Resident Evil 7

[Jerzy Bondov]

Thanks for that post Popcorn, very interesting. I wrote a load of dialogue and diary entries etc for an unreleased Half-Life mod - obviously not on the scale you were working - and it bored the tits off me. I skim read diaries in games if I read them at all, I'm just not interested, so I don't know why I thought I could enjoy writing them for free in my spare time.

March 10th
Today we're testing out the new method. I hope Tony doesn't get it wrong as usual. Well diary, wish me luck!

March 11th
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! WE'RE DYING!!!!!!!!!!! FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

[popcorn]

Thanks for that post Popcorn, very interesting. I wrote a load of dialogue and diary entries etc for an unreleased Half-Life mod - obviously not on the scale you were working - and it bored the tits off me. I skim read diaries in games if I read them at all, I'm just not interested, so I don't know why I thought I could enjoy writing them for free in my spare time.

March 10th
Today we're testing out the new method. I hope Tony doesn't get it wrong as usual. Well diary, wish me luck!

March 11th
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! WE'RE DYING!!!!!!!!!!! FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

This is pretty much all diary entries in games amount to, which is why they're no fun to write or read (AT LEAST IN MY HUMBLE OPINION). They're contrived by design. They require the player to stop engaging in the game in the usual way and squint at text - it's unnatural. Even the Uncharted series, which has fabulous writing, fails to find any way to make them fun. I can't remember a single one of them.

On the project I worked on, the level designers would decide where the collectable diary entries would be and how many of them, because they were trying to make their levels fun and place rewards for the player. So then it would be up to us to invent something for the diaries to say. Maybe it's my failure of a writer, but I could never bloody think of anything to write. The writing was dictated purely by the necessity of the level designs, rather than a necessity to tell a story in a particular way.

[Spoon of Ploff]

Thanks for those insights Mr Popcorn. For a moment I hoped we'd uncovered the man behind "I used to be an adventurer like you..."

I don't mind those diaries so much. I can imagine in a scenario like RE1 your character would be looking through and reading anything that might give them a clue as to what the fudge is going on.. some of which turns out to be just the cook griping about an order of lumpy lettuce.

I've had RE7 sat in m'Playstation for weeks now and I still haven't got round to playing it. Don't know whats the matter with me. Too chicken probably.

[Bazooka]

I love the diary entries, especially in RE2.

[Hank Venture]

Lisa Trevor is a very Japanese idea for a western name, isn't it? Lisa Trevor. Like Nigel Frank.

It's pronounced Risa Tlevol.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Some Youtube Resi fan channel are making their own game in the style of the original.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSIEUUXF0sI

Looks quite impressive and will apparently be free, when/if it's finished.

[bgmnts]

Looks boss but I am surprised Capcom aren't kicking up a fuss.

[falafel]

The relentless rapid talking and editing to remove any pauses for breath (or indeed emphasis) made that video utterly exhausting to watch for me. My brain was tellling me that the soeaker was about to collapse from oxygen starvation, and it was so densely packed that by the end it just sounded like word salad. Is it just me? Do I not watch enough youtube? Is that good practice now?

[falafel]

Don't have any comments on the content mind you, not arsed about resi.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Then this seems like a strange thread for you to read. How do you feel about cigs?

[magval]

This is pretty much all diary entries in games amount to, which is why they're no fun to write or read (AT LEAST IN MY HUMBLE OPINION). They're contrived by design..
I can't remember a single one of them.

4 itchy tasty is one of the best gaming moments ever. That diary entry is awesome and an extremely memorable moment in the first Resident Evil.

Otherwise I agree. Very rarely do they make any impact. The recent Tomb Raider ones have been especially shit. But 4 itchy tasty shows how effective they can be.

[falafel]

Then this seems like a strange thread for you to read. How do you feel about cigs?

Yeah, I'm not sure why. Thanatos impulse, maybe, innit. Sorry. I do actually feel quite strongly about cigs.

Reading this thread mainly because it has been hovering about for ages like a bad smell. Maybe there's something in it but i don't like things that scare me. I can live with grand guignol but tension makes me force-quit.

[St_Eddie]

Looks boss...

Looks poopy to me.  The player character's t-shit is a a blight to the sight and in all honesty, who calls a game 'Residence of Evil'?!  Only a buffoon would name a game that!  A buffoon with a daft hat.  Take that hat off, you look like a grandiose tit.  Fancy buying a hat like that!

[Spoon of Ploff]

Looks boss..

