Why Capcom will not go back to pre-rendered backgrounds

[Det. Beauregard]

I'm a bit lost with your statement, are you saying that RE5's real-time environments look more detailed than REmake's pre-rendered backgrounds?... That's what I'm talking about. I'm not comparing character models or the like.

Are you talking about graphics (e.g. sharpness of textures) or the level of environmental detail? Remake looked better than any game circa 2002; hell, it looks better than a lot of games now! But still, the actual graphics of RE5 are better. Are the environments of RE5 as interesting, immersive, or detailed as those of Remake? Of course not.

[SonicBlue]

I'm a bit lost with your statement, are you saying that RE5's real-time environments look more detailed than REmake's pre-rendered backgrounds?... That's what I'm talking about. I'm not comparing character models or the like.

This example is stupid, but:



It's easy to spot, one of them is 250.000 polys, one is 5.000 and another is ~2.000, which is which?

[yurieu]

Spoiler:

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third, 250k, 2nd 5000, 2000 is the 1st.

[shanemurphy]

The middle one is the 2000.

[SonicBlue]

Spoiler:

show spoiler

third, 250k, 2nd 5000, 2000 is the 1st.

Eheheh, wrong!

Spoiler:

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I think I can go even lower, something like 1.000-1.200 polys, this to mean that you don't need pre rendered backgrounds to represent highly detailed objects. Just use a few tricks and pay attention to texturing and lighting.

Edit:

And this is what happens if I bake it in Blender, still don't know why:




This is the same 2k mesh of the previous test.

Remember that the new games are developed with the consoles in mind, their hardware is from 2005, imagine what they can do now if the tools where optimized for the PC, and not crappy portings or buggy releases.

[shanemurphy]

Normal mapping is great but pre-rendered backgrounds will forever have the advantage, even if we get fantastic displacement mapping in the future the rendering will still be to much to compare to say Advent Children's visuals. Unreal Engine 4 has been shown and it is amazing but still not to the level of a CG movie or a REmake background.

[yurieu]

anyway, im tired to claim we must forget crappy consoles and go to a pc, people still going for console, but pc is a low-cost 10 times more powerful hardware. to create a highly detailed scenario, this recquire lots of anti aliasing, an high resolution, a 30gb only for HD textures like max payne 3, dozens of filters, imagine capcom doing this, its impossible. even this, it will not look like a static background, the best thing who improve the visuals is tesselation.

[MiLØ]

Are you talking about graphics (e.g. sharpness of textures) or the level of environmental detail? Remake looked better than any game circa 2002; hell, it looks better than a lot of games now! But still, the actual graphics of RE5 are better. Are the environments of RE5 as interesting, immersive, or detailed as those of Remake? Of course not.

I don't know man, you kinda contradict yourself: REmake is the best circa 2002 and is still kicking ass by today's standards yet RE5's graphics are better. And the environments of REmake are richer than those of RE5 yet RE5 is the winner...? I just don't see your point there.

And I think it's a little unfair to compare two different techniques that those two games used for their graphics. It's like we shouldn't compare artists from Realism to Impressionism, cause they have a different approach in their art.

[Det. Beauregard]

I don't know man, you kinda contradict yourself: REmake is the best circa 2002 and is still kicking ass by today's standards yet RE5's graphics are better. And the environments of REmake are richer than those of RE5 yet RE5 is the winner...? I just don't see your point there.

Perhaps I could have worded it a little better.

I think the environments in the old RE games (RE2, for example) are all more immersive and detailed than those of the newer games. The actual graphics of the textures aren't as good, but they contain more details (as in items lying about). The graphics of the details aren't as high quality as those of RE5, though.

Make more sense? I don't know how else I can explain it.

[Mrox2]

IMO, CODE: Veronica is the only Resident Evil game fully rendered in real-time that still feels like a proper Resident Evil game atmospherically. To some extent, the Outbreaks do too, but the fact that they're side games with new characters that don't really have any relevance to the main plot, doesn't help.

Lies , Veronica effects the main plot , and it's a part of the canon , they only changed the name due to some development issues that involved RE3 & CV.

[Det. Beauregard]

Lies , Veronica effects the main plot , and it's a part of the canon , they only changed the name due to some development issues that involved RE3 & CV.

Um... he was talking about the Outbreak games...

[shanemurphy]

anyway, im tired to claim we must forget crappy consoles and go to a pc, people still going for console, but pc is a low-cost 10 times more powerful hardware. to create a highly detailed scenario, this recquire lots of anti aliasing, an high resolution, a 30gb only for HD textures like max payne 3, dozens of filters, imagine capcom doing this, its impossible. even this, it will not look like a static background, the best thing who improve the visuals is tesselation.

Well there will always be room for consoles, for example you can't get your Halo 4 or Uncharted on the PC, but I'm just happy we do get games like RE on the PC at a later time and DMC4 and RE5 blossomed on the PC so I have high hopes for the RE6 port.

[Enigmatism415]

They won't go back for a simple reason:
Pre-Rendered Graphics were a good way of increasing old-gen graphics.
We're not in the old generation anymore, graphics got better, Pre-Rendered Graphics today is something pointless.

Hogwash. The artists will simply craft backgrounds that are more beautiful and detailed than anything currently possible with real-time rendering.

[Enigmatism415]

Your video is hilarious, by the way...