When Aoki Haruhi passed by, he discovered Mikami was having an argument with the programmers.
After stopping to listen for a while, he roughly understood what the matter was.
It turned out that this guy, Mikami Shinji, had extremely high standards for game quality and was very strict in his control. During the game production process, he was always unable to achieve the effects he wanted, which led to the group arguing.
Aoki Haruhi didn't think there was any problem with this kind of dispute.
Although they were all red-faced, it was all for the good of the project itself.
Benign arguments are completely different from personal attacks; everyone was bargaining from their own standpoint and making judgments after listening to the other side.
Mikami Shinji was silent, arms folded in thought for a long while, when he suddenly spoke, "Could it be that Diablo is limiting us?"
"Huh?"
Everyone was confused.
"What I mean is, the production of Diablo was an unprecedented success, so on that basis, we've been trying to see if we could expand into other types of games.
The Witcher itself should have been more action-oriented. I've actually simulated it many times in my head and didn't think there would be much of a problem."
"But when I actually saw it, I realized that, from a top-down perspective, the protagonist's movements weren't as impressive as I had imagined."
Mikami Shinji said, "However, if we push the camera in and lower it, perhaps we could show more detail, but that would place high demands and challenges on the character models.
That's why I've been thinking, would three-dimensional characters be better suited for us?"
Hiss...
Aoki Haruhi drew a sharp breath beside him.
In this era, the concept of 3D hadn't yet been clearly defined.
The first 3D game should be considered Sega's Virtua Fighter, developed in 1993, which gave players an extraordinary perspective through 3D modeling and a deep combat mode.
It was precisely this game that changed Sony, compelling the company to steer the development of the PlayStation toward supporting 3D graphics.
In the future, even greater masterpieces like Final Fantasy VII would emerge.
And now, even though Mikami Shinji hadn't explicitly proposed the concept of 3D, he was already thinking in that direction.
Truly remarkable.
"Three-dimensional characters, what does that mean?"
The lead artist, Sakata Taiji, and the lead programmer, Akanishi Ken, looked at him in unison.
"That is to say, don't we normal humans observe each other from a flat perspective? For example, Mr. Akanishi, you are looking at me right now; you can see whatever actions I make clearly, right?
Even if I were to do a roll or a flying kick, you wouldn't find it too exaggerated.
In fighting games, characters are also observed from a similar perspective, which is why we find those movements flashy and beautiful.
However, with the current top-down perspective, many movements are obscured, and the characters themselves are slender, which greatly reduces the sense of action.
So I was thinking, could we bring real-life characters into this, and also pull the perspective to a flat angle, or perhaps just a slightly elevated flat angle?"
"In this way, when the characters perform actions, they could become very beautiful."
After Mikami Shinji's explanation, everyone finally understood his request.
After all that, this guy actually wanted to make such an ambitious first-person perspective game?
If that were the case...
Just as Mikami said, they would have to build a 3D model.
Not just the characters, the entire scene would have to be like that.
After listening to him, Sakata Taiji sneered twice. Although he didn't say anything outwardly, his expression was very clear—
"Why don't you just say you want to make a virtual world directly?"
"It's impossible. Current machine performance can't support it at all, and there's no similar software design in terms of graphics capabilities, either. Unless we create an entirely new set of tools ourselves." Akanishi Ken was still relatively pragmatic, offering a professional judgment from the perspective of his own expertise.
With the current level of technology, neither software nor hardware could support Mikami's dream.
Even the arrival of the 3D era would take at least until the appearance of Sony's PS.
Which was only a year away.
"If we did that, it would be equivalent to remaking the entire project. I still advise you to give up," Akanishi Ken said mercilessly.
The current Sega Mega Drive console, having introduced Sony's CD-ROM peripheral, could run games via game discs, and with memory expanded to over 500MB, capacity was no longer a major issue.
But the problem lay in the hardware and software support for 3D graphics.
"Hmm..." Mikami Shinji felt excruciatingly pained.
Everyone folded their arms, no one spoke, and they fell into a stalemate.
"Add a cape."
Just then, Aoki Haruhi, who had been standing on the side without speaking, chimed in.
Eh?
Everyone turned around to look at the unexpected visitor behind them.
