Yu Suzuki is a game developer that requires no introduction, as he not only created some of the best games ever released, like the two entries in the Shenmue series but also founded and led SEGA's AM2, a team that developed arcade games pretty much from scratch. With Shenmue 3, Yu Suzuki is focusing on creating the game using the Unreal Engine 4, as opposed to coding the game from scratch like he used to do in the past, and has recently spoken about the matter in a new interview.
Speaking with Eurogamer at Gamescom, Yu Suzuki revealed that the Unreal Engine is a great fit for the team's Shenmue 3 development approach, as it allows to prototype quickly.
Unreal Engine is a great fit for our approach because we can prototype very quickly. To me, this is a valuable feature. In my case, I take on a lot of new challenges and rely on a lot of trial and error. I need to be able to quickly see the results and try out new ideas. I feel that the concept of the Unreal Engine and my approach to developing the game is a good match.
At the same time, however, Yu Suzuki notes it's more challenging to fine tune everything at a lower level using the Unreal Engine. This means that sometimes he has to adjust the game scenario or plan to better accommodate what the engine can do. Still, his opinion of the engine is a good one.
In the case of a game engine like Unreal, however, it's a kind of 'black box' so it's more challenging to fine tune everything at a lower level. I'm working to find the best way to utilize the engine which means sometimes adjusting the game scenario or plan itself to better accommodate the tools set. Overall, though, I think it's a really good engine.
Speaking of technical matters, Yu Suzuki also revealed that loading will be much faster in Shenmue 3, hinting at the fact that it may possible to seamlessly explore more than it was possible in previous games.
This time, you'll start in a large area which will require some initial loading, but compared to before the loading situation will be much better. It's much faster now.
Shenmue 3 launches next year on PC and PlayStation 4.
