![]() Since this is the second mainline Fire Emblem title released on Nintendo Switch, we wanted to challenge ourselves to only use 3D models.īy displaying and moving the characters in 3D, we can add richer expressions for their eye movements and facial expressions during battles. So in past Fire Emblem games, when we couldn’t finish the artwork in 3D with the level of richness that we hoped for, we displayed 2D illustrations to supplement that. In general, original illustrations are drawn in more detail compared to the 3D models. We also prioritised the quality of each character, so it was a long climb. Now that you mention it, the characters in this game are displayed in 3D models and not 2D, right? It must have been a lot of work considering how many of them there are. So like this, we refined the character designs based on each character's personality and appearance, while looking at the overall balance of colours to make sure there’s no overlap between them.Īlso, Mika Pikazo-san has some experience with designing 3D characters, so I had the impression that she was creating the characters while contemplating how they will look in 3D. Now we can mix colours without any concern over the technical limitations. However, due to functional limitations, it was difficult to have complicated colour schemes in the earlier gaming consoles. Mixing these three colours in various ways produces a broad array of colours. ( 7 ) The initials of the three primary colours of light: red, green, and blue. Maybe that’s why you have that impression. So, there were quite a number of characters that we characterised just by colour. (Laughs) Especially in the Fire Emblem games released for the Family Computer (Famicom) system (known as the NES in North America and Europe), we had so many characters despite the limitation in how many colours we could use for one character. I remember we were using colours like B100% for the hair colour, instead of mixing the colours in RGB ( 7). I like how the designs in this title resemble those days. In the days of the Super Famicom (known as the Super NES in North America and Europe), I think the characters from the Fire Emblem series stood out as having primary colours. (Laughs)Īn illustrator once told us that they didn't know where the wings on a Pegasus grow from, or how people mount it. It’s not often that you’re asked to draw a Pegasus. In Fire Emblem, there are a variety of characters like hardened soldiers, and on top of that they need to be able to draw armour, weapons and creatures like Pegasuses. It's true that the designer's skills should not be limited to drawing cool nobles and young girls. Since she usually draws young characters, she was concerned about her confidence level in some of the character design. That said, there was one concern she had. Well, I thought it'd be better to be upfront about the request. If Intelligent Systems asks you to design 50 characters, it's pretty obvious that it's for a new Fire Emblem game, right? (Laughs) Did you just approach her and ask her to draw 50 or so characters without any information about the game, like you'd normally do? (Laughs) Since there are so many characters, it was going to be a job lasting several years, but luckily the timing worked out well with her schedule. ![]() Thankfully, she accepted our offer right away saying that she wanted to do it. It was really vibrant and dazzling, and I felt that it had everything we were looking for. It was a unanimous vote with the entire development team agreeing, “She’s the one!”. Among the candidates, Mika Pikazo-san's drawings were colourful, vivid, and really popped! They were a perfect fit for the flashy direction we wanted for this title. We were looking for an artist whose design style would appeal to a broad audience – including younger players – as well as the ability to portray a variety of characters. Since returning to Japan, she has worked on various genres of artwork including character design, logo and merchandise design for apparel brands, cover art for novels and CD album covers. ![]() After graduating high school, she became interested in South American video technology, advertising design and music, and moved to Brazil for about two years. ( 6 ) An illustrator born in Tokyo in 1993. Was Mika Pikazo-san ( 6) chosen as the illustrator to handle this title's character design from the very beginning? Now that we have a good understanding of this game's setting and theme, I would like to take a deep dive into the visuals. This article has been translated from the original Japanese content.Ĭhapter 1: Motivating players to give Fire Emblem a try The images shown in the text were created during development. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |