IGA's BitSummit Interview with Game SparK
Jun 18, 2018 2:30:45 GMT -6
roguedragon05, purifyweirdshard, and 6 more like this
Post by dareka on Jun 18, 2018 2:30:45 GMT -6
This was when Curse of the Moon was just announced - so it's about a month old.
That said... it's really good... really insightful. Answers a lot of questions I've seen people ask. Highly recommended.
Link to the original article (Japanese)
GSJ> Game Spark Japan
IGA> ... you know who.
GSJ: First, tell us how the announcement of “Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon” at this year’s BitSummit came about.
IGA: After looking into several alternatives, we settled on leaving both development and publishing of “Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon” to Inti Creates. And so, Inti Creates told us they’d like to make the announcement at BitSummit.
GSJ: So, we understand you’re supervising the story and lore, but could you offer us a more specific description of your involvement?
IGA: When we first reached our original Kickstarter goal, we said we’d do an 8 bit version as a stretch goal. Since “Ritual of the Night” is an exploration-based game, I specifically requested the 8-bit version be a linear action game. Also, since it would be boring if the two games shared the same main character, I also told them to make Zangetsu the main character. So the idea was, let’s make it a story set 10 years earlier with Zangetsu as the main character. As far as the gameplay’s concerned, 2D games are Inti’s specialty, so I left it entirely up to them. For their part, Inti presented an idea for how they wanted to make the game. Personally, I feel the story should serve to realize the gameplay idea you’re pursuing, and not the other way around; and so we had a big problem, because setting the game 10 years earlier wouldn’t work with their idea. Like, the characters wouldn’t feel or act this way 10 years earlier. What we ended up with, then, is a story that’s closely connected to the main game. That said, you don’t need to play the main game to enjoy the story – we made it so that it stands on its own. We made it so that when people play the main game later, they’ll go “oh, they’re talking about this or that.” It was this kind of story related refinements that I worked on and supervised.
GSJ: So it was Inti’s idea to have you switch between four different characters?
IGA: That’s right.
GSJ: So why did you decide on making a 8 bit style game during the Kickstarter campaign?
IGA: There was one big reason in particular, and it’s that we launched the Kickstarter campaign for “Ritual of the Night” without a 3DS version. If we can’t do a 3DS version of the main game, why don’t we just make an 8-bit version, I thought, and that’s how it all began. Castlevania, the series I worked on before, has seen several outings on the DS and 3DS, so I figured there must be quite a few fans of my work on 3DS. I felt they needed some love, and that was my way of giving it.
GSJ: Since the game is going on sale in two weeks, it was a pretty sudden announcement. Will Kickstarter backers get the game on the launch date, as well?
IGA: We have to wait for the download codes to be published, so while some people will get then on the 24th, there might be some who receive them a bit later. We’ll be trying to get them to backers as soon as possible.
GSJ: I’m sure many people would like to know how “Ritual of the Night” is coming along.
IGA: We’re nearing the final phase of development, and the graphic assets are almost all done. What we’re doing right now is putting them all into the game, porting it to different platforms, etc.
GSJ: What would you like to work on once “Ritual of the Night” is finished?
IGA: Our company’s called ArtPlay, and it wasn’t created to work exclusively on dedicated gaming platforms. I mean, I left Konami to work on games for dedicated gaming platforms, but my belief is that, as an entertainment medium, games don’t have to be limited to a specific platform; so the idea’s to work on smarphones, as well. Of course, “Ritual of the Night” being a major property of ours, I have every intention of making it into a franchise. If the opportunity presents itself, I’d like to add more games for dedicated gaming platforms to our portfolio, and there’s no shortage of things I’d like to do, but we’re a small company. So we’ll be looking for partners, and if we manage to find them, fans will have a lot to look forward to.
GSJ: So what’s currently the scale of the “Ritual of the Night” project, in terms of developers?
IGA: We’re working with other companies for “Ritual of the Night,” so between 20 to 30 people are working on it - a mid-scale development team. The truth is we’re just 6 people at ArtPlay, and almost all of them are working on “Ritual of the Night.”
GSJ: Could you tell us about the reasons development is behind your original schedule?
IGA: There’s lots of reasons. We’d set up a project schedule based on the original scale of the Kickstarter pitch, but crowdfunding went too well, so that we ended up with a lot of additional content. When it comes to content, there’s tasks you can do in parallel, and tasks you need to do in order, and the content we promised ended up needing to be done in order. That was a big reason. Also, getting the game’s visuals right also ended up taking longer than I expected, so that was another reason.
GSJ: Let’s talk about the Kickstarter promotional video. It’s obvious a lot of work went into it. How did you go about creating it?
IGA: There’s lots of different “magic” in there. Several companies worked on it, putting themselves on the line in the process– for which I’m grateful. They worked on it with the knowledge that if the Kickstarter failed, all of us lost.
GSJ: That’s pretty amazing!
