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

[Kegluneq]

Similarly I can see why they scrapped grenades. You can understand their inclusion in BIO4, with its open areas and ability to aim precisely. But they're not exactly convenient in 1.5, at least from what I can tell. Maybe when IGAS get them up and going again I might think differently. Even for "crowd control" they seem superfluous since the grenade launcher/shotgun do the job faster and with more immediately pleasing results.

Gameplay balance for each character, I'm assuming. Something which Resident Evil 2 always lacked. Even when they tried to correct it - they just fucked it further; or maybe it was an intentional fuck you for everyone who complained about Claire's scenario.

[News Bot]

I thought retail BIO2 was balanced pretty well, they wanted difference rather than equalization. The latter would be easier and pretty boring if both characters were even keel. I still think they could've cut down on Leon's arsenal a little.

[Kegluneq]

I thought retail BIO2 was balanced pretty well, they wanted difference rather than equalization. The latter would be easier and pretty boring if both characters were even keel. I still think they could've cut down on Leon's arsenal a little.

Did you think that Chris' and Jill's scenarios were boring? Sure, Jill might be a powerhouse for most of the game but when you go back to the Mansion, that small difference in vitality makes all the difference between being decap'd or not. In Leon's and Claire's scenario there's literally no reason to choose Claire because most of her arsenal is pure shit compared to Leon's. Even her special item pales in comparison to Leon's since all Leon needs is one Special Key which is located 2 or 3 rooms from the desktop he needs to open to get access to his Mod. Handgun.

I'd take BH1.5's scenarios if they were fully balanced, and I'm guessing that if Leon gets the shitty grenades while Elza gets the awesome Grenade Launcher, they were considering spicing things up a bit for both characters.

[News Bot]

Did you think that Chris' and Jill's scenarios were boring? Sure, Jill might be a powerhouse for most of the game but when you go back to the Mansion, that small difference in vitality makes all the difference between being decap'd or not. In Leon's and Claire's scenario there's literally no reason to choose Claire because most of her arsenal is pure shit compared to Leon's. Even her special item pales in comparison to Leon's since all Leon needs is one Special Key which is located 2 or 3 rooms from the desktop he needs to open to get access to his Mod. Handgun.

I'd take BH1.5's scenarios if they were fully balanced, and I'm guessing that if Leon gets the shitty grenades while Elza gets the awesome Grenade Launcher, they were considering spicing things up a bit for both characters.

Indeed, just depends on how the balance was implemented. I think 1.5 has too many weapons but the vitality of the enemies may have justified them. All depends on the specifics of the game's design... which we're not privy to and probably weren't finished.

[Kegluneq]

Indeed, just depends on how the balance was implemented. I think 1.5 has too many weapons but the vitality of the enemies may have justified them. All depends on the specifics of the game's design... which we're not privy to and probably weren't finished.

I doubt the final build would have those things implemented. They needed a clear picture before testing out and balancing this stuff. There are portions of the game that seem unfinished and there's a good reason for that. I'm assuming it has something to do with item location, puzzle solutions, resource allocation and the likes. They needed these locations finished before deciding how to manage each character. In retrospective, this might explain why 2's so unbalanced - they started planning the game with Leon so when they switched it over to Claire they were forced to adapt her gameplay features to what was created for Leon. In 1.5's case it's a design nightmare because you need to go back and forth to see what fits a certain character and what doesn't. What I'd like to know is how they did this stuff for BH1. Whatever way they choose to design that one worked out fine.

[Deathlygasm]

I waited 6 years for Black Mesa to come out I remember there being many months of no updates a few weeks doesn't mean its cancelled it just means they have nothing worthy to update us with. They've also only been working on the project for under 2 years we assume and I believe only 2 or 3 people are even working on the project in the first place. The only advantage they have over capcom is better tools.

[Deathlygasm]

I thought retail BIO2 was balanced pretty well, they wanted difference rather than equalization. The latter would be easier and pretty boring if both characters were even keel. I still think they could've cut down on Leon's arsenal a little.

Personally I am all for IGAS scrapping the grenades all together they seriously seem very boring and sucky

Similarly I can see why they scrapped grenades. You can understand their inclusion in BIO4, with its open areas and ability to aim precisely. But they're not exactly convenient in 1.5, at least from what I can tell. Maybe when IGAS get them up and going again I might think differently. Even for "crowd control" they seem superfluous since the grenade launcher/shotgun do the job faster and with more immediately pleasing results.

