Next Level/Nintendo on Luigi’s Mansion 2 development, experiments with the original, Nintendo’s rules, why Luigi can’t jump, more
Kotaku has published a very interesting and insightful article about the working relationship between the folks at Next Level Games and Nintendo. The two companies needed to come together for the development of Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon.
We’ve picked out a bunch of quotes below, but be sure to read the full piece here. Topics include Next Level not knowing which system it would be making Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon for initially, 3D and multiplayer experiments with the original GameCube title, Nintendo’s rules for Luigi, why the character can’t jump in the Luigi’s Mansion games, and more.
Holliday on not knowing which system it would be making the game on…
“Nintendo usually keeps a lot of secrets. Even being the developer, after learning about the project, we didn’t know what we were building it for or on. We had to kind of envision what system this would be for. So we just started writing paper designs, researching the old game and coming up with new ideas. We pitched a detective game, and then we were working on a little Gauntlet-style paper design to kind of shift the series and then eventually we started getting more details from Nintendo about where they wanted to go with the framework.”
“We were developing something in secret, like we usually do working with Nintendo. There was a conference call very similar to this one where it was kind of announced to us that we would stop working on what we were currently doing and start—they even added a little drum roll—to work on Luigi’s Mansion.”
Holliday on how Nintendo experimented with making the first Luigi’s Mansion in 3D…
“The original GameCube director, Konno-san, explained what the 3D tests looked like using the GameCube hardware. I believe there were some problems with 3D viewing technology then, so they didn’t keep working on it. But through that explanation we kind of reverse-engineered what the idea was. The first concept to come out was just using a dollhouse perspective, which is the camera kind of static on one side to just have Luigi running around in an environment to see how it would stand out in 3D. And we proceeded to [make] a tech demo and then a full on demo after that.”
Ikebata on multiplayer experiments with the first Luigi’s Mansion…
“In the development of the first game there were actually [multiplayer] experiments done on the GameCube. Actually, Mr. Miyamoto had very positive impressions with how it worked but for various reasons it didn’t make it into the game. So when the development of this game started out, the director of the original game, Mr. Konno, had very strong feelings about definitely including multiplayer in this title. So multiplayer was a decision that was made from the very beginning of development.”
Davis on how Nintendo presented Next Level Games with a set of rules Luigi in Dark Mansion…
“That comes from NCL. We have a set of rules that we can explore within each character. Different characters like Toad we were restricted on. Well, he can only do certain things in the game. [For example,] he’s supposed to look like he’s having fun when he’s with Luigi. There are situations in the game where, if he’s not connected with Luigi, we try to make him look scared or frightened, so that the player feels an emotional connection with him when you leave him.”
Holliday also talking about Nintendo’s rules…
“Ikebata-san and Nakada-san kind of the gatekeepers of the rules of the game and of the [intellectual property. Then we push the boundaries through concepts and proof of concepts and then they’ll keep bringing us back. So we’re kind of given creative freedom to explore within the framework and test the boundaries—and they’re kind of the ones who always bring it back and keep it cohesive.”
Ikebata on why Luigi can’t jump in Luigi’s Mansion…
“As for why Luigi can’t jump, that’s simply a carry-over from the game design that was established in the GameCube version. But as to why in the GameCube version Luigi wasn’t able to jump, unfortunately I’m not able to answer that.”
Holliday on how Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon’s length development and how it is a sign of Nintendo’s high standards for the studio…
“The game started out on a new system, so first there was technical [matters] of just getting everything running. And then we were working with Miyamoto directly, which came with its own differences from earlier groups, which were a little bit more third-party. We were getting a little bit closer into the family, and that provided some different relationship-building that we needed to do and different kind of characteristics that we weren’t quite used to.
“Then the game was about adding value. Because the first game was notoriously short. And Miyamoto himself would play the game even a year into development and say, ‘No we need to keep adding more. Let’s keep experimenting with new gameplay ideas.’ So [there was] almost 16, 18 months of, I would say, prototyping phases of just let’s just try a slide game, let’s try ballooning, let’s try different things with the vacuum. We threw away a lot, maybe enough to make another game, but it’s that kind of commitment to experimenting that was trying to satisfy his need to add a lot of value to the game. And I think the multiplayer eventually ended up being that value-add component.”
Davis also talking about taking a long time for Dark Moon to ensure its quality…
“As we were experimenting, we had all the different mansions, and we wanted to make sure that all the mansions were up to a certain level of quality as well. That obviously takes a bit of extra time to do.”
Nakada on how Dark Moon was finished multiple times…
“Throughout the three-year development time there were a number of points where we stopped and were like, ‘Well, we’re done. This is good to go.’ But there were places that we found that were good enough that we actually wanted to take advantage of them a bit more and expand upon those discoveries throughout the development. So that’s another factor as to why it took three years.”
