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[Xpliskin]

Thank you for this!

Looks interesting and I don't think you're far off linking the concept of two faces to Zwei. I wonder if it's just the faces or goes deeper than that.

Needless to say, you've made me even more impatient :lol

Yes it made me become very curious about what they're up to.

The lead environment aritst of REMAKE is working on this.

And if they're going this route of supernatural/infection enemies, we're gonna get some pretty creepy stuff.

I really hope we got at least a teaser trailer soon.

 

[HermitArcader]

I'm pretty sure they have like a dozen or less employees as well. I know they were really small when they formed.

The company has grown quite a bit since then, but unless I'm missing something the staff members no longer appear to be listed on the company page, recall seeing a bunch of former Game Republic developers at the studio.

Great work Xpliskin bringing together the available materials, early RE4 hookman vibes from some of the concepts is an incredibly exciting prospect but I'm prepared to wait longer for the announcement as I'd much prefer Tango went next gen.

 

[Totobeni]

The company has grown quite a bit since then, but unless I'm missing something the staff members no longer appear to be listed on the company page, recall seeing a bunch of former Game Republic developers at the studio.

Great work Xpliskin bringing together the available materials, early RE4 hookman vibes from some of the concepts is an incredibly exciting prospect but I'm prepared to wait longer for the announcement as I'd much prefer Tango went next gen.

:O :O :O

was Takashi Shono with them too?

now I demand a spiritual successor for Folklore,I'll pay gold for it.please Bethesda do it,pretty please.

 

[Hindle]

Insect enemies gives me flash backs of the bugs from Resi 4. The first time you meet those was just awesome.

 

[Viola of the Abyss]

I have a feel that this and Phantom Pain will be gone from the spotlights for a long time.
They might become the next Versus / Half-Life 3 / Last Guardian...

I think that the next chance we have of seeing something is at the Orbis/Durango reveal.

 

[HermitArcader]

:O :O :O

was Takashi Shono with them too?

now I demand a spiritual successor for Folklore,I'll pay gold for it.please Bethesda do it,pretty please.

Haha that would be awesome! Wish I could say for certain whether or not Takashi Shono was there but I had no idea until now they had been removed.

But a quick search brought up a link with some of the profile pictures (pretty sure there were more entries) and I've found a Bethblog entry for one of the former Game Republic developers working at the company:

https://plus.google.com/10350311638...nWL1E#103503116383846951534/posts/jEaabGnWL1E

http://www.twylah.com/Bethblog/tweets/98588817581281281

Might be a good task for all of us to start digging around and try to recover the staff profiles, or we could always contact Tango/Bethesda via email or social media about the missing pages.

 

[Yuterald]

That artwork looks fucking weird and awesome! Love the insect shit. I've got good feelings about this game.

 

[Yoshichan]

Read about it so long ago... Hope it turns out to be a great game, whenever they decide to release it!

 

[Endo Punk]

I have a feel that this and Phantom Pain will be gone from the spotlights for a long time.
They might become the next Versus / Half-Life 3 / Last Guardian...

I think that the next chance we have of seeing something is at the Orbis/Durango reveal.

Phantom Pain is the main mission in MGS5. Starts off as Ground Zeros then Phantom Pain. Or possible just another act ala MGS4.

 

[AuthenticM]

Have the prerendered backgrounds been confirmed ? I checked the website but didn't find anything on the matter.

 

[Anteater]

 

[Xpliskin]

Some more interesting finds:

-I can pretty much confirm this game is for PS360 and not the next-gen.

That's a coder developing using an old version of XNA, using a pretty old version of Visual Studio ( 2008 ) that's NOT really fit for next-gen consoles.

Also, if you zoom into this guy's screen, you can make out an environment he's modeling:

Here's an animator previewing an animation for the game, I can't make out the name but.
It seems to be "Over.....mania 35.mp4" , maybe a "frenzy" anim for an enemy.
You need to zoom in a bit.

