The Magical World of PS1 Pre-Rendered Backgrounds
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 18 มิ.ย. 2024
- Pre-Rendered backgrounds have always been one of my favorite graphical styles, largely in part due to how effectively they were utilized on the PS1. In this video I discuss what it is exactly that makes these backgrounds so special, timeless and magical.
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Intermission Song
Gamersician - Chrono Chiller
Go check out his new album that he just dropped! Featuring samples from video games like the Final Fantasy series, Kingdom Hearts, Chrono Trigger and more.
thegamersician.bandcamp.com/a...
Other Songs Appearing In Order
00:00 Brayan Llamas - Bonds of Sea and Flame Lofi Edit
1:54 Final Fantasy VIII - Balamb Garden
3:13 Lofi Lia - Ocarina of Time Title Theme Lofi Version
4:46 Theysay- Shimmer
6:01 Gamersician - My Power HD 1.5 Final Mix
Channel Intro
Richie Branson - Jazzy Nights
7:32 Lofi Lia - Final Fantasy VII Battle Theme Lofi Version
9:00 Final Fantasy VIII - Blue Fields
10:13 Final Fantasy IX - A Place To Call Home
11:00 Final Fantasy IX - Terra
11:51 Final Final Fantasy IX - Over the Hill
12:18 Chrono Cross - Fields of Time
13:42 Saga Frontier - A Blue Town
14:41 - The Legend of Dragoon - Peace Between Hills
15:16 The Legend of Dragoon - World Map 3
16:04 Jade Cocoon - Sirius Village
16:34 Star Ocean 2 - A Venerable Forest
17:23 Digimon World - Data City
18:23 Shadow Madness - Karillon: Middletowne
18:56 Gamersician - Chrono Chiller
19:22 Koudelka - Waterfall
19:52 Parasite Eve - Out of Phase
20:41 Parasite Eve 2 - M.I.S.T.
21:15 Resident Evil - Save Theme
22:33 Resident Evil 2 - Save Theme
23:14 Resident Evil 3 - Save Theme
24:12 Galerians - Memorial Hospital Battle Theme
24:18 Alone in the Dark - Ambient Music
25:06 Countdown Vampires - Opening Song
25:17 Dino Crisis 2 - Save Theme
25:55 T.R.A.G. - First Mission
26:16 Men in Black The Game - Ambient Music
26:28 Soul of the Samurai - Musashi
26:43 In Cold Blood - Intro Song
27:12 Fear Effect - Hong Kong
28:39 Fear Effect - Boat Trip
29:11 Perfect Weapon - Ice Stage
29:32 The Crow - The Last Chance
29:46 Tunguska: Legend of Faith - Opening Song
30:01 Enigma - Track 3
30:11 Deep Freeze - Ambient Music
30:24 Boku no Natsuyasumi - I'm not sure the name of this song as it was in Japanese, sorry!
31:51 Unseen Sounds - The Legend of Dragoon Royal Castle Lofi Edit
32:37 Lofi Lia - Final Fantasy VII Main Theme Lofi Edit
33:02 K-Sketch - Chrono Cross Fields of Time Remix
33:49 Rifti Beats - Balamb Garden Lofi Hip Hop Remix
• Final Fantasy VIII - B...
36:14 Arc Rise Fantasia - Topazion
00:00 - 06:54 Intro
06:54 - 07:32 Channel Opening
07:32 - 12:13 The Final Fantasy Series
12:13 - 18:57 Other RPGs
18:57 - 19:22 Intermission
19:22 - 21:15 Survival Horror/RPG Hybrids
21:15 - 25:17 Resident Evil and Other Survival Horror
25:17 - 31:15 Action/Adventure
31:15 - 33:49 Closing Thoughts
33:49 - 36:14 Outro
36:14 - 37:17 Post Credit Lore
#ps1 #finalfantasy #residentevil - เกม
Hey everyone! First of all thanks for watching and for all the love on the video so far. I did want to address and correct a few mistakes that have been brought to our attention.
1. The background music is louder than usual, loud enough that we've gotten some comments on it and even a couple people that said they had to stop watching. We do apologize for this as we should have double checked audio levels more before posting. It seemed fine when playing it back through my headphones in Premiere but for the future I need to check it through other means before officially uploading. In hindsight, listening to it now on my TV and computer I can definitely hear how some parts are too loud against my audio. It's particularly bad in the intro with tracks like Balamb Garden but I will say after that a good chunk of the video is leveled more appropriately so if you can make it past the first few minutes, it gets a lot better. Regardless we'll do a better job with this going forward, our other videos don't suffer from this issue so it's mainly just a problem with this particular video.
