http://forums.acecombatskies.com/index.php?showtopic=6860&st=0
http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=938702&topic=34979596&page=1

credit to: yellow26



"Not sure how many of you are interested in this, but here is a
translated portion of the interview article. Whoever copy and paste to
the other site, or paraphrase this post can do so if you give me
credit. Here goes.

It's been a month since the impactful announcement of Ace Combat 6,
the latest installment of the series. It has come to the next
generation platform Xbox 360, making it finally possible for the fans
to play online. Both the campaign mode for the single player and the
online multiplayer are decorated with photo-realistic visuals. The
players will fight with and against each other in the new skies of
rivalry and cooperation.

Although some information are starting to pop up here and there, much
still remains unknown about Ace Combat 6. So we arranged an interview
with Producer Hiroyuki Ichiyanagi and Director Natsuki Izaki from
Project Aces, to get a more close look at it.

■ Releasing the new title while it's hot. Time is right for the Xbox
360.

AC6 is going to have an online feature for the first time in the
series. The development is in pregress, aiming for 16-player online
multiplayer. Head to head, coop, and various unique rules will make
the online multiplayer even more exciting. So our very first question
was, "Why the Xbox 360 for the new platform?"


Ichiyanagi: Project Aces has been studying and reseaching the
development of video games for hi-spec hardware for a long time. It's
just that when we thought it's about time we set about developing new
Ace Combat, the Xbox 360 was right there.

Izaki: Ichiyanagi and I agreed on that "it's all about timing."
Suppose AC6 is released in 2008... That means we keep fans waiting for
too long a time, doesn't it? It was like... 3 years between AC04 and
AC5? Back then, we heard many people say that they're tired of
waiting. Of course, all of us understood as a team and as a corporate
that the next AC was the most wanted. Then we thought that if it's
gonna be all new, it should be on a new platform. The Xbox 360 was
about to be 2 years old at that point, which we believed would be a
nice choice. What's the most important is that we want to release it
while it's still hot.

Interviewer: While it's hot in the market and in the developers'
environment?

Ichiyanagi: We had heard the "We Want Online" chant. So we planned on
introducing the online feature into AC6, and that will be where we'll
be making efforts in the future.

Izaki: Considering the spec of the next gen console, there is no way
there will be no online. However, it depends on each player and each
country how interested they are in online, so there is no telling how
many players are actually playing online at this point. That's why we
are putting more efforts into the stand-alone mode than we did into
the previous versions. Online and Campaign are two different things,
I'd say.

Ichiyanagi: The volume of the campaign mode is great this time, and
there'll be many new features and game systems added. And the online
mode has lots of unique rules. I'm really curious about which mode
will earn more reputation, since it will be a good feedback to us. It
will also be a good guidepost when we develop the next Ace Combat. I'm
so curious about it.

Interviewer: Are you making the best out of the know-how of the ad hoc
feature of the PSP's ACX?

Izaki: Certainly. All the developers of ACX are working like beavers.
But not just the same as that of ACX. It'll be something newer and
more elaborated. Be looking forward.

Ichiyanagi: Just for the record. No wonder people are paying attention
to the online mode, but the quality and volume of the campaign mode
will have the most fun in the series. Those who are not interested in
online much won't be disappointed.

Interviewer: Concerning the online mode, the player vs player mode and
the team battle mode are confirmed. 16-player online multiplayer is
being aimed for. As for the campaign mode, it is focused in the
previous versions that "the player is becoming a hero." So, what will
be the main focus in the online mode?

Izaki: What's important is role sharing. It's not like "Whoever beats
the enemy is the hero." Those who perform his/her own job are the
heros. This is our intended spirit of the online play. The maps and
terrains of the online mode will be recycled from campaign. The
flyable aircraft are those unlocked in campaign. We are preparing some
stages exclusive to the online coop where teamwork does matter.

■ Real graphics by Original Shader

They showed us a movie of a Tornado GR.4 flying over a battlefield. It
was flying above Gracemeria , the capital of the Republic of Emmeria.
This city takes an important position of the story, and appears many
times in campaign. Looking at the game play movie, we noticed some
differences from the images and graphics released so far.

First of all, there are two small windows in the right bottom and left
bottom of the main screen. These sub-windows display the appearance
and status of the enemy. They have more roles, but the rest is
detailed later.

