Interviewwith HappyEver Technology’s Product Director, Liang Chen
1) How is the current progress on the Chinese PC version of Ao no Kiseki?
Liang Chen: Progress right now is going pretty smoothily. The text translation was completed several months ago and a fully working version of the game was also created earlier. Following Ys SEVEN’s commercial release, all hands on deck have shifted to the enormous task that is the test run.
2) Have there been any differences in porting over the Chinese PC version of Ao no Kiseki compared to Zero no Kiseki and Ys SEVEN before it?
LC: The current version preserves the PC mouse support from the previous game Zero no Kiseki and also includes the joypad support and previous save file memory from Ys SEVEN etc. We also hope to make further improvements in specific areas.
3) Were there any new problems in porting the Chinese PC version of Ao no Kiseki?
LC: Compared to Zero no Kiseki, Ao no Kiseki has many new features, like Burst and Master Arts, and for mouse players, we would need to add new trigger locations on top of the original. Additionally, players can change the spray paint of the Orbal Car, which caused a few headaches, because Falcom stores each spray paint in a file and the size of each file is very limited. So, initially, we couldn’t enhance the textures in these files…. but luckily we eventually devised a roundabout solution, so we can now finally enhance the “Itasha” completely.
4) When will the Chinese PC version of Ao no Kiseki be released to the market?
LC: We completely understand players’ anxiety, but as I just mentioned Ao no Kiseki has many new features and, factoring in the humoungous word count, to guarantee the product’s quality, we will be spending a lot of time test running it. As such, the game is planned to be released in the first quarter of 2013, so please continue to wait just a little longer.
5) As well as Ao no Kiseki, what future projects are in store for HappyEver Technology? We all know HappyEver Technology and Falcom have a strong partnership, so will HappyEver Technology develop the Chinese PC versions of Falcom’s latest works Nayuta no Kiseki and Ys: Foliage Ocean in Celceta?
LC: We are definitely watching both games, but to make sure that Ao no Kiseki is a quality product, we are focusing all our efforts into it, so for the time being we haven’t considered other projects. Still, Ys: Foliage Ocean in Celceta is on the PS Vita, whose specifications far surpass the PSP and I personally would like to port over this game, because I’d like to know how challenging of a task it would be~~
6) Thank you for graciously taking the time to answer our questions. Finally, do you have any messages for players?
LC: I must thank everyone for their continued attention towards HappyEver Technology’s Falcom products. We will also continue to pay attention to players’ needs, so we can satisfy each and every player. I hope that, early next year, we will be able to bring Ao no Kiseki to the masses, and celebrate the new Lunar year with this beautiful gem of a game. Finally, I’d like to wish everybody good health and happiness!
Very many thanks to Aveyn Knight for the translation of this interview!