オホーツに消ゆの世界　【開発物語/聖地巡礼/初期版(PC版)と後期版(FC版)比較と解説/移動距離と時間測定/何故ここまで惹きつけられるのか魅力に迫る】

オホーツに消ゆの世界　【開発物語/聖地巡礼/初期版(PC版)と後期版(FC版)比較と解説/移動距離と時間測定/何故ここまで惹きつけられるのか魅力に迫る】

Vanishing in Okhotsk This time, we will take a closer look at the charm of Vanishing in Okhotsk, a command selection adventure game developed with login software and published by ASCII. As always, the people inside are ordinary people who create videos using quotes from the Internet and various books.

It is not complete data, and there are mistakes and misunderstandings, so if you can’t ignore the mistakes in the content, we strongly recommend that you end the video here. If you are okay with that, please join us for a while.

Also, this time we will be covering Okhotsk ni Yuyu from the initial version to the Famicom version. Comparisons of each scene will be introduced on screen when they first appear. 1. Overview

Hokkaido Serial Murder: Vanishing in Okhotsk is an adventure game with a scenario written by Yuji Horii (hereinafter referred to as Mr. Horii). Together with “Portopia Serial Murder Case” and “Karuizawa Kidnapping Guide,” for which Horii also wrote the scenario, this work was also called the “Horii Mystery Trilogy.”

Before this work, Mr. Horii’s Portopia Serial Murder Case was released by Enix. There was no save function in Portopia Serial Murder Case, so I had to play from the beginning every time. In this work, it was possible to restart from the middle by entering a string of characters called an investigation memo.

Also, this work has an early type and a late type. The initial types are as follows. In 1984, the PC-6001 version and PC-8801 version were released, and the following year in 1985, the PC-9801 version (first generation), FM-7 version, and MSX version were released. A completely remade

Famicom version was released in 1987 as a later version. Since then, it has been ported to various devices based on the Famicom version, but this time we will not deal with ports after the Famicom version. The difference between the early version and the later version is that although they

Are the same up to the end, there are some differences in the development, including the relationships between the characters. In the latter model, the scenarios are more sophisticated and the correlations are easier to understand. The details will be explained in detail later. The main staff for the Famicom version are as follows.

Producer Gozo Shiozaki Scenario Composition Yuji Horii Planning Toshiyuki Ueno Planning Hiromi Miyano Famicom version graphics Kiyokazu Arai This work is also the first adventure game to use the command selection system. Up until this work, I had to type things like “Sousai Go” on the keyboard. It was a groundbreaking invention.

The command selection method was widely accepted and quickly ousted the command input method.However, rather than just selecting all commands in order, it was possible to

Pick up a dummy item or select a specific command. If you do this, you will become addicted to the trap and will not be able to clear it, which is intentionally set. In later versions after the Famicom version, this addictive state no longer occurs.

This method was also suitable for home game consoles that did not have a keyboard, and similar command selection methods became mainstream in subsequent adventure games. As for how this command selection method was adopted,

Akira Sakuma, who was a writer for Weekly Shonen Jump with Mr. Horii at the time and was personally close to Mr. Horii, said , The motivation for the development came from Mr. Horii’s strong insistence on solving this problem , saying, “It’s a pain to input data directly.”

In later versions, there is a command to play blackjack with cards, and you will actually play against Shun. If you win, he will give you hints to progress the story. Then the game begins. A man’s corpse is discovered at Harumi Pier in Tokyo Bay.

The main character, an inspector, investigates the identity of the victim with his subordinate Kuroki and learns that Hokkaido is involved in the incident. The protagonist travels to Hokkaido and begins an investigation with Shunsuke Saruwatari, a detective at Kushiro Police Station, but the second and third murders occur one after another.

What exactly is the criminal’s purpose? As he investigates the relationships between the victims, an important past comes to light. Here I will explain how to read the screen.

In addition to the total distance traveled, it also shows how many days it took to complete the investigation, assuming no travel was carried out at night.First, let me say that Hokkaido is incredibly large.

At that time, the expressway was underdeveloped, and the distance from Kushiro to Hakodate was 550 km, which took 11 hours by car. It’s about the distance between Tokyo and Kobe. This is the case in Tohoku. You can go from Aomori to Utsunomiya. You can go from Kansai to Oita.

In Kyushu, it goes from Kagoshima to Hiroshima. They are traveling such an incredible distance. At the end of the story, we end up looking for Gen-san and Makiko-san just by asking questions all over Hokkaido, but I hope you understand how dangerous that is.

By the way, the person inside is a huge fan of this work. In May 2023, I loaded up my bike with a camping trip set, prepared a piece of paper that imitated the Famicom version layout, and traveled for eight days looking for locations for each famous scene.

Hokkaido is a sacred place for both bikers and fans of this work. This is the difference between a motorcycle trip and a car trip. Naturally, on a road trip, nothing happens when you pass an oncoming car, but bikers greet each other with one hand raised and saying, “Yo, are you having fun?”

Although they are complete strangers, they share the same love for motorcycles and Hokkaido, and while solo touring tends to make you think you’re lonely, that’s not the case. Over the course of eight days, I said hello to countless riders. It’s the best. There are various ways to stay. Introducing them by grade: hotels,

Inns , overnight stays, rider houses, paid campsites, free campsites, and people who are camping in open spaces, who travel to Hokkaido with the aim of finding free campsites.There is a convenience store called Seicomart in Hokkaido, where pasta and yakisoba are 128 yen for breakfast. I only eat coffee and noodles at lunchtime

, and when it gets dark, I go to the local supermarket to buy alcohol and meat.Once I’ve decided on a campsite, I have a party for myself. I spent a week in Hokkaido, where I cooked rice on a gasoline stove, grilled the meat while it steamed, and ate yakiniku every day.I

Almost didn’t eat out even though I was in Hokkaido for a week.There are some places in Okhotsk that don’t appear in Kuyu. However, since it is a famous place, I will introduce it

In the summer of 2024 from G-mode, a remake version that includes a new episode supervised by Mr. Horii, set in 2024 . “Doll” is scheduled to be released for Nintendo Switch and Steam. I’m looking forward to it. 2. Characters We will introduce the characters and look at the differences between the versions. We

Will also explain the story, so if you want to forget about the story until the remake version is released in summer 2024, please watch around 14 minutes and 30 seconds. I would like to get a skip.

