On the Art
of Panzer Dragoon.
A
collection of interviews on the art of the series.
Interviewees:
Takashi
Iwade- Lead Artist, Smilebit (worked on PD1, PD2, PD Saga, PD Orta)
Kentaro
Yoshida- Lead Artist, Smilebit (worked on PD1, PD2, PD Saga, PD Orta)
Akihiko
Mukaiyama- Chief Director, Panzer Dragoon Orta (Worked on PD Saga, PD Orta)
Information based on interviews from:
XBN Issue 006.Feb 2003
Play Magazine January 2003
Original Inspiration for the Panzer
Dragoon:
XBN: Where did the inspiration for the original Panzer
Dragoon universe come from?
Iwade: The
original Panzer Dragoon world was largely created by a gentleman called Manabu
Kusunoki, who can't be with
us today (Kusanoki left Sega to join Artoon). Based on his vision, we have
tried to keep the original feeling through each of the games in the series,
including this latest addition. What he created seven or eight years ago is
still relevant and cutting edge today. So, that in itself is a great
accomplishment, and every time it’s been a great challenge to live up to it.
Gamespot interviewing Takashi Iwade on the
visual look of Panzer Dragoon:
Iwade: "I got
inspiration from antique clocks and various industrial products from the era of
the industrial revolution for mechanics, and myriapods, marine mollusks,
ammonite, and a rusty fishing boat for creatures when I started thinking of the
original battleship,"
Iwade: "I
carefully made sure that the appearance of enemies would be easy to understand
visually, and that they had a simple silhouette, and as a result of this, it
matched to the characteristics of Saturn hardware…. so we had the art style
first."
Gamespot
interviewing Kentaro Yoshida on the visual look of Panzer Dragoon Zwei:
"We went through many dragon designs, and
Kusuki-san, who is the designer of Panzer Dragoon 1, finalized the designs. We
got inspiration for the fusion of creatures and weapons from various existing
science fiction."
XBN: What would you say were the main
influences, artistically?
Iwade:
There was nothing too specific, so it would say that science fiction books and
movies from the 1980s were probably the biggest influence. Dune and Mad Max are
obvious examples.
XBN: How did the renowned French artist
Moebius fit into the Panzer Dragoon creative process?
Iwade:
Back then the team members were big fans of Moebius, and what actually happened
is that Sega developed all of the game's enemies and bosses, and sent them to
Moebius, who had been commissioned to do some illustrative art. He interpreted
the designs and the results became the cover art for the Japanese release.
Yoshida:
As we were such big fans of Moebius, we were surprised with the results because
they were not as abstract as we expected. It was very in keeping with the game.
Graphical Look of Panzer Dragoon
Orta:
XBN: Was there not a temptation to use the
power of Xbox to explore a new graphical approach for Panzer Dragoon Orta, like
Smilebit did with Jet Set Radio and Jet Set Radio Future? A more abstract,
artistic approach, for example, like a comic book?
Iwade: The
idea of a cartoon style did come forward for the Orta version of Panzer Dragoon
and was kicked around by the team. But when the game started on Saturn, we were
trying to express a reality on a 32-bit system- and we did the best we could
for that system. Because the series jumped past Dreamcast and went straight to
Xbox, we thought this would be best chance we had to create a tangible fantasy
reality. Perhaps if we had created a Panzer Dragoon game on Dreamcast in a
realistic style, then we may have gone for a cartoon-style approach for Orta.
XBN: What artistic accomplishment are you
most proud of in the game?
Iwade:
Personally. The boss of stage 8. It has a nutty design and some very
interesting movements.
Yoshida:
Stage 3’s sky has a very Japanese look, which I like. It's similar to a
European sky, some might say.
PLAY: Panzer is as much about art, design, and
state of mind as it is superb shooting gameplay. What is the atmosphere like
for the team to get them into the proper frame of mind to construct such an
epic?
Mukaiyama:
The most important reference material was the Panzer Dragoon series. A close
second would be National Geographic magazine, which was a great inspiration for
the game's organic, natural feeling.
PLAY: Altered Genos (very reminiscent of
Gunvalkyrie!) and Eternal Glaciers are breathtaking areas, with a serene look
and feel. You seem to be doing very special things all your own with Xbox. Do
you find that the longer you work with the console the more you can get out of
it, similar to the consoles of the '80s arid '90s?
Mukaiyama:
Those areas were developed by female designers, so I guess their sensibilities
are there.
Content Process on Panzer Dragoon
Orta:
PLAY: Orta is a beautiful character-her
expression throughout the game is extraordinary-can you tell us about her
origins and how you decided on her as the series' new hero?
Mukaiyama:
One of the first things we did when we started working on the game was to
create a Web system where we could all post sketches and ideas. This let us
review everyone's suggestions without focusing on who made them, or what their
position was at the company. This really helped get the dialogue going and
ultimately helped us explore many ideas we may not have otherwise.
Since many of us had very
personal ideas about what the new Panzer Dragoon ORTA should be, this helped us
make sure everyone's voice was heard. Truth be told, this also made for some
very heated and tense discussions about the direction of the game. In fact,
like in any good family or team, there were moments where staff members started
to get an each other s nerves. Of course, this passed, and by going through
such intense arguments, we were able to create some truly stunning, polished
art, and an amazing game.
Comparing Orta to previous Panzer
Dragoon games.
The Next Level: Azel really pushed the Saturn to its limits, but
I'm sure there were things the original Panzer desginers wanted to do but
couldn't because of the Saturn's system limitations. Did any of these ideas
come to fruition in Orta?
Mukaiyama. We wanted real-time
dragon morphing for Azel, but the Saturn couldn't handle it. For the
graphics, we could finally go into the fine details we wanted. For example, on
Saturn we could only create flat environments, but with the Xbox we could
create truly dynamic environments. Also, on the Saturn we had to often use 2D
objects in 3D environment. Not so on XBox.
XBN: Its funny how the original Panzer
Dragoon games on Saturn still look great because those old texturing techniques
look a little bit like today's cel-shading techniques...
Yoshida: If
you took at Panzer Dragoon 1 and 2, because of the limitations of Saturn in
terms of memory and graphics, the world we created was almost pixel by pixel
because we had a team of designers each working on each individual images-for
example, we took photos of skin and transferred them to Saturn almost block by
block. So we had a tally hand-made product. Now, we have more powerful
technology but we don't have the time, and if we did it the same way we'd need
such a huge team that it would be totally impractical. So, in a way we've lost
that hand-made feeling that the original games had.