【CEDEC+KYUSHU2022】「SCARLET NEXUS」The road to creating an original title

This is an archive of 『「SCARLET NEXUS」The road to creating an original title』from the session at CEDEC+KYUSHU2022. This session was held on November 12th, 2022.
※The content includes information as of November 12th, 2022.

Session Videos (YouTube)
https://youtu.be/FrrDaiOJOok

SCARLET NEXUS™ & ©BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc.

■ Speakers
Kenji Anabuki (Bandai Namco Studios Inc.)
Katsuya Emi (TOSE CO., LTD)

■ About this session
http://cedec-kyushu.jp/2022/session/06.html

#bandainamcostudios #scarletnexus

Transcript

1. The road to creating an original title
   Kenji Anabuki
   Bandai Namco Studios Inc.
   Katsuya Emi
   TOSE CO., LTD
   

   View Slide

2. Photography, posting on social media
   is OK.
   Please take lots photos and tweet the presentation!
   

   View Slide

3. Today’s Speakers
   Kenji Anabuki
   Director and Development Producer
   Bandai Namco Studios Inc.
   Worked on the Tales series for about 11 years.
   Previously lead game designer in Tales of Vesperia
   (Xbox360) and director in Tales of Xillia 2.
   Katsuya Emi
   Senior artist and Game director
   TOSE CO., LTD
   Originally worked in art, including creating VFX,
   storyboarding, and offering artistic supervision in the studio.
   Later shifted to direction and now mainly works as a game
   director. Has experience creating proposals for projects and
   offering direction during development.
   

   View Slide

4. Will your power break you? Or
   will it become your bond?
   “New Himuka” –where neuroscience evolved to the extreme.
   Human beings are threated by the “Others” descended from
   the skies.
   Only power users that wield paranormal abilities can
   counter this threat.
   Genre:
   Brain Punk Action RPG
   Platforms:
   Xbox Series X|S ／Xbox One (with SMART
   DELIVERY )
   PlayStation®5 ／ PlayStation®4 ／ STEAM®
   SCARLET NEXUS™ & ©BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment Inc.
   

   View Slide

5. View Slide

6. Bandai Namco Studios Inc.
   ・Concept planning
   ・Story writing
   ・Responsible for directing
   each section
   ・Total of 20 members at
   largest
   Development (Team Structure)
   TOSE CO., LTD
   ・Main development team
   ・Utilized agile development
   ・Some 30 members at the
   beginning
   ・A total of around 100
   members in the latter phase
   

   View Slide

7. Development (Chronology)
   May 2015
   Sep 2016
   Feb 2017
   Sep 2017
   Mar 2018
   Apr 2019
   Oct 2019
   Aug 2020
   Apr 2021
   Jun 2021
   Secretly started in BNS as a quasi-extracurricular research project
   Launched as a formal project
   Partnered with TOSE & entered pre-production
   “Uncool” incident
   Entered production
   Screenshot comparison incident
   Completed α version
   Completed β version
   Submitted master version
   Release *Updated the game afterward.
   

   View Slide

8. No matter how you look at it,
   the way you approach the concept
   is important when developing
   a new original title.
   What I Want to Emphasize Today
   

   View Slide

9. Today’s Agenda
   How to Approach the Concept
   Step 1: Giving it an “edge”
   Step 2: Differentiating
   Step 3: Sharing
   Development Team
   Team split between Bandai Namco Studios and TOSE
   How we approached working remotely, relationship
   between developers
   

   View Slide

10. The concept of SCARLET NEXUS
    Having cool fights using psychic
    abilities and experiencing firsthand the
    special bonds with your companions.
    

    View Slide

11. Full Text of the Concept
    A dramatic tale that unfolds in a world that is an extension of the present. In it, fighters who are artificially granted psychic powers face off
    against a threat that emerged spontaneously.
    Its visuals utilize new cel shaded rendering techniques to create an anime-style look that is familiar to the target audience but also feels
    chic.
    Players control power users: individuals who possess special psychic abilities that are created solely to counter the Others.
    The protagonist shares a roof with the members of a party of ability users, each of whom are placed under the same circumstances. As
    they spend time together, they get to know a companion that fetches their liking. We will depict the companion’s relationship with the
    protagonist in a scenario written exclusively for them.
    These groups are able to boost their abilities and share thoughts through brain links.
    Engage in battles with enemy power users and pull off team combos by combining your powers and abilities with other team members
    using intuitive controls. These fights allow you to outsmart the enemy with effective strategizing and pull off comebacks by disrupting
    enemies’ plans.
    Engage in highly strategic, over-the-top, and action-packed combat.
    Conversations and cutscenes are dynamically inserted during battles, making the plot and battles unfold in parallel.
    The game is a “psychic bond action RPG,” so...
    Players will receive otherworldly thrills in a universe that’s close enough to our own to understand intuitively.
    Immersing themselves in the story and world will provide a moving experience.
    Its anime-style visuals make the game approachable while providing a new (and different) twist on the genre.
    Players control a brilliant character in a unique role while interacting with other unique and attractive characters.
    Exhilarating battles offer a sense of achievement and when they successfully execute a strategy in an anime or manga-like turn of events.
    At the same time, they can experience the solidarity of being connected by special bonds and themes of friendship and love peculiar to
    juvenile drama.
    

