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[HueyFreeman]

courtesy of neogaf user master15, via Shenmue Dojo, via Game Watch Japan

NOTE: There's lots of other interesting info here too, particularly the bit about the fighting engine, have mixed feelings about that

Game Watch Japan has published a very interesting interview with Suzuki-san, the interview took place during Gamescom and includes some really insightful and interesting information about Shenmue III, here's some of it:

-The released Shenmue III teaser footage is real-time in-game graphics.
-All character models are temporary and subject to change.
-Facial animations were initially implemented but have been removed about a month ago.
--> this was due to a development change to facial bone structure which cause problems with the animation system
-The teaser was especially made for Gamescom 2017, no further plans to show more of the game at this year's Gamescom or Tokyo Game Show. However, a full-scale promotion will take place next year.
-Deep Silver will publish the game internationally, and they'll provide budget and promotional support. A publisher for Japan is to be decided.
-Suzuki-san would like to continue the series in Shenmue IV if possible.
-Suzuki-san is not interested in forcing the Shenmue story to complete in Shenmue III.
-Shenmue III will take around 30 hours of gameplay to complete.
-The fighting engine in Shenmue III is being built from scratch, and unlike Shenmue II it won't use the Virtua engine.
-A system that allows phone calls with characters from Shenmue and Shenmue II is planned for Shenmue III.
-Suzuki-san would like to bring as many voice actors from the previous games as possible, but some are retired now, he will audition a new voice actress for Shenhua.
-OST from Shenmue and Shenmue II will probably be reused in Shenmue III.
-The new partnership with Deep Silver is strong and it's aimed to improve the Shenmue III experience beyond what was initially planned on the Kickstarter.

http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/interview/1076791.html

August 23 update: new translated interviews (thanks for Brigandier)

Translated Famitsu Yu Suzuki interview

GameSpark Interview

https://www.vg247.com/2017/08/25/shenmue-3-open-world-dead-eyed-characters-shenmue-4/

http://metro.co.uk/2017/08/28/shenmue-iii-yu-suzuki-interview-dont-worry-i-can-make-the-whole-game-you-imagined-6885083/

Additional Famitsu interview details:

- fishing, and you can sell the fish you catch
- wood-chopping
- forklifts confirmed!!
- other animals - frogs, ducks, tortoises
- "a race" of some kind
- skill tree
- considering a new version of QTEs

 

[McDougles]

Then why make a teaser trailer then?

 

[JoeyJungle]

that's a relief

Then why make a teaser trailer then?

They wanted to get a trailer for the game out the door for the event, they recycled old models/animations. Pretty common for event builds to be janky.

 

[Bishop89]

Doll faces should stay LOL

 

[Doosi]

Sounds like good news

 

[Chezzymann]

Then why make a teaser trailer then?

Yeah, all it does is build the perception that this game is super janky, even if its WIP. Usually teaser trailers are more finished than this.

 

[Wishmaster92]

Facial animations were initially implemented but have been removed about a month ago.

But they'll be put back in right? I enjoy everything was realtime though, the artstyle is just impeccable.

 

[HueyFreeman]

But they'll be put back in right?

I think that can be assumed, the big question is why release a trailer without them

Then why make a teaser trailer then?

Honestly, this is a good question - it's really just fuelled the schadenfreude speculation amongst a certain contingent of the community that this game will be a disaster. Glad to hear it confirmed, even though it was pretty clear from that trailer that this was the case

 

[Doosi]

But they'll be put back in right?

Unless they're going for a more stoic look

 

[Hastati]

They should have given them all helmets or Luchadores masks and it would have been fine.
That being said I hope you can unlock wax model versions or botox as an easter egg

 

[Loudninja]

-The new partnership with Deep Silver is strong and it's aimed to improve the Shenmue III experience beyond what was initially planned on the Kickstarter.
-Deep Silver will publish the game internationally, and they'll provide budget and promotional support. A publisher for Japan is to be decided.

Good stuff.

