Just when you think you could know all there is to know about the Splatoon series, Nogami takes to GDC to do a panel and prove us all wrong. To say a handful of new details was divulged, would be an understatement. Plenty of details were revealed and with the likes of both @MysticDistance and @frozenpandaman in attendance, here’s a collection of their tweets, with regards to what was revealed:
https://twitter.com/MysticDistance/status/976494081319739393
At Hisashi Nogami's GDC session! "'Splatoon' and 'Splatoon 2': How to Invent a Stylish Franchise with Global Appeal." Starts in 15 minutes. Will be livetweeting a bit. #GDC18 pic.twitter.com/joZ6Wsabte
— eli! 🐐 (@frozenpandaman) March 21, 2018
Starting now! pic.twitter.com/8Bf8MfrdoN
— eli! 🐐 (@frozenpandaman) March 21, 2018
Introduced himself as Hisashi Nogami for the Squid Research Lab, then re-introduced himself as from Nintendo. Nogami joined Nintendo in 1994 and worked as artist for the NES and Yoshi's Island. pic.twitter.com/LMK3dC41tW
— eli! 🐐 (@frozenpandaman) March 21, 2018
https://twitter.com/MysticDistance/status/976496636137422849
https://twitter.com/MysticDistance/status/976496749647880192
After discussing ideas for half a year, his team came up with a prototype: cubes that could shoot black and white ink, which came to be known as tofu. Linking together multiple Wii Us, they held team battles and tried to cover as much of the ground with their team's ink. pic.twitter.com/AdIIkkHNKY
— eli! 🐐 (@frozenpandaman) March 21, 2018
https://twitter.com/MysticDistance/status/976496929482858497
https://twitter.com/MysticDistance/status/976498912231022592
https://twitter.com/MysticDistance/status/976501662142537728
This became the game's core mechanic. They explored ways to leverage the Wii U's unique features like motion control and the GamePad. While his team didn't set out to create a shooting game from the start, it involved into this. pic.twitter.com/fdgn3M3wTP
— eli! 🐐 (@frozenpandaman) March 21, 2018
https://twitter.com/MysticDistance/status/976501702500040704
With a new world, you need new characters. The characters in Splatoon are squids that can transform into humans. People are often surprised when hesring this, so why is this? pic.twitter.com/2GIIUbwvmo
— eli! 🐐 (@frozenpandaman) March 21, 2018
The first prototype was with rabbits. They're both black and white, and also highly territorial. Their neutral colors would also contrast well with bright ink colors. But why would they shoot or hide in ink? There was a disconnect between the idea and mechanics. pic.twitter.com/Q5o2R9RUkl
— eli! 🐐 (@frozenpandaman) March 21, 2018
https://twitter.com/MysticDistance/status/976501773673283584
To help solidify direction, Mr. Sakaguchi helped identify the core mechanics with shooting, swimming in ink, etc. There were all sorts of character design ideas. But when they discovered a core idea of "moving quickly through ink as swimming," the idea of a squid stood out. pic.twitter.com/hXmF8UIfhj
— eli! 🐐 (@frozenpandaman) March 21, 2018
The E3 2014 trailer was put together by Mr. Amano which showed off the key points of the game: gameplay, sound, artstyle. After this, individual team members proposed their own ideas to help flesh our the world, and it began to take shape. Weapons, fashion, graffiti… pic.twitter.com/RFk72fE5FZ
— eli! 🐐 (@frozenpandaman) March 21, 2018
Ideas such as popular music that squid kids listen to during battle helped prop up the world, and made it more convincing by creating content not directly related to the game's core concepts. pic.twitter.com/fZpVtL6zoh
— eli! 🐐 (@frozenpandaman) March 21, 2018
There were a number of challenges to prepare it for release as a new IP. How popular would it be? etc. Releasing stages, weapons, modes, as time went on would help people become intricately familiar with all parts. Balance adjustments were also key to keeping players engaged.
— eli! 🐐 (@frozenpandaman) March 21, 2018
https://twitter.com/MysticDistance/status/976502260627775488
They hope Splatfests help flesh our the world and make family and friends engage in "seriously silly" debates, such as Ketchup vs. Mayo. pic.twitter.com/82C5T9W26t
— eli! 🐐 (@frozenpandaman) March 21, 2018
https://twitter.com/MysticDistance/status/976502818591842305
https://twitter.com/MysticDistance/status/976503288572010496
The Switch's core "mobile console" idea fit Splatoon's concept well, but it came w/challenges, e.g. to adapt the game to this new hardware. One hurdle was screen layout, another was player base (they didn't know how Switch would sell). pic.twitter.com/ZhKLW7phjN
— eli! 🐐 (@frozenpandaman) March 21, 2018
https://twitter.com/MysticDistance/status/976503304992604160
https://twitter.com/MysticDistance/status/976503815351382016
The single player campaign, or "Hero Mode," serves as a training mode for new players to help them to become familiar with controls, but also to delve into the world and helps them learn and love the characters. Salmon Run helped continue this in a new way in Splatoon 2 as well. pic.twitter.com/7f1cXiDocd
— eli! 🐐 (@frozenpandaman) March 21, 2018
Multiplayer, single player, and Salmon Run are separate but part of the same game cycle: skills learned in each mode will transfer and rewards from one can be used in others. The young squid who comes to the city to play in Turf War battles also has a part time job (Salmon Run)… pic.twitter.com/Z4QhI08aqv
— eli! 🐐 (@frozenpandaman) March 21, 2018
In the Octo Expansion, Nogami says they will explore things they didn't have time/ability to do the 1st time around—Octolings will join the Inkling world! It is designed for the player who wants to explore the world on an even deeper level. pic.twitter.com/FA48nnxUO1
— eli! 🐐 (@frozenpandaman) March 21, 2018
https://twitter.com/MysticDistance/status/976506029298008064
And of course free updates to multiplayer will still continue.
They hadn't originally planned on changing the game so much over time, but were driven to do so by the overwhelming response & support from fans. For example, fans latched on to Squid Sisters way more than imagined! pic.twitter.com/pVy9QO3iwJ
— eli! 🐐 (@frozenpandaman) March 21, 2018
Time passing in our world passed in the Splatoon world as well, and player feedback was taken into account, e.g. the influence of the final Splatoon 1 Splatfest on the Splatoon 2 story. The world & characters, like Off The Hook, will also continue to evolve and expand. pic.twitter.com/2Hh1toGfJV
— eli! 🐐 (@frozenpandaman) March 21, 2018
Nogami says he enjoyed playing games himself as a kid, but some of his best memories are from discussing games and game worlds with friends. In his mind, fanart and attending events go hand-in-hand with enjoying games like this. pic.twitter.com/YoNX5wPgxH
— eli! 🐐 (@frozenpandaman) March 21, 2018
Recently, there have been international tournaments as well, such as in the European Championship, which was held across 9 countries. There are also many grassroots tournaments which are great to see. pic.twitter.com/ODShTWP1sE
— eli! 🐐 (@frozenpandaman) March 21, 2018
For Nogami and the Splatoon team, their goal is to allow as many people as possible from across the world to enjoy the game. They want to do everything they can to enable this. pic.twitter.com/SjTTIelrAo
— eli! 🐐 (@frozenpandaman) March 21, 2018
Source: @MysticDistance (Twitter) & @frozenpandaman (Twitter)
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