[quote=“Geoffrey Duke”]
Are you doubting such a claim, or are you just not prepared to believe it without confirmation? The Panzer community needs more rumours and hearsay IMO.[/quote]
I’ll have to agree with that. Let start spreading some nice rumours.
Nightwalker has a point about RPG sales on the X-Box. That console is indeed RPG starved.
Rumors eh?
Well ive heard from a mate who heard it off a mate who read it on a newsgroup thats since been deleted that Panzer Saga 2 is already and production and will be confirmed at the same time as Shenmue 3! It will also feature Ryo Hazuki as a bonus form for the dragon!
I think a new Panzer Dragoon RPG would be very cool, hopefully it would be a bit longer and harder than Saga though.
I’m sure a sequel will eventually be made eventually, but it’ll probably be at least a few years from now.
My, my… how this thread has grown since I last checked!
Nightwalker - Who said I was from Sega? 
But, as far as I know, things like that are yet to be decided. Who knows what will end up happening?
In regards to the script - Really? I’d like to see it myself, if that’s true 
Did you write it by any chance? 
I seem to remember on Gamespot there was an interview with a member of Smilebit (probably Mukaiyama) and it said the design document was already prepared. I’ll see if I can dig it up.
It wasn’t on Gamespot, but I’ve found another interview where the design document is mentioned:
tokyopia.com/interviews.asp?articlesid=28
[quote]JK: Are there any plans to release a Panzer Dragoon RPG sequel as well?
AM: Not at the moment.
JK: Where do the rumours come from?
AM: [laughs] Actually, I did want to create a new RPG based on the Panzer universe. I have put together a design document for it. But for now, its still unplanned. [/quote]
See?! 
It’s just so much better when it’s official!
I have that issue of XBOX Nation Solo
was just about to post that too…now where’s that OTHER mag that I had laying around that mentioned the script?
I didn’t say you work for Sega ;). We know you are one of those people “close to the team” so I thought you could know something about Sega’s reorganization. Last words I heard were the new Smilebit is going to be a only sport team (“let’s make a…”) and the PDO/Gunvalkyrie/JSR teams (everybody who don’t make sport games in Smilebit) are going to join Amusement Vision. I wanted confim/deny this.
[quote=“Solo Wing Dragon”]It wasn’t on Gamespot, but I’ve found another interview where the design document is mentioned:
tokyopia.com/interviews.asp?articlesid=28[/quote]
That interview is very old, pre e3 2002. Mukaiyama says the document wasn’t approved. Instead of that, they made ORTA so I wouldn’t say that sentence is a “proof”. I think ORTA itself is the most reliable proof. There are tons of new and very interesting details about Panzer world in the encyclopaedia and the game itself is the beginnig of Orta’s great journey. It’s obvious Smilebit worked in Orta with a whole new saga and ideas in mind. Mukaiyama stated that several times when I interviewed him (I posted the whole interview in the old forum).
[quote=“Neil”]I have that issue of XBOX Nation Solo
was just about to post that too…now where’s that OTHER mag that I had laying around that mentioned the script?[/quote]
I’ve only heard rumors about the script. It seems a little unrealistic IMO, usually a script is written at when the game is being made, and written around the game design, right?
But please do let us know if you can find anything about it.
[quote=“Nightwalker”]
[quote=“Solo Wing Dragon”]It wasn’t on Gamespot, but I’ve found another interview where the design document is mentioned:
tokyopia.com/interviews.asp?articlesid=28[/quote]
That interview is very old, pre e3 2002. Mukaiyama says the document wasn’t approved. Instead of that, they made ORTA so I wouldn’t say that sentence is a “proof”. I think ORTA itself is the most reliable proof. There are tons of new and very interesting details about Panzer world in the encyclopaedia and the game itself is the beginnig of Orta’s great journey. It’s obvious Smilebit worked in Orta with a whole new saga and ideas in mind. Mukaiyama stated that several times when I interviewed him (I posted the whole interview in the old forum).[/quote]
Yeah, the world of Panzer Dragoon Orta is very deep for a shooter, and there is much that hasn’t been explained of the game’s story (the Seekers motives, the reason for Orta’s birth, the downfall of Abadd’s masters, etc). It is begging for a sequel, but weither it will be given the green light is yet to be seen.
Nightwalker, do you still have that interview you posted on the old forums? It would be interesting to read through it again.
Nightwalker this is the latest Sega structure I’ve seen:
panzerdragoon.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=135
Those were written on Gamepro site sometime ago.
Ufff… I thought I have already deleted the english version on my hard disk ^_^! I haven’t done it by chance.
**1. Since most of our readers don?t know very much the saga, we think fit to do a brief introduction. How Would Akihiko Mukaiyama define Panzer Dragoon? What does it mean for you? **
If we express the title concept of Panzer Dragoon in one simple definition, it is ?a game in which player ride on a dragon to fly and fight against enemies?. This game is not just about controlling or using dragon to combat with others, but rather to treat dragon as a guide to a space-less world of sky, a mysterious existence and the most importantly the best friend of Orta on a journey.
