The scenario writing for the prologue part is complete.
I imrsed myself in thoughts while looking at the filled manuscript.
‘I feel embarrassed.’
Looking again, it’s quite an embarrassing scenario.
It’s almost like revisiting my middle school diary.
Identity is a work that has left deep aning for in many ways, but, to put it differently, it’s a work that carries the aning of past mistakes.
In reality, I made mistakes as a director while creating this ga.
“A ga should not be tainted with personal beliefs.”
The fundantal proposition of comrcial dia should be cantered around ‘fun.’
However, Identity couldn’t achieve that. At that ti, I was captivated by the thought of needing to prove myself and, without reservation, poured my subjectivity into the ga.
It was more of a result expressed unconsciously rather than my intentional intent.
In a broader sense, even the character of the protagonist, E-40, was like that.
E-40 does not compromise. He is a character who fights against the whole world for the beliefs he holds and trusts.
‘The constant shouting that “It’s not , it’s you who is wrong.”‘
It was a form that hostilely processed all the words I really didn’t want to hear.
Looking back, so of them were adversaries created by my awkwardness.
Nevertheless, the reason the ga succeeded was different.
The overall flow of the ga, the the that perates the narrative, was a topic that could be empathized with in ‘universal emotions.’
“Find the true and go the path I believe in.”
Isn’t that a good thing to hear?
With such beliefs, it could only look good on the surface.
It was more of a coincidence, or I should say, my cowardice.
I planted many lies in the ga to convince myself.
Anyway, the remnants of the past that I faced again now only stirred up embarrassnt within .
‘…I need to fix this.’
It was possible because it was an indie attempt.
Also, the personality called ‘I’ now knew that such arrogance was awkwardness.
There was no intention to retaliate.
If I could move forward in a better direction, no matter how difficult it was, I had to move forward.
That’s why I’m remaking this ga.
‘First…’
I need to think about how to turn this ga from what I knew into a AAA-grade.
I reflected on the past.
Initially, when conceptualizing Identity, I was alone.
I used a budget of around 600 million won, and as such, I needed to efficiently allocate limited developnt resources.
So, I chose the ga perspective as a side view and the graphics as pixel art.
It was a form represented in Maple Saga, which Jo Ayoon liked.
I created it with a playti volu of 8-12 hours in mind, and the in-ga story was represented only by implenting scripts and so motions.
Things needed to change.
‘If it’s AAA-grade specifications, shoulder view is the most suitable. It’s the perspective optimized for console pads.’
As nurous AAA-grade gas were released, and references for developnt accumulated, AAA-grade gas tended to converge into the shoulder-view format.
It was because that was the most universal perspective that could represent a broad worldview.
Even if it wasn’t for that reason, the shoulder view was the most suitable perspective for Studio Rewind to express itself well.
Well, I have a lot of internal data and references obtained while creating Hellic 2 and 3. The actual cartoon rendering also fits slightly better with the shoulder view than the side view.
The consideration of the perspective wasn’t deep.
The more significant consideration was about sothing else.
‘Next is the volu of the ga.’
It should be expanded, indeed.
More precisely, we should aim for the insertion of cinematic elents, diversification of motion, and the deepening of direction and combat aspects.
It was possible to explore diversity by adopting systems abandoned during the indie stage due to resource constraints.
And one more thing.
“Above all, we should aim for a slightly more mainstream sensibility.”
The identity is fundantally indie.
Therefore, the ga was created with a sentint close to indie, and at that ti, it was not a choice but a necessary area for .
Now there is no need to worry about resources.
As much as refining the identity into AAA, it would be good to go beyond the indie sentint in narrative devices.
“So, to summarize.”
Those three major elents are what should be touched upon.
So, what should be left untouched?
That was quite clear.
“Collection of faces and expansion of abilities through it.”
Although you could say it’s a variation of the system presented in the Hellic series so far, in reality, the relationship is the other way around.
It’s because the system of Hellic is actually derived from Identity in my tiline.
The system where the growth of the playable character depends on items was the initial idea that ca up when contemplating the essence of the ga called Identity.
The motive was the transformation video I saw when creating Identity, where the perforr changes masks in an instant. It was a performance technique.
From that, various results ca out, attempting to express emotions through the changing face or input for expressing various worldviews through emotions.
Isn’t it true that in the world of Identity, the face the character has is directly connected to their identity?
So, the changes in identity due to the replacent of that face had to be vividly expressed in the ga in a gaplay sense.
The main narrative is about the protagonist E-40 leaving to find ‘what he will beco on his own,’ a journey of self-discovery.
In a world where detachable faces exist, it was quite suitable for expressing such a the.
“We need to deepen the functional aspects of the face. We can add more functions to the production face that we couldn’t do before.”
I continued typing, organizing thoughts into words.
It was a docunt focused on the overview rather than detailed matters.
Summarizing in one word for the proposal.
“The developnt period won’t be long. The frawork is already complete, and the planning is validated.”
