The Resident Evil 4 HD undertaking started in 2014 and, eight years or so down the road, is lastly full and can launch February 2nd. You could be questioning why this undertaking exists in any respect, provided that developer Capcom has re-released Resident Evil 4 itself in a number of HD variations, and the reply is: They weren’t so good.
The model of Resident Evil 4 that arrived on Steam in 2014 was technically high-definition, however lacked primary customisation choices and the textures had merely been made a little bit sharper. It simply did not look the half, or do justice to among the finest video games ever made. So the Resident Evil HD undertaking determined that if Capcom wasn’t going to do it correctly, they might: It is a an enormous texture and asset overhaul for the PC model of Resident Evil 4, which recreates the textures for each background, merchandise and character within the recreation.
To provide an concept of the dedication right here, one of many two predominant creators Albert Marin actually retraced Capcom’s footsteps to places like Raglan Fortress in Wales and the Palau Güell in Barcelona to {photograph} most of the identical textures used within the authentic recreation, however at a lot larger resolutions.
“I collected a large number of places the sport’s builders use as supply materials,” Marin told The Verge last year. “Most textures are re-created from scratch utilizing some texture library photos as a base. The unique textures have to be analyzed a number of instances with the intention to make certain the brand new supply photos match by way of colour, lighting, and even the fabric.
“For instance, a rock texture: It could sound like a straightforward problem, and it’s, in case you don’t have an authentic texture you must be trustworthy to. You’ll be able to’t think about how sophisticated it may be to discover a rock floor that matches with the unique among the many a whole bunch of various sorts of rocks nature has to supply!”
A part of the enchantment of this undertaking is that Resident Evil 4 is a type of titles that got here on the tail-end of SD residence shows, and this was integrated into the visible design: Primarily, there is a good case that this seems higher in SD, the place the textures are a little bit blurrier and mix collectively, than in an HD model that merely upscales what’s already there. The purpose of this undertaking from the beginning has been constancy to the unique recreation’s visuals which, because the video above exhibits, appears to have been achieved. The bottom-up recreation of textures, unsurprisingly, achieves significantly better outcomes than a easy decision enhance.
The Resident Evil 4 HD Challenge will launch February 2.