Another thing is, the terrain wouldn't get blurred even if the plane
went high up. Even during a dogfight at high altitude, I could
recognize the terrain once the camera looked down. According to the
developers, it was still far from complete. But it reminded me of the
scenery I saw from a window of a real plane.


Izaki: This time, images and views from high altitude are what I want
people to pay attention to. The terrains won't fade away or get
blurred even from high altitude. The texture of the ground is pretty
distinguishable from high altitude. In a 3D flight shooting game, you
need to be able to enjoy a realistic view anywhere any time, you know.

Ichiyanagi: We are used to developing PS2 games, so we have our own
knack for making things go smoothly. But this time, it's the Xbox 360.
We had to adjust ourselves some. Recently, we are starting to get
accustomed to the Xbox way You know what? It's gonna be all better as
of now.


They then showed us another footage. It was the A-10A Thunderbolt II.
The first thing that impressed us was how the visual got influenced by
the detail such as the engine exhaust. Looking at the aircraft model,
I was astounded by the minuteness of the shape and form and even the
panel line of the craft. It's almost plastic art. And in the cockpit
view, you can see the gauges and sensors actually moving. Broader
sight, stereoscopic view... you are actually inside the canopy,
piloting a plane!

At low altitude, you can feel the density of the terrain. There are a
lot of buildings in Gracemeria. So many of them. Even in the middle of
the development, it already took on grand 'cityscape.' In the previous
games of the series, you were forced to see the repetition of tile-ish
ground textures during flying low, but not this time. There's
startling reality to the look of the ground, as might be expected from
the next gen platform.


Izaki: Each aircraft is modeled on its real life design, even inside
the cockpit of them. The gauges and sensors work according to the
plane's maneuvers. In the cockpit view, you can actually see the
player-character's feet operate the pedals. There are many more new
features that will make the players feel like they are in the canopy
and piloting a plane.

Interviewer: Is the Shader Program your original?

Izaki: Yep. It's our corporate's original program. We used to design
the canopy as something simply semitransparent, but our people from
the design section worked hard and made a completely new design of it.
As for the exterior of the aircraft, it looks most realistic when you
look at it into the sun. Until the PS2, the shading effect was
relatively simple, so we employed ambient occlusion, which reinforces
the shading effect on the different parts of the plane. As a result,
the solidity and plasticity of the planes became even more realistic.
Another method we employed this time is tone mapping, which represents
light adaptation and dark adaptation of vision. This will be felt most
clearly when you look at the sun, or when you go out of the cloud.

Interviewer: How about Self-Shadow?

Izaki: For the Self-Shadow effect, we use the Stencil Volume Shadow
method. As for the reflection of light, Fresnel Term is used to
repsent different solidity and plasticity for each aircraft. Now that
we moved on to the next gen console, it takes us time keeping balance
of reality and exaggeration. For example, our designers sometimes
spend a whole day discussing the look of a canopy (laughs). If it's
too real, you can't feel the effect of the shader, and if it's too
exaggerated, it looks odd. We are seeking the best point to land. But
we are kind of leaning toward exaggeration. We want to make clear how
we pregress with the next gen platform.

Ichiyanagi: I think we have top quality in this industry.

Izaki: Actually, everything is new to us now. Maybe it's about time we
chose 'what is appropriate', not 'what is feasible.' All of us
developers of the series are studying many things while developing the
game. But we are still along the same line of the development so far.
Those who are familiar with the images of fighter jets in the PS2
video games will accept the new graphics with ease, I suppose. People
often get surprised in a bad way when there's a console jump, you
know. That won't happen this time.


There is also something new. Trails and clouds. Especially, missile
trails. We've seen them disappear rather quickly in the series, but
this time, missile trails remain adrift in the air. I personally think
that what is unique to the Ace Combat series is the expression of the
skies and clouds. Of course, clouds are represented more naturally
than ever. Still, those missile trails get you the feel of the air.
Talk about the next gen console!


Izaki: The main concept is "Squad vs Squad. Large scale battlefields
of crisscrossing fire." To represent a battlefield that is excessive,
powerful, intense and active, missile trails remain in the air for a
while. But not for 4 or 5 minutes. A hundred of missile trails adrift
in the air at a time will put the screen in a mess. This kind of thing
won't occur. We learned to draw clouds and missile trails in the same
method. Clouds will look more natural.

Ichiyanagi: Why don't we compare this with the previous game?