I agree Leons game is just too easy due to his insanly powerful arsenal every boss is no match for his magnum he gets while in Claire's game the final battle in Scenario A takes around 15-16 acid rounds total

[NEOMEGA]

In terms of the cutscene of marvin in the room before the warehouse, It pretty difficult to read in MZD because the text keeps moving off screen. Its a pretty lengthy cutscene.

Similarly I can see why they scrapped grenades. You can understand their inclusion in BIO4, with its open areas and ability to aim precisely. But they're not exactly convenient in 1.5, at least from what I can tell. Maybe when IGAS get them up and going again I might think differently. Even for "crowd control" they seem superfluous since the grenade launcher/shotgun do the job faster and with more immediately pleasing results.

I'm ok with the grenades. It really feels like Leon needed to compensate for the loss of the 1 remaining grenade launcher in the area that was taken by someone else. I'm all about variety and I like the gameplay change. But the fact that claire cant even get a shotgun in retail is a bit much. Why the hell would Robert be holding a CROSSBOW as choice of weapon in a gunshop? Did he really not have his own personal stash of weapons in there?
This is one of the few instances I can agree that the limping change in retail was a better choice however it is a shame due to the amount of detail that went into the tearing engine, with different parts of the body showing tear only if the player is hit there like front torso/back torso/leg. It is possible that they wanted to hold off on this feature for future entries for gradual feature introduction but they never did so I dont know about that.

[News Bot]

Robert only has a crossbow/shotgun because he gave all the shop's guns away to civilians.

[Guest]

Wow, people think Claire's arsenal is bad? I must be the only person who actually prefers the Crosbow and Grenade Launcher over the Shotgun. Claire's arsenal has to be used intelligently; bolts deal decent damage up close and take out walls of zombies with few problems, the grenade rounds all have unique properties and each enemy type has a weakness to a particular round. That I find more interesting than linearly killing enemies with no extra thought besides positioning, distance and aim. With understanding you can finish the game having plenty of ammo to spare, there's nothing bad about it at all.

[J0shuaKane]

if you weren't so hell-bent on calling me a liar before

i think maybe something got confused somewhere, or i don't remember that. i have called you alot of things but i dont remember you lying about anything. i always thought we held some amount of respect for each other.

"Knowledge" isn't power on an Internet forum about a video game. The reason I'm rather liked is because I'm generally pretty awesome. Whether it be due to being nice to those that are nice themselves, being helpful, good conversation, etc. Some people just don't have behavior or an attitude deserving of respect, so that's exactly what they don't get from me.

I don't think of video games in general seriously either. Even in the most "heated" of arguments, I'm fairly ":|"
There's no anger, hatred or even genuine annoyance. Text isn't the best source to judge someone's character. At the same time, the things you express within text can be pretty shitty. Just like the disrespect and entitlement issues of some people here.

it just seems like you being right all the time in the knowledge department makes your opinions of people and what they think come of as fact, and nothing less. but like you said text is not a good way to judge someones intent from a statement you are right about that

i know what it is like to have statements mistaken for malice, and i don't think you aim to insult people, but you still speak coarsely, knowing it will rub people the wrong way, and justify it by saying it's their fault. i don't mind personally, but it doesn't make for a friendly atmosphere of free discussion.

like grammy flash always says, "the problem with eye for an eye is everybody ends up blind."


@geluda: i agree with you about the weapons 100%, using leons is more fun, but claires arsenal is more intense to play with.

[Kegluneq]

Wow, people think Claire's arsenal is bad? I must be the only person who actually prefers the Crosbow and Grenade Launcher over the Shotgun. Claire's arsenal has to be used intelligently; bolts deal decent damage up close and take out walls of zombies with few problems, the grenade rounds all have unique properties and each enemy type has a weakness to a particular round. That I find more interesting than linearly killing enemies with no extra thought besides positioning, distance and aim. With understanding you can finish the game having plenty of ammo to spare, there's nothing bad about it at all.

That's the problem though. Claire doesn't offer any options beyond the Grenade Launcher and the Handgun. For the Grenade Launcher, you can pretty much use the Burst Rounds for Zombies, Cerberus and Lickers. Then you have the Flame Rounds for support against any other enemies but perfect against the Ivys. And there's the Acid Rounds for dealing with Lickers and bosses. Provided there's not wasteful use of ammunition, this can be used in conjunction with the Handgun and still have plenty of ammo to spare while keeping two slots free for the duration of the game (another necessary condition given that Claire must carry that Lighter for a good portion of the game).