2. During The Legend of Dragoon section, I make a comment about the game showing arrows on screen to signify entrances/exits. I make it seem like this is the only PS1 RPG to do this but that's actually not correct as FF7 had done this years ago already. I remembered that FF7 and FF9 showed a pointer above the character, but I admit I forgot that 7 also showed arrows to exits on screen. This mistake was made doubly worse as out of all the examples we could have shown during this part, we picked the one other game that actually did do this. All around this was just a mistake on our end so we apologize.
3. I mention that Resident Evil was the first survival horror game to use the pre-rendered background graphical style. I was incorrect about this as apparently Alone in the Dark on the PC was actually the first to do so. I knew that Sweet Home on the NES was the first survival horror game but wrongfully assumed that Resident Evil was the first of its kind. Again, this is made even worse by the fact that I actually do talk about Alone in the Dark on the PS1 in the video so I should have looked more into the older games. I did a lot of research for this video but definitely dropped the ball on instances like this.
I can't 100% promise that another mistake will never be made in a future video, but I can promise I will try to rectify and address them when they're brought to my attention. Accountability and owning up to your mistakes is important, and I'll never be above constructive criticism when trying to improve our content. So yeah, sorry for the errors in this video everyone. We will try to do a better job of being more thorough with research going forward. Thanks again for watching and hope you all have a good day!
EDIT
Also going to throw in a link to our Patreon because fuck it
www.patreon.com/gamingbroductions
No need to apologize, but good on you. Love your videos.
Dude, I thoroughly enjoyed the video!
Mistakes happen, don't feel too bad about it, and keep these videos coming!
Btw, Jade Cocoon, it was made together with the director for Kiki's Delivery Service (Studio Ghibli). :)
legend of dragoon didnt just do the arrow thing. The 3 final fantasy games did it too by just pushing the select button, it would show the characters with a finger above them, and then little red triangles where doors and exits were.
Something bizzare isi never played Legend Of Dragoon because i only ever saw it advertised with those arrows and assumed you didn't turn wm off. I never thought that woth FF. I'm willing to bet they're on by default in LOD and off in FF7
I love pre-rendered backgrounds so much. There was so much details which helped add to the immersion which is what I like when playing a RPG.
Absolutely, it just made the worlds feel lived in and real with how much detail they were able to pack into them
I recently started replaying ff7 for the switch. There is so much detail! I like going into different buildings and just looking at everything. What's surprising is you can walk into a random house, and see a bunch of items you don't see in any other building. They took the time to make random items on a shelf for example, that most people won't even notice. Other games just copy and paste the same boxes and barrels over and over again.
Part is also the low resolution
Pre-rendered backgrounds might have helped provide a much needed "visual immersion" back then, but the lack/limited "interactive immersion" with the elements of those pre-rendered backgrounds was the reason why I was happy that games were going to be fully 3D, even if that meant losing some visual detail... and besides, there's the always fixed camera position with pre-rendered backgrounds.
Pre-rendered backgrounds were an artistic design choice based on the hardware limitations of the time
@@you2be839 not to mention that pre-rendered backgrounds caused the character models to stick out, in a bad way, being different resolution and having different lighting
“Your imagination filled in the gaps” so true bro… I would argue that was probably my favorite aspect of RPGs back in the 90s and 00s. It gave me same vibe as reading a great book or playing with my friends pretending to be knights or something like that. Running through Midgar, Balamb and Alexandria totally fueled my imagination. It certainly didn’t limit it like some forms of media.I may be old school but I miss that about the PS1 era rpgs. As always great content man. You can always tell when people truly love what they talk about.
Mid to late 90's were the golden age of RPG's it seems. Hope for another golden age at some point...
Yes, in a way, we could think of it as playing trough a comic book or a strip cartoon.
or a painting,! when FF12 went with the full 3d look it didn't look as fantastical IMO
Ive been saying this since FFX released and it finally nice to see other people talk about it. I miss prerendered graphics and static camera angles in voiceless JRPGs. Like reading a book like you said and heavy use of the imagination.
Thank you for making this video. I miss the days of prerendered graphics and static camera angled scenes in voiceless JRPGs. The effects the had on the imagination was real!
