Development Staff of Crisis Core -FinalFantasy VII- ● PART 2
Aiming for a product that isn’t inferior to the PS2
——I was very surprised by the beautiful graphics, which I couldn’t believe were on a handheld device.
Goto
We didn’t want people to think, “It’s a handheld PSP, so it’s no wonder the graphics aren’t great”. Because of that, we made every effort possible to make it look as good as the PS2.
Sasaki
Not only the players, but also the developers have become accustomed to the PS2 and next-generation consoles. So naturally, some of the demands were higher than others, and Sugimoto had quite a bit of trouble in the beginning.
Sugimoto
People are really discerning, and there is an atmosphere of “it should be able to express images as good as the PS2”. We were desperate in the beginning to see how well we could meet those requests. We decided to use our own rendering system for this project, and as we studied with the designers, we learned some PSP-specific tricks to speed up the process. We had to redesign the program and rework it many times, but as a result, I think we were able to display more polygons than originally expected.
Nakaaki
At first, I had preconceived notions about handheld devices, so I drew designs with a low polygon count in mind. But as I looked at the completed image, I thought, “I could go a little further”, and the design became more and more polished.
Goto
I was already thinking about what to do with Angeal Penance and the like (laughs).
Nakaaki
I said things like, “If we use different textures for this and that, we can get away with it”.
Sasaki
After all, if you’re asked to do something like that, you don’t want to say “I can’t do it” (laughs).
Nakaaki
As we develop [things], we get greedy. In particular, users have high expectations for the FF series, and we want to show them what has changed over the past ten years. Thanks to the hard work of all the staff, I think the final product turned out very well.
Midgar is a place we are emotionally attached to
——How did you think about presenting the differences from 10 years ago?
Nakaaki
Ten years ago I was enjoying FFVII as a single player, and some of the monsters and mecha left an impression on me. We decided to upgrade such things while adapting them to current trends.
Sasaki
At that time, only smooth monochromatic surfaces were used to render objects, but now texture technology has improved and more polygons can be used. Even the same square object can be rendered with different textures depending on whether it’s made of brick or wood or something else. As our range of expression expanded in this way, I feel that we explored “How much we can do with the PSP?” thoroughly.
Hirota
As for the backgrounds, we have also modified the areas that appeared in FFVII. However, there was so much to draw that I just set up the images and left the rest to Iwasaka and his team (laughs).
Iwasaka
The characters’ body ratios have changed so much that if a map from FFVII were to be created in 3D as is, it would look like a real person in a toy [landscape], which would feel out of place. So at first, Tabata (Hajime Tabata: Director) told me, “Let’s make it between FFVII and AC”. But it’s very difficult to find a balance between those two works, even if he said it’s in between the two. For example, the slide in the park was originally a single image, so it would be very unnatural if it were made into a true 3D model. We reworked it many times to make it look realistic, and also to avoid it looking weird next to Zack.
——Of all the locations in FFVII, Wutai has changed so much I would say it is a new area.
Hirota
Wutai was the first place I worked on, but I only had about a week to do the original drawings. Wutai in FFVII was a mixture of Japanese and Chinese style buildings and was distorted, so it was troublesome to make it look realistic.
Iwasaka
Midgar was also very difficult. It is a place that not only the players, but also us, are emotionally attached to. There were a lot of disagreements about the Shinra Building, in particular.
Hirota
After I had drawn the building, they suddenly said, “Let’s make it under construction”, and I scrapped parts of the building that I had finished drawing (laughs).
Iwasaka
The lobby was also a process of trial and error. In FFVII, the Shinra Building has a stairwell from the first to the third floor. But in order to fit the exhibition hall and lobby on one map, we had to drastically reduce the number of polygons and textures of the vehicles we had put there. I knew that would not be satisfactory to everyone, and I didn’t like it either, so I decided to divide the map into different sections.
——I felt the staff’s attention to detail in the vehicles in the exhibition hall.
Iwasaka
We all like vehicles, so we had a lot of fun making those. In particular, the motorcycle enthusiasts on staff who created the Hardy-Daytona met our expectations that they would create something elaborate. That motorcycle alone uses a good number of polygons——almost as many as a single character.
Expressing the passage of time and differences in age
——Which character took up the most [resources]?
Goto
Cissnei. I had to convert the comic-like illustrations of BC into realistic polygons for Cissnei, and I had to rework it many times while consulting with Sasaki to express the hair with the limited polygons.
Sasaki
Like with Aerith’s curls, it was difficult to express her hair.
Goto
Also, it was hard to figure out how to incorporate Rufus’ looks into Lazard’s. I thought I expressed it in a classy sort of way……
Sasaki
Glasses are troublesome; depending on the distance and angle, [the wearer’s] facial expressions change and they become like a different person. As for the polygon models, it seemed like Genesis’ was a difficult one.
