Touching up all rooms before the Castle release (I)

Hi! And Merry Christmas to everyone!

I’m going to put the final touches to the Castle section of the game during the next weeks. In the meantime, I’m going to post a few of the latest edits I’m doing. 

At this point, I’d say this is the most we can do with this game! Textures, 3D edits,  lighting and effect edits…  Who would have imagined? … I definitely didn’t!!

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82 responses to “Touching up all rooms before the Castle release (I)”

  1. Alvare says:

    Good job ๐Ÿ™‚

  2. weirdo says:

    off the chain! this looks amazing

  3. Joey says:

    good,better,best,cris and albert.
    I was waiting for the castle release since the beginning of this project and (I hope) it will finally happen!
    I cant thank you enough for all your hard work and that you care so much for our beloved masterpiece RE4!
    This will be a whole new experience,thank you so much!!

  4. Vick S. Bateman says:

    Great work, and merry christmas to you and cris ๐Ÿ™‚

  5. HHH says:

    Thank you for this great update Albert and thank you Chris. My friends, i have great idea for re4 from you, only you can make this. As you know, re4 havent subtitles option even in english and even in new hd versions. Can you make subtitles options to cutscenes for this game? This is too easy for you because already subtitles of this game in internet (search in google “resident evil game script), you only adapted this lines to cutscenes. Please make this great thing Chris and Albert. I know there are lot of people want to happen this, please do this

  6. Lukas says:

    The scene in the prison cell with the dead ganado is just a ganado model in the original, but it would add a lot if you made it gorier, like have it look like he’s been ripped apart by the monsters.

  7. vvoyche says:

    Being able to improve so many things beside textures is insane! This is another level man!
    Your skills improved so much, I hope you’ll revisit village section after project is complete and use everything you learned to make it perfect.

  8. NEGAARMAX says:

    De verdad amo su trabajo *ยฌ*
    Espero que hayan tenido una feliz navidad.
    Saludos.

  9. Michael says:

    Great work! This project will be a huge success.

  10. Shoboni says:

    RE4 is one of my favorite games and I can’t wait to fire up the Steam version again to playthrough with this graphical overhaul once it’s all complete.

    it looks amazing and really breathes new life into the badly aging texture work.

  11. Frank Nitty says:

    Thanks once again guys, it looks great. U never cease to amaze w/ all the work u’ve done w/ the game

  12. wasabi says:

    good job, please continue

  13. sean says:

    the coloring of salazar seems off like hes a bit blueish now instead of white, I wish I could see him from different angles cuz he just seems a little weird. I also dont like how smooth and new the treasure chests are, they look much more beat up in the original. Iv said it before but that seems to be a problem with a lot of the wood textures is that they dont look “rough” anymore. otherwise i think your work is great

    • Alvare says:

      There’s blushish because it is natural to be that way when light is coming through a blue church window and if there are blue flames next to the surface. If one thing, it’d be the original that looks weird.

      The chest I can agree with. As a chest lover.. yes I really like the shape of them, I think there’s still something to do with it’s 3D design. Maybe bevel the planks in the geometry a bit.

      • Palito says:

        Yes, I also agree with the chest, the gold part looks too clean I guess :P. Happy xmas xD

        • Alvare says:

          Happy xmas to you too.
          Maybe chamfer modifier to soften out those hard edges will make it look better. SMIM Skyrim <– look at how the chest looks in the preview.

      • Boris says:

        The chest is just a little unfortunate looking. i think it could be improved by:

        >Darkening (or dirtying) the red and gold more (or just changing the red)
        >Making the lines between the planks more evident somehow
        >Making the gold sides of the top true semi circles (not sure if possible)

        Another problem for me is just the uniqueness of the chest itself. Repeating textures aren’t a problem if it’s something mundane like a barrel. But unless Salazar ordered these tasteless chests in bulk I doubt there would be so many identical ones. I would actually prefer it if they were mostly brown instead of red. I’m sure others wouldn’t.

