Back to the Village for Some Fresh Air (Part VII) – CHURCH

Hello!

It’s time for another Village revision. Only 4 more rooms and I’ll reach the end of the lighting/effect/3D model Village revisions! 

This time the post is focused on just one room: the church. The reason for this is that it needed tons of corrections (see the gallery below). Its architectural structure makes inaccuracies much more obvious and I found graphical issues at every turn. Updates include:

  • Re-revised textures
  • Improved 3D models
  • Lots of remapping work
  • Adjusted shadows
  • Corrected, improved, and additional light sources (where applicable)
  • Adjusted, recovered, and improved effects

Also, I removed the inaccurate red tone again. It would appear after the lights puzzle and was terribly apparent during the long cutscene. 

About picture V-VII-C.jpg: That sequence of “light shadow-dark shadow-no shadow” made no sense: the entire corridor is behind a wall and the only light in there comes from the 2 small candles. This is the reason for those edits. If you play that portion of the room you’ll see what I mean ;).

I hope you like the edits and don’t hesitate in commenting about them!

 

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67 responses to “Back to the Village for Some Fresh Air (Part VII) – CHURCH”

  1. Michael says:

    Well done!

  2. NEGAARMAX says:

    Cada vez que veo estos updates simplemente me impresionan, muchas gracias por su trabajo.

  3. Slug Camargo says:

    Fantastic job on the colours of the cutscene. Added to the hd textures it makes it easy to forget this game is like 3 console generations old.

    Also, I can’t get over how gorgeous the chandeliers look now, I want them all in my house! XD

  4. sean says:

    99% much better

    small nitpicks incoming:
    – the new staircase in the first pic (V-VII-AB) looks kind of a bit too “clean” but not a big deal
    – the back wall in pic 5/E is also not quite as gritty as the original but not a big deal
    – the flag in pic 10/J is very very clean looking and I think the original is better
    – out of the 3 nitpicks I would say the flag is the most noticeable, though only when compared directly side by side

    I also think the lighting looked fine with the red tint, maybe its just personal preference, but Im all for sticking to the original! overall its all awesome!

    • albert says:

      Thanks! 🙂

      -Stairs: I guess the low-res picture made it to look dirtier. It’s a “side effect” of making thinks HD. The detail is smaller and everything looks somewhat cleaner. Did you notice they are the same eteps 15 years later? 😛
      -Back wall. Agree! Some bricks should be darker and some other toch up here and there is needed
      -Flag: Agree. It needs more wrinkles

      And yes, I guess the comparisons make any slight difference a lot more apparent! hehe

      About the lighting, as I mentiones somewhere else, it’s a graphical bug, an accident, it’s the result of a broken effect and it wasn’t in no way an intended look of the creators. Someone while making the HD ports of this game made a mistake and it was compltely overlooked. BUT! I included a gradient filter in the Castle pack that emulates that colour mistake in case someone likes it 😀 (I think it was the “4” colour filter option)

      Greetings!

      • sean says:

        When I said Im all for sticking to the original, I meant its good that you guys are fixing it to be like the actual original (not the HD original) wasnt sure if that was clear 🙂

        also I don’t like the red tint all through out, I think your lighting is really good, but just in that one pic here with ashley, her skin tone seems better with the red. Well maybe it has a bit too much bloom, but in the way its supposed to be shes a bit more pale (though I guess that would make sense with what shes going through lol)

        but I did not know you included the original in gradient 4 thats good.

        • albert says:

          Thanks for the clarification. I was not sure!
          I agree, Ashley skin looks interesting with the accidental filter XD

  5. Luigi Impero says:

    Spectacular!!!

  6. Cris Without H says:

    I think thatin the third fourth, seventh, ninth and tenth screenshots, the 1st revision looks better, I’d say. Also, I can’t really see a difference in the final image with Saddler.

    • Suckable_Lemon says:

      You should try to be a bit more specific about what things look better in some of the first revisions. All of it or just a few things in particular?

      Personally, I like the dusty far end of the cabinet in the first revision of the 10th picture. The second revision it seems to lose it because of the redesign. I think I prefer the square base of the candles as well. Of course, you guys are entitled to make changes that can’t please everyone. Thanks for all the hard work.