It seems he has a build of the game running, or at least the title screen.
You can read : " copyright 2011 ZeniMax Asia ......"

I can tell it's not skyrim, nor dishonored (2012) nor any other game ZeniMax has published, I may be wrong. (some more searching needed on this one)

Pretty much all developers have a X360/PS3 near their desk.

They are already pretty advanced in the development and their content pipeline, I can say the game is "playable" but not really fit to be shown (there are a lot of pictures with developers playtesting it with XBOX360/PS3 pads ).

AuthenticM : No, there are no prerendered backgrounds. The genre is hard to tell. It's very likely it's a TPS.
Anteater: Ohhhhhh that explains it, ZWEI is set on thriller bark

I'm excited about this project because there are some serious quality staff working on this.
People from the REMAKE, RE2, etc ... teams.

Those that actually know how to make a decent RE game.

 

[How About No]

That is some good-ass research, Xpliskin! I think we went to knowing nothing to having a good picture at what Zwei will actually be!

 

[TreIII]

That is some good-ass research, Xpliskin! I think we went to knowing nothing to having a good picture at what Zwei will actually be!

At least, presuming that they haven't already thrown all this out and started all over again recently. :lol

But still, thanks for sharing all this. I really do wonder what Mikami and his crew will do with this game.

 

[Xpliskin]

There are some artworks hanging on one of the boards.
I recall those types of boards have their own name, but I forgot (idea board, ...), they are commonly used in dev studios for current projects.
They may write project goals, TODO, key ideas, ....

You can see some sort of tribal african-american guy on the second one, the first one seems to show double face again.

Some CSI zooming helps a bit with those pictures
The board is on the far left side in both pictures.

A 3rd artwork has been added but it's too difficult to make out what it is (maybe some picture experts can help ).

Now I'm pretty confident they are related to zwei ( or maybe it's reference art ?), because there are some project notes next to them (maybe some can translate if they can make something out).

I've been trying to find out who the main character is.
It's hard to tell if this is an FPS or TPS game.
I've yet to see plastic guns on one of the modelers' desk.

I've seen ladders, what seems to be a creepy hallway, and a really big bridge being modeled.

 

[Boerseun]

Zwei would be a good fit for Wii U.

Oh God

Stop reminding me of those days. The industry treated Wii gamers like a joke.

That's okay. The industry paid for their ignorance by having more than a hundred game development companies go broke.

 

[Xpliskin]

Small update:

Weapons motion capture.
This might mean: soldiers, player character weapon specific motion, ...enemies with guns XD ?

can still be either FPS or TPS.



Twitter of one of the character modelers.
His "zombie" versions of marvel characters are impressive, he definitely likes horror.
https://twitter.com/kazuya_mat

 

[Xpliskin]

update:

On the game's Japanese recruit page, they mention looking for people with:

-Experience in character control programming in 3D action games and FPS／TPS
-Knowledge of the Xbox360／PS3 hardware and SDK



X360/PS3 is definitely a given now .
As for the genre, given mikami's and the staff's track record, it has to be a TPS.

 

[AuthenticM]

update:

On the game's Japanese recruit page, they mention looking for people with:

-Experience in character control programming in 3D action games and FPS／TPS
-Knowledge of the Xbox360／PS3 hardware and SDK



X360/PS3 is definitely a given now .
As for the genre, given mikami's and the staff's track record, it has to be a TPS.

I guess this means we are not getting pre-rendered backgrounds. I am sad.

 

[The perfect Dark]

I guess this means we are not getting pre-rendered backgrounds. I am sad.

Don't let this happen, mikami...

 

[Viola of the Abyss]

update:

On the game's Japanese recruit page, they mention looking for people with:

-Experience in character control programming in 3D action games and FPS／TPS
-Knowledge of the Xbox360／PS3 hardware and SDK



X360/PS3 is definitely a given now .
As for the genre, given mikami's and the staff's track record, it has to be a TPS.