On a quiet day in January, as if opening a ti capsule, I began to implent the mories of past tis one by one into this tiline.
***
February has begun.
The mbers of Developnt Team 1, who had been taking turns for vacations, all returned to their positions, and the first eting of 2015 was held.
The realization that everyone was back was marked by the lively chatter of the duo known for their banter.
“Long ti no see, everyone!”
“Hello, frostily!”
“Yeah, hi.”
“What did you do during the vacation? Did you go on a trip?”
“Well, I took a little break and then ca to work.”
“Why not go abroad! Japan was really fun this ti! Right, Myungkyu-oppa?”
“Yeah…”
Myungkyu hyung laughed softly.
He seed to have been to Japan with those two people, who hadn’t been seen for a while.
“You went all the way to Japan? Ah, so envious…”
Yang Gilsang looked at Myungkyu hyung as if expressing his envy.
Strictly speaking, that person was not part of Developnt Team 1, so he didn’t take a vacation this ti. We should make plans separately next ti.
“Enough of the small talk, let’s now present the project.”
The atmosphere shifted.
And snap! The beam projector was handed over.
On the screen appeared a gripping and unfamiliar na.
[Identity]
“We’re going to make a ga from now on.”
“Huh? Not Hellic?”
“Yeah, we need to create a new IP.”
Except for Han Seorim, it was unfamiliar to everyone.
It seed a bit tense, which was good. It’s necessary to have such tension to approach it with certainty.
“The genre is action-adventure, and this ti we’ll focus more on adventure. The presentation will be done in cartoon rendering.”
He recited the details one by one.
As we started talking about the project, everyone took it seriously, and it was reassuring.
After discussing for a while,
“It’s not Hellic. There’s no guarantee that we’ll bring the fans of the previous work along. In fact, it’s better to think of it as building the foundation again.”
So, attention to detail is required.
It has to be thorough and, more importantly, exceptional.
“Let’s work hard. I’m counting on you this ti as well.”
That’s how the first eting concluded.
***Developnt, as always, began with implenting the project proposal. Apart from the artistic and sound aspects, it involved checking the core structure of the ga in the form of a bar-shaped humanoid.
The essence of the combat system was the “transformative.” Like changing a mask, it involved altering faces to manifest corresponding abilities in the character. The first and central effect obtained, and the core of the ga, was the power of a “smile.”
“Change, and rise.”
A smile could be anything and could make anything. In other words, it was the reason the protagonist was special in the in-ga world.
There wasn’t much to demonstrate in terms of combat. It simply required attributing qualities to each face and testing the combinations.
In fact, there was sothing more critical than combat in recreating the Identity.
“Please conduct thorough testing on the crafting system.”
Crafting system.
It was what couldn’t be implented in the past due to resource constraints. In this ga, the protagonist had to craft weapons and potions because he was a criminal possessing a “smile” categorized as a “highest-grade cri.”
In the past, it was challenging to express such elents, so a store was implented as a ga chanic. But now, wasn’t it unnecessary?
Implenting a system where players could directly craft potions, weapons, Armor, and gather materials would add an ‘adventurous’ elent beyond combat.
I assigned this task to my expanded team of six in the planning departnt.
“Jiseok, please create variations for gathering materials. Hosu, focus on level design, Yeonghyun, you…”
Gathering and crafting required intricate settings. Reflecting on past experiences of creating online gas, even a 1% difference in drop rates could lead to in-ga inflation. There was no room for mistakes.
“Cross-validation will continue until the ga is released. Also, keep revising the list of items and quantities needed for crafting.”
Hosu’s role in level design, determining the placent of high-grade crafting materials in the map, was crucial. I would oversee the overall coordination, but there was a need to elevate the capabilities of each mber of the planning team.
“Next…”
After giving instructions, I returned to my tasks.
This involved dividing the death of Miso, which would be part of the tutorial section. I had to adapt the scenario into a ga context.
“I need to aim for around a 10-minute duration to explain the ga’s systems.”
Through activities like gathering, cooking, and hunting while interacting with Miso, I could explain all the basic systems. The key was to do it without making it boring.
The answer was clear: “Character appeal.”
In other words, quickly showcase the charm of the character. It wasn’t just about providing a reason for repetitive tasks like errands. It was about optimizing the process for players to empathize with the protagonist’s journey of getting close to, falling for, and grieving over the death of the character.
I paused for a mont, thinking.
It was about the various considerations I had when conceptualizing the initial smile.
How to create a lively and charming character? How to make a character fitting for the identity of Miso?
There was a decision I made after several considerations.
“In the past…”
My hand hesitated for a mont.
After so reflection, I rembered whom I had used as a inspiration.
“Boss! I’m here!”
Suddenly, Jo Ayoon’s voice echoed as she arrived after finishing her class.
It was quite a surprising coincidence.
Right, that’s it.
—Strong and powerful—
The inspiration for Miso’s identity was Jo Ayoon from the previous life.
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