YsNet should produce Shenmue 3 & 4 simultaneously

[SMDzero]

Shenmue 1 and 2 were produced simultaneously and they were able to be released just a year apart that way.

Likewise, Suzuki should be working on both Shenmue 3 and 4 simultaneously right now to ensure the story is concluded.

They already have the team and budget in place.. it's way easier to just hammer out both games now then to start the whole development process all over again in a few years possibly with yet another kickstarter.

Simultaneous development of Shenmue 3 and 4 could be very efficient.

For instance, characters who are slated to appear in both Shenmue 3 and 4 could have all their animation sequences completed for both games.

And when Corey Marshall comes in, they should have him record all his voice work for both games.

They can also take existing environments from Shenmue 3 and redress them for use in Shenmue 4.

Shenmue 1 and 2 really felt like parts 1 and 2 of the same story since they were literally produced at the same time.

There will be a bit of a disconnect going to Shenmue 3 16 years later... but at least Shenmue 3 and 4 would feel like a unified experience if Suzuki were working on them at the same time.

[Spaghetti]

There's only one problem.

Money.

[SMDzero]

There's only one problem.

Money.

Well the idea is that by producing the two games at once they can share a lot of resources.

Take the environments for example... they can render Choubu, and then change where the houses and trees are and all of a sudden we're in Luoyang for Shenmue 4

[KidMarine]

I imagine the plan is to put all profit from Shenmue 3 (which should be instant as the development costs are already covered) straight into Shenmue 4.

[BlueMue]

they can render Choubu, and then change where the houses and trees are and all of a sudden we're in Luoyang for Shenmue 4

I'm sorry but that sounds way too cheap for Shenmue. Every area should be created with the effort it deserves to give it a unique design and feel.

It's a very different situation we're in now. Hard to compare it to Shenmue I and II developement. The funds are limited and ALL effort should go towards making Shenmue III as good as possible, no matter what. We need a good Shenmue III if we want a chance to get Shenmue IV. It's as simple as that. And even if it needs another Kickstarter and takes until 2020 to hit the market, they could still reuse certain assets.

[Let's Get Sweaty]

People have donated their money in good faith that every cent (after reward costs and PayPal/Kickstarter fees) will go into developing the advertised product that they will receive for their troubles - and that's Shenmue 3.

If any of that money was siphoned into development of Shenmue 4, cries of scandal would for once be perfectly justified.

That doesn't mean some of the work put into S3 can't also benefit S4, in the way of reusable assets and technologies, etc. But the act of using them for that purpose cannot begin until the next game has its own budget to pay for that time.

[SMDzero]

People have donated their money in good faith that every cent (after reward costs and PayPal/Kickstarter fees) will go into developing the advertised product that they will receive for their troubles - and that's Shenmue 3.

If any of that money was siphoned into development of Shenmue 4, cries of scandal would for once be perfectly justified.

That doesn't mean some of the work put into S3 can't also benefit S4, in the way of reusable assets and technologies, etc. But the act of using them for that purpose cannot begin until the next game has its own budget to pay for that time.

Well they should at least complete some development work on Shenmue 4 based on the resources they are already using for Shenmue 3.

I'd reckon they could probably have 30%-40% of Shenmue 4 completed by the time Shenmue 3 is released if they utilized this approach.

I'd say that Yu Suzuki has a better chance of getting Shenmue 4 off the ground if he can confidently say that he already has 30-40% of the game completed.

Hell Shenmue 3 can end with a teaser trailer for Shenmue 4!

[Let's Get Sweaty]

Can only repeat what I've just said, really, but against the ever present risk that you're just trolling the board, I'll give it another go.

They can design those resources with the aim of reusing them for Shenmue 4, but they can't do the extra work on Shenmue 4 during person hours that are being paid for out of Shenmue 3's budget.

If it was coming out of their own pocket, then yes, that would be fine. But it's not.

It would be no different to Gearbox taking Sega's money intended for Alien: Colonial Marines and spending some of it on Borderlands 2, from which Sega would see no return and, even if it did, was not part of the agreed use of those funds.

[Sonoshee]

I'd rather every effort, resource and scrap of money went directly into the development of Shenmue 3. With a much smaller team than Shenmue 1 & 2 ever had, I believe Shenmue 3 would end up suffering in quality and this isn't what we associate with Shenmue. The release date would also have to be extended far beyond Dec 2017. I can understand where you're coming from and if Shenmue 3 was backed by a publisher giving it full support and unlimited funds then I'd agree with you. But let's worry about Shenmue 4 after we've got Shenmue 3

[Spaghetti]

I imagine the plan is to put all profit from Shenmue 3 (which should be instant as the development costs are already covered) straight into Shenmue 4.

Not exactly. Investment costs need to be recouped. We don't know who else is investing besides Shibuya Productions, though. It could just be them that requires a share of the profit to recoup their investment, similarly SEGA will be taking a portion of the profit for the IP licencing.

[SMDzero]

Can only repeat what I've just said, really, but against the ever present risk that you're just trolling the board, I'll give it another go.

They can design those resources with the aim of reusing them for Shenmue 4, but they can't do the extra work on Shenmue 4 during person hours that are being paid for out of Shenmue 3's budget.

If it was coming out of their own pocket, then yes, that would be fine. But it's not.

It would be no different to Gearbox taking Sega's money intended for Alien: Colonial Marines and spending some of it on Borderlands 2, from which Sega would see no return and, even if it did, was not part of the agreed use of those funds.

Well it'd be nice if some work on Shenmue 4 was done.

That way if we never got another installment, then this completed Shenmue 4 material could eventually be leaked online and fans could use these elements to patch together a sequel based on what we think Yu Suzuki would have originally conceived and intended for the final sequel.

[Yokosuka]

If Shenmue 3 is a real success, I believe that will be the plan with Shenmue 4 & 5.

[killthesagabeforeitkillsu]

They don't have a big enough team to produce one game without literally sleeping in office, much less two.

[Monkei]

That way if we never got another installment, then this completed Shenmue 4 material could eventually be leaked online and fans could use these elements to patch together a sequel based on what we think Yu Suzuki would have originally conceived and intended for the final sequel.

Sounds great.

[Sappharad]

Shenmue 1 and 2 were produced simultaneously and they were able to be released just a year apart that way.

Shenmue 1 and 2 were split during development though; that's why very little material exists for past that point. And they were two years apart, in Japan. In this case, 3 was planned and budgeted to be developed by itself.

I believe they should stick to the original plan and develop 3 by itself. When the time comes for 4, they'll have the character models, gameplay mechanics, and other assets from 3 that can be used in 4. There's no reason to perform actual development on 4 before 3 is finished.