 

[Finaj]

Then they shouldn't have released the teaser, or at least just release a teaser of the environments and not character models.

 

[master15]

I think it's comforting that Suzuki has confirmed what was rather obvious from the teaser trailer.

One important point I think most missed-

The new partnership with Deep Silver is strong and it's aimed to improve the Shenmue III experience beyond what was initially planned on the Kickstarter.

I think some additional funding gave them extra confidence to delay the game as they did earlier this year.

 

[Upsidedown Fuji]

This should have been advised when the video and kick-starter update dropped.

I am a bit saddened we won't see anything new till next year but I've lived this long without Shenmue, so not much changes I guess.

Outside the rigid animations and face placeholders, things are shaping up pretty well considering when actual development started.

 

[LelouchViBritannia]

Most of us knew/assumed this already, but hopefully this calms ppl down a little and makes them optimistic. The only thing in that trailer lacking was models and thats being taken care of so no worries there.

Then why make a teaser trailer then?

Suzuki is in a very difficult position. On one hand, he has kickstarter backers demanding to see footage/trailers. On the other hand, the game isn't fully ready to be shown. When it does get shown in its premature state, you get the mass knee jerk over reaction from the public. I now see why companies dont announce anything until a game is near completion, the hysteria is nuts. Unfortunately Suzuki is not in such a position since this is a crowd funded game with multiple partners.

That being said though, we live in a world where shenmue 3 is real and actively being discussed. That and the feedback about the models is a good thing for ys net, as it will make them work extra hard to deliver a better product.

Cant wait for teaser 2 and 3 to compare.

 

[Finaika]

Suzuki is in a very difficult position. On one hand, he has kickstarter backers demanding to see footage/trailers. On the other hand, the game isn't fully ready to be shown. When it does get shown in its premature state, you get the mass knee jerk over reaction from the public. I now see why companies dont announce anything until a game is near completion, the hysteria is nuts. Unfortunately Suzuki is not in such a position since this is a crowd funded game with multiple partners.

That being said though, we live in a world where shenmue 3 is real and actively being discussed. That and the feedback about the models is a good thing for ys net, as it will make them work extra hard to deliver a better product.

Cant wait for teaser 2 and 3 to compare.

Why did he remove the facial animations then?

 

[master15]

Cant wait for teaser 2 and 3 to compare.

Yes they've already made huge strides with the environments and character models. As a reminder here was the original render compared to what we have now-

 

[7roject28]

Wait, so there was facial animations but they removed it?

 

[Soroc]

Why did he remove the facial animations then?

Maybe they looked like launch Andromeda faces and they noped the fuck out of showing them.

 

[brianmcdoogle]

I forget, but do we know what supposed chapters are in this installment?

 

[breakYODAy]

I forget, but do we know what supposed chapters are in this installment?

6 - 8, I think.

 

[RichiRamjag]

Most of us knew/assumed this already, but hopefully this calms ppl down a little and makes them optimistic. The only thing in that trailer lacking was models and thats being taken care of so no worries there.




Suzuki is in a very difficult position. On one hand, he has kickstarter backers demanding to see footage/trailers. On the other hand, the game isn't fully ready to be shown. When it does get shown in its premature state, you get the mass knee jerk over reaction from the public. I now see why companies dont announce anything until a game is near completion, the hysteria is nuts. Unfortunately Suzuki is not in such a position since this is a crowd funded game with multiple partners.

That being said though, we live in a world where shenmue 3 is real and actively being discussed. That and the feedback about the models is a good thing for ys net, as it will make them work extra hard to deliver a better product.

Cant wait for teaser 2 and 3 to compare.

Yeah, people are goofballs. I'd honestly expect better from gaf than the reactions to that trailer. Most here should know better.

 

[tired_inspector]

.

 

[Slightly Live]

Yes they've already made huge strides with the environments and character models. As a reminder here was the original render compared to what we have now-

Yakuza 1 on the PS2 has better character models.