      • albert says:

        Thank you for the feedback!
        I know what you mean. I remapped the top of that cabinet because it was way too stretched. That dust portion you see is part of the front panel (it was reused as the top panel aswel) and you can still see it when you look at the entire thing. 🙂 But if you take a close look you still see the dust but not the golden bands.

        About the candlestick, I guess it’s like I go to a shop and I choose the square candlestick because I like its design. But –in the context of this game– I think that shape was due to the typical polygon limitations and that’s the reason I made it rounder: becasue I didn’t saw a squared base candlestick, I saw a blocky 3D model. What do you think?

        Don’t mention it! thanks to you for the feedback!

        • Suckable_Lemon says:

          The candlestick could be trapezium shaped and it wouldn’t diminish my overall satisfaction with this project. I just prefer the white-brown pattern on the base to the pattern on the second revision. Looks a little more creative to me and the colors go nicely with the cabinet. The second revision’s base isn’t as well rounded as I’d like as well. To me, that reminds me more of the technology limitations on older consoles, they could never render perfect circles!

          • albert says:

            Ahh I understand now. I’ve just remaped the base right now and I think the results are better 🙂
            Yep. There’s stil some limitations and we can’t add as many polygons as we’d like to. We can make things rounder but not perfect circles. That would need a huge ammount of polygons
            Thanks!

  7. Frank Nitty says:

    U guys are def some overachiever. Your post-revision work looks amazing. Can’t wait to see its completion

  8. Toni O. says:

    Amazing work as always, guys! But I think the shadow in the 9th picture actually looks best in the original version. (apart from the low resolution) They got the opacity and blur quite right. In the first revision, the higher resolution leads to a too dark and too sharp appearance. Thin lines automatically appear less dark and more blurry with a lower resolution. Best would be the first revision with a little bit more blur and a bit more transparency. In the new revision it’s too soft – it looks more like stain on the ground.

    • albert says:

      Hehe I was waiting for the shadow commnent 😛

      It was completely deliberate. This fence shadow was something that stood out because of its detail…but in a bad way…
      Why are these fences the only element in the entire game that generate so crisp and clear shadows?? Are they from the 4th dimension fences? XD
      That’s the reason of the new revision. I was looking for an overall visual balance. But it looks better in motion 🙂

      Thanks for the feedback!!

      • Toni O. says:

        I totally understand the motivation behind your decision. I understood it right away. Soft shadows do look better, in esthetical terms. When designing a logo for exaple, I also tend to make shadows very soft. Just for the esthetics. But actual shadows aren’t always esthetic. In a game, to me it’s more important that they look believable.
        By the way, I have such “4th dimension shadows” in my cellar. 😉

        • Toni O. says:

          However, I can live with the soft shadows and I trust you, that it looks better in motion. If something is unrealistic, it’s rather the symmetry of the shadow. It should be cast in an angle. (should get broader and slightly fade out in the distance)
          From this aspect, the new revision conceals this a bit.
          I always have the feeling of beeing bold, when criticizing such details. But it’s not in the least meant like this. Just trying to be as constructive as I can.

          • albert says:

            Ohh no worries!
            I took your feedback in a good way so no problem!
            And it’s true I had mixed feelings while making the shadow blurrier on purpose since I’ve been doing the opposite during the last 3 years XD

        • albert says:

          But these 4th dimension shadows only affect the fence. That’s what bugged me (I think I’ll use the “4th dimension” idea in future explanations XD)

          They would make sense if there was –for example– just 1 intense light source coming from the center of the room but… it’s all full of candles :/

          • Toni O. says:

            Good point. The shadow shouldn’t look like this in the first place. With an engine this old, you sure have to use some workarounds. I didn’t consider this to be honest.
            That’s the reason why it looks better > in motion <.
            The original isn't quite reasonable when looking around the room…

          • sean says:

            the shadow was definitely too dark before, but your new revision is a bit too faded (IMO) not a big deal but if its too faded it is hardly noticeable at all when playing

          • albert says:

            Hehe yes, I made it on purpose for the reasons I explained to Toni before. I didn’t want these shadows to be that noticeable because the fences are the only element in the entire room that casts that kind of shadow and there’s no source light in the room that could generate such contrasted shadows.
            I’m aware it was “eye candy” but I really think it was too much… Anyway, it’s better in motion and the floor in this specific comparison shot has a really complex texture. There are other instances in the same room where the same shadow is more obvious 🙂

  9. evil says:

    Amazing work as always. I just wanted to point out the new stone wall texture in V-VII-H doesn’t tile correctly. The first version looks much closer to the original texture and doesn’t have this problem.

