【新作ゲーム】開発現場に潜入してきました【デジモンストーリータイムストレンジャー】

【新作ゲーム】開発現場に潜入してきました【デジモンストーリータイムストレンジャー】

Kon-Badgy-Gu! This is Terriermon Assistant! Without further ado, I’d like to announce what we’re going to do today. First reveal: We’ve snuck into the development site of the latest game in the series, Digimon Story Time Stranger! That’s right—the newest Digimon Story Time Stranger, the first in about ten years. So far, we’ve had the chance to test-play it— and even do an advance livestream with Nazupi as a collaboration. The release date is October 3rd so it’s now less than two months away. I’m sure a lot of you are eagerly waiting. I mean, even I want to play it right now. Digimon Story Time Stranger is already generating huge excitement— and this time, to convey its charm to all of you, a staff member has actually gone undercover at the development site. Thank you so much for that! No—wait a second, not “thank you.” Haven’t you ever heard of hou-ren-sou (“report, communicate, consult”) as an adult? You didn’t even consult me, did you? If you’d told me the day, I would have gone! I’m the ambassador, you know! Ah, they just told me, “Sorry.” Well… fine, I’ll forgive you. And today, we’ve got a wonderful guest joining us. So please introduce yourself. (Hara P) Kon-Badgy-Gu! (Hara P) I’m the producer for Digimon Story Time Stranger. (Hara P) My name is Hara from Bandai Namco Entertainment. It’s a pleasure to be here today. All right, my best buddy. My best buddy Hara-san is here. (Hara P) Thank you. And… (Tomono) Kon-Badgy-Gu… Don’t say it like you’re in pain—it’s a fun greeting! (Tomono) No, I’m actually having a great time. Thank you. (Tomono) I’m serving as the director for Digimon Story Time Stranger. (Tomono) My name is Yusuke Tomono from 24Frame. Pleased to meet you. Thank you, Tomono-san. Since you’re the director, could you tell everyone what your job entails? (Tomono) It’s a role people hear about a lot but don’t quite understand. So… like the top boss? (Tomono) No, not at all. (Tomono) If anything, it’s the role that has to be the most considerate. (Tomono) Specifically, when Producer Hara comes to me with an order— (Tomono) like, “I want to do something like this”— (Tomono) I’ll then suggest, “Well, what if we do it this way?” and consult with the team. (Tomono) It’s mostly about leading the charge and giving support. We’ve got two incredibly reliable people here today— so, Hara-san, what kind of content will we be seeing in the infiltration footage? (Hara P) This time, we looked into things like the models for the Digimon protagonists, special moves, background maps, event scenes, and so on— (Hara P) to share the production process and the passion of the staff. (Hara P) That’s what we were aiming to capture in this coverage. So as we watch each segment, if something catches my attention— I, the producer, or the director here will use this button we’ve got— and if we press it, “ping!”—the footage stops. So I’ll be stopping it here and there whenever I spot something interesting. (Hara P) I never thought I’d be doing a job like this. (Tomono) I’ve never seen anything like this before. All right, let’s watch the footage together with these two. First up, we have the models for the Digimon and the protagonist. Roll it! Huh? Huh? I knew it— (Staff) Thank you for your time today. (Hara P) I’m Hara from Bandai Namco Entertainment, (Hara P) Producer for Digimon Story Time Stranger. (Hara P) Today I’m here at the development site for Time Stranger. (Hara P) I’d like the Digimon-loving dev team to speak in their own words— (Hara P) about the game’s production process and the passion they’ve poured into it. (Hara P) All right, let’s get started. You’re so used to doing this. (Hara P) First, here’s the person in charge of character modeling. (Modeler) Thank you for having me. Thanks for being here! (Staff) So, what is this? (Modeler) This is a Digimon called Greymon. Cute. (Modeler) This is the official reference material. (Modeler) We create the model based on these materials. That’s what the skeleton looks like? (Modeler) We discuss with the motion team and the setup team— (Modeler) like, “This is the best way to place the bones,” and proceed accordingly. So you put those circles in the joints? (Modeler) Yes, and then we bring it into the brush data in this form— Right! I get it now. I kind of got drawn in at the start there. Why do those lines suddenly get all filled out like that? (Tomono) Well, this is probably going to get super technical here— Oh, I’ve never seen this before. (Tomono) These 3D models actually have bones inside, just like humans do. I had no idea. (Tomono) And they move around based on those bones. (Tomono) As for the “flesh” you see layered on top— (Tomono) Back in older games, hands were round and simple— (Tomono) Like Doraemon’s hands. Do you remember that? Of course. (Tomono) These days, we use something called “sculpting”—as in, actually sculpting things. (Tomono) We can even create super realistic wrinkles, like those on an old man’s face. (Tomono) That’s