Greetings from the Holoearth Management Team! For this installment we talked to 2D art designer Oguro-san and 3D designer Nara Sayaka-san! We asked them all about how they took the avatar concept design from Masaru Sakamoto - a pioneer in the anime industry - and implemented it in Holoearth, including what they struggled with and how they solved various challenges, how the teams communicate effectively, and more. Interviewee introduction Oguro-san Position: 2D Art Designer Date joined: February 2022 Industry experience: 12 years Nara Sayaka-san Position: 3D Designer Date joined: June 2022 Industry experience: 13 years To start, do you mind telling us about your professional experience and why you joined the Holoearth development team? Oguro-san (hereafter Oguro): In my case, I happened to be seeking advice from an acquaintance who works here when I was looking to change jobs, so he told me about the project and suggested I apply. To be honest, at the time I still only had a vague idea of the metaverse as a place where people get together with VR sets in a 360 degree virtual environment to communicate, and I thought the avatar design would be relatively simple. But after seeing images on the company's website and reading more it became apparent the goal was to create a metaverse in an anime-style world, which I found really interesting and decided to apply. I also read on the recruitment page that the team was looking for core members, so I thought I'd like to challenge myself on a project creating something from zero to one in an environment that I had never experienced before. In the interview the producer showed me a bunch of materials and explained what he is looking to achieve, and I thought, "Wow, they're really trying to create something amazing!" Nara Sayaka-san (hereafter Nara): When I was thinking of changing jobs, considering how busy my previous position was I was torn between whether to look for something stable in a mass production environment, or something in its developing stages. Right at that time I started hearing a lot about Holoearth, and it made me want to work on a new project again and challenge myself to see how far I could go with the experience I had built up until now. What made you choose the Holoearth project over challenging yourself at another company? Nara: With a game company that has an established history they already have a solid foundation for development workflows, but in the case of Holoearth all of that was yet to be put into place. So, I chose to join the team since it would be really rewarding to contribute to what Holoearth is trying to build from scratch. I was intrigued by the metaverse since it is a genre I haven't worked on before, and because this project is being developed by a non-gaming company, so it is a great chance to really challenge myself. Now then, tell us what each of you is responsible for in the development of the avatar system. Oguro: I'm on the 2D team, where I oversee designs for clothes, hair, faces/expressions, and other things related to the look of the avatar. Nara: I work on the 3D team and am responsible for the entire process from avatar specifications to managing the visual style. Oguro: Our workflow is to decide on a design direction with the producer and planners, and once the design is created we bring it to the 3D team. From there, the 3D team considers the avatar development specifications and whether the design can be implemented or not. For designs that can't be implemented, the 3D team advises us on what kind of changes can be made to accommodate, and we make the appropriate adjustments.  Nara: For the 3D team, with the avatar development it is imperative to meet 3D specifications to ensure quality, and so we check the designs as they are provided to make sure the specifications can be met. Instead of just modeling a character concept design as is, we interpret and create a 3D model that ensures quality as an avatar system that players use, with individual parts for eyes, hair, etc., that players can customize without running into issues. Oguro: Definitely. We cause a lot of trouble for the 3D team (laughs). But, I'm certain if we don't design according to such detailed parameters then the end result won't be an avatar feature that gives players the satisfaction of having a high degree of freedom. So this has been a great experience that I look back on as positive despite the mistakes we made along the way in the development process. Nara: Thanks to sticking so closely to those specs we were able to make high-quality models. Without that we would have run into all sorts of difficulties, such as the model just not looking right, so I think the 2D team is quite amazing for creating great designs under the strict circumstances. Oguro-san, what kinds of challenges and creative solutions have you dealt with in the avatar design process? Oguro: For starters, since we received the original base design from Sakamoto-san we decided we didn't want to stray too far from his style. So, I constantly consider what Sakamoto-san would do while placing importance on Holoearth's own style as well. Aiming to achieve both is quite a challenge. ▲Avatar concept designs by Studio TRIGGER's Masaru Sakamoto What part of the design process in particular has been a challenge? Oguro: The face