King of Fighters XII Behind the Scenes: Art & Design

King of Fighters XII Behind the Scenes: Art & Design\ Interviewer: The game such as a the King of Fighters XII art is key, everything is drawn by hand, the characters, the backgrounds, everything. We dove deeper to find out what’s going on behind all of this 2D Mastery. The King of Fighter series had already moved into 3D with the maximum impact games. Why did you decide to go back to the time consuming 2D art style for the King of Fighter’s XII. Masaaki Kukino: (Producer-The King of Fighters XII) Well first of all we do not think that 2D is unrequited or old technology that has been left behind. We also don’t believe that it was simply a bridge to getting to 3D. There are so many things that can’t be shown in 3D that only 2D can accurately express. So that is why we chose to base the King of Fighters around 2D because we wanted to show off the— I mean when we felt 2D graphics will allow us to do that a lot better. And also from the onset we wanted to make the one and only in fighting games so we knew we could not compromise when it came to visions. So that is why we fully embrace the 2D art style and also just game makers and as game designers we’ve consistently challenge ourselves to think differently and create differently to complete our unique visions. Interviewer: So just how long did it take to make this beautiful 2D art. We heard a rumor that it took a team of artist over 10 months to work on each individual character in the King of Fighters XII? Masaaki: Well our designers are very good and they’re also very experienced at what they do but even though with all their talent it takes one of our designers up to 16 man months to complete just one character. So what we had to do was we had to divide the artist teams from each individual art process in order to maximize our efficiency and streamline our productivity. So this helped us meet or deadline. Interviewer: The stages you fight on in the King of Fighters XII are full of crazy little details there’s so much going on. We’ve noticed a few little things you tell us of any other hidden references of little details we might have missed while playing the game? Masaaki: We’ve put extra effort into the overall atmosphere and feel of this game and we’ve done this buy paying extra close attention to the background, the colors and even the expressions on the face of audience blenders so if you pay close enough attention you might just find one of our favorite characters in the audience. Interviewer: So what was the overall development type for King of Fighters XII and was it a lot longer than previous King of Fighters games. Masaaki: To create this game it requires a lot of time power and patience. So we’re not able to simply compare it to the other titles in the series especially since this title was designed with the next gen in mind. So really it’s hard to tell. Interviewer: So what was the structure like for the art came on the King of Fighters XII, is it true that Nona fan favored artist was brought in to oversee the overall look for the game? Masaaki: Yes, Nona was brought to oversee the direction of all the art so indeed he was the art director. He was there to oversee the art and took also aid in balancing out the art. We had graphics teams and also teams to help create the characters underneath his supervision. We also in addition had several simultaneous processes going to create all art for this game. Interviewer: The animation in making of Fighters XII is incredibly fluid and it looks almost like anime, you know how complex are these animations compared to what we seen from in the past in the game like Garou: Mark of the Wolves. Masaaki: So for the King of Fighters XII we’re trying to create a completely new game so the fluidity of the game’s animation is one of the fact there is achievement in this goal. We really want the players to be pulled into the game’s atmosphere and have a smooth animation of this key doing that. So while the emphasis was placed on the games graphics and also it’s animation and like I’ve been saying continually the King of Fighters XII is a one and only so it’s actually kind of difficult to compare it to anything else. Interviewer: Talking about the stages we do have to ask in the front stage why are all the women so hungry and kind of well fed? Masaaki: What an interesting question. Well first for all I need to make this very clear. I’m not trying to say or apply that French women are fat, I don’t think like that at all. The reason why women are the way they are is because this stage in the game takes place at a very hot resort in France and there are a lot of very rich and well to do tourist staying there to see the battles. So the image we wanted paint was all these rich tourists that have plenty food for themselves gathering together at this French resort and getting very excited to watch these fights. So that is why they are always eating and getting very excited in that stage. Not that French women are fat. Interviewer: Speaking about the stages in the King of Fighter’s you know there are 2D but there are neat little 3D effects and like blimps and confetti you know was that kind a decision you made to mix 3D into the 2D and moving forward do you think we’ll see more of that out of this game? Masaaki: The way we envisioned this game was with the final product being in 2D, but in order for us to get that result we first had to create everything in 3D. Even the background so first we created the 3D models and then shows where the camera would go before finally putting it into 2D, that was our process and we really liked the results that we got. Our goal from the beginning of this game was to bring out the best parts of 2D and 3D and have the two compliment each other while expressing our vision. Also for future titles we plan on using this approach again because we were so pleased with the results. Interviewer: Now you‘ve seen all of the hard work that goes in creating a background and the game play for King of Fighters XII join us next time to get acquainted with the crazy and eccentric cast of characters you’ll be controlling in the King of Fighters XII.