#game interview

[eurothug4000]

INTERVIEW ON THE MAKING OF THE CANCELLED MMORPG NINELIVES

Ninelives is the most beautiful RPG that was never completed, but can still be experienced as it was left. As part of my video on the game (now up for early access on Nebula), I also interviewed Tota of SmokymonkeyS on its inspirations and development before its suspension in 2016.

What would you say are your main inspirations for the art style in Ninelives? E.g. other artists, film, games, literature, history etc.!

I was a huge fan of Adventure Gamebook when I was a kid. Well, maybe you don't know what that is. Please read the wiki if you need: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamebook. I was reading (playing) translated oversea gamebooks well, and love the inner artwork especially what draw by monochrome. I had never seen pictures like that before, and had a strong impact on me. So, I wanted to make a gamebook by my self. When I started making my own gamebooks, I learned a lot about how games are made. That's because a gamebook is a medium in which the player can see all the source code. At first I started making gamebooks because I was attracted by the artwork, but my interest eventually shifted to making the game itself.

Related to the above, do you take a lot of inspiration from real world cultures and places? Are there any that you particularly gravitate towards?

I like the mixed culture, like Chinoiserie in France at the 17 century. Plus, since I'm Japanese and this country has always been greatly influenced by China. So I'm not limited to any one of these cultures, but trying to create as I am influenced by all of them. Sometimes people say that what I create looks Japanese, Chinese, or Asian, which is neither correct nor incorrect. I try not to be only of a certain culture when I create. That's because I want to create an imaginary world that is somewhat like reality, but slightly different.

Why did you want to make Ninelives?

Ninelives was the first game I ever thought of making, I think when I was about 17.

Do you think Ninelives being in an unfinished state provides a different atmosphere when playing the game and exploring the world?

I don't particularly think so. The atmosphere of the game is still complete. I wanted the game to be a relaxed, free-roamed adventure for players.

I wasn't certain during my research, so I wanted to confirm if Tomomi Sakuba was involved in Ninelives in any way?

Yeah, Sakuba was involved in Ninelives lots of ways. As you said, he did some of the texture pictures for flowers, plants and tree leaves. He also drawn the world map and area maps of the game like below: http://www.smokymonkeys.com/kyrill/index.asp?direct=138 He actually walked around the world by himself to make this. He was one of the most earliest game tester of the game. Oh, and I have to tell you this. He's a voice actor of male Nightbreed and Elf! In addition, his wife did some of creature voices. Her voice is also used on Triglav too!

What are your own personal thoughts on Ninelives? Is there anything you would drastically change looking back on it? Or any big changes you would want to make if you were to continue development at any point?

Ninelives was too much for me in many ways. It was a world I had been thinking about since I was young, but there were too many things to actually create to handle, and in that sense it's exactly the dream a child thinks about. We are a team of two in SmokymonkeyS, but one of us is in charge of programming and system engineering, and the game itself was created completely by myself. I had to create all the pictures, models, terrain, music, and story by myself. Now if I'm going to make something, I don't make it on such a large scale anymore.

Apart from the Switch release for Garage and occasional updates on Triglav that you mentioned before, is there anything that SmokymonkeyS are working on for the future?

Not yet so far.

I noticed your banner on the official website (http://www.smokymonkeys.com/kyrill/index.asp) has a character on a train platform, I wondered if that might be a future game?

Once it was. It was a previous project of Triglav for mobile. But it was going to be on a larger scale again, so we decided to port Triglav before that. There are no plans to make that game now. But I may make another game with that worldview and atmosphere. For example, as a mobile game.

A big thank you to Tota for taking the time to answer my questions! You can find SmokymonkeyS and their games here:

[hardcoregamer]

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster’s director, Mr. Ryosuke Murai, was more than happy to discuss some of the ins and outs of the project, and two of its producers, Mr. Kei Morimoto and Mr. Masachika Kawata, were also on hand to lend additional insights over the course of our conversation.

[motziedapul]

Hey everyone! This is my lovely friend Cyrus Nemati, who many of you may know as Theseus, Dionysus and Ares from the first Hades game.