Let's pretend we're going to play Hard Mode. You can scrap that Crossbow. My first mistake was thinking that going through the archive room with the thought that the Crossbow would make my life easier. Wrong. Enemies' HP is so amped up that you need 12 fucking bolts to drop one zombie on the ground. It's pathetically weak and slow against hordes of zombies. If I wanted to take a swing at a Licker with that thing, I needed to be across the room, fire about 12 bolts and immediately switch over to the handgun to finish it. Much faster and simple to walk to it, force it into sonar position, wait for it to come down and move past it. Bosses? G-Creature is a pain in the ass with its devil spawns. Birkin II is better dealt with the Spark Shot. Birkin III and Birkin IV is a waste of free slots for herbs or FAS.

Where the Crossbow really shines, and this is the big fuck you towards everyone who complained about Claire, is Extreme Battle. First because Claire doesn't have the Crossbow - the point is exactly that. Strip away that from her and empower her with the most destructive and powerful weapon of the game and voila. Game breaking character that tears everything apart even on LV.3. Then you move that Crossbow towards a character that actually makes good use of it - Ada. No more bullshit. You need that Crossbow for dealing with two things: hordes of zombies and Ivys. This is literally the developing team admitting that they completely failed to balance the character's strengths' and weakness' and correcting that mistake. Irony: Leon is the most fucking difficult character to complete LV.3 with.

Point being, character balance went sideways when they decided that Claire and Leon would have the same attributes (no two slots gone, no difference in vitality, no new pathway and no extra ammo) and the only thing that would distinguish them would be the weapons they'd had access to. Worse, Claire gets the best and worst deal out of it - an insanely powerful weapon and a pitiful weak pew pew, while Leon is laughing off with his superior 18 bullet Handgun that can be modified for a 3-round burst, a devastating Shotgun that tears multiple enemies apart and the Magnum which is almost on par with the grenade launcher.

[Guest]

Very fair points! To be honest I've never played the game on hard, that's a challenge I might have to take up. For me flame rounds are good for crowds of zombies because they fall to the ground and burn even off indirect shots. Of course flame rounds for Ivy's and acid rounds for Lickers and bosses, explosive rounds are useful filler. The crossbow I just find a challenge and it makes a good alternative to the hand gun for preserving ammo, kind of compensation for not having the useful upgrade that Leon has.

Where the Crossbow really shines, and this is the big fuck you towards everyone who complained about Claire, is Extreme Battle. First because Claire doesn't have the Crossbow - the point is exactly that. Strip away that from her and empower her with the most destructive and powerful weapon of the game and voila. Game breaking character that tears everything apart even on LV.3.

LOL. XD

[RaccoonSurvivor]

Wow, people think Claire's arsenal is bad? I must be the only person who actually prefers the Crosbow and Grenade Launcher over the Shotgun. Claire's arsenal has to be used intelligently; bolts deal decent damage up close and take out walls of zombies with few problems, the grenade rounds all have unique properties and each enemy type has a weakness to a particular round. That I find more interesting than linearly killing enemies with no extra thought besides positioning, distance and aim. With understanding you can finish the game having plenty of ammo to spare, there's nothing bad about it at all.

This .. I agree - Claire's types of ammo needed to be thought about a little bit more. Flame rounds for plant enemies, acid for Lickers etc

I also think the grenades in 1.5 sucked, I mean, who in their right minds would throw a grenade in such confined spaces anyway LOL - shotgun kicks butt enough.
Not bothered either way what IGAS do with them, we don't HAVE to use them right..

[Carnivol]

^Yes. Discuss game stuff. Don't murder one another.

I'm quite fine with "human relations", thank you very much. I wonder how I get along just dandy with literally everyone I talk to personally, even when I argue with them regularly.

I can testify to this. You all see how much me and News Bot have been murdering eachother on the forums? There was this time a few years ago when we were getting a group chat going on Skype and everyone were all "'O'boy, o'boy, o'boy, o'boy!", 'cause we were secretly gonna have the fight of the century and I'd be tearing News Bot a new one, fuckin' 8 Mile style, and then ... he turned out to be like the sweetest little kid ever and everyone were sorta confused about whether we should all be disappointed or happy about it. True story.