The Famicom version and earlier are referred to as early versions, and the Famicom and later versions, including the Famicom version, are referred to as late versions. Goro Kuroki’s subordinate in Tokyo. He is a partner who investigates with the player in the Tokyo edition. The PC-8801 version suddenly becomes dull. What happened! Shunsuke Saruwatari

Commonly known as “Shun”. A detective at Kushiro Police Station and a partner who investigates together in Hokkaido. He is a neat and handsome young man, but he can also be a bit easygoing. When fought, he is strong enough to defeat several Yakuza.

He is a nice guy who goes out of his way to play cards in front of Kushiro Station. Makiko Nomura Born and raised in Hokkaido. 19 years old, living in Teine Ward, Sapporo City. She is the heroine of this work.

In the Famicom version and later, she is Genji Nomura’s daughter and Megumi’s classmate from middle school. He works at a sports store and is a ski instructor in the winter. He has an innocent look. Family-oriented and kind personality. Megumi Nakayama

University student. Childhood friend of Makiko Nomura. Although he attends a university in Tokyo, he has come to Hokkaido, where his good friend Makiko lives, for a sightseeing trip to recover from his broken heart. Appears only after the Famicom version. Gen-san This is Gen-san in question.

In the early version, he was killed in the middle of the story. In the initial version, Gen-san and Makiko-san are completely different employees of Koropokkuri.

Fumiyoshi Masuda’s twin brother. After Masuda’s death, while investigating the reason for his murder, he came to know about Akutsu’s past, and just like Masuda, he used this as a material to blackmail him, and instead he was killed. He looks similar to the later version of Gen-san, Fumiyoshi Masuda. Makiko Nomura and Yukari’s father.

Makiko Nomura ‘s father, who only appears in the early editions of Tetsuji Nomura. In the later version, the story has been improved by mixing Makiko’s father, Tetsuji Nomura, with Gen. He is the serial killer in the early version, but he only comes out at the very end. Jingoro Urata

Fisherman. The creator of the Nipopo doll with teardrop-like carvings given to him by Okumura’s wife. He has committed murder in the past and is serving time at Abashiri Prison.

In the later versions, he is Gen-san’s foster father and also a careless man who talks about his past to Fumiyoshi Masuda, who looks similar to him.

In the early version, he is a careless man who talks about his past to Funkichi Masuda, who is not Gen-san’s foster father and who does not resemble Makiko’s father at all. Fumiyoshi Masuda’s first victim. His body was discovered at Harumi Pier in Tokyo. He looks exactly like the later version of Gen.

Yukio Iijima’s second victim. His body was discovered on the beach in Kitahama. Just before the incident, he was blackmailed by Fumiyoshi Masuda. Yukuro Shiraki Super president of Tokyo. Third victim. His body was discovered at Abashiri Port. Kisuke OkumuraThe

Owner of a cargo ship that sank just after the end of the war and carried relief supplies. According to his wife’s testimony, recently he suddenly started saying strange things like, “Let’s atone for my sins,” and a week before Shunsuke and his friends were to visit their home, he announced that he was going to go fishing at night and committed suicide. committed suicide.

Hideo Akutsu Former naval officer. A member of the Diet from Abashiri City. He is scheduled to become a minister soon. He is the boss of the Akutsu army. Yukari Nomura University student. Makiko Nomura’s younger sister. He attended a university in Tokyo, but died in a traffic accident just before the first incident.

Yasuyoshi Nomura Fisherman. Father of Genji Nomura (Tetsuji Nomura in the early version). He is Makiko’s grandfather. He is a fisherman and is good friends with Jingoro Urata. Even if you have completed the game, it may be difficult to understand the correlation, so I will explain it here.

I will explain the later version first. Shortly after the war, the Akutsu Group began stealing American relief supplies and embezzling the assets of the former Japanese military. There were four people involved, Akutsu as the leader, Shiraki, Iijima, and Okumura,

But when they were about to find out, they sank the boat with the fishermen. Gen’s father, Yasukichi Nomura, passed away at this time. Yasuyoshi Nomura and Jingoro Urata, who were fellow fishermen, raised Gen. Time passes, and Jingoro Urata commits a crime and ends up in Abashiri Prison,

Where he inadvertently talks about old times because he resembles Gen-san, who was raised by Bunkichi Masuda, who was in the same cell with him. After Bunkichi Masuda is released from prison, he tries to extort him, but he is killed instead. At this time, Masuda was lying about Mr. Gen’s name.

As a result, Makiko’s sister Yukari is killed in a traffic accident. This is the later version of the story, in which Gen-san, who has only a short time left to live after his daughter was killed, begins to take revenge on the Akutsu group in order to protect Makiko-san and avenge his father.

Next, I will explain the story of the initial version. Shortly after the war, the Akutsu Group began stealing American relief supplies and embezzling the assets of the former Japanese military. There were four people involved, Akutsu as the leader, Shiraki, Iijima, and Okumura,

But when they were about to find out, they sank the boat with the fishermen. The person who passed away at this time was Makiko’s grandfather Yasukichi Nomura. Up to this point, it is the same as the later version. In the later versions, Jingoro Urata raised Gen-san, but

In the early versions, Makiko’s father, Tetsuji Nomura, had a mother, and they lived together, albeit in poverty. Time passes, and Jingoro Urata commits a crime and goes to Abashiri Prison, where he inadvertently tells an old story about Fumiyoshi Masuda, who was in the same cell as him and is completely unrelated.

After Bunkichi Masuda is released from prison, he tries to extort him, but he is killed instead. Fumikichi Masuda’s twin brother, Gen, was also killed like Masuda. Around this time, the Akutsu group first tried to kill Tetsuji Nomura and Makiko, who knew about his past.

Tetsuji Nomura, who has only a short time left to live, begins to take revenge on the Akutsu Group in order to protect Makiko and avenge his father.This is the initial version of the story. Tetsuji Nomura, the culprit behind the serial murders, appears just before the ending.

The final scene with Hideo Akutsu is also at Lake Mashu, not Sapporo Station. Makiko will not be kidnapped by the coal mine either. In this way, the story has been improved in the later versions. 3. I’m sure everyone is familiar with development staff Mr. Horii, so I’ll omit his background.

We would like to introduce Mr. Horii’s comments about this work that he contributed to the game soundtrack. Horii: “It goes without saying that “Disappearance in Okhotsk” is what is called an adventure game.

A game where the player becomes the main character and advances the story. In other words, it can be called an electronic novel in which readers can participate. It was about six years ago that I first encountered such an adventure game.

