Bandai Nam Costa Geo is currently developing an internal game engine. Speaking of Bandai Namkostagio, it is a game studio, a subsidiary of Bandai Namco entertainment. “Tekken” series, “Idol Master” series, “Tales of” series, “Ace Combat” series, has created various popular series. We are also developing consignment from other companies and have a wide range of games.

That’s why such a company proceeds, is a design engine that can withstand large-scale game development such as open world. The CTO has been engaged in engine production, and Julien Merceron, which has also been involved in other companies’ game engine development and the like. Also, it is said that a technician involved in the engine is being recruited. The following occupations are as follows. For details, please refer to the recruited page.

· Engine core engineer

· Graphics Engineer

· Editor engineer

· Animation engineer

· Build engineer

· Development Support Engineer

Speaking of Bandai Num Costagio, Unreal Engine is also a company that is actively adopted. Why did you make an internal game engine? What kind of game engine is planning? And what kind of person are you seeking? I heard and heard the Bandai Nam Costadio. The answered me is the engine unit director-Horiuchi Katsudo and the engine unit core section Technical Director of the Technical Director. For interviews, we have implemented new coronavirus infections.

– Thank you for today. First of all, please introduce yourself.

Horiuchi Katsuke (hereinafter, Horiuchi):
Bandai Namkostagio is Horiuchi of his core technology. He has previously been a so-called game programmer, as a lead programmer for Nintendo 3DS from around 2011, and he was developing as a technical director in a large-scale game development for Nintendo Switch. After that, he moved to the current department at his own hope and develops game engines.

Core Technology Department / Engine Unit Director- Horiuchi Katsudo

Southern Colothermal (hereinafter referred to as Minami):
Also, it is south of the core technology department. He has previously been involved in the development of the Ace Combat series and was in charge of leading libraries and development environments in large-scale game development for Nintendoswitch. He is currently responsible for the development of the underlying technology such as the asset pipeline in the core section technical director.

Core Technology Department / Engine Unit Core Section Technical Director of Technical Director

History of Game Engine Development

– Bandainum Costagio has previously been a NU library (drawing library) and I think it was used in many titles. Please tell me about the process of trying to create a game engine from zero on a past asset.

Mr. Horiuchi:
NU libraries have been developed in the Namco era before 20 years. At first, development started as a drawing library compatible with PlayStation 2, and after that, updates for cope with multi-platform continued. “NU4.0” is also used for the most recent work. However, the NU itself is a drawing framework, and there was no mechanism to handle a game object and a mechanism to load the asset, if there is no development editor like a general game engine. How did you go under development to develop your own editor for each project.

Mr. South:
The title of the NU is the “Tekken” series, and then the “Ace Combat” series has also used NU libraries for many years. However, it was said that it was necessary to develop the necessary editors and so on the library specialized for drawing. While using NU as a library, we have written a considerable amount of code for each project.

Mr. Horiuchi:
I felt for many years I wanted to integrate my own tools, but there weren’t many things reflected in the main stream. After all, people say “I want to make it by themselves” are also many in the company, and it is necessary to have a development method specialized in the title. In fact, even at NU 4.0, I was rudder for the design aimed at the game engine. However, it does not fit or developed, and development does not go well, and the number of people could not be multiplied… In such circumstances, there is a process that it was stopped once eventually.

– I think that the development of UNITY and Unreal Engine (hereinafter referred to as UE) and other developments in BANDAI Costage. What part of the merit that does not make an internal production?

Mr. Horiuchi:
It is an inner reasons that you want to continue to maintain the technological power to create a solid basis, rather than leaving the base of the other company’s game engine.

Mr. South:
There are many AAA titles released in the world, and more have been developed with an inner engine. Technology on game development has a sense that it must be able to control it all of them.

Mr. Horiuchi:
From a long time, we have a strong initiative that “I want to create a game with this technology about development” and it is also connected to NU development. There is a quality line as a Bandai Num Costa that we should meet, and the standard feature of third-party game engines may not meet it. So, we have developed development until today, as it would be necessary to create a firm game engine to realize our ideal quality again.