Izaki: Ships and all are modeled detailedly one by one. This time,
there's a new Allied Support system. Not only planes but also ships
will provide cover for the player. Concerning the terrains, the
reflection of sunlight is improved in may ways by means of specular
maps. You can't miss it when sunlight is reflected on a window of a
building, water surface, and snow field. An average mission map is 100
km square. The maps include cities, a bay area, mountan ranges and
all. It's fun just flying around.


These all all that gets me excited. Which leads me to ask... What will
the replay be like?


Izaki: That is exactly what we are discussing with other members. It
is one of the ways you enjoy the new quality visual. We'll do our best
to make it best. It goes without saying that the camera angles used
previously are used this time too. Plus, we are thinking about
applying a new camera angle that the next gen console is capable of.
Saving replay is also a topic we are considering. Be looking forward.

■ "Not much is told so as to kindle the players' imagination" -
Relationship with the allied forces

This time, we were shown a movie of a mission where three allied units
diverged into three directions. Although this was a ver small scale
mission in the game, the number of allied and enemy units was greater
than that of any other mission in the series.


Izaki: One of the key words of AC6 is "Live Battlefield." Each unit
has its own purpose. Tanks are moving around and troops are firing.
This kind of thing is what we would like to represent. In addition to
the return line feature, which was back to ACZ, there is/are a
mission/ missions where you occupy a runway of a base to land for
refueling and rearming. There is/are also a mission/missions where you
have to take out flak gun units to take over an enemy base. On the
contrary, there is/are also a mission/missions where you can't RTB
because your base was destroyed by the enemy's long range fire.


Sounds like keeping a supply base secure is as important as shooting
down enemy planes and bombing enemy HQs. So... how will the wingmen
get involved with all this?


Izaki: AC5 focuses on the formation so that the players can feel their
wingmen's presence. So does AC6. There is a guy who has his own
background, who narrates the story from his point of view on behalf of
the player character, who is always mute in this series. Not only your
wingman but also other friendly Army, Navy and Air Force units have
their own names. They all have unique chatter. That way, you can feel
how many are pounded into the battlefield. As for the description of
the friendly and the enemy, AC04, AC5 and ACZ have tried different
methods respectively. AC6 focuses on many friendly and enemy soldiers
in a broader way.

Ichiyanagi: While AC5 mainly focuses on your wingmen's voices and
faces so that you can feel some kind of belonging-ness to them, AC6's
storytelling leans toward that of AC04. "Not much is told." You know
what I'm talking about, right? For example, a certain soldier's name
often appears in the in-mission radio chatter, and you ask him for
backup. He actually provides help. Then you knwo him. This way, you
can delve more deeply into this world. The Ace Combat series focuses
on how many people are involved in the world you are thrown into.
Director Izaki has been paying attention to the details even such as
what should be there in what mission since AC04. With pride.

Izaki: Now I'm doing that witha next gen console. Their vehicles,
planes and even the pilots themselves are displayed in the sub-
windows. They have their own roles and equipments. The battleship is
about firepower and long range attacks. The pilots are about flying
cover for you.


So this is another role of the sub-windows described earlier. These
sub-windows display the status of your allies. Their ships, vehicles
and planes are shown in them, and the voice and radio chatter
subtitles help you develop the sense of fellow-ness in AC6. What's
important when describing other characters is the cutsnces. The war is
told from the viewpoints of 7 characteres between missions. Real time
movies are also inserted during missions.


Izaki: 7 characters talk about the war from their standpoints between
missions. A war drama, sort of. They are all very unique people.

Interviewer: Realtime movies are used very often.

Izaki: In order to avoid making quality gaps between realtime movies
and prerendered ones. We'd like the players to be part of a coherent
world. That packing them all into one disk is hard is also a reason.
We think it will be a good experience for us developers to try a
realtime movie technology for our future products.


■ AC6 is a 'giving each other a favor videogame - Requesitng Allied
Support System.

The existence of SP weapons is indispensable in the Ace Combat series.
Much remains unknown about SP weapons in AC6. The use of Allied
Support seems to be a big key this time. It is a system to fill up the
Allied Support bar by destroying the enemy and saving the allied
forces. How much support you can ask for depends on how much of the
bar is filled. It was great watching the fighters, tanks and ships
fire simultaneously. When I saw it, I was like "Wow!" It'll be very
effective when you face the enemy boss.


Izaki: The number of the enemy increases as you approach the end of
Campaign. Shooting them all has the most fun. When to use Allied
Support, that is, how to make the best out of it helps you beat the
game. Now we are in pursuit of the fun-ness of it. A tactical decision
on when to use it is important, but just having a look at all of your
allies firing away is visually impressive.

