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[Volotaire]

Select questions and quotes from the interview.

Eurogamer: When did your ideas for Breath of the Wild become finalised, how long ago did development begin? And how long ago did the Switch version begin development, too?

Aonuma: In terms of the development of Breath of the Wild, I started thinking about it after Skyward Sword was finished.

Cont....

Of course, to actually create that huge open world which you could seamlessly explore, we needed to develop a system for creating that. And actually, just developing the system and tools to create the world, took about a year.

And regarding the Nintendo Switch version, it was spring last year when we made a firm decision to also release on that platform. Obviously that required some adjustments to the development process and changes to be made, and to continue developing the Wii U version alongside Nintendo Switch, that was spring last year.

Eurogamer: It sounds like a major undertaking and development - it's a massive game you're releasing across two different platforms. I'd love to know the challenges of creating such a big game and making sure that it was done in time for the launch of Nintendo Switch.

Aonuma: Yes, this was a development process where on numerous occasions we've had to say, "Sorry, we need more time", and because the process was so long there were actually a lot of problems that got naturally resolved over time.

One of the major problems we faced on a game of this size was actually coordinating everything....... Cont.

Another example of a challenge we faced was the physics engine. We wanted a consistent physics engine throughout the world that worked in a logical and realistic way. Actually implementing that was sometimes more complicated than it seemed. [For example], one day I picked up the latest build of the game and went to an area, and saw that all the objects that were supposed to be in that area weren't there. I was quite surprised and confused, and I realised after asking the programmer, the reason the objects weren't there was because the wind in-game had blown them all away.

That's the kind of challenge we faced, making the physics engine realistic, but not to the extent that it would negatively impact things - striking a balance between realism and having it work within the game world... Cont..

Eurogamer: Zelda fans continue to show interest in having Zelda as a playable character, and I wonder if that was something that was considered for Breath of the Wild?

Aonuma: I seem to remember three years ago when we showed the first trailer at E3, I said something along the lines of "I never said that Link would necessarily be male" or something along those lines, and that got taken out of context and turned into a rumour that took on a life of its own. Link has always been portrayed as a male character as the protagonist of the games.

After that happened actually, we did discuss in the team about whether or not we should have a female protagonist. I spoke to Mr Miyamoto about it and the whole team talked about it, but in the end, it just didn't happen.

On Wii U of course there's already Hyrule Warriors where Princess Zelda is a playable character, and there's actually quite an assortment of characters including several female ones. And that title is already available of course. So looking to the future, talking about the possibility of having a playable female protagonist, I'd say yes, it's a possibility.

MUCH MORE at the link!

Cont... = Continued

Eurogamer (Tom Phillips)

 

[Dark Cloud]

They didn't decide to put this game on the Switch until last spring? Wow I thought they decided that earlier.

 

[Aaron Strife]

I almost wonder if the seemingly greater emphasis on story and more in this game made it seem harder to Nintendo to include a female protagonist as an option. Lots that they're already experimenting with.

Not saying they couldn't or that it's even a good reason not to, just trying to get inside their heads a little.

 

[ArcaneFreeze]

They didn't decide to put this game on the Switch until last spring? Wow I thought they decided that earlier.

So they essentially had one year to develop and port the game to the Switch. Wonder if this game was built for the ground up/had more time they coulda hit that 1080p mark when docked.

 

[mocolostrocolos]

So it's true a female protagonist was considered, as Emily Rogers stated.

Emily vindicated.

 

[Cerium]

Did you ever consider only releasing Breath of the Wild on Switch, or was it important for fans of Wii U to still have the game released on that console?

Aonuma: No, we never considered not releasing the Wii U version, and changing development solely to Nintendo Switch - that was never on the cards. As I mentioned, this title started development as a Wii U title, so first and foremost we started it on Wii U. After we also decided to develop for Nintendo Switch... if we'd gone more in that direction, using Nintendo Switch console's other features that Wii U doesn't have, we felt that a gap might have opened up in terms of the experience between both platforms.

With Nintendo Switch we're really happy with that functionality of being able to take it wherever you go, but beyond that we really wanted the gameplay experience to be the same, and for Wii U fans to be able to experience the same game people who play it on Switch will be able to experience.

It sounds like the WiiU version is holding the Switch version back in the name of parity.

Wish it weren't so.

 

[RoadHazard]

People think it follows WW? I mean, I know some do, but I thought for sure it was one of the less popular theories.

 

[Dark Cloud]

So they essentially had one year to develop and port the game to the Switch. Wonder if this game was built for the ground up/had more time they coulda hit that 1080p mark when docked.

It definitely sounds like the Wii U version held it back. It's not from the ground up or it would've been better.

 

[calc84maniac]

So they essentially had one year to develop and port the game to the Switch. Wonder if this game was built for the ground up/had more time they coulda hit that 1080p mark when docked.

All I know is that if they did that people would just be like "1080p? In 2021?"

 

[Rodin]

Lol at people bitching about a character showing emotions in a point of the trailer, I can't fucking believe he had to address that. You can even see Zelda protecting Link with her magic in another scene.

Anyway if the Switch development started last spring it would explain why the game doesn't look that much different from the Wii U version. The parts about the physics engine were really interesting as well.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

it would be nice if they took a year to use the same engine the same assets and create a story around a playable Zelda or Female link and release it March 2018

lol nah it will never happen

 

[Jackano]

one day I picked up the latest build of the game and went to an area, and saw that all the objects that were supposed to be in that area weren't there. I was quite surprised and confused, and I realised after asking the programmer, the reason the objects weren't there was because the wind in-game had blown them all away.

That's the kind of things I like!

 

[takriel]

Breath of the Wild takes on a whole new meaning after reading the part where at one point in the game's development, the wind could blow away all the items in an area, lol.

 

[E-phonk]

it would be nice if they took a year to use the same engine the same assets and create a story around a playable Zelda or Female link and release it March 2018

lol nah it will never happen

No, but more optimistically - they will most likely re-use this engine for either the next zelda or other in house games I think, and all the technology/interactivity/physics they build into it might rub off on those games.

 

[Zedark]

What I found interesting was that the decision to make Zelda for the Switch too was taken as late as spring 2016. Seems like they will only have been working on that version for one year in total when it releases, maybe even less. Maybe that can in part explain why the game fails to hit 1080p (at the moment at least): they simply didn't put a huge amount of time into it?

 

[SmokedMeat]

So they essentially had one year to develop and port the game to the Switch. Wonder if this game was built for the ground up/had more time they coulda hit that 1080p mark when docked.

While maintaining a rather solid 30fps? Doubtful.