Modders Resurrect Scrapped Resident Evil 1.5

[IanDavis]

Modders Resurrect Scrapped Resident Evil 1.5

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Hacking and Ebay scams force a mod team to release previously lost Resident Evil game.

After the smashing success of the original Resident Evil, Capcom quickly went to work on a sequel, only to scrap most of their work at the last minute and start over. Dubbed by fans as Resident Evil 1.5, this lost game was never finished, leaving us with nothing but [a href=http://kotaku.com/314619/an-extensive-look-at-resident-evil-15]extensive gameplay videos[/a], until now. Some talented fans got a hold of the aborted code and have been toiling away, translating, fixing bugs, and finishing this lost piece of gaming history. Now they've released a rough (but playable) build, but there's more to it than that. Like any good Resident Evil plot, the real story involves greed, shady legality, and a good, old-fashioned betrayal.

The Resident Evil 1.5 Restoration Project intended to wait until they reached a final, playable build make a public release. However, a Mr. Joel Welsh (aka, Colvin) obtained a leaked copy of their code and started hawking copies of their work on Ebay. While working with the old Capcom code was a fairly shady legal area in the first place, selling said code could sink the whole project with a nice, fat cease and desist.

For that reason, they've made a public release and undermine the scammer. As they announced online, "it was a tough decision to make, due to the uncertainty of what lies ahead in terms of releasing this build, but we ultimately decided to make a proper compile of the build Colvin has been shopping around, wrap it up so it can run in normal emulators and on real hardware, and release it to the public - to avoid further misuse and misrepresentation of its content."

In a forum post, the team [a href=http://www.the-horror.com/forums/showthread.php?9548-Some-cool-1-5-exclusive-screenshots-(Respect-the-mods-avoid-stupidity)&s=6a3c505e80e2ceee40f2fff4b650c2d4&p=246529&viewfull=1#post246529]announced[/a] that "[p]eople attempting to profit on our non-profit efforts, and both our personal and monitary [sic] investments is something we cannot stand for and is something we feel greatly taints the Resident Evil community, the prototype community, the archival and preservation of video game history, the integrity and face value of people, and our goal and intentions for this here restoration project."

The Resident Evil 1.5 restoration project has a [a href=http://www.youtube.com/user/MrBZork/videos?view=0&flow=grid]series of demo videos[/a] which not only showcase their work, but demonstrate how they re-engineered Capcom's code. The game itself can be downloaded [a href=https://anonfiles.com/file/f81b503ee2c5ae514ed32d50f7ea8fbb]here[/a].

Source: [a href=http://www.the-horror.com/forums/showthread.php?9548-Some-cool-1-5-exclusive-screenshots-(Respect-the-mods-avoid-stupidity)&s=6a3c505e80e2ceee40f2fff4b650c2d4&p=246529&viewfull=1#post246529]The Horror Is Alive[/a] via [a href=http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-02-18-resident-evil-1-5-fan-project-releases-playable-build]Eurogamer[/a]

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[RaNDM G]

Would be interesting to see just how different 1.5 is from 2.

I really want to play this when it's finished, just to get the taste of the recent games out of my mouth.

 

[Beffudled Sheep_v1legacy]

I'd throw money at them anyway once this is finished. I love classic Resident Evil games and to not have this in my collection irks me.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

This is what I've always wanted from Capcom, an old style Resident Evil game that still retained the fear and atmosphere of the horror series and Racoon city itself rather than having to go to other countries and having over the shoulder camera angles where you could always see what was coming your way.

Once this is fully finished and fleshed out I'd totally go for it to add to my collection.

However I'm still waiting for that day when I could possibly play the first 3 Resident Evil's as an HD remake to possibly play on the Vita because that would definitely net me a purchase.

 

[CyberAkuma]

People who try to capitalize on others peoples work like this should be seriously ass-raped. Not only are they fucking Capcom over - the original creators but they are also fucking over the modders trying to revive the project and to fuck over the gamers by charging them for somethin that'll eventualle be free ayway.