has certainly been the most difficult. Particularly the eyes, which need to maintain the essence of Sakamoto-san's style in consideration of his concept sheet and past work, and not look strange when combined with other parts of the model - such as not breaking the whole thing when this pair of eyes is combined with this hairstyle. What were some challenges you faced in bringing the designs from the 2D team to 3D? Nara: There was a lot we wanted to do and express with the model, so we made a list to prioritize, starting with the parts that would most affect mass production and then creating necessary specifications. This process took a lot of work. There were times when the 2D team's priorities conflicted with our own, so took the time to create a guidelines for avatar costume production. The costume guidelines are rules for restricting the range of costumes that could be created, in order to reduce clipping between costumes when combining tops, bottoms, and other items. ▲For designs with tight-fitting tops and bottoms, many iterations were required to see how tight they could be made without clipping Oguro: We continued this for nearly a year and a half (laughs). But, if we hadn't been this particular about specifications then we couldn't have guaranteed high quality of the avatar. Thanks to Nara-san laying the groundwork we were able to design within specific guidelines. Nara: I appreciate the kind words. I'm really thankful we were given the time to establish that foundation. It seems like as a team you aren't afraid of rapid prototyping. Now the model appears a lot more sophisticated than when just starting out. Nara: The base model did actually change. At first we were thinking of going with this [alpha model], which we bolstered and also changed the costume guidelines for. ▲Left: first alpha model, Right: current model Oguro: When I joined, the alpha model was already completed and I thought, "wait, it's already finished!", but as we worked on finalizing the specifications we realized the alpha model wasn't compatible with them and decided to start again from scratch. Nara: We went into the rebuild with a drive to make something stellar together. Because of this, in the end we received lots of comments from players that the avatar is really cute, so I'm glad we did it. Oguro: To add to the difficulty, whenever something changes with the base model, the animation must be changed as well. This will have an impact on the gameplay as well, so it really ends up being like a complete restart. I think a lot of developers will hear that the base model needs to change and think, "are you serious!?"    Nara: The animation team was also quite surprised (laughs). Oguro: I realized just how difficult the avatar system was, since it had to be designed and modeled to accommodate a great variety of clothing, hairstyles, and other elements. Nara: Since the 3D models of the hololive talents have already been well-received around the world, as a benchmark a high bar for quality was set for Holoearth's avatar system. In order to meet this standard it was necessary to change the base design. How was the player reception when the pyramid-shaped avatars were replaced by the human avatars? Oguro: First of all, it was a huge relief to finally reveal the avatar system to everyone. Looking at the response from players, there are so many comments that the avatar is cute or of high quality, which has been rewarding given all the effort that went into it, so I am happy about that. On the other hand though, it feels like we now have even higher expectations to meet. While receiving praise such as how the avatar looks, I also hope to hear more comments of surprise along the lines of, "Wow, you can do that!?" Nara: I was really happy and motivated to see people complimenting the avatar's visual appeal. The original character designer, Sakamoto-san, even customized his own avatars and shared screenshots of his creations with expressions just as if he had drawn them. We took care to create the avatar such that it will still look good even when the facial expression is stopped mid-movement. A screenshot Sakamoto-san posted was taken right in the middle of the avatar's movement, so I was pleased to see he thought it was appealing and that our attention to detail came through. But just as Oguro-san said, it isn't enough to stop at this point, and instead I want to aim for staying one step ahead of the competition in terms of anime-style design. ▲The team strove to make sure photos would look good even in mid-motion Oguro: The entire team is working to achieve the producer's vision whereby Holoearth has a real anime look to it. Nara: In the future there is a plan to implement a day and night cycle, so I hope players can take beautiful screenshots at any time of day. Being able to enter and really immerse oneself in the anime-style world is quite important. Oguro: When I am immersed in an anime, I find myself thinking, "What would happen if I existed as a character in this world, in this one scene?" My goal is to make that kind of immersive experience possible with Holoearth. Nara: I feel this is the best part of the metaverse - I want to create an immersive experience where people feel almost as if they're living in that space. ▲Oguro-san made the character depicted in the sign displayed on Alternative City's fashion shop, ALTERMODE As opposed to other more general metaverse platforms, Holoearth needs to give a sense of realism to things that don't really exist, including things such as demihumans and characters with animal characteristics, but in an anime-style world. This seems like a really difficult task, so what are your thoughts on it? Oguro: That's right. In particular, the development team is interested in creating demihumans and theriomorphic characters. While we aren't completely sure whether we can implement this at the moment, in the event we do I would like to create a foundation to really express them. I'd like to create cool fashion for these various races, such as gothic fashion for demons, and so on. Additionally, even with the talents there are plenty of races in their designs and I'd like to include that in the world building. It would be great if players feel like they can be something similar to their favorite talents.  There are plenty of games set in fantasy worlds where players can become something else, but probably not really where players can also enjoy fashion and daily life. Oguro: This is something I'm interested in drawing, so I've sent various design proposals to the producer. ▲Character design proposals by Oguro-san for the hololive Alternative web manga, Yamato Phantasia. Similar design philosophies are being discussed for potential future use in Holoearth as well. Nara: Oguro-san and the producer have pretty close communication. Oguro: Holoearth is something new and innovative that needs to be built from the ground up, so if we don't work closely together then cracks might start to appear. So, myself, the 3D team, and really the entire project team works closely with the producer, which I think is a great thing. Nara: I like that it's an environment where we can casually approach each other to discuss things. Thank you for the insights. The avatar design and development is mostly led by the 2D and 3D design teams - something not really seen much in the past. Nara: It's pretty much up to us. Oguro: It's my first time working like this (laughs). Nara: Thanks to being given this responsibility, I was able to incorporate the 2D and 3D designers' perspectives into things like making the model's silhouette attractive and improving its style. Oguro: I haven't seen such a flat work environment where we can make our own proposals that get accepted into the process. We have to set our own deadlines and overall work-life balance, and we are responsible for making sure we follow through with these proposals - which may increase the workload some but it is a lot of fun at the same time. Nara: There were certainly very busy periods, but we decided on the quality we wanted to deliver by the deadline so we were all really motivated to see it through to the first avatar release. To end, please leave a message to our readers! Oguro: Holoearth is a project with an incredible amount of potential. We realize this means causing some inconveniences and making players wait a bit on development, but we hope everyone comes with us on the journey as we release a variety of updates that exceed expectations. Nara: I hope to continue making an avatar system with great attention to detail that everyone can enjoy using to customize their own avatars. The avatar system is still being worked on along with Holoearth overall, so definitely create your Holoearth self and enjoy the world we are creating! *The features and other items not currently implemented that appear in this interview are not guaranteed to be officially added, however, these are currently being investigated and discussed by the development team.

Greetings from the Holoearth Management Team! For this edition of the development blog series we interviewed our 2D Art Director, YK-san, and 3D Environments Designer, Shimano-san. We asked them all about the process of taking in-game areas such as the Simulation Room and Kyo-no-Miyako from the 2D concept art phase to fully-fledged 3D, what the communication process is like, and more! Interviewee introduction "YK-san" Position: 2D Art Director Date joined: April, 2021 Industry experience: 8 years Interviewee introduction "Shimano-san" Position: 3D Environments Designer Date joined: April, 2022 Industry experience: 20 years First of all, please tell us about your professional history and your current roles. YK-san (hereafter YK): Before this I worked for 8 years as a concept artist for console games. From there I joined the Holoearth development team as an art director, and I'm going onto my third year here. I oversee the concept art designs for backgrounds, props, and other things that will be implemented in Holoearth. ▲Some of YK-san's concept art Shimano-san (hereafter Shimano): Like YK I also came over from the gaming industry, where I got about 20 years of experience in console and arcade games, mobile, and even pachinko and slots, touching pretty much every genre at one point or another. It's just now two years since I joined the Holoearth development team. I primarily oversee specifications, production, and final quality control for in-game environments. What was the state of Holoearth development when you first joined? YK: I joined the company when the Holoearth project plan had just been established. The first thing shown to me was 3D models of [hololive] talents running around free Unity assets. We only had a very rough mock up of what we wanted to achieve with Holoearth, but there wasn't yet a very concrete framework in place. Shimano: When I first joined the 3D there essentially wasn't yet a 3D environment team, so I was asked to be a core foundational member of the new team.  