Is the 360/PS3 port of RE4 actually missing a few specular maps?

inlimbo

Newcomer
I see this pointed out a lot on GAF but I swear it's not the case based on my admittedly imperfect memory of the game. And I've never found a set of comparison pics.

Apparently the idea is that the GC's tex unit was doing something Capcom devs were unable to replicate in the port, but it would seem more likely that if there are missing specular maps they were merely overlooked. I mean, there is specular in those ports, whether there are few missing effects or not, and there's no way the GC's tex unit could map specular in a way that couldn't be replicated on modern hardware, right? It's just a cubemap, after all.

edit: Nevermind. Took the time to dig out my GC copy of RE4 and did my own comparison. There's missing specular on Leon, on certain enemies, maybe elsewhere. Should've done this from the start, sorry about this thread.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
PS3/360 port seems like its based on the PS2 version in HD. Literally nothing has been changed from that version except the resolution. Its as bad a port as the DMC HD collection
 
It's not the PS2 build. All the original geometry and 99% of the original effects are intact, with exceptions made for Separate Ways as it was built ground up for the PS2. Plus the cutscenes are all real-time, which is another giveaway considering in the PS2 build they were just FMVs of the Gamecube scenes.

Really, the PS3/360 release is a just a no-frills, up-res it and be done with it kinda deal. Turns out they overlooked that 1% - which as far I know just amounts to those handful of specular maps and possibly some DOF in cutscenes - but I doubt that was ever intentional.
 
I've played a good bit of the new PC release. I get a kick out of their advertised HD textures. It's difficult to even tell the difference. There's an option to enable/disable them in the menu.

I also found myself wanting to tweak brightness at times. It seems like some scenes are too brightly lit. Though that could just be me wishing for a more modern lighting model.

The PC version has been patched several times and that has brought in some missing features. But I think some effects are still missing and that's baffling indeed. It's certainly a vast improvement over the original PC release though. Probably the best version of the game released so far.
 
It's not the PS2 build. All the original geometry and 99% of the original effects are intact, with exceptions made for Separate Ways as it was built ground up for the PS2. Plus the cutscenes are all real-time, which is another giveaway considering in the PS2 build they were just FMVs of the Gamecube scenes.

Really, the PS3/360 release is a just a no-frills, up-res it and be done with it kinda deal. Turns out they overlooked that 1% - which as far I know just amounts to those handful of specular maps and possibly some DOF in cutscenes - but I doubt that was ever intentional.

This. It's a solid port. Nothing more. Nothing less. Looks great in HD because the art was so strong to begin with. The game has aged beautifully and still craps all over 99% of what's currently passing for action games. It's just so staggeringly diverse and inventive.
Let's hope Mikami's gonna strike gold once again when The Evil Within comes out. Heck, I'll be happy if it's basically just RE4 with a new coat of paint at this point.
 
Back
Top