A recent episode of the NHK World Japan documentary series 100 Cameras showcased the final month of development for Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 Remake. The episode titled Game Developer captured the bustling activity at Capcom’s Osaka studio as they approached the game’s launch, utilizing 100 cameras to document the process.
As found by GamesRadar, the documentary shows that the development process faced major challenges. Director Yasuhiro Anpo encountered numerous bugs during his playthrough, such as game crashes, character clipping, and visual glitches. According to reports, one developer found 70 bugs in a single day of playtesting, leading to concerns about the game’s release date.
I have friends who do Quality Assurance (QA) for bigger studios; depending on the type of bug, 70 can be really bad. Further adding to the pressure, the QA team led by Ito faced numerous challenges. Ito expressed frustration in the documentary about the quality of bug fixes and highlighted the sheer volume of unprecedented problems encountered. The documentary even captured a tense exchange between Ito and Anpo, where Ito emphasized his grave concerns about the game’s state.
Despite facing challenges, the development team is working on implementing new features just a month before the launch. This includes adding menu screens and adjusting lighting, which has led to discovering new bugs and added further pressure on the QA team. The documentary also showcases Yoshiaki Hirabayashi, the “demon producer” of Resident Evil 4 Remake, requesting lighting revisions in specific scenes, contributing to the complexity of the debugging process.
Despite all the challenges, the Resident Evil 4 Remake was launched on time. The Game Developer episode provides an inside look at the stressful realities of game development, highlighting the pressure developers and QA teams face in meeting deadlines. I say watch it if you’re interested because we so rarely see this kind of stuff.
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