2001 Developer Interview
Interviewee: Eguchi Katsuya – supervisor; Nogami Heng – supervisor
– As far as you know, what do players like about Animal Crossing?
Nogami: Everyone seems to like it differently – this phenomenon itself is very interesting. (Laughs) The way people enjoy the game is so different.
Eguchi Katsuya: Some people only like to collect furniture, some people only like to fish, and some players only like to design items and share them with others. Not being able to determine a certain point is the “fun” of this work, which is enough to prove the innovativeness of “Animal Crossing”. I don’t think such a game existed before.
——How did “Animal Crossing” come into being?
Eguchi Katsuya: This project was started as a game for the N64 disk system. Then we came up with an idea for “a game where you can play with your friends in the same venue.” After that, we came up with idea after idea, and Animal Crossing is a collection of those ideas.
Nogami: To put it simply – we just wanted to do something for the N64 disk system. (laugh)
– What is the overall concept of the series?
Eguchi Katsuya: It’s definitely related to the idea we talked about earlier — playing in the same venue with friends, but… one of our core ideas is that players communicate with each other. How to present this in game form was the main challenge during development.
——To make a game with no ending and no plot is really bold! Why do this game?
Nogami: From the very beginning, we had no interest in a specific game genre. (laughs) Role-playing, action… We don’t want to categorize what we’re doing at all.
Eguchi Katsuya: One of our early visions was to make “a game like never before.” We consciously want to create a new genre, and we don’t want to be labeled a particular label by others. But in reality, you have to state the genre of the game on the retail packaging. But we didn’t think about it at all…”What genre should I write? I don’t know at all!” (laughs)
Nogami: Yeah, I remember someone saying, “Hey, how about just writing ‘communication’?” (laughs)
– A “communication game” that fits your previous theme of connecting people to each other.
Nogami: Yes. In the end our gameplay was also derived from this theme. Let’s exchange furniture at home! It’s also one of the ways that people connect with each other.
-Yes, but there are also players who just like to fish alone, and there are players who just want to collect furniture. (laugh)
Nogami: Exactly. (laughs) That’s why we make fish that only those who are obsessed with fishing can catch. As for furniture collectors, there are pieces of furniture that only the most diligent collectors can find. I always imagine the conversation when two collectors meet, and they communicate with each other about the treasures in their collections. This is another opportunity to communicate.
——The animals in “Animal Crossing” talk a lot like humans.
Eguchi Katsuya: To be honest, we wanted to show here how to “practice” communicating with other people—“It’s fun to communicate like this!” (laughs)
Nogami: We also hope that players can talk about what these animals have said. (laugh)
Eguchi Katsuya: Yes, I hope the players can talk about what the animals said, what they thought that day, what they did… Hey, we can’t help it, who makes these cute animals say so cute? ! (laugh)
Nogami: But there are also some animals that say terrifying things. (laugh)
Eguchi Katsuya: Yes, if a child is playing “Animal Crossing” and one of the animals says something, he can’t quite understand it. I wish he would ask his mother what that sentence meant.
Nogami: This is also part of the “communication” we pursue. The reason for joining these surprising or interesting conversations is to pursue this goal, hoping that people can talk to each other like this in real life.
– You mean, games can also be a medium for connecting people.
Eguchi Katsuya: Yes. For example, Seagull Luyou tells a lot of dark jokes. I’m sure kids don’t understand it. I think they will go to their mothers and ask them what the seagull is trying to say, and the mothers will probably be a little at a loss how to answer. (laugh)
Nogami: That’s why we add some obscure parts. (laughs) Hopefully players can learn to communicate from Animal Crossing – this example couldn’t be better.
2003 Music/Sound Developer Interview
Interviewee: Issey Totaka / Taro Bando
——What kind of game is “Animal Crossing”?
Issey Totaka: This is a game about communication. Players live in villages with animals and enjoy country life. There is a clock in the game, so depending on the season and time, various events will take place in the village. I was the sound director, and Mr. Bando was in charge of the sound.
– I heard that you spend a lot of time on music.
Issei Togao: Yes. The sound team consists of four composers, one sound engineer, and one for special effects.
