ok, folks
this is the cover...
OH MY GOD
torrent link
http://rutracker.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3734866
First and Second pages from this post
(continued from second page) There's wasn't any specialized 3D Processors, as they exist now. And so I, by myself, had to write a code to work with 3D graphics that would proceed it very fast. Just using Assembler. Now, of course, everyone write on C++, but back then we had to write everything at machine code, otherwise we wasn't be able to make everything fast enough.
There's Jenya Zakirov sitting at the table, our main fightings fan, he is interesting, how Virtua Fighter's battle system was created? And we got an answer that we didn't expected
Back then, the standard was Street Fighter II with 6 buttons, and I decided to make less buttons. In my opinion, it's convenient for developer to make a software with a lot of buttons, It's like: “Let gamer suffer with it and make him remember all their combination”. So I decided to limit it with 3 buttons: Punch, Kick and Block. And to understand which combinations is more familiar for gamers, I gathered a lot of people, gave them controller, and asked them to press any random buttons as they wish. Then I got all statistics and selected more common patterns. Starting with simple, like “Punch-Punch” and “Kick-Kick”. And so based on that, I built a battle system. I wanted to make people, who saw this game for the first time, theoretically, win, just by smashing buttons
It's interesting that, Virtua Fighter is considered as example of technician fighting, where winning just by “smashing buttons” is quite hard, But now we know how it really is...
Anyway, there's already enough talk about Virtua Fighter, so we decided to ask Yu Suzuki about his old “forgotten” hits, for example Space Harrier – shooter with very strange visual settings, surrealistic fantasy, Why did you decided to make game looks like this?
At first, we wanted to make a game, where jet could fly and shoot. But then we realized that it's gonna be difficult to draw in all projections, and it will take a lot of free space in memory of arcade machine. Draw a human is much easier, and it's not necessary to make him fully realistic, and it's doesn't require much of free space. Also back than I liked manga “Space Cobra”, a movie “Neverending story” , and works of artist Roger Dean, based on which Cameron created his “Avatar” world. From all these three sources I got my inspiration when I worked on “Space Harrier”.
About Roger Dean, Yu Suzuki still talked for a long time, with admiration, like – even he's influence can be found in Final Fantasy design, and fans of series didn't even heard about him.
Another two his old hits like “Out Run” and “After Burner” not so exotic, but their sequels suggest themselves. We trying to understand how real it is,and for the first time Yu Suzuki took out his laptop, we looking at pictures and video clips from his two games for mobile platforms, first – resembles Out Run, second – After burner. Titles are different but visual style are the same, Sega should be upset
Ok, let's get back to fightings, in one interview Jenya Zakirov read that there's was time when Yu Suzuki helped famous Tomonobu Itagaki with his Dead or Alive, how is that happened?
When I worked on Virtua Fighter 3, Itagaki-san came by for an advice about Dead or Alive. I helped him a little. The fact is, Itagaki never worked with 3D fightings before, and he wanted to clarify a couple of moments from me about 3D graphics. And I really glad that he was able to make a hit!
Jenya Davidyuk (translator) asked by herself: Did he even invited you for a dinner later, in a gratitude?
Yu Suzuki *throw up a hands*: “No... somehow no”
I wonder how is it even possible – To take advice from a rival company employee, especially in Japan!?
Yu Suzuki proudly answered: With pleasure, I'll discuss games, and give an advice for anyone – even for a newbie in my company or even for an employee from a rival company, even for a person on the street.
Fightings was created for arcade machines marked, which is generally recognized on its last legs.
But even so, it didn't disappeared and still able to bring millions of dollars to authors of successful games. For example, even now Tekken, firstly starts on arcade and only then ports to consoles. What Yu Suzuki thinks about all that?
In a past, arcades was probably the only way of electronic entertainment, but now you can have a games with cool graphics in your mobile phone. So, now arcades – it's a place where you can go to relax with friends, something like Live-entertainment. It's like a concert. You can listen to music at home, or you can go to a performance. So it's the same here: you are playing and others are watching and cheers for you. This is a role, a niche of todays arcade games.
Yu suzuki doesn't have prejudices about mobile or trial MMO games.
It's nice when people have a choice – they can go to arcade, play at home, or on mobile phones
We understand what he trying to say, because for now, resources of his own studio is only enough to make such kind of projects, not so long ago he created a social game Shenmue city.
We go back to fightings again and asking him about future of genre, what Yu Suzuki think should be changed? And again, he gave us unexpected answer
Modern fightings are too much hardcore, “maniacs”. And such maniacs fightings are limit the audience, and because of that, fewer people are playing, and at this rate genre can sink into oblivion. And so because of that I'm for a more simpler games.