the level we’ve reached now. I see. (Tomono) But sometimes those wrinkles are too realistic, and you don’t want to see them. (Tomono) So we flatten them out a bit. (Tomono) Like, “Let’s tone this down here.” (Tomono) That process of simplifying is called retopology. (Tomono) After that, we add the bones, like you saw earlier— (Tomono) and when you move them, the muscles bulge, right? Right. (Tomono) But in CG, that doesn’t happen automatically. It doesn’t? (Tomono) No—you have to define “weights” to tell the model, “This part bulges when you move here.” (Tomono) Doing that for a human body is hard enough— (Tomono) but doing it for creatures you’ve never seen before is a miracle-level skill. And they’ve never even used their special attacks yet! (Tomono) Exactly—so imagine how much work it takes to make just one. (Tomono) That’s the reality of modern game development. And I happen to know there are 450 of them. That must’ve been rough. (Tomono) I still get chills thinking about it. No wonder it took ten years. Let’s review the 3D modeling process: Start with official reference materials → Build the skeleton → Sculpt realistic flesh → Use retopology to adjust for game specs → Set movement ranges with weights. (Hara P) If I could add one thing— (Hara P) One of the biggest appeals of the Digimon Story series is the large number of Digimon that appear— (Hara P) and the visual quality improvements, such as adjusting proportions to fit the times. (Hara P) We prioritized that from the very start of development. (Hara P) Of course, it’s still a game—so smooth gameplay performance is a must. (Hara P) To achieve these high-priority goals— (Hara P) we optimized things like bone counts and polygon counts in the models. (Hara P) I’m sure you can imagine how time consuming that is! (Hara P) We spent a lot of time adjusting the game as a whole. (Hara P) It was tough, but I think it all came together in the end. So, let’s keep watching the footage. You two can stop it anytime something catches your eye. Let’s go! (Modeler) We bring in the brush data and sculpt it— (Modeler) then retopologize it— (Modeler) optimize it for the game, and bring it into this shape. (Modeler) Finally, we paint the textures, add the bones, set the weights, and it’s complete. I’ve never seen Greymon with its arms sticking straight out like that—it’s so new to me. (Tomono) This pose is the famous T-pose—or T-stance—in games. I’ve heard of that. (Tomono) Yep—everyone starts from this “T.” They all start from the T. All right, let’s keep going. (Modeler) For fine adjustments, we actually put it in the game and check how it looks— (Modeler) and then bring it to completion. So you output it into the game screen— and decide, “This part could look better,” and tweak it? What do you focus on when modeling? (Modeler) In the last games, like Cyber Sleuth or Hacker’s Memory— (Modeler) the models were built for handheld consoles— (Modeler) so for this game, when viewed on different platforms, we had to adjust things like muscle flow— (Modeler) to make them look like real creatures, like dinosaurs. When the hardware changes, do you have to redo the models from scratch? (Tomono) That’s exactly the right question. (Tomono) Greymon is almost guaranteed to appear— (Tomono) same with Agumon— (Tomono) so you’d think we could just reuse them. (Tomono) But the staff’s passion was so intense that the more famous the Digimon, the more they rebuilt it. (Tomono) So Agumon and Greymon ended up being completely different in their data structure. Wow. (Tomono) Seriously—no one told them to go this far, but they did. (Tomono) You might think, “It’s just an extra hundred or two,” but— (Tomono) no—they’ve all been built from scratch this time. That’s right, everyone— don’t go saying, “It’s just an extra hundred.” They rebuilt everything from the ground up! Anyway, moving on— (Modeler) We adjusted the structure so that at a glance, you could see the flow of the muscles— (Modeler) and get a dinosaur-like impression as a living creature. What’s the hardest part of modeling? (Modeler) There are a huge number of Digimon appearing in this game— (Modeler) so when brushing up returning Digimon to match this game’s standards— (Modeler) if they didn’t meet the standard or the style was different— (Modeler) we rebuilt them drastically, which was tough because of the sheer volume. We really need to thank you for that. (Modeler) This is a female-type model called Angewomon. Are you sure it’s okay to show footage this revealing? This is amazing. Oh, so that’s the skeleton. That’s incredible. People who’ve never seen this kind of footage before are going to be shocked. It’s Beelzemon! Oh! (Tomono) Beelzemon is another really famous character. (Tomono) The staff all love him, too. There isn’t a Digimon fan alive who dislikes Beelzemon. (Tomono) So you end up with this kind of scramble—“I want to use him here!” “No, I want to use him there!”