    View Slide

12. Full Text of the Concept (Summary)
    Visuals incorporating cel shading that feel
    unique and sophisticated.
    Characters that share thoughts and powers
    with their Companions via brain links whose
    special bond creates a feeling of solidarity.
    Over-the-top battles chock-full of psychic
    abilities that offer a sense of achievement and
    exhilaration when players strategize effectively.
    

    View Slide

13. Step 1:
    Giving the concept an “edge”
    

    View Slide

14. Giving it an “edge”
    See how our title changes from launching the
    project to releasing.
    Stages of SCARLET NEXUS
    

    View Slide

15. コンセプトを尖らせる
    動画を流す
    SCARLET NEXUS の 変遷について。
    

    View Slide

16. ・There’s always the temptation to try to polish
    everything, as much as we want to.
    ・But the budget is finite, so we need to particular
    about how we polish the concept.
    ＞＞Give the concept an “edge” so it cuts
    like a knife through butter!
    Giving it an “edge”
    Giving it an “edge”
    

    View Slide

17. Concept Stages
    We’re going to introduce the stages
    we went through when polishing the
    concept.
    Giving it an “edge”
    

    View Slide

18. Full Text of the Concept (Summary)
    Visuals incorporating cel shading that feel
    unique and sophisticated.
    Characters that share thoughts and powers
    with their Companions via brain links whose
    special bond creates a feeling of solidarity.
    Over-the-top battles chock-full of psychic
    abilities that offer a sense of achievement and
    exhilaration when players strategize effectively.
    

    View Slide

19. Character expression
    Concept Stages
    Giving it an “edge”
    

    View Slide

20. View Slide

21. View Slide

22. View Slide

23. SAS (Struggle Arms System)
    Connect with Companions and
    fight by borrowing their powers.
    Concept Stages
    Sharpen the concept
    

    View Slide

24. View Slide

25. View Slide

26. View Slide

27. Brain crush
    Killer blow by Psychokinesis
    Transition of the Concept
    Sharpen the concept
    

    View Slide

28. View Slide

29. View Slide

30. View Slide

31. “Uncool” incident
    SEPTEMBER 2017
    

    View Slide

32. What is the "Uncool” incident?
    It’s when Anabuki’s heart was put
    through the shredder during
    preproduction when a staff member
    said the deliverables were “not cool.”
    Giving it an “edge”
    

    View Slide

33. View Slide

34. “Uncool” incident
    Having cool fights using psychic
    abilities and experiencing firsthand the
    special bonds with your companions.
    The concept of SCARLET NEXUS
    “Uncool” is the complete opposite of the
    concept, which is NOT acceptable!
    Giving it an “edge”
    

    View Slide

35. I want to
    redesign it!
    

    View Slide

36. ←Anabuki
    

    View Slide

37. ←江見
    ←江見
    ←Emi
    

    View Slide

38. View Slide

39. Feature revision
    Feature development was done, but we
    were still in the conceptualizing phase, so
    we decided to take them back to the
    drawing board.
    What did we do?
    Giving it an “edge”
    

    View Slide

40. View Slide

41. Giving it an “edge”
    以前の映像 今の映像
    The tempo was bad and the
    visuals looked uncool.
    The change let us easily
    implement cool combat.
    

    View Slide

42. Step 2: Differentiating
    

    View Slide

43. Screenshot
    comparison
    incident
    APRIL 2019月
    

    View Slide

44. What was the “screenshot
    comparison incident”?
    About halfway through development we
    compared Scarlet Nexus’ in-game look with a
    screenshot of another game. The development
    team was shocked when they were told “the
    differences are not noticeable at a glance”.
    Differentiating
    

    View Slide

45. View Slide

46. Importance of differentiation
    As a myriad of games are in the market,
    we must differentiate our titles from the
    competitors to attract gamers.
    This is especially true when making an
    original title. People will hardly recognize
    it if it does not differentiate itself.
    Differentiating
    

    View Slide

47. Upgrade and rebuild the concept
    Having cool fights using psychic
    abilities and experiencing firsthand
    the special bonds with your
    companions.
    Using this as a base, we upgraded
    and rebuilt the concept to
    differentiate it.
    Differentiating
    

    View Slide

48. Full Text of the Concept
    Players can freely manipulate psychokinetic abilities as “power users”
    and use their enhanced brain power to dodge and defeat enemies in their
    own way.
    They can fall in love with themselves as they play as a tough berserker
    who mows down enemies with their dangerous powers,
    They grow their bonds with their Companions, enhance
    their brain link, borrow abilities, and cooperate in attacking
    and defending.
    Players feel trusted by their companions, who rely on them, and get swept
    away when their companions forget pain and danger and act to save them.
    This is a RPG drama in which youngsters, whose lives were at the mercy of
    the adults around them, fight by their own will to save the world.
    Players can feel uplifted by becoming a member of a strong and
    independent-minded group that confronts the dark side of society.
    