-Specifically, when I was started to develop game engine from time to time.

Mr. Horiuchi:
I think it was around 2018 that development was decided. First of all, only runtime is prepared for the game framework, and the tools were developed if they could afford it. So I am a form I made a candidate. However, at that time, it was overlapped with the development time of other large games, and it was a slow pace. After that, concept verification of the game engine by several names was conducted, and based on this prototyping, development started in earnest since 2019.

-How much is the development system within the core technology department now be?

Mr. Horiuchi:
As of 2019, which was developed in full swing, it was a few or more, but now there are more than 50 people. Since it is a game engine, it is a member of the engineer center, but there are technical artists and project managers that make the specifications and evaluate the specifications in the actual user.

Mr. South:
We are also so members who are currently engaged in engine development in the core technology department, have a number of members through the “Ace Combat” series. There is also a background that used NU4.0 with the latest work, and the team is always working with the core technology department, so I think the team is well mixed.

# Enjoy an open world

– It is a large project. Even if you asked the number of people involved, you can see the reality of this game engine. There was a topic that we had prototyping for design concept in 2018, but can you tell me about the concept and characteristics of this engine again?

Mr. Horiuchi:
It is basic concept that decouples (isolated) three mechanisms of editor, runtime, and asset manager. Runtime and editors can be crashed by all means that they are developing games. Usually, if the tool crashes, the data is also lost, but if each is decoupled, you can hold the editing process or data. In terms of assets, the asset manager that has been disconnected with all editing history is maintained, so it has the advantage that editing can be continued simply by crashing. This concept is also involved in CTO Julien Merceron.

– Sacrifice how completed systems can not be unrelated to the error than the program. It means that it can respond without problems with the unforeseen situation because the system of the root is disconnected.

Mr. Horiuchi:
Not only that, but the editor and runtime are different, and there is also the advantage of not choosing the development environment. The current editor is built in C #, but if the cloud evolves in the future, the browser may be an editor. There is also such a prospect, and it was a policy of developing each independently.

Mr. South:
Development was conducted to enjoy the benefits of decoupling, while these development methods were not familiar to us. There is a part that suffer from the formulation of the specifications where you should put in any area, and “Let’s make this function early in the early days” has become a redundant code, and when it was early I had a variety of problems. It is also a fact that there was a timing to clear certain technical liabilities while developing is prolonged.

Mr. Horiuchi:
There were many engines development, and it was probably born that I was lost in how to prioritize. Therefore, we stopped developing in 2020, strengthening the development base, and the concept also verbalized for the project, and restarted the project.

– It means that in the development of long-term development, there was a partition to make it a better engine. As mentioned above, it can be imagined that the ease of use and stability are important. What were the language -ized concepts?

Mr. Horiuchi:
It is the content that “Open World is a common choice”. Bandai Nam Costagio has not yet released open world work. Rather than wanting to make an open world itself, clear the concept for the purpose of creating high-end development so that you can easily choose as a choice so that a large game with a complex mechanism is commonplace. did.

– What kind of flow was decided in this concept?

Mr. Horiuchi:
While listening to various opinions, I finally decided. It is not only the purpose of realizing the open world, but first we made a proposal in the form of making a foundation that could respond to complex and large titles well.

Mr. South:
I think it was a good target to stand as a goal. In fact, it is necessary to make a solid foundation to reach there, and in that sense, I felt that the engineer who developed a large goal like “Open World” was easy to understand. What kind of subject is produced and the quality of what must be made as a base is that it does not change to it. Here, the overall goal awareness has been raised, and the technical liability was cleared by rebuilding many features simultaneously with review.

# Three pillars

Mr. Horiuchi:
I made three pillars to realize this concept. It is “slow-speed speeding up of runtime”, “speeding up of iteration” and “design that allows customization from outside”.

-It is intuitive understanding of speeding up runtime and streamlining attempt and error of artists and level designers, but what is the external customization point?