I was a freelance writer at the time, and I bought a computer to use it for things like organizing materials. While reading computer magazines, an article introducing an adventure game from across the ocean suddenly caught my eye. At that time, in Japan, games meant action games, and

I myself only knew the games that could be played at game centers. I see…… It’s a game where you can experience the story…It looks interesting… However, it’s an American-made Apple computer game, and it was developed for gamers in my country, so all the displays are in English. .

Of course, I couldn’t play it on my Japanese-made computer. I see… I guess I can’t play with it… But it looks like I can make it somehow, so I might try programming it myself. So, the computer version of “Portopia Serial Murder Case” was completed.

After all, it was just an introductory article in a magazine, and I probably imagined an adventure game like this when I made it, so looking back on it now, I think there were a lot of flaws. However, this led me to start working on adventure games, and “Disappearance in Okhotsk” was born.

When writing the scenario, I actually went to Hokkaido for research, and the number of screens and dialogues has become far more extensive than in the days of Portopia. I want the game to be like a movie. It can be said that “Vanishing in Okhotsk” was created with this in mind.

And, as if that wish had come true, the original sound of “Okhotsk ni Yuyu” was made into a record. As the author, nothing would make me happier than being able to listen to this record and reminisce about various scenes even after completing the game . Thank you everyone! ”

I will add here. Mr. Horii wanted to become a manga artist. He is famous for comparing the rough drawings of Dragon Quest with Akira Toriyama’s drawings, but those are just rough sketches. For Karuizawa Kidnapping Guide, he worked on the scenario, program, and graphics all by himself, and his drawings are also quite good.

I’m going to say something a little more complicated now.

The illustrations for the PC-6001 version were rough sketches drawn by Mr. Horii, who created the scenario, and Mr. Ueno, who was in charge of the music for the Famicom version, was in charge of the programming for the PC-6001 version, and also programmed the video display.

At that time, I was developing games in a small group, and I had to do many things by myself. Yuji Horii, who plays the lead role, writes the screenplay, and directs everything, is the Jackie Chan of the game industry.

When you think of Mr. Horii, you think of Enix, but at the time Mr. Horii was a freelance writer and was working as a writer for various media. There is an interview with Mr. Horii, so I will introduce some excerpts.

In the past videos, we received feedback that it was difficult to tell who was speaking, so the interviewer will be Dandamon and the interviewee will be Shikoku Medan.

Interviewer Zundamon: “Mr. Horii said in an interview at the time that he wanted to make a game called “Hokkaido Kidnapping Map” after “Portopia Serial Murder Case.” “Hokkaido” is reminiscent of “Vanishing in Okhotsk,” and the “kidnapping map” is reminiscent of “Karuizawa Kidnapping Guide.”

Mr. Horii Shikoku Medan: Well, at the time, when we released Portopia Serial Murder Case, Gozo Shiozaki (producer of Okhotsk ni Vaneyu), who was the editor of Login, said, “Please make an adventure game at our house.” That’s what I said. He said, “Let’s go location hunting in Hokkaido.

There’s probably no other adventure game that lets you do location hunting, and you can write an article about it by logging in.” I guess that’s why they divided it into two, Hokkaido here and Karuizawa. “Disappear in Okhotsk” and “Karuizawa Kidnapping Guide” were originally the same project.

I couldn’t make two games at the same time, so “Disappearance in Okhotsk” was the first time I had to divide the work. Toshiyuki Ueno was involved as a programmer, while I was working on “Karuizawa Kidnapping Guide” by myself.

“Disappearing in Okhotsk” was released exactly one year after the first location hunting article was published, but I was also making “Karuizawa Kidnapping Guide” at the same time, so it seems like a lot of time has passed since then. What’s the point?

Well, I made both. To begin with, I’m a slow pen (lol). I was really alone in making Karuizawa Kidnapping Guide, so I didn’t have much of a scenario or blueprint. I kept thinking about it in my head, writing the program,

Drawing the picture I wanted, and writing the lines for it. On the other hand, with “Okhotsk ni Yuu” it was a complete division of labor, so we started writing the scenario in order, so it actually took a lot of time. At the time , Gozo Shiozaki, the producer of “Disappeared in Okhotsk”,

Often compared the main characters of “Disappeared in Okhotsk” to actors Tetsuro Tamba and Kensaku Morita. These two are the cast members of the movie “Sand Vessel.” I agree. That image.

If you think about it that way, first of all, a murder will occur in Tokyo. What they also have in common is that they go to Tohoku in “Sand Vessel,” and Hokkaido in “Okhotsk ni Yuu.” Did you use “Sand Vessel” as a reference here?

That’s just a rough idea. I liked Seicho Matsumoto and read a lot of him. Was “Sand Vessel” a story about a pianist? That was a good story. It’s a small detail, but in the early stages of “Disappearance in Okhotsk,” your partner changes from Kuroki to Shun.

“Sand Vessel” does not have that element. This change of partners is also similar to “Karuizawa Kidnapping Guide”. If you went to Hokkaido, you probably thought it was the local police. Kuroki is just a touch. His main partner is local.

“Vanishing in Okhotsk” does not focus on the unexpectedness of the culprit, but rather on the development of a story that reveals the whole story of the incident. That’s what makes it different from “Portopia Serial Murder Case.” Did you consciously try to change this?

I agree. I can’t use that hand anymore. When I thought about what to do next, I wanted to create a story that took advantage of the location scouting I had done, such as the Nipopo doll and Abashiri Prison.

Another thing that’s amazing about “Vanishing in Okhotsk” is the graphics. It’s not just a simple standing picture, but the close-up is effective, and the sharpness of the pull and pull is cinematic. There is also a fluid production similar to the panel layout of manga.

The PC-8801 version in particular was amazing, and I think it influenced later cinematic adventure games like “Jesus” and “Snatcher.” I think Mr. Horii specified the screen based on rough drawings or something. Hmm, I did both with Karuizawa Kidnapping Guide, so my memory is still vague.

But it feels like a manga expression. It’s weak if there are only pull screens, and there are close-ups. However, at the time, I just did it instinctively without any particular intention. I’ve heard that for the Famicom version of “Gone in Okhotsk,” they considered changing the way the map moves from the PC version.

Apparently it was like moving around on a map of Hokkaido. The Famicom version of “Okhotsk” was aimed at children, so there was a time when you could move from place to place using a map instead of text. (snip) My first idea was to include a 3D-like car game when moving around. If not.

