Designing the Protagonists: How Close to the Original? ｜Developer’s Diary Vol.7

[p]Hello everyone! This is the Double Dragon Revive Development Team.[/p][p]Today, we’d like to introduce the creative process behind the designs of Billy and Jimmy, the core figures of the series. We’ll show you how their designs came to be, including initial rough sketches and scrapped ideas.[/p][p]Design is one of the areas in game development where we keep deliberating from the very beginning until the end.[/p][p]Especially with the Lee Brothers, who are symbols of the series, we were constantly faced with two major challenges:[/p][p]“How not to destroy the original impression”[/p][p]and[/p][p]“How to make them work in a modern action game”.[/p][p]Here, we’d like to give you a raw, honest look at the trials and errors we faced.[/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][p][/p][h3]The “Lee Brothers’ Identity” We Decided on First[/h3][p]When finalizing the Lee Brothers’ designs, the first thing we clarified was the “Essential features from the original works”.[/p]

[p]Color (Billy = Blue, Jimmy = Red)[/p][p]This is the most significant symbol, continuing since the 1987 arcade version. Changing the color is tantamount to changing the character’s personality.[/p]
[p]An Open Chest Silhouette[/p][p]This symbolizes their “roughness” as street fighters, and we aimed to preserve that impression.[/p]
[p]Consistency as Twins[/p][p]Since the “twin” setting was clarified this time, our policy was to minimize differences in facial structure and express their individuality through clothing, hairstyle, and posture.[/p]

[p]These three points formed the “foundation,” upon which we added a modern look.[/p][p][/p][h3]Billy Lee： Freshness and Protagonist Vibe[/h3][p][/p][p]The accompanying images shows early Billy designs.[/p][p][/p][p]Initially, we leaned toward a “light and fresh” direction. However, we ran into an issue where, when animated, the character’s presence on screen became too faint.[/p][p]● Points of Trial and Error:[/p]

[p]Leaning toward sleeveless → Integration with the current world setting and other characters was weak.[/p]
[p]Less blue area → Weakened the “Billy feel”.[/p]
[p]Too open at the chest → Prone to graphical glitches in 3D.[/p]

[p]From there, we settled on the current form, which is “Emphasizing the blue color with a long-sleeved jacket”. The point that took the most time was making him “instantly recognizable as the protagonist on the game screen”.[/p][p][/p][h3]Jimmy Lee： Balancing Wildness with Twin Consistency[/h3][p][/p][p]● Hurdles in the Initial Design:[/p]

[p]Making him too much like an older brother → He looked like a completely different person from Billy.[/p]
[p]Making his physique too large → They didn’t look like twins.[/p]
[p]Making him too aggressive → He looked like a villain.[/p]

[p]In the process of finding this balance, Jimmy was re-aligned in the direction of “Older brother = composure × strength.”[/p][p]Ultimately, we aimed for a modern coolness that combines composure and strength, while maintaining the sense of presence from the original, through the “Heavy feel of the red rider jacket and a sharp silhouette.”[/p][p][/p][h3]The Difficulty Unique to Twins: Individuality Separated by “Clothes”[/h3][p][/p][p][/p][p]We created many different Lee Brothers designs in terms of clothing variation.[/p][p]●The Reason is Simple[/p][p]Since they are twins, we couldn’t differentiate them by face or physique.[/p][p]Therefore, it was necessary to express their personalities through fine differences such as:[/p]

[p]The gradation of blue and red[/p]
[p]The presence or absence of an inner shirt[/p]
[p]The degree of openness[/p]
[p]The length of the hem[/p]
[p]The “shape of the shadow” when standing[/p]

[p]As a result, the contrast that remained as the most legible form was:[/p]

[p]Billy → The blue jacket that evokes “Seriousness and the air of an classic protagonist”.[/p]
[p]Jimmy → The red rider jacket that suggests “A quiet, burning passion within composure”.[/p]

[p][/p][p]We aimed for clothing designs where the difference in character could be felt even by the degree of the jacket’s opening, ensuring that their individualities were conveyed the moment they stood side-by-side, despite being twins.[/p][p][/p][h3]Willy: The Destination for “Ruggedness and a Modern Boss Image”[/h3][p][/p][p]Willy is one of the characters with a strong memory from the old series. It’s clear that the design was swayed in many directions initially.[/p][p]●Directions We Tested:[/p]

[p]Military-leaning[/p]
[p]Gang-leaning[/p]

[p]While all of them had charm, focusing on “Preserving the symbols of Willy”, we ultimately settled on a modern structure that is “Military-style” leveraging the ruggedness of the original.[/p][p][/p][p]The result is a Willy that retains the image of the time while offering something new.[/p][p][/p][h3]Raymond: The Return of the “Mysterious Fighter”[/h3][p][/p][p]Raymond is not a character who first appeared in Revive…[/p][p]His roots lie in the “Mysterious Warrior” in “Double Dragon Ⅱ”. And as is familiar to fans, he was formally reconstructed as “Raymond” in “Double Dragon Advance”.[/p][p]Thus, this time, the series-specific theme started with “How do we establish the ‘mysterious man’ who appeared fragmentarily in past works as a ‘single modern character’?”.[/p][p]In the early stages of production, while considering the atmosphere of the old works, we widely explored “Expressions of strength” that adhered to the traditional image, such as “The ruggedness of a karate master”, “The suppleness of a kung fu practitioner”, and “The ferocity of an underground fighter”.[/p][p]However, as we proceeded with the examination, we reached the conclusion that the core of Raymond was not an external style, but rather “The pride of a warrior” and “The stillness of a master”.[/p][p]Therefore, the final character image was re-aligned into the following three points:[/p]

[p]Rational strength that prioritizes power but disdains waste.[/p]
[p]The aura of a mature warrior who is powerful yet self-disciplined.[/p]
[p]An elusive presence that wields mystical martial arts.[/p]

[p]Instead of rough violence, Raymond became a “Martial artist whose mere presence overawes the surroundings”. We believed that this stillness would naturally connect with the ominousness that permeated the old works.[/p][p]The final direction was to retain the “Mysterious oppressiveness” that the old work possessed while giving him the presence of a “Mastermind” that would stand out even in a modern action game.[/p][p]The design aims for a middle ground where old fans recognize “That’s him!” and new players perceive him as a “Formidable foe whose identity is unknown”.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h3]Story Mode: Prioritizing Pacing in Presentation[/h3][p][/p][p]The Story Mode for Revive was designed with the pacing of an action game as the highest priority.[/p]

[p]Short scene transitions and minimal necessary presentation[/p]
[p]Compact dialogues[/p]
[p]Worldview depicted through background variations[/p]

[p]We built the game to achieve visual presentation that does not stop the player’s action.[/p][p][/p][h3]Between the “Original Feel” and a Modern Play Experience[/h3][p]Because Billy and Jimmy are symbols of the series, they were characters for whom we constantly considered “What can be changed” and “What must be preserved at all costs”.[/p][p]Ultimately, we believe we found the “Just-right landing spot” that satisfies all of the following:[/p]

[p]Symbols of the original work[/p]
[p]Individuality as twins[/p]
[p]Visibility as a modern action game[/p]
[p]A structure that doesn’t break down as a 3D model[/p]
[p]The “Buddy feel” when they stand together[/p]

[p]We hope that the rough sketches and scrapped ideas introduced here convey a bit of our trial-and-error process.[/p][p][/p][p]The Deluxe Edition offers over 80 pages of digital artwork. Please check it out if you are interested![/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]