—fighting over who gets him. I guess modelers also want their best work to get used more, right? (Tomono) Exactly. And once you see a model of this quality— (Tomono) you start thinking, “What if we show it off like this?” (Tomono) As things get more concrete, talented staff can’t help but say, (Tomono) “Let’s do this,” “Let’s do that”—and the thing is, all their ideas are good. (Tomono) So we just keep packing in as much as we can until it’s bursting at the seams. (Tomono) I think that’s one of the great things about Digimon. In Central Town, there are so many Digimon wandering around— I was honestly thinking, “Is it okay to go this hard right from the start?” (Tomono) The truth is, that’s AFTER we cut some out for processing reasons. We couldn’t place any more, so we reduced the number. Wait—that’s after reducing them? (Tomono) Oh yeah. There was a lot of back-and-forth on the floor— (Tomono) the programmers would set limits like, “This is the load we can handle,” (Tomono) but we’d still be thinking, “No, we can push this further!” So you kept pushing the limits. (Hara P) We did mention processing load just now— (Hara P) but we worked hard to keep the atmosphere intact while lowering that load. (Hara P) Figuring out “How can we lighten the load without breaking the feel?” was a big focus. (Hara P) The current vibe of Central Town— (Hara P) is really the crystallization of the efforts of some incredibly skilled partner companies. (Tomono) Like, “This angle doesn’t show that spot—let’s hide it for this shot.” (Tomono) Or, “That Digimon in the distance? Let’s swap it for a lighter model.” You can do that? (Tomono) It’s basically a combination of calculation and sheer determination. I felt like I could walk around that city forever. All right, we’ve still got more footage to go— (Staff) How’s this one coming along? (Modeler) I think it’s looking really good—he’s gotten even cooler. Beelzemon was always a handsome guy, but now it’s super handsome. (Staff) And this here is the protagonist, right? (Modeler) Yes, that’s correct—the male protagonist. (Staff) Is there any difference in how you make human models versus Digimon models? (Modeler) With humans, we focus on capturing the character designer’s style— (Modeler) figuring out how to translate their face lines and body type into a 3D model— (Modeler) which is a bit different from working on monsters. (Tomono) The human models are, of course, made at an incredibly high quality— (Tomono) but this time, we also have outfit changes. (Tomono) There will be times when the protagonist wears different clothes. Is that… new information? That’s new, right? I’m so excited now. Okay, moving on— The protagonist has various facial expressions, of course. That’s natural as the story progresses. (Modeler) In the model viewer, we can swap out the facial expressions— (Modeler) and check them like this. They really move like your own avatar. (Staff) Does it take about the same time to make them? (Modeler) For Digimon, In-Training-level or smaller ones take less time than human characters— (Modeler) but Mega or Ultimate-level ones with tons of parts and complexity— (Modeler) can take longer than a human character. So Mega and Ultimate Digimon really do take more time to make. That’s it for the Digimon and protagonist model development segment! Wow, even just from this first set of footage— I already want to ask so many questions and keep watching closely. I want to play it already—can’t the release date come sooner? If I go to bed early, will it be October already? I want to play so bad. All right, next up—special moves. (Motion Designer) I’m one of the motion designers. Yes, welcome. How are Digimon’s special moves made? I want to know—how do you make them? (Motion Designer) First, during setup, we create what’s called a “rig,” (Motion Designer) basically the controllers—then we start creating the motions. (Motion Designer) For Digimon, we research animations and reference materials— (Motion Designer) then begin creating the motions while also checking the effects. (Motion Designer) That’s how we move forward with building the special move motions. (Staff) And what’s this here? (Motion Designer) This here is BeelStarmon. Oh, BeelStarmon-san! (Motion Designer) It’s a Digimon that was created when they drew up a female version of the character Beelzemon, who appeared in the anime series Digimon Tamers. (Motion Designer) It’s designed to hold a pair of pistols in its hands, and guns mounted to its legs as well. (Motion Designer) That’s her design. Such attention to detail. What’s the motion designer’s role in this? After receiving the model, you…? (Motion Designer) There’s something called a “rig,” basically a controller that lets us manipulate the model. (Motion Designer) Using that rig, each member of the team works on giving the model movement. We’d better pay attention—this is the tricky stuff. You’d better listen closely—it’s complicated. So the rig that moves the Digimon is basically the skeleton you were talking about earlier? (Tomono) That’s right. Bones move in linked sets, and the rig is the mechanism that links those bones together. (Tomono) Every