Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising News

Hey everyone! We want a new Discord server banner for the next few months and we want it to be made by YOU. Create whatever you interpret that to be and let your artistic abilities do their thing. If you want to share it on Social Media, feel free to use the #eiyudenbanner hashtag!

HOW IT WORKS

Share your creation on Discord or social media. At Discord please post your creation in the ⁠activities-submission channel. It's better if you post it as a link to a social media, so others can follow you and share it, but posting directly on the channel is fine!

Very important, remember to make clear which contest your entry is for. Use the #eiyudenbanner tag on your entry!

Feel free to add a short description about your entry too! Why you picked the colors, characters, art style, setting...



RULES

1️⃣ You should not use another author's art without their permission. This includes tracing.

2️⃣ You should not use official art in this contest. Please only send original content.

3️⃣ No NSFW and nothing against the server rules! Let's keep this family friendly!

4️⃣ Only one entry per user!

5️⃣ Do not post anything that is not an entry on the entries channel!

6️⃣ The image should be at least 960x540 pixels and avoid too much clutter at the top to keep the text visible.

7️⃣ AI art is not allowed.

Submissions must be in by September 24 12PM Pacific (3PM Eastern or 8PM GMT) to be considered for voting. All the top voted banners will receive a prize and could be featured in the community. Good luck heroes.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1658290/Eiyuden_Chronicle_Rising/

Hey there Heroes,

Things are heating up with the arrival of Summer, so we hope you’ve found somewhere cool and comfortable to indulge in this month’s update!

Let’s jump in!

Komuta D’s Sneak Peek
Komu-nichiwa, komu-banwa, director Komuta here.
I'm excited to give you another sneak peak this month!

And the contents for Komuta D's Sneak Peak #3 is...
TADAAA!!



What you see here is an imageboard of a key location in the story and a 3D model of the boss that appears there... Those who have played Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising may look at this and think, "...huh?"
It looks like some sort of decaying ruin, but what kind of adventure lies in wait there? You'll just have to wait and see!!

As you'll notice in Producer J's ‘Word from the Team’ segment, the art for the characters, backgrounds, enemies, UI, effects and other props, which is one of the most important parts of the game production process, are now finished and Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes is finally taking shape as the game's framework is being fleshed out.

To use an analogy, it's like an "unassembled Gunpla!" (It even makes noise!!!)

From that point we started working on improving the art's quality in order to really add that level of polish, checking whether the implemented sections were working according to the blueprints, and figuring out how to improve the design if there were any errors.
The image board above is just one of the blueprints from which everything started.

I hope you're looking forward to another glimpse next time!

Murayama's Monthly Development Report
Thank you so much for the many submissions to our recent call for the ending theme choir! We can't wait to see how it turns out.

We used a choir for the ending theme when I worked on Gensou Suikoden too. That was at the suggestion of Higashino-san who was in charge of the music at the time and the production staff.

We had the option to hire a professional singer to record the ending song, but since the theme of Suikoden revolves around a group of bandits and drifters we decided a chorus of amateurs would be more atmospheric.

The recording took place in a corner of the office and we gathered all of the development team for it. I was there too, but I was placed further away from the microphone because I’m loud and tone deaf (lol).

Come to think of it, some of the game's sound effects were also recordings of the team member's voices.

The development of Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes was undoubtedly started by the passion of our backers.

I hope this chorus will properly represent how this project is a joint effort between the team and our backers.

A Word from the Team
J-diary vol.9
Hello all,
Murakami J. here.

In my last report, I talked about the pixel art end goal being in sight. Well now we've surpassed it and are in the process of polishing the art materials.

I've mentioned this many times before, but the greatest challenge for the graphical portion of Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes has been meeting the volume of assets needed and our first priority was meeting each milestone and its quantity of assets.

The primary reason for this was the need to keep pace with the progress of each part of the game's development, but creating a large number of assets in a short period of time was not an easy task. Not only was it very difficult from a planning and management standpoint, but then securing talent, managing costs, and resolving a variety of other problems at the same time made this project a major challenge.

Somehow we managed to overcome those issues and are finally entering a phase where we can polish the finished assets.

In all the years I have spent working on video games, I personally find this part of the process to be the most enjoyable.

This is the stage where the visuals have been assembled to some extent, allowing us to look at the bigger picture as it comes into focus and make necessary adjustments and rearrangements.
With these last pushes, the final product becomes more polished and different with each passing day.