Game Developera fizzogs should only ever appear as a photo in a report.. or ob a cork board.. featuring a team of scientists/soldiers you later discover have all suffered some grizzly fate... a-and never on a playable character.

Also.. Evil Residents anyone?

[St_Eddie]

Game Developera fizzogs should only ever appear as a photo in a report.. or ob a cork board.. featuring a team of scientists/soldiers you later discover have all suffered some grizzly fate... a-and never on a playable character.

Is this English, or have I suffered another mental breakdown?

[Spoon of Ploff]

Is this English, or have I suffered another mental breakdown?

A lttle from column A and a little from column B?

[bgmnts]

Looks poopy to me.  The player character's t-shit is a a blight to the sight and in all honesty, who calls a game 'Residence of Evil'?!  Only a buffoon would name a game that!  A buffoon with a daft hat.  Take that hat off, you look like a grandiose tit.  Fancy buying a hat like that!

I was assuming that t shirt was just part of the promotional video. If not...

[popcorn]

Done the bit where Lisa chases you round a maze underground. How many hours left? Must be near the end, surely? It's just I know I've got the lab to do yet.

This is taking me weeks.

[bgmnts]

Done the bit where Lisa chases you round a maze underground. How many hours left? Must be near the end, surely? It's just I know I've got the lab to do yet.

This is taking me weeks.

At this rate you'll probably be done by early April maybe.

[Consignia]

Is revelations 2 any good? I quite liked the first one in the 3ds, and quite fancy something on the switch to kick off my current incumbent game.

[bgmnts]

Is revelations 2 any good? I quite liked the first one in the 3ds, and quite fancy something on the switch to kick off my current incumbent game.

I quite enjoyed it. The co-op made it though. It's co-op done right.

[St_Eddie]

Done the bit where Lisa chases you round a maze underground. How many hours left? Must be near the end, surely? It's just I know I've got the lab to do yet.

This is taking me weeks.

You're very close to the end now, mate.  You've got a showdown of sorts with Lisa and then the lab.  The lab is a relatively small location.  I was able to complete that section within a couple of hours on my last playthrough (at a fairly leisurely pace).  I really admire you for sticking to it.  Lesser men would have given up by now, considering that you're not really enjoying it but I salute you for your determination to finish.  At least that way, you can form an opinion and own it, no matter how negative it is.  Fair play to you, Sir.

I quite enjoyed it. The co-op made it though. It's co-op done right.

I was considering giving Revelations 2 a go, seeming as I enjoyed the first one (with caveats) but if it's designed with co-op in mind, then I think that I'll simply watch a let's play instead.  I don't associate Resident Evil with co-op.  I want to be alone and terrified, not have a fun old time with a buddy, when I play a survival horror game.  Also, I don't have any friends.

[popcorn]

I definitely would have canned it ages ago but this thread (and streaming it so mates are talking about it with me too) has kept it interesting for me. It's fun to study and think about with other people, if not to play, for me.

What's funny, though, is that as the game has gone on, I've started to come round to the idea that paedos are good. I wasn't persuaded by that at all at first, but I think it's one of the better things about the game.

[St_Eddie]

What's funny, though, is that as the game has gone on, I've started to come round to the idea that paedos are good. I wasn't persuaded by that at all at first, but I think it's one of the better things about the game.

SPOILER: _{You'll have become a fully fledged paedo by the end of the game.  It's very persuasive.}

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

It seems this is another classic casualty of the poor script translation. It's not "paedos", it's "pea do's" - Parties for peas. Old Barry just loves him some legumes.

One thing I always loved about the early games was the settings. I really like the idea of secret underground bunkers in mundane surroundings. Back before I ever played any of the games (I had an N64, so I had to wait quite a while for the port of Resi 2) I would read about them in the games magazines and they captured my imagination. I'd imagine stumbling across some facility in the woods while I was walking the dogs. They built a block of flats up the road around that time that looked quite like the Spencer mansion - that really got my mind racing. I think one of the things I didn't like so much about Code Veronica was that the locations lacked that same hidden mystery element. The characters are actively investigating Umbrella, so it's all military bases and labs in Antarctica.

[popcorn]

It seems this is another classic casualty of the poor script translation. It's not "paedos", it's "pea do's" - Parties for peas. Old Barry just loves him some legumes.

Common misconception. In Japanese, a peedo (ピード), from the English loan words "pee" and "do", literally means to "do pee", a euphemistic reference to no I can't be bothered trying to make this make any sort of sense and am giving up now.