Not necessarily, they might want to search for people with current gen console development experience, they couldn't have possibly wrote "-Knowledge of the Xbox Durango／Playstation Orbis hardware and SDK"

People with current gen experience are far more desirable to work on a next gen console project than people who have no experience on console game dev or older gen console dev.

As for the genre I agree, only... no firearms please...

EDIT: And prerendered backgrounds please...

 

[Davey Cakes]

As for the genre I agree, only... no firearms please...

Looking at the motion capture, I'd say that you're a bit too late in your hopes.

That said, I have no problem with firearms, but I'd greatly prefer a basic approach, e.g. simple and classic weapons like the pistol and shotgun in RE4. No futuristic or even modern weapons that you see in typical TPS games and the likes of Gears of War. No space marine garbage or any of that. Just the simple basics.

 

[disappeared]

It's going to be interesting seeing Mikami's next take on the genre, considering he's been out of it for almost a decade. The guy knows his shit, and he's likely studied the horror game trends over the years.

 

[Danthrax]

It was scaled down from a full game to just being a guest character in SoulCalibur 5.

 

[Squire]

RE4 has some of the best shooting in a game ever. I'm not sure i want another Mikami game without gunplay.

And no way this is on Wii U. I doubt Bethesda/ZeniMax plan to bother with that platform.

 

[Mupod]

As for the genre I agree, only... no firearms please...

There are lots of devs making horror games where you can't fight back. We need Mikami because he knows how to make the kind where you can.

 

[Hindle]

It's likely to be just another TPS isn't it. Oh I hope I'm wrong.

 

[Magic Mushroom]

It's likely to be just another TPS isn't it. Oh I hope I'm wrong.

Mikami doesn't do those.

 

[Drencrom]

Thanks for the research Xpliskin

All you peps whining about it being a shooter are crazy. The guy made RE4 (and fucking God Hand to boot), it'll be awesome!

 

[EatChildren]

I don't know why anybody would expect a 2013 game made on current generation hardware perfectly capable of rendering detailed 3D environments to use pre-rendered backgrounds, simply because a lead Resident Evil/REmake artist is working on it. This was obviously not going to happen.

Same goes for hoping for the absence of firearms. Shinji Mikami might be going back to his horror roots, but those roots specifically include Resident Evil and Dino Crisis. Two horror series that made heavy use of weaponry as the primary means of dispatching your enemies.

It will be 3D. It will have guns. You cannot draw from these two factors that the game is suddenly a typical third person shooter.

 

[TreIII]

Not necessarily, they might want to search for people with current gen console development experience, they couldn't have possibly wrote "-Knowledge of the Xbox Durango／Playstation Orbis hardware and SDK"

People with current gen experience are far more desirable to work on a next gen console project than people who have no experience on console game dev or older gen console dev.

True, but I don't think it would make much sense to develop for console(s) that have no established audience yet, much less with a new and untested IP that's probably not going to fit into the AAA/AAAA arena that Durango and Orbis will demand. Vanquish and God Hand should be enough to prove that Mikami's name doesn't carry the kind of weight that I'm sure we wished it did.

I mean, unless Zenimax really stands to be generous with the budget they're giving Tango for this game, I'd expect something for 360/PS3.

All you peps whining about it being a shooter are crazy. The guy made RE4 and Vanquish, it'll be awesome!

Fixed to make it more relevant to my interests. I'm expecting a game with fun gunplay.

 

[Drencrom]

Fixed to make it more relevant to my interests. I'm expecting a game with fun gunplay.

Had a brain fart and totally forgot Vanquish

Anyway, the man knows how to make compelling shooting mechanics and games.

 

[Glass Rebel]

What EatChildren is trying to say here is that it's going to be Uncharted.

 

[Viola of the Abyss]

Looking at the motion capture, I'd say that you're a bit too late in your hopes.