Man, those PS1 games had so much more charm and personality with those pre-rendered backgrounds. I have them saved and sorted in folders just to admire every tiny detail from time to time. Like, there's just something that the FF7 pre-rendered backgrounds (especially the interiors of homes) does that the fancy graphics of the remakes can't do, they make you feel fuzzy inside.
one feels like walking through a book the other feels like walking through a movie, idk if that makes sense
I get what you mean. I love the visuals of the Remake, but their beauty is different, as was mentioned by emotrashcracja5305.
Almost as fuzzy as the backgrounds look on the PS4!!
Ugh how I wish there were someone to make a 1440p upscale of those backrounds
Modern games look all like the same movie, as being mostly 3D adventure the camera is always behind the shoulder. Take FFVII for example, each stage had a different composition and the characters moved from one direction to another.
In modern games having the same point of view makes everything look like a corridor
Those backgrounds looked amazing when played on CRT TVs like we did back in the day.
the reason that 3D models from that era look *especially* bad on modern displays is because they aren't 'smoothed out' by the scan lines of the CRT. that's the little bit of graphic magic that's missing.
I wouldn't be surprized if, with the help of AI fans can make various remastered.
Yeah, it's hard to describe how and why CRT were "better" to people who've never played on original hardware.. dunno how we used to find the room for them though 😂
@@unbearifiedbear1885 They were better for the media where the graphical fidelity was made for those screens imo.
@@unbearifiedbear1885 They were heavy and pretty much required a table or cabinet to place on. I still have a small one with built in VCR thats not too heavy. I haven't really used my PS1 on it in decades but I might decide to do it in the future as a little retro day or something. You really do have to see it in person to know what it looks like.
Pre rendered backgrounds are amazing and it is great to see them get love!
The PS1 startup sound, is one of the most legendary startup sounds in existence. Great times and memories!
Back then it literally signaled the future. We knew it then. Also waking up early to play a new title was always an amazing day ahead you didn't want to end. I was a rollerblader then so Xtreme games in the long box was HELLA amazing to me. Toshinden, Tekken, ridge racer. That year was amazing!
Ridge racer, Tekken, Tenchu, Coolboarders, Resident Evil, Dino Crisis and so many more are still great to this day. PS1 was definitively revolutionary. Hard to believe it is almost 30 years ago
@@hattorihanzo1329 I've been saying Tenchu needs to come back. And I own a copy of Cool Boarders 2 and Jet Moto 1 the sweet spot of both of those series. Jet Moto was a game my parents got me without me asking and I ended up loving it! Twisted Metal 2 and Vigilante 8 were insane. Rogue Trip wasn't bad either! Soo many fun colorful games back then. I got my brother on R4 recently, he even admitted it was the best in the series and they should do another for ps5. I wish!
@@hattorihanzo1329 and yeah It is crazy to know it was 30 years ago... soo much FUN.
Okay but let’s talk about the PSP’s.
Legit heartwarming theme imo borderline magical.
the background music made me cry, damn man, im old as fk, playing since atari, ps1 WAS THE BEST RPG ERA, nothing came close..i don't remember a bad rpg i played in ps1...damn good old times..
I agree. Developers were knocking out of the park during the ps1 era.
Love pre-rendered backgrounds like you wouldn't believe. Thanks for the vid!
No problem, thanks for watching!
Pre-rendered backgrounds are absolutely beautiful and achieve things even modern games haven't, there are only about 4 videos on TH-cam talking about them, and they've never gone as in-depth as this, looking to be a great video.
Totally agree. Hope you ended up enjoying it 👍
True. So few people talk about prerendered backgrounds in video games, and even fewer devs consider using this technique anymore, sadly, though it would feel very nice with modern character movement's controls.
Thanks for this nostalgic time travel session. Have not seen gameplay of the old PSX Final Fantasys for a long time.
Maaan, Final Fantasy was so amazing back then. FF6, FF7, FF8 & FF9 were incredible.
I wish they didn't suddenly disappear from the industry the way they did. AI upscaled FF7/8/9 still looks *gorgeous* and I think it would still work today in modern games. Live 3D environments are just too difficult and expensive to make, and I don't think every game or genre benefits, particularly JRPGs where I feel the loss of fidelity and detail has really made their worlds feel so lifeless and boring.
AI upscaled looks like shit to be honest, everything becomes "oily" and text turns into gibberish sometimes. The best way to make prerendered backgrounds look better is to use crt shaders.
