Resident Evil 4 (GameCube)

Prototype Info Prerelease Info

Early Pre-rendered Graphics#

Present in the Cmn folder are early versions of the pre-rendered graphics. Some of these are just sketches.

Early	Final
※ファイルのアップ画像のみ - *File Upload Image Only
湖の写真 - Picture of the Lake
猟師の地図 - Hunter’s Map
r11d / ルート分岐の地図 - Route Fork Map / r11e

Additionally, there are two concept sketches that don't correspond to any pre-rendered graphics in the final game. These are not present in the Cmn folder and can only be found in the Eng folder.

f15b・8代目城主のメモ２ - 8th Castellan's Memo 2

Resident Evil 4 includes only a single memo from the castellan.

Preservation of Earlier Translations#

The pre-rendered backgrounds of some of the game's various notes feature earlier versions of their translations, occasionally with wonky English.

In each instance, the line breaks in the final translation have been altered to match the text in the pre-rendered image for easier comparison.

Chief's Note#

As instructed by Lord Saddler, I have the agent
in confinement, alive. Why keep him alive.
I have not a clue as to his intentions.


However, I would think he’d keep them away
together, not confine them together in the
same room like he has.


I don’t expect Luis would trust a stranger
but if perchance they cooperated together,
the situation could get a bit complicated.


If for some reason, an unknown third party is
involved, I don’t think they’d let a chance like
this slip by.
But maybe it’s all Lord Saddler’s ploy - leaving us
vulnerable so that this third party to surface
if they even exist that is…


It’s an unlikely possibility, but if the prowler is
already amongst us, then our plans could be foiled.
I guess the Lord thinks it’s worth the risk,
if we stop whatever conspiracy is at work.


At any rate, it’s the Lord’s call, we have
no choice but to trust his judgment on this.

As instructed by Lord Saddler, I have the agent in
confinement, alive. Why keep him alive?
I do not fully understand what the Lord's intentions are.


I would, however, think he'd keep them
separate; not confine them together
as has been ordered.


I don't expect Luis would trust a stranger,
but if by chance they did cooperate,
the situation could get a bit more complicated.


If for some reason, an unknown third party is
involved, I don't think they'd let a chance like
this slip by.
But maybe it's all Lord Saddler's ploy — leaving us
vulnerable so that this third party will surface,
if they even exist that is...


It's an unlikely possibility, but if a prowler is
already amongst us, then our plans could be ruined.
I guess the Lord thinks it's worth the risk,
if we're able to stop whatever conspiracy is at work.


At any rate, it's the Lord's call. We will
trust his judgement as always.

Castellan's Memo#

Save those that have sinned with
    the power of the
Las Plagas and cleanses their souls
creating
    a world without sinners.
The way it was meant to be.


Los Illuminados

To save those that have sinned with
the power of the
Las Plagas and to cleanse the their souls
creating
a world without sinners.
The way it was meant to be.

Letter from Ada#

Dear Leon


Once a Plaga egg hatches, it's nearly impossible
to remove from the body. But if it's before
it hatches, then it can be removed by medication.


If all fails you might be able to get it out by
surgery before it turns to an adult. But it won't
be an easy one. There's a high chance you
won't survive the operation.


As far as I know the girl has been injected with the
egg before you. Her time is ticking.
You should prepare yourself for the worst
case scenario.


From Ada

Once a Plaga egg hatches, it's nearly impossible
to remove it from the body. But if it's before
it hatches, then it can be neutralized by medication.


If it does hatch you might be able to get it out by
surgery before it turns to an adult. But it won't
be easy. There's a high chance you
won't survive the operation.


As far as I know the girl was injected with the
egg before you. Her time is ticking.
You should prepare yourself for the worst
case scenario.

The Mercenaries placeholder images#

Inside the omk_r0.dat file there are some placeholder textures for the Mercenaries mode. All of them, with the exception of the Matilda, contain text which translates to "A new character has joined the Mercenaries!"

