Translation Central

PAGE 222 - INTERVIEW WITH THE DEVELOPERS 5

Interview with Mr. Tsutomu Terada

Profile

Tsutomu Terada: Born in 1972. Freelancer. Was in charge of monster designs, and contributed to development of the game as an artist. Based on his long experience in [game] development, he was focused on the design of structures that would break expecations, while constantly paying attention to whether features could be feasibly realized or not. He considers fundamentals to be very important, and likes using a method where progress comes from fundamental theories. He seeks designs that make sense instead of just being cool for the sake of it. He says he's a bit of a coward and therefore can't achieve anything without a clear point of reference, and relies on gathering documentation and his training in [having the right] mindset to get things done.


Interviewer: What were you focused on with the Gnosis designs?

Terada: The image keywords Mr. Takahashi gave me were "spirits", "mysterious", "beautiful", "like living beings", and also a feel along the lines of "[bower/bois/bowa]". [Really not sure about that last one, seems to be some sort of foreign loanword, but I can't figure it out]. I couldn't look at all of it as a big whole, so I made them one by one, with this monster having two elements, this one having three [and so on]. In the beginning, I designed them in an exaggerated way. Kind of like geometry, or like a collection of blocks.

Interviewer: Cubism?

Terada: That's right. Since having joints gives [the design] a sense of rigidity, I wanted to try making something outside of that box. But I feel like I definitely took that too far, so I reined it in a bit, and thought about the kinds of places the Gnosis would inhabit. [They would need] a body shape that would function in space. So I started thinking along the lines of "space = the ocean" and came up with the idea of sea creatures, and after that it was a straightforward decision.

Interviewer: And apart from shapes and textures?

Terada: I tried to avoid drawing eyes as much as possible. If they have eyes, they feel more sentient, and then they're not as scary anymore. You start feeling like they might help you if you could just find some way to talk things through with them. So making them entities it wouldn't be possible to reason with was one reason, but even without taking that into account, I might not have given them eyes anyway. If you have two eyes, you've also got one nose and one mouth. That kind of design is just like the animals we have around here [in real life]. It's not mysterious. So I tried to give them a slightly odd feel by drawing a mouth without eyes, or an eye without a mouth, and so on.

Interviewer: So those are the fundamentals of monster design?

Terada: There's also what you might call the "easy way". In that case, you stick to the fundamental design, [and make] something that 100 people out of 100 would see and think "that's a goblin". [A bit unsure about this one, sorry]

Interviewer: You trace the symbols, then?

Terada: That's right. When you're working with a standard, you consult the materials, and thoroughly stick to that standard. On the other hand, with more freedom, you can deviate much more. For example, if you suppose that "something long would be scary", snakes come to mind. You use that as a foundation. You can also use any number of insects, and so on. You go flying off in the direction of piercing heresy.

Interviewer: What's important when it comes to materials relating to [making] design standards?

Terada: For example, even if we're both thinking about clothes, the outfits designed by me might be different from the ones designed by a fashion designer. But instead of becoming stubborn and just consider it by myself, I'd rather borrow the wisdom of those who have gone before and bring it all together going forwards. If I keep at it by myself, I'll just end up becoming biased. That's when I'll consult the materials to correct my course. There's a lot of good sense in that wisdom from our predecessors. There's a reason behind everything in the world.

Interviewer: What was the standard for the Gnosis in this game? Heresy?

Terada: Their shapes are sharp heresy, but their exteriors came from the materials. I gave them a textures that would feel like something no one else could have thought up. That made them feel strangely "alive".

Interviewer: How about the designs for those Gnosis with "easy way" names like "Gremlin", "Goblin", "Golem" and so on?

Terada: My plan with those was to make people who saw them mistake, say, something that would be gremlin from is appearance for a cyclops. Those were designs that would safeguard one special element, while letting the rest collapse. Everything but the general outline would crumble, and that's okay. Humans see objects in terms of outlines. With older hardware, we couldn't show much more than that. We're recognize things like a heavy person or an inverted triangle through their characteristic shapes, and so we picked up the habit of thinking in terms of outlines. A person is expressed through his or her boundary lines from others.

Were they just free-roaming articles or were they in specific books lying around, Neo?

