Splatoon 2 dev on how long it took to develop, why it took so long for changing gear in-between rounds, music talk

Eurogamer published a new interview today with Splatoon 2 producer Hisashi Nogami. Nogami commented on how long it took to develop, why it took so long to allow players to change gear in-between rounds, and creating music / bands.

You can find answers to these comments below. For the full interview, head on over here.

On the development period for Splatoon 2….

Hisashi Nogami: We were doing fundamental technical research as we worked on the updates for Splatoon, so there isn’t a clear cut-off point. However, development on Splatoon 2 began in earnest from around October 2015. A straight comparison isn’t really possible, but I’d say that the development period was about the same as for the first game?

On why it took so long to address the issue of changing gear in-between rounds…

Hisashi Nogami: With Splatoon, we were trying to make the matchmaking a hassle-free experience, and didn’t want to make seven other players wait on just one person. We decided with this game though that in Regular Battles we’d set a strict time limit so as to allow players to customise their gear while also keeping their existing match ups. The time limit is much shorter than in Private Battles though, so players need to keep an eye on it. In Ranked Battles and Splatfests, the matchmaking was refined to reduce steps to change weapons and gear in-between rounds, therefore it’s much less of a hassle and a much more pleasant experience.

On creating the bands…

Hisashi Nogami: In the world of Splatoon 2, two years have passed since the last game, just like in the real world. The music that’s popular in Inkopolis Square has also changed from the straightforward rock of the last game to something with a little bit of a twist to it. That’s the concept behind the band Wet Floor who’ve been in Splatoon 2 since its release. With the recent update, two new, fresh bands with an unusual formation have splashed down too. One of the new bands plays the kazoo along with the trumpet, while the other fuses punk rock with Celtic sounds! We do this to convey the ebb and flow of trends in the game world via the game’s audio. All the bands in Splatoon 2 are created based on what is popular among Inklings in the squid world. The music for these bands is written and composed by the Splatoon 2 development team. We then seek out professional musicians who fit the concept for each band and record their performances.