Image	Notes
	Unlock screen for Albert Wesker. Uses a screenshot of Resident Evil's intro.
	Unlock screen for the Matilda. Its unlock text translates to "A new product is available from the Merchant in the main game."
	Unlock screen for Jack Krauser. Features an edited artwork of Rolento from Capcom vs. SNK 2.
	Unlock screen for HUNK. Uses a piece of the cover art from the infamous Famicom game Ikki.
	Unlock screen for Ada Wong. Uses Ada's artwork from Resident Evil 2.

Unused Cinematic#

Watch on YouTube

Only present on the GameCube versions during Chapter 3-2, there's a cinematic that never got used that was to be the introductory cutscene for the wingless version of the Novistador enemy in the sewers. For whatever reason, the cinematic's trigger was moved far out of the sewers' play area. It's possible to trigger it through an out of bounds glitch or No-clip code, however. The trigger was removed in all later versions of the game.

Unused Ladder#

Watch on YouTubeThere is an invisible functional ladder that goes unused in the final version of the game. To get to it you must have an Action Replay and a No-clip code.

During Chapter 5-3 just before the knife fight with Krauser, Leon would normally have to take the elevator up to him. However beyond the fenced out area below the platform above, there are two steel pillars with an interactable "CLIMB UP" icon between them, though with no visible ladder. This ladder may have been the way you needed to go to get to Krauser in early versions of the game, but later was changed to an elevator. The ladder only takes you to about the height of the second platform that Leon and Krauser fall onto during their QTE fight.

This ladder trigger is present in all regions of the GameCube, PS2 and Steam (UHD) versions of the game. It is not currently confirmed if it is also present in the rest of the many ports of this game, although it’s highly likely to be in the console ports.

Hidden Trigger Lake Skip#

Watch on YouTubeIn the lake area with the lake monster there is a trigger hidden out of bounds, if you trigger it you will be skipped to the next chapter and also skip the "Save Game" prompt. It is unknown if this trigger is used in the final game or if it was a leftover from a old version of the game.

Shooting Gallery Triggers#

Watch on YouTubeIn the shooting gallery, behind the door you come from, there are multiple warps that will take you to other parts of the game. These warp are all the triggers for each door that goes to the shooting gallery in the game. The areas they take you to are:

• - Castle Hallway
• - Hallway with the two statues
• - The Caves
• - The Room with the open and close gate
• - The mine before Krauser

Unused Japanese-Only Fixed Camera Angle#

Watch on YouTubeThere is an unused camera angle in non-Japanese releases that is still accessible via a no-clip cheat code.

In Chapter 4-1 where you play as Ashley, in the area where the Armoured Knights and sliding plate puzzle are, all the way down to the last room and on the right hand side wall of the statue you get the “Salazar Family Insignia” there is a table and chair. Walk right into the table and chair and then the camera angle will change to a more original Resident Evil fixed camera angle that follows your player.

This leftover camera angle is fully present in every Japanese version and port of the game, as the entire Ashley segment is played with traditional Resident Evil camera angles, but was changed to the normal over-the-shoulder view for the rest of the world for unknown reasons.

Unused Cage#

In Ashley's segment, in the room where you insert the crest to escape, there is an unused cage above the stand that has no function. It is possible it was meant for a trap at some point but was later removed and the cage door was just left there.

Shooting Gallery Oddity#

In the shooting Gallery, underneath the door you enter is a creepy pink marker with Salazar's concept art on it. It's possible this is an older version of the Salazar target used in the shooting gallery minigame.

Church Oddity#

Behind the door you enter in the church, just out of bounds you can seen a dark room in which there seems to be a Plaga implementing machine. This is most likely for the cutscene just after you rescue Ashley, in when you see her being injected with the Plaga.

Naoki Katakai Picture in Background#

In-Game	Raw Texture

During chapter 5-4, on the Old facility entrance map (the room after Cliff - where Mike gets shot down with a Rocket Launcher), there's a 2D texture of Naoki Katakai (who was on the Art Production team for Resident Evil 4) standing on the oil rig in the distance, viewable in game without cheats by aiming a Rifle or Rifle (semi-auto) with a Scope attached towards the building in the distance.

