ZDamned
The cake is a Lie!!!
Q/A with Katsutoshi Sakasi
Q: Were there any Star Wars characters that you wish you had been able to use but didn't for whatever reason and if so who were they?
-Karri
A: I originally wanted to have Darth Vader and Yoda as guest characters, so I am very satisfied with how everything turned out. I personally like Chewbacca, but it’s too bad that he doesn’t have a lightsaber.
Q: Was there a scene or character that didn't turn out as well as you had hoped or turned out better than you had hoped?
-Karri
A: To be honest, everything went beyond my expectations. However as we unveiled the character roster, some of the fans said that Astaroth looked too “monster-ish”. We actually designed him as a rugged rocky character. In terms of scenes, I personally like the “Distant Wetland” area. It’s an interesting stage that has a lush environment and animals.
Q: The arcade market has slowly been in the decline for a number of years now. How has the focus on console development differed in contrast to working with arcades in the past? Are there features in the arcade that can't be replicated on consoles?
-Eelcire
A: The arcade market may be slowly declining, but we are still doing our best to develop high quality products for both arcades and home console players. Interestingly enough, there has been a recent trend in Japan where the arcade market has shifted to providing bigger machines that offer prizes and medals; something that you can’t experience at home. It’s becoming an exciting place to have fun with friends, your girlfriend/ boyfriend and family.
Q: What was the most important thing to achieve when developing the fourth game of the franchise?
-Tranceplant
A: The important things we wanted to achieve in the fourth installment was to develop and offer new guest characters and bring online gameplay to the franchise for the first time.
Q: Soul Calibur IV provides another dimension to the game by adding the option for online battles. What problems did the development team run into while trying to get the online modes working properly?
-Wiimo
A: Adding online functionality was a bit challenging. It required almost twice as much effort to develop the online gameplay for two different platforms because they each had their own specifications.
Q: Now that the game is completed and has been out for some time, how happy are you with the end product?
-Lestat
A: I am truly happy with the end product and appreciate the fact that so many people are enjoying the game. If you have not played it yet, don’t miss this opportunity!
Q: How large is the team that worked together to bring us Soul Calibur IV?
-Nasanieru
A: At first, we started with about 70 people and then ramped up to 120. But if you take into consideration worldwide staff including testers, marketing and sales it totaled to about 300 people.
Q: What were you able to achieve on the PS3 and Xbox 360 that you really wanted to do with the previous Soulcalibur games on the PS2, but were not able to?
-Hilde
A: I would have to say online gameplay. We considered it for Soulcalibur III, but it was too early to implement because of the infrastructure aspect.
Q: What were your goals when you created the character's costumes and move lists?
-Shadowstalker
A: Our goals were to freshen and revamp their design to take advantage of the next-gen hardware and bring them to the HD era.
Q: What made you decide that you wanted to have a guest character designed by a famous artist? (Such as Angol Fear designed by Mine Yoshizaki of Keroro Gunso fame.)
-kurmankuro
A: It was an idea from some our team members. We have been implementing bonus characters in this franchise and we thought including original characters designed by famous artists could be a big service for fans.
Q: How did you come up with Astaroth's new look? It’s such a change from the past titles.
-Broly
A: This time, we designed Astaroth to look like a golem with a rocky appearance.
Q: I'm studying Computer Science right now, hoping to become a videogame programmer so is great to have the opportunity to ask you (the team) a series of questions. When making a game, one of the most important things is to gain the gamer’s attention, I think. There sure are a lot of ways of doing that, and here is the question: In Soul Calibur IV, which things were the ones that the team thought that will gain that attention in gamers? Like when you sit down and think about a great idea and say "gamers will get excited with this".
-GRSCeric
A: I think the biggest attention grabber for Soulcalibur IV would have to be the guest characters.
Q: Who can play the game the best in your development team?
-jal1l
A: The members from the level editing group are all good. I really can’t rank them in order because it will vary depending on which character they use. But for me, all of them are “gods” of fighting games.
Q: for director Katsutoshi Sasaki, How long have you wanted to direct. I mean, did you always dream of this
kind of work. And did you ever imagine you would direct something like soul calibur
-Sharingan_eyes
A: I originally thought about being a movie director, but my interest in the gaming industry started right after the original PlayStation was released. I remember that I was so amazed by the 3D technology and at the time I couldn’t even imagine being the director of Soulcalibur. But I had my sights on becoming a game director when I started to pursue a career in gaming.
Q: What was the most daunting task in this latest installment?
-SuicideKyd
A: I would say the worldwide simultaneous release on multi-platforms. Not only did we make the game for all territories, but we also had to promote it globally as well. It was not technically difficult; we just had so much work to do.
Q: Sometimes the end result of the development is very different from what was originally conceptualized - in what ways is the released version of SCIV better than what was originally planned?
-Ghostdog
A: The basic features were maintained as originally planned but we made small changes along the way. With each change, things always got better from the original concept. For example, there was a lot of trial and error when working on the AMB system (Active Matching Battle) and finally got it to where we were all satisfied.