    • albert says:

      Hi!
      Yep! You are right. The reaaon the firts revision looked closer is because I remapped the entire wall in the second one and the placemnt of the details doesn’t match. But it’s the same original wall brick by brick (but 15 years later and HD)

      About the tiling. I also noticed that but I skipped it because they are 2 different walls that go through with differnt bricks. In fact, the original looked like the corner was made of “L-shape” bricks XD
      Anyway, I understand that something’s visually off and I’ve adjusted and remapped the heigh of the bricks and the final version will look better 🙂

      Thanks!

  10. Paris says:

    Hi ! I may allow me it’s been a long moment i follow your work (awesome work i have to say in fact for being honest) and i have to say i really think for making some donation for. It’s really deserve it.

    Resident evil 4 was one of my prefered games to add.

    Just one question i have noticed: you will updated the progress summary soon or not really? I will understand that you are in a special….update but i was wondering why itwon’t be update anymore ^^^

    In all cases….thanks you very much for your work you and your collegue as well. I wish you good continuation ^^

    • Cris says:

      Hi Paris! Thank you for your encouragement and support! I’m thinking about the best way to update the progress page. I should have something new on that within the next week. Thank you very much!

  11. Roland says:

    Thanks for posting this new blog update after my request. I can never wait for a new news from you.

  12. Steven says:

    Lookin good guys! I love it.

  13. Konstantinos says:

    You are doing god’s work, greetings from greece.

  14. SGate says:

    You are doing a tremendous job, waiting for the finals!

  15. Michael says:

    “Learn with these guys Capcom”
    Guys, wonderfull work, do you ever think about you own game when this project is finished?

    • Cris says:

      Thank you! But one project at a time. 🙂

      • sean says:

        please please make a sequel to re4! not an re5 but a true sequel to re4 with the same gameplay but new environments. Or even just add some extra features/mercs maps to re4 or something! One thing I always wished re4 had from re5 was the ability to switch weapons without opening the inventory. Im not talking about a full inventory menu like in re5, just the ability to press the dpad to switch weapons instead of having to constantly pause would make this game soooo much more fun to watch 🙂 Please make it happen as a special ending bonus when you are finished

        • albert says:

          Hehe it’s really hard to modify certain things of this game so, no there’s no need to mention the ammount of efforts a single new room would require.
          Modding this game is a real pain, unfortunatelly

  16. R.J. Macready says:

    Hi, I don’t really follow the project actively but check in once in a while. You guys are doing great work here, I’d love to run through the game again once your work is finished!

    One question though; Not to be a prick here, but wouldn’t it make more sense to finish the reworking of all the original textures in the game, before going over second revisions? Don’t get me wrong, these new revisions look great, but it feels like those first revisions are now kind of wasted effort, as there’s still a lot of textures that haven’t gotten a revision in the first place. Right?

    • Cris says:

      Hi R.J.! Thanks for the compliment and for the question. The revisions you see are all as a result of new tools and better source photography becoming available to us — things that weren’t available before. These aren’t revisions being made only for the sake of further refining textures. Hope that helps clarify!

  17. Daniel says:

    Just insane!
    The work put into this is amazing!!
    By the time it’s done it’s going to feel like a next gen title.
    Wonderful! Love it!

  18. Vini says:

    Albert do you think that this year you finish everything or already it’s over?

    • albert says:

      Hi! We don’t have any estimated time of completion in mind, we just keep doing everything as fast and good as possible. I’m sorry I can’t be more precise!!
      Thank you for the patience! 🙂

  19. Zombie says:

    Omfg… it’s beautifull…

    But it was a bad move, now I and everyone waiting will expect you to complete a second pass of the whole game just to get that bit extra. so development time just got added another 5 years.

    Joke.
    It’s amazing guys.
    I hope it’s done soon

  20. therealest says:

    Albert, really good work, as always 10/10.

    My only critique is 3 small things.

