Pixel and scary: modder released retro version of PT on old Doom engine
The Silent Hills interactive teaser was released more than six years ago and has long been removed from the PlayStation Store, but remains popular with modders. Andrea Gori, known as Brandy, recently released his version of PT. He did it as a demo (simplified version) on GZDoom, an extended classic Doom engine for modern systems.
Due to the limitations of GZDoom, the world in the demo is not completely 3D: the environment consists of 3D objects and pixelated 2D sprites. Here, users also need to solve puzzles, only the author remade the moment with the microphone due to technical limitations. All sound effects from the original are preserved. According to Brandy, he did not intend to recreate the teaser in every detail but tried to keep the similarity as much as the engine allows. On Reddit, he noted that the project was difficult due to a large number of different variables. Many players were impressed with the result.
The GZ PT Finals can be reached in about 20 minutes. You can watch the full walkthrough on the developer’s YouTube channel. Brandy warned that he recorded it before release, so this version is slightly different from the public one.
Download GZ PT can free to itch.io. The game requires only the GZDoom engine. It is incompatible with third-party modifications.
In April, another retro version of PT came out – from Ryan Trawick. It is created with the HyperCard SDK and resembles monochrome horror games for the Apple II, Macintosh, and other older computers. Also this year, an amateur remake of the teaser was released in the form of a modification for Half-Life: Alyx, and in 2019 modders recreated PT in the Dreams constructor for PlayStation 4 and on the Unreal Engine 4.
Sony confirmed last month that PT will not be playable on the PlayStation 5 through backward compatibility with the PlayStation 4. However, it is possible that the teaser could be launched on the new console by transferring the game files directly.
According to rumors, Sony is preparing a new part of Silent Hill, which will be exclusive to the PlayStation 5. Perhaps the developers of the first four parts of the series are involved in its production.
In October, the GOG has appeared a version of Silent Hill 4 with support for modern operating systems. At the same time, Sam Barlow said that he plans to create a spiritual successor to Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, on which he worked as a lead writer and designer.