That said, I have no problem with firearms, but I'd greatly prefer a basic approach, e.g. simple and classic weapons like the pistol and shotgun in RE4. No futuristic or even modern weapons that you see in typical TPS games and the likes of Gears of War. No space marine garbage or any of that. Just the simple basics.

Yes, it's inevitable. I agree with the latter part. Shooting just guns and shotguns like in the first Resident Evils and Silent Hills would make me appreciate it more than it having a strong focus on heavy machine guns and futuristic stuff.

We'll see what happens.

There are lots of devs making horror games where you can't fight back. We need Mikami because he knows how to make the kind where you can.

You can always fight back with melee. Shovels, rusted iron pipes and chainsaws are the best way to fight through a monster horde.

 

[ArjanN]

Don't let this happen, mikami...

There is no real advantage of pre-rendered backgrounds over actual 3D levels any more. What you probably mean is that you want scenes with static camera angles.

 

[AuthenticM]

I don't know why anybody would expect a 2013 game made on current generation hardware perfectly capable of rendering detailed 3D environments to use pre-rendered backgrounds, simply because a lead Resident Evil/REmake artist is working on it. This was obviously not going to happen.

Same goes for hoping for the absence of firearms. Shinji Mikami might be going back to his horror roots, but those roots specifically include Resident Evil and Dino Crisis. Two horror series that made heavy use of weaponry as the primary means of dispatching your enemies.

It will be 3D. It will have guns. You cannot draw from these two factors that the game is suddenly a typical third person shooter.

I don't expect it to have pre-rendered backgrounds; I just want it to. Imagine how beautiful it would look with the computational power we have today. Madness.

 

[RoboPlato]

I don't know why anybody would expect a 2013 game made on current generation hardware perfectly capable of rendering detailed 3D environments to use pre-rendered backgrounds, simply because a lead Resident Evil/REmake artist is working on it. This was obviously not going to happen.

Same goes for hoping for the absence of firearms. Shinji Mikami might be going back to his horror roots, but those roots specifically include Resident Evil and Dino Crisis. Two horror series that made heavy use of weaponry as the primary means of dispatching your enemies.

It will be 3D. It will have guns. You cannot draw from these two factors that the game is suddenly a typical third person shooter.

With Mikami behind it, I don't think you could ever think it was going to be a typical TPS. RE4, Shadows of the Damned, and especially Vanquish are far different than most shooters on the market.

 

[Randdalf]

:lol

How did that game sell BTW?

As for Zwei, probably moved to next-gen.

Here's what ONM have to say:

Wheelspin is "one of the worst games we've ever played"

 

[AzureSkies]

Here's what ONM have to say:

And that says something considering that ONM is notorious for praising mediocre games.

 

[Xpliskin]

I've sent a mail asking them for "a general hint on when we could expect an update, a teaser would do".

I don't think they'll answer.

There was this broadcast of tango gameworks called "tango night", where the developers were talking about everything and nothing.

I'm pretty sure we could get some interesting information if someone cared to translate it.

http://tangogameworks.com/jp/tv/tn_tv

Direct youtube link:
http://www.youtube.com/user/tangogw



<rant>
This game is headed to PS3/X360 for sure, there's way too much evidence.

I don't understand the need for pre-rendered backgrounds, it's a thing of the past.
It was a trick to display higher quality environments on less powerful hardware.
The hardware is powerful enough these days.

Heck RE4 surpasses the CG of RE1/2/3/CV (FMV), in real-time.
The controls associated with pre-rendered backgrounds are outdated, at least in today's market.

</rant>

 

[BMX Bandit]

so with bethesda as the publisher what are the odds on this coming to pc too? just curious/trying to think of a game they've released that didn't have a pc version recently.

 

[Xpliskin]

so with bethesda as the publisher what are the odds on this coming to pc too? just curious/trying to think of a game they've released that didn't have a pc version recently.