Mr. Horiuchi:

Normally, I think that there are many cases where you can use a commercial engine as it is, and there are many cases where you add your own hands. If you try to update the engine on top of that, the merge will take a cost. In the same way, it is designed to be able to customize from the outside of the engine, as the migration cost is high when you customize variously inside the engine. That is, the engine’s editor itself, the runtime itself is also a mechanism that can change the internal structure plug-in, and not changes to the base of the engine to the end. By doing this, I thought that long-term operation is possible.

– Are there any projects that are currently developing using this game engine?

Mr. Horiuchi:
There is no development title for now. Sensure, I think that game development will be started if it is about a year. It is well known that it is well known to be promoting game engine development as a company, so now it will be on site feedback through the technical artist.

Mr. South:
Is the best feedback “stability”? Although the runtime or editor crashes, it is an asset manager that becomes a core for designing an asset to be lost, but this is the ultimate stability. Tools are also subject to the fact that function adds to the addition of a certain state.

Mr. Horiuchi:
Besides, I would like to give you an opinion that I want you to improve the operability. Background processing is the same, even by reducing the worker’s stress by quickening the UI response, we are concerned about various parts. Now, Materials are also available in the tool, but this feature has not been able to be Unity or UE as viewed from the technical artist, or it has been incorporated as a function that reflects the points that had dissatisfied?. I hope that it will be ideal for actual agencies.

-As you say, you may be able to reflect feedback from the scene smoothly, as well as the strength of the inner engine. Besides, did you have a particularly struggling in development?

Mr. South:
Looking back at the beginning of this engine development, I think that it was often struggling with the difference in thinking. This project is promoting the main axis of engineers specializing in game development. On the other hand, there are not many people who have developed software called game engines, and at first, we struggled with the fact that “game development and thinking of game engine development greatly different”. If anything, the game engine is an image close to the software development process.

-What is the difference between the development of development?

Mr. South:
In the case of the game, you will actually move to the specification or take the test play carefully. On the other hand, the game engine can not be played and tested. Of course demo title is made, but it tends to be weaker verification of punch than production. In addition, if you are a general software development idea, you need to take the process firmly, such as how to decide and design architecture, but in the case of a game, shortcut concepts may be established.

Mr. Horiuchi:
Since the game is quality supreme principle, we will do our best to improve quality. Anyway, continue optimization so that it will be optimized, and “it will only flow to this route, so it will be able to flow, so it will be ignored”, including the programmatic scraping and other programmatic scraping, etc. That’s why. However, in the case of the engine, you must change the specifications or add functions. It is necessary to develop firmly as software.

– Not only game development, not only software development processes, etc. What is the title of Bandainham Costagio is all the titles in Bandainham Costagio.

Mr. Horiuchi:
Because Bandai Nam Costadio is a diverse company, I think there is also a title that develops with its own engine, and there is also a title that continues to develop by making use of Unity and UE’s strength. In the past, the internal engine is developing for high-end consumer titles, but all will respond to mobile. On top of that, how to do the development system will be judged by project.

-Although it can be answered, please introduce the prospects of the game engine. Is R & D currently in progress, or is there a function to be installed in the future?

Mr. Horiuchi:
BANDAI NAM Costadio is a policy to actively promote R & D as a company, and has a unit called Inotech (new technology development team) in the core technology department as a specialized department. Now we are promoting research on character animation using AI and promoting cloud utilization to streamline development, or research on block chain technology. With regard to engine development, the minimum required element is defined and running, so it may not be possible to do it easily in the sense of R & D, but it is also expected that the technology grown with Innotec is diverted to the project doing.

Mr. South:
In the game engine, there is a “joint editing” as an element that is charged from the initial concept. Some of the concepts such as Excel have concepts that multiple people use simultaneously, but they also want to implement multi-user functions in the game engine. This is also a reason that this was originally decoupling. There is also a part where technical issues remain for nowhere, but will eventually be installed.

Seeking personnel

-I have visited the story of engine development so far, but from here we will ask about this job. Please tell me about the skills and minds that you need to develop engines in the core technology department.