"President. When did you get here?" Akanishi Ken asked.
"I saw you were having such a heated discussion, so I just listened in for a bit," Aoki Haruhi said with a smile, pointing at the little figure on the screen. "How about adding a cape?"
Sakata Taiji crossed his arms, looking puzzled. "Hmm... it's a good idea, but what's the point?"
Aoki Haruhi grabbed some paper and a pen from the side and sketched a line drawing of the main character from a top-down perspective, wearing a cape.
The cape itself wasn't a traditional, large, straight cape, but rather triangular, more like a long scarf draped over the shoulders.
It was wider in the middle and tapered towards the ends. Overall, this diagonally triangular cape was nearly longer than the main character's body.
"Look, the biggest problem we're facing now isn't the perspective, but how to express movement from this perspective."
Even from a top-down perspective, it's still possible to make movements look good, but there's a trick to it. The trick lies in making the screen "expand" under that top-down view.
"A person is a cylinder, just like a nail, and looks even thinner from a top-down perspective. But once we add a cape, take a look—doesn't the expressiveness from this angle instantly improve?"
This point is something Aoki Haruhi actually learned from League of Legends. Many hero characters are either naturally bulky, expanding horizontally, or they have scarves or capes added... allowing them to "expand" from a top-down view.
"Horizontal expansion makes the movements look much smoother."
Action games with a top-down perspective are basically all made this way.
Seeing this, everyone's eyes lit up.
"Wow, it really is..."
"Looking at it this way, not only are the movements much more fluid, but the cape also adds a splash of color to the game and makes the design layers much richer."
"It's also easier to handle the animations now."
"That's nothing short of miraculous. How did I not think of that before?" The lead artist, Sakata Taiji, exclaimed in admiration, bowing down in absolute awe of President Qing.
He truly was a legend in the game concept art industry; just a few strokes—no, just a single sentence—was enough to make everything suddenly clear.
"We have done a top-down game before, after all; experience is something that builds up gradually," Aoki Haruhi said with a smile.
"As for the character animations, adding two more sets of 8-directional ones shouldn't be a big problem."
Sigh.
It's a pity. We don't have skeletal animation yet, so everything is basically done by hand. There's just no way to achieve super smooth transitions, and things like capes can't have natural, dynamic swaying effects.
But even so, as long as the hand-drawing skills are strong enough, the visual effect of this game will still be top-tier globally.
Seeing this, Mikami Shinji felt a constant stream of imagery flooding his mind.
It felt as though the things he wanted were suddenly gushing out.
This feeling really is magical.
After resolving the difficulties of The Witcher project, Aoki shifted his remaining time and focus to the upcoming new game, "Your Name."
Shinkai Makoto's artwork was truly top-tier; just looking at the visuals was enough to make one intoxicated.
Beyond the medium of a game, Aoki felt as if he were seeing the animated film "Your Name" from his memories.
Even now, recalling it still moved him to tears.
"Shinkai-san, indeed, entrusting the original art for the game to you was a very wise decision. You've done a truly excellent job!" Aoki exclaimed.
"Not at all, not at all." Shinkai Makoto was somewhat flattered, as if he had been transported back to a few months ago when the President had personally entrusted him with the original art production for this new game.
"Actually, it's all because your script was so well-written, President. And of course, Ishino-san's fleshing out and polishing made the game even richer. Without these elements, I wouldn't have been able to draw this story based on imagination alone," Shinkai Makoto said.
Beside him, Ishino Mika blushed slightly. "Yes, yes, it's all thanks to the President's script."
Their words were not entirely flattery; for the most part, they were genuine.
However, there was one thing that left Shinkai Makoto feeling bewildered—
The game's script itself seemed to have some kind of soul-deep resonance and connection with him. When he read the script, his very soul trembled.
It was as if, by some divine arrangement, he was destined to create this game.
In that moment, Shinkai Makoto felt the game come alive, transforming into a being with a soul.
While reading every single line, Shinkai Makoto could vividly picture the scenes in his mind.
Even the voices and dialogue of the male and female leads felt incredibly real.
The voice cast for Your Name this time around was also quite excellent.
As always, Pokeni stuck with Mitsuishi Kotono (the voice of Usagi Tsukino from Sailor Moon) to play the female lead for Your Name.