Pretty sure these pre rendered ones actually take more time to develop because every time you want to make any small change you have to re render the whole scene and now you don't have to do it anymore as realtime graphics have more than caught up there is no reason to
Moguri mod is my favorite mod ever and wish that were hired by other teams.
Pre-Rendered graphics are actually 3D polygons that are then converted to a flat 2D image. If you're taking all that time to make a pre-render than just make it into an actual 3D space that the gamer can explore.
“Live 3D environments are too difficult and expensive to make”… how do you… how do you think they made the pre-rendered 3D environments to begin with 😭
Chrono Cross is like the only game that had me constantly taking in how beautiful the backgrounds were (with Baten Kaitos being the other one recently and now I know why lol), I just really love the aesthetic that game went for and it really kickstarted me missing this style of rendering when I played it for the first time last year.
never played chrono cross (beyond the first few mins), but, it has been a huuuuuuge impact nonetheless... it's just so breathtaking...
The backgrounds and the music in Chrono Cross are top tier ❤
Yoooo I called it on the community post! Perfect topic, the pre rendered backgrounds in PS1 games were so magical.
That you did! Nice one. Didn’t want to react to the original comment as to not spoil the surprise
While I do enjoy how full 3d backgrounds has made more immersive gameplay, there is just something special about those old pre-rendered backgrounds. In fixed camera, pre-rendered backgrounds, it's like your characters are running around in beautiful paintings.
There's a billion modern pixel art games, but you don't see many that use fixed cameras and pre-rendered backgrounds (or duplicate the pre-rendered look using 3d assets) Maybe I would be more interested in retro-styled indie games if more of them tried that art style.
I have seen indies using this style and it is glorious. I will find one of them for you.
Edit: I found it. Chronicles of the Alphabet.
If you're into RPGs you should look into Pillars of Eternity. Great game that uses the same concept.
FFVII did have those arrows to show what was an entrance/exit and what was interactive too. Very useful!
Yeah this was our mistake, sorry about that! We address this and a couple other things in a pinned comment
@@GamingBroductions yes, you only had to press the "select" button to make them appear, i think.
This was really well made! I enjoyed this a lot and it helped me to realize how much I miss these backgrounds.
Amazing video, the pre rendered background have a certain vibe that I can only describe as "a still shot of beauty of an even bigger world", I always wondered how the world would look like and it let my imagination run wild.
Couldn’t agree more that a renaissance for this aesthetic style is overdue. It sure hits different.
I think it’s been slowly ramping up to become an art style/trend of sorts. Keep an eye out and you’ll see it becoming more commonplace here soon.
On the subject of Chrono Cross... I used to just piddle around the maps because they were so beautiful. Even with nothing to do there, the soundtrack and backgrounds were so lovely I just wanted to live there.
What a great video, I am so the target demo for this because these backgrounds live rent free in my heart forever. Good job!
That chillhop Xenogears track that plays in the background is something I didn't think I needed to hear.
Bro, I was sick for 2 days, binge watching all your videos on repeat helps😂
Haha love to hear that last bit! Hope you’re feeling better now dude
Bro I was dead for 28 years ,just woke up and played ps1, mind blown wow bruh
Loved this vid. Some pre-rendered backgrounds of the PS1 era are high works of art.
What a banger of a video. Amazing job dude. The nostalgia factor hit all the feels big time. The PS1 era was special.
Keep up the great work man. 🤘
Appreciate the kind words dude! The PS1 era truly was something else. Thanks for watching
I am so happy TH-cam recommended me this video, and I see you're truly going for some really awesome more specific content I haven't seen anywhere before 😋 I hope you keep going 🤗
I think this is the first video of its kind. Thanks for highlighting this topic.
I'm so happy I found your channel. The soundtrack, the videos. Ah man! Thanks!!!
I’ve been thinking a lot about this over the last couple of years. Happy to see I’m not the only one. Thanks for this video!
i get very excited when i see that you have posted a new video always thoughtful and incredibly well narrated and edited. keep killing it broski
Really appreciate those kind words! Love to hear about that excitement, thanks for watching and supporting
Bro i just gotta say please keep making vids like this. I came to this channel for a random top 10 list but after seeing the video about forests or the one about campfires or snowy places or beach areas thats what made me subscribe and and become a huge fan. I love your enviromental videos please keep making them thank you so much
We definitely plan on making more environmental videos in the future, just not sure when the next one will be yet. Unfortunately they’ve never really done that well in the algorithm for us but I do enjoy making them and people to seem to like them. Thanks for subbing btw!
