Didn't see this posted.
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/12/how-a-team-of-two-people-is-bringing-us-2014s-largest-jrpg/
Carpe Fulgur actually started working on the script in 2011, not long after the release of the first chapter. For two years, both XSEED and Dice kept the deal secret. They had to. Nothing was finalised. And as they kept plugging away at the script, they didnt even know for sure if anyone would even see it.
It was the success of XSEEDs Ys action-RPGs on Steam that convinced the publisher that Trails 2 could be a feasible release. Instead of just releasing the second Trails on PSP, like originally planned, they would put it on Steam, too. By releasing the game on Valves huge distribution platform, XSEED could reach enough of a potential audience to make the investment worthwhile.
For a long time there was a little uncertainty if the project would actually go forward, even after the two Ys games came out, Dice said. We had to be sure theyd sell enough to justify working on other titles, and to prove that XSEED could sell PC titles which, by the way, they can.
Dice, who had worked with Steam before, helped connect XSEED to Valve for Ys Origin and Ys: The Oath in Felghana, which quickly became two of XSEEDs biggest sellers ever. Good news for anyone looking forward to SC. If the Ys games hadnt sold, Trails wouldnt have happened, Dice told me.
But the games did well, and SC is happening. The script is almost done, Dice says in fact, theyre totally done with the main story.
We are getting the script inserted into the game right now on the PC version so that we can see what works and what doesnt, Dice said. The sidequests and NPCs and whatnot are also getting pretty close to done. Weve got everything outside of the towns basically done at this point.
Comforting news for anyone whos seen the insane size of SCs script and wondered just how anyone could translate it. And yeah, its a huge endeavour, but Dice says theyve been working six or seven hours per day for the past two years to get SC together (Another fun fact: Dice says a big chunk of the script is actually repeated text used for multiple versions of the same scene like, say, meeting a character in the plaza as opposed to meeting them at the city entrance.)
Now that theyre closer to release XSEED is hoping to get both versions of SC out next summer I asked if theyre working extra crunch hours to get things done.
We arent actually crunching, Dice said. We dont want to crunch on Trails partially because if you really tried to crunch all the way through Trails, you die. You would die. It would take your life, either through pure exhaustion or through being driven to suicide. Im only partially joking here.
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/12/how-a-team-of-two-people-is-bringing-us-2014s-largest-jrpg/