Resident Evil: Part 2: Arting Suspense

It Belongs in a Museum

Game Dev - “Arting” Fear and Tension: RE30 Part 2 - Art is emotion, manifest. It’s the marriage of color, texture, and style that brings things to life. It’s not simply studio art but art of the everyday. It’s the emotional evocation a color can bring out from onlookers. Art, in its most subtle forms, can be imperceptible. This is true in our daily lives. We don’t often think about the stylings of familiar things as we see them so frequently that they blend into the background. Every curve, every color, every position comes from a vision, inspired or not and it was intentional. Sometimes art is about what cannot be seen. David Lynch had a career based on making the mundane suspenseful. He did so by using regular locations and layering unease on top. Something that’s out of place. Something that seems normal, but isn’t. Something as simple as the rustling trees in Twin Peaks as if the woods themselves had ill will. So too has Resident Evil created horror and tension over the years through a mastery of color, what you can/can’t see, and playing on classic tropes. It’s an evolution of art and tech art 

In 30 years of existence the art of RE games varies quite a bit. From the low poly 3D characters and 2D static backgrounds of RE1-3, and Code: Veronica, to the dynamic lighting of RE0, 1 Remake, 4-6, and the high fidelity of the modern games 7-9. In spite of limitations, however, the art teams are able to create tension and fear

PART I - Low-poly Horror (RE1-3 and Code: Veronica | 1996 - 2000)

When you look at screenshots from any of the low poly games, it’s hard to imagine them being scary at all. They were limited in palette, resolution, and lacked many of the things that made even games 6 years later look good

In order to successfully convey the mood of fear, players needed to relate. Animations were key. When a zombie takes a bite out of you, your character leans back and pushes them off. It’s a visceral rejection everyone feels and understands (also, why didn’t they become zombies. I thought if they bit you, that’s it… one wonders)

One of the most brilliant animations is when you pass a corpse on the ground, the character’s head stays looking at the body as you pass it. It’s a subtle movement but one that conveys unease

Characters are distinct in their outfits, so as to never get confused with enemies. You can always see who you are on the screen whether it be Jill’s beret, Leon’s moptop, Claire’s red shirt and ponytail or Chris’ beefy arms… Wait, what was distinct about Chris? Unclear

The environments were 2D and lighting was static so rooms were generally tonally simple. Even with those simple textures, colors were typically darker, thicker, and felt constrictive. This led to environments that sold the backdrop of the mansion, police station/museum, island prison, and labs. Each is distinct with a muted color palette that makes the mundane, uneasy

Then there were the monsters. Mostly these were zombies, dogs, spiders, and the hunters. The zombies had grey skin dotted with red, and even with low-poly, looked creepy. Dogs followed the red spots, to indicate rot, along with brown or black fur. Spiders were big, hairy, and they lifted their legs and charged. Finally the Hunters looked like frog-men and could use claws to decapitate you in a single shot (save that shotgun ammo). Bosses like Plant 42, the snake, and the tyrant were all unique. Each was had a distinct visual imprint

These games did a lot with a little. The combination of art with level design, camera, sound, and controls made the world scary

PART II - Details and Dynamic Lighting+  (RE0, 1 Remake, 4-6 | 2002 - 2012)

After Code: Veronica the team began working on a remake of RE1 (2002). Now a remake a mere 6 years after the initial release of the game might seem like a bold move… and it was. But things had changed quite a bit by that point and a remake can serve as a way to test out a new art pipeline without the cost of building an entirely new game (though it did require entirely new art). It should be noted that Resident Evil 0 was being made in parallel to the RE1: Remake, but costs were cut there due to the ahem linear nature of having the game set on a train. I’ll see myself out. RE0 also undoubtedly benefitted from having some of the RE1: Remake team roll on after that game shipped, to help finish. This section will focus mostly on the RE1 Remake and RE4 since they were such drastic changes from prior games

The first big change was the low poly 2D backgrounds were replaced with high detail, fully rendered 2D backgrounds. This meant things looked really good (still do). The colors were denser and evocative. Hallways were dark and unsettling with heavy curtains hanging from large windows. Colors were deep greens, crimsons, browns, etc. These create weight and felt oppressive. In a room leading to the second floor from the hallway containing The Keeper’s room, the walls were adorned with pictures of the Spencer family, only to have the faces covered as if someone sprayed them with black spraypaint… creepy

The second big addition in the Remake was dynamic lighting. This meant lights could swing and cast shadows in the world, dynamically instead of having them pre-rendered. So while backgrounds were hi-res pre-rendered, 3D objects cast shadows. That allowed the designers to set up more suspense as players move through areas where shadows are cast. I can think of specific situations where the dynamic lighting impacted the mood. In that open room with the spray painted pictures, a chandelier swings; from the fire down the stairs in the room off the main hall, and in the dormitory where a lamp on a console table illuminates the deep wood of the hallway walls

