Treasure Hunter G – 1996 Developer Interview

Takeshi Santou – Lead Programmer
Kazunari Yonemitsu - Planner
Eisaku Kitou – 3D Modeler

—What was the core concept behind Treasure Hunter G?

Yonemitsu: This time, to address dissatisfaction with traditional RPG battle systems, we started by rethinking the battle system itself. We aimed for a system where players could act freely, moving away from the limited, monotonous battles of the past.

Santou: We especially put a lot of thought into incorporating character action into battles. We used 3D-rendered CG for more fluid movement and animation. We also reduced the reliance on text information during combat. Since windows don't pop up between each action, it lends the battles an incredibly smooth tempo.

Yonemitsu: Yeah, it wasn't until after the battle system took shape that we even started thinking about the story.

—That's surprising. Given the atmosphere of Treasure Hunter G, I thought it must have started with the world-building...

Yonemitsu: Initially, I envisioned a story like the movie Field of Dreams. But as development progressed, we incorporated ideas from Hironobu Sakaguchi at Square, among others, and it changed so much it barely resembles the original concept anymore. (laughs)

Santou: That's true. When I met Sakaguchi before the development began, he asked me to, "Make it a story that makes people cry seven times!" I tried building the story around that idea, and the whole thing just became one big tearjerker. Then, as we kept tweaking things, it gradually transformed, and that's how the current swashbuckling world of Treasure Hunter G emerged.

—All the characters in Treasure Hunter G are very distinctive. As their creator, which is your personal favorite(s)?

Yonemitsu: Definitely the four protagonists. I also really like the nameless townspeople. If you play the game, you'll see we prepared a lot of different dialogue for the townspeople too. And then there's the villainous army led by the Dark King. I put a lot of effort into showing the villain side in depth.

—Speaking of which, conversations between the Dark King and his subordinates are inserted at key points in the story.

Yonemitsu: That's right. By including the villains' perspective, I wanted to subtly convey their reasoning, their justification for their actions.

—I see. That really does make the Dark King's goals clearer.

Santou: My favorite character is Blue. He has the innocent aura of a child, but his remarks are surprisingly mature. That's what makes him so endearing.

Yonemitsu: Blue ended up being a completely different character from the early stages of the development. Back then, he was supposed to be a child who, when he started crying, would suddenly go berserk and become a Berserker. But we decided that was too outlandish, so he settled into just being Crybaby Blue.

—Berserker Blue! I would've liked to see that version.

Santou: We aimed to make all the characters in this game lively and vibrant. But as we developed the story, they became so "alive" that they started acting on their own. We'd be working on something and then realize, "Ah, Red would definitely do this," or "Blue would probably do that." It was like watching a child start to walk on his own.

Yonemitsu: That's why we didn't set specific ages for the characters. I figured it's fine for players to feel they're whatever age they want them to be. These characters are truly all about personality.

—Treasure Hunter G has tons of unique events, too.

Santou: Yeah. In that sense, it offers a high degree of freedom. While there's one main story, there are all these events you might miss if you're not paying attention. Players who beat the game once may want to re-play it again to see every event.

—What are some of the missable events?

Yonemitsu: The inn event, for example. Normally, you'll hear a fun conversation between Red and Blue. As the story progresses, new dialogue branches open up, allowing you to see various other events there. But the conversation changes depending on little things you do.

Santou: Like if your entire party stays at the inn while carrying five or more frogs, or if Blue sleeps while holding an axe-type weapon… You'll see different reactions each time.

—I'll have to check those out! Finally, this might be jumping the gun, but what about the possibility of a sequel?

Santou: Well, we're hopeful about a sequel. Thinking about it now, there are various things we've left undone and aspects we couldn't fully explore, so we'd like to challenge ourselves in those areas for the next project. Whether that becomes a sequel to Treasure Hunter G or a different title is still undecided. We hope you look forward to Sting's next work.

—Now I'd like to ask model designer Kitou some questions. Kitou, have you worked on any game-related projects before?

Kitou: For games, you know the Magitek Armor that appeared in the TV commercial for Final Fantasy VI? I was involved in its production a little bit. I was more of an assistant though. Back then, we worked as a team, so Treasure Hunter G is my first solo project.

—How many models did you create?

Kitou: I created numerous pieces, including the Iron Bird, Atlantis, the Oparts (Out-of-Place Artifacts), and various weapons and armor that appear midway through the story. Normally, for other jobs, I finish things in about two weeks, but this time, the entire production period took roughly half a year. Having that concentrated block of time allowed me to do some really good work.

—Could you explain your modeling workflow and production steps?

Kitou: First, during meetings with the development team, I would receive rough concept art and written materials. They also gave me the key concepts for the model then. For example, for the Iron Bird, those might be "a steam-powered aircraft" or "a silhouette suggesting leisurely movement." From there, I build it based on my own interpretation. For the wings, for example, I might use a hang glider as a motif to express a soft, flowing motion.

