‘Legend of Ymir’, what is the secret to quality?

If it’s a mobile MMORPG that’s similar to Dahongskirt, you’re bound to naturally focus on games with good graphics. In that sense, Wemade’s new game ‘Legend of Ymir’, which submitted a demo version at G-Star 2023, could be said to be the most eye-catching game.

‘Legend of Ymir’, which is being developed with Unreal Engine 5, has previously revealed its presence by releasing trailers and tech demos. Of course, until then, there was a strong impression that it was ‘just a trailer and a tech demo.’ Because the trailer and actual gameplay are so thin, you can’t say the graphics are good just by looking at that. However, the ‘Legend of Ymir’ that I experienced firsthand at the G-Star site did not lie when it came to graphics. Although it must be taken into account that it is a PC version, it is as good as any other single game.

What was the secret behind ‘Legend of Ymir’ being able to produce such quality? Out of curiosity, I hurried to the Wemade booth and met with Producer Seok-Hoon of Wemade XR, who is developing ‘Legend of Ymir’, and had time to answer my questions.

Graphics Special: “Remove the ‘idol face’”
Q. The fact that you submitted a demo version to G-Star can be interpreted as an intention to show something. What do you plan to verify?

= There are many types of fun that MMORPGs pursue. There are a variety of elements, from community elements between users such as guilds and wars to immersive party play such as raids, but due to the nature of the G-Star site, play time is limited, so it was judged that it would be difficult to properly showcase such core aspects.

‘Legend of Ymir’ is a game whose strengths are graphics, action, directing, and in-depth content, but since the content was missing for the reason just mentioned, the focus naturally shifted to graphics, action, and directing. Since that was the case, I wanted to show it properly if possible. We prepared this demo version with the intention of making it an eye-catching game that leaves a solid first impression.

Meanwhile, the demo version is the introduction part of the main story, and we put a lot of effort into it as it coincides with the situation where it is being debuted at G-Star.

Q. I think I have to admit at least one visual. What is the secret?

= Rather than saying that there is a special secret, I think the secret is that everyone on the development team has experience using high-quality engines, including Unreal Engine, so they have a high level of understanding of the engine. It’s not just about using Unreal Engine well. Icarus M was made with Unreal Engine 4, but Icarus was made with the Cry Engine, so I have a good understanding of various engines rather than specializing in a specific engine.

On the other hand, the bar for graphic quality was set high from the beginning. I started the project before Unreal Engine 5 came out, and even though it was being developed with Unreal Engine 4, I developed it with the intention of moving on as soon as Unreal Engine 5 came out.

Q. The character’s appearance and design also attract attention. If you look at domestic games, the background is Western, but most of them are handsome men and women with Korean facial features. On the other hand, the characters that appear in ‘Legend of Ymir’ seem to be Vikings and Valkyries themselves.

= I still had a lot of concerns about whether I should stick to Korean-style aesthetic characters. There was a feeling inside that we should do the same, but I drew the line. As ‘Legend of Ymir’ is a game aimed at global service as well as domestically, it was emphasized that rather than adding Korean-style aesthetic characters just because they are familiar, we should create characters that match the background and remove the so-called ‘idol face’.

It wasn’t an easy path, but the art team’s skills were so good that I think the result was satisfying in many ways. Looking at the community, I have seen people dislike the characters of foreign games, especially the main characters, because they are ugly, but I don’t see that in ‘Legend of Ymir’. I’m still thinking about how to make the characters more attractive.

Internally, I would like to hear people who don’t know the character design say that it is a game made by a Western developer, not Wemade.

Q. You said you moved on to Unreal Engine 5 as soon as it was released, but I understand that there were many problems in the early days, including compatibility issues with Unreal Engine 4 and minor updates that did not work in previous versions. Still, did it pass right away?

= We thought that the art we wanted would not come out if technology did not support it, so we took the risk and moved on. Of course it wasn’t easy. As you asked, in the early days, there were cases where problems arose even with minor updates, but as I mentioned earlier, I had a good understanding of the engine, so it was a problem I could tolerate. In fact, it was just a matter of looking at quality alone.

As a side note, if you look at overseas games, don’t they often release tech demos when they announce a game? Looking at that, we always wanted to do something like that, but I think we’ve satisfied that desire to some extent with the release of the ‘Legend of Ymir’ tech demo (laughs). I was worried, but fortunately the response from Western countries was very positive. For reference, I am confident that the quality is now better than when the tech demo was just released.

