The struggles of bringing a Dreamcast classic to PC.
Until now, the only way to play the original Shenmue was on the Dreamcast. But thanks to a relentless campaign by fans to bring it to modern platforms, and UK development studio D3T, Yu Suzuki’s ambitious martial arts epic has finally been given a new lease of life. Shenmue I & II collects the first two games in the series, enabling you to play them in 4K with a few subtle visual tweaks including anti-aliasing and subtle bloom lighting.
“The love and passion that went into these games is clear to see,” says Noel Austin, technical director at D3T, when I ask him why he thinks Shenmue has such a cult following. “The world is incredibly detailed and researched, and really makes you feel like you’re living in Yokosuka in the ’80s. Also, there’s very little hand-holding. You have to use maps and talk to people, which is quite refreshing in this age of constant objective markers.”
D3T first received the Shenmue archive from SEGA back in October 2015 and there was a huge amount of data to sort through before development could begin in earnest. “Ramp-up was slow while we picked through the massive data archive and planned the approach we would take to porting it,” remembers Austin. “Over the lifetime of the project, at least 20 people have touched the code, although the peak team size was probably around ten developers.”
“The pressure was immense,” he adds. “Both from the expectations of the community and the importance of the Shenmue brand within SEGA. We know how passionate the community is about the game, and rightly so. The fans worked really hard in pushing for this re-release, and we were grateful to be the studio given the opportunity to bring it back.”
Denne historien er fra January 2019-utgaven av PC Gamer US Edition.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra January 2019-utgaven av PC Gamer US Edition.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
YELLOW CARD
Flawed deckbuilder DUNGEONS AND DEGENERATE GAMBLERS rarely plays a winning hand
GODS AND MONSTERS
AGE OF MYTHOLOGY: RETOLD modernizes a classic RTS with care
SPACED OUT
After a strong first impression, WARHAMMER 40K: SPACE MARINE 2 runs out of steam
SLIDES RULE
Redeeming a hated puzzle mechanic with SLIDER
DINER HARD
Rewriting the rules of horror in ALAN WAKE
"Kay Vess, galactic tomb raider"
Feeling like Lara Croft in STAR WARS OUTLAWS
LETHAL COMPANY
A return to some explosive post-launch patches.
MARVEL: ULTIMATE ALLIANCE
Enter the multiverse of modness.
TRACK GPT
Al's teaching sim racers to improve-what about other games?
FINDING IMMORTALITY
Twenty-five years on, PLANESCAPE: TORMENT is still one of the most talked-about RPGs of all time. This is the story of how it was created as a 'stay-busy' project by a small team at Black Isle Studios