Like floating on a flat map using the cross button. (Omitted) If the setting was a single town or city, it would have been possible to have a scrolling map screen like that, but… “Okhotsk” was too vast, and “

At the time, I was playing “Ultima,” so I thought… , I guess that’s why I thought it would be interesting to be able to move around like on a field. I see , there are a lot of horses, cars, and other vehicles in Ultima. Is that the image you’re

Getting ? That’s what I wanted to do in Karuizawa Kidnapping Guide. Karuizawa Kidnapping Guide will eventually become an RPG. Since I’m making it by myself, I can make as many changes as I want (lol). Famicom Mr. Horii gave an interview before the release regarding the version porting.When

Porting the Famicom version, there was a scenario for the PC version, so the idea was to keep the story as it was and review the reactions etc. for Famicom users. I decided to rework it.At the time of Portopia, I also thought it would be a little difficult.So

, what I want to say is that the demographics of PC users and Famicom users are different.PC users . Users completely understand what adventure games are.However , at that time, there were almost no Famicom users who knew about adventure games.With

That in mind, we tried to be a little more kind with Okhotsk. I’ll give it to you. For example, I found a clue in a certain place. Then, you’ll usually want to look up that clue right away. However, in the PC version, I didn’t fully follow that situation.

I think it’s important to follow everything that these users are likely to do. Even if the message seems meaningless at first glance, there is a desire for some kind of change. It was necessary to think from the user’s perspective.

In the end, the Famicom was a remake of the PC version, but I personally didn’t like the idea of ​​a remake. It’s been a little over four years since the PC version, and the way I think about games has changed, so I didn’t want to follow the same story as the PC version.

2/3 of the whole thing was rewritten. That happened while I was making it. To be more specific, I think the story was rewritten starting from Lake Mashu, where the heroine Makiko appears. Megumi Nakayama, a new character, wanted to be Makiko’s friend for the sake of the story.

Here I would like to introduce two key players from Okhotsk. Producer Gozo Shiozaki (Tofuya Famibo) Joined ASCII in 1983 after graduating from Waseda University. Assigned to the Login Editorial Department.

For the magazine, he was mainly in charge of articles such as “Video Game News”. Mr. Fumitaka Kojima, who worked part-time at ASCII before joining the company, and

Is the editor-in-chief of the magazine, praised Mr. Shiozaki, saying, “Even when he was a part-time worker, he was able to program and write manuscripts,” and said that he not only worked on magazines but also developed game software. It also exerts its power.

After this work, he and Mr. Horii worked together on the development of works such as Haitadaki Street. Currently president of Ice Comet Co., Ltd. Project Hiromi Miyano entered Yokohama Broadcasting Film College in 1976. He wanted to be a film director.

After graduating, he worked as an editorial assistant for publications such as the Red Series. Even though he loves movies, he finds it no longer interesting to work on television, so he and a friend start working in publishing.

He makes contact with ASCII and asks him to help with a new magazine. This will be your next login. After that, he was invited and became a full-time employee. The first issue did not sell well, as the content was not focused on game information, but instead was about searching for information.

It was around this time that I first touched a computer. Since he didn’t know how to program himself, he had part-time workers create the games. Among them was Gozo Shiozaki, who would become the producer of Okhotsk ni Yuyu. In an effort to rebuild LOGIN, we focused on games, but

When we created a list of the top 10 domestic sales at the time, we found that there were a lot of crappy software in the rankings. Those were the times. After that, he became the editor-in-chief of MSX Magazine. 4. Until Okhotsk disappears ①

I will introduce the development history of Hokkaido tourism in chronological order as much as possible, citing testimonies. A game contest was held at Enix.

When Mr. Miyano went to interview Mr. Horii, he found out that Mr. Horii, an award-winner who won the winning program award for “Rap Match Tennis,” was a writer by profession, and he told him that he “would love to write an article about it.” I went to

While we were talking at a coffee shop in front of Nakano Station, he said he didn’t remember much about how it went, but he decided he had to go on a trip to do some scenario hunting. “Let’s go to Lake Mashu.”

Mr. Horii had just published “Portopia Serial Murder Case” at the time, and Mr. Miyano had intended the article to be about what it would be like to make a game like that set in Hokkaido. At first, Mr. Miyano and Mr. Horii were supposed to go to Hokkaido alone, but

For some reason, Mr. Shiozaki ended up going with us. Since then, Mr. Shiozaki has been thinking about turning this project into a game. It was decided that it would be a detective story, or rather a “two-hour suspense drama” style.

While following in the footsteps of “Portopia Serial Murder Case,” I tried to further strengthen the story. I wanted it to be something that could compete with the world through its story alone, something that would raise the status of games.

What Mr. Horii and Mr. Shiozaki often said was, “Let’s just make a story that will make us cry.” Until then, there had never been a game with a scenario that would make you cry.

By the way, the reason why the setting was decided to be in Hokkaido was that at that time, the specific content had not been decided, so they decided to choose Hokkaido because they thought, “Let’s think about it while eating crab,” and apparently there wasn’t much deep meaning to it. .

Mr. Horii had already drawn up a rough plot when he decided on Hokkaido. Thus begins a trip to Hokkaido with each person’s own feelings hidden. Summer of 1983. Before the trip, I already had an idea of ​​key points for scenario hunting, such as “this is where the murders will occur,” and I

Roughly decided that I would go to this area, and when I arrived at Kushiro Airport, I rented a car and went around as I saw fit. Ta. During the interview, I stopped my car and took photos while visiting several potential locations.

Mr. Miyano’s uncle lived in Abashiri, so we thought we should go there as well, so we went around the eastern Hokkaido area, passing through the Kushiro Wetlands, Lake Mashu, Lake Kussharo, Abashiri, and Monbetsu .

When I actually went there, I saw something like this, so I decided to do it this way, and the original plot changed a lot. Sapporo appears in the game, but I haven’t been to Sapporo at this time. The reason seems to be that since it’s a major, it’s easy to understand.

Looks like they had fun on the way. While I was doing serious research on Lake Kussharo, I came across a hot spring that also appears in the game. I said, “I think I can get in,” and I just went in.

When we stayed in Mombetsu, each of us was served a bowl of crab for dinner. When Mr. Horii and Mr. Shiozaki didn’t know how to eat crab, Mr. Miyano, who was used to eating crab thanks to his uncle in Abashiri, showed them an example, saying, “This is how you eat it.”

Since then, Mr. Horii has become a huge crab lover, and later commented in an interview about his reporting trip, “I decided to go to Hokkaido because my editor wanted to eat crab.” That reporting trip was later logged into the article about three times in total.

