Dec 1999 Interview with Shenmue Main Designer Masanori Oe

[Switch]

I've translated an interview from back in Dec 1999 with Masanori Oe (or "Ohe", as they used in the magazine) who was credited as Main Designer for the first game.



Trivia quiz: which of these drink can designs from the vending machines in the Japanese version of Shenmue did not yet exist in 1986?


Revealed in the interview!
https://www.phantomriverstone.com/2023/06/interview-w-shenmue-main-designer.html

 

[code l name]

Awesome work as usual @Switch. This quote did jump out at me-

Q: What presented a challenge in designing Shenmue?

Oe: I'd have to say: making it realistic. That would be the greater part of it. To begin with, cityscapes are not that beautiful. One area may be grimy; another more like a shopping district. We really had a lot of trouble trying to create it all within the limited capacity available. We also had to think about how to make the players feel a sense of being there. We paid a lot of attention to every single detail, such as the lighting and the way the fog is rendered.

Correct me if I am wrong but I don’t remember the first game rendering fog. Am I incorrect?

Edit: It may not be in-game but now I do recall scene when Ryo confronts Guizhang at the harbour having some light mist/fog at beginning the scene but was it ever rendered in game?

 

[Switch]

Correct me if I am wrong but I don’t remember the first game rendering fog. Am I incorrect?

Edit: It may not be in-game but now I do recall scene when Ryo confronts Guizhang at the harbour having some light mist/fog at beginning the scene but was it ever rendered in game?

That's an interesting point! I do recall observing in the re-release version that it seems to have an enhanced misty/foggy effect around the harbor area in general but maybe someone can find some screenshots to confirm. The Magic Weather algorithm, as described in Sega's patent, included "foggy" as one of the potential weather conditions available.

 

[code l name]

That's an interesting point! I do recall observing in the re-release version that it seems to have an enhanced misty/foggy effect around the harbor area in general but maybe someone can find some screenshots to confirm. The Magic Weather algorithm, as described in Sega's patent, included "foggy" as one of the potential weather conditions available.

Interesting. Yes, I am sure someone more familiar with the engine can chime in. I do know volumetric fog can be quite GPU intensive. I’m sure they probably used perhaps another method but I do wonder, like the snow if they reduced or limited the effect because of its affects on performance.

Oe’s comment on reducing pop-in on distance objects like the mountains but obviously the games NPC’s suffered still from this. Again they had so many limitations they had to work around and ultimately I think most would agree they did an admirable job all said.

 

[Switch]

I am sure someone more familiar with the engine can chime in

Sounding the alert for @LemonHaze!

 

[Seaman]

The fog effect I recall -probably a bit fuzzy- being used discretly, for scene composition and not for hiding low draw distances stills present at the harbor cutscene when we arrive for the first time and the boat its displayed on camera. Its for a early morning effect.
Also when we get to Kowloon, when the bus is going up the curvy road in the mountain, there's fog again subtly -not yelling its presence- surrounding/envolving the mountains.

 

[jurassicriveria]

I've translated an interview from back in Dec 1999 with Masanori Oe (or "Ohe", as they used in the magazine) who was credited as Main Designer for the first game.

View attachment 18343

Trivia quiz: which of these drink can designs from the vending machines in the Japanese version of Shenmue did not yet exist in 1986?
View attachment 18344

Revealed in the interview!
https://www.phantomriverstone.com/2023/06/interview-w-shenmue-main-designer.html

Those canned coffees in Japan really wake you up.

 

[24Nathan]

Greta work as always!