        • albert says:

          No problem about the 2 first!
          About the 3rd, there are no real curves. All 3D geometry in the game is made of plain polygons, so the only way would be adding more polygons but I think the chest is round enough.

          About the problem with the same chest all over the game: I really don’t see it as a problem. It has the same logic than finding ammo and Raccoon city plants inside of them or Ingrid Hunnigan telling Leon she send him a playing manual ;P

          • Alvare says:

            In my opinion the planks of the chest need to look slightly more 3D, perhaps slightly worn out round edged planks that overlap one another, creating depth and shadow to the model (Adding a additional polygon strip underneath that with a shadow gradient to fake AO). Btw, I know you managed to make the metal doors shine with some specular effects before, perhaps you could do a tiny bit of shine to the chest’s golden frame too, just a tiny bit. ๐Ÿ™‚

          • albert says:

            Yep, but I’d need to add a new bumpmap for every single room with the chest and that’s time consuming. So, I need to check if the improvements would be really signiticant. The specular effect is barely noticeable in tiny models. But I’d give a try!

        • Alvare says:

          “Yep, but Iโ€™d need to add a new bumpmap for every single room with the chest and thatโ€™s time consuming. So, I need to check if the improvements would be really significant. The specular effect is barely noticeable in tiny models. But Iโ€™d give a try!”
          You’re right. Haha, always first focus on the model itself instead of these subtle effects. ๐Ÿ˜›

      • albert says:

        I was tempted to do that but my prudent side stopped me: If I bevel this I’d need to bevel the entire game. Then the project will reach to an end in… 2047… more or less XD

    • albert says:

      Hi!
      The colours of Salazar statua changed because I removed the wrong red tone in this room. Also, I made the lights slightly more blueish because of the reasons Alvare mentioned.
      About the chest, this was one of the firts textures we made. So, we probably will touch up and copy-paste them to all the rooms at some point. But I wanted to show the 3D edits I made to the model ๐Ÿ˜‰
      On a side note, low-res and sharpened textures look always more gritty and rough than HD textures. There are some ways to compensate this and there are a few textures (mostly wooden textures) that should be touched up
      Thanks for sharing your thoughts! ๐Ÿ™‚

      • sean says:

        thanks for the response, will you be returning the red tone? I liked how the statue was an off white I always thought it was made of ivory ;D

        The wood in your textures was the first big turn off for me when I found your work (still excited for it to finish) but I noticed the wood in the village (sign posts and specifically the big gate ashley climbs over) they are so flat and smooth. You replied to me a while back about it saying they were older screenshots.

        I know “HD” gets rid of the grit, and in many instances I notice it and its not a big deal (the paintings throughout the castle are amazing) but I think specifically with wood textures it really needs more grit!

        • therealest says:

          Yeah, the Salazaar statue looks uglier because of the blue/purple hue, but it’s more consist with the purple fire. Here’s the PS4 updated version: https://youtu.be/BzDtkif_RjU?t=16m59s He’s staying true to the original vision and the physics of light by having it cast that tint.

          Everything will look good when you are close up to it in-game. Far away, compared to the original it looks over detailed and too blue etc., but that’s just the nature of the screenshots.

          • albert says:

            Again, PS4 is identical to PC regarding colour and broken effects (unfortunately)
            And yes, comparisons are odious XD
            Anyway, we are comparing the original PC version which have that broken red effect. And it doesn’t help. It makes the HD revision to look even more cold.
            I’m really happy with the results and I can asure you it’s a pleasure to play the game this way ๐Ÿ™‚
            I really hope you’ll understand all changes when you play and see the game by yourselves! I can’t wait!!

            Thank you everyone for your comments and support!!