He has spent the last couple years developing his very first indie game, Vampire Therapist, which plays with the many vampire character archetypes from across media.

It's been reviewing VERY well but it's not getting very many wishlists, so if you're interested in vampires, fantastic art and clever, funny, and thoughtful writing about vampire mental health, go wishlist it on Steam!

And listen, Cyrus may be too humble to leverage his colorful career as your favourite Hades hotboys, so I'm gonna do it for him 😌 GO SUPPORT FANTASTIC INDIE DEVS LIKE THIS ONE!

[xflowerstarx]

Simulacrum Funk - Imagine Malcolm X as a Game Designer at the Future Visions Festival

[watmalik]

Wolverine being a confirmed boy kisser by Hugh Jackman.

[cloudabserk]

imagine living in misery for 500 years and then ipads are invented. like maybe it was all worth it

[hotdaemondtargaryen]

long blonde hair + mustache + outfit: this screams tom glynn-carney as young haymitch abernathy.

[foxdoodles]

messing around with some book haymitch designs in preparation for the new book next year!!

[shelfperson]

okay but WHYYY is no one talking about louis and daniel WHYYYYYYYYYY is no one talking about the greatest grandpa4grandpa relationship known to man and i don’t even mean romantically i mean in the most basic human platonic level their relationship is FASCINATING.

like louis SAUGHT HIM OUT after FIFTY YEARS he FOUND HIS BOY, this horrible infant who DID NOT UNDERSTAND A THING HE TOLD HIM, who saw his raw, decades-old pain and wanted in on it, AND HE GOES BACK FOR HIM BECAUSE HE KNOWS HE’S CHANGED. he can understand now. he can help him find the truth.

and like, they’re both absolutely terrified by each other because they’re both uniquely skilled at getting under each other’s skin and finding that truth (and also because… louis could just up and eat daniel anytime but shhhh…) and it’s because they UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER. louis’s interviewing daniel as much as daniel’s interviewing him, just. pulling teeth from each other’s head, trying to pull out all the rot with such violence and cruelty (from both of them!! daniel is a cockwallop!!) but they want to help each other they CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER.

LIKE THIS????

THIS FUCKING SHIT?????

GAGGED ME. RUINED ME. I HAD TO STOP AND TAKE A WALK AROUND THE ROOM.

(the gifs are from @loumands account btw. great work my guy)

[phantomraekens]

its so sick to me that the rumors of jean sleeping his way onto the ravens are widespread but not one person has stopped for a moment to remember that jean started playing with them at 16 years old.

"jean moreau slept with the entire starting line" did he? or did a bunch of 20 year olds fuck a 16 year old?? Like I know it's 2007 but nobody is talking about that?

[hardcoregamer]

Reynatis, Kingdom Hearts Composer Yoko Shimomura Explains Her Magical Process

Yoko Shimomura likely created the music of your childhood. From Kingdom Hearts' blissful score to the rocking battle themes of Street Fighter 2, Shimomura has made a huge impact in the video game space. Now, after winning GDC's Lifetime Achievement Award, she has made a new epic soundtrack for the modern magic-themed JRPG Reynatis. We talk to her about her process and the game itself.

Check it out!

[divineandmajesticinone]

INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE (2022-) I 2.05 "I've been calling to you for some time."

[dailydormer]

Natalie Dormer on whether she read A Song of Ice and Fire.

[omokel]

kevjean moodboard

[tanatola]

pathologic 3 announcement made me return to the classic game and finally play it properly! i think my favorite part of the bachelor's route is when he talks to maria kaina (or whoever's in her body at the time) and they explain that their planned Utopia isn’t even supposed to be a 'perfect' place but instead 'the mystical manifestation of a world inscrutable and inaccessible to men' going back to the original meaning of the word irl and instead of despairing Daniil fervently agrees that this kind of unimaginable leap is worth it, no matter where it actually leads

[spiderliliez]

Their most memorable, stressful and challenging shoot. EMMA D’ARCY & OLIVIA COOKE Interview by GQ and Private Parts

[+] EMMA D’ARCY [GIF Collection] ✨ [+] COOKIE [GIF Collection] ✨ [+] ..more on “House of the Dragon” 🔥