Alternate Village Encounter Communication#

The game contains an unused audio file titled comm1_03b.afx where Leon states the villagers are uncooperative and that he worries the officers who drove him there might be dead.

Early/Prototype Flag Names#

Some versions of the game include a debug menu that allows editing global flag values. However, the flag names shown in this menu don't always match their actual use in the game. Symbol files also reveal that many of these flags had been renamed at some point.

It's likely the flags were renamed or repurposed in the code, but the debug menu strings were never updated, possibly due to manual copy-pasting (which would also explain typos in some flag names).

Some of these outdated flag names may date back to the earlier Hookman build or other prototypes, offering a tiny glimpse into how those versions worked, including some of their map IDs.

Regional Differences#

This page or section needs more images. There's a whole lotta words here, but not enough pictures. Please fix this.

Banner#

Save Banner#

Japanese	International

Title Screen#

Japanese	International

Start Game Announcer#

Weapons Recovery#

Keys Treasures#

Japanese	International

Brightness difference.

Map#

Japanese	International

There is a grid in the Japanese version!

Stats#

Japanese	International

Slight difference to accommodate Japanese characters compared to the Latin characters.

Pickup#

Japanese	International

North American version#

Shares a lot in common with the EU version, aside from what is listed below. So anything listed here will also apply to the English speaking European versions.

• Various bits of text were altered, most infamously on the bottle caps menu. All the bottle caps were given different names/titles by the localizers. Cultist Ganados became known as "Zealots", Combatant Ganados became "Militia Ganados", and the various villagers were given names that they didn't have originally and were instead supposed to be things like "villager w/ bucket" and etc. The Chainsaw Sisters were renamed "Bella sisters", The Chainsaw Man was named "Doctor Salvador", Gatling Man was renamed "J.J." and The Giant Chainsaw Man from the Mercenaries mode, has no official English equivalent. Interestingly, The official site, RE Portal will opt for the Japanese script and avoid using these localized names as much as possible.

Japanese Version#

The Japanese version is heavily censored in general:

• Headshots don't offer any splashing heads anymore. The sound of the explosion is not heard and pieces of the head fly around. This censorship also affects enemies on the ground.
• A headshot animation was completely deleted. With a shotgun or the sniper rifle the head can be shot in pieces in a very swift manner. This does not throw enemies immediately to the ground in the Japanese version; instead, they stumble around for a little while without their head (note that the headless body can still attack Leon).
• Plagas headshots are also censored. The parasite does not explode anymore; instead, it splashes just before the body fades. The “Plopp” sound of the exploding parasite can only be heard when the body hits the floor. The bloody stump can be seen only for some very few seconds in the Japanese version.
• The animation of Leon being decapitated if he is one-hitted by the chainsaw-armed maniac has been removed – the chainsaw cuts through Leon's neck but the head stays there like nothing happened.
• The Japanese version lacks Ashley’s wagging breasts when she is moving.

Other Changes:

• An Easy mode is available.
• The audio in cutscenes in gameplay (that isn't enemy comments) is still in English, so the Japanese version forces subtitles. These subtitles are actually based on the Japanese script before it was touched by localizers and reflects the original intent of the scene by the Japanese writers as is the case with most Biohazard/Resident Evil titles.
• The Japanese version has longer loading times.
• As mentioned above, only the Japanese version uses a fixed-camera angle during gameplay of Ashley's segment.

European Version#

• Weapon upgrade stats were changed from the other releases. These changes would be carried over to all versions of the PS2 and later regardless of region.

German Version:

In terms of violent content, the European versions are identical to the North American version. This is with exception to the German version of the game.

• The German version is missing Assignment Ada and The Mercenaries mode. The latter is presumed to be because the mode is just senseless killing, though the reason behind the former's exclusion is unclear. However, the HD re-release on Steam brought the two modes back into the German version.