        • albert says:

          Don’t mention it!
          That colour wasn’t intentional. It was just a side efect of a broken effect that engulf the entire screen and made some rooms to look more red and overexposed than others when compared with the original Gamecube.
          So, the red tone is a bug that appeared during the conversion from Camcube/Wii to HC consoles. It’s gone for the best and it won’t come back never… it’s a promise! ๐Ÿ˜›

          Yep, no worries we’ll revise some of those wooden textures! ๐Ÿ˜‰

      • sean says:

        also the keyhole is so tiny, idk maybe a large keyhole is unrealistic but it just seems off with the smaller size

  14. Alireza says:

    Well done bro.
    Capcom really must have shit himself by seeing this…

  15. RE4LOVER says:

    And another awesome work as always! I wanted to ask you guys if youre going to remaster the in-game weapon models in the future, cuz they are actually still the old and bad looking, Capcom only remastered the inventory and inspect models! Also found out when playing Separate Ways, Capcom was so lazy that it still uses the old PS2/GC cutscenes and videos and they are really really bad looking, will you remaster them too? I also noticed the non-sense in the main game cutscenes, there are some cutscenes that show Leon only with the original and default costume, then there are cutscenes which show him with the tactical vest, then there are only 1-2 cutscenes that change depending on costume, so they are different for Default Costume, and different for R.P.D. costume, then there are the radio transmission cutscenes where the costume always changes, and finally, there are no cutscenes showing Leon with the Special 2 costume. It just seems like a really big non-sense and I dont really understand it, it just seems funny to me ๐Ÿ˜€ cheers guys

    • therealest says:

      They are remastering the weapons later on. They aren’t editing the cutscenes.

    • albert says:

      Hi! Short answers:

      Ingame weapons: Yes
      Separate Ways cutscenes: Impossible ๐Ÿ™
      Leon costume: only the mafia costume doesn’t appear in the cutscenes, the rest of them should have no problem, Am I right? When Leon’s using tactical vest or RPD outfit they always are used during the cutscenes

  16. Gaojilla says:

    If I understood your post correctly, do you mean your HD textures are almost complete for all scenes in the game?!!!

    If so, bravo!! You guys have done an amazing job!!!

  17. Cris Without H says:

    I must say, the only thing that looks off is that first wall. It seems that the architecture of the castle was changed by adding a different layer of foundation for that wall.

  18. Roland says:

    This is really fucking outstanding. Especially the added lighting to the fires! It creates a much more vivid atmosphere and makes the outdated lighting more modern looking which fits the ultra high definition textures so well!

    In Pic 4b the door knob is on the other side. Is this intentional?

    I have to agree it seems with the hd textures a lot of dirt is lost. It sometimes looks too clean, but as mentioned, at least 50 % of the dirty, used up look is because of the low resolution and stretching of the original textures.

    It is like an old castle gone to rack vs an old restored castle. But I personally don’t mind that at all.
    For me it is important that the textures and everything stay as close as possible to the original gamecube release.
    When you start to make too many changes and say original != better or original is unrealistic, then it starts to become personal taste and everyone has a different taste and opinion what is ‘better’.

    • albert says:

      Thank you!
      Yes, it is. Now both sides of the door are coherent!

      That’s right and we are aware of that. So we’ll probably do something about the most “clean” textures (including the tresure chest) ๐Ÿ˜‰

      We try to make changes only when there are obvious signs the original is the result of rushed job and hardware limitations. It’s not just a “hey that looks ugly I want to change it” reaction. Most times there is a reasonable explanation behind every change. Of course we are humans and we can take wrong decisions. That’s why we like feedback and lots of times we change things because of your comments! ๐Ÿ˜€

  19. therealest says:

    Hey Albert. Everything looks phenomenal. Just one small issue with the chest: The bottom of the chest is cutting through the floor of the surface it is on. Do you think there is anyway to fix that?

    As for the chest being too clean and pristine, that’s your call. I thought it looked fine, then I noticed the original had some wear and tear and discoloration to make it seem old and weathered. But if you check out the PS4 version it looks clean and pristine: https://youtu.be/8KSLYq-mrIA?t=9m52s When you think about it, I think the original authors of the game made it that way so it stood out a bit more as a prize. Hence the red wood and the gold, as opposed to a common old/eroded treasure chest that you see in pirate movies.

  20. Rafael says:

    Do not change the gamut please, at the last screenshot old yellow figure has changed to white. White pytolok too dark better. Thank you.