Jenya Zakirov wonders: Don't you think, that only hardcore games are interesting for a tournaments, and tournaments are what attract attention of a lot of people to genre and increase the audience?”
Now it would be appropriate to recall, for example MOBA-games, which only by the such way became the one of most popular genres.
Yu Suzuki insists that fightings should become simpler and change ideologically: Difficulty in fightings are usually based on the requirements for accurate reaction and memorization of combinations. Which means, that you need to accurately calculate the timing,and faultlessly press buttons. But I would like to make win depended on how gamer thinks. To make him think, like “ If I hit with arm now, and then kick with a leg , I could win”
I want to make win based on right decisions. And because of that battle system in fightings still imperfect. Even in Virtua Fighter. If you wasn't able to press button in exact moment, and because of that you loose, the problem is not in you wrong decision. The game just set the task on reaction for you. Did you accomplished or failed combination – this is on what win depends. It would be better to attach sensor on gamer, so all his thoughts could be instantly and faultlessly implemented by character on screen. So then it will be not just battle of solutions, but a real fighting, and real in a good way, not thanks to blood and violence. For example, for this could be suitable sensors that measure Alpha-waves, and it's not a distant future, people already work successfully in such direction for a long time. There are people , for example, who have microchips that can control heart function. Of course, I doubt that someone will insert something inside of them for games, but if stick it temporally on them – why not? Another example in this direction is Kinect from Xbox 360. So we don't have to wait much longer, and there's will be time for new realistic fightings.
I remember, that about alpha-waves is what Yu Suzuki told to Valery Korneev in that interview long ago (looks like, there's was another interview about 12 years ago, but i'm not sure )
And also a couple E3 ago I saw an indie-game, where you should wear an alpha-wave sensor that allows you to move character in a game with a power of thoughts. Unfortunately, only orders like move forward and back, left and right, was recognized, and nothing more
Yu Suzuki continued: People still need to work on how to show fights, - imagine, what if TV sets disappeared and instead you look at holograms of fighting people. In a past, processors wasn't powerful enough to draw everything nicely on screen. But now you can model characters that won't be different from real people.
Radar wrote:Yu Suzuki insists that fightings should become simpler and change ideologically: Difficulty in fightings are usually based on the requirements for accurate reaction and memorization of combinations. Which means, that you need to accurately calculate the timing,and faultlessly press buttons. But I would like to make win depended on how gamer thinks. To make him think, like “ If I hit with arm now, and then kick with a leg , I could win”
I want to make win based on right decisions. And because of that battle system in fightings still imperfect. Even in Virtua Fighter. If you wasn't able to press button in exact moment, and because of that you loose, the problem is not in you wrong decision. The game just set the task on reaction for you. Did you accomplished or failed combination – this is on what win depends.
Sounds cool, while we digest Yu Suzuki's answer, he is again searching something on his laptop, and show us photo of himself in his youth,working on punches.
Do you know why in most fightings when you press one button character makes double blow?
Now he's asking us. We have no idea.
The real strikes of master is so fast, so that you almost can't see them. If in a game you'll show them realistically, then gamer just won't be able to recognize a move, he won't be able to understand that he is being attacked, he just won't be able to react. So this is why one strike became a double blow.
Only then you'll be able to see it.
We are looking at photos of Yu Suzuki from China, where he studied, I'm asking how he became interesting in martial arts?
I watched a lot of movies with Bruce Lee. And my Sensei, by the way, it is that who strikes fast, he's really cool too. I watched a movies with Bruce Lee frame by frame to make Jacky and my Sensei was a prototype for Akira.
Jenya Zakirov remembered the question that plagued him all his life: Is Pai somehow related to Chun Li? They really looks a like. Even now Yu Suzuki ready to answer frankly:
I personally, not a fan of Chun Li, but I thought about users who liked Chun Li. I personally prefer Sarah, but I created Pai, so that fans that expected to see something similar won't be disappointed too. I thought that nobody will likes Sarah. That is, I conducted a market survey and realized that character like Pai is exactly what gamers need. And Sarah – is my personal, favorite “child”. So this is why there's two girls in a game. By the way, I personally thought through background of all characters. For example, Sarah never looking back when she close the door. Sarah smoke. Sarah likes to drink tequila. And she drinks tequila with shots in one gulp. In the game, such details are not mentioned, but just for myself I thought through all that. And I was able to embody some of them in anime when it appeared. Unfortunately without booze and cigarettes. This is what I can tell you.