Mr. Horiuchi:
I am glad to come more, who has been involved in the game engine development. In addition, those who have developed development such as DCC tools are for general software developers. If the expertise is high, please come by all means regardless of whether it is the game industry. However, more than a game company, it would be desirable to have a gaming game.

Mr. South:
There is no doubt that it is better to have the experience of game development. However, the field where it is not even if it is not yet, is still left in engine development. In fact, the core technology club has an active part as a software developer. As it will be a large development of scale, it is welcome if you have developed software in a solid way of making. Furthermore, this is also a decrease in the library, low-level and hardware, but I want a human resource.

Mr. Horiuchi:
Also, I would like to recruit other than that, “If you are a longer game to create a game, you would like to enjoy the fun of touching the game engine.” As a role of the game engine, I feel that the human resources who become bridging with the actual project are definitely necessary. I believe that there is a development experience using the game engine, and it is good that human resources who support the title will grow.

– In the context of software development, applications from out of the game industry are also welcome.

Mr. Horiuchi:
Yes, both are needed. In order to create a game engine, the actual operator will be difficult to use if there is only a game development experience. Conversely, only those who have only made the game may be difficult to adapt to software development methods. If you are a specialist of the road, if you are an excellent person, the background does not matter.

-How do you think of two people about the benefits of working in Bundainum Costa?

Mr. Horiuchi:
The best place is a soft place where the company’s atmosphere is soft. There is an easy-to-work air feeling that it is not easy to work, and there is an easy-to-work air. After that, you can move the project you want to do with your hand. In other words, we believe that the company that supports the challenge will be advantageous. I want to make a game engine! Although it moved to the core technology club with a strong feeling, it is a company that supports firmly for these thoughts.

Mr. South:
In addition to the current story, it is a direct benefit that you can work to work at the time you want to work and make a remote work. The work style is flexible, for example, vacation and so on. It is a company that is easy to control your own time and is a company that is allowed to work freely. In addition, although it is similar to the story of the change in Hori, the company will consider and think about the convenience and circumstances of the employee individual. When there was some circumstances, the boss and the personnel department talk about carefully talking and work seriously to solve it. I think it is a very reliable workplace in working.

Mr. Horiuchi:
It is a company of such an atmosphere. Is it a peaceful? Of course, because it is not a gachigachi, each can be independent and actively contribute to business, but I think it is a good company.

– Now, as I had a story from Minami, is basically a remote job?

Mr. Horiuchi:
That’s right, now the remote work is centered. For communication, so that everyone’s face is seen every day, it is a morning association or something that has a meeting in 4-5 people.

– Lastly, please give me a message to those who read this article and interested.

Mr. South:
Game engine development is different from game development. Even while developing the game, I think that there are many people who are interested in “How easy can you do?” I always think of how to make the game to make the game always comfortable, and I think it is a job that is really suitable for those who feel that it is difficult to realize this. Let’s enjoy the big challenge of creating an engine from zero!

Mr. Horiuchi:
Game engine development is a technically challenging area. Previous game programmers have a sense that he owns the behavior of the effect, placing the UI, and works with the designer, moving his hand and created a game. On the other hand, now rather than the game itself, rather than an artist and a level designer are likely to create a work such as an environment and bridge. Under such circumstances, the game engine development is a really interesting job that can meet their intellectual desire. Unlike general software development, I think that it is good to be able to develop and improve members of the same company and improve it, and it is also good to be able to develop with a sense of distance to be used as a matter of fact. If you feel attractive in the situation where you can meet the intellectual curiosity and develop them with the nearby customers, join us.

–thank you.

If you want to be involved in Bandainham Costadio game engine development, please check the details from the following page:

· Engine core engineer

· Graphics engineer

** · Editor engineer

· Animation engineer

· Build engineer

· Development Support Engineer **

[Listen: Daiki Kamiyama]
[Writing and editing: Daiki Kamiyama / Ayuo Kawase]
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