 

[Trago]

Remember when everyone started a panic? lol

The game ain't finished people. Give it time.

 

[nded]

Yakuza 1 on the PS2 has better character models.

I'm not convinced that's the case.

 

[Slightly Live]

I'm not convinced that's the case.

Fair enough. I'm happy to say I think the characters really do look two generations behind current gen stuff.

 

[theWB27]

Fair enough. I'm happy to say I think the characters really do look two generations behind current gen stuff.

Cool... Im not mad they arent trying to make the greatest looking game ever on a Kickstarter budget.

That 30 hours of gameplay is waaaaay more important news.


Shenmue!!!!!!

 

[LelouchViBritannia]

Why did he remove the facial animations then?

Could be a number of reasons. Maybe he wanted to redo the mocap? Or just wasn't satisfied with it so he removed it. I dunno. Hopefully the wave of interviews coming out from gamescom reveal more.

But as someone who has seen friends use unreal 4 for learning, facial animations are not hard to implement. Those stating there's not enough time to improve the models in a year and a bit need some perspective.

Its also worth noting that the models havent been a focus of the kickstarter updates, so hopefully going forward as ysnet spend more time developing the models further, we will get constant WIP reports. Ppl will probably still freak out though, so yeah.

30 hrs of gameplay, oh hell yes!! Safe to say ill be trying to extend the experience for mucn longer so hopefully i can hit 40 hrs.

 

[delta_reg]

Fair enough. I'm happy to say I think the characters really do look two generations behind current gen stuff.

Why would you be happy to say that, do you wish for Shenmue 3 to look bad or what? Anyway I'm sure the models will improve before release. Yakuza 0 or 6 level of detail is probably unlikely given the likely comparative budgets of the two series now, but that's okay imo. It can still look good.

 

[Fisty]

Fair enough. I'm happy to say I think the characters really do look two generations behind current gen stuff.

Deadly Premonition looks about two gens behind COD Infinite Warfare. Guess which one I'd rather play right now.

 

[GlassBurrito]

Glad that the suspicions of placeholder animations and models were confirmed. I wonder, with Deep Silver handling international publishing will Sony still publish the game within Japan?

Fair enough. I'm happy to say I think the characters really do look two generations behind current gen stuff.

I'm happy to say that the joy you take in the misfortune of others is pathetic.

 

[Eylos]

Fair enough. I'm happy to say I think the characters really do look two generations behind current gen stuff.

To be Fair those are the high res models, those arent used on gameplay, not even in all cut scenes only in certain ones


But they indeed are Very beatiful


If you look at secondary characters they are kinda ugly for today

 

[Loudninja]

Cool... Im not mad they arent trying to make the greatest looking game ever on a Kickstarter budget.

That 30 hours of gameplay is waaaaay more important news.


Shenmue!!!!!!

Yeah 30 hours is fantastic.

 

[Elfforkusu]

Then why make a teaser trailer then?

Because they are developers, not marketers

 

[GhostTrick]

What about the animation ?

Because they are developers, not marketers

Right, but it's the reason why they partenered up with Deep Silver. Why focus on these faces ? Why the logo switch ? Why the poor editing ?

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Oh wow it's as if it's a game in development or something and we panicked for no raisin.

 

[Chairmanchuck]

Right, but it's the reason why they partenered up with Deep Silver. Why focus on these faces ? Why the logo switch ? Why the poor editing ?

I would say because maybe they didnt prepare anything for Gamescom, then Deep Silver asked them to make something quick.

 

[ZeroCDR]

I'd love for the series to continue after this, but I hope they end this game in a way that could serve as an actual conclusion in the event it doesn't.

 

[RedAssedApe]

Should have just released some screenshots of the nice environments and called it a day.

 

[gafneo]

I bet he wished he mention a disclaimer about the faces prior to the trailer.

 

[poodaddy]

Gaf loves to jump at a chance to shit on a game, even one early in development. The game will play and look incredible at launch, and the negativity will seem silly as hell.

