Phantom Island: Interview with a Japanese Indie Game Developer

Where we talk about cultural differences in game design, the indie dev community in Tokyo, and tricks to optimize game performance

Interview: Douglas Schules
Translation: Hugh Wilson Nettelbeck

Visit Phantom Island's homepage

日本語で読む

Daedalus Machine
I’d like to start by asking about your circle, Phantom Island. Can you briefly tell us a bit about its background and development?
 
Phantom Island
The team was originally formed back around February 2016 by me and a group of my classmates while we were attending technical college. Our aim was to make “games that couldn’t be made by a company.”
 
Since then, we’ve planned and scrapped a number of different game concepts. Eventually, we committed to developing our current project, Faye/Sleepwalker. First, we developed a prototype build of the game, and now we’re working on the release build.
 
Back when we started the circle there were four members. Since then, that number has grown to seven members currently working on the project.
 
 
Daedalus Machine
Up to this point, what’s the most difficult challenge Phantom Island has faced as a circle?
 
Phantom Island
Mainly human relations.
 
We’ve had members question their individual relevance to the group. These days I can talk openly about it as a bit of a development-related horror story, but at the time I really felt bad about being the cause of dissatisfaction among the team. I was so stressed out by the idea that our whole project might collapse that I could barely even swallow my food.
 
 
Daedalus Machine
People don’t talk about it often, but human relations are really an important aspect of game development.  I think that other developers who have faced similar problems would be able to relate.
 
Phantom Island
My experiences might be a bit unique, but back when we originally started development I thought “I can make a game on my own, but it would be good to work in a group to pool resources”. I’m sure a lot of other game developers probably think like this, but it is really a big mistake.
 
I saw myself as the individual creator behind the game. I made all the major decisions about the project on my own, barely stopping to consider the opinions of the other group members. I didn’t really realize I was doing it at the time, but that doesn’t change the negative effect that it had on everyone else.
 
I also deleted all of the source code from the prototype version of the game when we moved on to developing the release version. In doing so, I unthinkingly deleted a lot of the hard work that other members had put into the project. That’s something I really regret.
 
Overall, I think the problem was that I could have shown more sincerity towards each individual member of the team; I lost sight of the fact that they are individuals thinking “I’m developing a game as a member of a team, whose contributions reflect my own ideas.” Before, I used to make decisions about all the smaller details of the game’s design and source code, but now I leave those decisions to the members who are in charge of those individual sections. These days, I stick to making larger scale decisions about the project’s direction.
 
For example, I leave decisions about enemy behavior and battle design to the relevant members who are in charge of those aspects.
 
Also, I am now making a conscious effort to properly respect the hard work of my fellow team members. I have realized that this game does not belong to me alone. It is the fruit of our combined labors as a team.
 
Of course, there are also times when I don’t want to compromise on my visions for the project, and there are times where I disagree with other members’ decisions. I guess this problem isn’t relevant to developers who understand from the get-go that they can’t make a game all on their own and enlist the help of others.

Daedalus Machine
Your current project is a 3D action game called Faye/Sleepwalker. How long have you been working on it?
 
Phantom Island
We started development on the prototype build about two years and two months ago, in August of 2016. If you include the planning stages of the project, we’ve probably been working on it for about two years and five months.

Daedalus Machine
Can you tell us a little about the concept of the game?
 
Phantom Island
We wanted to build a game around the concept of being “too fast to see”. Based on that, we developed the game’s “intuitive action” system and wrote a scenario that focuses on themes of human growth.
 
With the “too fast to see” concept, I’m trying to capture the feeling I get from riding on a bullet train and trying to focus my eyes on the passing scenery. When something zips in and out of a person’s field of vision very quickly the brain tries to process it, but if the object is too quick to process it can cause confusion.
 
That line between understanding and confusing - when the brain is constantly processing new information - brings a certain kind of catharsis. The base concept for our game was born from the idea of implementing this concept into our open world movement and combat systems. It’s not a concept that will appeal to a wider audience.