So you were involved in the planning when it was still being set up! Do you mind telling us how you are approaching your work at the moment? YK: For starters, we receive new requests from the producer and directors. With the Simulation Room, for example, we were asked to create a gameplay area where building and crafting would be possible. We then worked with the producer to design something that would both fit in the Holoearth setting and satisfy UX requirements, such as "when [players] cut down a tree, they will receive lumber that can be used for crafting and building." And the 3D team takes the concept art to work with. Is there anything you're sure to keep in mind when creating 3D models from the concept art? Shimano: Absolutely. On the 3D side of things, we can't really create a world as we see fit without the original concept designs. I think that if the role of 2D artists is to take a concept from 0 to 1, the purpose of my work is to take that 1 to 100. So we strive to reproduce the concept art as closely as possible and take it to 100 by creating scenery and small details not visible in the 2D art. Finally, we also make adjustments to achieve a good visual balance. ▲YK's concept art for the Simulation Room ▲Creating the area behind the tree and small details not depicted in the concept art Looking at the development framework it would appear like the 2D and 3D teams are working together in tandem. When the concept art is finished and passed on for 3D modeling, the two teams are still communicating closely with one another, correct? Shimano: We simply ask [the 2D team] when we need to clarify anything. For example, when we are unsure of what kind of feel to give something we're turning into 3D we'll just approach YK and think together on a good workflow that includes the considerations of the 2D side and the circumstances of the 3D side. YK: I don't really think everything can be conveyed in 2D from the very beginning, so it's great to be able to further express what I had in mind when creating designs through this sort of informal conversation. Shimano: It's good to have the artists right at hand to continue production smoothly with the final image in mind. In this new frontier of the "metaverse," the sentiments of the producer and directors must change quite a lot - how do you maintain flexibility in this rapidly evolving environment? Shimano: For me, breaking things we have created is part of the creative process. It's not "one and done," but more a process of creating something as a launchpad for something else, and fixing it with feedback along the way. On the other hand, the 3D team is also in charge of the final output of each design, so we have to be very conscious of deadlines. Due to this, we are always torn between wanting to continue working on something and establishing a firm line in terms of quality in order to meet a deadline.  YK: I'll decide what I feel must absolutely remain in the design and what has more wiggle room within the scope of the schedule so we can come to a compromise. As the team has grown, how do you approach communication and team building with the various team members? YK: As far as the 2D team is concerned, we haven't established absolute requirements as such. I ask team members to decide what they want to do, and we then try to incorporate it into the design process in a way that best utilizes those ideas. Shimano: When it comes to the 3D environments team, we divide everything into discussions about the big picture and the detailed process. For the big picture, this is all about members sharing their important values. These are values we all share as a team: mutual respect, willingness to rebuild things, not isolating anyone, not flat out rejecting ideas. The detailed discussions are for concretizing each member's tasks at hand. In making to-do lists of all the tasks that need to be done, including verbal requests, we are able to manage the process so that we don't miss anything or take on more than we can handle, and also each task can be handled by the right person in the right place at the right time.  As a team what is on your mind as you work to create something like Holoearth that hasn't really been seen before? YK: This relates to what we were talking about previously, but we place full importance on the world-building and guidelines envisioned by the producer, and work to expand the values of each team member and reflect those in Holoearth as much as possible. Incidentally, YK-san, how do you expand your worldview and update your own personal values? YK: I'm always thinking of areas that no one has challenged and expanding my own strong points. I like to reference things that actually exist while, say, combining A and B in such a way that no one has seen yet. I explore combining various environments and settings each day to create something new. I also try to keep my antennae out for environments and values that can further enhance the general setting thought of by the producer. Shimano-san, when were your thoughts when creating the Simulation Room? Shimano: We created the Simulation Room once YK's concept art was released. First of all, we poured over the 2D art to make sure it could be built well in 3D by envisioning the finished 3D version. Then we saved that 3D image in our minds and began work on reconstructing it in 3D with DCC (digital content creation) tools.  