Also, we could say that the Panzer Dragoon is the game that lets players travel through the mysterious universe, which they have never experienced out of any other games. Obviously, there is a wide variety of games whose universe is under a reputation of very unique game settings, but those game elements are in a way similar to one another with featuring magic, swords, different tribes and sort. Needless to say that they are fun to deal with in a game, but at the same time, are very commonplace. We are proud to say that the Panzer Dragon series including ORTA is the game, which gives players a mysteriously unique yet fantastic feel under bizarre settings in every aspect of the game.
**2. After a long interval of time, Smilebit decides to go on with saga. Which were the reasons that made you create Panzer Dragon Orta (PDO)? **
For a long time Kawagoe the producer of Panzer Dragoon ORTA used to sleep on the whole concept and idea to put into Panzer Dragoon ORTA, and waited until it was the right time to make it debut out in a world.
**3. Why did you choose Xbox as exclusive platform for Panzer Dragoon Orta? ?Is the game technically possible in another 128 bit console? **
In order to create a title, which will be as sophisticated as the past series and hopefully more higher level of the past series, we strongly wanted to develop to showcase the revival of Panzer Dragoon under cutting-edge technology. That time it was also the time when Xbox was coming along into the game industry, and we wanted to select the platform which has higher level of potentiality in technology-wise in order to feature the Panzer Dragoon sequel in the most sophisticated form. Therefore, the potentiality of Xbox and our wish beautifully matched after all at a good timing.
4. The gliding and morphing skills, the new way of evolving our dragon, etc… Many new features and very decisive in the core of the game. How would you explain your fans the new challenges you propose in this PDO?
The main mission to complete for a development of Panzer Dragoon ORTA is to include some new game elements and add those values to the existing game elements from the past series of Panzer Dragoon.
One of the major difficulties we would face at an early stage of the title development, is to implement Glide system and strike a balance between the system with other game systems within PDO. In terms of the game volume, it consists of 10 diverse and challenging levels of a main game, plus featuring sub-scenarios. Also the whole conversion of Panzer Dragoon from Saturn is included in PDO as a bonus element of the game.
**5. Could you tell us something about the design of the different phases of the game, its planning, etc…? **
Speaking of the game planning, we as PDO planning team concentrated on seeking for ways to feature the game as looking cool yet addictive for players to come back to play again and again.
Funny thing was that Designers quietly added some extra items, which we as the planning team was not originally planned to put in a game stage, such as portrait of the emperor or a little soldier casually standing on an arm of enemy character. When they found some odd pieces of design in game like those little elements quietly added into a game scene by designers, the planning team would then come back to designers to tell something unplanned was in a game stage. Designers would then simply said, ?Oops, you found it huh?!? Some of them are favourably remained as they are for the retail version!
**6. The battles with the final boss are much stronger and also longer. They won depth with the inclusion of gliding and morphing.You play constantly with the changing of some shapes to others and the position in most of them. They really seem to be an evolution in real time of the battle system used by PDS. Do you feel satisfied with the result? This was exactly what you tried on that occasion. Wasn’t it? **
As long as its game balance including those new game systems are concerned, we are pretty much satisfied with what we have done for PDO. However, there would have more potentiality to develop this system even further and we definitely will do so IF we will have a chance to develop the next sequel for the future?
**7. You add an apparent improvement comparing this work with PD and PD Zwei, the story is really integrated with the playful segments. Now, during the stages, the enemies threaten us and speak to the others, new characters will talk to us and they will tell us details of the story,etc… What can you tell us about it ? We guess you wanted to find more coherence and unity in the whole game. Isn’t it? **
As long as an in-game movie in general is concerned, just simply inserting a story scene as a movie in between game-play stages would not add any special value into a game scene as a whole and is far no better than Hollywood movies. We as a game developer are to seek an original way of showcasing movie, which is not possible to be effectively featured under a platform of a film, but TV game scenes. By integrating a movie with a game-play we succeed in letting players to feel they are part of the game including in-game movie scenes. For one of the past Panzer series, Panzer Dragon Saga was RPG, in which we successfully implemented a voice effect of enemy characters during a fight so that players could feel the battle scene lively. This time in Panzer Dragoon ORTA, we even developed the element of voice effect further to allow players to use their own tactics or solve mysteries based on the voice effect element within the game.
**8. Panzer Dragoon Zwei wasn’t too difficult, PDO has managed a very good balance in this section. It demands good qualities such as glidding and morphing from you but it does never frustrate you. Was this one of the main worries of the team? **
Yes, the game balance was the most important issue that we had to carefully work on for this title. In order to implement the game system, which enables players to rely on their own game tactics, we tried to add as much game elements as possible to let players to take advantage of. However, at the same time, we did not want to complicate the game sequence or actual game-play and any possible elements, which might force players to slow down unwillingly just to perform a tactical way of defeating enemies in game-play. Therefore, we spent much time studying to set the most decent and comfortable game balance as a whole.
