Hey there heroes!
It’s that time of the year! Hopefully all of you are looking forward to winding down for the holidays, but are also staying safe in regards to covid-19. We’ve got a nice big update this month with plenty of surprises (and even a few holiday gifts!). You’re all going to absolutely love it!
Let’s get started!
Survey Progress
Let’s start with the latest update for the ongoing work with the survey.
Thank you to everyone who has emailed us directly about missing surveys. We are currently compiling a list of those backers, and upon verification, will be finding alternate ways to provide the survey and/or access to the fulfillment store. As this is a manual process which can involve emailing hundreds of backers individually, as always, we appreciate your patience.
Rest assured, we will absolutely make sure that we have gone through all of the emails so that no one is stuck without a way to provide us with the necessary information.
Speaking of the fulfillment store: much of the work is completed, so we’ll be able to provide specifics about how it works early next year.
Now, on to the fun stuff!
Murayama's Monthly Development Report
I’m still hard at work on the plot of the main storyline. As we announced in the Kickstarter, Eiyuden Chronicle has Seign's side story, a side story for Marisa, and a companion game in addition to the main story. I've been thinking about how those stories might fit into the main storyline.
My approach to storytelling is to first create a certain amount of background—a situation—then throw the characters into it and imagine what would happen. I do this as many times as it takes. If I get it right the first time, great, but if the characters don't seem to be going anywhere in the story, then I set up a new situation and start again from scratch.
It's like a game, a sim where I play through different routes. The difference is that I have to decide if it's a success or not, and I’m left to wonder if I really made the right decision.
What's important to developing a good setting and good cast of characters is strong villains. When I showed up at the Discord Channel last month, I asked everyone in the room on a whim, “What's your favorite villain? Aside from Luca Blight, because I already know that.” As a result, I received a very large list of characters. It was a very inspiring and positive experience. I’ve never had a chance to experience this kind of developing style before, and I'm enjoying every moment of it.
Character Profile: Wayve
Profession: The Guardians
Gender: Male
Age: 27
Favorite food: Caramel bars
A toughened Guardian who leads his own command. Marisa and the others trust Wayve implicitly, and not just because he's more experienced. He's a man of few words but ample brawn and courage, and he always puts his comrades first. More than once, he's risked his life for them.
"Stop bottling it up, brother. If you're having a rough time then spit it out. We're all here for each other."
Kawano’s Comment:
Wayve is one of the top characters to redraw the face for. Apparently I didn't fully grasp his relationship with Marisa, their position and such, so it took me a while to get to the point where I was able to meet the requested motifs. So every time a retake order came in, I thought to myself, "wow, this character is going to have a lot of screen time (or have something special planned for him)".
Monster Sneak Peek: Salamander
Salamander
A monster that emits intense heat from its skin. It feeds on some type of ore, which it melts at high temperatures and takes into its body.
A Word From the Team
J-diary vol.1
Hello, I'm Murakami J, producer and art director.
How long has it been since I posted a production note to users?
For the first time in years...well, a decade? It's been so long that I can't even remember.
This is because I was able to safely start the Eiyuden project with your support. Personally, it's been a long time since I've worked directly on a production site.
This project, as you know, has four leaders who would normally work as a producer or director and lead the overall game production.
In addition, all of them have former experience in the field and are skilled at their craft.
Even though they are old, these dependable colleagues are working on site, each with their own role to play this time. So I am able to focus on one thing in peace.
I haven't had this kind of feeling for over a decade.
An environment that is not affected by external factors...
This situation that allows me to focus on being creative...
An atmosphere with like-minded, dependable friends...
Hmmm...how wonderful it is.
Again, I can't thank you all enough.
Well, that was a long preface.
Here's an update.
It has already been three months since then we received your enthusiastic support at the Kickstarter event.
In terms of production, we have been talking with external partners for future phase of this project while reinforcing our internal production system.
On the art side, we are working on the specifications of the battles and city scenes shown at the Kickstarter to make them much close to the actual game, bringing to their final form.
Recently, we are considering a new way to present "one-on-one battle".
The system for the one-on-one battle is still in the planning stage, but Murayama said, he want the "one-on-one battle" to be focused on presentations, so as an art director I'll be suggesting the team something that might become a hint for building an interesting system while dreaming about what I want to do in terms of visual effects and character actions that are different from normal battles.
One of my priorities is probably the pixel art, which will be the most demanding part of this project's art aspect.
I'm giving a lecture to my staff about this, and we're preparing for mass production.
This game will have a ton of characters (and Kickstarter stretch goals added some more), and I'm not going to be able to do it all by myself...
Mass production is our top priority.
I've talked about this in interviews before, but the size of the pixel art in Eiyuden is much larger than that of the past.
This is due to the difference in the resolution of game screens between now and then, but it is quite a challenge.
Since the area of pixels per frame is large, my hand gets strained from time to time.
It is not impossible to make a "pseudo pixel art style" by relying on modern convenient technology, but as a result of experimenting with various techniques, it does not bring out the original good taste of pixel art.
I'm very particular about this, and I spend a lot of time and effort on it, carefully drawing by hand.
Currently, we are working on the pixel patterns for the basic animation of the six characters that we already showed as prototypes.
The production itself is going well, but sometimes I feel like saying the following when I'm on a tedious task of pixelating, and that is...
"I wish I could run from all this..."
Especially when I've been making the similar type of art of the same character forever.
Sometimes I feel like shouting "What is this, some kind of torture?!"
So...
My mind went on a bit of an escape.
To get a change of pace, I jumped the gun, and dabbled with this character.
The character in question is…
This guy.
I call this, "The Epic Fall of Yuphelius VI!"
What do you think?
I'm feeling better after making this. And just like that, pixel art creation is back in business.
I found our sketch artist drawing a rough draft of something the other day, and...
“Yooo!”
"Give it to me!
And just like that, I decided to keep it in the game.
I know I'm basically signing a death warrant by doing this, but I always tell my staff to avoid creating format of the character patterns, visualize the individual differences and make it visible between each character.
So, just like my instruction, I think this art clearly reflects my unique hopes for this Shi'arc.
Our younger staff members seem to be growing up quickly, and I'm looking forward to their future.
So, anyway... I thought it's about time you all wanted to see a different pixelated character, so I thought I'd share this one with you guys.
But if Murayama says "ehhh" three times, we may not use it, though lol.
I'm giving away this full-size Shi'arc pixel art for all of you who support
Eiyuden.
It doesn't move, though, because he's completely knocked out.
I'd be happy if you could promote Eiyuden by posting it in various places.
"...And send it to the internet!"
The world is becoming more and more affected by the COVID crisis, but our production team is working hard, staying positive and cheerful.
This is all thanks to the support from all of you. Thank you all.
The game release is still some time away, but we hope to give you a sneak peak of some game materials like this, as a way of saying "thank you".
So, uh... Is this how the "production note" part should be like, or...?
I feel like I'm rambling on for too long.
So I think I'll leave it there (where?) for now.
See you soon.
to all of you who are looking forward to the Eiyuden Chronicles,
with love,
(I know I'm way too early but)
Happy Holidays!
MURAKAMI J
A Holiday Gift From the Team
We know you’ve seen a decent amount of concept art over the last few months, and we know you’ve been hankering for some pixel art. For the holidays, Murakami-san put in some extra work, and had a little Holiday fun with Noah, and a little bird pal.
And of course, don’t worry, as now that production is moving along, you’ll see more and more in-progress art in the new year.
This is our little gift to you all, and we hope you love it! Enjoy!
DOWNLOAD (100% size version)
DOWNLOAD (100% size version)