@@GamingBroductions Vid is shy of 400k views, I think its fair to say the algorithm liked this one!
I got to about Seven Minutes into your video and I was completely satisfied with the experience. I was all, what a great video that was, I sure love the way this guy presents and gives such an organic Narration, can't wait for the next one, and moved my mouse, and saw there's a whole another half hour left of this video, dude, you made me soooo happy.
I’ve been looking for an artist that can replicate the style and feel of these pre-rendered backgrounds mostly from Resident Evil 1-3, Final Fantasy 7 & 8 and Parasite Eve, I love the style and atmosphere they portray, it really screams the early 90’s at a time when we all lived carefree.
There are not much Artists that have that kind of Freedom of Expression like in ff7-9 era.
even today, the Modern FF like 15 and 16 have a Bland City that mimic real world,
instead of exploring the Novelty and focused more on Art Direction
my theory is, it was either because the key people left square and replaced by newer generation,
and it became a Lost Art, so Unique that it was Never to be found again in a New Generation Talent
Or They're embarrassed about it, especially how vocal about them wanted to be Accepted by western Audience,
therefore they thought that creating a Bland Environment like Bethesda game or other Medieval game will Win over Western Audiences,
not knowing that they lost their identity in the process, even today, they still confused about what game they're supposed to make,
you can see this in Forspoken,
or the Game studio that they acquire, which is like Hitman or Tomb Raider
i think they should Lean More about Fantasy and Novelty, and just screw the Naysayer who said that
their Character or Environment is Edgy or Cringe.
don't fear to be weird, don't fear if the Environment took too much creative liberty and not resembled real world at all.
after all we played game to Experience a new world, not to explore the real world again.
like why would i play something that repeating Medieval village over and over again?
there are already a neverending Ubisoft game, skyrim or witcher, that already done the job.
Maybe you should look for the tools they were using to render (hardware and software), it could be possible to emulate them today on modern machines.
@@almostdarkslide3851True, but it takes more than just knowing how to use the hardware and software, it's more of trying to capture the look and feel of the 90's pre-rendered background games.
This video was so thorough and well researched. Great job!
Thanks for the kind words!
Thank you for taking me back in time where things were much simpler, families were still whole, no responsibilities and all the care in the world I had to give was my next long play session on my cousin's PS1.
I remember fondly of having to just put the controller down when I load a specific part of a game just to take in the atmosphere while listening to the gorgeous OST (eg. PE1 Police Station, RE3 Streets of Raccoon City and FF9 Esto Gaza)
Truly those were the good old days. I'm well aware that this method of presentation is archaic by modern video game standards but there's just this charm about it that gives it a unique, creative, expressive and a more consistent art direction with how the devs present their games despite the technical limitaions at the time.
I can literally listen to you talk about this for hours. I absolutely love the style and creativity of pre rendered backgrounds. I would actually frame some of them on my walls.
First time on your channel. That channel opening gave me a nostalgia trip and it transported me to a time when so many things were possible. I am now longing for a time and place that we can never go back to. CRT TVs, Blockbusters, arcades, Motorola and Nokia phones, Pagers, Sony Walkman's, VHS. Internet and personal computers killed that. Maybe I am just old now and tired of being an adult. Growing up during the 90s was truly an awesome feeling. I will forever miss that era.
90's born here 34 ur not old but it was a nice trip it passed fast because we had an awesome time thats why it seems so little it was a great dose of positive dopamine :D keep living happily like we did back then,
Outstanding content as always. This gaming related channel is on another level! Keep going!
Thanks for the kind words! Will do 👌
Instant suscribe! you brought some memories dude, I need to go check the remaster version of Chrono Cross right now!
Absolutely masterpiece of a video, thank you! Love pre-rendered backgrounds.
You have some of the most unique and interesting video ideas I've seen in a while. Love it keep up the great work.
This was a really fun, relaxing watch. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.
No problem, glad you enjoyed it and thanks for watching
I’ve gotta say I love the Channel Theme…really reminds me of late ‘90’s-early ‘00’s aesthetics. Very much reminiscent of something Toonami-adjacent. Great work on the video as well, pre-rendering backgrounds has definitely been largely set aside.
i really love pre-rendered backgrounds, and i thank you for showing some love for them aswell. I do use some of those backgrounds as wallpapers in my PC and phone.
New sub! Don't think I've ever met anyone else that loved this particular genre and era of games as much as me. From Romancing Saga, radiata stories these are the games that truly made me want to play for hours and hours on end.