Seriously, these people are the absolute scum of the earth and they care absolutely jack shit about the game, gaming or the community. The only thing they care about is money and they are willing to fuck over anyone and anything to get it.
The wanker selling copies of RE 1.5 had absolutely nothing to do with the project and he's charging people for something someone else did.

Absolute scum of the fucking earth and he should get anally violated for what he's trying to pull off.

On the game itself - I am a little bit torn. I reallike liked RE1 but I am afraid that it hasn't aged well with time and I'm concerned that RE 1.5 might - even if it doesn't get shut down by Capcom - not age well either.
The tank controls and horrific inventory management might have gone well back in the mid-to-late 90's but today, well... not sure.

This is an interesting development regardless.

 

[Easton Dark]

Would be interesting to see just how different 1.5 is from 2.

From what I know, you're still at the police station, but it's not the same layout or rooms at all. Character models are less detailed but there's more stuff on screen at once. Elza(?) Walker instead of Claire and Elza's and Leon's campaigns don't intersect at any point.

Also lots more shooting, lots more shooting. You thought there was a lot of shooting in RE2? Fuck that, more shooting, more zombies.

I'm excited.

 

[Rad Party God]

...just to get the taste of the recent games out of my mouth.

Or you could, you know, just replay the old ones. Last time I've checked, they're still pretty good.

OT: I'm amazed by the videos of this, I never knew such a thing existed and as a fan of Resident Evil and especially a fan of RE2, I'm excited to see how this project develops and see for myself just how different 1.5 was from 2, just out of sheer curiosity.

 

[Akisa]

...just to get the taste of the recent games out of my mouth.

Or you could, you know, just replay the old ones. Last time I've checked, they're still pretty good.

OT: I'm amazed by the videos of this, I never knew such a thing existed and as a fan of Resident Evil and especially a fan of RE2, I'm excited to see how this project develops and see for myself just how different 1.5 was from 2, just out of sheer curiosity.

Except you know what's going to happen, where stuff is going to pop out, when to save or conserve ammo. You'll do this subconsciously, so you really can't have the same feeling.

 

[ScruffyMcBalls]

I've been following this team for months and their progress is amazing, but this kind of publicity really isn't good. It's fine if everyone knows about the project once they're finished, but Capcom getting wind of it now might lose use everything the team has been working so hard for.
Still, I can only hope it all goes well, the team deserves that much.

 

[BrokenStylus]

Did anyone else find that embedded Halloween Teaser video unintentionally hilarious? The way it kept alternating between proto-Claire lazily poking around desks and items while Leon gets his arse handed to him by zombie gorillas made me giggle. Leon got the raw end of that deal.

Would be very interested in checking this out, PS1 era Resident Evil's tickle my nostalgia bone. Kudos to the Restoration Team trying to maintain a sense of nobility in what is admittedly a grey area.

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

Ah, the days when Mikami-san could just throw out 90 percent of a game, and Capcom took his word for it and everyone was better off. I'm gonna finally play this after watching videos of it over the years.

 

[GamingAwesome1]

You'd think with a game like Resident Evil, they'd have taken more precautions against outbreaks.

Oh, you clever git. You made me laugh.

Still, though. This is one really amazing project so far, I look forward to the finished build.

 

[kburns10]

Cool that they undercut the re-seller. Sucks they had to do that, but hopefully he will quit and maybe they can finish it up.

 

[RaNDM G]

Also lots more shooting, lots more shooting. You thought there was a lot of shooting in RE2? Fuck that, more shooting, more zombies.

Probably less shooting actually. More enemies means less ammo to spare, and let's face it, you were swimming in bullets by the time you reached the lab.

Or you could, you know, just replay the old ones. Last time I've checked, they're still pretty good.

The less I play the old games, the better I'll enjoy this. Don't want to get burnt out after all.