Taiwanese hit analog games are long -awaited video games! Interview with Taipei Great Air Raid producer to deliver the history that was not spoken

The 2.5D action adventure game Taipei Air Raid will be exhibited at Steam Next Festival, and the trial version distributed for a limited time from June 14 is attracting attention. Therefore, in this article, we will provide an interview with Mr. Zhang Zhong, a producer of such a hot work.

• Games born from the desire to convey the facts of the Taipei Air Raid that are not listed in the textbook
• The essence does not change even if it is made into a video game from the board game version
• At the time of the cityscape of Taiwan, the story that collaborated with six popular novelists

This work is a video game based on the representative board game Taipei Air Raid, a representative board game of Taiwan's analog game development studio Mizoroit Creative Company LTD. Not only did the board game Taipei Air Raid made a huge hit in Taiwan, but in Japan's largest analog game event Game Market Tokyo and Osaka, 500 sets were sold out in the morning. 。

From analog games to video games, crowdfunding is implemented. He succeeded in raising the 3 million dollars (about 13 million yen) and changed to an action adventure.

Steam Store of Taipei Air Raid: https: //store.steakpowERed.com/app/1901950/_raid_on_taihoku/? L = Japanese

The stage of this work is Taipei under Japanese rule at the end of World War II. On May 31, 1945, in Taipei, a US military raid, there was a girl who lost her memory and wandered Taipei Castle.

She is her name Kiyoko Hayashi. She is a student of Taipei Stands Taipei Daiichi High School (now Taipei City Daiichi Junior High School Women). The player will become Kiyoko and recover her memories with Taiwanese dog Kuro, and search for a way to survive in a harsh warp. As she escapes the bombing by fighters, Kiyoko, who encounters the sadness and conflict of the surviving people, will eventually face her choice.

This work combines the atmosphere and elements of the animated movie Tomb of the Fire and Vararant Heart The Great War. The player will be Kiyoko, a high school student, and will work with a tag with a Taiwanese dog. The purpose is to clear all 20 stages while alternately between the two parts, a safe area that can be searched and the dangerous area that clears the mission. When each stage is cleared, it will be clear how Kiyoko's choice has affected the surroundings.

In the Safety Area, you can freely explore, listen to the story of NPCs, and collect items with knowledge about the background hidden in the ruins and remnants from the hints given by Kuro.

In the dangerous area, Kiyoko and Kuro work together to avoid stage devices and bombing, and help refugees. However, there is a limit to what a female student can do before the war. You need the power of Taiwanese dogs in every scene, such as picking up items on roads that cannot be entered and suppressing the attacking enemies. By proceeding on the stage, the number of ways to play in the dangerous area will increase and the difficulty will increase.

This time, the founder and highest executive of MIZO GAMES, the aim of making video games and the aim of making video games with Mr. Zhang Jin of this work, who was involved in the development of more than 20 board games, including the Taipei Air Raid series. I asked about the charm.

Games born from the desire to convey the facts of the Taipei Air Raid that are not listed in the textbook

―――After, can you tell us about the background of video games again?

Zhang 濂 濂: Taipei Air Raid is a video game generated from our board games, which was a huge hit in Taiwan. It was also very popular when I participated in the Game Market in Tokyo and Osaka. Thankfully, in 2019, I was able to get a lot of support with crowdfunding, which asked fans about the idea of conversion to video games, so I was able to make a video game from a board game.

This year is 77 years since the Taipei Air Raid (May 31, 1945). This work includes memorial service for war dead and prayer for peace.

――Why was the theme of Taipei Great Raid in the first place?

Zhang 濂 濂: The Taipei Air Raid was a bomb in Taiwan and Taipei, a Japanese colony at the time, Taiwan, Taiwan, a territory of the United States, a territory of Japanese colonies at the time. It is said to be the largest air raid in Taiwan.

However, due to various circumstances, Taiwanese textbooks do not have the Taipei air raid. For this reason, most young people in Taiwan do not know this history. Many people think that it was Japan who hit Taiwan.

That's why I wanted to reproduce that history in the form of a game. I want the players to feel both the depth of the story and the fun of the game.

Also, for another reason, my grandfather is an experienced person in World War II, who has been in air raid many times. I heard from his grandfather about the situation on the war. His grandfather has died, but he wants to recall him through games.

-I heard that the video game version is like a combination of Ghibli anime work Fire Tomb (1988) and the game Vararant Heart The Great War (2014). From the beginning, did you develop a game with awareness of these two works?

Zhang 濂 濂: First of all, Ghibli works by Hayao Miyazaki are also popular in Taiwan, and the Tomb of Fire is a movie on the theme of World War II, which is very impressive in Taiwanese. I am thinking.

Many of my acquaintances have seen this work. Many people have seen it between elementary schools and elementary schools, and I saw it for the first time in the first grade of elementary school. At that time, I was really surprised or shocked. It is a wonderful movie that is still deeply carved in my memory.

And the most impressive thing in Variant Heart The Great War is to act with dogs. It is an accent in the progress of the game, and an irreplaceable character.

It became one of the ideas in the Taipei Great Air Raid.

The essence does not change even if it is made into a video game from the board game version

-Please tell us the big difference from the board game version.

Zhang 濂 濂: The board game version is not a fight against each other, but in the form of working together with all players, and the characters played by each player are one family.

The purpose is to survive without any one of the family, everyone wins when winning, and everyone loses when losing. And each of the family has a problem, and it is necessary to clear this problem. For example, Grandpa wants to find her ancestor's plaque that was lost in air raids. If she couldn't find her, her feelings would be depressed, and if she left, she would die so much.

