Happy New Year! This is Tsukamoto.

We're also gonna give it our all this year, so I hope you all stick with us.

As its a new year, I'm going to eat some mochi and tackle this new year with a lot of energy! First off this year, I'd like to talk about the stages with the design director Mr. Kamei, as well as the stage lead planner Kawasaki. We'll talk about the design of the environments as well as how the stages were decided on, and various other things.

First, tell us how the stages were decided for Street Fighter 4.

Kamei:
As the theme of Street Fighter 4 was "back to the basics", we wanted to keep the feel of the stages from Street Fighter 2, so we re-designed past stages such as China and Brazil. When talking about a re-design, its not just going from 2D to 3D - for example, in the China stage, as time as passed from Street Fighter 2 you can see development like more skyscrapers in the distance. So we've arranged it to match up with the global feel. For other stages, the concept of Street Fighter is "going to meet strong fighters all over the world," so we set things to make the environments scattered all about the globe.

Kawasaki:
For the Street Fighter 4 stages, we got a lot of images from the designer Ikeno as well. Especially the European and African stages.

Tsukamoto:
We wanted to make character-specific stages as everyone had been asking for, but there were various things to take into account... But all members of the staff feel that we would like to someday make stages for all the characters, so if there is a chance for it we'd like to give it a try.

What are the characteristics of the Street Fighter 4 stages?

Kamei:
In Street Fighter 4, same as the characters we really wanted to exaggerate the feel of the stages and bring out an original worldly feel to them. In particular, we've really paid a lot of attention to the ambient lighting. For example, for evening stages the shadows have a purple or green color to them, and this brings out a special color which makes it a stage you won't forget upon first seeing it. So even if you line up all the stages together, you won't find a stage with the same colors. With Super Street Fighter 4 as well, we've chosen some different colors. Depending on how you line up the stages, there are some beautiful gradations (laughs).



The movements of the characters in the backgrounds of the Street Fighter 4 stages are pretty amazing.

Tsukamoto:
The first stage we completed was the China stage. When we talked to Ono about how to update it from Street Fighter 2, he said "In SF2 there were a lot of bicycles, but now there aren't so many, so how about motorbikes?" At one time we did think about motorcycles, but as we feared they're kind of difficult to understand.

Kamei:
Because they pass by too quickly (laughs).

Tsukamoto:
So for the people riding bicycles, before they just passed by ringing their bells, but we thought to make them fall off, get back up, complain - basically make them react.

Kawasaki:
When we first thought of how to make the background characters move, we hadn't yet finished the stages themselves, so we could think about various interesting movements without too much restriction. Stuff like kids running in from the distance to increase the number of spectators, and the bicycle guy getting angry and lashing out. In the Street Fighter 4 China stage, in order to bring out the presence of the stage the battle line is pretty close to the wall of the house in the back. So if the bicycle guy falls down and gets angry, other characters aren't able to pass and it becomes a traffic jam (laughs). As we don't know when and where the bike will fall, we had to create limitations based on where the bike would pass through and where the other characters could and could not move. It became a lot like choreographing on a stage, so our lead designer put a lot of work into that.

Kamei:
When we were working on the arcade version we were pretty much just fumbling our way through it, so we had a lot of difficulty in getting the movements consistent. The China stage especially took a lot of time. And as it was the first stage, we had no idea how to do it. We didn't know how many characters to have or how much motion they'd have. So we increased and decreased the characters and their motions multiple times (laughs). But then by the console version we had more experience, so there are move stages where we were able to fix the movements of the background characters. For the arcade we did all the motions by hand, but we were able to re-do it using motion capture.



So now give us a general idea about the new stages in Super Street Fighter 4.

Kamei:
This time, the first stage we completed was the India stage. A large elephant was absolutely necessary. So when we finished that stage well, for the first time we could see the potential of animal characters.

Kawasaki:
The feeling was, without an elephant it wouldn't be an India stage. There's a lot of yellow, going with the theme of India, and with some individualistic background characters we've created an image that will make people think 'This is India'.

Tsukamoto:
For Street Fighter 4 there were many propositions made to get an India stage in. There were a lot of suggestions, such as on the bank of the Ganges River or in front of a Linden tree, but they were all eventually discarded. This time we've managed to take the things we wanted to do last time and compress them into the new stage. There's a lot of little things going on in the stage, so it'd be nice if you could take a look while in the middle of your battle. Especially check out the old guy on the wall behind the vegetable stand!

(Check out a ton of photos of the stages that were previously shown.)

The African (Savannah) Stage has also gotten a lot of good praise.

