“ASTLIBRA Revision,” a 2D action RPG that features vivid gameplay, is a work that has become a hot topic because creator KEIZO spent nearly 15 years developing it. This work was initially released as a free game and became a big hit. After that, the Chinese publisher WhisperGames approached us and redeveloped the game as a paid version.
Currently, it is not uncommon for individuals or a small number of people to develop indie games over a long period of 3 to 5 years. However, there are few examples of 15 years of development, and it has not been revealed until now how the development of “ASTLIBRA Revision” continued.
Mr. KEIZO took the stage at the “Indie Developers Conference 2023″, a conference for indie game developers, held on December 17th. In his lecture, “Tips for working and making things more interesting that I discovered during long-term production,” he reveals the secrets to improving work efficiency and game design that he has cultivated through his development experience, as well as the benefits of signing a contract with a publisher.
The key to continuing development for over 10 years was to check the entire work.
Originally, Mr. KEIZO’s main job was as a factory worker, and he developed personal games as a hobby. It is easy to think that the reason why the development took so long was because he was involved in individual development while also working hard at work, but according to KEIZO, “ASTLIBRA Revision is large in scale and is a 2D action RPG. Even though he was aware that it was a “highly difficult genre,” he said, “I couldn’t envision the path to completing the game, so I started by making what was within my reach,” which caused the entire work to stall.
“ASTLIBRA Revision” is an action RPG with nearly 10 chapters. Mr. KEIZO started development with the plan to create one chapter at a time, but he realized that it would take a tremendous amount of power to create one chapter, and that he would get bored with the work in the first place.
For example, when I finished creating Chapter 1 and tried to develop Chapter 2, I had to remember various tasks such as map creation and level design one by one. I realized that it takes a tremendous amount of power to perform a task, and that my ability in each work process was not improving.
For this reason, Mr. KEIZO stopped developing the game one chapter at a time, and switched to creating each work process one by one, such as map design and level design for the entire game. The amount of work was considerable, “it took a year just to create the map for the entire game,” but “if you continue doing the same work 100 or 200 times, you’ll get used to it and speed up.Then the latter half of the game will get better.” I’m going to go!” He said he felt the effects. Mr. KEIZO emphasized, “It is very important to do the same work all at once, if possible.It can only be a good thing.”
The importance of identifying simple tasks and creating them all at once during development
moreover. In Mr. KEIZO’s lecture, he introduced the important point of “determining the overall amount of work in the game and separating simple work from mental work.”
Mr. KEIZO emphasizes that “it is more important to be able to continue development in a simple work mode,” rather than the creative work that tends to attract attention. That’s because if it’s a simple task, you can continue doing it regardless of your motivation. KEIZO explains that when it comes to personal development, it’s easy to lose motivation, perhaps because you’re tired from your day job, or say, “I don’t feel like creating much today,” so it’s important to “how you can continue developing without getting tired.”
Tips to make the game more interesting
Next, regarding game design, which can be described as “the work of using your head,” Mr. KEIZO said that he emphasizes “stimulating the player’s sense of anticipation.”
For example, the story of “ASTLIBRA Revision” is “When you are in danger from a gigantic enemy, a strong version of yourself from the future will save you.” As the player progresses through the game, they will see how strong they will become in the future. It is said that this created a sense of hope that he could become one. In addition, by deliberately not showing the entire picture of the main character’s skill tree, we introduced a mechanism that makes players look forward to seeing how many different skills they will get.