Bando Taro: There are many musical elements in Animal Crossing. The first is the town soundtrack. You can hear these melodies when talking to animals. At the Town Soundtrack panel, you can freely compose your own melody.
Another musical element is the “animal language” that animals use to speak. In the beginning, we wanted to do some more realistic dubbing with our own speech synthesis technology. But in this game, when you talk to the NPC, the information is displayed on the screen in sync, and we can’t make sure that the synthesized speech will always be in sync with the subtitles – the animals will speak too fast.
We thought about it for a while and realized that since these NPCs are animals, there is no need for them to talk like humans at all. Maybe it’s not that important to hear what they’re saying; maybe the player just needs to feel the tone and emotion of their conversation. That’s how we came up with their language, and even filed a patent for the technology used!
——Why do you put so much effort into music?
Issey Totaka: In Animal Crossing, each cassette gives your village a slightly different terrain. Also, rooms and animals will be differentiated. We want the music to reflect these dynamics as well. But this isn’t the first time we’ve used music this way in a game. For example, in Yoshi’s Story, the music changes with Yoshi’s mood.
–I see. This is called “interactive” music. How many pieces have you composed in total?
Togao’s Life: There are 199 songs in total. I have three other composers under my belt, and I will divide the work among them. One of them is in charge of outdoor music, one is in charge of indoor music, and the other is in charge of event music. All three employees are quite senior, so I handed the job over to them. But if you don’t give a clear direction, it’s hard to get started, so we had a meeting to set the direction. In the beginning we wanted to use non-electronic sounds to match the soothing and relaxing atmosphere of the game. But then realized it was too easy. We then thought of using synthesized electronic sounds, but arranging and mixing them in an unplugged way. This is the idea behind the creation of outdoor music.
– What is the difference between chamber music and event music?
Issei Togao: Yes. The basic idea is that the room should be quiet unless the player chooses to turn on the music. As for the style of house music, we think it should be lovely, such as with an inexpensive portable keyboard.
——What is the creative direction of event music?
Issey Totaka: Taking the Halloween incident as an example, I would say, “It has to be fun, but it has to be a little weird.” The subordinates are very capable, so after determining the initial direction, I will give him full authority to do it. Of course, there are occasional adjustments, such as when a song takes up too much space. (laugh)
– How long does each song take to write?
Issey Totaka: It takes about a year for everyone to write their assigned piece, but our situation is a little different. I recomposed the song I composed myself. I have to compose 58 pieces in two weeks…it’s so rushed, I’m composing all the time on the train. (laugh)
——Mr. Bando, how did you create the sound effects?
Bando Taro: As you might have guessed, a lot of the sound effects were recorded from nature and added directly to the game. Every time the seasons change, new insects appear in the game, so I headed to the mountains in Fushimi district to record the local insect calls. The sound of cicadas is really hard to record.
Issei Togao: I still remember the note you put on the door of the recording studio – “Do not disturb, catching insects”. (laugh)
Bando Taro: I recorded over 500 sound effects in total. Among them, there are more than 100 kinds of footsteps alone! Some walk on cobblestones, and some walk in water…
– Do you record your own footsteps?
Bando Taro: Yes . When recording footsteps on the beach, I record myself walking on the beach with my slippers on.
——Have you encountered any difficulties in sound programming?
Bando Taro: As we expected, the sound effects took up a lot of cassette space! Figure out a way to cram them all in, like solving a puzzle.
– Testing and debugging must be tiring.
Bando Taro: Yes, it was a challenge. “Animal Crossing” has too many sound effects, which caused many problems. For example, when two sound effects were played simultaneously, it would cause memory problems. Checking for these vulnerabilities is less fun.
– It sounds like this is the first game that relies heavily on music, but it’s not a music game. Finally, please talk to readers about how you can better enjoy Animal Crossing.
Issey Totaka: For me, just hanging out in the game is a lot of fun. Mr. Bando prepared different footsteps for each terrain. There is the crisp sound of walking on the stones, and the soft sound of walking in the grass. I love hearing these sounds overlap with the sound of a river or a waterfall in the distance…there’s music hidden in a lot of places and I really enjoyed the final effect, it feels like I’m back in my old village, just hanging out, it all makes me Happy.
translate: @RED Rhyme
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