Kamei:
For the African stage, one of the background members drew a mean looking hippo right off the bat. As soon as we saw it, we knew it had to be in there! (laughs)

Kawasaki:
From the hippo we got the idea of "Animal Kingdom", and then we had another idea of "Solar Eclipse". When we showed Ono, he told us he wanted a mix of both, so it became what we have now. Its the same for the India stage, but at first the animal motif posed some difficulties. At a glance, the African animals are flashy and fun, but then you also get an unnnatural feel that makes them look like robot animals. But the lead designer really kept at it and worked hard, so they've become really living stages.

Kamei:
We didn't use motion capture for that, it was all done by hand.

Kawasaki:
Because, you know, we can't really put a hippo suit on someone and try do get some motion capture (laughs).

Tsukamoto:
The designer had always said "Let me make animals!", and he really did a wonderful job of it! Its the work of someone who really wants to do it. For making games, if you get people together who really love what they're doing they can make great things. So please take a good look at the animals that were made from this process.

How about the Korea stage?

Kawasaki:
The Korea stage is made a little differently from the others. Unlike stages before it, there's a road that divides the screen left and right, so unlike a stage where if you go into the distance it starts to close off, it feels a lot wider. Also, the left and right sides of the road have different scenery, so as you fight the feel changes - we felt that would be pretty interesting. At first, we didn't really know how to make a Korean feel, so that tripped us up a little bit. Also, as there are a lot of Korean stages in other games, we wanted to do something that wouldn't be copying them.

Kamei:
The most famous motifs have already generally appeared in other games. And, something we haven't really seen was a location that mixed the old with the current times. So in the Korea stage, there's the temple on the right, and the modern buildings on the left.

Tsukamoto:
The right seems a lot like a festival. There's shops and sales and what not. We looked at a lot of stuff in order to get the image of what we wanted to create. We also asked the Korean staff questions, so I think its a stage that represents Korea.


So now let's talk about the Building (Construction) Stage

Kamei:
The gimmicks are interesting in the building stage. Its a stage we haven't done before.

Kawasaki:
In some ways, the entire stage is a gimmick.



Tsukamoto:
The background characters are really moving around. Using the developers tools, we can change the camera and see all the way in the back, and doing so I was surprised to see the movements for characters even way far off in the back. By myself I got all worked up saying "they're really moving! They're all moving!" (laughs) Speaking of which, the motion capture for this was pretty difficult. The reason is because we had to take the measurements of the rafters, and be pretty strict about how far they could go before they fell off. Also, they let me do the motion capture for Hugo, and to simulate the rafter he's carrying I had to carry a large cardboard tube. It was pretty heavy, so my muscles became sore and the next day I couldn't get up (laughs).

Kawasaki:
The motion capture for the background characters was basically done by the staff, and everyone really got into it so we were able to get some good motions.

Kamei:
As we have two characters from Final Fight joining us, we also had to make a place for them, so we made the stage in the image of Metro City. That's why you can see a statue of the mayor in the back, and we have Hugo as a background character. For the visual aspect, we really wanted to bring out a sense of scale in this stage. We didn't really have any moving stages in SFIV, and although you don't get an extreme feeling of scale, when it camera moves you do sense it, so we tried to concentrate on that aspect. It uses polygons not featured in any other stages, and has a high level of density. I feel that perhaps this stage gives you the greatest sense of depth.

Kawasaki:
For ultras that fly up in the air, when the camera looks down you get the sense that the ground is really far away, so its scary. Also, there are barrels in the corners, so check those out if you can (laughs).

Kamei:
Yeah, we've got some gas tanks there. We'd be thrilled if this gives you a fun Final Fight feeling.

-- The boss stage has also changed.

Kawasaki:
In SFIV, you could only see Seth's hideout getting destroyed in certain characters endings. We thought it would be interesting to show you in-game that it really did get destroyed like that. So that's why we've busted it up.

Kamei:
The look of destruction. When the last boss falls it takes a lot of power, and we wanted to have a really dramatic expression. Some members of the team felt this way back during the arcade development. This time we pressed a lot of different people and got it done, so its a nice little accent to the boss fight. I can't say too much, but as the round progresses the drama unfolds, so while you are enjoying the play it would be nice to take a moment and take it all in.

Kawasaki:
I think people will feel like "I didn't realize it could get this busted up". The boss fight is pretty hard, but if you can check out the background every now and then.


Tsukamoto:
For the boss stage in SFIV, we didn't really know how to connect which parts and how, or how to get it moving, but this time we understood the boss stage construction pretty well. "Oh, if we destroy under here then this happens" or "Hey, this pipe is pretty brittle" stuff like that.

