Koji10, コジ10, S.1, Ep.9: Making Video Games

Well, next time we’ll be 10 times at Koi 10. Maybe we can do a review of all 10 minutes.

Kojima says how about Koji5 ? We want to continue. it’ll be high and bye real quick! 

Today’s theme is making video games. Am I going to tell you everything? Ha ha!

Well, with Indies games we pretty much have to do it ourselves. Our style doesn’t resonate with the large industry companies. My style is a little bit special. Being a bit older, I can’t try just anything. But it’s still below the surface. Like 30 or 40 years ago the style we had I find lovely.

Normally company would have 3 to 4 CGI people. Recently money people and me too lately but basically I do it all myself. In the past, we made the game with only a few people and that was about 30 or 40 years ago.

Now in Indies, too, simply put, they call me Kantoku, which means the Director.

However, I also produce scenarios, designs, all the music.

In a normal company, they have 3 to 4 CGI movie people, 4 to 5 of each gaming people scenarios posts, events, producers, and music. For us we got to decide with the staff what we’re going to do next. It may take us 3 to 4 years to make something.

In my experience, with metal gear, for example, was divided into 45 areas. The story, the character, the game, the design, the fight and spy stealth areas. The character came from the top as something that was trendy and stealthy.

In the case of DS, it’s divided. We have a certain budget and it’s a delivery game with the weight and the colours and at first there’s no city and we can’t see very much and the story would start there. Then we see what we can do with it.

Normally, everything is decided beforehand, and we can’t do that with smaller stuff as the staff rotates sections. I keep Developing when they have a holiday. They come back and they get the new work the theme and the trend, the story, the world, And turn it into a new product. It’s like making a movie from scratch. Similar to Heiko Shinagawa’s style.

So how do I make it? I make a script, an old school boards, the music, the concept. Then Shin Will develop the pictures. I check in with him every day and we develop The character more and more each time.

When we only had 10 people, we would have the same idea but the end result would be just like a robot running. L O L.

We always have to keep in mind the cost And The development system.

—- End Koji 10 —- 10 minutes

Part 2:

Even a few years ago to make a game, anything was OK. You could make a coffee game or a food making culinary game. Now at Hollywood you need 100 to 200 and sometimes 300 billion yen budget.Making a repeat of the same movie has become meaningless.

However, the idea can’t be completely different either, Because we are stuck using A game controller. What we can do is limited.

With Kojima productions development. We absolutely did not and refused to develop a game that uses cash to purchase metals or some kind of item to be used In playing the game. Death stranding was a delivery game. That was our first concept. Then we made our ideas around that along with the story and music. On a bigger company the boss has a staff ratio of  1:100. Nowadays for us, it takes 20 to 30 people and the newbies never listen. When we’re stuck, it’s bad. We cannot afford to say no. Not like that. But with Kojima productions, we are able to say hey let’s try this and let’s try that and brainstorm together then explain the path. The programmers are very tight with their logic. Then develops into a bigger game and we all think hey let’s listen to that guy because he’s smart. It might take a year of doing this.

For example, with music, we have to think like a musician. And let the heart say oh wow in certain points in the game. Normal companies have graphics area systems area, music area.

With me, I do the levels of design, models, character, meta-, motion, sound, program, tools, etc. The top gives down to the employees. Then we have to take our ideas to the casting and get an agent to hire the actors.

Going back about 15 years ago to San Diego, comic con Shinchan and I saw the simulators and helicopters and actually an osprey really easy to handle. So he goes off as the last shooter and people are kind of making fun of us so Shinchan double taps and gets the guy out In a fight. Ha ha. Then they kind of started to take us more seriously. With the larger companies, we had lots of to do and we could do it with LAPD for example.p, or PCAP.

We developed the sounds one character From beginning to end. The lighting might take 6 to 12 months. The rhythm of the game will take about three weeks to develop. Then we develop the shooting area delivery routes and these are collected data. We use the data to make changes.

For example, if you’re making a chef game, you have the recipe, the tools, the spices, the music, etc. You take it and you make sure you have enough ingredients, enough meat, the buns, etc. and you might just end up being five years. That doesn’t teach you how to make the game from beginning to end. And we can’t see the final product. 

Right now, we are cleaning up the effects the sound and that sometimes we have to change from a to be characters and it gets a little difficult. Past that I start to collect information for the trailer. Our employees cannot even talk to their families about what they are making so the Teaser Trailer is important. It lets their families sort of know officially what they’re working on. Back in the day 5 to 6 people would do all of this. Now, even in Hollywood just her and makeup has a hair and makeup specialist. For me it’s about the lighting and the cameras don’t change really. It’s just reality. And then we have to make small changes  Through the computers. For the engine, we can recruit some buddy to make it. Or recruit company and use theirs. Indy employees need experience. They have to be able to do a multiple of things.

 For MGS there was 15 people and then we added more people at the end because a subsidiary closed.  There was about 100 people. 

As a creator and manager, we do daily checks with CG graphics. These are our tools and what can we do with them. It’s like the cooking game when you change from gas cooking to electric cooking. Then things need to change.

For producers some producers say no. It’s a business and a promotion business. Nobody will go start to finish for a year. So I am here. I make the trailer I make the visuals. I make the appointment with Tokyo awards all on my own. Or sometimes ask one other person to help with me. 

These days, even the production, including the teaser trailer, we have to produce goods and the promotion starts. We start sales of goods. So these things are done simultaneously.

DS2 is about 80% done then as an Indy company we would have no work. We’ve started on OD.

Sometimes, if I think something is done, other people say no no it’s not done yet especially with The audio.

DS2 hat is weird for audio. It’s a big challenge. So I have to work with the musicians. Then we adjust or make new audio. When the audio change the action changes. We don’t want the business to fail so I’m going over the details. Right now Industry is either movie to game or game to movie. The 50 to 60-year-olds I have been raised on game but a lot of them are not sure how to play. I think this is a niche and these customers will increase. Then the gamers who are younger, will turn things into making movies. just going to movie or movie to game is boring as a creator. We could also use, to play during certain weather or on certain days or for a certain way of playing. Everybody wants to be Tom Cruise Riding their own motorbike. They say I want to look like him and do it! 

Expanding the creativity even more, let’s say an alien was playing the game. Does he have hands and feet to use? How will he use the controller? With Yamazaki and Godzilla they use. CGA, BX, PCA scans, etc. If we want to do something new, we have to look towards digital.

OD is not a delivery game. But through SNS People still consider DS a walking simulator game. Maybe in 10 years or so there will be more delivery games coming into production, Without using any stealth.

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