generation used that

[@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.

[@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.

[@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.

[@korawichbikedashcam6293]

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

[@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.

[@2l84me8]

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

[@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 👍

[@SmogHobbit]

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

[@natephoenix]

Great video, learned a lot from it as someone who knows nothing about game dev or unity. I have all of the RE2 (and RE1.5) pre-rendered backgrounds saved myself, and they're such a joy to look through. Whoever the artists were that painted them really put a lot of thought into them, as (for example) you can you see buildings you ran past on the streets from certain angles in the RPD exterior. It's an underappreciated art and needs more recognition.

[@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.

[@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.

[@ArneChristianRosenfeldt]

I did wonder how Sierra Online "Space Quest II" worked. I figured that they have some z-buffer implemented in software.

[@jackbauer9901]

@@philcoast1031 Good point. I would probably implement it like this: Fill the color buffer with the prerendered background. Fill the Z buffer with the depth information of the prerendered background. Render the player model on top with depth testing disabled but depth writing enabled. This way the Z buffer gets updated in those regions where the player model is rendered. Finally render the prerendered background image on top of that again but update only those pixels where the Z value of the background is closer to the camera. This approach should give correct transparency as well.

[@demontongue9893]

The dog crashing through the window scene in resident evil 1 is one of the most iconic pieces of horror since the genre was documented.

[@Onigumo.]

That and hearing a window crashing when going downstairs until Nemy pops up

[@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.

[@jangleleg117]

Whenever I come across a new channel, sometimes I'm too quick to judge but I was pleasantly surprised. I was like "wtf is this ner- ...oh, I see what you did there". The way your yard looked so static while you walked across it, it looked just like a fixed camera game. Nice work on the video. For me, fixed cameras are solely in place for extra fear factor/suspense while approaching corners and exploring the game. Even after Resident Evil 4 and 5 came out, remakes of the first 3, ports to the Nintendo DS even, were still bangers for the old feel. And by old feel, I don't mean nostalgia, but the fixed camera changes the feel of the whole game. You got yourself another subscriber.

[@ianmatthewkline8279]

Your insight into the camera angles and cinematography is spot on. Totally agree

[@PopStrikers]

Thank you!

[@myvideosetc.8271]

Original "Alone in the Dark" has entered the chat.

[@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

[@ninjapirate47]

Right,mate. You're getting a sub for 2 reasons and 2 reasons alone. This is my first video of yours and I'm only a minute and half in. 1. You're using the cell music from RE1 which always gets overlooked in favour of the save room (also amazing). Golden. 2. You showed that tech demo that came with the PS1 with the manta ray and the dinosaur. I remember Christmas morning and being blown away by that. Subbed. Well played.

[@PopStrikers]

Glad to have you. Enjoy the rest of the video!

[@leostarings2535]

This video made me appreciate " syphon filter " series and how fluid the 3D actions were despite the limitations of the PS1

[@PopStrikers]

Was literally just talking with my friend how the taser in Syphon Filter is the best weapon in games lol

[@DaSlotho]

5:00 that was beautiful how u acted that on ya back porch even slowing down to slowey walk up the steps

[@SergioLeRoux]

Resident Evil fixed camera angles and pre-rendered backgrounds, the spiritual successor to Alone In The Dark fixed camera angles and pre-rendered backgrounds.

[@Simp4Gwyn]

I subscribed literally as soon as i finished the video, what an amazing topic and way of talking. Cant wait for more!

[@patyos2]

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

[@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

[@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!

[@CounterPunchGames]

Pretty much everyone I know that played back in the day knew the backgrounds were 2D and we were kids lol.

[@CharlieRacing83]

Alone in the dark for PC in 1992 was the first horror game i know using this technique

[@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.

[@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

[@emocelot]

pillars of eternity did something similar, though i suppose with just 1 camera from 1 angle you can move, while the "map" itself was a 2d painting with 3d things imposed on top.

[@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.

[@Rockman-4]

That's why it's better to play these games using Retroarch with crt shaders.

[@oyentemaniatico]

this was great man, do more

[@PopStrikers]

Working on it 👍

[@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).

[@Keskinkilicnr1]

To come up with this idea alone, at a time when graphics performance and computing capacity were very low, pure genius.

[@basedprime6979]

Happy to see youre doing videos again!!!

[@PopStrikers]

Happy to be back

[@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.

[@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.

[@XzaroX]

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

[@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.

[@vtoumpakaris]

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

[@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.

[@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 👍

[@mithrillis]

I think we kind of have a form of spiritual successor to fixed camera angle games in VR games with "doll stages". Instead of a a pseudo-3D game with fixed 2D background and a fixed camera, you now have a full 3D game with fixed 3D background and a moveable camera restricted to the same vantage point. You play by interacting with a "doll house", which is generally an entire level rendered at once, and the character you control moves through the environment without shifting the camera (the camera is only controlled by your head). Just like pre-rendered background games blend 2D and 3D techniques together, these doll house games blend flat 3D and full 3D, and provides a way for newcomers to ease into VR gaming.

[@snicklefritzed]

Camera angles were everything in the early RE games. I'll never forget the fixed camera angle on the doorframe in front of the bathroom (the one with the tub zombie) in the 2001 RE1 after the L shaped hallway with the dogs and windows. It gave you this portrait view of your character that you couldn't find anywhere else

[@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.