Also, thanks for featuring my music, fellas! Always surreal hearing your own work mixed in with so many other great artists. Perfect video for it 🔥
Of course dude thanks for letting us use it! Fit the vibe perfectly 💯
What song was yours,? Ff8 remix at the end?
@@randybobandy9828 I had two songs in there- the Kingdom Hearts flip and the intermission track as well.
TH-cam game music fans/remixers/producers are one of the best parts of TH-cam, period. The work and creativity that you peeps put in is magical! I'm a huge fan of the old crew that put together the Street Fighter 20th Anniversary tribute project, so many bangers in there. But they're just a drop in the ocean of good musicians, and now I discovered you too. Keep up the great work!
I really like those video game and anime mashups that show up with your logo. It reminds me of the good old days when I would chill watching adult swim and play video games on the weekends. Cool vid doods
Yep that’s the exact vibe we’re going for 👌 thanks dude!
Just wanted to say the production quality of your videos is out of control. Really enjoyed this one! Really unique topic and super nostalgic.
Amazing video. Can tell this will be saved in my VG review archives and watched again and again.
Now this is a movie.
Pre-rendered graphics is what made Myst jaw dropping in the early 90's.
@15:30 - the point on sometimes getting lost in pre rendered backgrounds - ff7 seems to be used as the example of this, but you can toggle on/off the arrows in this game too!
Absolutely love this video! Thanks for putting this together 🤗🙌🏽🙌🏽
Thank you so much.
That Playstation opening sound was like a time machine 🤯
I feel like I was 9 years old again and that was 25 years ago.
And then your Balamb Garden background music. Oh god! Nostalgia!
This video was such a vibe man. PS1 games really were beautiful, especially on CRT.
Heart of darkness and Abe exodus had great pre-rendered background with super cool level transitions. Like a cinematic would trigger looking exactly like the pre-rendered background and would make the camera travel from one background to another, almost seamlesly.
Thanks for bringing back so many good memories with pre rendered backgrounds!
Awesome video, never saw a lot of games. Really made me appreciate pre-rendered backgrounds even more. Many times I went: this is really on PSX? wow. Thanks for your video.
The 90s was a magical time.
From video games to cartoons and anime and movies, the 90s were absolutely firing on all cylinders
@@GamingBroductions So glad all of us grew up during the 90's.
Just finished the video and i gotta tell you just how much i appreciated it. I'm 40 years old so i grew up with a lot of these games (i was hoping you would include legend of dragoon and was not disappointed) so sitting back and watching this was the best kind of nostalgia porn that made me feel a sense of wistful comfort. Plus seeing other games I'm unfamiliar with like that summertime adventure was a real treat, those backgrounds on that game are god tier old school anime style that i hadn't seen in a game before quite like that game has. Made me think of background shots in anime such as Golden Boy (which you should absolutely watch if you haven't already it's one of the funniest anime I've ever seen) and others from that era. Thanks for making this it was a really nice throwback with great music and vibes from my youth🙏
*shoutout to that fluffy cat at the end too, love to see it
Love to hear that you enjoyed the video as much as you did dude. Golden Boy is an awesome show for sure and hilarious as hell, I’ve always really loved the overall aesthetic and vibe of it. Very strong sense of style and cool backgrounds like you were saying. Yu Yu Hakusho is another one that really nails that old school 90s anime vibe with its backgrounds.
Thanks for watching and Nugget appreciates the shoutout! She’s the real MVP of the channel
What a great video! You mentioned a ton of good stuff here. Special shoutout to the Myst games by the way! I'm glad we still get a lot of pre-rendered games within the point-and-click genre at least. It's such a beautiful style. Final Fantasy IX is definitely my favourite when it comes to this style though. It's just brimming with detail, and the fantasy vibe is amazing!
THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS! I couldn't agree more
No problem, thanks for watching!
I would argue that the charm of pre-rendered backgrounds is also captured by fixed cameras (think the original Devil May Cry, or Silent Hill 2) which allow for full 3D when it's needed, but also gives it the more cinematic angles. I know sometimes it's annoying to transition from one screen to another in these kinds of games, I really really prefer how cinematic it feels.
The transition part doesn't really need to be a problem these days with emulators (probably a option to skip these wasted frames maybe?)
Most certainly if games were made like this today, the slow optical disc drive won't factor into slow transitions anymore (even if it sometimes added to the experience, ie Resident Evil's tension inducing doors).