-- The bonus stages are also brand new.

Kamei:
The system is also new, but of course going along with the theme of revival, we designers were going for a visual that would give you that feeling. We even made the angle of the car the same, so that when you take a quick look at if you would feel lke "It's back! Sweet!" - that's what we were aiming for. For the background, well, Final Fight is the origin of the bonus stages, and with Final Fight characters in the game it only made sense to have the backdrop be Metro City. We created the stage with the idea of what Metro City would look like created with the current technology.

-- Are there any parts of the stages you particularly want people to pay attention to?

Kamei:
I'd like for everyone to appreciate the individuality of each stage. For example, the background characters - how they change the impression of a stage, and how their individuality combines with the stage, we put a lot of detail into that. Also, their movements, their clothes, even how their skin and muscles move around have variations. The skin and muscle movements are something we did since the home version, but its different for every stage. We put about the same amount of detail in them as we did for the player characters.

Kawasaki:
The designers have named all the background characters. Depending on their character or relations with other people, that's how we came to develop their movements.

Tsukamoto:
The stage aboard the European cruise ship with the weapons and the big screen was really tough. During the motion capture, there were a lot of directions called out using the character names, like "Put the big guy here, and the lady sitting next to him." For other stages, if someone called out "Hey mister, come over here" we had no idea who they were referring to (laughs).

-- Were there any stage ideas that didn't make the cut?

Kawasaki:
There are various different stage ideas for every iteration. This time, we had an idea for fighting atop a moving train, as well as an old haunted-like castle.

Kamei:
We also had an idea for EX where the police come out. They'd come out in the Scotland Shadowloo brewery stage to conduct a shakedown (laughs).

Kawasaki:
Oh yeah! In front of the fight at the brewery, everyone would be having a party inside. Then in the last round the police would break open the doors and say "It's the police!" and storm in (laughs).

Tsukamoto:
I wanted to do that one. When it came down to it, this idea lost to the Africa Stage. When we were deciding with Ono, we spent a lot of time worrying about which would be the best one, and we gave it a lot of consideration.

-- Do you have any recommended stages this time around?

Kawasaki:
For the stage with the best background character motion, I'm going with Korea. For the background characters we started off learning things through trial and error, and eventually advanced our skills, so in SSFIV I feel this is the stage where you get the best understand of what we've been through. We really worked hard on the motion capture. If we decided to have a kid who was good at Tae Kwon Do, we got a staff members who was actually good at TKD and had them come in and do their thing. So I feel you can have fun just looking at the environment of the Korea Stage.

Kamei:
I like the Africa Stage and the Construction Stage. To me, both of these are compilations. The Africa stage is a compilation of our animal motions, and the Construction Stage is one of our stage know-how. For the Africa stage, we put the animals in pushing their movements to the limits of what we could and couldn't do. We also pushed ourselves to the edge for the Construction Stage.

Tsukamoto:
I really like the India stage. I feel like the balance between the background characters and the stage is really well done. Its like a picture that isn't too realistic, so its a nice touch. Lately, there are a lot of games going for realistic, aren't there? Making it realistic is plenty difficult, but since that stage really does exist in the real world its very easy to understand and visualize. But for Street Fighter, the idea we've been working with is that it seems like it would exist, and yet it does not. That brings a lot of difficulties in trying to visualize it. If I do say so myself, its been realized pretty darn well.

-- Do you have any final thoughts for those looking forward to the stages?

Kamei:
Backgrounds are essential in a game. Of course, the player character is the main thing, but without a world around them them can't really function. As this is Street Fighter, we want people to have a feeling of traveling around the world. As the characteristics of each stage emerge, if people spend time actually thinking about the stage and its gimmicks and what not that would be really nice. We've carefully made each stage right down to the final detail, so please take a look!

Tsukamoto:
Well everyone, did you enjoy today's entry? There are a lot of fighting games out there, but I feel that backgrounds are a really important thing. Will you be fighting in a lively crowd? Or in a silent scene? The music is of course big, but for that feeling of tension and presence, stages can't be overlooked.

• Ryu's Ultra II is Metsu Shoryuken (which looks like a Shin Shoryuken with a new name).
• Viper's Ultra II is Burning Dance (the game's first Air Ultra)
• Cammy's Ultra II is CQC (Cammy's Quick Combination - apparently a Counter Ultra)
• El Fuerte's Ultra II is El Fuerte Ultra Spark

• Chun Li's Ultra II is a Kikoushou
• Sagat's Ultra II is a Tiger Cannon
• Dictator's Ultra II is a Psycho Crusher