Hey there heroes, We're already approaching two months into 2022 and we've got more to reveal for Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising. This game is shaping up to be a really exciting instalment into the Eiyuden Chronicle universe and we're eager to show everyone what's in store! EIYUDEN CHRONICLE: RISING SCREENSHOTS Next up, we’d like to share some in-development screenshots from Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising, showcasing its setting of New Naveah, a small town out in the boonies of Allraan (the same continent in Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes). [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//40722116/d8e44268d92355dd4fe8eecbf133f053aa4e4232.jpg[/img] Encounter a vibrant cast of colorful characters as you explore the town of New Nevaeh! [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//40722116/6995875e5fa72eaf7ac92e2c80870832b9a7848c.jpg[/img] Resolve disputes between eager adventurers and wary locals as you help to rebuild New Nevaeh to its former glory! [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//40722116/b68dbd45c4eeb62c7d8f692ca98b110e95fd5f14.jpg[/img] Swap between CJ, Isha and Garoo with the tap of a button to combine their skills in exhilarating battles! [b]―Production Updates [/b] [b]Character Profile [/b] [b]Cabana [/b] [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//40722116/e6d5e235095297c05022dafe83d2f1874de8317f.png[/img] Race: Beastman Gender: Male Age: 32 Favorite Food: Strawberry milk As master springdiggers, Cabana and his people make a living by traveling from land to land, discovering hot springs and turning them into even hotter tourist destinations. He and his capy-kin are quite fond of a good soak themselves! But if you want to enjoy Cabana’s sublime waters, you’d better respect etiquette—he’s a stickler for the rules. That’s his son Pyba hanging out on his noggin. Say hi, Pyba! “Ah, well lookie who’s here! Have a soak, friends. Sink right up to your chinny-chins, and don’t forget to count to a hundred.” [b]Kawano's Comment: [/b] When I heard that Cabana was supposed to be the person in charge of the hot springs, I threw together a quick sketch to show everyone and ask ‘how about something like this?’, but it ended up getting used as-is! And so, this character ended up being 100% born from my own taste… Personally, I hope that it will be therapeutic for you all to see Cabana and his son in the game, just like it’s therapeutic for me to watch videos of animals who look similar to Cabana pop into hot springs… (Sometimes that's all I need to heal myself!) [b]Murayama's Monthly Development Report　Vol.17 [/b] Each different part of Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes’ development has begun to take shape, and we’re currently working on boosting the quality of certain areas that are nearing their final forms. This requires a lot of trial and error, and forces us to face this question time and time again: What would the right answer be for THIS game? All games are made with the hope that they’ll be fun to play, but there are many ‘correct’ answers to the question of ‘What’s fun to play?’ And of course, each game provides its own unique answer. Some games aim for maximum fun by charming players with beautiful graphics, while others aim to squeeze out as much fun as they can by making the controls as feel-good as possible. The hard truth is that sometimes, none of these elements end up clicking at the same time. For a simple example, think about ‘fast response times’ and ‘detailed animations meant to maintain a distinct atmosphere.’ Sometimes, it’s impossible to fulfill both of those conditions at the same time. We’re lucky to be blessed with an amazing environment in which to work on our game, but we still have a limited amount of development resources… So we’re often faced with the question of: Which area should we pour the most resources into? If we put X amount of resources into Area A, it means that Area B will end up with a more simpler design, but sometimes that kind of decision has to be made. One of Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes’ greatest draws is its diverse cast of characters, and the fact that players can choose their own favorites out of a slew of unique individuals and make use of them how they wish. But…how far should we truly go in terms of realizing it all? That’s what the right answer for Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is. [b]A Word from the Team [/b] By Kawano This month, I'd like to talk about what sort of style I use when drawing character illustrations, based on a discussion that happened back when we first started Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. Basically, I started out by discussing different things with Murakami J, our art director, until we came up with the idea of going with watercolor for everything. (I actually haven't done any analog drawing for a long time, so technically it's a digital watercolor 'style'). So, anyway, I tried doing a test drawing... It ended up taking way more time than I expected, which robbed me of any confidence I had in being able to draw over 100 illustrations in that specific style. On top of that, the atmosphere of the art itself also seemed to harken back so much to the olden days that I thought "Maybe this isn't ground that I should be retreading at this point," which brought me to the style I'm currently going with. As you can see below, A is the watercolor style art that ended up getting scrapped, and B is the style we're going with now. (I'm very sorry to people who preferred the A style!) This art also comes from a time during the character design stage when we were doing trial and error about whether certain characters should wear hats, so that aspect of the design is different as well... But that's all part of the charm, wouldn't you say? [img]https://clan.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/images//40722115/3d18c0cd61b260d7e29400f752325c826f7a7db3.jpg[/img] See you next time!