The first article was mainly a report about what kind of interview I had done, and the next article was based on the idea of ​​turning it into a login game. ② PC version development After such a reporting trip, “Vanishing in Okhotsk” was finally produced as a game software.

After announcing it, he received an angry phone call from Mr. Senda from Enix, saying, “If you were going to make a game, you shouldn’t have introduced it!” Mr. Horii seems to have felt that “I’m a freelancer, so it doesn’t matter where I work.”

Mr. Shiozaki was basically in charge of the direction of the game. “Portopia Serial Murder Case” was a work that introduced something new to the adventure game industry, but it was still in its rough edges. “Vanishing in Okhotsk” was an attempt to bring it closer to something even more sophisticated.

The game didn’t start from the title screen, but it was a game that was made with a lot of thought into it, including the foreshadowing before the title was announced, and the ending.

Mr. Horii was a true professional who had already written part of the original work for a very famous hard-boiled graphic novel at the time, so when the scenario was completed, I thought that this is what would happen if a professional did his job properly, and I was excited

About the game. Mr. Shiozaki was impressed that games were chosen as the best way to express the story. Mr. Horii’s scenario was given to me chapter by chapter.

First of all, the first Tokyo part, then the first, middle, and second parts of Hokkaido. The rest was divided into about 5 chapters, the final chapter. The first scenario I received was a month or two after my reporting trip, and I started turning it into a game one by one.

Regarding the program to turn Mr. Horii’s concept into a game, Mr. Ueno, who wrote the music for the Famicom version, was the programmer for the PC-6001 version, and Mr. Murai was in charge of the PC-8801 version.

Many submitted games are sent to Login every month, and you can get a rough idea of ​​who is truly capable. The person who decided to do so was Mr. Ueno, who had joined the editorial department as a part-time programmer. The PC version didn’t have music, but the problem was the graphics.

For the PC-6001 version, I created the main program and graphics (hand-digitized original drawings drawn by Mr. Horii ) by myself. In other words, the pictures in the PC6001 version are by Mr. Horii, just like Portopia.

I ordered the PC-8801 version from a graphics company with which I had a close friendship in the editorial department. There was a lack of consistency in the art style for both models, but since the time until release was limited, it was a bit of a rush. It took a year to develop.

When the deadline approaches, he locks Mr. Ueno in a business hotel in Shinjuku, writes “Please do not clean” on the entrance door, and makes him work. When I entered the room, there was a pile of data printouts.

While creating the PC-6001 version, which preceded it, Mr. Horii came up with the command selection formula. Mr. Horii said that when he was making games by himself, it was troublesome because there were two logics: the logic of the program and the logic of the scenario writer, but this

Time he said, “I only need the scenario writer, so it’s really easy.” It is speculated that the command selection system was devised by dividing up the game production. And it was connected to “Dragon Quest.” It was completely Mr. Horii’s invention.Mr. Horii says that in order to make a command-selection-type adventure game interesting,

There is a “secret” that he cultivated through his work on the original work of gekiga, but in the end Mr. Miyano Apparently they didn’t tell me. The scenario written by Mr. Horii changed rapidly during the process of adapting it to the game.

While actually making it, I dealt with any parts that seemed a little strange. In the final stages of production, Mr. Horii was also on standby, working at a hotel with programmer Mr. Ueno and others. It’s a game scenario, not a manga or drama scenario, so logical contradictions are not allowed.

It’s a simple task now, but managing flags like “If this condition and this condition are met, this person will appear” was difficult. Basically, it was paper-based, but the table level could be created using BASIC, so I managed it there. Mr. Shiozaki was almost transfixed.

This game is almost 100% a flag management game, so if you actually test play it and there are bugs, you’ll know, and then you’ll be able to fix them on the spot. I played it over and over again in the canning room. He was a producer and debugger.

Mr. Shiozaki was close to Mr. Horii, consulted him about various things, and because they spent a lot of time together, some of Mr. Shiozaki’s ideas were reflected in the project. Mr. Shiozaki says that “Disappearance in Okhotsk” is Mr. Horii’s work.

Mr. Shiozaki: “Isn’t it the same with manga that are released into the world as products? There is an author and an editor in charge. It’s the same way. I can’t talk about the disappearance of Okhotsk without mentioning Mr. Horii’s existence. ” And in December 1984, “Okhotsk ni Kayu” was released.

Initially, the PC-6001 and PC-8801 versions were released at the same time. When it was finally ready, we decided, “Let’s put this up on a login sign,” and the login software was a brand created for “Vanishing in Okhotsk.” Apparently it sold reasonably well for a PC game at the time.

However, since it was a personal computer, its sales were really insignificant compared to the sales of the Famicom at the same time. It was later ported to models such as MSX, FM-7, and PC-9801. Mr. Ueno is in charge of coding the MSX version and porting the PC-9801 version.

It seems that an acquaintance of Mr. Ueno’s helped with the graphics for the MSX version.③ The FC version was fairly popular in the PC market, so I thought it would be amazing to bring it to the Famicom.

Mr. Shiozaki was also thinking about a Famicom version, and of course Mr. Horii was also thinking about it. However, porting might improve the game in many ways, but for both of us, it was already a finished game, so we felt more strongly that we wanted to make a new game.

In the end, there was a strong demand within the company (ASCII) for a Famicom version. After consulting with Horii and thinking about it, Mr. Shiozaki decided that he thought it would be a hit and decided to give it a try. The story development in the second half of the Famicom version was different.

It was a complete remake. If I’m going to make it anyway, I’d like to make it in a solid final form based on the PC version. For the time being, I added a hint function to make sure there was nothing left undone, and added animations of the characters lip-syncing and blinking their eyes.

The Famicom version of “Okhotsk ni Yuu” was released in June 1987, and the Famicom version of “Dragon Quest II” was released in January 1987, which was around the same time, so Mr. Horii himself was quite busy with development.

In Okhotsk, the Soft House of Muyu Kaihatsu was located in Yurigaoka (Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture), so Mr. Shiozaki was also training in an apartment he rented in Yurigaoka. Mr. Horii often came, and Mr. Kiyokazu Arai, who was in charge of graphics, would sometimes stay over. Mr. Kiyokazu Arai was appointed by Mr. Shiozaki.

We started talking about the need to make the characters stand out a bit more, and as I was thinking about who should do the graphics, I saw Mr. Arai nearby, so I

Asked him if he wanted to try it, and he said, “I want to do it,” so Mr. Arai will be in charge. Mr. Arai was already active as a manga artist and illustrator for Login and Famitsu at the time, but was a great choice.