[@karlk5801]

The Low Tech Way Resident Evil Tricked You, Judy Juracek

[@ZiddersRooFurry]

@@karlk5801 Not sure what this means but ok.

[@karlk5801]

@@ZiddersRooFurry I thought it would be funny if the "You" in the video title wasn't standard clickbait but was specifically addressed to Judy Juracek who actually did get tricked. Sorry to bother you

[@Sketchcraft]

Man, I really wish more games these days would tap into the magic of pre-rendered backgrounds. Seriously, it's like a lost art. You could slash the budget in half while still delivering some jaw-dropping visuals.

[@bradydyson65]

The RE1 remake was so beautifully rendered and cinematic, and for me, that was a huge part of what made it so scary.

[@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.

[@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.

[@Lumibear.]

This was informative and fun, thank you for your time & effort in getting this out there.

[@TonikoPantoja]

I loved this video!! Makes me want to learn about 3d and game design since I love low poly aesthetics. thanks!

[@JaceFalcon]

Ive always wanted them to bring pre rendered backrounds back for more games

[@erebo._.sapien]

The "fixed camera angles bit" was wicked neat.

[@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!!

[@chrishoward3733]

Final fantasy 7,8 and 9 did the same thing. The only parts of those games that were not pre rendered were the overworld travels and battles.

[@MisterVercetti]

Another fun fact about the pre-rendered backgrounds is that it allowed the environment artists to add far more detail than what rendering software at the time would allow. The actual rendered image was usually fairly basic, only containing the bare essentials. The environment artists would then open the base image in editing software and add in all of the minute details, thus bringing the scene to life. This is what gave us the debris littering the streets of Raccoon City, or the smudges and bloodstains on the walls of the Spencer Mansion. I'd imagine that, out of the development time for a typical PS1-era RE game, the overwhelming majority went into the environments.

[@BRZguy]

Modern horror games seem really watered down in comparison to old games like Resident Evil and Alone in the Dark. A lot of the scariest parts of those games was that fixed camera angle and the slow tank controls. A lot of modern horror games feel more like action shooters than actual horror games.

[@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.

[@amcclry619]

the acted out scenes crack me up, they're perfect

[@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.

[@bpcgos]

More breakdown like this would be awesome,thank you...

[@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.

[@KimPossibleShockwave]

It's also why a lot of Resident Evil mods can create basically authentic new backgrounds that wouldn't have been out of place in the original trilogy. All you need is Photoshop at the minimum to create a matte background; combine that with some software like Blender, and you can create some pretty awesome stuff. Edit: Same deal with MUGEN games, like the Mortal Kombat ones; you can create entirely new stages, or edit old ones, with Photoshop. it's amazing.

[@antoniostrina82]

The first Biohazard derives from the MS-DOS series Alone in the Dark, that were the first games that used the camera angles. Frédérick Raynal created it to make the atmosphere. Atmosphere is something that isn't implemented in modern horror games because players want a FPS instead of an adventure game. In fact, isn't supposed that the player should have a perfect cognition of the enemies or traps at any corner, it's supposed to create an sense of terror and claustrophobia (solitude in larger areas). It's supposed not to have an action environment but a puzzle solving one. It's like to claim that point-and-click games don't give the player a total freedom to move the character, but it doesn't make any sense. What ruined the horror/adventure games was that FPS players wanted to change horror/adventure into action, and they didn't have any care about the horror fans, they simply invaded their territory. Obviously, part of the guilty is on the software house developer's heads, who used well known game brands instead of creating some titles apart of the original game series. Changing the subject, I've nothing to say about the technical part, which is well explained. Nice video indeed.

[@MiQuentin]

Oh tom’s doing videos? Sweet

[@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!

[@thesaveroomsays]

Wonderful dissection

[@fleiteh]

It's definitely one of my favorite styles. Game developers should really embrace this technique again.

[@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.

[@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

[@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.

[@JoaoLuis_MB]

Loved the Digimon World's soundtrack on background! Nice video!

[@byoutifulmonster]

Ohh shit, I was wondering who the hell this was when I got the notification. Glad you're back

[@RoninKiheiji]

I almost didn't recognize Tommy either.

[@U-Flame]

Ye same, I was wondering if I had accidentally subscribed to some random channel, glad to see it was just a rebranding for someone I always look forward to seeing

[@saryakan]

Fuck, I just did Midway when reading this comment.

[@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

[@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.

[@HouseTrapJay]

Takes a lot to impressive me with a video on classic Resident Evil, but damn this was one of the best ways of presenting this topic I've ever seen. 10/10

[@PopStrikers]

Thanks dude, glad you enjoyed it.

[@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!

[@felixvids7238]

glad to have you back :D

[@evilreiko]

11:47 Thumbs up for Digimon World music, true OG Thanks for explaining this , it will definitely help me in improving my game

[@andrelegeant88]

The remasters of REmake provide the best compromise for tank vs 3D controls. If you don't lift off the d-pad/analog stick, character still moves forward a la tank controls. If you let off, you input direction based on the camera angle. That method basically solves the worst thing about fixed camera angles.