—Did you also design the Oparts yourself?

Kitou: As for the Oparts, only the Pyramid Eye had a clear outline from the start. That was exactly as requested by the development team. For the others, I just heard the concept and then created them entirely from my imagination. So I think they're a pure distillation of the worldview I felt from Treasure Hunter G.

—What did you pay the most attention to during production?

Kitou: First and foremost, realism. If viewers think a model looks fake, it's game over. So I worked hard to make the aircraft look like it could actually exist. Also, this time I focused on making sure my models connected with the world. The Treasure Hunter G world has a somewhat comical aspect, so matching that tone with these heavy, serious models was both a challenge and a theme for me. I hope I managed to express that well.

—The weapons, armor, and even the Iron Bird feel like they're made from authentic materials. How did you gather these?

Kitou: I collect and stockpile such things regularly. For example, if I see a discarded VCR, I'll take it apart and bring it home. (laughs) I also use junk parts from commercial plastic models, bathroom tile repair putty, and all kinds of other stuff. Actually, if you look closely at the Iron Bird, you'll find some surprisingly unexpected materials were used.

—So you assemble the models according to your vision.

Kitou: Exactly. Carving things out of solid material is a "negative" process, and I'm not good at that. Building things up from various materials is a more positive thought process, so it opens up my ideas.

—What was your reaction when you saw your own 3D models incorporated into the game?

Kitou: Seeing the actual game was truly moving because my work was so faithfully reproduced. Even the swords and spears are meticulously recreated down to the smallest details, it's astonishing. You really feel the development team's dedication in these aspects. But above all, seeing the Iron Bird in motion made the biggest impact. After all, the models I designed and the magazines they appear in are static illustrations. Watching it animated within the game was genuinely moving. (laughs)

—Finally, please give a message for all the Treasure Hunter G fans out there.

Kitou: I hope you'll enjoy comparing the weapons and Oparts that appear in-game with my raw models here. They're truly the crystallization of the development staff's sweat and tears, so please take a good, long look. Also, the poster of the Iron Bird at the front of this book shows the rear section, which you rarely get to see, so please check that out too.

---

Mitsuhiko Tanaka - Composer Commentary

originally published in the Treasure Hunter G OST liner notes

Handling the audio for Treasure Hunter G gave me the chance to connect with some truly wonderful people. I ended up becoming especially close with Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata; they helped create the actual track data and provided a ton of technical advice and support, which made working with them an absolute blast.

Our phone calls barely qualified as actual planning sessions. And with the brutal workload, our brains were so fried that our emails over PC communication made us look like we were losing our minds. I remember messages like, "So you've finally cracked too." Now that we're slowly recovering from the trauma of the job, those memories will make for great stories over drinks.

It might sound cliché, but I truly think making game music is incredibly difficult. For example, say you are composing the BGM for a scene where the protagonist visits some town at the very start of the story. The key point is how well the "tadpoles" (musical notes) swimming in your head match that image. For me, that "matching the image" part is where the real struggle lies. If they aren't swimming at all, you're in a slump; and if notes that clash with the image start swimming around, the whole track may end up getting scrapped.

Another difficult aspect is finding a way to successfully get along with the hardware. With the Super Famicom, it really comes down to a battle against memory. If you try to express human-like nuances in the music, the gate time and velocity data balloon, making the score data massive. If you try to get high-quality sound, the waveform data gets too big. And if you try to add deep hardware echo, the data balloons yet again. Whenever you try to do anything, it squeezes the already scarce memory, so I believe video game composers have to keep these hardware constraints in mind from the very beginning (if you ignore them and compose freely, you'll usually get a scolding from the data team.)

Undoubtedly, this was a big burden for the composers of Treasure Hunter G. At the start of development, the tracks were incredibly lush, but by the end, having lost the battle against memory, they had to be significantly trimmed down. I wept multiple times seeing their completely altered states. (And I'm not even joking about that.)

As for the music itself, in contrast to Square's past releases, I feel this one turned out to be a unique title in many ways. What do you think? One reason is that there were seven track contributors. With a group this size, establishing a unified theme or a consistent style of expression is typically the biggest obstacle. Instead of stressing over that, though, all seven composers drew on their own imaginations to musically interpret the world of Treasure Hunter G. I therefore think of this project as a crystallization, where those individual pieces linked together to form a whole (though for my part, I took the easy way out by focusing on melodies). As for how it turned out, I will leave that to the listeners to judge.

Finally, on behalf of us all, let me express our gratitude to all the staff members who worked on producing this CD, Square's Akao-san and Nakamura-san, who helped with the technical side of the sound driver, as well as our producer Harada-san, who supported us from the shadows just like Hyuma's older sister in Star of the Giants, and finally to everyone who purchased this CD.

Thank you very much!

If you've enjoyed reading this interview and would like to be able to vote each month on what I translate, please consider supporting me on Patreon! I can't do it without your help!