SQUARE ENIX aims to salvage game development materials --SFC "Wonder Project J" development secret story --CNET Japan

At the online game developer event "Computer Entertainment Developers Conference 2021" (CEDEC2021) held online on August 24, "Materials as assets, game development material discovery project at Square Enix [Wonder Project J]" A lecture entitled was given.

This lecture is about the activities of the past asset salvage project "SAVE" being promoted within Square Enix, and based on the development materials obtained there, the Super Nintendo (SFC) software "SFC" released in 1994. The planning and development episodes related to "Wonder Project J-Machine Boy Pino-" were talked about. The speakers were Yoichiro Miyake, Lead AI Researcher, Technology Promotion Department, Square Enix, and Hiroki Fujimoto, Senior Manager / Producer, Division 1 (Produce & Production), 4th Development Business Headquarters.

Mr. Hiroki Fujimoto (left) and Mr. Yoichiro Miyake (right) of Square Enix released in 1994 "Wonder Project J-Machine Boy Pino-"

The origin of the salvage project "SAVE" of past assets

At the beginning, Mr. Miyake explained about SAVE. As a salvage project of past assets, three people including those with development experience are in charge as main members. Each has its own main business, and although they do not have a full-time job, they are working together while taking advantage of their respective strengths.

Breakdown of SAVE (about members)

There are assets of each company such as Square Enix, old Square and old Enix, Taito and Quest, and it is said that there are about 70 years of past materials since Taito was established in 1953. They are distributed and stored in multiple warehouses, and there are more than 10,000 boxes of cardboard. This includes office materials, and development-related materials are about 10% or more. Since the management list contains rough departments and contents, it is necessary to make a guess based on the management start time and the contents before and after, and it is said that new, old, departments, and companies are mixed.

Individual management of past assets by department

And, so that you can see which warehouse and which cardboard the target object such as materials is in, you can visualize the contents such as listing what is inside, individual photos for the whole photo, PDF of paper materials, etc. Perform and manage directories on a cardboard basis. It is said that it is aiming for prompt arrangements in the future.

Management format

In the first place, the reason for launching this project was in the summer of 2019. Mr. Miyake searched the data of the former Enix in the in-house digital library in order to search for the technical materials necessary for the research, but decided to order analog materials because he could not find it.

However, because there was no detailed warehouse management information, it was decided to order the entire warehouse. After checking the contents, he said that there was a material that could be called a treasure trove for the developer, and he thought that this should be managed properly. In addition, investigating and consulting on precedent cases in game asset management led to the launch of SAVE later.

At Square Enix, it is said that basically all warehouses are managed with cardboard. Although rough information is written on the warehouse management table, it is unknown what is actually inside the cardboard. Then, as a preliminary survey for asset management, we brought in a group of cardboard boxes from the former Enix underground warehouse and checked the contents.

Preliminary survey for asset management (cardboard group of former Enix underground warehouse)

There were game software, goods, specifications, promotional materials, personal materials, sales materials, etc ... Among the various items contained, many of the cardboard boxes were clogged with dust, and the storage condition was not very good. Mr. Miyake is presumed to have stored what was stored in the former Enix underground warehouse, but when folding the former Enix headquarters building, it was presumed that it was packed in cardboard and sent to the current warehouse, and it is a person who has a good grasp of the current situation. It is said that there is no situation.

Inside the cardboard group of the former Enix underground warehouse (part)

In the winter of 2019, we will grasp the general situation and consider initiatives and measures related to past materials. In the spring of 2020, he gave a direct presentation to the president and started as a formal project. Originally I was thinking of executing the project for a long time, but due to the influence of the new coronavirus, the work will be delayed due to the recommendation of company-wide work at home, and the danger of document destruction is expected, so the project progresses. Concerns have come up.

Start of SAVE ……? (Effects of the new coronavirus) Crisis of document destruction

Until now, SAVE existed as an organization, but since it did not carry out internal public relations activities, an overview of SAVE's activities was reported at an internal debriefing session around the fall of 2020. The existence of SAVE became known company-wide, and when we asked for the transfer of personal materials, the materials were gathered under SAVE, and inquiries and consultations began to be received.

Constant work at home (constant work at home) (in collaboration with the General Affairs Department)

As of the summer of 2021, the old Enix materials have been digitized and indexed (the classification by title has not been completed yet). And it is said that personal development materials are in a situation where requests come in sporadically. Mr. Miyake said that a huge amount of materials are still sleeping in the warehouse, and that SAVE's activities are still in the future and will continue to be active.