Director & Co-Director's Interview With Proresu Today

I'm interested in hearing these more plans now

Wait, isn't Fire Promoter being released on August 28th?

Well, that makes me somewhat proud, as a big fan of S-1, to hear that I could have had a tiny bit of influence in getting one of my favorite parts of the game reinstated. Interesting interview all around and glad to hear that Fire Promoter is going to take longer(I need more time for my boxers!), but is getting there.

That'd be excellent, more weapons would be very useful even if they're just some basic additions, the variation would be essential for hardcore types.

My pipe dream deathmatch addition would be the stupid piranha tank match from BJW, with a big fish tank in the middle of the ring that you can throw people in with the Rumble Toss mechanics or a properly spaced suplex that dumps them in.  I know we'll never get it, but hey, one can dream. 

Co-Director is also the move animator?






Lots of voice clip talk but here a image of one of EVIL's lines.





Issuing a debut move in a patch.

I'm too lazy (read: this is long) to do a full translation but:

On the Revival of Firepro:

- New Japan first approached Spike Chunsoft about making an NJPW-oriented Fire Pro game back in around 2014 with basically the same premise -- using Fire Pro Returns' engine and etc. But it fizzled out like all the other Firepro propositions.
- As mentioned, Tamura wasn't expecting the response from overseas to be so strong about S1 Mode, and after seeing so many people ask for it to be brought back, he went ahead and added it in again.
- Matsumoto mentions that overseas users want more freedom in deathmatches, such as being able to walk around outside, do top rope moves, and such -- that it seems like there's a lot of users outside of Japan who want to see more blood (he says with a laugh). But that he'll be keeping this in mind as something to change immediately after the release of the game.
- He points out that, even as Firepro is getting closer to being a "real" pro wrestling simulator, he's doing what he can to lift the restrictions on player creativity, such as changing the parts scaler so you can turn someone's hands to 0% and make them invisible. So if its appearance becomes worse, that's just your fault (also said with a laugh). But that yes, he wants to give people the freedom to do as they please.
- When asked about adding an even bigger size than LL for making a character like Andreza Giant Panda (a recent memetic hit wrestler in Japan), Matsumoto laughed and said he would love to... but thinks that a character that big would mess up the grapple animations. Lead developer Toshiaki Tamura agreed and said it'd be hard to get the moves to work with a character that big.
- Matsumoto mentions that he has some plans for something involving character parts. He would like to say what it is, but he can't, so he'll simply settle for saying that whatever he has planned has yet to be implemented.

On New Moves:

- It takes about 2 days to make one brand new move, per Tamura. Double team moves take about 1.5 times longer. The Golden Trigger in particular took 3 days to properly animate. (I'm sure someone will point out how easy it was to make moves with the move pack... But remember that most if not all of those were spliced animations.) Tamura adds that part of the reason the Golden Trigger took so long is that they made some last-minute tweaks just before Golden Week to add a pause for Kenny Omega's voice clip and to add some dramatic tension to the move.
- Tamura points out that the process for making moves would perhaps be easier if the game was 3D based, but since it's not, and it's a rather "analog" sort of system, it takes a lot more time to put together animations. He likens it to the work of a craftsman, which... having seen how exactly those animations are handled, and comparing it to other games with very similar animation systems, seems about right to me. In effect, he says, the animation system is less for convenience and more for giving the game its unique "Firepro-ism" that makes it stand out.
- Interviewer Yoshinori Yamaguchi points out that keeping the old systems in place is something that appeals to the old fans as well... which is when Matsumoto brings up the embarrassing past of the series, the one time (outside of Iron Slam...) that it strayed from its old formula, the Xbox Live game. Though it has some of the newer systems one would expect from a game... it was also missing the crux of what made Firepro, Firepro.
- Matsumoto again says he plans on taking the very Showa-esque (1980s style) wrestling pace of Fire Pro and wants to bring in elements to freshen it up and make it similar to modern New Japan, as well as the modern overseas wrestling organizations. He's been thinking a lot about how to implement these more modern features, such as being able to turn them on and off, how to handle it with the CPU logic engine, and so on. But he says it's fun to plan it out, to consider how it will evolve. He calls it an unfinished work in progress, as Akira Taue once was called (laughing).
- They talk about the Okite Yaburi/finisher steal mechanic, how it was meant to enhance PvP matches. They decided that the Okite Yaburi term would stay the same because they wanted it to be akin to the Critical! logo as something that is decidedly Firepro-esque language. Matsumoto mentions that, again, there are a lot of things he'd like to say about the Okite Yaburi mechanic and how it'll be changed in the future, but he can't really do so at the moment. He does mention that he wants to allow for Okite Yaburi to be triggered from more than just front grapples, but also top rope moves -- so at the moment it's still not a complete mechanic. If I'm reading this right, Matsumoto mentions that in the PS4 version, they have added a logic setting that affects the probability that the CPU will use an Okite Yaburi move in a match. Adding that the feature is not currently in the PC version -- so if you want to see the AI do it automatically, you should play the PS4 version. (I assume this will be added later. :V)

On Online Mode:

- Online mode was difficult to develop, because there was not much that could be done to mitigate lag. It's an issue of internet infrastructure. Matsumoto points out that it's a matter of fact that lag will occur when playing overseas matches, and something they can't really combat because it's out of the software's hands. But when that happens, he wants people to be less concerned over serious fighting for win-loss records but instead to have fun recreating a wrestling match. He mostly wants people to enjoy themselves and says not to take it too seriously.

On the NJPW content:
- As previously mentioned, the NJPW wrestlers have as many as 80 voices. However, Matsumoto does note that some have fewer than that -- fairly tight-lipped guys like SANADA in particular have a smaller number of voice samples.
- Though there are original entrance themes as well, guys like Okada and Tanahashi have their real entrance themes. The songs have been cut down to match the length of a typical in-game entrance, so the songs generally start at the point in which a wrestler comes out onto the stage. They decide to look through the voice clips and find EVIL's catchphrase, which causes the interviewer to respond REALLY enthusiastically.
- Tamura points out that some of these clips may be a bit too long to use in a normal match, but that they're still there for fans to listen to.
- Other voice clips heard during the preview include the "Golden Trigger!" voice clip for both Kenny and Ibushi, as well as one where Ibushi says, "Pro wrestling is the best!"
- Tenzan and Kojima seem to have voice clips meant for talking to each other.
- Super Strong Machine has a mic performance clip saying, "I'm sorry for that boring match."
- Hiromu has several long clips: Things like "Get excited! Have some fun! More, more, more, more!" and "I've got to win, meow!"
- They talk about more clips. Super Strong Machine has two different voice samples where he says he's not Hirata.
- Tamura recommends Taichi's voice clips since they're full of silly trash talking.
- All of New Japan's titles will be in the game for use in Title Matches.
- Tamura mentions that, though the timing would be tough, he'd be happy to take any pre-leaked footage of new moves and costumes from major players in NJPW and get to work on them as added content in the game.
- The Complete Guide that comes with first printings of the game is an almanac that features the wrestlers' moves, special skills, and parameters -- something that you'd normally have to pay 15 or 20 bucks to get after the fact. They're proud of its visual design -- it's meant to look like a special issue of Weekly Prowrestling. They mention that Okada's stats are frighteningly high. The interviewer says he shouldn't be surprised, given that Okada is the modern day Monster Champion.
- As mentioned, Jay White isn't in the game, but Matsumoto says you can use the guide as a guideline for how to make him -- he thinks that his stats should be just a tad lower than EVIL's.

A god who skipped over the first page of the 2nd interview... whoops.