A lifelong fan of The Simpsons: Hit and Run has taken to remaking the game in Unreal Engine 5 and Joe McGinn, the lead designer on the original title, is impressed by the feat.
Reuben Ward, an Unreal developer, has seen recent success on his YouTube channel after remaking games in Unreal Engine 5. Following a polished-up version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the developer's latest project features a shiny new remake of The Simpsons: Hit and Run.
In a comment on the YouTuber's video, lead designer on The Simpsons: Hit and Run, Joe McGinn said "Amazing what you accomplished! Really gives a taste of what a full modern remaster could be. Impressive work!" - high praise for a project that apparently only took the developer a week.
Ward began his remake of The Simpsons: Hit and Run with its in-game map of Springfield. After importing the map using a tool created by another developer, Ward took a number of inventive shortcuts to reskin the game's outdated textures. Using AI-led image resolution enhancement software and a bit of DIY photoshopping, he was able to reskin the entire map and give it a more modern feel. The YouTuber even added in a few stylized trees to give Hit and Run's "New" Springfield a bit of extra life.
After the map, Ward got to work on other elements of the level. As the game's initial playable character, Homer Simpson received a few tweaks in the remake. The developer worked on coding advanced animations for the character and also enabled a first-person mode - because, as Ward so adequately puts it, "Why the hell not?"
The developer also made upscaled changes to the game's UI, added missions and collectables, ripped audio from the original game for voice work on his characters, and enabled ray tracing. The whole package was then released by Ward as a playable demo. Unfortunately, however, the developer has since had to remove the demo over copyright concerns. Despite not being able to play Ward's modern take on this Simpsons classic, you can still watch the full video detailing the changes the developer made to the game over on the Reubs YouTube Channel.
With Simpsons Hit and Run nearing its twentieth anniversary, fan-made remakes might be the closest we get to a true modern remaster. We recently spoke to Simpsons writer Matt Selman who explained why we might not see a remake anytime soon. Selman explained that whilst he "would love to see a remastered version of [Simpsons Hit & Run]", it would be "a complicated corporate octopus to try to make that happen.”
Ward's Hit and Run remake isn't the only fan-made content to come out of Springfield this week. We recently wrote about a fan-made Simpsons' TV set that has been brought to life by way of a miniature 3D-printed replica. The miniature set acts as a working TV and plays the show's first eleven seasons at random.
Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
Continue reading...
Reuben Ward, an Unreal developer, has seen recent success on his YouTube channel after remaking games in Unreal Engine 5. Following a polished-up version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the developer's latest project features a shiny new remake of The Simpsons: Hit and Run.
In a comment on the YouTuber's video, lead designer on The Simpsons: Hit and Run, Joe McGinn said "Amazing what you accomplished! Really gives a taste of what a full modern remaster could be. Impressive work!" - high praise for a project that apparently only took the developer a week.
Ward began his remake of The Simpsons: Hit and Run with its in-game map of Springfield. After importing the map using a tool created by another developer, Ward took a number of inventive shortcuts to reskin the game's outdated textures. Using AI-led image resolution enhancement software and a bit of DIY photoshopping, he was able to reskin the entire map and give it a more modern feel. The YouTuber even added in a few stylized trees to give Hit and Run's "New" Springfield a bit of extra life.
After the map, Ward got to work on other elements of the level. As the game's initial playable character, Homer Simpson received a few tweaks in the remake. The developer worked on coding advanced animations for the character and also enabled a first-person mode - because, as Ward so adequately puts it, "Why the hell not?"
The developer also made upscaled changes to the game's UI, added missions and collectables, ripped audio from the original game for voice work on his characters, and enabled ray tracing. The whole package was then released by Ward as a playable demo. Unfortunately, however, the developer has since had to remove the demo over copyright concerns. Despite not being able to play Ward's modern take on this Simpsons classic, you can still watch the full video detailing the changes the developer made to the game over on the Reubs YouTube Channel.
With Simpsons Hit and Run nearing its twentieth anniversary, fan-made remakes might be the closest we get to a true modern remaster. We recently spoke to Simpsons writer Matt Selman who explained why we might not see a remake anytime soon. Selman explained that whilst he "would love to see a remastered version of [Simpsons Hit & Run]", it would be "a complicated corporate octopus to try to make that happen.”
Ward's Hit and Run remake isn't the only fan-made content to come out of Springfield this week. We recently wrote about a fan-made Simpsons' TV set that has been brought to life by way of a miniature 3D-printed replica. The miniature set acts as a working TV and plays the show's first eleven seasons at random.
Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
Continue reading...