PDA

View Full Version : Retrospective



PrinceBrightstar
Feb 6, 2011, 10:13 PM
EDIT June 2018: At this time the retrospective is on hold due to a channel reboot.
EDIT: Chapter I released after all these years!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWgHcCdVAgc

Original Post:
I'm announcing my return to producing video for Phantasy Star.

In order to make this project a success I'll need some people to assist me. Knowledge of the series is a must have. There are 4 main things I'll need help with.

1. Research assistance
2. Review of the final product before it goes live.
3. Support translating some Japanese elements
4. Anything else that happens to come up

The only thing I can offer is credit in the production. If you're interested please let me know.

Drac_Mazoku
Feb 7, 2011, 01:14 PM
I'm a very lazy guy. I like to talk about the series, and pinpoint everything possible when asked to talk about it (as can attest CaptainPlanet). But I don't like to take active part on any project because....well, I'm just very lazy :)

If you have any question, or need any kind of clarification about something in the Classical Saga, I'll answer on this forum with pleasure when I have the time. The best of it all is that by doing so, I will not even ask for a mention of my name in the credits, I don't mind answering questions :) I just don't like when it feels like work...

PrinceBrightstar
Feb 7, 2011, 10:07 PM
Ok well then there is one thing that I'm trying to find is an interview I know exists somewhere. I can't remember who on the team it was from but it was a statement from saying why we have stormtroopers and light sabers in the first game. Any idea where I might be able to find that interview? (Unlike most retrospectives, I plan to have a source list available.)

DayDreamer
Feb 8, 2011, 01:32 AM
As much as i want to i just wouldnt have the time for something like that.
When i ask people bout phantasy star they think only as far back as Pso, which is sad. They are missing some of the gems of where the series REALLY started. People need to recognize these games,not just the online series. I really hope this pulls through for you :'x im rooting for you 100% xD

Drac_Mazoku
Feb 8, 2011, 09:28 AM
This should do, I guess

http://www.smspower.org/uploads/Translations/PhantasyStar-SMS-EN-videofenky-interview-translation/

it's in the second page



Q: In your eyes, what do you think of the world and basic image of Phantasy Star?
RK: I think all the designers and programmers have their own thoughts, but as the designer of the world itself, I naturally had my ideas.

Take Dragon Quest, for example. I thought it was a pure, simple fantasy game, so I wanted to make something that wasn't like that. Like Star Wars, maybe... except not the whole thing, but just a few parts. As for which parts--well, with Star Wars, doesn't it feel kind of like they took Western culture and added Japanese things here and there sometimes? I mean, it's an SF movie, but Luke's outfit looks like a judo uniform, and the light sabers are used a lot like samurai swords...

In designing the Phantasy Star world, I wanted to use what I learned in Star Wars about borrowing something from a completely different universe. So that's why I thought that it'd be neat if the people in this world wore medieval clothes, even though it's an SF story and there are robots running around. That was the image I had when I made this world.


It's not talking directly about the inclusion of stormtrooper and lightsaber in the game, but she did say that she was inspired by Star Wars...which obviously is proof enough.

If it's not precise enough though, you can get a lot of find by just googling "Rieko Kodama interview Phantasy Star". You'll get tons of info with that. Good luck.

PrinceBrightstar
Feb 8, 2011, 07:45 PM
Not only did that help with that point, you also managed to give me something else I was looking for, the real names for some of the people behind the game (since everyone was using pen names back then.) Thanks a ton!

Drac_Mazoku
Feb 9, 2011, 09:23 AM
Indeed, it was unfortunately a period where video games creator were not credited enough for their hard work like in the movies back then. I can only guess the real name of two of the most popular Phantasy Star creator when reading their name in the credits

Phoenix Rie = Rieko Kodama
Muuuu Yuji = Yuji Naka

The rest are mystery for me.

Fortunately it's not like that nowaday...though now the credits are so long, it becomes boring to watch, just to see if there's something beyond them.

PrinceBrightstar
Feb 10, 2011, 07:40 PM
I can add to that list who I've found.
Gamer Mika was Miki Morimoto
BO was Tokuhiko Uwabo

One thing I still need to clear up is this concept that DF comes back every 1000 years. I believe that actually isn't the case. Yes it happened for the time between PS2 and PS4, but PS1 to PS2 was actually only 940 years. That plus the fact that the barrier that held back PD was weakened with the destruction of Palma. ...I'm wondering if the Earthmen brought their own Dark Falz.

Drac_Mazoku
Feb 11, 2011, 09:22 AM
For the whole Dark Force every 1000 years, I think it's more of an estimation of when the seal weaken. While between PSII and PSIV, it seems to be the exact number of years, for PSI and PSII, I don't think they had the concept totally written down yet. So around 1000 years is good enough.

But if you want to go more deeply, according to the official timeline ( http://www.sceneryrecalled.com/trans/comtrans.htm#chrono ) Lashiec summoned Dark Force by himself, that mean Dark Force didnt broke free from its Seal by itself, which mean that maybe he didnt followed the 1000 years formula. Maybe there was another Dark Force who came to Algol many years before Lashiec summoning (but not a 1000 years), and that he was defeated by some mystery hero we never heard of. For that point, you'll never have a full explanation, so I would take the "around 1000 years" theory instead.

