Square Enix to lecture on Final Fantasy XIII at GDC

By Stephany Nunneley

The Game Developers Conference has some of its lecturers listed for the March 9 – March 13 event, and it looks as though Final Fantasy XIII will be featured in at least three of ’em.

According to the official site, the lectures will be conducted by: Director Motomu Toriyama whose session regards the Crystal Mythos story behind FFXIII; Koji Kobayashi and Yusuke Tanaka will jointly lecture on the workflow that was used for real-time cutscene production in the title; Yoshinori Tsuchida and Tomohiro Yajima will finish the set with a presentation on the overview of the character motion-controlled automatic sound triggering system.

Here’s the details:

• Motomu Toriyama (Square Enix)
  Date: TBD
  Format: Production / Lecture
  Description: Behind the story of FINAL FANTASY XIII lies an all-encompassing crystal mythology. This crystal mythos tells the tale of a multitude of deities that exist not only in the world of FFXIII, but will also appear in the background of other titles planned for the series. The saga of FFXIII touches upon just one small part of this overarching mythology. In this session, Motomu Toriyama, director and scenario writer, will explain the various processes involved in crafting the crystal mythos, creating the world of FFXIII, character design, and the development of drama between those characters. He will also speak on the direction he hopes to take in future projects.

• Koji Kobayashi and Yusuke Tanaka (Square Enix)
  Date: TBD
  Format: Visual Arts / Lecture
  Description: This presentation explains the workflow that was used for real-time (in-game model) cutscene production in FINAL FANTASY XIII. To take on the daunting task of creating the massive volume of assets needed for (the cutscenes in) FF XIII, we had to come up with ways to minimize mistakes while maintaining a high level of quality. A large-scale, highly compartmentalized production team such as the FINAL FANTASY development group must be able to work on multiple tasks simultaneously and minimize issues caused by upper process delays. We will explain how we maximized efficiency through the use/creation of appropriate tools, systematic decision-making methods and new technology. The presentation will contain video and stills taken during the actual development period, chronologically documenting steps in the workflow from storyboard to actual implementation. We hope that by sharing our experience with you, we can lay down the foundation for a productive forum on the topic of workflow/production management.

• Yoshinori Tsuchida and Tomohiro Yajima (Square Enix)
  Date: TBD
  Format: Programming / Lecture
  Description: This presentation will give an overview of FINAL FANTASY XIII’s character motion-controlled automatic sound triggering system. New techniques will be introduced for creating sound effects that automatically trigger in response to the angles and velocities of characters as well as collision detection algorithms assigned to every terrain in the game environment. The automatic sound triggering system excels at calculating physics and creating real-time responses to player input. By introducing this system, Square Enix was able to minimize the time-consuming process of manual sound design and considerably cut costs. Examples from FINAL FANTASY XIII will be shown to demonstrate the script-controlled audio system and other practical sound design solutions developed over the course of the project.

Final Fantasy XIII hits Europe and the US on March 9, which is also the first day of GDC.

Thanks, The 13th Crystal.