Sasabe/Sakibe: The speed of light can be variable, so maybe this is "Red Shift Rendevouz"? [A bit hard to make sense of it without more context, but I guess this isn't too relevant anyway]
By the way, in "Xenosaga", the characters have a standing degree of "A" [?], but the heroine isn't really explained...what do you make of that? (Laughs)
Fukue: Ah, that's it, that's it, "Red Shift Rendevouz". I remember that one well. Was "Xenosaga" like that, no explanation about the heroine? Maybe it was because her closest companion was a robot? The main heroine was a beautiful girl, but that didn't really raise any flags for me personally. (Laughs)

Gwendal wrote:Neosmith: Sure, no problem. I'll go over the quick stuff now and come back with a proper translation of that interview soon (probably tomorrow).

The chat between Sugiura and Honne on Monolith's page is basically them reminiscing about it being 11 years since they founded the company. Sugiura asks Honne which game he has the most vivid memories from working on, and is a bit surprised when he answers Baten Kaitos instead of Xenosaga. Honne then goes to explain that he has deeper memories of working on BK, while the his memories of Xenosaga were more marked by hard work and having to manage the company and staff and his working relationship with them rather than developing the game itself. I think the rest of their talk is mainly about BK.

SOFTBANK SUGIURA INTERVIEW

He's the so-called "producer"

Interviewer: Mr. Sugiura, from your position as a representative director at Monolith Soft, what kind of role did you play in the creation of "Xenosaga"?

Sugiura: I took on the role of a so-called "Producer". In the games industry, we tend to think of a producer as someone who writes scripts or does game design, but in my case I mainly dealt with the total budget, schedule management, external exchange and recruiting personel. My job was more like being a negotiator than anything else. In any case, when it comes to the producer's role, I think the game industry is a bit of an exception, and that I'm more like a movie or TV producer. My main task is to make sure there won't be any obstacles in the director's way as he goes about creating the game.

Interviewer: In developing a game for the PS2, I suppose you had [certain] plans you wanted to realize?

Sugiura: Yes; making everything full in 3D. In doing that, we made it similar to the photography in a movie or a [TV] drama. We accomplished that through the lighting, camera work and so on. It's not really this way with filming, but with games, the motion designer or facial animator is the actual actor. [A little unsure about this one, but I think it's along those lines]
But then again, game creators don't have any experience with actual filming, do they? That's why I used to find it bewildering in the past when it was seen as okay to have event scenes involving the characters just standing around.

For example, when we're having conversations, we usually give some responses to indicate we're paying attention to what's being said, right? That way we don't end up with a situation where someone stops talking. It's more sincere with these kinds of small gestures. We need to do this with a real-time presentation. Essentially, it's too early to do in the movie [sequences], but to integrate the CG and event [scene] parts seamlessly in this game, we manage all of it in real-time.

Takahashi continues to demand the same level of quality from the staff a special effects director dealing with live action film would, the same as an actual movie director. So there have been a few anguished screams from the staff in charge of events. (Laughs)
The volume of event [scene content] is also on par with the volume of the "Final Fantasy" series.

On my part, I want to be able to deliver a product the attached staff can be happy with, once development somehow draws to a close. I want to make it something they can be proud of and say "this is my work", to allow them to write "Xenosaga" on their profiles and be proud of it.

A pioneering project for the industry

Interviewer: Your enthusiasm for the project is strong, I see. Would you mind giving us a short outline of the [entire] project, please?

Sugiura: I'd say this Xenosaga project is a forerunner in the industry, and [with it] we want to show one possible direction game development could go in the future. That is to say, for game developers, and this is a situation that applies to every studio, the [actual] production [aspect] of movie creation is mostly outside the company's control. The company should handle things until development gets underway, and when each member of staff is asked to create something, they should be freely able to choose to make it in their own way and with whoever they prefer. That's the kind of open environment we want to create. Sooner or later, I think this industry will get to that point. There will be a clearer distinction between publishers and developers. As part of that process, I think we will become an example of a good developer.

Interviewer: How will Monolith Soft develop its games in the future?