    1 the lighting here: https://www.re4hd.com/wp-content/gallery2/0129-back-to-the-village-vii/V-VII-O.jpg still looks too crisp to look like light. It still looks a bit like pieces of plastic or something (https://www.flinnsci.com/globalassets/flinn-scientific/all-product-images-rgb-jpegs/ap6423.jpg). The only reason it stands out is because the rest of the room/environment is so HD. I think if you can, you should blur the edges a bit if possible, if this is a lot of work or is not possible then forget about it. Here’s an example: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/RGB_illumination.jpg

    2 Also, the illuminados sign is too golden white, it should be more cool, as in pure white. Maybe not perfectly white but just whiter than the candles. https://www.re4hd.com/wp-content/gallery2/0129-back-to-the-village-vii/V-VII-E.jpg It shouldn’t be the same color of the candles, because candles are burning [chemical reaction generating light] rather than electric, and the other colors aren’t warm enough to generate such a golden hue when put together.

    3 I don’t know if it looks better when playing, but in https://www.re4hd.com/wp-content/gallery2/0129-back-to-the-village-vii/V-VII-B.jpg the newest version’s rain looks less intense.

    Again, everything looks phenomenal. I only brought up the lamp/light design because I can tell you spent time to perfect it. I can see the amount of detail you guys put into it and I just want to confirm that it shows dramatically. Everything has been completely upgraded.

    • albert says:

      Thanks again for the feedback and for your comments!!

      1. Yes, I completely agree the light edges are way too defined. I’ll see what I can do about this!
      I’m wondering… how it’s possible that the lights turn when the stone circles turn? XD Does somebody have an answer??

      2. Partially agree.
      I brought back one Gamecube missing effect that was originally yellow. One possible explanation is… this yellow light is not just the combination of the RGB lights (which generates white light as you mention) but also an extra light that is activated when the puzzle is solved. What do you think? Does it make sense? At least it makes more sense than “turning-lights-when-turning-circles” XD

      3. Rain: It must be because of the moment I took the screenshot. The intensity is the same before and after. so, no worries! 😉

      Greetings!

      • therealest says:

        Hey Albert. One thing I noticed about you and cris’s work is that you guys always involve logic and simple intuition, rather than blindly emulating exactly what Capcom did. Obviously the illuminados light should be different than the candle lights, it just makes sense for it to stand out. You guys make logic edits all the time, so this is no different. The gamecube version has it’s share of nonsensical scenery, just as all versions. Do whatever you like though. I only brought it up because I could tell you were being a bit of a perfectionist with it. Everything looks stellar regardless. 🙂

        • albert says:

          And I thank you for that! I’ll think about it. Maybe I come to the conclusion that yellow light doesn’t have any sense at the end XD

      • sean says:

        just wanted to point out that I thought the improved lighting on the color wheel looked great! I notice tiny flaws here and there in your work, but I guess Im not a lighting expert because I see nothing wrong with this image. And i really liked the new golden edging of the light. Whether it was there originally or not, it looks nice IMO

  21. kisamee says:

    hi will you do update on the castle area like the village

    • albert says:

      Hello!
      The castle already received most of the edits I’m doing in the Village areas. I’ll probably update a few details here and there and I’ll optimize a few effects and lights with everything I learned the last months. But they won’t be major updates.
      Greetings!

  22. Vick S. Bateman says:

    Superb work, one of my favourite upadtes.

  23. Ascaron says:

    Increíble, como siempre. Un trabajo soberbio.

  24. Nicholas Spaziani says:

    It’s amazing to see how you guys have improved since you started this project, keep up the good work my friend!

  25. Rafael says:

    Everything is cool, but the staircase seems very artificial. Sharp corners. I think better staircase from dirt or corners not so sharp.

    • albert says:

      Hi!
      I know what you mean but lot of things in the game are like this and it would be way to much work to refine them all and probably it would make the game to crash in some areas because of the polygon limitations…
      Anyway, I don’t see this particular staircase more blocky compared to similar 3D models, and staircases are quite blocky “by nature”
      Thanks!

  26. Gustavo L. says:

    esses graficos estão de+ bom trabalho!

  27. alexabdadam says:

    Very nice work keep it up albert & cris

  28. Jack says:

    I have re4 hd installed on my pc but not playing it cause of re4hd project 🙂 Im going to wait untill full package released to start the game again 🙂