Q: What is Sonys involvement with Shenmue III?
YS: Sony is providing us with support in various ways including marketing, funding and promotion, and theyre our most important partner; theyre also our largest and most valued backer.
We plan to invest all the money collected from everyone through Kickstarter on development, excepting the Kickstarter fees and costs for the rewards. No portion of the collected money will flow to Shibuya Productions or Sony.
Q: PS4 physical reward?
YS: This is one of the most requested rewards, and its the reward I most want to make happen. Um... Please be patient!
Q: How will Kickstarter funds be spent?
YS: Please take a look at this pie chart which Ive prepared.
[Fees: 8 - 10%, Game development: 65 to 72%, Backer rewards: 20 - 25%]
Q: Ryos appearance...
YS: Weve had a lot of comments about how Ryos face looks, but weve just got started and so it is still under development. Personally, Im not satisfied at all either, and so even now were continuing to improve it. Today Ive brought a slightly improved version to show you its not the final version, and well be improving it even further, but I wanted to show you it.
For comparison, weve included two shots of Ryo from Shenmue II.
The one at the front is the slightly improved version for Shenmue III. Again, Im not completely happy with this Ryo the shape of his mouth is not quite right and Id like to make further refinements.
As well as the shape of his face, his facial expressions and his actions also add to his personality and his attractiveness. So going forward Id like to work on facial expressions and movements in making an attractive Ryo.
Q: Will the original voice actors reprise their roles?
YS: I auditioned Masaya Matsukaze and Corey Marshall for Shenmue I & II, and I believe their voices are perfect for Ryos voice. So Id definitely like to have them reprise the role again this time. Were currently in negotiations and Im sure they will both be happy to do so, so please look forward to that.
Q: Can PayPal payment be added?
YS: Im considering funding methods other than Kickstarter, including PayPal.
Q: Will a DRM-free version be made available?
YS: Its something that is under consideration at the moment. However its not something Ys Net can decide by ourselves, and so discussions are taking place with various parties.
Q: Will HD versions of Shenmue I & II be released?
YS: I think that if Shenmue I and II could be released before Shenmue III, people would be able to understand the backstory and enjoy Shenmue III even more. And so I also personally strongly want this to happen, but as the rights are held by Sega Im not really in a position to be able to comment. However I will also express to Sega that that I really would like for them to be produced.
Q: Details of new rewards?
YS: There has been feedback that there are not enough rewards, and so we have added additional rewards. We have prepared $1000, $2000 and $5000 grab bags. The bags will continue various items of Shenmue merchandise, and I think these will be quite exciting. And also at the $5000 level will the one-only prototype of the watch worn by Ryo in the Shenmue games. I have it here to show you... This is the Timex watch worn by Ryo, and it has the YS and Shenmue logos on it. Its a very rare item.
Q: Details of the grab bags?
YS: It includes various things such as special figures of Ryo, watches... these watches are not quite as valuable as the one-of-a-kind one mentioned before; theyre more casual and they also have the Shenmue logo. Anyway, there are a variety of different items included.
Also, we have prepared some of the original art drawn by our main character designer, Miyawaki. These are quite valuable, and are a great reward I think.
In addition to the rewards we have added today, we will be continuing to add further ones in the future, so please look forward to them too.
Q: Tell us about the stretch goals up to $3.6m?
YS: Firstly, Ill talk about the stretch goals up until around the $3.6m mark, which are the most basic goals. The stretch goals up to $3.6m will achieve a story-oriented Shenmue. As further goals are reached, the content for various areas will be correspondingly expanded, but even with the story-oriented version, the plot will develop to reach a confrontation with the 4 leaders {of the Chiyoumen}.
Also, game features like the Rapport system and the Skill Tree system will be included.
Q: Rapport system
YS: With the Rapport system, various data on your interactions with Shenhua will be tracked, such as her level of trust and rapport with you and so on, according to your actions toward her and the way your conversations progress. Later, this will affect how cooperative Shenhua is toward you, for example. I think well be able to express a new and exciting angle to Shenmue that wasnt present in the previous games.