Q: In the battle system, how were you guys able to create and design fighting moves and styles that were well balanced?
-Snakesta79
A: Usually we start with choosing a weapon. Once we decide on a weapon, we will start thinking about the background story, design and actions.
Q: Having seeing the online tactics (ie lag abuse, repetitive combos, button mashers) what are their thoughts on how online play has affected the series and the future of the series?
-Madjester
A: We will continue to improve on those aspects. Regardless of online play or offline play, repetitive combos need to be fixed to keep the fair game. I believe that the online match play will be mandatory to implement in fighting games from now on.
Q: Hello Project Soul, I've noticed that in each iteration of the Soul series, you have always made many changes to some characters, and few for others. For example, Nightmare remains very similar in Soul Calibur III and Soulcalibur IV, but Ivy has changed greatly with each new version of the Soul series. What makes you feel that a character should be changed? Do you feel that some characters are already well expressed with their current moves? How do you decide on what kind of moves should be added or taken away to a character?
-Schneider-X
A: We implement changes to the characters that haven’t been changed for in a while. For example, a character that was changed drastically in Soulcalibur II will stay almost the same in Soulcalibur III. But that character will be changed in Soulcalibur IV.
Q: What is the biggest and most important difference between Soulcalibur III and IV?
-jasamvs
A: The biggest difference will be the online gameplay.
Q: Which character from Soulcalibur do you admire?
-Lobitoh
A: Even though I like all the characters, Hilda would be my favorite.
Q: How much do your fans influence any and all decisions made when Soul Calibur IV was in development, and do you think your fans ask for unrealistic things to be/happen in Soul Calibur?
-BlackCapone
A: I always like to listen to our fan base. At the early stages of development, we incorporated some of the fan feedback received from the previous games. Also, when we conduct press interviews or when players have hands-on time with the game, we observe them playing and ask for their opinion on how to make the game better.
Q: What were the ideas behind Amy's design, and what alternatives did you consider while making her?
-KungFuMan
A: Amy was created as a trial character while we were developing SoulCalibur III. We ended up liking the design so we decided to implement her into the game.
Q: Soul Calibur IV outfits are very unique and detailed. What inspires you when you create an outfit for a character? Also, out of all the characters, which was your favorite design?
-yuuhiko
A: Costumes are made by our character designers through trial and error. We create a lot of samples in the beginning and refine the one which suit the concept the best. My favorite costume is the one of Xianghua. I like the color variation.
-Copied from the WWYS Newsletter E-Mail.
As expected, nothing truly informative about mechanics, and a HUGE beat around the bush answer for Character changes....
Q: Were there any Star Wars characters that you wish you had been able to use but didn't for whatever reason and if so who were they?
-Karri
A: I originally wanted to have Darth Vader and Yoda as guest characters, so I am very satisfied with how everything turned out. I personally like Chewbacca, but it’s too bad that he doesn’t have a lightsaber.
Q: Was there a scene or character that didn't turn out as well as you had hoped or turned out better than you had hoped?
-Karri
A: To be honest, everything went beyond my expectations. However as we unveiled the character roster, some of the fans said that Astaroth looked too “monster-ish”. We actually designed him as a rugged rocky character. In terms of scenes, I personally like the “Distant Wetland” area. It’s an interesting stage that has a lush environment and animals.
Q: The arcade market has slowly been in the decline for a number of years now. How has the focus on console development differed in contrast to working with arcades in the past? Are there features in the arcade that can't be replicated on consoles?
-Eelcire
A: The arcade market may be slowly declining, but we are still doing our best to develop high quality products for both arcades and home console players. Interestingly enough, there has been a recent trend in Japan where the arcade market has shifted to providing bigger machines that offer prizes and medals; something that you can’t experience at home. It’s becoming an exciting place to have fun with friends, your girlfriend/ boyfriend and family.
Q: What was the most important thing to achieve when developing the fourth game of the franchise?
-Tranceplant
A: The important things we wanted to achieve in the fourth installment was to develop and offer new guest characters and bring online gameplay to the franchise for the first time.
Q: Soul Calibur IV provides another dimension to the game by adding the option for online battles. What problems did the development team run into while trying to get the online modes working properly?
-Wiimo
A: Adding online functionality was a bit challenging. It required almost twice as much effort to develop the online gameplay for two different platforms because they each had their own specifications.
Q: Now that the game is completed and has been out for some time, how happy are you with the end product?
-Lestat
A: I am truly happy with the end product and appreciate the fact that so many people are enjoying the game. If you have not played it yet, don’t miss this opportunity!
Q: How large is the team that worked together to bring us Soul Calibur IV?
-Nasanieru
A: At first, we started with about 70 people and then ramped up to 120. But if you take into consideration worldwide staff including testers, marketing and sales it totaled to about 300 people.
Q: What were you able to achieve on the PS3 and Xbox 360 that you really wanted to do with the previous Soulcalibur games on the PS2, but were not able to?
-Hilde
A: I would have to say online gameplay. We considered it for Soulcalibur III, but it was too early to implement because of the infrastructure aspect.