These hi-res pre-rendered backgrounds and dynamic lighting completely change the feel of the game from that of 1996. The backgrounds added real weight to the feel and the shadows made things more ominous. 3D objects, like characters, zombies, and whatever else the artists wanted to show, felt like they occupied space

RE4 changed again by making everything 3D. These were dynamic, cast shadows, and gone were the pre-rendered backgrounds of the prior games. This created environments that felt more real rather than looking like beautiful but static paintings

This game also moves locations to a small Spanish village which was a change in setting from Raccoon city. It was disturbing with dead animals in fields, an imposing castle, and of course the design of monsters. This is where RE4 really moved things forward. From the design of the potato sack wearing, chainsaw wielding madmen, the robe donning cultists, The Bella Sisters, and El Gigante. They were memorable. So too are the NPCS (who I failed to mention above). In RE4 the merchant has a distinct look that is as confusing as it is memorable. Who’s out here trying to make a buck? What’s his story, anyway? He seems resourceful. I wonder what he’s up to…

The fully 3D environments, dynamic lighting, and terrifying design of enemies along with a revolutionary over the shoulder camera changed not only Resident Evil, but gaming. A short 3 years after the RE1: Remake they had fully remade the game into something new. While the franchise was starting to lean more into an action bend that would culminate in 5-6, 4 delivered a new take where the tension and horror were expanded through the use of art (who can forget those cultists with the shields and mauls?) 

PART III - Baking and Ray Tracing+ (RE7-9 and 2-4 Remakes | 2017 - Present)

The art of RE7, 8, and 9 is an incredible advance. If you look at screenshots of RE6 and then RE7 side by side, you’d be shocked. SHOCKED! I’m focusing a bit more on tech art in this section as it’s where the rubber meets the road in these games

Before I get to that, there was an evolution from 7-9 in terms of environments. 7 takes place in a plantation mansion in the bayou. It’s dark, decrepit, and disturbing. Unlike the Spencer mansion in RE1, this mansion has boarded up windows where sunlight struggles to peek through. Everything can be examined and doing so reveals horrors. The Baker family who reside there all look demented and as unwelcoming as someone can be. The creases on their faces, dirt on their clothes, or grit on their teeth is as clear as it is repulsive

With RE7 being mostly inside and claustrophobic, 8 and then 9 both open up to wider spaces. The team was able to expand their detailed work after starting in a small space and bring to the Village of RE8 and then the interior of the Rhodes Care Center and exterior of Raccoon City in RE9

A big change in these games is they now became solely, or partially, first person. That means players can get exceptionally close to anything in the environment… unless there’s the smallest of obstacles in the way (even Leon has his limits). The shift to first person necessitates the need for highly detailed environments. To do this you’d start with high poly assets, then create low poly for the game (as the former would eat up all the memory and prevent the game from running at 60+ frames per second), and bake the high poly details onto normal maps. I.e. “cheating” 

All the monsters from the Baker Family, residents of each of the village’s houses, to the abominations in RE9 have taken horror to a new level. Zombies can be imposing, especially as Grace in 9. She’s shorter, and under constant duress. Every zombie looks like what you imagined in RE1

Another big addition is ray tracing. This is a big bump for the lighting system. That means everything that occupies space casts a shadow. You can imagine how intense an environment becomes when moonlight from outside a window comes in and illuminates the darkness while creating contrast. Now moving through environments can be a test of will as you measure what you see and wonder if a shadow is something to be worried about

Finally, by RE9 the areas are getting extremely detailed with the newest version of the RE engine. As mentioned when talking about RE9, the initial walk down the street in Wrenwood elicits talk of, “omg, this looks incredible,” to “I wonder if Rockstar would make a Warriors game that looked like this”

PART FIN4L - The Art Collection

What the art of Resident Evil has done over the years has been immense. At the beginning, RE1-3 and Code: Veronica, we used our minds to fill the limitations of the platforms. Despite all the camp, the games were scary and it was in no small part due to environment art, monsters, and simple things like a lack of blood pool telling us a zombie was dead

In the second era (0, 1:Remake, 4-6) environments began to tell real stories, and those stores were mostly disturbing. The worlds went for high-res pre rendered 2D backgrounds that packed a punch to fully 3D environments with dynamic lighting. That sold the world

The modern era (7-9) turned detailed textures, normal maps, and lighting up to 11

“In English please!”

All of these things created environments that didn’t just seem like the haunted house feel of original games, but a place that seemed real. The Baker Estate seems like they live there… and never clean anything. The houses in RE8 all have a purpose, and one has an insanely creepy puppet. The Rhodes Care Center is a rich environment to explore that almost makes sense (again, why are there two bars, a lounge, and a gambling hall in an asylum?). Then the trip to a destroyed Raccoon City plays with large outdoor spaces that create interesting stories and elicits memories of RE2

Art is about emotion and story. It’s a visual expression of feeling. Resident Evil has survived for 30 years because its environments make us feel something. That is in no small part due to the tireless work and imaginations of the artists