Resident Evil 4 scandal?

[Dot50Cal]

While browsing the demo I came across something that is quite interesting and could explain the desparity between the gameplay models and the cutscene models.

It now appears that the Cutscenes (that were Real Time on the gamecube) are in fact just pre-rendered video files on the PS2 version! Ill have to look into this more, but I have so far found MANY of the cut scenes inside the demo itself. I have heard that Capcom plan to have a "demo theatre" where you can view all the cutscenes but its really unknown at this point if the files are being played or if the cutscenes are being rendered.

More details as I look into it to follow.

Also worth noting is the fact that a new Idle trailer has been added to the demo. It appears to be the same one that introduced the Ada's Seperate Ways senario to us. It could be a slightly modified version however I really dont have time to compare it right now.

For those who are curious its also displayed after the first "idle" trailer on the demo, which plays when you dont press any buttons at the title screen.

Its also worth noting that the disc itself has many files which arent used on the demo. Cutscenes like the battle with Del Lagos and even Saddler in his compound taking Ashley away from Leon via his mind control.

[A-J]

naah i dont think the scenes could be pre rendered, all the sites and capcom themselves have been hyping them up as real time, i dont think they'll lie about something this big, besides if they put pre rendered video's of ALL the cutscenes in the game then that would be just too huge for a single disc. wouldnt it ?

[Dot50Cal]

They are chopped up quite a bit and not very long.

Also some jackasses on the Gamefaqs board are asking how I cannot discern between in game footage and videos, well with the codec used on PS2 games it produces stunning quality with hardly any banding or artifacts. Its really quite hard to tell. I havent looked much into it yet but I will in a bit.

Hell, theres even a 6 second video of Leon's meeting with the Merchant inside the "blue cave". Why the hell would this be on the cut-scene viewer area?

[pogo]

I think they are pre-rendered also. I thought this before it was said they where in game, it makes sense. I would rather them pre rendered if it means the quality is higher.

Man that audio altering was doing my head in, I’d just get used to the compressed audio then something un compressed would kick in. the shotgun sounded to be louder and clearer than the handgun. Hopefully this was just something done quickly to rush the demo out but I doubt it since on the making of RE4 DVD they made quite a deal out of explaining the sound of the hand gun specifically. Another audio thing that I noticed was abit off was the walking sounds specifically when outside.

I noticed the jump in audio quality as soon as the cut scene kicked in. I doubt they have uncompressed audio for the cut scenes unless they where pre rendered. Can you skip them? If so, when skipping them is there any load time?

I notice the “loading” display from the PAL release of the game has been continued over to the PS2 one.

The hit detection seemed quite off as well there was a few instances where you clearly had hit the ganado and nothing happened. The appearance of the ganado is quite a bit more drastic than I was thinking it would be. Did anyone else notice that Leons coat wasn’t deforming the way it should? I thought they may have shifted the polys around to fix that. Not that big of a deal I guess.

[Borman]

Im glad i wasnt dreaming when I thought things were off

[Dot50Cal]

Yeah, its just too hard to tell at this point. There are long pauses before the Cutscenes are played but that could just mean the PS2 is taking a bit to remove all the on screen models and replace them with their high poly models.

I tried comparing the direct feed sfd's to my captured cutscenes but I really cant pin it down. The quality on them is just that good. I mean heck, its PS2. It uses a god damn DVD codec!

[A-J]

oh come on dot dont you think your looking into it a little too much, RE4's cutscenes arent' something uber special, other games have as good, if not better, in game rendered scenes too. I mean i have to agree with one point on the gamefaqs topic made by that uman something guy. Its a cutscene, it requires far less tasking then while your playing a game

[Dot50Cal]

Hey dont jump down my throat about it, Im just posting what I find. I have no fanboy stake in this. All I care about is Resident Evil.

Like I said, the jury is still out on it. I cant tell (I have it hooked up to my PC currently which runs it interlaced so its hard to tell) if they are or arent realtime. Even hooking it up to my TV might make it easier. I suppose Ill give it a go tommorow.

[griever13ro]

I can confirm that the cutscenes in the demo are pre rendered. I ripped the myself from the disc. And i can tell you how to do it, but i believe its againts the rules.

[James]

Originally posted by griever13ro
I can confirm that the cutscenes in the demo are pre rendered. I ripped the myself from the disc. And i can tell you how to do it, but i believe its againts the rules.

Yes, but that may just be there since they are needed to be played back during the Demo Theater mode.

[griever13ro]

The problem is that if they are prerendered the new costumes/gear will not appear in the cutscenes, like in DMC3...and thats a bad thing

[Dot50Cal]

Originally posted by griever13ro
The problem is that if they are prerendered the new costumes/gear will not appear in the cutscenes, like in DMC3...and thats a bad thing

Or they could just have two .or wait..three...no wait since you can make Ashleys and Leons optional....ahh crap. Thats one major strike against the theory. Nice one pointing that out.

Also just something I noticed again. The scene where Luis and Leon are about to be killed by the Axe Ganado. That scene is cut up into seperate video files exactly when different actions occur (a lot like Outbreak). It wouldnt be a stretch to imagine that Capcom could code the context sensitive buttons during cutscene VIDEO's and play the appropriate video file.

[Malice]

Man, all this technical mumbo jumbo is making my head hurt! Way I see it, if they game plays 95% as good as the Gamecube version, I'm fine with that. Any worse then that though, and I'll be pissed.

[pogo]

Well in RE4 on the Gamecube even some of the cutscenes where off (the guns in certain scenes would alter) but I really do think these are pre rendered. Dot, any evidence of the Krauser knife fight? Imagine how many video parts that would require.

I wonder how good this game must look for those with a PS2 that never had the chance to play the cube one.

[Dot50Cal]

I havent seen the Krauser Knife fight yet. Im gonna rip all of it and have a look-see.