A different graphics company was responsible for the scenery, and Arai only did the characters. Mr. Arai may have been the one who came up with the general idea of ​​having a character stand here with a background like this. It’s actually difficult to draw on the Famicom.

Only a graphics company can make adjustments, such as which parts should be sprites and which parts should be BG. Arai himself did the final dot adjustments for the characters.

The BGM of the Famicom version also has a great feature, and the reason why most of the songs were created by Mr. Ueno, who was in charge of programming the PC-6001 version. The graphics of the Famicom are unique, as is the sound source.

Since it’s a combination of square wave noise, even if you just leave it up to an ordinary composer, it would be difficult to transfer it to the Famicom.

For example, there were only a limited number of people at the time who had the knowledge to use two notes for this part, so they could slightly fudge the melody line, and Mr.

Shiozaki was the person around me who was able to think in that way the most and was able to take on various challenges. was Mr. Ueno. ④ After the phantom work, Mr. Horii says, “I want to go to Hong Kong.” Mr. Horii and Mr. Shiozaki went alone. It was titled “Fang of Kowloon”.

In the end, I wrote an article about the reporting trip, but it didn’t seem to be very fruitful, and before there was any talk of making it into a game, I decided to go to Russia next time.

At first I had planned to take the Trans-Siberian Railway, but I decided I didn’t want to spend about a week traveling from Moscow to Vladivostok, so I decided to take a plane and fly all over the Soviet Union. Create an article with the title “The Witness Who Disappeared in the Midnight Sun.”

This was a very serious attempt to make a game, but the first chapter of the scenario had already been completed and it was only a matter of time before it was completed, so it ended up being done in line with other games that Mr. Horii was working on.

Afterwards, when we talked about whether we should bring back “Witness in the Midnight Sun” or do something completely new, we ended up saying, “I guess the adventure is over.” Adventure games had a short lifespan.

Mr. Horii published “Portopia Serial Murder Case”, “Disappeared in Okhotsk”, and “Karuizawa Kidnapping Guide”, and that is how he came up with this method. Adventure games have the fatal weakness of having nothing to do when you get stuck on a mystery, and

To overcome this, everyone tried various things, and even in the Famicom version of “Disappearance in Okhotsk”, they beat the mini-game Blackjack. We introduced something like giving hints. Still, it didn’t suit the “I don’t have anything to do anyway, so I should earn experience points” mentality of an RPG. So naturally things went downhill.

So we decided to play something that everyone was looking for the most and that we also wanted, and what we ended up with was a board game. Itadaki Street will be released by Mr. Shiozaki and Mr. Horii.

By the way, I’m currently playing a video of a hot spring in Wagoto, but it was so hot that even an old man from Tokyo couldn’t take a bath. 5. Interview with Toshiyuki Ueno

There is a long interview with Toshiyuki Ueno, the programmer for the PC-6001 and MSX versions, and the composer for the Famicom version. I would like to introduce them all, but since it would be too long, I will only introduce the main points.

Please understand that in order to save time, I have changed the expressions used by Mr. Ueno. At work, I mainly use the pen names “Gesen Ueno” and “Gesen Ueno.” In other work, I often use my real name, Toshiyuki Ueno.

The origin of the pen name doesn’t have much deep meaning; it was coined by Mr. Shiozaki, who was the editor of the computer magazine Login at the time. At first, it was going to be called “Game Center Ueno”, but that seemed too normal, so I changed the old character to “ヱ”.

At first I was a programmer. I got started when I applied for a part-time job at a computer magazine. At that time, there was a computer magazine called “Monthly ASCII,” and a magazine called “Login” was launched as an offshoot of that magazine.At the

End of the magazine, there was an announcement for part-time staff. That’s what led me to apply for it. That was in 1983. I went for an interview and was lucky enough to be hired.In

The old computer magazines, there was a list of programs on the magazine, and you could input them into your computer and play with them. I think they wanted to hire someone who could create a program for publication, or someone who could understand computers.

In 1982, I bought a computer called the NEC PC-6001 and started learning on my own. Around that time, it became possible for ordinary people to save up a little money and buy a personal computer, so I bought a PC-6001 and used it to play games and do things like analyze programs.

At that time, I came across an opportunity for a part-time job, so I applied because I thought it looked interesting. I wrote the program at home. It’s a part-time job, but I don’t think it was an hourly wage. I guess it was some kind of reward, but I don’t remember exactly.

So, when we deliver the completed program, we need to create a document containing the content, operating instructions, etc. As I was writing that text, I started thinking, “You can write manuscripts, too!” So I ended up writing columns and articles. I’m not good at Japanese and writing, and I hated them.

After that, I was left in charge of various things as I was told, such as going on interviews, cutting rough layouts for articles, and meeting with designers . That’s how I ended up getting involved in writing and editing. I’m in the middle of the interview, but I don’t have time to wait, so

I go back to the interview.The only action I took was to apply for my first part-time job. Also, I just get asked to do something in the flow of things, and I just can’t say no.

Rather than saying they couldn’t refuse, it might be more correct to say that they had to do it because their manpower was limited. However, I think it was probably not just “Login”, but a similar situation with other computer magazines.

People were asking me to do something and being asked to do something, just like, “Just do this.” At that time, there were only a limited number of writers who understood computers and who could write, and

There were only a limited number of music producers who could compose music for computers, so I was asked to do a variety of jobs. I haven’t studied “composition” at all.

However, that doesn’t mean that I have nothing to do with music; I was instilled with knowledge and experience regarding music through the brass band club I belonged to when I was in junior high school. I’ve been listening to all kinds of music since I was little.

I remember that when I was in the early grades of elementary school, I would repeatedly listen to box set records of classical music, mood music, and Japanese nursery rhymes that I had at home. My musical influences are endless, as I’m influenced by all the songs I listen to, but I’d say

Percy Faith, Burt Bacharach, Barry White and the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Van McCoy, and Dave. Grusin, David Foster, Bob James, Kraftwerk, YMO, RAH BAND, Yuji Ohno, Joe Hisaishi, I can’t list them all. I think I’m also influenced by game music, such as Nobuyuki Ohnogi, formerly of Namco.

I especially loved Onogi-san’s “Ribble Rubble” song, and I would record it on the teleco at the game center, copy it by ear, and play it on the PSG PC-6001. Okhotsk ni Shuyu was originally involved in the development of the PC version of Okhotsk before the FC version.