Daedalus Machine
Now that you mention it, I can see how the idea of speed or intuition could be reflected in the game mechanics. Could you be a bit more descriptive about how you see these ideas you mention concretely appear in the game’s design or story?
 
Phantom Island
The story isn’t really tied to the game’s concept. As for the game design, we have aimed to create a game that makes the large open-world setting feel small through high-speed movement. We aimed to make the aerial movement and on-foot dash feel somewhat similar to something like Sonic the Hedgehog in terms of speed. 
 
This not only allowed us to achieve our concept goal, but also reduced the necessity for us to dedicate resources to densely detailing the open world, since the player moves through it too quickly to focus on the smaller details.
 
 
Daedalus Machine
From a technical perspective, how difficult was it to implement the concept of speed into the game, and how did you do it?
 
Phantom Island
From a technical perspective, we really struggled with the collision physics. The player character and enemies move so fast that they would often clip through walls. Also, both the player character and several of the game’s enemies have attacks in which they teleport. We had a lot of trouble trying to prevent characters from getting stuck in walls while teleporting.
 
To stop characters from going out of bounds during regular movement we’ve programmed the game to first check whether there are any collidable objects between a character’s starting position and destination one frame before movement occurs. If any collidable objects are found, the character will return to their starting position.
 
Similarly, to prevent characters from moving out of bounds while teleporting, we’ve programmed the game to check whether the destination of a teleport overlaps with any collidable objects. If any  collidable objects are found, the destination is diverted to either above or below that object.
 
 
Daedalus Machine
Right now, the game is still in the demo stages. When do you anticipate finishing it?
 
 
Phantom Island
Originally we were aiming for a winter 2018 release, but we’ve had to delay the release.
 
Our current plan is to release the digital download version of the game in spring of 2019, with the physical release and Steam release further slated for summer that year.
 
 
Daedalus Machine
The protagonist of the game is female. You don’t often see this in the US (although it is increasing), but female main characters are popular in Japan, especially for indie and doujin games. Why do you think this is the case? 
 
 
Phantom Island
I think it’s a cultural difference between Japan and the West. Speaking just for Japan, I think Japanese tend to appreciate the ability to empathize or sympathize.

It is often said that women are better at forming and maintaining communities than men are. Women are more capable of understanding and supporting others. Or at least, I think the general perception in Japanese society is that women should be like that. In other words, we have this idea that women are friendlier and more readily able to become emotionally close to others. I think that the prevalence of female or feminine characters was probably born from these societal expectations. Compared to male characters, female characters or characters with feminine traits pose fewer psychological barriers. At least, that’s how it is for me.

Also, this is just my personal opinion, but I think a lot of people choose to feature female characters because they think that girls are Kawaii. I think there’s a new “kawaii culture” that has emerged since Avril Lavigne brought the concept to Western teens. That’s another possible difference.
 
 
Daedalus Machine
Can you tell us a bit more about what you mean by this “difference”?
 
Phantom Island
The concept of “Kawaii” is highly context dependent. One example would be perception of color.
There is a clear difference in the way that Japanese people and Western people perceive color. For example, I think that vivid colors aren’t seen to be fit for masculine characters and are usually reserved for female characters in Japan.


Daedalus Machine
So, would you say that kawaii is, to some extent, a marketing tactic?
 
Phantom Island
It is definitely a possible marketing tactic.
We haven’t used that strategy much for our current project, but I’d like to utilize that kind of approach more in the future.
 
 
Daedalus Machine
What kind of experience do you want the players to have when playing the game?
 
Phantom Island
I want the player to think, “I don’t know what’s happening, but I’m having fun!”
 
That feeling brings the kind of catharsis that stops you from putting the game down. We want to help people experience that feeling.
 
 
Daedalus Machine
From a gameplay perspective, the normal mode and sleepwalker mode share similarities with action games like God of War, or the various musou games. What would you say are the aesthetic and game play influences on the game?
 