Digimon has a different rig, (Tomono) so once the model is complete, the motion animation team takes over to add movement. (Tomono) And in this case, the motion team doesn’t just animate the Digimon— (Tomono) they also control the camera! The camera too? (Tomono) Yep. They decide things like, “This angle would look awesome,” and animate the camera accordingly. (Tomono) Once that’s done, if the scene calls for firing a gun, we need muzzle flashes, right? (Tomono) That’s where the effects team comes in. The muzzle flash is part of the effects? (Tomono) Exactly. Explosions too. (Tomono) Greymon’s fireball, for example, is entirely an effect. (Tomono) It’s all incredibly detailed work. (Tomono) Sometimes we’ve set a certain brightness for the flames, (Tomono) but later someone says, “Sorry, another part of the scene looks too dark, so can we brighten the whole thing?” And you can actually do that? (Tomono) The effects team will say, (Tomono) “Please don’t—changing that would mean a huge amount of rework, right?” They confirm that with me over and over. (Tomono) But if we really think it’ll make the scene better, this team was willing to accept that every single time. That’s amazing—kind of moving, actually. (Tomono) If it makes the work better, then we have to do it. Digimon sure is loved. (Tomono) Yeah, I think we should love it even more, honestly. (Tomono) We pretty much gave our all to Digimon. Everyone’s feelings are packed into this project. Please, everyone—give it a try once it’s released! Alright, let’s keep watching. (Motion Designer) Naturally, the first step is understanding the character— figuring out what kind of character they are. (Motion Designer) If there’s already a clear depiction of them in the anime, we use that as our base. (Tomono) Sometimes we use motion capture, which records movements a human can actually do, (Tomono) but there are moves that humans can’t pull off, right? Mmhmm. (Tomono) In those cases, we manually set keyframes— freeze it at this angle, then 1/30 of a second later freeze it again, over and over. (Tomono) It’s painstaking work, but the result is something really cool-looking. That’s incredible. I usually just watch thinking “oh, that’s cute” or “oh, that’s cool,” but now I’ll be able to say, “Ah, here’s where it pauses—look at the angle,” and feel like an expert. (Hara P) At first, it’s totally fine to just think it’s cute or cool. But after hearing this, you’ll start seeing special moves differently. Yeah, you won’t be able to watch without tearing up. Alright, let’s hear a bit more of those heartfelt thoughts. (Motion Designer) For characters with previous anime appearances it’s easy for us to find references, Yes I can see that! (Motion Designer) For characters without prior animated depictions— (Motion Designer) we read the official encyclopedia’s move description carefully, going through every depiction we can find, (Motion Designer) then work out the details together. So the effects team also needs strong reading comprehension skills. (Staff) That must be hard work. (Motion Designer) It’s definitely tough without reference material. What do you pay attention to when creating the movements for special moves? (Motion Designer) Things like where the attack is fired from, or what exactly is being fired. (Motion Designer) Whether it’s something like a beam that keeps emitting, or bullets fired in rapid succession. (Motion Designer) We try to avoid straying too far from what fans envision. (Motion Designer) I try to stay conscious of that as much as possible during production. (Effects Staff) Here’s the special move after adding effects to the motion. (Effects Staff) Here’s the special move after adding effects to the motion. It really changes the sense of dynamism and impact. I just rang the bell because I liked that facial expression. (Tomono) Well, yes. (Tomono) Many of the humanoid Digimon this time have facial expressions. (Tomono) If they speak, their mouths move as well. (Tomono) I think the staff are really happy when people notice those facial expressions. It felt like I could almost hear their voices, so I had to press it. Alright, please play it. That’s amazing. (Effects Staff) This move has her fire a whirlwind kick from the guns hidden in her heels while unleashing a barrage of bullets. (Effects Staff) The bullets fired from the guns are created separately. (Effects Staff) Once they’re composited… Wow, that’s amazing! (Effects Staff) …it results in an attack that also fires bullets from her feet. What do you keep in mind when creating special move effects? (Effects Staff) I try not to obscure too much with effects. (Effects Staff) But since it’s a Mega-level Digimon— (Effects Staff) —one of the strongest units— (Effects Staff) I still want it to convey that it’s unleashing a flashy, powerful attack. (Effects Staff) So it’s about balancing that while adding the effects. (Tomono) In the workflow, effects tend to come in toward the end. (Tomono) But naturally, the effects staff end up in a position where