Manual and automatic mobile games can coexist
Q. Recently, there has been controversy among users about the optimization of games made with Unreal Engine 5, but there seems to have been no major problems with ‘Legend of Ymir’, perhaps because it is a PC version.

= Optimization ultimately depends on how well the development team understands the engine. In addition to the profiling function provided by the engine, analysis is performed repeatedly through a self-implemented profiling function, so there is no need to worry about optimization. As a side note, when a frame drop occurs in a battle scene, the problem is usually one of three problems: an effect problem, a motion problem, or a modeling problem. We are quickly catching and resolving the problem through the profiling function mentioned above.

Q. How does it feel different from existing mobile MMORPGs? Perhaps because it is from a shoulder view perspective, it gives the impression that you are playing a console action-adventure game.

= Isn’t combat what you spend the most time on while playing an MMORPG? Moreover, as mobile MMORPGs, including ‘Legend of Ymir’, feature automatic combat, visual enjoyment is more important than anything else. It’s such an important viewing experience, but I wondered if it would be possible with the existing quarter-view camera. What came out of that consideration was a dynamic camera with a shoulder view perspective. Of course, this is not exclusive to ‘Legend of Ymir’, but in addition to the existing shoulder view perspective, the camera work was boldly used when using skills, thereby enhancing the action and viewing pleasure.

However, this does not mean that there is no quarter view point. Dynamic cameras are fun to watch in many ways when progressing through the main story or engaging in 1:1 battles, but for large-scale war content such as guild battles, isn’t it important to include multiple information on one screen? So, in this case, we are developing it with the intention of proceeding from the quarter view perspective.

Of course, as mentioned earlier, viewing enjoyment is one of the core elements of ‘Legend of Ymir’, so we are working hard to enhance the viewing experience even from the quarter view. The quarter view point of view is inevitably static because it focuses on the attacker. With this in mind, ‘Legend of Ymir’ focuses the camera work on the person being hit so that you can enjoy the experience of watching it even from a quarter view.

To sum up, we recommend using a dynamic camera when progressing through the main story or 1:1 battles, and using a long-distance camera when playing large-scale war content such as guild battles.

Q. It is a crossplay game between PC and mobile, but it is questionable whether mobile will be able to produce the same quality as PC.

= To be honest, the same level of quality cannot be achieved at 100% due to the limitations of the device. Of course, this does not mean that there is a huge difference in quality. We plan to implement the feel and quality of the PC version as much as possible on mobile. I think it’s probably the best among existing mobile MMORPGs.

Q. I feel like the automatic battle diminishes the charm of the game. There are many people who want to minimize automatic combat and maximize action. What do you think?

= We always listen carefully to users’ opinions. However, I do not think that removing automatic battle is the right answer. I think they can coexist. Even users who don’t like automatic battles won’t find quests that simply ask them to kill a few monsters or go to another area boring. I think automatic battle can solve that boredom to some extent. Instead, we plan to preserve the flavor of manual operation by preventing 1:1 battles or parts that require manipulation from proceeding automatically. Making it clear which content is suitable for automatic and which is suitable for manual so that they coexist. Ultimately, I think this is the path mobile games should take in the future.

Q. The market is cold. As you know, mobile MMORPGs centered on automatic combat are in a recession these days. We talked about coexistence, but if there are loud voices wanting to strengthen action, including feedback from the G-Star site, is it possible for that to change?

= This is something we will have to continue to think about in the future, but the major trend is unlikely to change. Our goal is to distinguish between content suitable for manual use and content suitable for automatic so that they can be combined well.

Meanwhile, in some ways, the reluctance toward automatic combat is largely brought on by game companies. As mentioned earlier, there are content and situations where both automatic and manual are suitable, but since automatic hunting is convenient, all parts that require manual control are automatically processed, which led to increased user dissatisfaction. We intend to complement each other by clearly distinguishing between automated and manual content.

Q. Please say something to the users who are waiting for ‘Legend of Ymir’.

= This is a goal I have set for myself, and I am working hard to make it a game that can be recognized by users as the next generation MMORPG. It seems that the quality has been sufficiently recognized, so all that remains is to add depth to the content. I am constantly thinking about how to add depth to collaborative and competitive content. It is scheduled to be released next year in 2024, so please show a lot of interest.