Windjammers 2 developers say Sequel is a work of love
Windjammers 2 being an extremely faithful sequel to the original, which is a remarkable achievement. Creating a sequel to an existing game is rarely easy, but things get a lot harder when the game in question is a cult classic that has been dormant for decades. Even so, French video game developer Dotemu decided to release a 90s sequel sports arcade games Wind jacketwas released back in 1994 for the Neo Geo video game system. Windjammers 2 It’s fast-paced, colorful, and a love letter to the original game. In fact, according to lead programmer Kevin Delbrayelle and art director Stephanie Perez, it exists because Dotemu loves the first. Wind jacket too much to get the IP working again. Delbrayelle and Perez spoke to Game Rant about how — and why — they revived Wind jacket series.
According to Delbrayelle and Perez, Windjammers 2 is a passion project. The seed was sown when Dotemu had a chance to transfer the original Wind jacket to new platforms — specifically PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Playstation Vita. Working at the port was Delbrayelle’s first job at Dotemu, and he quickly found he loved the game. Turns out, he’s doing well because the rest of the studio already knows about it Wind jacket in a long time. Perez said that they used to play Wind jacket on old arcade cabinets, so when there is a possibility to create Wind jacket The game is raised, the whole team is excited to get to work. However, the developers soon ran into their first problem: figuring out who currently owns the property. This is not the first time the studio has done this a sequel to a franchise that doesn’t workBut it can be one of the hardest to get started.
On Windjammers’ Trail
Apparently, it took Dotemu a while to figure out who owned the Windjammers property. Although the original Wind jacket Usually associated with SNK, it actually belongs to Data East. The rights were then transferred to a small company called Paon DP. Talk to Paon DP and get permission to execute Windjammers 2, the developers had to go to Japan and talk to them directly. Fortunately, they were open to the idea of making a sequel, especially after the update Wind jacket went well. And so, Work on Windjammers 2 Start in earnest.
One of the first decisions Dotemu made was to try to get Seiichi Hamada, the original composer of Wind jacket, ready for the next part. Delbrayelle shared that at first, he was worried that the developers wouldn’t be able to contact Hamada, or that Hamada wouldn’t be interested in making a sequel. However, the rest of the development team has made it clear that they would like to work with Hamada if possible. Receive Original composer for a hit classic Deploying the sequel is generally a step in the right direction for fans and developers alike.
I remember we talked about being able to use other composers’ music, and a lot of people at Dotemu lobbied to get the original composer. They’re like “we wouldn’t have made it without him.”
When Dotemu contacted Hamada, he agreed to work with them and produce some original music in the style of Hamada. Wind jacket soundtrack for Windjammers 2. Delbrayelle and Perez both say working with Hamada is an incredible opportunity. Perez went as far as to say that listening to Hamada’s new music made him feel like a kid again.
Recreate a classic cult
Windjammers 2 is a very honest sequelboth mechanical and lore, so it may not be surprising to hear that the work Windjammers 2 start with the first one Wind jacket game. Dotemu spent the first year of development recreating the original Wind jacket. There’s a very good reason for this: the developers didn’t have access to the original source code, so they had to reverse engineer the game’s ROM to understand how it worked.
For a better understanding, and there are still some things we don’t really know how they work in the original game. I thought the sequel copied the original game like… 99%? It’s very close.
Delbrayelle compared the process of recreating the original Wind jacket to an archaeological investigation. They approached the task from many angles, which means that the developers played a lot Wind jacket so they can pause the game and go through it frame by frame. Even then, they had some trouble reverse engineering every aspect of the game. They had to guess a lot of what the code was doing, but through trial and error, they were able to create a near-perfect reproduction of the original. Wind jacket. Once they’ve built that core and translated it into modern coding languages, Developers at Dotemu start making it what it will be Windjammers 2.
Everything has a purpose
Dotemu has gone through a lot of stages and iterated carefully to ensure that everything it adds to the base Wind jacket The recipe has a reason to be there. The new features they added include a bunch of new pitches, four new players, and some new mechanics designed to fill holes in the original gameplay. A problem that first Wind jacket The game has is that it allows the player to hang back on the field and never reach the net. Windjammers 2 solved this problem by adding the shot, forcing the player to get closer to the opponent instead of constantly guarding the target. This focuses on the gameplay tweaks that have resulted Windjammers 2slow growth ratebut it also keeps the game feeling like Windjammers.
According to Delbrayelle and Perez, they were Windjammers 2 intended for two audiences: those who are fans of the original game and those who have never heard of Wind jacket before. However, they definitely prioritize fans of the original game, that’s why Windjammers 2 feels very similar to its predecessor. A new player can choose Windjammers 2, start learning how to play and soon win matches. A veteran fan can do all of that and recognize the many nods that Dotemu gave to the first game, such as the fact that the new character Jao Raposa was created in the service of… the fans have grown up with the original Wind jacket.
The idea of this character was to create a young man who was passionate about the original Windjammers game and was trying to emulate some of his idol’s moves.
Dotemu also carefully memorizes the initial concepts behind the characters of . Wind jacket— Namely, they were all champions of different sports before playing Wind jacket. Every new character, including Raposa, is also a champion in their sport of choice. This decision immediately sticks to the core of the original game while adding new aspects to it, which may well be the best thought when making a sequel to a hit classic. All in all, Windjammers 2 is a love letter to the original Wind jacket and its impact on fans.
Windjammers 2 was released on January 20, 2022, and is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
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https://gamerant.com/windjammers-2-dotemu-interview-resurrecting-dormant-franchise/ Windjammers 2 developers say Sequel is a work of love