**9. The Panzer Dragoon world is perfect for art and graphic designers. We think that the Xbox hardware let them play with new possibilities. The palette of colours they used,for instance,is much richer than in former games, specially, in advanced episodes of the game. The final boss show a huge size, graphic effects everywhere, lots of elements in the screen, etc. Could you tell us more about the plastic and graphic aspect of the game? Which were your priorities when you represented the imaginative world of PDO? **
The cutting-edge technology of graphic processing powered by Xbox is one of the major advances in technical specification-wise. All of our team members tried hard to brainstormed idea of what Panzer-like designs would like and have come up with a brand-new taste of graphics but definitely keep a Panzer Dragoon-like taste to it. Our basic concept when discussing about the total design of Panzer Dragoon ORTA is how much and how well we could afford to implement Panzer-like taste as of surreal image as well as featuring that at close-to-the reality-settings in game.
**10. Pandora’s box seems to be a new game by itself. It has grown very much since PDZ. The scriptwriters and translators must have worked very much. Could you tell us a little bit about the contents? The “sub scenarios” allowed them to play with the point of view when they narrated the story. We can play with Mobo, Iva, imperial soldiers, etc. Where did you get this idea from? **
The idea was from one of Smilebit titles, ?Hundred Swords?(for Dreamcast) released in Japan and US. It is a network RTS but unusually have a well-built storylines and its bizarre universe for this genre.
11. Did you include in the game all features you want to put in it or you couldn?t include something that you wanted to? Maybe online functions, some kind of minigame for 2 players…
Originally we were considering to include a game element of multi-play mode, mini-game for head-to-head battle and that sort of play mode, but instead we decided to focus on fewer game elements than one we originally planned and get into a further level of development of the game elements to reach to the highest possible quality level.
12. The language that the characters talk in the game, named “Panzerese” by the fans, is a very good example of that identifying mark. What can you tell our readers about it? Will we, all the fans, be able to manage our dream and get a dictionary and a grammar book about it(^_^)?
Based on some different existing languages on planet, we created original basic grammar and dictionary. Each vocabulary is created according to our own image toward each word and relates that into a sound to create each pronunciation.
We do have a dictionary for Panzer language, but this is for the title development use only. We as Smilebit like players to simply enjoy its sound of Panzer language.
**13. Are you satisfied with the sales of PDO in Japan? **
The sales is not as good as we expected it would be unfortunately, but this is mainly due to a small numbers of instalment basis here in Japan market as a matter of fact. However, as far as the title of Panzer Dragoon ORTA itself is concerned, we have been getting positive evaluations and comments out of media from U.S and Japan.
**14. Every end leads to a new beginning(^_~). What can you tell us about this ? As you have concluded PDO, are you preparing any new game of the saga? Which genre will it be? RPG or shooter? **
We intentionally added much thoughts and actual concept into ORTA supposing there will be a sequel after this someday? It all depends on how well PDO will do in European market as well as US and Japan. We are hoping for PDO to win a big success in Europe.
**15. An very interesting question. Who is the Sky Rider? He die at the beginning of Panzer Dragoon. We’ve never known his identity. Is he Lundi? a Drone? **
We are afraid but we cannot tell anyone the answer, but one thing for sure is that he is not Lundi?
Thanks a lot for your time and for making us enjoy so much with games so good as this. We wish you a very good sale in America and here in Europe
Thank you for giving us an opportunity to answer questions for your magazine. We are proud ourselves that we finally made the sequel of Panzer Dragoon to add more values and history to Panzer world as a whole.
Questions answered by Akihiko Mukaiyama, Director of Panzer Dragoon ORTA
[quote=“Al3xand3r”]Nightwalker this is the latest Sega structure I’ve seen:
panzerdragoon.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=135
Those were written on Gamepro site sometime ago.[/quote]
Yeah… more o less. New Smilebit will be formed by old Smilebit’s sport team (“Let’s make…”) and old AV’s Virtua Striker team. New Amusement Vision will be formed by JSR/PDO/Gunvalkyrie teams from old Smilebit and Super Monkey ball and F-Zero GX/AX teams from old AV.
[quote=“Nightwalker”]**15. An very interesting question. Who is the Sky Rider? He die at the beginning of Panzer Dragoon. We’ve never known his identity. Is he Lundi? a Drone? **
We are afraid but we cannot tell anyone the answer, but one thing for sure is that he is not Lundi?[/quote]
I can think of several reasons why he wouldn’t want to reveal the Sky Rider’s true identity.
I think TA wrote him to be a rebel drone like Azel but never wrote a full or more detailed background story than that.
Smilebit kept the mystery alive in PD Orta, which means he himself will always remain a mystery. Just the way I like it really. Whoever (not whatever) he was is left up to our collective imagination.
What intrigues me the most is why the hell did he say that Lundi wasn’t the SR!
I mean it almost seemed he saw that possibility as ridiculous…
Perhaps he knew of Geo’s theory, and wanted to squash those rumours.
No.He was asked with no reference to Geoff
How much attention do you guys think is paid to the fanbase outside of Japan? You have to wonder.