That feel when you are starting the planning phase of a indie RPG trying to do the same style as PS1 Square RPG's and you stumble upon this amazing recourse of a youtube channel.
Good luck, we really need some new RPG's like this
Dude, it’s a crazy undertaking, my brother and I are working on a Resident Evil style pre rendered background game, that we’ve been workshopping the story for almost 4 years now, after about 6 months I finally have a working camera system that automatically renders the depth of the pre-render I’m using by utilizing the alpha information from the renders. It’s just so hard to find information on this style in a way that’s compatible with modern tech. But it is possible but be prepared for way more work than you think. You’re basically doing twice the amount of work you would be to make a regular 3D game. So though tough don’t get discouraged, you have all the time you need, if it takes 5 years so be it! But I wish you the best of luck it’s an undertaking!
Dude, it’s a crazy undertaking, my brother and I are working on a Resident Evil style pre rendered background game, that we’ve been workshopping the story for almost 4 years now, after about 6 months I finally have a working camera system that automatically renders the depth of the pre-render I’m using by utilizing the alpha information from the renders. It’s just so hard to find information on this style in a way that’s compatible with modern tech. But it is possible but be prepared for way more work than you think. You’re basically doing twice the amount of work you would be to make a regular 3D game. So though tough don’t get discouraged, you have all the time you need, if it takes 5 years so be it! But I wish you the best of luck it’s an undertaking!
Dude, it’s a crazy undertaking, my brother and I are working on a Resident Evil style pre rendered background game, that we’ve been workshopping the story for almost 4 years now, after about 6 months I finally have a working camera system that automatically renders the depth of the pre-render I’m using by utilizing the alpha information from the renders. It’s just so hard to find information on this style in a way that’s compatible with modern tech. But it is possible but be prepared for way more work than you think. You’re basically doing twice the amount of work you would be to make a regular 3D game. So though tough don’t get discouraged, you have all the time you need, if it takes 5 years so be it! But I wish you the best of luck it’s an undertaking!
Dude, it’s a crazy undertaking, my brother and I are working on a Resident Evil style pre rendered background game, that we’ve been workshopping the story for almost 4 years now, after about 6 months I finally have a working camera system that automatically renders the depth of the pre-render I’m using by utilizing the alpha information from the renders. It’s just so hard to find information on this style in a way that’s compatible with modern tech. But it is possible but be prepared for way more work than you think. You’re basically doing twice the amount of work you would be to make a regular 3D game. So though tough don’t get discouraged, you have all the time you need, if it takes 5 years so be it! But I wish you the best of luck it’s an undertaking!
A magical world indeed! Thanks for this one! It hits home for sure!
The intro music on your channel, mixed with the images is like my absolute vibe, I love it so much. Then you go and talk about cosy RPGs on your other videos and man, instant sub
Ah, the PS1. Nowadays I'm more of a Nintendo fan but man, the PS1 will always be special to me ❤
Oh, and Jade Cocoon had some amazing looking backgrounds, absolutely love the forests!
Nintendo was my introduction to gaming, but I feel like the PS1 is what really solidified my huge passion and love for it all by introducing me to so many of my all time favorite games
@@GamingBroductions Agreed. The PSX felt like the true successor to the SNES more so than the N64 did.
I’m definitely a fan of the pre-rendered environments in Digimon World.
Someone else who remembers Jade Coccoon
People complain about pre rendered background but i love them. They show the creativity of developers with console limitations. Like how SNES and genesis games were developed.
Great video! Dino Crisis 2 has some of my favourite pre-rendered backgrounds in any game. Especially when they were dynamic for jnstance when the T-Rex was walking in the background. Or when you are crossing a rope bridge and you see movement of the trees underneath you etc
This video was amazing thank you for making this. I'm definitely going to check out the rest of your channel.
When it comes to pre rendered backgrounds my favorites are the main ones you talked about like the FF games.
Resident Evil 2 and Spyro the Dragon were my first PS games and I was blown away by them, coming from Sega Genesis Drive console. I was obsessed by Residen't Evil's pre-rendered backgrounds to the point I would stand and analyze every detail and level design. It was so realistic back then! Chrono Cross was my first RPG and for weeks I was pretty much immersed in its world, storylines and design. It was truly a unique time in gaming.
Pre-rendered backdrops are my favourite aesthetic.
For me you did a great job capturing the nostalgia. Nothing more, nothing less, perfect!