Phantom Island
If you’re asking whether or not we specifically referenced those games during the planning phase of the project, then no, we didn’t. But, yes, we did reference them when trying to work out the formula for what makes a popular action game.
 
Games with exhilarating combat where you can stylishly take down enemies are called “hack and slash” games. Games like God of War 3, Devil May Cry, NieR, Kingdom Hearts and Bayonetta are the first that come to mind. I think that the feel of the combat in those games was a major influence for us.
 
NieR Automata, especially, has excellent feeling combat. I feel confident in my assertion that it is the best entry in the genre in recent years. Every action game developer should play it.
 
Tangentially, in Faye/Sleepwalker, dodging enemy attacks at the right time causes the game to briefly switch into slow-motion and the screen becomes black and white. You might think that this was influenced by Bayonetta’s “Witch Time”, but I insist that’s just a coincidence! (LOL)


Daedalus Machine
You mentioned at the start of the interview that you wanted to develop a game that companies couldn’t make. Can you tell us a bit more about what you mean?
 
Phantom Island
Well, first, I don’t think that any small to medium sized companies where I could design a game on my own exist in Japan. It’s not viable from a sales-versus-development cost perspective. Also, I’m still new to the industry so a company would be unlikely to put me in charge of a project.
 
That’s why I decided that it would be better to face the challenge of independent development, where I don’t have to worry about sales.
 
 
Daedalus Machine
So, you’re not really talking about content but the structure of the industry itself. If I understand what you’re saying, you think that individual creators don’t really have a position in the current industry environment because the profit-oriented nature of business needs fast development cycles which are best achieved through teams. It sounds like you’re a bit nostalgic for the early days of PC gaming, where games like Ultima and Wizardry were designed from start to finish by individuals. Couldn’t it be said that in some respects the mobile market is like that now?
 
Phantom Island
Specifically, I usually like short, simple games that are intuitively designed. However, I feel that the mainstream game industry is increasingly demanding richly detailed, long and complex games.
 
I felt like there was a difference in creative directions between what I wanted to make and what the industry would allow for. I think that in the mainstream video game industry it can be quite limiting to be assigned to a certain position, and this practice isn’t limited to consumer or mobile development. You don’t get to exert full creative control over a project - instead you’re put in charge of one small, specific part of a game’s development. Maybe mobile games weren’t that way a few years ago, but I certainly have the impression that they’ve moved in that direction recently in an attempt to appeal to consumer demands.
 
I feel nostalgic about the early days of PC gaming. That said, I’m only 24 years old so I don’t really know what it was like at the time. I feel like I need to experience things the way people working in the industry did back then.
 
 
Daedalus Machine
The game was developed in Unity, but how much experience did you have with it when you started?
 
Phantom Island
Before starting development on Faye/Sleepwalker, I had been using Unity for about a year.
 
At the time, the Oculus Rift DK2 had just recently been released for Kickstarter backers, so I was trying my hand at developing a VR multiplayer shooting game using Unity 5. That game never actually saw the light of day - it’s sleeping at the back of my HDD.
 
 
Daedalus Machine
I haven’t talked to many people who have tried to design VR games. How different is designing and planning for VR from planning something for a traditional platform?

Phantom Island
From a game design perspective, VR games require a considerably wider field of view than traditional games do, which means that there is much more of a necessity to prioritize visual feedback. It’s still a relatively recent field, so a lot of the know-how hasn’t really been established yet. As such, you have to go through a lot of trial and error, which considerably lengthens development time.
 
Also, the most important thing when developing for VR, is to keep travel-sickness medicine on hand. Otherwise players will collapse! (LOL)
 
When you first start development on a game, it isn’t all that polished yet, and as a result it will definitely make play testers feel motion sick...Every day I felt ill play testing my own game.
 
I feel better now, of course.
 

Daedalus Machine
I’d like to talk a little about how Faye/Sleepwalker was designed. I’m sure you’ve encountered unexpected setbacks or delays as you’ve developed the game, like when some gameplay mechanic doesn’t work as expected. Can you give us some examples of when this happened and how you dealt with the situation?