Goto
The staff member in charge [of his model] did a great job of sticking Gackt’s materials all over their cubicle.
Sasaki
They would check even the smallest details, such as, “At the time of this photo, he was wearing earrings of this shape”. However, it was difficult to find the right balance between too little resemblance, which would be problematic, and too much resemblance, where it would feel out of place.
——As the story progresses, Zack’s hairstyle changes. It seems like it would be difficult to coordinate such changes over time.
Sasaki
There are about six variations of Zack in all. The differences between the various scenarios are obvious if you follow the scenarios, but learning the variations right after I was assigned to the project was a challenge. Nomura also gave me some pointers about how to present him, and after pushing the hair back, I made him look more mature and dignified by sharpening the features around the eyes. Cloud, on the other hand, is designed to look younger than [he was] in FFVII.
Goto
The height, size and contour of the eyes are adjusted to make them look younger. However, if we tried to change too much, we would lose the FFVII aspect of the game, so we were very careful about that.
Sasaki
It was also difficult to draw Aerith’s face. Too much make-up and she would look older, too little and she would look like someone who wasn’t from the city. I spent a lot of time adjusting the luster of Aerith’s skin.
One by One the Absurdities Accumulated
——Nakaaki, you also design summons.
Nakaaki
I designed five [summons] in all for CC. This time, the summoning scene is a movie, so we had much more freedom to do various things, and we packed in this and that thing. Especially for Bahamut Fury, we had initially promised to “make it a Bahamut color variant”. But as we worked on it, I got so fired up that I ended up creating an absurd design that looked like a new one. As a result, staff members from various other teams scolded me saying, “That’s not a color variant at all!” (laughs).
Goto
To start with, Bahamut itself uses the maximum number of polygons and textures that can be displayed. Despite that, something huge was attached to his back, so I said, “this is absurd” (laughs). In the end, I solved the problem by reducing the polygon count of Bahamut’s body.
Nakaaki
And then, I inconvenienced many people with Minerva. That was originally designed as the final summon, and was supposed to be put on hold due to space and other issues. Since it was resurrected as the strongest mission boss, it was not intended to be moved in real time at all from a design standpoint, which caused Goto and Sasaki…… a lot of trouble.
Sasaki
We were also the ones who said, “let the transformation happen while the technique is being performed”, but I remember that I was quite absurd with Minerva towards the end of its development.
——So the staff members have been absurd in various areas.
Sugimoto
The program is also absurd when it renders shadows. I know that many games on the PSP render the shadow of the character in a simplified form, but this time we are rendering a fully human-shaped shadow. The shadows are just as taxing as developing another character, but I really wanted to include them because it looks so good. I was going to abandon it if the processing was too slow, but after persistent efforts to speed up the process, I was able to use it throughout the entire game.
Sasaki
Rendering shadows also affects the stage direction. There is the scene where Sephiroth comes out of the Nibel Mako Reactor carrying Jenova’s head, where a shadow emerges from total darkness and Sephiroth’s figure comes into the screen as if following it. A simple round shadow is not cool enough to create that kind of effect. That stage direction was made possible only because of Sugimoto’s absurdities, and it may be that the quality of the work was enhanced little by little through the absurdities of each of us.
“Bahamut Fury was “not a color variant at all!” they scolded.”
Character Modeling Director
後藤智彦 — Tomohiko Goto
Story secrets only I know
Minerva’s attack, where her armor comes off and transforms into a bow, was rejected once because I thought it would be impossible to represent. But I said, “We made it look like it can transform, so let’s do it!” and asked them to make it happen.
Character Texture Director
佐々木拓史 — Takuji Sasaki
Story secrets only I know
If you look closely at the flower wagon, you will see cute animal symbols painted on it, probably doodles by Zack or Aerith. The textures were drawn in such fine detail, so please take a look at them.
Sub Character & Mechanical Designer
仲秋勇作 — Yusaku Nakaaki
Story secrets only I know
Genesis’ red sword was imagined based on the concept of “if he were an animal,” and the design has the motif of a certain bird. The original idea behind it may be better understood if you take a closer look at the movies, for example.
Art Director
廣田良寬 — Yoshihiro Hirota
Story secrets only I know
When I was designing Wutai, I went to the Sensō-ji Temple and Yokohama’s Chinatown to take lots of pictures, even though I didn’t have much time. Wutai is a combination of the Sensō-ji Temple and the Chinatown images.
3D Map Director
岩坂康史 — Yasushi Iwasaka
Story secrets only I know
The toilet in the confinement cell on the 67th floor of the Shinra Building was made with great care. I don’t think anyone will notice, but if you look closely, there are only two places where I have set-up effects of flies flying around.
3D Engine Programmer
松本浩二 — Koji Sugimoto
Story secrets only I know
The 3D system for this work is based on the same program I used for “Threads of Fate” and “FFX,” both of which I worked on in the past. So, the handling may be similar to these two.