One thing I always loved about the early games was the settings. I really like the idea of secret underground bunkers in mundane surroundings. Back before I ever played any of the games (I had an N64, so I had to wait quite a while for the port of Resi 2) I would read about them in the games magazines and they captured my imagination. I'd imagine stumbling across some facility in the woods while I was walking the dogs. They built a block of flats up the road around that time that looked quite like the Spencer mansion - that really got my mind racing. I think one of the things I didn't like so much about Code Veronica was that the locations lacked that same hidden mystery element. The characters are actively investigating Umbrella, so it's all military bases and labs in Antarctica.

The self-contained setting in RE1 is definitely good, and one of the few things it beats RE7 on. Maybe the only thing. I haven't got to the lab yet but I imagine it'll make lots of sense when it happens.

I've played it all knowing it turns into a lab at the end, but I'd imagined the mansion stuff would only occupy the first two or three hours or so before everything else came along. It's impressive how it keeps it relevant as a location throughout, and it's the central area you keep returning to, the heart of it all.

Again, this is something RE7 really, really lacked. It's so annoying how the trailer works as a perfect central hub, but you only get to visit it a few times.

[Desirable Industrial Unit]

Is revelations 2 any good? I quite liked the first one in the 3ds, and quite fancy something on the switch to kick off my current incumbent game.

Co-op has been mentioned, so:  the main game itself is fine in single player, but is very much an outdoorsy action thing like RE5.  Nice and solid, but not particularly imaginative, and definitely lacking in any creepiness.  The only real reason to get it is for the arcade-style 'Raid' mode, which is loads of fun with a co-op cohort.

Have all you REmake/HD whatsit fans done the 3 hour thing?  Fuck me, I felt like adding that to my CV when I managed it.  I'm not usually that keen on impositions like that, but it really does make you think about your approach in a completely different way.

[Bazooka]

Co-op has been mentioned, so:  the main game itself is fine in single player, but is very much an outdoorsy action thing like RE5.  Nice and solid, but not particularly imaginative, and definitely lacking in any creepiness.  The only real reason to get it is for the arcade-style 'Raid' mode, which is loads of fun with a co-op cohort.

Have all you REmake/HD whatsit fans done the 3 hour thing?  Fuck me, I felt like adding that to my CV when I managed it.  I'm not usually that keen on impositions like that, but it really does make you think about your approach in a completely different way.

I think RE2 and RE3 are the only two I have done in under 3 hours, just because I knew them like the back of my hand, as I mentioned before I never used the map in REmake.

On Reevelations 2, I really enjoyed it, and yeah raid mode is really great fun.

[bgmnts]

Revelations 2 gets extra points because Barry Burton.

As for under 3 hours? Might be worth a go but i can't see it happening. I play these games at a snails pace deliberately, i quite enjoy it that way.

[St_Eddie]

It seems this is another classic casualty of the poor script translation. It's not "paedos", it's "pea do's"...

I like peas and I like DOS but which is better?

There's only one way to find out...

FFIIIIIIIIGGHHHTTT!

One thing I always loved about the early games was the settings. I really like the idea of secret underground bunkers in mundane surroundings. Back before I ever played any of the games (I had an N64, so I had to wait quite a while for the port of Resi 2) I would read about them in the games magazines and they captured my imagination. I'd imagine stumbling across some facility in the woods while I was walking the dogs. They built a block of flats up the road around that time that looked quite like the Spencer mansion - that really got my mind racing.

A man/woman/gelatinous blob after my own heart, there.

Common misconception. In Japanese, a peedo (ピード), from the English loan words "pee" and "do", literally means to "do pee", a euphemistic reference to no I can't be bothered trying to make this make any sort of sense and am giving up now.

Plus, Barry "Bearded Bazza" Burton pronunciates it as "paedo" and doubt him at your peril, for he is the word of God.

Have all you REmake/HD whatsit fans done the 3 hour thing?  Fuck me, I felt like adding that to my CV when I managed it.  I'm not usually that keen on impositions like that, but it really does make you think about your approach in a completely different way.

No.  People who do that, are folk sans a soul.  They need to get a life and stop being better than me and I'm not just saying that because I'm insanely jealous.  Bastards!

I think RE2 and RE3 are the only two I have done in under 3 hours, just because I knew them like the back of my hand, as I mentioned before I never used the map in REmake.

Yeah, well... I can achieve a 'cool' rating on every level of Parappa the Rapper.  What am I doing with my life?

Revelations 2 gets extra points because Barry Burton.

Preach it!  All hail at the alter of the almighty Bazza.