[MyIS]Zips
03-27-2009, 11:44 PM
Kotaku has a very interesting look at how EA's Dead Space managed to take bits and pieces of Resident Evil 4. No, the team didn't physically lift game assets from Resident Evil 4, but they did take certain concepts about how a survival-horror title should be and put their own unique spin on them.
<div align="center"><a href="/image.php?id=44954"><img src="/writeable/images/uploaded/t_image_44954.jpg" width="550" height="245" border="1" title="click for a full image"></a></div>
The idea behind using Resident Evil 4 as a template to build from stems from the fact that gamers don't react well if everything in a game is completely new. Resident Evil 4 was a template, but the EA Redwood Shores team had a goal of at least five new innovations to create and use in Dead Space.
In the case of Dead Space, EA Redwood Shores started with Resident Evil 4. But it first had to come to grips with the fact that it had nothing to build upon, with some team members excited about the possibility of creating a new genre, a la Grand Theft Auto, with new characters, new camera systems and new technology.
"If too much is new, people will get lost," the producer contends. He cited another Capcom game, the Clover Studios developed Okami, as a cautionary tale. "Okami was a great game, but maybe there was too much new about that game."<!--more-->
Beaver talked about various aspects of Resident Evil 4's game design that was proven, saying that "yesterday's innovation is today's standard." There are "accepted aiming and firing mechanics" that gamers understand, systems like health packs and life bars that are established game design facets.
However, "once you have your game skinned, you need to put some distance between you and your template," he said.
The Dead Space team's distance was influenced by its setting. It's in the future. And it's in space. That lead to the team redesigning things with the concept of "in the future."
It certainly seems like a wise move to borrow gameplay ideas from one of the best games to come out for the Gamecube. Feel free to read more over at Kotaku (http://kotaku.com/5187214/how-dead-space-wisely-ripped+off-resident-evil-4).
<div align="center"><a href="/image.php?id=44954"><img src="/writeable/images/uploaded/t_image_44954.jpg" width="550" height="245" border="1" title="click for a full image"></a></div>
The idea behind using Resident Evil 4 as a template to build from stems from the fact that gamers don't react well if everything in a game is completely new. Resident Evil 4 was a template, but the EA Redwood Shores team had a goal of at least five new innovations to create and use in Dead Space.
In the case of Dead Space, EA Redwood Shores started with Resident Evil 4. But it first had to come to grips with the fact that it had nothing to build upon, with some team members excited about the possibility of creating a new genre, a la Grand Theft Auto, with new characters, new camera systems and new technology.
"If too much is new, people will get lost," the producer contends. He cited another Capcom game, the Clover Studios developed Okami, as a cautionary tale. "Okami was a great game, but maybe there was too much new about that game."<!--more-->
Beaver talked about various aspects of Resident Evil 4's game design that was proven, saying that "yesterday's innovation is today's standard." There are "accepted aiming and firing mechanics" that gamers understand, systems like health packs and life bars that are established game design facets.
However, "once you have your game skinned, you need to put some distance between you and your template," he said.
The Dead Space team's distance was influenced by its setting. It's in the future. And it's in space. That lead to the team redesigning things with the concept of "in the future."
It certainly seems like a wise move to borrow gameplay ideas from one of the best games to come out for the Gamecube. Feel free to read more over at Kotaku (http://kotaku.com/5187214/how-dead-space-wisely-ripped+off-resident-evil-4).