IGA: It really is! So the video wasn’t something I’d actually paid them to do – the idea was that a successful Kickstarter would give us quite a bit of cash. So if it failed, all of the companies involved would have been left to wipe our own tears. They were willing to undergo that risk for me. I’m often asked “could we do the same kind of Kickstarter campaign?”, but it’s not the way you normally do it, so I’m not sure there’s many people who could pull it off. The way you normally do it is you build a prototype, show the protoype, and say “we need this amount of money to finish it, so we’re asking for your help.” If the prototype’s promising, you back the project. The way I did it – and not just me, but Inafune-san and Yuu Suzuki-san – we basicallly just made a poster and headed off to the trenches. Our collaborators were sure we’d succeed anyway, so they joined our campaign. That doesn’t mean there was lots of money in it for them even if we succeeded, so I’m truly grateful.
GSJ: So lots of different people joined your cause because they believed you’d deliver.
IGA: That’s what it boils down to. And they had lots of know-how. A Kickstarter campaign’s target is a North American audience. You could say they knew what a North American audience wanted, or better yet, that they were part of the very audience I was trying to reach. They would offer feedback like “we’d really love it if you did this or that.” I think they themselves felt confident in the Kickstarter’s success.
GSJ: So how did you feel when their efforts bared fruit with the campaign?
IGA: I hand’t really put a lot of thought into the stretch goals, so I remember thinking “what am I gonna do, what am I gonna do! I gotta think of stretch goals.” (*smiles*). I was all so crazy, so much so that I still have trouble believing it really happened. I was obviously surprised when we cleared the funding goal on the first day. I did a Twitch stream for several hours, and was still in the middle of it when we cleared the goal, you know.
GSJ: Are the 5.5 million dollars the campaign brought in enough of a budget for the game’s development?
IGA: If the full amount went into the game’s development, it’s not really that small of a budget. That said, when you factor in the quality of modern day graphics, it falls just a bit short. The problem is that we can’t use all of the Kickstarter funds for the game’s development. As I said before, we had to pay our campaign partners, and also create the rewards, so those are two additional costs. Therefore, the game’s actual budget ends up being less that what backers might think. It’s definitely not enough to complete the game, so we looked for a publisher and found one in 505 Games, and they’re helping us fund development.
GSJ: And now I’d like to ask you for a word to the fans eagerly anticipating “Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night” and “Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon.”
IGA: With regards to “Ritual of the Night”, we’re doing our best to create a game that lives up to your expectations – you won’t be disappointed. As for “Curse of the Moon,” it’s very close to being released, and I feel it’s a 2D action game that’ll make everyone fell more than just nostalgia – it’ll remind you what a satisfying experience they are in the first place. “Curse of the Moon” will help you build anticipation for “Ritual of the Night,” and it’s almost here.
GSJ: Thank you for the interview.
That said... it's really good... really insightful. Answers a lot of questions I've seen people ask. Highly recommended.
Link to the original article (Japanese)
GSJ> Game Spark Japan
IGA> ... you know who.
GSJ: First, tell us how the announcement of “Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon” at this year’s BitSummit came about.
IGA: After looking into several alternatives, we settled on leaving both development and publishing of “Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon” to Inti Creates. And so, Inti Creates told us they’d like to make the announcement at BitSummit.
GSJ: So, we understand you’re supervising the story and lore, but could you offer us a more specific description of your involvement?
IGA: When we first reached our original Kickstarter goal, we said we’d do an 8 bit version as a stretch goal. Since “Ritual of the Night” is an exploration-based game, I specifically requested the 8-bit version be a linear action game. Also, since it would be boring if the two games shared the same main character, I also told them to make Zangetsu the main character. So the idea was, let’s make it a story set 10 years earlier with Zangetsu as the main character. As far as the gameplay’s concerned, 2D games are Inti’s specialty, so I left it entirely up to them. For their part, Inti presented an idea for how they wanted to make the game. Personally, I feel the story should serve to realize the gameplay idea you’re pursuing, and not the other way around; and so we had a big problem, because setting the game 10 years earlier wouldn’t work with their idea. Like, the characters wouldn’t feel or act this way 10 years earlier. What we ended up with, then, is a story that’s closely connected to the main game. That said, you don’t need to play the main game to enjoy the story – we made it so that it stands on its own. We made it so that when people play the main game later, they’ll go “oh, they’re talking about this or that.” It was this kind of story related refinements that I worked on and supervised.
GSJ: So it was Inti’s idea to have you switch between four different characters?
IGA: That’s right.
GSJ: So why did you decide on making a 8 bit style game during the Kickstarter campaign?
IGA: There was one big reason in particular, and it’s that we launched the Kickstarter campaign for “Ritual of the Night” without a 3DS version. If we can’t do a 3DS version of the main game, why don’t we just make an 8-bit version, I thought, and that’s how it all began. Castlevania, the series I worked on before, has seen several outings on the DS and 3DS, so I figured there must be quite a few fans of my work on 3DS. I felt they needed some love, and that was my way of giving it.
GSJ: Since the game is going on sale in two weeks, it was a pretty sudden announcement. Will Kickstarter backers get the game on the launch date, as well?