Phantom Island
When it came to the feel of the combat, I struggled with several elements:

1.  “I’m attacking but I don’t feel any impact”
2. “It doesn’t feel fun to get hit”
3. “I can’t keep playing for long periods - I get tired of it”

For the first issue, I think the problem was with the sound design, visual effects and the motion transitions of the game. Right from the start of the planning stage we did not intend to include any hit-stop on contact, but eventually we decided to add a short hit-stop to the game. That has definitely improved the feeling of landing a hit, but we’re still working on brushing up this element of gameplay.
 
As for the second one, taking a hit can actually make more determined players feel more immersed in a game. However, if the player feels that taking damage was unfair, that feeling turns into dissatisfaction.
                                                                                                            
We aimed to fix elements of the game that cause players to feel that it is unfair (e.g. camera problems, enemies that are too fast to reasonably react to, problems with the controls). Now, when we implement new enemies, we consider whether they are fair or not.
 
For number three, we concluded that the game wasn’t exciting enough. To address this, we enhanced visual effects during combat and added in the bullet-time system. A major influence for this system was the film, The Matrix. I think that film’s direction and visuals go hand-in-hand with video game combat.


Daedalus Machine
I see what you mean. These are all small technical details that, when done well, add to the polished feel of a game. Your concern about the camera work, though, I find particularly interesting. Ideally, how do you think camera work should operate, and what were you unsatisfied with in Faye?  
 
Phantom Island
Ideal camerawork should let the player see what they want, when they want to see it. Therefore, it’s important to understand what the player wants to see, how wide the field of vision should be, and how much camera shake players will tolerate.
 
In particular, when dealing with games where the 3D field of view can move freely, because the camera can rotate 360 ° it is necessary to provide the player with a system that guides the field of view so it doesn’t produce discomfort while still allowing them limited control of the camera.
 
Initially, the camera was designed by default to focus on the player and any enemies that they’re fighting, but players needed to manually control the camera to look at any other areas of interest. This required a lot of player input. Just the act of having to move the camera to look at the desired focal points put some degree of stress on the player.
 
 
Daedalus Machine
When you say that the camera was designed to focus on the player and enemies, what do you mean?
 
Phantom Island
Sorry, my explanation was insufficient. Basically, we had adopted fixed camera angles that allowed the player to see both their own character and any enemies on screen at the same time. Players only had direct camera control outside of battle. We hadn’t yet implemented the current system whereby the camera automatically moves to highlight areas of interest.


Daedalus Machine
What tweaks or features have you implemented to resolve the problem?
 
Phantom Island
In Faye/Sleepwalker, the game only takes camera control away from the player during story scenes and when highlighting interactable parts of the environment. At all the other times the user is able to freely control the camera by themselves.
 
When there is a place where we want to draw the player’s attention to, we’ve implemented a system in which we intentionally widen their view and set the camera to focus on the middle point between the player and whatever we want to draw their attention towards. This should help to guide the player to realize, “hey, there’s something over there”.
 
 
Daedalus Machine
Along those lines, what’s the most difficult design problem or issue you’ve faced in developing the game so far?
 
Phantom Island
One problem that caused us a lot of trouble was trying to strike the right balance between high quality 3D graphics and maintaining performance. It’s an open world game, so it’s pretty easy for the frame rate to dip below 60 frames per second if we’re not careful.


Daedalus Machine
How did you overcome it?
 
Well, to improve performance we implemented the “Level of Detail” option and for one part we also made use of Imposter. We also made use of Unity’s GPU Instancing function to optimize rendering.
 
We didn’t make any compromises on the quality side of things.
 
 
Daedalus Machine
Are you referring to the Imposter System add on for Unity? I’m not too familiar with it, but doesn’t it improve performance by converting 3D assets into 2D ones? 
 
Phantom Island
The function doesn’t come packaged with Unity, so we needed to install it independently. It appears that recently the feature comes pre-installed in Unreal Engine 4. It seems that it was used in Fortnite.
 