They prioritize [consistency] and [reliability].
This gives stars who work with Pokeni in the future a good psychological expectation: as long as there are no major issues in their collaboration, Pokeni won't easily replace them.
Of course, it also depends on the situation; if a role truly doesn't fit, there's no way around it.
Mitsuishi Kotono is currently very popular, and the hit status of Sailor Moon is no less than that of Pokémon, perhaps even higher.
Mitsuishi can now be considered one of the most sought-after voice actors.
The male lead is voiced by Furuya Toru, who also voiced the male lead, Mamoru Chiba, in Sailor Moon.
In a way, this has reunited that couple for Your Name.
Atsushi Shirakawa's soundtrack, Makoto Shinkai's original art, the story of Your Name...
It seemed there could be no more perfect combination than this.
Aoki Haruhi couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation.
"By the way, President, will you still be using the name [Kogahara Tsubakiaki] as the producer this time?" Ishino Mika asked.
Aoki Haruhi paused for a second, then nodded.
"Yes, and Your Name will be the final work by Kogahara Tsubakiaki. After this game is released, Kogahara Tsubakiaki will retire."
"Huh?!"
Several people were stunned into silence.
"What? Retire?!" Ishino Mika's mouth hung open in shock, as if she couldn't believe what she had just heard.
She thought she might have misheard.
"Yes, you heard me right. Exactly as it sounds: retirement," said Aoki Haruhi.
"Why?" Ishino Mika couldn't emotionally accept it at all.
The first successful project she worked on, Onmyoji, had listed Kogahara Tsubakiaki as the producer.
To her, Kogahara Tsubakiaki was no longer just an alter ego of the President.
To some extent, he had become a spiritual symbol for Pokeni, because everyone knew that as long as it was a game produced by "Kogahara Tsubakiaki," it would basically be a big hit.
And—
Retire?
Do you think you're an entertainer?
"Yes, this is the result of careful consideration," Aoki Haruhi nodded earnestly. "Do you know about apical dominance?"
Ishino Mika and Shinkai Makoto looked at each other, shaking their heads.
"In the growth process of plants, the branches at the very top receive more nutrients and grow better, which in turn prevents the side branches from developing.
That's how we are now. If we remove Kogahara Tsubakiaki, then in the future, we can have a producer named 'Ishino Mika,' Gen Urobuchi, Mikami Shinji, and you, Shinkai, can also become a very excellent producer.
But as long as Kogahara Tsubakiaki is still here, it will make players feel that Pokeni relies primarily on Kogahara Tsubakiaki."
"This isn't what I want."
Aoki Haruhi paused, then continued, "Besides, Kogahara Tsubakiaki has produced too many galgames. It's time for him to withdraw from this field. Future games can be released under my real name, Aoki Haruhi, or even under your names.
Kogahara Tsubakiaki was always just a pseudonym meant to be discarded. Now that his mission is complete, it's time for him to retire gracefully."
Hey, that last part was the real truth, wasn't it?
All that talk about 'top-tier advantages' earlier was complete nonsense, wasn't it?
Ishino Mika thought to herself.
"To the outside world, what else would a producer do if they aren't making games? It will be a hassle explaining Kogahara Tsubakiaki's whereabouts when the time comes, won't it?"
"That's a separate matter. Kogahara Tsubakiaki's whereabouts are for the media to worry about; it has nothing to do with us."
"Waaaah, President, are you really not going to reconsider? If Kogahara Tsubakiaki really retires, just imagine how heartbroken the players will be!"
"That's a clever marketing strategy."
Tsuda Nao gave a sly smile.
The two of them were walking side by side up the slope towards the Tsuda residence, the autumn breeze whipping their trench coats around. It was quite a picturesque scene.
"Kogahara Tsubakiaki's 'retirement work' will definitely attract the attention of players. This way, no matter how 'Your Name' turns out, players will be willing to pay for the sake of nostalgia.
Then, after finishing this game, 'Kogahara Tsubakiaki' can answer the players' calls and return for the next one.
Wouldn't that be profiting twice over?!"
Tsuda Nao smiled. "Aoki-san, you're getting more and more formidable."
Aoki Haruhi frowned deeply. "Hey, I'm being serious, you know?"
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