This is the most enjoyable part of development, when our only focus is on improving the game's quality.

Komuta D said this in the last update, but seeing the characters and world come to life with the addition of music and voice acting makes us so happy.

Regarding sound, its selection, timing, and how it is used can greatly affect how it breathes life into the game, so we want to spend as much time as we can on this.

It isn't my area of responsibility, but I can't help myself from talking in detail about what's been added so far.

That’s why the materials are almost ready.

From this point on, the finished product depends greatly on how much polish we can add, so I hope we can continue to make adjustments and keep pushing to the very end, dedicating as much time to it as possible.

We're entering the season of gaming events and conventions, so we'll have more opportunities to show you what we've made.
I’m sorry for repeating myself every time, but please wait just a little bit longer.

Thank you for your continued support.

MURAKAMI J

Hey there heroes,

Golden Week in Japan has come and gone, and we’re back at it with another Eiyuden Chronicle update for everyone so let’s jump right in!



Komuta D’s Sneak Peek
Komu-nichiwa. Komu-banwa. Director Komuta here!
And this month, I'd like to give you another sneak peek at what's happening behind the scenes.

The content for Komuta D's Sneak Peak #2 is the "Auto Tactics".
Ta-daaa!

So what on earth is Auto Tactics?
In Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, Auto Tactics is an auto-battle system that makes for an easier and more rewarding experience for those that find fighting normal enemies to be a pain in the butt.

Huh? But Auto systems can only be used against weak enemies that are a certain amount of levels lower than you, right?
No, no, no. Even with the default settings you can run headlong into any fight against normal enemies and that party will handle the rest. They'll even heal themselves if things are looking dicey.

I can't go into any more detail into what kind of system it is just yet, but I would encourage anyone who finds battles tedious to use it from the get go.

And that's a wrap on this month's Sneak Peek! I hope you look forward to the next one!

Murayama's Monthly Development Report

We had a six-hour meeting with a large group the other day, including our publisher 505 Games. Our meetings are typically held online, so it's been a long time since we've met face-to-face like this.

A video game is both a creator's project, but also a product. If these two aspects aren't balanced properly then the game can become either a purely self-indulgent art piece, or an empty imitation that has lost its heart as a game.

Sometimes I'm asked what kind of game it is that I want to make, but to me what I want to make the most is a game that many people will enjoy.

Ultimately that's tied to how fun the game is and its storyline. But what will make players happy is an extremely difficult question and despite searching for a long time, it's still a tough one to answer.

When I say "many people," as happy as I am to sell a lot of copies, being proactive and getting to know the people connected to the game is important too.

That's why I appear at shows the publicists ask me to attend, answer surveys, shoot my own videos, wear goofy costumes and film embarrassing skits.

Even so, sometimes a creator has their reasons for not accepting a publicity request that comes up, which then results in a six-hour long meeting.

That being said, I consider that a part of my job as a game producer.



During that six-hour meeting I was finally, FINALLY able to receive some of the merchandise for Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising. I'm quite pleased, and like the tumblers in particular.

Hey there heroes,

We are heading into Golden Week, which means there's a lot of tasks to finish before breaking up for the holiday. This means that this month’s update will be a little lighter, but we'll be back to business as usual after Golden Week so you can expect a full update in June.

Thanks so much for your understanding!

Kickstarter Backer Survey
Kickstarter only allows for one Kickstarter Backer Survey to be created for any one campaign. The update last month was not referencing a new survey, but the original Kickstarter Backer Survey we sent out a few months after the campaign originally ended. We currently have 90% of the Kickstarter Backer Surveys completed.

If you have completed your original Kickstarter Backer Survey, then worry not! You don’t need to do anything.

If you haven’t or aren’t sure, then please send a message to [email protected].

Please note, any customer service tickets sent to The Yetee after last month’s update asking about a new survey will not be answered due to this being a misunderstanding and no such survey exists.

Thank you!

Murayama's Monthly Development Report
We are deep in the middle of a very active development phase, working on a large amount of text related to in-game facilities and townspeople, while also struggling with creating the DLC scenarios.

We also fought a new enemy recently—the creation of book texts for libraries.

I hope to be able to convey the world's history, kingdom origins and climates using only text and stories of times left behind by those who lived them.

Not to mention the townspeople's lines. Now that is another big enemy.