In bringing something to 3D, as much as possible I want to honor YK's original without losing anything. Once we feel we have achieved this, we turn our attention to creating a 360° view of the environment that is not depicted in the 2D art - within budget. 1. Concept art 2. Modeling and overall construction phase 3. Lighting to adjust overall color and brightness 4. Completed version with surrounding areas and gameplay elements (portal) Finally, we work with the technical artist (TA) to add custom shaders with movement and a distinct style to increase the graphical quality by one or two more degrees. ▲Working with the TA, stencils and omnidirectional video were combined to create a unique parallax effect for the sky There are instances where the final detailing can't be completed with 3D models alone, so you work with the TA to achieve the final product? Shimano: That's right. The interesting part is, what happens is a cycle where the concept art moves to the 3D phase, the 3D team consults the TA, and the TA in turn refers back to the original art to help create the final version. That's what I think is particularly interesting and how I know it will get even better.  Is this something you didn't see much in development until now? Shimano: As far as I'm aware this kind of creative environment isn't too common. Typically, you are so busy working just to meet deadlines from start to finish.  But with Holoearth's development, there is actually time to spend thinking about things like, "what should we do with the look of this asset?" When it suits us we spend something like 60-70% of our work on this instead. YK: Usually the art team doesn't really get to be involved with anything after it goes to 3D, but with Holoearth what's interesting is we get to have responsibility for helping supervise the final output and polishing it together. And that's how the Kyo-no-Miyako and Simulation Room areas came to be last year. Looking at the response from players, has anything come to your attention? YK: I feel a lot of encouragement seeing people enjoy what we have so far despite not having a ton of content out yet. Shimano: Seeing so many players visit the Simulation Room and Kyo-no-Miyako, running and jumping and poking around every corner, makes me really happy but also a little nervous. Those who are playing Holoearth are coming at it from both a kind but also critical perspective. We get tons of positive comments, but also sometimes critical feedback, which we are grateful for.  So days when new content is released are the most nerve wracking but exciting moments. ▲Many players gathered for "hatsumode" in the New Year's version of Kyo-no-Miyako released on Jan 1, 2024 ▲Players sit around the kotatsu to enjoy the "holo Out, holo In 2023 ▷ 2024" stream YK: In the console world, releasing content publicly while at this stage of development isn't really heard of. Shimano: That's true; this feeling of doing something to the tune of almost a live performance is quite intriguing.  You are in a spot where you can be creating and building while also being able to have back-and-forth with users at the same time. Shimano: Also, we have a guideline from the producer where "this is something that we will continuously be creating, so the real finished product can be shown a little later," which lends some sense of relief.  Thanks to that, we can keep our feet firmly planted on the ground and sort out what needs to be prioritized, such as whether to make this asset now or carry it over to next time, so we don't have to make a lot of compromises to finish something if it's not ready. In this way, players can hopefully anticipate more improvements and growth each time. YK: To that end, we place great importance on not betraying players' trust as we work on development.    How about we end on what you both would like to challenge going forward. Shimano: Just as in the beginning, I still think we cannot be 100% dependent all the time on the art team and instead we need to complement each other. If we have something that doesn't seem like it can be designed totally from scratch, the 3D environments team would like to propose perhaps creating it in reverse and being involved with the design, when possible. For example, the "Alternative City" we are currently making is a large city area, so it may not be possible to have the art team solely take care of every detail. So if it is a motif that can be seen readily in the real world, such as roadside trees or plants, the environments team is gradually working to help with the design aspect as well. I'd like to further strengthen this capability in the future. YK: I'm always thinking about how unique the Holoearth experience is, and I hope the environments, creatures, and other aspects of the world can immerse players in an experience that can't be had elsewhere.