Also, in the board game version, dogs and cats appear as members of the family, but I was able to eat here. The situation was different from the time of the war, and I wanted to convey the cruelty of such an era, but if I chose to eat dogs and cats, a member of my family, the whole family would depress. Eventually, some people will die.

To put it simply, the board game version was an important cooperative game not to lower the parameters of feelings.

-In the board game version, you cherished the feelings of the characters that appeared.

Zhang 濂: That's right. Of course, we emphasize people's feelings when converting to video games. I want to convey the misery of the war through the differences between those days.

One of the places that has changed significantly from the board game version is that this work is a solo play, not a cooperative play. In addition, some comedy essence was included. As a partner of the protagonist, it is part of the fact that the Taiwanese dog black, which was very popular in our board games 5 to 6 years ago, appeared and operated. In addition, although it is not possible to operate, a little brown cat also appears. She is a very popular cat so she has a lot of girlfriends. She is a healing character.

――This work has a total of 20 stages. Unlike the board game version, there will be a consistent story and ending, can you tell us the message you want to convey?

Zhang 濂 濂: The interpretation of the Taipei air raid is often different depending on the political position, but we do not think of guiding players in political aspects.

I would like to convey the helpless that people felt in the era of war, the people who were suffering, and above all, the misery of war and the preciousness of peace.

-In other words, what is the most important thing is the background of the Taipei Air Raid and the story related to it?

Zhang 濂: I think the game is like humanity. If the game itself is not interesting, you will not be able to play, so it is useless to have any wonderful stories. I want to be impressed by the depth of the story, but I also want to feel the charm as a game.

Also, for various reasons, Taiwan's history is not all written in textbooks. For that reason, there are some parts where Taiwanese have lost their confidence. After all, I hope that I want to regain my confidence through the game, and deliver the facts I have seen from Taiwan to the world.

At the time of the cityscape of Taiwan, the story that collaborated with six popular novelists

―― —The game configuration is searching in a safety area, and in the dangerous area, there are two parts, mission clearing. Can you introduce it?

Zhang 濂 濂: In the safety area, the story is developed on the theme of Taiwan's important phase at the time of World War II. In a dangerous area, you have to avoid air raids with the dog black. The Taiwanese dog Kuro is another hero of this game and an important companion to cooperate with Kiyoko. Kiyoko will be able to avoid danger by taking advantage of Kuro's search ability.

Various barriers you meet in a dangerous area bring new challenges to players. For example, if you are in a fire, meet trampers, or become intense, you will try to see how good and Kuro Hayashi and Kuro can be operated at the same time.

- I heard that you can learn the history and culture of Taiwan at the time of by playing, but in order to reproduce Taiwan at that time in the game, refer to what kind of material. Did you do it?

Zhang 濂 濂: First of all, we refer to the U.S. aircraft attack and air raid Fukushi Shasa published by publisher published by a published historical book called Avant-garde publisher in Taiwan.

These two books are important reference materials since the production of board game versions. In the book, there are abundant materials at the time, such as photos related to the raids by many US troops at the time.

And the book Sixty-eights of Zero in the book of the University of Tokyo, a member of the University of Tokyo, who has been a historical advisor since the board game version, the National Library in Taiwan, the Taiwanese Institute of History of the Central Research Institute, and the National Institute of Taiwan. I was also helped by materials contained in the Taiwanese Museum.

――I will collect a lot of information in a safety area, but can you clear the game without solving the mystery in the search?

Zhang 濂 濂: Collection is mainly collected in the safety area. By collecting, you can know the episodes related to it. There are more than 100 collections and side quests, so you can understand the historical background and cultural information of this era.

How far you collect it depends on the player, so you can't clear it unless you collect everything.

However, you can get a lot of information by collecting, so if you clear the game and look back, you will deepen your understanding of the appearances and historical backgrounds, and the perspective will change as Is that the case!? You will have fun.

The story that allows you to collect and read items in the search part also includes a character of the work Taipei Air Raid novel Collection, which was collaborated by six famous Taiwanese novelists.

You can enjoy the game alone, but if you have experienced both novels and games, you can enjoy it more.

Book name: << Taipei Great Raid novel Collection >>

Novelist:

Hayashi Shii

Juyoshin

Shoshinjin (Xiaoshan Shen)

Chen Yotin

John Minley

Kajin Kazuma

Taiwan is currently striving to maintain the culture of Chinese culture and Southeast Nippers, but there are still many Taiwanese buildings in 1945, which have been lost. Some Japanese buildings and shrines have been demolished after the war.

Now I am very disappointed that they are only in people's memories. So, in the game, the cityscape of Taiwan at that time was reproduced as faithfully as possible. That is also the highlight.

――Howo difficulty in the dangerous area will be difficult?

Zhang 濂 濂: The stage that can be played in the trial version is an air raid, but in fact it is a stage with a high difficulty. I don't usually play games, but I'm going to give feedback on the opinions received in the current trial version so that people who are interested in the history of Taipei air raids can enjoy it, and adjust the difficulty in front of the official version. I am.

We are aiming for a direction that can grasp and clear the tips while failing several times so that the player does not feel difficult.

――In the trial version, it was an air raid, but what other stages will appear in the dangerous area?

Zhang 濂: In addition, there are also stages that avoid fire and secret police. It may be the stage in the memories of the characters. My favorite words include novelist Viet Tan Guen, All wars do not end with just one time. This word also expresses the feelings of the main character, Kiyoko Hayashi. I think that the war is not really far away, but in a dangerous area that it is more familiar.

--thank you. Finally, I would like to ask the player a word.

Zhang 濂 濂: Taipei Air Raid was a big wound that Taiwanese did not want to look directly. That's why we developed this work in hopes of healing everyone's wounds in the gentle way of games. I hope that feeling will be conveyed.