I was in charge of program development for the PC-6001 version and MSX version. The PC-8801 version was ported by someone else based on the PC-6001 version. I was the one who ported the PC-8801 version to the PC-9801 version. For the PC-6001 version

, I worked on it by myself while looking at the scenario with rough sketches that Mr. Horii gave me . For the MSX version, I had a friend help me with the graphics.

The PC version doesn’t have any music, except for a small part, but we didn’t have the space or energy to put in any sound, so we originally planned to have no music at all.

However, PSG is also included in the PC-6001 and MSX, and it would be sad to end without any sound, so I decided to create an ending song and include it.

I will add some information here. In addition to the ending, the PC version also plays one song during the title background that is displayed when the opening Tokyo part ends and the stage moves to Hokkaido.

One of the reasons I wrote a new version for the FC version was because I added a lot of songs, so I decided it would be better to take the overall balance into consideration and write a new one.

Also, since the graphics are different between the PC version and the FC version, I wanted to change the music to match the images. Also, wouldn’t it be more fun if the PC version players were surprised when they played the FC version and said, “It’s different from the PC version!”

People play the PC version and then buy and play the FC version as well. The FC version of “Okhotsk” was the first time that we created a large number of songs for one game.

By the way, in the FC version, I am only responsible for composing music and creating sequence data, and am not involved in programming. At the time, I had no experience in programming the CPU used in the Famicom.

I was working under Mr. Shiozaki, who was the first person to join me when I joined Login, or rather, he was taking care of me, so we first talked about the PC version, and then I went on to participate in the FC version as well. .

I don’t have a boss-subordinate relationship with Mr. Shiozaki, but if I had to guess, I would say he’s more like a mentor. He was a rather laissez-faire teacher.

I feel like the reason I was asked to compose music was in the same spirit as, “You can write a manuscript!”; I think I was asked, “You can write a song!”.

At the time, I was playing around with the FM sound generator unit (SFG-01_OPM) attached to Yamaha’s MSX computers YIS503 and YIS604/128, and I was also creating songs for the PC version, so I thought, “Maybe I

Can do it?” It may have been. Mr. Shiozaki asked me a lot of things, so I don’t remember each one exactly.

The special thing about working on “Okhotsk” was that I had a lot of fun working with Mr. Horii, and I felt like I was “giving my all to the job that was in front of me.”

During production, I had no idea that it would become a game that would be loved by fans for over 30 years, so I didn’t have any special feelings toward it.

Well, I don’t think it’s good for any job, not just games, to imagine how what you’re doing now will be reevaluated decades from now. In the past, I couldn’t compose music by playing the keyboard, so in the past I used to hit numbers using step input on sequencer software.

It’s like typing while checking the pitch and chord on the keyboard. For the FC version, I was creating songs using a PC-8801mkIISR connected to a MIDI interface, Yamaha DX7, FB-01, and a sequencer software called Comeon Music RCP-PC88.

First, after playing the DX7 and inputting the scale into the sequencer software, I think I entered the staff division numerically.

Since it is not possible to directly play the sound source of the actual machine (Famicom) using MIDI, I used an FM sound source unit called FB-01 (OPM series_YM2164 (OPP)) to create square waves and noise tones. I can’t make it without incorporating DTM, because I can’t play the keyboard freely.

Later on, when I started making songs on Macintosh, I used to play short riffs in real time on the keyboard and play with the data on the piano roll while making songs, but I was making the PC-8801 version and PC-9801 version. Back then, step input was the main input.

The songs were created using a MIDI sequencer, but the data was converted so that it could be played using the Famicom’s sound driver before being delivered. Rather, I guess it’s because he can do that much that he was entrusted with the music.

Nowadays, we can divide the work by receiving the score from the composer and having the sound programmer work on the data, and there are many people who are experts in this area, but back then that wasn’t the case.

I think there weren’t many people who understood music and computers and were able to convert it into data that could be played on a real device.

That’s why we convert the songs we’ve created into data, burn them to ROM, play them on the actual device, correct any mistakes in the data, burn them to ROM again, and repeat the process many times before delivering the completed data. It was made with It’s surprisingly time consuming.

I once worked with Koichi Sugiyama on the Super Famicom version of “Monopoly,” and at that time, I received the sheet music from Sugiyama, digitized it, listened to it, and gave the OK. I received it and it was completed…that’s how it went.

Mr. Sugiyama is also knowledgeable about computers, so after understanding the characteristics of the hardware, he gave me instructions on how to improve my expressiveness. In particular, I remember making fine adjustments to the strength of crescendos, decrescendos, accents, and changes in tempo.

However, with this kind of division of labor, there are success stories and failures. There were some high-quality works created through a division of labor system, such as the “Dragon Quest” series composed by Professor Sugiyama and the “MOTHER” series composed by Keiichi Suzuki, but

Some software had good songs but the sound output was not good enough. There was also. Even if a famous artist were to compose music for the Famicom, I think it would be difficult to give instructions on how to express the details

Without fully understanding the performance of the sound source . For example, even if an artist wants to add vibrato, they don’t know if it’s possible or how to achieve it. I think “Dragon Quest” and “MOTHER” are good examples of how the composer and sound programmer worked together to create a synergistic effect.

On the other hand, if you compose the music and convert it into data yourself, you can make fine adjustments to get it closer to the sound you have in mind.

Also, in addition to the background music, we also need to create sound effects, so in that sense, it’s easier to control the whole thing if you do everything yourself. With today’s large-volume games, it can be difficult to do everything by yourself.

I wanted to do everything I could with the sound driver I used at Okhotsk, and I wanted to produce the best possible sound. Even back then, there were a lot of great-sounding games both in arcades and on consumer consoles, so I often took inspiration from them.

There are a total of 21 songs in the FC version, and I don’t remember exactly how long it took to compose them. There was a time when it took years to make a single game like it does now, so I don’t think it took more than a year…

Also, I was working while writing articles and doing other things. It wasn’t like I was completely focused on writing songs.

I remember working on it steadily from the time the production was decided until the final stage. However, towards the end, I may have taken a break from writing articles in order to concentrate on composing.

There are only 4 tracks, 3 voices + noise, so the track making itself is simple compared to modern games. It was like creating a melody, adding a bass and countermelody, and making it harmonize.

We did have to come up with ways to make it sound like elaborate chords with a small number of notes, and we had some trouble fitting the data into the space allotted for the sound.