As for the Dark Force in the Pandora Box inside Noah, and where does it comes from, I have my own fan theory involving Time Loop, PSIII Dark Force, and another Dark Force on Palma before its destruction. But it's just a fan speculation. And since, like I said in my first post, I'm a very lazy guy, I don't like to write everything twice. So, I invite you to read the entire discussion I had with Captain Planet there if you have the patience:

http://www.pso-world.com/forums/showthread.php?t=183407

I explain my theory in detail at one point

PrinceBrightstar
Feb 13, 2011, 12:15 AM
It makes sense. It'll be a while until I get to that portion of it but its something that's very important towards the end of all of this. But anyway, I need to clear up one more thing and that is really what the different jobs of people entailed. I'm under the assumption that yuji naka as the main programmer built the game engine. but I'm a little confused on what's the separation in who wrote the story and who wrote the scenario, what a planner does vs a designer, and what a coordinator does against the previous two.

I'm basically trying to make sure I credit the right people for doing things. Once I have this the script is pretty much good to go for the first part.

Drac_Mazoku
Feb 13, 2011, 07:15 AM
That I admit, I can't help you a tons, because I'm better at the Lore, than on the technical level about who did what unfortunately :(

PrinceBrightstar
Feb 13, 2011, 12:31 PM
Ok, thanks for your help again. I'll see if I can dig anything else up and if I cant I may just have to briefly mention names and skip the bigger points until I can engage some contacts at Sega later down the road who might know and then put that towards the end of the series as one huge recognition for all of the games or something.

PrinceBrightstar
Feb 15, 2011, 09:32 PM
It looks like I am going to do it that way aside from what I was able to come across. I need one more thing at this point and it's more just a question of if there was ever a defined way of saying the names of people and places. If not I'll probably just go with what feels natural.

Specifically Palma, Motavia, Dezoris, Myau, Dr. Luveno, Lassic, and a few other things that are slipping my mind right now.

Drac_Mazoku
Feb 16, 2011, 09:20 AM
Well, I would even be of less help to you on that one, as my native language is french, so trying to spell you the sound in english for you may be a little hard. But for the most part, pronounce them as you can read them. Only Myau can be a problem. You see, I always said "Mi-a-ow", but with my french accent, since it sounds like a cat sound in french, which mean it might now even be the right way to say it in Japanese or English. So really just goes the way you feel. And if anyone try to smack you for that, smack them back by telling them to shut up, that they know exactly what you meant.

PrinceBrightstar
Feb 16, 2011, 11:46 PM
I think I will try to stick by the Japanese sounding of names more than English. This is where I run into a little trouble because I'm not fluent but I know some minimal stuff. (You can hear in some of my older works that I'll slow down my speaking so it's not fluid speaking) Myau does become tricky by that way, because cat in japanese is ねこ, or neko. However myau or meow is what a cat says... Technically there's nothing holding me back from making revisions down the road to the series so we'll see.

I've started to lay down video tracks using a temp readthrough of the script and once I'm able to record the real tracks I'll adjust the video as needed. I'd like to have this out either this weekend or next weekend, but that depends on how quickly things go with what's left.

Drac_Mazoku
Feb 17, 2011, 08:59 AM
Then good luck and keep us informed :)

PrinceBrightstar
Feb 22, 2011, 10:46 PM
Principal recording has been finished for the audio tracks. I'd got most of the footage together so all that's left is to start editing. This process will take some time though especially if I find I need to do some pickups. (Although I don't think that's likely.)

Update: Pickups were needed. I'll likely get those recorded this weekend. My work schedule has also stalled the project a little, but it should lighten up again soon. (This is a thing I'm doing in my free time.)

ShadowDragon28
Sep 2, 2011, 05:00 PM
whatever happened to this?

PrinceBrightstar
Sep 20, 2011, 11:55 PM
To put it bluntly there's apparently a curse on the idea and anyone that tries to put one together will fail (See TsukentoX on youtube as an example) ...even I fell prey (Editing system consistently crashes requiring a save if the next edit doesn't crash, multiple HDs died (and believe me, I tried multiple HDs, multiple cables, heck even going from sata back to pata drives.) Also the audio would never play consistently for some reason...I might have the music tracks but my voiceovers would be missing or something crazy like that after doing a render. I may try again once I understand what's going to happen at my job and throw win 7 on here. I'd be tempted however to go out of order (talk PSO or something before the first game) just to get it rolling again, but it'd probably require me to do an extended cut later down the line. I'd also try to move from premiere pro 4 to 5. Most of what I want to show is still in my head so the problem wouldn't be scripting. This all used to be so simple...

PrinceBrightstar
Jul 2, 2016, 02:51 PM
After a number of years setting up a method for backing up the video to make sure this doesn't happen again I'm happy to announce the first chapter has finally been released.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWgHcCdVAgc

Releases will be a lot slower than I originally wanted, since Youtube is going to be my offsite backup platform. However the good news is you can see where I am capturing footage for each chapter since all footage will be coming from my let's play channel for the most part. Chapters are likely going to be coming out of order like I initially stated.

So yeah, bump but this sub forum moves so slow does it really matter? Also isn't it wild? About a year before we ever heard of PSO2 I made the statement above that the Earthmen must have brought their own Dark Falz. Look where we are now. On Earth and a Dark Falz in fact has visited Earth (PSO2 On Stage) and may still be there since Darkers rarely pop up in Tokyo on top of the Phantoms.

UnsentMadman
Jul 13, 2016, 12:25 AM
That's a pretty interesting piece that you've been working on, Brightstar. Definitely looking forward to seeing the continuation.

PrinceBrightstar
Jul 13, 2016, 07:27 AM
Since I can't put two videos in the same post for some reason without the second turning into the first, here's the plan for the series.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GGgbdgJ4_I