Sakurai: "The process of creating a smash bros character takes over a year."

[[Obnoxshush/Dasshizer]]

http://mynintendonews.com/2014/10/0...ating-smash-bros-character-takes-over-a-year/
So apparently some characters take over a year to complete( like Greninja). I can understand this in a sense for the newcomers and revamped veterans. I hope this doesn't hinder the chances of character DLC.

 

[EnthusedPanda]

It's safe to assume they have a stockpile of sorts of unfinished content, (it's likely they'd finish whatever is lying around and put it out) and if not, I'm fine to wait a year-ish for some kind of DLC. I feel spoiled enough that I'm even getting a new Smash.

 

[DonkaFjord]

http://mynintendonews.com/2014/10/0...ating-smash-bros-character-takes-over-a-year/
So apparently some characters take over a year to complete( like Greninja). I can understand this in a sense for the newcomers and revamped veterans. I hope this doesn't hinder the chances of character DLC.

Well there were always half finished characters that didn't make the cut or who were lower priority so they have some unfinished assets but are still partially worked on.

 

[Khao]

We do know Ice Climbers were functional on Wii U at some point, I'd imagine they still have their data stored somewhere.

Now that the game is released, they could put some real effort in making them work on 3DS without affecting other areas of development, so I can totally see it happening.

 

[Jahnathan]

Man, he always finds a way to slip in hate for the competitive scene, doesn't he?

 

[TheUltraDeino]

Even if it does take a while, and even if there isn't data left for them, they could easily pad out dlc by working with unreleased vets or new clones alongside newcomers and have the vets and clones released before the full newcomers. I'm perfectly fine with that if that happens.

 

[MasterOfKnees]

Obviously he's talking about the full process they went through. Making a character probably doesn't take too long, but perfecting it and making it blend in with the rest of the cast is what takes a long time, not to mention working on multiple characters at once naturally makes it take longer to finish each one of them.

 

[popo12]

If DLC is planned for a game, it's typically in development before the game comes out. That daid, Nintendo obviously doesn't care if it takes about a year for DLC to come out judging by the Mario Kart DLC.

 

[KaZe_DaRKWIND]

Brawl was released in 2008, it is now 2014. There will be plenty of time between this and the next smash bros for DLC.

 

[CryoGX]

If they worked on Mewtwo 6 months prior to development, then it'd make sense that they likely would have a Mewtwo-related DLC half a year after release.

Wouldn't surprise me, since it's indeed possible.

 

[KawaiiPiranha]

I don't believe that it takes an entire year to implement a a character.

 

[SmashBro99]

Man, he always finds a way to slip in hate for the competitive scene, doesn't he?

Or just it's not his main focus, as it's a casual party game first. The community makes smash competitive, he doesn't have to

 

[Fire Tactician]

This article helps to justify clones a bit more too. If the typical character takes about a year to develop, why not add in a few bonus ones that would only take about a month total?

 

[Farorae]

Man, he always finds a way to slip in hate for the competitive scene, doesn't he?

Man people always find a way to overanalyze what Sakurai says

 

[wingo]

I don't believe that it takes an entire year to implement a a character.

Can you read?

 

[LordVacation]

Man, he always finds a way to slip in hate for the competitive scene, doesn't he?

Where did you see that..?

 

[True Blue Warrior]

This article helps to justify clones a bit more too. If the typical character takes about a year to develop, why not add in a few bonus ones that would only take about a month total?

We know that 6 Melee-style clones take about the same time, money and effort as a unique character, so every clone would take about 2 months to develop. Semi-clones significantly longer, of course.

 

[roymustang1990-]

I don't believe that it takes an entire year to implement a a character.

I'm having trouble believing that myself.

 

[Ryu Myuutsu]

If DLC is planned for a game, it's typically in development before the game comes out. That daid, Nintendo obviously doesn't care if it takes about a year for DLC to come out judging by the Mario Kart DLC.

I think that's doing DLC the right way. Mario Kart 8 is a complete, full-fledged game on it's own so Nintendo doesn't have to rush and can take their sweet time to deliver a good chunk of content, like how expansion packs worked for games like Starcraft. The game doesn't really need any more content to make it more amazing. However, adding more content ends up making the game more amazing than it already was; same goes for Smash, if they ever decide to make DLC, it could very well be done in about a year or so.

 

[The Slayer]

Can you read?

I think he did. I wouldn't blame his thought process though. But I guess it's to make it close as possible to make it perfect with the roster balance and flow of the game.

Reading from below, I think you meant reading comprehension. I might need to read a book more often.