Q: What were your goals when you created the character's costumes and move lists?
-Shadowstalker
A: Our goals were to freshen and revamp their design to take advantage of the next-gen hardware and bring them to the HD era.
Q: What made you decide that you wanted to have a guest character designed by a famous artist? (Such as Angol Fear designed by Mine Yoshizaki of Keroro Gunso fame.)
-kurmankuro
A: It was an idea from some our team members. We have been implementing bonus characters in this franchise and we thought including original characters designed by famous artists could be a big service for fans.
Q: How did you come up with Astaroth's new look? It’s such a change from the past titles.
-Broly
A: This time, we designed Astaroth to look like a golem with a rocky appearance.
Q: I'm studying Computer Science right now, hoping to become a videogame programmer so is great to have the opportunity to ask you (the team) a series of questions. When making a game, one of the most important things is to gain the gamer’s attention, I think. There sure are a lot of ways of doing that, and here is the question: In Soul Calibur IV, which things were the ones that the team thought that will gain that attention in gamers? Like when you sit down and think about a great idea and say "gamers will get excited with this".
-GRSCeric
A: I think the biggest attention grabber for Soulcalibur IV would have to be the guest characters.
Q: Who can play the game the best in your development team?
-jal1l
A: The members from the level editing group are all good. I really can’t rank them in order because it will vary depending on which character they use. But for me, all of them are “gods” of fighting games.
Q: for director Katsutoshi Sasaki, How long have you wanted to direct. I mean, did you always dream of this
kind of work. And did you ever imagine you would direct something like soul calibur
-Sharingan_eyes
A: I originally thought about being a movie director, but my interest in the gaming industry started right after the original PlayStation was released. I remember that I was so amazed by the 3D technology and at the time I couldn’t even imagine being the director of Soulcalibur. But I had my sights on becoming a game director when I started to pursue a career in gaming.
Q: What was the most daunting task in this latest installment?
-SuicideKyd
A: I would say the worldwide simultaneous release on multi-platforms. Not only did we make the game for all territories, but we also had to promote it globally as well. It was not technically difficult; we just had so much work to do.
Q: Sometimes the end result of the development is very different from what was originally conceptualized - in what ways is the released version of SCIV better than what was originally planned?
-Ghostdog
A: The basic features were maintained as originally planned but we made small changes along the way. With each change, things always got better from the original concept. For example, there was a lot of trial and error when working on the AMB system (Active Matching Battle) and finally got it to where we were all satisfied.
Q: In the battle system, how were you guys able to create and design fighting moves and styles that were well balanced?
-Snakesta79
A: Usually we start with choosing a weapon. Once we decide on a weapon, we will start thinking about the background story, design and actions.
Q: Having seeing the online tactics (ie lag abuse, repetitive combos, button mashers) what are their thoughts on how online play has affected the series and the future of the series?
-Madjester
A: We will continue to improve on those aspects. Regardless of online play or offline play, repetitive combos need to be fixed to keep the fair game. I believe that the online match play will be mandatory to implement in fighting games from now on.
Q: Hello Project Soul, I've noticed that in each iteration of the Soul series, you have always made many changes to some characters, and few for others. For example, Nightmare remains very similar in Soul Calibur III and Soulcalibur IV, but Ivy has changed greatly with each new version of the Soul series. What makes you feel that a character should be changed? Do you feel that some characters are already well expressed with their current moves? How do you decide on what kind of moves should be added or taken away to a character?
-Schneider-X
A: We implement changes to the characters that haven’t been changed for in a while. For example, a character that was changed drastically in Soulcalibur II will stay almost the same in Soulcalibur III. But that character will be changed in Soulcalibur IV.
Q: What is the biggest and most important difference between Soulcalibur III and IV?
-jasamvs
A: The biggest difference will be the online gameplay.
Q: Which character from Soulcalibur do you admire?
-Lobitoh
A: Even though I like all the characters, Hilda would be my favorite.
Q: How much do your fans influence any and all decisions made when Soul Calibur IV was in development, and do you think your fans ask for unrealistic things to be/happen in Soul Calibur?
-BlackCapone
A: I always like to listen to our fan base. At the early stages of development, we incorporated some of the fan feedback received from the previous games. Also, when we conduct press interviews or when players have hands-on time with the game, we observe them playing and ask for their opinion on how to make the game better.
Q: What were the ideas behind Amy's design, and what alternatives did you consider while making her?
-KungFuMan
A: Amy was created as a trial character while we were developing SoulCalibur III. We ended up liking the design so we decided to implement her into the game.
Q: Soul Calibur IV outfits are very unique and detailed. What inspires you when you create an outfit for a character? Also, out of all the characters, which was your favorite design?
-yuuhiko
A: Costumes are made by our character designers through trial and error. We create a lot of samples in the beginning and refine the one which suit the concept the best. My favorite costume is the one of Xianghua. I like the color variation.
-Copied from the WWYS Newsletter E-Mail.
As expected, nothing truly informative about mechanics, and a HUGE beat around the bush answer for Character changes....
