SoulCailbur III designer Q&A

Soulcalibur III chief designer Seido Ozawa spills the beans.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has issued two new Q&As for Namco's forthcoming SoulCalibur III for the PlayStation 2. The first is with the game's chief designer Seido Ozawa. You can find the other Q&A with the game's sound director and composer here.

Favourite Soulcalibur III character - who and why?

Seido Ozawa: Maxi

Maxi has an attractive and unique set of motions using the nunchaku, different even when compared to the other SOULCALIBUR characters. Just watching how the nunchaku moves is interesting.

What is your exact role/ contribution in the development of a character?

SO: This feature is new to the series so the SOULCALIBUR team did not have the technical know-how of a character customization system. So the programmers and developers got together and collectively developed a system where you can change your character's clothes and wear layers of clothes.

We started from scratch for we had nothing to build on, so we had really had to create individual equipment, clothes and items efficiently. My role in this was to plan the schedule, set up and manage the work process and finally check the quality of the finished items.

Where does the inspiration come from when beginning the process of character creation?

SO: The producer Yotoriyama-san was the one that brought this concept to life and established the mode. With his strong determination, he was the catalyst in infusing a new mode in an established series, something that is not easy to do - all a result of his accurate decision making based on a wide vision with an understanding of both player and developer needs.

With regards to the design, I receive much inspiration from the character designer Kawano-san, who has designed many of the SOULCALIBUR III characters. The process starts by dividing Kawano-san's design into separate parts, which is done by the character creation modellers, myself included. When we divide the parts we constantly ask, how should clothes designed like this be modelled? If necessary, the modeller will arrange the design. Kawano-san designs very quickly and has lots of ideas. He is a great designer. He was an integral part of this feature which makes me think that Character Creation would not be a success without him. Kawano-san would design and then the creation modeller actualizes his designs - a great combination done very efficiently. I would love to work with him again!

Do you begin with an idea for a weapon and then build the character around it?

SO: There are cases where we try to fit various weapons in one character and also cases where we create a character with a weapon in mind. It is a process that also involves the story and moves of the character so we have to be flexible. We have to really grind it out at this junction to create appealing characters. The characters, the story, the weapon, the moves and motions are all very important aspects of the SOULCALIBUR series and so we all spend much of our time contemplating which direction to take the series.

Do you design the costume as well as the character, or does someone else do the costume design?

SO: As mentioned previously, in Character Creation Kawano-san designed the costume and the faces were done by the regular character design team because the face really shows the character's individuality. For the Chronicles of the Sword mode, Kawano-san designed both the character and costume.

What are the basic rules you have to follow when creating a new character - is there anything you are not allowed to do/ create?

SO: The character has to be attractive using weapons.

The character has to look cool in action.

The above points come to mind but there are basically no restrictions. Although it is not a written rule, I am always conscious of creating new characters that can stand alone and are not overshadowed by the classic characters because the series has so many characters that are all very unique.