Ichiyanagi: Just like the anime of Macross (laughs).

Izaki: You can say that again (laughs).

Interviewer: What if you request their support when they are in the
middle of their own mission?

Izaki: There are times when they respond to you saying that their
hands are full. If you help your allies from trouble, they become
mission-objective free and ready to provide support with you. You can
check who is ready on the radar.

Ichiyanagi: AC6 is a 'give-each-other-a-favor game.'

Izaki: One of the traits about the series is how the player characters
are flattered and praised by the friendly forces, you know. This time,
they return you a favor not through radio chatter but through action.


In the Campaign mode, you can enjoy the 'Squad vs Squad' missions to
the full. In addition, in the last phase of it, you'll go up against
the squad of giant weapons.

The radio chatter, which was first focused in AC04, gets you excited
even more. You can hear the pilot shown in the sub-window screaming
like "I've been hit! Disengaging!" all the time. This will give you
the live-ness and real-ness of the battlefield. We also had an
oppertunity to take a look at the final stage. Of course, "It's not
complete yet" according to them, but our first impression was that the
screen was packed with multiple squads of giant enemies. The details
are under wraps so to avoid spoilage.


Izaki: This time, the boss enemies are something that cannot be
without a next gen console. Of course, there is a solo superweapon.
What you've just seen is an aerial fortress the size of the Arkbird.
There is also another secret superweapon (chuckles).


Using Allied Support effectively against this kind of enemy is going
to be a key and the pleasure of AC6. How long will it take to complete
one mission then?


Izaki: I estimate a bit over 30 minutes if it's a Dynamic Mission.
However, in those missions, even if you get shot down or crash, you
don't need to start from the beginning. There'll be something like an
interim save feature. There'll be other features that allow you to
play without frustration. We are designing the long term missions
carefully and focusing on how the players can get the sense of
achievement when one operation is complete. Even if you start all
over, you won't get tired of it.

Ichiyanagi: Even those who always aim for perfection can enjoy it free
from stress. I guess enthusiasts don't play mission by mission. They
are the kind of people who take time building up their own tactics and
strategy. We are considering some kinds of 'hint" or 'skip' features
for those who are new to the series.

Izaki: The non-playable characters are controlled by both the normal
AI and the game script. It's not that each other fires away at each
other. For example, there are times when they attack, say, an enemy
airbase so that you can land there. Until now, it was all about you
and the enemy. But not this time. Whatever kinds of action you take
gets you different experiences.


The developmet of the battlefield may vary with the player's actions
and hehaviours. Speed and score runners are required to read the tide
of battle and analyze the situation quickly.


■ For the sake of stress-free gaming experiences

For those who are new to the series, crashing into the ground does not
lead to game over on the Easy difficulty level. Of course, vets to the
series can enjoy the higher difficulty levels.


Ichiyanagi: I think one of the reasons why the Ace Combat series is
accepted so widely is that it's easy to master how to fly a plane. Of
course, there are many other features and tricks to reduce the
players' frustration, such as quick loading.

Izaki: Yeah. As we released AC04, AC5 and ACZ, we heard a lot of
opinions. We went through those opinions, and sorted out what's
impossible because of the hardware's spec and what's feasible with the
next gen console. As for flying a plane, we revised the controller
setup so that those new to the series can easily and quickly master
it. Some maneuvers are added this time which are intended for vets.
Creating a stress-free gaming environment is what we're all about this
time. The controller setup is slightly changed, but it will give you
the best feel of flying. Of course, you can customize it.

Ichiyanagi: Even in the middle of playing a mission.

Interviewer: How does the change in the difficulty level affect the
game play?

Izaki: The number and the type of the enemy and their aggressiveness,
mainly. As for the allied forces, they are controlled by the AI in a
local battle, but they are controlled by the game script when need be.
In other words, they do their job even on the lower difficulty levels.

Interviewer: Speaking of stress-free, I sometimes wished that I could
cancel the dialogue when I restarted. How about it this time?

Izaki: That was our mistake. We took that into account this time so
that you can cancel the storytelling chatter when you restart.


Dynamic Mission, Giant Boss... sounds like AC6 is leaning toward the
volume. But it also focuses on newcomers, quick loading, cancellation
of the chatter. I, for one, am looking forward to the launch of Ace
Combat 6."