Sugiura: This project isn't the end; it's just the start. Leaving aside whether or not this is what we'll actually do, I'd like to try my hand at various genres, including online games and, of course, RPGs. As a fully mature developer, I want us to try to become the Lucasfilm or Studio Ghibli of the gaming industry. I think we'll be able to provide a place for creators to flourish by doing what they're best at. To get there, we will have to surmount the "walls" holding back the industry, and let creators create their works freely. If we can change their situation and ways of thinking, I think new ideas will emerge organically. Finally, it's a matter of gathering the right people. We've already begun working on projects other than Xenosaga. We need a wide variety of people, from developers to PR, so please do feel free to apply.

Interviewer: Well then, let's make sure aspiring creators get in touch with Monolith Soft. (Laughs)
That is all for today; thank you very much.

Gwendal wrote:The first mystery link has Sugiura (white text) and someone called Hamamura (yellow text) interviewing him, so it's not Mitsuda. The interview is similar to the one I'm already working on, with discussion about the game's presentation style, movies/cutscenes and their length, and Sugiura's feelings about the game and the staff. There's also some talk about the future of the series and the depth of the Xenosaga world (the interviewer asks about terminology such as "Realians", etc), and what Sugiura would like to work on next.

The second link is an interview with Mitsuda. It's mostly general talk about the game's music, along the lines of what it was like to cooperate with Western musicians, his favorite tracks, what atmosphere he wanted to convey with it, does he want to release his own albums, and so on.

Valkyrie wrote:Hello there,

Some months ago I used the options "save this page as a PDF" (the text can be selected) of Firefox on the entire site of Xenotensei (not the forum of Xenotensei).

So if anybody needs urgently some PDF-pages for work (or for reading), I can send them, just ask me.

Also I am considering putting the PDF-pages of Xenotensei on my Dropbox and post some links here, but I am not sure this is correct towards their writers...

Besides I have used the option "save this page as a PDF"

on some topics of the forum : Xenosaga I.II (DS) translations for example.

Finally I have recorded via LiteCam the first videos of Xenosaga OUTER FILE (Drama CD Translation).

P.S. 1 : Excuse my awkward english, I am French, and member of zoharproject.com. The pseudo is the same.

P.S. 2 :
Future English translation of Xenosaga I.II (DS) is at work here (be patient) :
http://aerie.wingdreams.net/

Neosmith write :
First of all, super thanks for those summaries - they really gave us a lot of details from the games we wanted to know and a lot of stuff to do.

Neosmith write :
Second, thank you for .pdf saving Xenotensei!

SOFTBANK HONNE INTERVIEW

Page 1

The role of being an intermediary between the director and the staff

Interviewer: Mr. Honne, you were supervising the graphics work on "Xenosaga", but what specifically were your tasks?

Honne: In terms of position, I served as art director for "Xenosaga". I would look over the graphics work coming in, allocate tasks to the creators, and so on.

Interviewer: Could you tell us about your workflow, in broad strokes?

Honne: I take Takahashi's instructions to the creators as a starting point, and I'll also act as an intermediary between him and those who carry out the initial work to help them understand his way of doing things.

Interviewer: What's distincive about Director Takahashi's methods?

Honne: He gives a lot of freedom to those he trusts, down to the last line. He'll be like, "well, here's how it looks right now, you take care of the rest!". (Laughs)
And he pushes the staff to the limits of what each of them is able to achieve, always demanding the highest quality. "

If you're going to do it, you might as well do it properly". That said, he doesn't put in unreasonable requests. Instead, he pushes [everyone] to put in as much effort as they possibly can.

Interviewer: Does he give detailed instructions to every member of staff?

Honne: He usually doesn't give overly specific instructions. He leaves it up to the discretion of individual staff members. That does mean that people who work with him for the first time can become a bit confused sometimes, with no idea what they're supposed to be doing. That's precisely why I act as a bridge between Takahashi and the rest of the staff when it comes to the overall vision.

Interviewer: I see. Sounds like he works you hard. Moving on, Mr. Honne, what were your areas of responsibility in the field of graphics work, your personal specialty?

Honne: Specifically, my main responsibility was the field maps. The game backgrounds, that kind of thing.

Interviewer: In addition to that, did you do have any input on the character graphics?

