Source: Gyakuten Saiban 4 official site
Summary: A blog post posted on April 6, 2007 by Gyakuten Saiban 4 (Ace Attorney 4 – Apollo Justice)'s director Endō Mitsuru. This game was the first time in the series that Takumi did not act as the director of the game. Endō is known to have an interest in mystery fiction, which he shares with Takumi, so it was not that strange the two of them paired up. In this entry, Endō reveals he was the person who came up with one of the more memorable methods of presentation in the game.Images are taken from the source article. Copyrights belong to their respective owners. The works.
Return to the Crime Scene
Hi. Endō of the Gyakuten Saiban 4 (Ace Attorney 4 – Apollo Justice) here. It’s April already. Congratulations to those who have entered school or entered a new school.
And for those who haven’t decided yet how to reward themselves: a fine game is going to be released on April 12 on the DS, so I really want to recommend it. One copy for yourself, and another for your friend. Please go buy them.
Anyway. The Super Secret Footage has been posted on the official website, and little by little, the chaos within our development team has become known, but like last time, I want to talk about Gyakuten Saiban 4.
We’ll need to go back about ten years for this story (has it been that long ago?).
***
April, ten years ago.
I had just entered the company, just like Yamakawa in our team now. Nowadays, Capcom’s development floors are fairly free and open to employees who like being restrained, or to new employees who act all big, but back then, things were different.
Perhaps it was because fighting games were a big hit back then, so you’d only see scary-looking senior employees with steel for muscles walking around the development floors.
I was just new there, who couldn’t tell left from right, so I messed up big time, and they got angry at me big time, and I was really scared, but after they vented their anger, everyone became quite thoughtful and they helped me out a lot.
“So Endō, what kind of game do you want to make?”
“Ah, well, something like this!”
What I showed then, was what I had made for the company employment examination: a proposal for a mystery game about the crime scene.
“…Hmm.”
“Sorry. It’s….it’s not a fighting game.”
Back then, you’d hear “Hadōken” or “Shōryūken” from everywhere within Capcom. So I figured that people would just laugh at my “mystery game”, but…
“No, it’s good. Doesn’t matter if isn’t a fighting game. I think the best things are made when you are making what you want to make.”
***
Ten years passed, when this happened at the planning meeting of Gyakuten Saiban 4.
Takumi: So Endō, about that one idea you’ve been going on about all the time.
Endō: That idea? Ah, you mean, where the crime scene goes like woooosh in 3D?
Takumi: Yes…I was thinking about using that in the game.
Endō: Really?
Takumi: Just got an idea for that.
Endō: Oh wow, I’m so happy! After ten years. The crime scene. Going 3D, like weeeee.
Takumi: Endō?
Endō: Yes?
Takumi: Your sound effects are weird.
***
And so it started: the 3D Crime Scene Project! This (my) idea has been around for ten years, but some problems came up during development.
“We can’t go from 2D to 3D in a smooth way…”
“Tha-that’s nothing. If we do something with the camera…”
“I made a demo.”
“No, you don’t have to get all of that in. It’s just a variation of a map.”
“So, the people and the chair should be made as simple as possible. The most important thing is that it’s easy to understand."
…With trial and error, we finally made the crime scene 3D. Have fear for Capcom’s science!
The first time we saw how it made a smooth transition from 2D to 3D, everyone cried out amazed.
Later the producer heard about how much effort it took to get the crime scene in 3D. ‘What do you think you’re doing!” she cried out in anger, but well, I’m happy we made this.
To those who start going to their new work or school this April: if you do your best for ten years, something good will happen.
Anyway, that’s it for today. Next time will be Yamazaki again. He’s eager to tell you all about the “3D Witnesses Project” he headed. Look forward to it!
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