Dark Souls: Design Works

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Miyazaki: I think that really comes across when you see the art blown up into a poster, although, speaking honestly, as a cover, it does have some problems. I think it comes across as more of a product more than a game, although I do like the image and I was the one who suggested it, so I'm responsible for the way it turned out. Miyazaki: Yeah, I did say that, didn't I… When I first saw that you'd made his head that size, I thought you were a genius. But the fact that it was just an accident, I was hoping you'd take that to the grave. I'm very happy that our feminine image for the Darkmoon covenant made it into the game intact.

The interview is conducted by Famitsu's Kadoman Otsuka and features the director Hidetaka Miyazaki as well as a number of artists who worked on the game. - Otsuka: Firstly I would like to ask Mr Miyazaki a little about the general design process. Hidetaka Miyazaki Otsuka: I think it's a really unique area, I remember before travelling there I was excited to see what would happen. Miyazaki: The truth is that I just wanted to make a really big woman. I think it was a Fujiko F. Fujiomanga, (Yasuragi no Yakata, literally Tranquil Mansion) in which there was a company president who joins an exclusive club to escape his stressful work life, and there's this giant woman who takes care of the club members, almost like a mother… don't you think that's just a perfect situation? A giant, considerate, caring woman. The kind we all lost when we grew up; that's what I wanted to make. Originally I wanted to put a mouth in the palm of her hand and we made all of the animations, but it didn't make it into the final game. Talking of glamour, her breasts have nothing to do with me, they happened without my knowledge. It's all the artist's fault. I think I mentioned it earlier but I always seek a certain refinement in all my designs. Miyazaki: Yes, we struggled at first but I think the final design is great. In fact when I find the armour in-game myself, I can't help but equip it for a while. With the blue surcoat and other additions, I really think it turned into a very cool design. The English translated edition of the Dark Souls artbook ダークソウルデザインワークズ is finally out. It's another good job at translating by publisher Udon.Miyazaki: Yes, according to the artists it was, but I think, If your instructions are too specific, the designs you get will be somewhat devoid of creativity, so I try to give them just the most basic, essential information before handing it over to the artists imaginations, which inevitable eclipse my own. But my initial instructions are certainly abstract. For example, when designing equipment I'd simply say "Make Something you can trust your life to on the battlefield, or "Make something that has enchantments to protect you." I think the artists probably didn't know what I was talking about half the time. Haha.

Miyazaki: Yes, they are, but I don't think they are related, they're simply vessels which hold the embers. Miyazaki: I think it turned into a good silhouette in the end, he looks like someone who doesn't like other people… I can empathise with that, haha.Miyazaki: Yes, but each of the areas had its own feel or tone as far as art direction was concerned. For an area like Blight Town for example, we found that once we decided on the general direction and gathered appropriate reference materials, there wasn't really a need to spend too much time developing the look of the area, it just came together. However in areas which were composed of more traditional architecture, we had to spend a lot of time working on the finer details. There weren't a huge amount of artists on the team so it was a case of moving people to where they would be of most use. Waragai: Make sure you make it really big so as soon as you open the book, BAM! I don't work in that area much myself, but designing weapons looks like a lot of fun. The Avelyn would have to be my favourite, but I also love the design of the Dragonslayer Spear.

Miyazaki: There was a lot I wanted to fit into Anor Londo. As I mentioned before, I wanted it to feel like a reward after finishing Sen's Fortress, but I also wanted it to be an area with no clear road, to have the player walk in places that you wouldn't normally walk, such as the buttresses. Then there was also the image of the setting sun, and the way the area changes once night falls. I really like the way your eye is drawn to the different features like the revolving staircase elevator. Waragai: I remember you said that to me when I was working on the undead dragon. Originally, it was covered with maggots, but you told me that instead I needed to try and capture the sadness of this great creature as it marches towards extinction. Miyazaki: We drew a great deal of concept art for the Painted World. It was actually based on the map used in the Dark Souls prototype. Of course, the prototype is your chance to really get your vision for the game across so we spent a lot of time on the area. So much, that I really wanted to use it in the full game but I couldn't find a way to make it fit with the other areas. In the end I cheated and put it in the Painted World. In 2009, they released Demon's Souls for the PlayStation 3, which brought them international exposure. Its spiritual successor, Dark Souls, was released in 2011. In March 2014, Dark Souls II, was released, while Dark Souls III was released in 2016.[8] A title inspired by the Souls series, Bloodborne, was released in March 2015. The Souls series, along with Bloodborne, received widespread critical acclaim, as well as strong sales domestically and internationally.[9][10][11] They have also received a number of awards, primarily those for the role-playing genre, including multiple "RPG of the Year" and Game of the Year awards.[12][13][14][15] Since release, Dark Souls and Bloodborne have been cited by many publications to be among the greatest games of all time. Anor Londo for instance is one of the most complicated areas in the game in terms of architecture, and as the mid-way point of the game it's also a very important area, so we spent a great deal of time working on it. After ringing the bells and overcoming the traps of Sen's Fortress I really wanted to player to feel "Yes! I've made it!"FromSoftware, Inc. is a Japanese video game development company founded in November 1986. The company is known primarily outside Japan for being the developers of the Armored Core and Souls series, as well as Bloodborne.

Miyazaki: I'm sorry. Haha. Of course, If I don't get what I want, then I start giving more specific descriptions, and I might even start drawing things on the white board, but even then I'd never go so far as to say it has to be this colour or this shape. I don't want the designers to just become my tools. Of course, It doesn't always go as I want, but I think that's probably due to me not getting the best out of the artists, and this is something I want to get better at in the future. Miyazaki: That's the truth… I regret that the fight turned out this way… Of course there are other designs that I really like, the Iron Golem for example, is a great, large powerful enemy. Otsuka: So you had a team of one artist/designer and one 3D artist working on each area, and then it fell to you to make the final decisions? Miyazaki: Yes that actually Super Tiger'srolling sobat. I think I recall saying that Super Tiger's story is one of the greatest ever told, although I suppose that's not really relevant here. Chaos Eaters I'm sure made the designers and programmers really angry because I forced them to make his armour equippable.Miyazaki: Not quite, we didn't have a single designer making Maps, Characters or Equipment, but we did have separate people in charge of each of the game's areas. I believe Mr (Masanori) Waragai was responsible for Anor Londo. This book is a bit underwhelming for me. Maybe it's because of the rough style of art (but hey, it's concept art), or because there aren't as much environment art which I was really looking forward to. Miyazaki: Thank you. I'm very happy with the area overall. It was the important first map we made and I think I was able to incorporate the new ideas I had while not taking anything away from the original design of the area. When collaborating with the team I often come up with ideas, and I enjoy trying to fit them in as we develop the world. Of course, I also have to be careful not to break anything. I think this method of continuous improvement can really help add to the atmosphere of an area, in fact we also used this method on the last game I worked on, Demon's Souls, the problem is that there is a tendency to overproduce things and before you know it, the project can spiral out of control and work can slow down.