  21. Sergey Tokarev says:

    Chest seems fine to me.. yeah, sorry, no useful feedback here, haha. And I chuckle everytime when I read comments like “It looked better with a red tint”. Oh, the irony :p
    Anyway, good work as usual.

    About VR_06b.jpg image. Is it just me, or does the water looks kinda strange in this room?

    • albert says:

      Hehe good eyes! Yep. Now the water runs faster just in that small portion because it’s falling. The rest of the water in the room is the same. I always thought the water in this stage looks beautiful btw ๐Ÿ™‚

  22. mofailed says:

    As I am trying to HD the 2007 pc re4 games castle area myself I have to say well done Cris & albert team this does look very nice. I especially like what’s been done to the Salazar robot I cant wait to see him in motion.

  23. Jodeth says:

    Jaw-dropping progress, guys! Capcom better hire you when this project is done!

  24. Steven says:

    I appreciate all the dedication to this project, so thank you Albert. When this project is complete I’ll play this game again for what must be the 30th time, it’ll be SWEEEEET!

    On a side note, I know you plan to redo all the textures including the Human ones, and that worries me a bit just because it can be hard to make human textures look life like. Some HD character model mods can get ridiculous. This is one of the more extreme cases:
    http://cinematicmod.com/images/cm_11/characters/cm_11_15.jpg

    And heres the example of FF10’s remodel of Tidus: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9qKKCtK6bu0/maxresdefault.jpg

    Halo 1 and 2 anniversary edition were guilty of this effect too, though their re-release was more like a remake:

    http://oi58.tinypic.com/15wjeko.jpg

    My concern is that it makes the characters feel like they switched actors. However I’ve seen your work on the Ganados and its lightened my concerns just a bit, but the main characters would be a different story. I guess we’ll see when the time comes.

  25. HawkX says:

    Really amazing work!!

    This game (along with black mesa) has been on my “to play” one day when the project is complete for years now! ๐Ÿ™‚ Bought the game on steam on sale about 9 months ago… cant wait to actually use it! ๐Ÿ™‚

    Thanks for all the work and updates! Its really something ๐Ÿ™‚

    Happy holidays to you! ๐Ÿ™‚

  26. Gamefreak says:

    Looks great. I think the treasure texture should be a bit more dull or dirtier. Also the lighting in a lot of the areas seems a bit too bright and upbeat to me personally. Any way to darken the area or would it require some sort of sacrifice to keep the old style (such as losing the new lighting?)

    • albert says:

      Thanks!
      I already made a new texture that probably will be included in the Castle release ๐Ÿ™‚

      Sorry, could you specify a little more about the lighting issues? It’s a problem related to the edits I made or to the original lighting in itself?

  27. Matheus Accorsi says:

    Youโ€™re really an artist! First for the incredible job, and second for the respect to the original artists. I really like when the modders keeps the original art of the game, just updating them. Maybe you could do something like this with Half Life 2 after finish this Project? That game is a masterpiece, but some textures didnโ€™t age too wellโ€ฆ and thereโ€™s nothing like this to Half Life 2. They changed too much on hi-res mods, loosing the original feel. Recently, Valveโ€™s authorized two mods officialy: Half Life 2 Update and Black Mesa. They both are on Steam! But the first was just a lightining and distance of view upgrade, and the second was a remake of the first Half Life (1998). An official mod for the textures would be awesome!

    Anyway, I just said that because I really trust on your work. You have my respect. Have a great new yearโ€™s eve.

  28. Zoรซ Astra says:

    I always notice little nitpicky things I would change or shift in a couple screenshots, but overall, 90% of the work you do is so amazing for this favorite game of mine. I can’t wait to play it like this.

  29. Alvare says:

    Happy new year to everyone. ๐Ÿ™‚

  30. terminator says:

    It is looking very good, I would have liked to have added a coperative mode although increase the difficulty … by the way wesker sent you a private to animelliure

  31. sergio says:

    AMAZING WORK !!!