There was a screen with a build running on one of the animators' PC.
They are looking for a "Windows application developer".

I wish those would be indicators good enough for a PC version, but they aren't.

Besides, PC isn't the best platform for the 1st game of a newly launched studio (--piracy). Especially a Japanese one !

PS3/X360 versions will release first, hopefully PC sometime next (modding XD) .

 

[Glass Rebel]

All Bethesda/ZeniMax HD games have been released on PC as well. I'd be very surprised if it didn't come out on PC in a reasonable timeframe.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

<rant>
This game is headed to PS3/X360 for sure, there's way too much evidence.

I don't understand the need for pre-rendered backgrounds, it's a thing of the past.
It was a trick to display higher quality environments on less powerful hardware.
The hardware is powerful enough these days.

Heck RE4 surpasses the CG of RE1/2/3/CV (FMV), in real-time.
The controls associated with pre-rendered backgrounds are outdated, at least in today's market.

</rant>

IMO No actual gen game surpassed the ambientation of REmake, and that was partially due to the pre-rendered backgrounds. Lost in Nightmares looks good, but it can't match that level of detail and no game will be in this gen.

Of course since I understand that the game will have a bigger focus on combat that pre-rendered backgrounds don't work, but I wish we could have another Survival Horror taht used incredible detailed pre-rendered backgrounds.

 

[Xpliskin]

IMO No actual gen game surpassed the ambientation of REmake, and that was partially due to the pre-rendered backgrounds. Lost in Nightmares looks good, but it can't match that level of detail and no game will be in this gen.

Of course since I understand that the game will have a bigger focus on combat that pre-rendered backgrounds don't work, but I wish we could have another Survival Horror taht used incredible detailed pre-rendered backgrounds.

I knew someone would bring up Remake
Remake is the exception to the rule.
What you say is true, the ambience in remake is legendary.
No horror game has matched it, the immersion, the level of detail.

As much as I'd like a game like that, it just doesn't work anymore.

There's no way it can compete with what's out in today's market.
And it wouldn't work with today's standards, the average player does not like that.

We're in an era of movie-games hybrid with slightly less puzzle solving and more hand-holding.

 

[Viola of the Abyss]

There is no real advantage of pre-rendered backgrounds over actual 3D levels any more. What you probably mean is that you want scenes with static camera angles.

Yes, this actually...
Prerendered doesn't make much sense nowadays, and it doesn't scale well.

 

[Xpliskin]

small update:

-more firearms (why would they be lieing around in the office if you're not making a game with them ? )

-I'm trying hard to find who the main character is. Here's something:

There's an interesting mask hanging at the office's entrance.
It's next to mikami's head. It's not the face of a staff member.

It looks like snake's head (the bandana/headgear ?), but it's not.
Now if you'd ask me, I'd say this is the main character for zwei (or another project?).

Why ?
-If it's not the mask of a staff member, why would they bother creating one and hanging it on the wall ? If it's reference art (read: NOT key art), same thing, why would they bother ?
-seeing they already have a mask of mikami's head, which was self-made, this has to be self-made too
-Wouldn't it be fun running around the office with a mask of your game's main character ?
-the studio's "mascot"


Now I may be completely wrong, it's hard to tell with these small pictures. This might be some anime character I don't know about (might even be solid snake lol) .

But it's very likely the main character in zwei is a guy, probably with military training, who uses guns . What a surprise !

Given mikami's track record, I think this is very very likely.

RE1: STARS (trained personnel) find themselves in horror situation
RE4: Special Agent (trained personnel) finds himself in horror situation

Take it with a grain of salt, this is just speculation.

 

[Xpliskin]

update of the day:

-blurred character/enemy art (in the character designers' area)

-the self-made mikami mask

 

[Dusk Golem]

It's a shame Xpliskin was banned. This all was very interesting.

 

[Nemesis_]

This ain't coming out this generation, is it?