【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
2. Photography, posting on social media is OK. Please take lots photos and tweet the presentation!
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.
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.
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
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.
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
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
10. The concept of SCARLET NEXUS Having cool fights using psychic abilities and experiencing firsthand the special bonds with your companions.
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.
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.
13. Step 1: Giving the concept an “edge”
14. Giving it an “edge” See how our title changes from launching the project to releasing. Stages of SCARLET NEXUS
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。
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”
17. Concept Stages We’re going to introduce the stages we went through when polishing the concept. Giving it an “edge”
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.
19. Character expression Concept Stages Giving it an “edge”
23. SAS (Struggle Arms System) Connect with Companions and fight by borrowing their powers. Concept Stages Sharpen the concept
27. Brain crush Killer blow by Psychokinesis Transition of the Concept Sharpen the concept
31. “Uncool” incident SEPTEMBER 2017
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”
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”
35. I want to redesign it!
36. ←Anabuki
37. ←江見 ←江見 ←Emi
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”
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.
42. Step 2: Differentiating
43. Screenshot comparison incident APRIL 2019月
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
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
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
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.
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.
50. Key point of differentiation Fall in love with yourself during combat. A tough berserker who wields dangerous powers Differentiating
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
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
55. Brain Punk: “Medically Themed” Characters Differentiating
56. Brain Punk: Power VFX Differentiating
57. Brain Punk: Red cables hung in the background Differentiating
58. Brain Punk: Bringing the UI together with neon Differentiating
59. The concept wasn’t communicated well!!
60. Step 3: Sharing
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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”.
73. Development Team
74. Development Team Bandai Namco Studio: Direction Supervision Anabuki Artist Programmer Planner Sound Emi Early part of development
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
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.
77. Finally Developer x Developer
78. Announcement
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
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
81. Thank you for listening!