What an awesome video! The nostalgia hit hard.
Awesome video!
Thank you, we appreciate it!
Something that has come along with in the past decade is the use of AI Upscalers to breathe new life into these games. They look absolutely stunning with the upscale and i highly recommended to anyone who owns these games on steam to install the AI upscaled pre-rendered backgrounds to give the games of their childhood a SHARP new look!!
Really good video, I enjoyed from the beginning until the end. Congratulations
Amazing video, we can see a lot of work and care went into it, such a nice love letter to the pre rendered background era! Also it makes a good list of must play PS1 games 👌
The ps1 start up sound is so daaaamn good!
Its amazing seeing how the pre-rendered backgrounds and 3d models blend together when played on a crt (or a well made shader pack)
Amazing vid, and oh wow that channel opening is probably the best I've ever seen!
I'm so glad you brought this topic up because for the past few months I have been really finding out about how much I love and miss pre rendered backgrounds and as I was playing through the remake of the Star Ocean 2 i was WISHING that there was an option to play the game in the older style. I hope these come back someday and I am glad to know i'm not the only one out there.
What's the song you use for your intro? It's so vibeyyyy 🔥 one of my favorite youtube gaming intros
also what's the song at 33:20??
Chrono Cross' pre-rendered backgrounds were the TOP-pest of tiers. Between the music and the look, it's basically untouched.
Also, waiting for Legend of Dragoon >: ) I know it's coming.
Another banger, fellas! Back to the vid. Chat soon
🔥
LOL that was quick
You have the best title card/ intro ever. Just a vibe of heavy nostalgia
Love this video concept! Another fantastic vid brother, great job!
Mate, this is the best video you've made so far. I totally agree Pre-rendered backgrounds need to have a come back. They are literally my favourite art form. If anyone hasn't looked into it, so many of your old favourites have had their backgrounds upscaled with AI and look so amazing now, you can see all the details from the orginal art, they were always heavily compressed to fit on a PS1 disc. Sometimes it feels like playing the game all over again with these amazing details you never could see before in the backgrounds. Games that I know have AI upscales are FF7, Re2 and Re3 but i'm sure there's many more.
Check out this video where the person talks about FF7 but used mods to make it look faithful yet modern: th-cam.com/video/GrruN4Hg8R8/w-d-xo.html
Love the video! I also love prerendered backgrounds, especially in jrpgs. I started my adventure with them at that era and they hold a special place in my heart.
Pre-rendered backgrounds from back then are definitely my favorite thing by far in my more than 3 decades playing games.
Nowadays filters help with their low res, but using a CRT to play them is still the most satifying way for me personally :)
What an awesome video, made me emotional haha
pre rendered background aged really poor when games increased resolution, they were really good when the 3d and 2d bits were both at low resolution, so they looked very natural
FF VIII > Everything!
8 sucked
love this vid 🤟 whole thing is a vibe. could take a nap while having this in the background and i dont mean that in a bad way
Thank you for listing the BGM music. Some of the songs brings back some memories.
background music is too loud.
I so love pre rendered backgrounds. So much mystery on them. Mainly from Final Fantasy series. The forggotten city , Corel , Midgar , Mt.Nibel , Gold Saucer , Cosmo Canyon , Tomb of the unknown King from FFVIII , Balamb . Practically everything felt so weird and mesmerizing. We could dream on touching and walking in those backgrounds and use our imagination to add more to that.
Although FFVII is my all time favorite story/ game , there’s a special feeling in FFVII. A feeling starting from fire cavern and tomb of the unknown king that keep with every memory of laguna and the soundtrack of “find your way“ I think the combo of story / backgrounds and music is unbeatable.
I could be writing for hours but you pretty much did this for the rest of us in this amazing video.
I know this is PS1 and I didn't have a PC at the time but this video sent me back to when I watched my older friend first play Blade Runner on the PC in front of me. I never really knew this type of graphic had a name. Cool vid!
Very nice content man, thank you!
Amazing piece as always. I love both content and vibe of your work. I was born in late 80s, so 90s and early 2000s gaming was my most memorable for me.
very professional work man congratulations
Oh I loved this quite a bit. I remember playing these games and I was really fond of the backgrounds too. I'd get so close to my CRT I could almost see the pixels just to really visually explore everything. This was a nice video that gave me a warm fuzzy feeling, I enjoyed seeing titles I had long nearly forgotten about.
Thoroughly enjoyed this! What a great topic!!!