 

[Nixon Corral]

I'm having trouble believing that myself.

The way I read it was that a character can be conceptualized very quickly, and they probably finish the models, voice work, etc in a month or two, but that they constantly tweak the character over the course of a year before they finally settle on a finished version. I don't think they're *slaving* over that character for a year, just that little tweaks happen over the course of an entire year before the character is truly finished.

 

[Deleted member]

Man, he always finds a way to slip in hate for the competitive scene, doesn't he?

What do you mean?

 

[TTTTTsd]

As for Sakurai "insulting" the competitive scene, I guess it's where Sakurai says the emphasis on Smash Bros is variety and not making it a sport, although that has NOTHING to do with the competitive scene as it mainly relates to CHARACTER CREATION in that he wants most of the roster to be unique so it doesn't feel streamlined. The straw grasping for "insults" is pretty real.

 

[GrownCannoli]

Im not trying to be negative and this is the only time I will say this but I am starting to think Sakurai is blatantly lying to us.

All these exceptions for the game and the only new modes are smash run with local multiplayer and for glory mode. Oh yea and angry birds... For fun is exactly the same as Brawls for everyone and I doubt they even remade it. No target practice, no item frequency, notable missing veterans, ect. I believe the new stages did take a while but thats about it.

I think the Project M team might be better than all of nintendo for appeasing the smash fans in all honesty. Game is great but it clearly was rushed. At least the fighting is polished and thats the most important part.

 

[Enigma14]

I think the Project M team might be better than all of nintendo for appeasing the smash fans in all honesty. Game is great but it clearly was rushed. At least the fighting is polished and thats the most important part.

P:M team listens to the community and can speak English. They are volunteers and aren't pressured into making a game w/ 1.5-2 years unlike Sora and Namco. Also P:M took 4 years as opposed to 2.

 

[Fire Tactician]

P:M team listens to the community and can speak English. They are volunteers and aren't pressured into making a game w/ 1.5-2 years unlike Sora and Namco. Also P:M took 4 years as opposed to 2.

Plus, Project M built up 2 characters from the ground-up, while the Smash team had to make 48 ones.

 

[GrownCannoli]

Plus, Project M built up 2 characters from the ground-up, while the Smash team had to make 48 ones.

That's just it. I don't believe them that they did that. Especially considering odd interactions from brawl are still in.

It really doesn't matter though the game is here and its better than I expected.

 

[DonkaFjord]

Man, he always finds a way to slip in hate for the competitive scene, doesn't he?

It isn't hate, it is a reminder that it isn't the focus of the game. It's kind of like how he had to remind us that Brawl was made to be an 'entry level' Smash because the Wii's consumer base was mostly 'casual' type and first time gamers. Remember the competitive scene isn't as large as the 'casual' group who buys the game, so why cater to the smaller group? It's just a harmless reminder.

Im not trying to be negative and this is the only time I will say this but I am starting to think Sakurai is blatantly lying to us.

All these exceptions for the game and the only new modes are smash run with local multiplayer and for glory mode. Oh yea and angry birds... For fun is exactly the same as Brawls for everyone and I doubt they even remade it. No target practice, no item frequency, notable missing veterans, ect. I believe the new stages did take a while but thats about it.

I think the Project M team might be better than all of nintendo for appeasing the smash fans in all honesty. Game is great but it clearly was rushed. At least the fighting is polished and thats the most important part.

Project M aren't under the pressures of deadlines and ratings and legal documentation and creating the engine or large amounts of new assets etc. Also Smash 3D seems like the largest amount of time went into getting it to try and run smoothly- A lot of decisions like cutting the icies to separating the transforming characters to the brighter visuals to the outlines etc. were all hinged on trying to get the 3DS version to work. Remember that the testing periods are pretty long and they were working on 2 games at the same time so something has to give.

 

[ItsMeBrandon]

Taking a year to make a character probably is more like creating a character's model and voice work and everything for the first month or two and then tweaking them a good bit for the rest of the time, as some people here are saying. That seems to be the most reasonable way to go about it, I'd think, but I've never helped develop a Smash game, so I can't really know what exactly they are doing.

This could make sense in light of the fact that Brawl (and maybe Melee, I forgot) had data of an unfinished character or two such as Toon Zelda, I think. And of course, you have the "Ice Climber glitch" where you can hear a cheer for Popo & Nana in the game under the right circumstances. I think these things could point to Sakurai and his team developing these characters early on but eventually deciding to give up on them. In that case, Sakurai saying a character "takes over a year" to develop sounds a bit more credible.

Still, I'd really like to see the development process of these characters if it really does take a year.