Honne: Yes. When I first discussed [the project] with Takahashi, we decided we had to make "high-level" characters since we were developing for the PS2, and I worried about how to accomplish that. At that time, Takami, who had worked as CG director on "Chrono Cross", joined us here at Monolith. As a result of that, we could leave the character-related work to him, which made things much easier for me.

Screenshot caption: With the move to the PS2, there was a big leap forward in terms of what could be done technologically. In "Xenosaga", thanks to the CG characters' ability to move in real-time, they were able to ingeniously blur the line between cutscenes and regular gameplay.

Page 2

Interviewer: On "Xenosaga", Mr. Kunihiko Tanaka did the character designs, and Mr. Junya Ishigaki did the mech designs. Was it difficult to express their original illustrations as CG [characters]?

Honne: It depends. We were definitely very focused on doing it right, down to the small details. We paid attention to bringing out the right lighting conditions and shadows. The total impression is affected by whether you're able to do that properly or not.

Interviewer: Realizing 2D characters in 3D must be quite difficult work?

Honne: I'm not sure it's that hard; it's more a matter of needing the right sense. This goes for the AGWS as well, and this [kind of] work is mostly about trying to imagine a flat object as something three-dimensional. I think our staff did a good job of bringing these mecha to life in that way.

Being struck by passion

Interviewer: And finally, how did you end up making games at Monolith Soft, Mr. Honne?

Honne: Back in the Square days, I was temporarily taken off the Xeno team to help with the development of "Chrono Cross". At that time, I said to Takahashi, "let's work together again once I'm done with that job". Things stayed that way for a while. That was around the time when Takahashi and Sugiura decided to found a new company to create "Xenosaga". They were so struck with passion that they were willing to go as far as to set up a company just to create this one game, so I wanted to join them in doing that, and were able to come aboard on this project. I definitely think I made the right choice there.

Interviewer: Yes, it really does take a lot of passion to set up a company just to make one game. (Laughs)
Thank you very much for this interview.

Screenshot caption: To faithfully bring an illustration to life as a 3D model, the right sense is absolutely essential.

SOFTBANK TAKAMI INTERVIEW

Bringing Tanaka's characters to life in CG

Interviewer: Mr. Takami, please tell us a little about how you came to work at Monolith Soft. Also, what projects were you involved in before that?

Takami: It began when I first met Mr. Honne, who served as an art director at Square. We've talked about working together someday in the past, so I wanted to take the opportunity to do that with our current project, "Xenosaga". As for earlier projects I've been involved in, I did event motion for FF7, movie scene characters and things like that for FF8, and during the Chrono Cross days, I worked as a movie director. '

Interviewer: What are your tasks for "Xenosaga"?

Takami: I'm in charge of everything that has to do with character modelling and CG. This is a project on a grand scale, and since it's a PS2 game we have to pay close attention to everything down to the small details, so it's quite hard work.

Interviewer: What did you find challenging in translating the drawings of Mr. Kunihiko Tanaka, the character designer, to CG?

Takami: Well, Mr. Tanaka's characters do tend to have rather large eyes. When you're trying to model characters like that, it can be hard to find the right balance. Particularly with this game, since we have moving eyes, and when they're that big, the eyeballs become big too. (Laughs)
So finding the right balance between the eyeballs and the face was quite a challenge. On the other hand, I think that allowed us to give the characters very rich facial expressions, so please look forward to that. (Laughs)

Interviewer: Their facial expressions are definitely very realistic. What did you find challenging in creating them?

Takami: In his illustrations, Tanaka draws some characters with puffed-up cheeks, as a kind of character reform [a bit unsure about this term, sorry], and it was very hard to express that with polygons. If you try to take the original drawings and turn them into polygons without any changes, you end up with cheeks that "pop" out and look inflated. Honestly, I worried about what to do to fix that. (Laughs)
But I had to solve it somehow, so I tried to be brave and just went ahead and adjusted it until it didn't look too strange anymore.

Interviewer: Finally, were there any requests from Director Takahashi that seemed plain impossible to you?

Takami: Yes, quite a few. (Laughs)
Since this is a game that emphasizes the story, the event scenes ended up becoming much longer than anticipated, and I [or they?] was like, "huh?" (Laughs)
There were many things we just had to cut in that area alone. Making animations [lit.: motion] and things like that were quite challenging.

Interviewer: Thank you very much.