The townspeople and soldiers in the game are not treated in the same way as the "heroes'' in the main storyline. But that doesn't mean they shouldn't still have lives to live in the world of the Eiyuden Chronicle.

I have written lines in the past for townspeople in the games that I have been involved in producing.

Sometimes fathers, sometimes mothers, sometimes children, sometimes young dreamers, sometimes girls in love, sometimes kids at play, sometimes soldiers protecting their country, sometimes bandits running amok, sometimes cunning merchants, sometimes street performers entertaining people.

I even experienced staying behind at work alone to write lines for townspeople of different genders, ages, and classes. I'd continue for long periods in a daze; I'd become a father, then a mother, then a child, as I wrote line after line of dialogue...

There were times when I would be there late at night and, although no one was supposed to be there, it felt like someone was talking in my ear. That would wig me out so I'd play loud music and keep working.

Are they the voices of people living in this imaginary world?

I feel that this dialogue is what really helps to build the world. As if the main characters are not the only ones in the play.

Hey there heroes!

Cherry blossoms are in full bloom today, and this month's update has a blossom or two of new reveals of its own. But first, a little spring cleaning!

Surveys

We're happy to say that roughly 90% of backer survey replies have been received! If you haven't gotten your survey yet then please send an email to [email protected] with the subject NO SURVEY. Please include your backer number and registered email address.

Premium In Game Rewards

We have approached all backers who purchased one of our premium reward tiers (become an NPC, put your pet in the game, etc.). If you purchased one of these tiers and have NOT received any correspondence form the team then please send an email to [email protected] with the subject PREMIUM REWARD so we can remedy the issue. Please include your backer number and registered email address.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Rising

We believe all codes have been sent to the relevant backers, but if you haven't received your code yet then please send an email to [email protected] with the subject RISING NOT RECEIVED. Please include your backer number, registered email address, and platform of choice.

We'll do our best to respond to each email within 48 hours.
Thank you very much for your continued support with helping us to close out these remaining issues!

UI Screen


We'd like to show a sneak peek of the status screen currently in development where it shows characters' basic info such as their stats, HP and MP. It'll also show equipped items and their effects as well as their available skills all at a glance.
(The image shown is for the Japanese version. The UI is still in development and subject to change.)

Murayama's Monthly Development Report

An RPG is a collection of very diverse systems. Systems for navigating towns and other maps, systems for performing actions and talking to NPCs like townsfolk, systems for activating and replaying events, combat systems when you enter battles, trading systems when you enter stores, leveling systems for upgrading stats... Not to mention that Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes will have war event systems for war scenes, solo combat system for solo combat scenes, systems for the main city's particular structure and systems for minigames, etc.

And that's not forgetting the system behind party management, which we showed a screenshot of above. Unfortunately, we can only show off the Japanese version at this time as it's still under development, but seeing each of these systems being completed brings a special kind of joy.

Regarding the UI, we believe striking a balance between high functionality and ease of understanding is important. When it comes to item management, for example, players might want to sort their items by multiple criteria. However, a lot of consideration needs to go into whether implementing that function is a good idea or not.

An interface that always forces the player to choose multiple sort conditions is redundant when just one sort condition is enough. It is unnecessary for a screen like that to appear every time when you can switch between conditions at the tap of a button.

In that case, should we make it selectable only when it's needed?
If so then we add the new function to the system, but as more functions are added, the overall system becomes more difficult to understand.

Games aren't tools, so a balance between functionality and understandability is important.

I don't think having a status screen that displays all the data in the game is a good idea.
Having a screen filled with rows of numbers leans towards incomprehensibility.

We want to present detailed information the players are looking for in a way that's easy to understand.

The status screen is structured according to those considerations.

A Word from the Team

Hello everyone, Kawano here. I’m in charge of the character illustrations.

Development is at its climax and I'm working my tired body to the bone.

I like to rouse myself when I'm tired by looking at the development screens and thinking, "Everyone's working hard, so I've gotta work hard too!" lol

There have been a few occasions now when I've watched the voice recording sessions and have been so overwhelmed by a performance for a character that I rush home before I have a chance to calm down and secretly add "they must pull this face when they say that phrase."

I'm mostly working from home with Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, so getting to see what others have been up to from time to time is great stimulation.

(This probably isn't the time or place, but there are so many characters in this title, so the amount of voices and cast members is wild! Please wait until we can release more details...!

Until next time!