Natasha Odintsova asks what Yu Suzuki thinks about fightings with weapons?
Game designer doesn't like them much: With weapon everyone can win. Only in fights without weapons you can see a real strength of the warrior. It is not interesting, when a winner is who have a bigger gun isn't it? In a fightings with a weapons, there will be a problem with realism. If man was sliced with katana, but he still alive and can fight – how is that possible? I wanted to make everything realistically, in fights with bare hands, fighters can really withstand some hits before get knocked out.
seeing the folder in his list of projects on the notebook.
Moving to probably most popular subject related to Yu Suzuki, and starting with a question about how Shenmue was developed, and here we heard a details that nobody never talked before outside of Sega!
It was at the time of Sega Saturn, Sega wanted a “killer title” for a new console, i.e for upcoming Sega Dreamcast. The company management asked for a new epic RPG. And I made a prototype for a console that we already had, i.e Saturn. It was other game, not like Shenmue, but in open world too. And that game, in my opinion, initially was more interesting than Shenmue. That is, in Shenmue, father of protagonist was killed and he is seeking revenge, but prototype was fun, without heavy thoughts.
Just imagine: open world, where are growing apples and peaches, that you can collect. Old man sitting on a bench, you asking him a questions but he ignores them and whines that he wants a peach. If you bring him an apple or mandarin, he gets angry and yells that he doesn't eat that. Another old man is fishing, and there is kids playing around him. But actually he is a great martial arts master.
And he is so cool, so that he throw a pebble in a water and kill three fishes with ricochet, which floats belly-up. Kids are happy. He is such professional not only in martial arts. And what more, when you go from one city to another, there is a bridge and there's old man too. You want to pass through and old man throw his slippers into river. And saying to protagonist: “Oh, I dropped my sandals, can you bring them for me?” Wherein if you complete the quest and bring him his slippers, he throw them into river again, and again whines and asking you to bring them for him. And so you need to complete this quest 3 times, only then master will make sure that you are patient and tell you important information. Don't you agree that it's not such a gloomy game as Shenmue?
We're laughing like a wild horses, and through laugh asking him : Why is that game never get into production? And Yu Suzuki explains:
It was just a test do demonstrate conception of a open world game. At the end, Shenmue that everyone know was being in development. And about that test, you are the first who heard about it!
I specify: Shenmue in present form, existed for Saturn in form of prototype, right?
Yu Suzuki agrees: Yes there's was a lot of prototypes, and in the end, the more promising one was chosen, which was implemented on Dreamcast. Specifically, we didn't planned to release Shenmue on Saturn, it was just a platform for tests.
The next question is probably most important for Yu Suzuki's fans. We asking, what would Yu Suzuki like to do with Shenmue, if he had a freedom to make everything as he wants?
Actually, I'm right now making what I want. I took all the best that was in Shenmue, all that “know-how”, dropped everything that I didn't liked and was not interesting for me, and making a new project. It will be a fantasy. Not China and not a Japan, but a new fantasy world.
Fantasy can be different, so we are specify: Is it gonna be something medieval like, or something more exotic? Yu Suzuki shows us illustrations:
Here, I already draw a characters for the game. I draw them myself. There are a protagonists, there is a sea, and there is a mountain and on very top of it is a castle. It's stands so high, to be able to see far away and watch a pirate ships that could attack a city. I like an artist Alphonse Mucha, and I decided to work in his style. Usually, designers are making all illustrations for me, but this time I decided to draw myself. This game already have a script, and music too.
We asking, when the announcement? And this is where Yu Suzuki become sad:
It's too soon for an announcement. I have a lot of different projects, and every of them needs a sponsor.
He shows us a folder with projects on his laptop. There's about fifteen of sub-folders, one of them called Shenmue 3.
Needs a funding
We understand, that with a direct sequel of Shenmue is the same story. And We gave an advice to Yu Suzuki to ask for money from the people. Crowdfunding – it is so popular. Yu Suzuki confused a little, but he promised us to think about it. We saying that once we will see his project on kickstarter, we will invest so much money as we can. He is happy and shows us another his project, with pets and flying houses. Its development has progressed much further, there is a video clip with game play and looks like even a demo version. But unfortunately, we can't talk about that. So we going back to interview questions.
What the difference between modern game designers and game designers from 90's?
Yu Suzuki explains: In 90's games were made from scratch. Nobody knew how to make them properly. But now games are business, industry, all the basic techniques and technologies are already known. And the next step is to think how to sell them. Now you don't need to think much about games as much as about their sales. There's so many series. Trying something new – is always a huge risk.