Q: Skill Tree system
YS: In Shenmue 3, you will be able to obtain move scrolls {technique scrolls} in various places for example, in shops, mini-games, part-time jobs, gambling, quest events. Youll be able to make immediate use of move scrolls in battle QTEs for example, once you get a new scroll, youll be able to use it straight away as a QTE appearing during a fight. Being able to use it as soon as you have collected it will make it easy and satisfying to use. I think it will be fun to have it appear and be used when fighting. Advanced moves and Arcane scrolls will be managed in a tree structure; these will not become immediately available after obtaining them. Instead, a likeness can be drawn with learning of actual martial arts, where you build up to reach an advanced move through the accumulation of several moves; in a similar way, you will need to build up moves in the tree in order to reach the advanced moves, and I think filling the moves in the tree will be fun.
But you wont have to build up to the advanced moves by actually participating in fighting (which can become tiresome); instead you just need to accumulate the necessary move scrolls to fill the tree.
Q: Stretch Goals up to $5m
YS: If the $5m mark is reached, we will focus on the area of Baisha There will be new types of play here which were not present in Shenmue I & II. Typical classical war strategies from the historical Three Kingdoms period of China, such as seiges and infiltration, will be incorporated.
Features such as infiltration may sound as if they will make the game too complicated, but they will be implemented in a way that is in keeping with the feel of the Shenmue games and will be easy to enjoy and engage with for anyone.
As another feature, I am planning a Character Perspective system. To put it simply, it is being able to change the character you play, but in Shenmue it will be done a little differently from other games that have this: in Baisha there will be an event where you will be able to change character in order to accomplish the mission. The player will be able to control not just the character of Ryo, but also other characters such as Shenhua and Ren; Ren has his own distinct personality, and Shenhua as a female has her own viewpoints and decisions; the choices will be different depending on the character you play. So it wont simply be changing of character, but rather each characters personality will be expressed and I think this will make for an enjoyable experience.
Q: Stretch Goals to $11m
YS: Currently further stretch goals have been announced through to $11m (such as the expanded battle system and so on), Id like to leave it until next week to talk about these.
Q: Shenmue III at the Current Funding Level (around $3.6m at time of Twitch) vs $10 million
YS: At the current level of funding, as I mentioned earlier the game will be focused on the story. However once we reach $5 million we will be able to introduce aspects such as the Three Kingdoms war strategies mentioned earlier which will set it apart from the first two Shenmue games. This is actually the part I would most like to accomplish. If we can go above $10 million, the town of Choubu will be significantly enhanced. The town of Choubu has scenery that is somewhat like, for example, the Dobuita and Yokosuka areas of Shenmue I, and this will open up various options for amusement there. So, above $10 million, we will be able to include both game features that I would like to take on the challenge of including, as well as making the game open-world like with an even wider range of choices available.
Q: When is Shenmue III going to be reLEEEAASED?
YS: By the end of 2017.
Q: Will Shenmue III end the story?
YS: In terms of the 11 chapters that form the basis of the Shenmue story, we have only traversed a little way through these in Shenmue I and II. I did consider completing all the remaining chapters within the third game, but it would mean skipping a lot of the good parts and would not result in a satisfactory game. There were a lot of people who want to know the ending of the story, but in order to make the game as high quality as possible, the end of the story will not be reached in Shenmue III.
Q: Release Date of Demo Version
YS: Providing this at an early stage will be difficult because we need to develop various systems and the game to a certain extent first. It is likely not to be until the latter half of the development period.
I think it wont be until 2017.
Q: Final Comment
YS: I always love doing new things and taking on new challenges, and so I would like to aim for the goal of $10 million in order to produce a Shenmue that is both the one I want to create, and one which everyone wants. I really hope to somehow bring it to reality, and so I would like to ask for everyones continued efforts and cooperation. Thank you.