they’re really concerned about the final quality. (Tomono) They mentioned earlier about thinking from the fans’ perspective— (Tomono) —and the people making them are also serious Digimon fans themselves. (Tomono) That’s why they can anticipate what fans might want to see. (Tomono) Everyone keeps in mind how to make the Digimon look its most appealing. (Tomono) It’s not about “I want to do this,” but “If it’s this Digimon, it has to be done this way.” (Tomono) Each person is thinking along those lines. (Tomono) So the work progresses (Tomono) with both the team’s love for Digimon and their sense of wonder. It really sounds like a wonderful workplace. (Effects Staff) Regarding what we created this time— (Effects Staff) —we immediately start reflecting on how users receive it, (Effects Staff) and whether there was a better way to do certain parts. You even reflect on it? (Staff) So the work continues? (Effects Staff) That’s right. It’s already wonderful enough as it is. Among the references used for special move effects were… (Effects Staff) …illustrations from the card game that looked really cool. (Effects Staff) We asked the card game staff if we could recreate them in-game. (Effects Staff) They kindly agreed, saying they’d even create the detailed designs for use in the game. (Effects Staff) Some Digimon were created that way, redesigned based on that collaboration. It’s great to see all the departments working together. Wait, Terra Force was remade three times? Yes, yes! Hara-san. (Hara P) Back at DIGIMON CON 2025, I casually mentioned— (Hara P) —that we remake WarGreymon’s Terra Force about three times. (Hara P) This interview has revealed all the behind-the-scenes details. (Hara P) Now you know it really was remade three times—please stay tuned for more. Got it. Apparently, WarGreymon’s Terra Force was remade three times. (Effects Staff) We wanted it to be the flagship for quality. (Effects Staff) We wanted the other effects creators to aim for this as their goal. (Effects Staff) We wanted the other effects creators to aim for this as their goal. So you wanted Terra Force to have the highest quality. (Effects Staff) When you compare something made in the first year to something made in the third year… (Effects Staff) When you compare something made in the first year to something made in the third year… (Effects Staff) So then you’re left wondering what to do with the first-year version. (Effects Staff) When deciding what the goal should be, if the flagship’s quality hasn’t been updated… (Effects Staff) People won’t know what to aim for. (Effects Staff) That’s why we made sure to update it each time with “This is the standard we’re aiming for now.” (Effects Staff) So yes, we remade WarGreymon… (Effects Staff) But there are actually many things we’ve remade even more times than WarGreymon. (Effects Staff) So I hope everyone’s favorite Digimon has ended up looking even cooler. I see Angewomon here — has it been remade many times too? That wraps up our look at the special move development floor! Okay, so that was the footage you just saw. (Hara P) So… what’s been remade more times than WarGreymon? (Tomono) In this world, 3 or 5 times is totally normal. (Tomono) Someone might look at an effect from two years ago, decide it’s unsatisfactory, and declare they’re remaking it— (Tomono) —and suddenly start working on it. There’s no stopping them. (Tomono) He’s the biggest Digimon fan of us all. Oh, so that’s him. (Tomono) Really, before anyone even asks him to do anything… (Tomono) He just keeps adding more work for himself. But you can’t do that without serious ambition. (Hara P) He’s in charge of effects, but he even gives feedback on totally unrelated scenarios… (Hara P) Offering comments from afar on all kinds of things. (Tomono) In our workplace, we’ve got people nicknamed “Digimon Professors” here and there. (Tomono) When we’re thinking about how to handle something, we’ll go ask, “What do you think of this?” You know, there are plenty of times I’ve thought, “Why won’t they ask me, too?” If you’d asked me, I could’ve given you an even better answer! Not only am I the ambassador, I’m a Digimon otaku too! (Tomono) True. (Tomono) But the result of asking is… (Tomono) …you end up saying, “Well, if we’re being precise, this is the right way, so please remake it.” (Tomono) And then it’s like, “Will this ever end?” It’ll never end. Next time: Behind-the-scenes development – Part 2. We’ll show you the area that serves as the Digimons’ living base. The moment I saw it, I thought, “We have to make an art book for this.” Not releasing this to the public would make no sense. The enemy characters are enormous. If you were an ordinary human, you’d be floored. That’s the most fun moment for me. All the staff put their blood, sweat, and tears into this, working themselves ragged. I think we should release a documentary about it. So cute! Way too cute!! 10 billion points! Thank you. Now I’m even more pumped for Time Stranger!

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