Now Japanese companies are afraid of risks. In this sense, American companies are more open, and more often take risks. In a case, you want to create something new, game designers will more likely find support in USA, rather than in Japan. I'd like to Japanese companies too, support people who wants to create something new. For example, there is Cannes Film Festival, where his organizers and judges are looking not at selling rates, but at ideas, and they give prizes for ideas too. And I want the same to be in Japan, to support author's ideas and encourage originality.
Another, typical question to Japanese developer: Have you ever took into account interests of western audience when you developed a game, to make them likes game even more. If yes, then how? Answer of Yu Suzuki are not typical:
I came to Sega in 1983, And at 1992-1993 Sega really grew up and expanded more. At that time Sega's business was aimed at 60% on the west. And the biggest market was USA. And because of that, all games like Out Run, in a first place was made for an American market.
How is it affected the development? For example, we thought about car colors, we wanted to make them more common for American people. Similar to what was actually in use in their country. Or for example, color of the sky. Japanese sky not the same as in California. And we made a color of the sky as it was in California. From the other side, people all around the world are understand what car is, and you don't need to adapt it to them. But to make everything else interesting for American people, you need to delve into the culture of Broadway, Hollywood movies and etc... Ideally, of course, you should create a game that would be interesting to people all around the world, but this is not so simple. Let's say, we pick a Ferrari, everyone loves Ferrari, right?
Next question is what I asking to all Japanese people: What happened to your industry? In a past, most of the coolest games was created by it. And now it's not the same.
Yu Suzuki specifies: Yes, 10 years ago Japanese games occupied 80% of the market, but now only 20%. The fact is, that Japanese games were the pioneers in the market. All technologies, ideas, and principles was invented and and distributed all over the world. Japanese like to do everything with their hands and heads, but Americans are build the system, conveyor. So that you could press buttons, push a bar code into reader, and get your product at the output. Americans, absorbed ideas, realized what works and what not. They established a processes, and created the powerful system of the game development. A Factory. Created engines, like "Unity". As result, their system work very effective. Europe are too, thanks to it, very strong in game development.
I Specify: People says, that especially in Japan it's difficult to work on a big projects in a big companies.
Yu Suzuki explains: It's easier to make a decisions in a small companies, but they don't have a money. Big companies have a funding, but their management are afraid to take risks. Optimally, is to work in middle size companies. My dream is – a small company with business-angel, then there is a money and will to make hard decisions.
Moving to personal questions, and suddenly we find out that Yu Suzuki not just doesn't have his own Virtua Fighter Arcade machine, but actually he is not even a gamer.
It's not like I'm playing a lot. For example, I like to play in real billiard. And real car for me more interesting than car in a game.
Also he often plays in Wii with kids. He endlessly loves games, but otherwise than we.
My conception is: To transfer what interesting for me in a real life into a game format. For example, I like to drive a car – and I want to convey this feeling through racing simulator.
I specify: And this probably related to martial arts too?
Yu Suzuki agrees and continues: You know, actually, I personally piloted a real jet aircraft and participated in air battles.
We was surprised... very surprised!
Yu Suzuki remembers again: Once I was in USA, in Florida. At first, a couple of hours they lectured us, explained everything. After, I got into jet aircraft, and flew together with instructor. Aircraft was equipped with a laser gun and smoke bombs. And there was two of us. If you hit the opponent, smoke bomb activates, that means he was shot. And we was flying around about 2 hours shooting each other. For safety we agreed that ground is – 800 feet. If you forced your opponent to descent to that level, that means he died. Or the same if he's speed dropped to virtual zero. And all that they explained us on lectures, plus they taught us different methods of air combat. And terms, like “check six”...
We looking at Yu Suzuki with admiration. Frankly speaking, I didn't know that such kind of entertainment even exists.
Game designer continued: After that I realized, that all games about aircrafts are not interesting. Those that was in arcades. Because in them it is much more difficult to control the aircraft than in real life, really! And I understood that all those air simulators was created by people who doesn't even flew on real aircrafts!
So, we can be sure that if Yu Suzuki decides to make a game about astronauts, he will surely buy a tourist ticket on first suborbital spaceship and will try himself in weightlessness. Too bad we wasn't able to ask how many more favorite artists, a fan of Mucha and Dean have. SI (Strana Igr)
Credits: interview by Konstantin Govorun, Jenya Zakirov, Natalia Odintsova and Jenya Davidyuk as a translator
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest
Powered by phpBB © 2000-