IGA: We have to wait for the download codes to be published, so while some people will get then on the 24th, there might be some who receive them a bit later. We’ll be trying to get them to backers as soon as possible.
GSJ: I’m sure many people would like to know how “Ritual of the Night” is coming along.
IGA: We’re nearing the final phase of development, and the graphic assets are almost all done. What we’re doing right now is putting them all into the game, porting it to different platforms, etc.
GSJ: What would you like to work on once “Ritual of the Night” is finished?
IGA: Our company’s called ArtPlay, and it wasn’t created to work exclusively on dedicated gaming platforms. I mean, I left Konami to work on games for dedicated gaming platforms, but my belief is that, as an entertainment medium, games don’t have to be limited to a specific platform; so the idea’s to work on smarphones, as well. Of course, “Ritual of the Night” being a major property of ours, I have every intention of making it into a franchise. If the opportunity presents itself, I’d like to add more games for dedicated gaming platforms to our portfolio, and there’s no shortage of things I’d like to do, but we’re a small company. So we’ll be looking for partners, and if we manage to find them, fans will have a lot to look forward to.
GSJ: So what’s currently the scale of the “Ritual of the Night” project, in terms of developers?
IGA: We’re working with other companies for “Ritual of the Night,” so between 20 to 30 people are working on it - a mid-scale development team. The truth is we’re just 6 people at ArtPlay, and almost all of them are working on “Ritual of the Night.”
GSJ: Could you tell us about the reasons development is behind your original schedule?
IGA: There’s lots of reasons. We’d set up a project schedule based on the original scale of the Kickstarter pitch, but crowdfunding went too well, so that we ended up with a lot of additional content. When it comes to content, there’s tasks you can do in parallel, and tasks you need to do in order, and the content we promised ended up needing to be done in order. That was a big reason. Also, getting the game’s visuals right also ended up taking longer than I expected, so that was another reason.
GSJ: Let’s talk about the Kickstarter promotional video. It’s obvious a lot of work went into it. How did you go about creating it?
IGA: There’s lots of different “magic” in there. Several companies worked on it, putting themselves on the line in the process– for which I’m grateful. They worked on it with the knowledge that if the Kickstarter failed, all of us lost.
GSJ: That’s pretty amazing!
IGA: It really is! So the video wasn’t something I’d actually paid them to do – the idea was that a successful Kickstarter would give us quite a bit of cash. So if it failed, all of the companies involved would have been left to wipe our own tears. They were willing to undergo that risk for me. I’m often asked “could we do the same kind of Kickstarter campaign?”, but it’s not the way you normally do it, so I’m not sure there’s many people who could pull it off. The way you normally do it is you build a prototype, show the protoype, and say “we need this amount of money to finish it, so we’re asking for your help.” If the prototype’s promising, you back the project. The way I did it – and not just me, but Inafune-san and Yuu Suzuki-san – we basicallly just made a poster and headed off to the trenches. Our collaborators were sure we’d succeed anyway, so they joined our campaign. That doesn’t mean there was lots of money in it for them even if we succeeded, so I’m truly grateful.
GSJ: So lots of different people joined your cause because they believed you’d deliver.
IGA: That’s what it boils down to. And they had lots of know-how. A Kickstarter campaign’s target is a North American audience. You could say they knew what a North American audience wanted, or better yet, that they were part of the very audience I was trying to reach. They would offer feedback like “we’d really love it if you did this or that.” I think they themselves felt confident in the Kickstarter’s success.
GSJ: So how did you feel when their efforts bared fruit with the campaign?
IGA: I hand’t really put a lot of thought into the stretch goals, so I remember thinking “what am I gonna do, what am I gonna do! I gotta think of stretch goals.” (*smiles*). I was all so crazy, so much so that I still have trouble believing it really happened. I was obviously surprised when we cleared the funding goal on the first day. I did a Twitch stream for several hours, and was still in the middle of it when we cleared the goal, you know.
GSJ: Are the 5.5 million dollars the campaign brought in enough of a budget for the game’s development?
IGA: If the full amount went into the game’s development, it’s not really that small of a budget. That said, when you factor in the quality of modern day graphics, it falls just a bit short. The problem is that we can’t use all of the Kickstarter funds for the game’s development. As I said before, we had to pay our campaign partners, and also create the rewards, so those are two additional costs. Therefore, the game’s actual budget ends up being less that what backers might think. It’s definitely not enough to complete the game, so we looked for a publisher and found one in 505 Games, and they’re helping us fund development.
GSJ: And now I’d like to ask you for a word to the fans eagerly anticipating “Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night” and “Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon.”
IGA: With regards to “Ritual of the Night”, we’re doing our best to create a game that lives up to your expectations – you won’t be disappointed. As for “Curse of the Moon,” it’s very close to being released, and I feel it’s a 2D action game that’ll make everyone fell more than just nostalgia – it’ll remind you what a satisfying experience they are in the first place. “Curse of the Moon” will help you build anticipation for “Ritual of the Night,” and it’s almost here.
GSJ: Thank you for the interview.
yey