    View Slide

49. Full Text of the Concept (Summary)
    Utilizing psycho-kinetic action as power users with
    enhanced brains, players can fall in love with
    themselves by playing as a tough berserker who
    manipulates dangerous powers.
    Players enhance their brain link, cooperate with
    their companions during combat, and get swept
    away their companions forget pain and danger and
    act to save them.
    

    View Slide

50. Key point of differentiation
    Fall in love with yourself during
    combat.
    A tough berserker who wields
    dangerous powers
    Differentiating
    

    View Slide

51. View Slide

52. Key point of differentiation
    Feeling trusted by your
    Companions.
    Getting swept away when
    others forget pain and danger
    and act to save you.
    Differentiating
    

    View Slide

53. View Slide

54. Players can freely manipulate psychokinetic abilities as “power users”
    and use their enhanced brain power to dodge and defeat enemies in their
    own way.
    They can fall in love with themselves as they play as a tough berserker
    who mows down enemies with their dangerous powers,
    They grow their bonds with their Companions, enhance
    their brain link, borrow abilities, and cooperate in attacking
    and defending.
    Players feel trusted by their companions, who rely on them, and get swept
    away when their companions forget pain and danger and act to save them.
    This is a RPG drama in which youngsters, whose lives were at the mercy of
    the adults around them, fight by their own will to save the world.
    Players can feel uplifted by becoming a member of a strong and
    independent-minded group that confronts the dark side of society.
    Coined term expressing the world view
    of SCARLET NEXUS
    Brain Punk
    

    View Slide

55. Brain Punk:
    “Medically Themed” Characters
    Differentiating
    

    View Slide

56. Brain Punk: Power VFX
    Differentiating
    

    View Slide

57. Brain Punk:
    Red cables hung in the background
    Differentiating
    

    View Slide

58. Brain Punk:
    Bringing the UI together with neon
    Differentiating
    

    View Slide

59. The concept wasn’t
    communicated well!!
    

    View Slide

60. Step 3: Sharing
    

    View Slide

61. Having cool fights
    using psychic abilities
    and experiencing
    firsthand the special
    bonds with your
    companions.
    The concept wasn’t communicated well
    Sharing
    Although we poured time and efforts to create the
    concept, it was not communicated to other members
    well and got the point across even less than expected.
    

    View Slide

62. Legacy titles have a precedent to work from, but original
    IPs do not. Therefore, expectations for quality varies from
    member to member. Finisher moves should be like ○○○.
    This sword should look cool like ×××.
    Movement is like △△△.
    Sharing
    The concept wasn’t communicated well
    

    View Slide

63. A dramatic tale that unfolds in a world that is an extension of the present. In it, fighters who are artificially granted psychic
    powers face off against a threat that emerged spontaneously. Its visuals utilize new cel shaded rendering techniques to
    create an anime-style look that is familiar to the target audience but also feels chic. Players control power users:
    individuals who possess special psychic abilities that are created solely to counter the Others. The protagonist shares a
    roof with the members of a party of ability users, each of whom are placed under the same circumstances. As they
    spend time together, they get to know a companion that fetches their liking. We will depict the companion’s relationship
    with the protagonist in a scenario written exclusively for them. These groups are able to boost their abilities and share
    thoughts through brain links. Engage in battles with enemy power users and pull off team combos by combining your
    powers and abilities with other team members using intuitive controls. These fights allow you to outsmart the enemy with
    effective strategizing and pull off comebacks by disrupting enemies’ plans. Engage in highly strategic, over-the-top, and
    action-packed combat. Conversations and cutscenes are dynamically inserted during battles, making the plot and
    battles unfold in parallel. The game is a “psychic bond action RPG,” so... Players will receive otherworldly thrills in a
    universe that’s close enough to our own to understand intuitively. Immersing themselves in the story and world will
    provide a moving experience. Its anime-style visuals make the game approachable while providing a new (and
    different) twist on the genre. Players control a brilliant character in a unique role while interacting with other unique and
    attractive characters. Exhilarating battles offer a sense of achievement and when they successfully execute a strategy in
    an anime or manga-like turn of events. At the same time, they can experience the solidarity of being connected by
    special bonds and themes of friendship and love peculiar to juvenile drama.
    Since the sentences in the Concept statement were long
    and contained abstract expressions, not many members in
    TOSE’s properly understood them after reading.
    Sharing
    The concept wasn’t communicated well
    