You’re right - it converts 3D assets into 2D.
 
 
Daedalus Machine
Can you tell us a bit about how it works and what you needed to do to implement it in the game?
 
Phantom Island
Well, the short version is that it takes 3D objects as they appear to the camera and dynamically fills out the texture. Then, those textures are used in place of the object itself. It looks just like the 3D object but actually its just just a set of images that are easier for the game to render.
 
The camera is moveable, so the game has to renew those textures all the time. But too high of a re-render rate can cause a bottleneck for performance so it is important to regulate it.
 
Also, it can be troublesome to try to use it to render textures that are affected by lighting, so we chose to only use it for objects that wouldn’t look strange without lighting.


Daedalus Machine
Regardless, it sounds as if the game originally consumed a lot of resources to render the graphics. Were there any other things you did to improve performance?
 
Phantom Island
We were able to improve all the shaders by changing the camera’s rendering path to deferred shading half way. The game has a day-night system, so we were only able to use dynamic lighting. We touched up smaller details using point lights.
 
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild uses light maps to represent different times of day. We considered doing that, but it proved to be a difficult and time-consuming task, so we chose to pass on it in the end.
 
 
Daedalus Machine
How much would you say performance has improved based on these things you’ve done?
 
Phantom Island
Back when we first started development, the game ran at a resolution with a framerate of 40fps at 720p resolution, but now it runs at a stable 60fps at 1080p. I think that’s a big improvement.
 
 
Daedalus Machine
Did you design the graphic and music assets in house?
 
Phantom Island
We purchased the 3D assets and then remodeled them in Blender.
We made some music and sound effects in house and purchased some other assets online. However, in the end, we found that what we had didn’t really suit the game, so we’re planning to outsource replacements.


Daedalus Machine
Let me go back a bit and ask about the members of Phantom Island. Earlier, you mentioned that the group now has 7 members. It sounds as if there isn’t anyone specializing in graphics or music asset design, so what roles do the members fill? 

Phantom Island
We have:

• One person in charge of enemy/battle design and programing
• Two people are in charge of UI design
• One person is in charge of programming the UI
• One person is in charge of effect design
• Finally, there’s one person in charge of level design

Aside from that, I do the rest. Of course, everyone discusses parts of the project outside of their designated area, and we all share our opinions with each other.
 
 
Daedalus Machine
The game is in both Japanese and in English. Did you work on the translation in house, or utilize a service like Playism?
 
One of our members is friends with a professional translator who kindly provided an English translation free of charge. We’re planning to release the game in Japanese, English, Chinese and French.


Daedalus Machine
That’s pretty ambitious. Why did you choose those languages?
 
Phantom Island
Well, we wanted to release the game in Japanese because that’s our native language, and English and Chinese have the two largest user-bases on Steam. Finally, we also chose to include a French language option because we found that the game was popular with European players when we demoed it at Tokyo Game Show.
 
We’re planning to research this a little more in the future.
 
 
Daedalus Machine
What’s your plan for getting these localizations done and into the game?
 
Phantom Island
We’re using an Excel file to provide the original text and receive the translation. The game also has voice acting, but only in Japanese.
 
Currently, the Japanese and English text options are completely implemented into the game, and we’re planning to fully implement the Chinese text option by December (Editor Note: 2018).
 
 
Daedalus Machine
Let’s talk a bit about the indie game scene in Tokyo. What’s it like being a game developer here?
 
Phantom Island
Tokyo has lots of events and communities based around the doujin scene. I think its the perfect environment for information gathering and for debuting new games.

However, I think that Tokyo, and the domestic market as a whole, is a difficult environment for doujin circles who want to advance to the next level as indie developers, because it’s really easy for funds to dry up. But going outside Japan is beyond the scope of the doujin community.

Doujin games are only really consumed domestically (although recently that’s changing). This might be a somewhat misleading statement, but I believe that the doujin community is a bit ideologically narrow. If you want to achieve success as an indie developer, I feel that it is really important to focus on the international market.