 

[PeakPointMatrix]

Why did he remove the facial animations then?

Any number of reasons.

The dialogue/VO/scenarios have since changed
The rigs were incomplete
The animation was not up to par to show
There were rendering/animation issues preventing trailer quality capture
The scenes simply haven't been written/mocapped/animated yet

This is the thing that infuriates me with gaf and gamers reacting to in-progress footage of games at large. They can't possibly parse the fact that a game is in development and won't look perfect until it's in the final 10% of development.

All of these fucking armchair devs declairing, "well that looks like shit! Game doomed!" Without any perspective or knowledge on the actual happenings of a game. Oh but if they dare not show footage RIGHT NOW they're publicly castrated. I fucking hate "gamers". No one sees a behind-the-scenes shot of the latest Marvel movie only to have a fucking conniption when they see a green screen or incomplete shots and declare the movie shit.

This isn't aimed specifically at you, but the general overall reaction in-development footage from games get from so called gaming enthusiasts.

 

[GhostTrick]

I would say because maybe they didnt prepare anything for Gamescom, then Deep Silver asked them to make something quick.

That's the problem. Even for something quick... That really feel amateurish. Why the focus on faces. They could've made something more impressive and artistic by playing on the body shapes. Which they did in the begining of the trailer in front of the mirrors.

Also, yes they did prepare something since we knew 2 months or so before Gamescom that theynd show something.

My problem is that everything look early but also amateurish.

Gaf loves to jump at a chance to shit on a game, even one early in development. The game will play and look incredible at launch, and the negativity will seem silly as hell.

I reallyyy hope so. I'd be mad if Shenmue 3 was a janky bad game with a good story that I backed for 300 dollars.

 

[Chairmanchuck]

That's the problem. Even for something quick... That really feel amateurish. Why the focus on faces. They could've made something more impressive and artistic by playing on the body shapes. Which they did in the begining of the trailer in front of the mirrors.

Also, yes they did prepare something since we knew 2 months or so before Gamescom that theynd show something.

My problem is that everything look early but also amateurish.

I disagree. The only thing that looks early are the models and animations. The environments, the lightning, the textures, the details etc. all look great from what we saw.

 

[Neith]

They have heard the criticism. And that is all that matters. They have the budget to fix this.

 

[mabec]

And why does it have to take an outcry from the community in order to respond to this, why couldn't this be basic knowledge they posted together with the video? WHHHHHHHHHY

 

[Loudninja]

And why does it have to take an outcry from the community in order to respond to this, why couldn't this be basic knowledge they posted together with the video? WHHHHHHHHHY

Outcry?Its from a interview Game Watch did.

Also this stuff is already basic knowledge.

 

[MattKeil]

Any number of reasons.

The dialogue/VO/scenarios have since changed
The rigs were incomplete
The animation was not up to par to show
There were rendering/animation issues preventing trailer quality capture
The scenes simply haven't been written/mocapped/animated yet

This is the thing that infuriates me with gaf and gamers reacting to in-progress footage of games at large. They can't possibly parse the fact that a game is in development and won't look perfect until it's in the final 10% of development.

All of these fucking armchair devs declairing, "well that looks like shit! Game doomed!" Without any perspective or knowledge on the actual happenings of a game. Oh but if they dare not show footage RIGHT NOW they're publicly castrated. I fucking hate "gamers". No one sees a behind-the-scenes shot of the latest Marvel movie only to have a fucking conniption when they see a green screen or incomplete shots and declare the movie shit.

This isn't aimed specifically at you, but the general overall reaction in-development footage from games get from so called gaming enthusiasts.

Yup. All of this. I would expect people on an enthusiast forum like this to know better, but apparently not.

They have heard the criticism. And that is all that matters. They have the budget to fix this.

To fix what? Something they were already working on? Are there seriously people who think the game would ship with no facial expressions? Really?

 

[ecosse_011172]

Yakuza 1 on the PS2 has better character models.

If you're visually impaired, maybe.