    View Slide

64. As a result
    ・Quality per asset was inconsistent.
    ・Creative staff were unsatisfied with direction.
    ・We started to see a tendency for members to
    give the highest priority to finishing tasks.
    Begin to work on solving those problems
    Sharing
    

    View Slide

65. Effort 1: Breakdown the concept
    We broke down the concept by production stage and
    rearranged it to fit the process.
    Having cool fights using psychic abilities and experiencing
    firsthand the special bonds with your companions.
    Overall game:
    Disrupt situations using companions’ powers and perform
    killer move by comboing weapons and psychokinesis.
    Battle:
    Enemies that you want to proactively defeat using
    your powers (“Power＝fun” is the goal)
    All enemies:
    They approach with unpredictable speed, but you can defeat it by
    using companions’ ability, hypervelocity.
    Single
    enemies:
    Sharing
    

    View Slide

66. Effort 1: Breakdown the concept
    We made conscious effort to explain our work to a variety of people
    and not just upload data to the server without explanation.
    Meetings with all members Provide extra explanation to
    each member
    Sharing
    

    View Slide

67. Initiative 2:
    Inter-company joint concept planning
    TOSE joined the concept planning, which was mainly led by
    Bandai Namco Studio, so that they would be able to have
    responsibility as well as discretion toward quality.
    Sharing
    

    View Slide

68. Initiative 2:
    Inter-company joint concept planning
    As a result, a member of TOSE side were able to
    understand the title’s concept faster. It also had the affect
    of giving them a feeling of “ownership” of their work.
    Sharing
    

    View Slide

69. Initiative 2:
    Inter-company joint concept planning
    Next, we wrote down the details of the concept prepared for
    each production stage. This led to the members in TOSE
    creating specific quality standard.
    Sharing
    

    View Slide

70. As a result, direction issues within TOSE were resolved and the
    quality level of deliverables were made uniform. Both Bandai
    Namco Studios and TOSE were able to move on to the same
    direction just by sharing minimum level of information.
    Sharing
    Initiative 2:
    Inter-company joint concept planning
    

    View Slide

71. No matter how you look at it,
    the way you approach the concept
    is important when developing
    a new original title.
    What I want to emphasize once again today
    

    View Slide

72. How to approach the concept
    Giving it an “edge”
    Polish should be given to the concept, not the entire title.
    Give the concept an “edge” so it cuts like a knife through butter.
    Differentiating
    Original titles must be differentiated from other titles to get
    recognition.
    Need in-game visuals that are different enough to not be
    misinterpreted as an existing release from a competitor.
    Sharing
    Sharing concepts is difficult when creating an original title with no
    precedent.
    This can be resolved by plan concepts for each stage of production and
    fostering a sense of “ownership”.
    

    View Slide

73. Development Team
    

    View Slide

74. Development Team
    Bandai Namco Studio: Direction Supervision
    Anabuki
    Artist Programmer Planner Sound
    Emi
    Early part of development
    

    View Slide

75. Development Structure：Latter part
    Battle
    プレイヤー
    Enemy
    Level Event UI Visual System
    モデル
    Animation
    VFX
    メモリ処理
    Sound
    Direction
    Camera
    Latter part of development
    Anabuki
    TOSE
    Programmer
    TOSE
    Artist
    TOSE
    Planner
    TOSE
    Artist
    TOSE
    Programmer
    TOSE
    Sound
    TOSE
    Artist
    Anabuki＆
    Emi
    BNS
    TOSE
    BNS
    TOSE
    BNS
    TOSE
    BNS
    TOSE
    BNS
    TOSE
    BNS
    TOSE
    

    View Slide

76. Face-to-face and remote communication
    ・Originally, communication between Bandai Namco Studios
    and TOSE was remote.
    ・Specific teams in both companies implemented both face-
    to-face and remote communication.
    ・As a rule of thumb, communication in the combat and
    level teams was face-to-face.
    ・Teams other than the above generally communicated
    remotely.
    

    View Slide

77. Finally
    Developer x Developer
    

    View Slide

78. Announcement
    

    View Slide

79. The trial version is available for
    download
    You can enjoy the early story in
    SCARLET NEXUS.
    Save data can be transferred to the
    full version.
    You can enjoy psychic ability-based
    combat utilizing psychokinesis and
    companion powers in a partially unlocked
    version of the game.
    DEMO EDITION STORY DEMO
    

    View Slide

80. Anabuki’s social media accounts
    I post screenshots of SCARLET NEXUS every day. I passed
    700 days!
    Please check it out. m(__)m
    https://twitter.com/shibainu_kenji
    

    View Slide

81. Thank you for listening!
    

    View Slide