Especially if you don’t have a lot of funding from somewhere, it’s best to look for a company that will publish internationally for you, or alternatively, you can start up your own company.
 

Daedalus Machine
You mentioned funding is important to developing doujin games in Japan. My understanding is that most groups self-fund. Is this accurate in your experience?
 
Phantom Island
I also think that the majority of doujin games are self-funded.
 
The most important thing in doujin game development is the will to make what you want to make, even if you cant realize your goals in the end. That’s more important to the doujin scene than funding. This is in no way a criticism, but there are lots of doujin circles who present a playable demo at an event, who still haven’t completed the full game years later. I think a great thing about the doujin scene is its focus on personal enjoyment.
 
When I say that funding is important, I mean for doujin circles that have the ambition to succeed as indie developers. I don’t want to talk too much about this, because it has become a controversial topic that most of the community is sick debating every time, but personally I think the difference between “doujin” and “indie” devs is whether or not they have the ambition to succeed.
 
 
Daedalus Machine
Why do you think this is the case? Why aren’t methods like using Kickstarter or other crowdsourcing platforms, which are popular overseas, utilized so much? 
 
Phantom Island
It’s difficult to explain, but I think that corwdsourcing platforms like Kickstarter are actually being utilized quite a lot. The problem is that Japanese consumers haven’t really become accustomed to the idea of directly supporting creators yet.
 
The recent rise of YouTubers and online donations is certainly helping with the spread of crowd funding, but until recently, consumers were used to directly exchanging money for a finished product.
 
 
Daedalus Machine
What types of support are there for new and growing developers?
 
Phantom Island
Developers who have yet to make a name for themselves don’t receive any financial support from the government, but they are warmly welcomed by the community.
Tokyo Indies is one community that I especially recommend for new developers. I think it’s definitely worth attending at least once.

 
Daedalus Machine
What’s interesting about Tokyo Indies is that developers from both inside and outside Japan go to it. To what extent do these two groups interact, exchange ideas and collaborate? 

Phantom Island
I think it’s safe to say that Tokyo Indies is the only regularly hosted indie event in Japan that is attended by such a diverse range of international developers.
 
Of course it’s nonsense to classify people based on their race, but it really is fantastic to communicate with non-Japanese people on top of getting to hear what they think. I’ve participated many times, and everyone is always so lively when exchanging ideas. As I said before, Tokyo Indies is really the only place in Japan where you can get this kind of experience.


Daedalus Machine
Since you’ve participated at TGS, what can you tell us about your experience?
 
Phantom Island
The number of people who attend is on a completely different level compared to other events.
 
When we went, there were a lot of attendees who were working professionally in the games industry; so some of the feedback we received was a more critical than usual, but I really think that it was a great opportunity.


Daedalus Machine
How was the application process for TGS?
 
Phantom Island
Before the start of summer, they were advertising that they were recruiting exhibitors for the event, and you could apply through the official website.
 
When you apply, there are two different types of exhibits to choose from. The Type A Booth costs around 100 thousand yen, and anyone can apply for one. Exhibitors are then selected based on a screening process. The Type B Booth is only for corporations and costs around 200 thousand yen.
 
The price for exhibition for indie booths changes depending on whether or not you have any sponsors. If you have a sponsor, then the Type A Booth is basically free. We were chosen for a Type A booth so our exhibition cost was free.
 
When you apply, you’re asked to give an outline of your game and describe how close it is to completion. Depending on the year, you may also be required to submit a demo build of the game.
 
For the average year, there are around 300 applicants, and of those, somewhere between 50 and 100 are chosen for the exhibition.
 
 
Daedalus Machine
Have you participated in, or do plan to participate in, other events?
 
Phantom Island
We’ve participated in a number of events including Digital Games Expo, Megabit Convention, Comiket and Zentame.
 
This year (2018) we’re planning to attend Digital Games Expo in November.
 
Next year we’ll be participating in the Taipei Game Show, and then in the summer we’re planning to sell the completed physical release of Faye/Sleepwalker at Comiket.

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