I remember specifying the required number of songs and scenes by creating a certain number of songs, then allocating songs to each scene, and creating additional songs to fill in the gaps.

I had pretty much the scenario for the PC version that I created earlier in mind, so I had an idea of ​​what kind of songs would go well with it. I don’t think the total number of songs was decided from the beginning, and I never received detailed instructions.

Due to ROM capacity, it would not have been possible to decide on the number of songs from the beginning. Regarding the melody, I may have been given vague instructions such as “to make it a brighter song,” but I was given a lot of freedom to do as I wanted.

Regarding requests from Yuji Horii, I don’t remember receiving detailed requests regarding music during the meeting. In the PC version, the relationship was between the original author and the programmer, so they were sent to a hotel together, but

In the FC version, the relationship had changed, and Mr. Horii was also probably busy, so he had no time to watch the sound. Maybe it wasn’t.

In the end, it was Mr. Shiozaki who gave the OK to the song. We asked them to listen to the song they created and decide whether to accept it or reject it.

By the way, there were a lot of rejected songs, I think there were 2 to 3 times as many songs as were included.

There are no rejected songs left. I would burn it to ROM and listen to it, and if I didn’t like it, I’d delete it immediately, and I’d be like, “Okay, just throw away the original data!”

Also, it was my first time composing all at once, so it was a mixed bag, and it’s not like I could suddenly decide on all the songs in one go.

Speaking of rejections, Mr. Shiozaki instructed us to make the intro unnecessary or keep it as short as possible, so any song with a long intro was quickly rejected. “Okhotsk” is a game where you progress through the story while traveling between various locations.

Therefore, when the song suddenly changes due to a scene change, etc., if the intro is long, the song will change before the melody is reached.

Also, if the intro is short, there’s no redundancy and it gets the groove going. It’s the same with J-Pop these days, but there’s a kind of grace that jumps straight to the point. For Okhotsk, I used a sound driver made by someone else, but it didn’t have a tempo change function.

However, since it’s not possible for all songs to have the same tempo, I changed the tempo by adjusting the note length of the sequence data. It was a hassle to do that.

BGM and sound effects are controlled in 1/60th of a second increments, so we decide how many 60ths of a second each note should play to achieve the desired tempo.

For example, if you make the length of a quarter note 24/60 seconds, it will be a song with a tempo of 150, and if you make it 32/60 seconds, it will have a tempo of 112.5.

However, unless the length of each note is divisible by 60, the performance will be out of sync. Because of this, I think I used three or four different tempos for the song “Okhotsk.”

It would be a solution if there was a driver that could play the notes with a length that takes into account the decimal point, depending on the specified tempo.

When I was in charge of the sound for some of ASCII’s and Nintendo’s Game Boy software, I created my own sound driver, which solved the tempo problem.

In addition to the tempo, it was fun to try and implement various effects that I came up with, such as changing the duty ratio for attack and sustain, and changing the pan. Simple hardware is more interesting for conducting such experiments.

The songs for murder scenes such as Harumi Pier were composed by Akihiko Yabu, who was also in the login editorial department. I think the song that plays in Tokuko’s hospital room was composed by Mr. Shiozaki.

I didn’t make a formal request, but one day I was suddenly given the sheet music and told, “I’ve made a song, so please use it!” and I turned it into data.

It was a time when such a light attitude was popular, and I was also relieved because my quota was reduced. It’s a win-win situation. Both Mr. Shiozaki and Mr. Yabu were involved in music, and I believe Mr. Shiozaki could play the keyboard and Mr. Yabu the guitar.

The two of us received the musical score arranged for three voices, so I decided on the tone and added the drums with noise. Here’s an explanation of each song. [Opening theme] I don’t remember exactly why it was used not only in the title, but also in the final scene, but I

Chose this song to give the impression that the case was successfully solved and I was back in Tokyo. It may be. [Name entry] Is it a little too bright? That’s what I thought, but when I actually played the game, I was relieved of the heaviness I felt at the beginning of the game.

It would be depressing to enter your name while listening to sad background music, so I think this is a good idea. I thought. [Beginning] I imagined the song that plays in the title background before flying to Hokkaido, the opening of a TV suspense theater, or an eye-catching song.

If it’s too long, there will be a lot of waiting time, and if it’s too short, it won’t be enough, so I think I’ll leave it at 8 bars. [Susukino’s Life] It’s an elegy that sounds like something you’d hear from a cable broadcast at a bar in the Showa era.

I hummed the melody as if it had lyrics, added accompaniment, and was able to do it without much effort. However, I was very particular about the timing and took a lot of time to make adjustments. I’ve been listening to enka since I was a child, so please leave it to me (lol).

[Makikoto Megumi] It’s not limited to this song, but I’ve received vague requests from Shiozaki-san several times. It’s not a clear “this kind of song”, but rather a “song that doesn’t have a major or minor feel to it.”

Mr. Shiozaki probably had a sound ringing in his head, but he couldn’t bring it out in words, so I remember creating a few songs through trial and error. I think it was one of those songs. [Blackjack]

Blackjack is also a stopper that prevents you from progressing all at once to the end, but I think the original intention was that it was a feature to avoid situations where you get stuck and have nothing else to do. That’s right.

In any case, the music is a little different from the main story, so the atmosphere is different from the other songs. [Geisha] Ueno: The song uses only two square waves, making it a bit like a koto. If possible, I wanted to add some triangle waves to give it more depth, but

Adding the “po” tone of the triangle wave changed the atmosphere, so it didn’t work out. [Tracking] It seems that there are many people who particularly like this song from Okhotsk. It’s interesting that Okhotsk fans have covered “Chase” and the ending song in various arrangements.

Come to think of it, I bought a cassette tape of “Okhotsk” from Anko Mochizuki a long time ago, and “Tracking” is great! I remember him emphasizing this (lol). I think I made this song towards the end when I was running out of songs.

However, after I had already written many songs, I thought I should make a new one… but I had run out of songs, and I

Remember thinking about it as I made them. It’s a memorable song in the sense that I managed to squeeze it out and make it even though I was running out of ideas. The excessive pressure may have awakened something in the fire pit. However, when it comes to manuscripts,

There are times when you get an idea for the first three lines just before the deadline, and you end up writing from there all at once. It’s probably close to that. [Rescuing Makiko] The melody conveys anxiety and impatience, so I guess it was used for this scene.

However, it’s not a very scary scene, so I imagined it to be a woodwind ensemble, and I wanted to create a calm song. [Truth] I didn’t mean to be particularly scary, but I’m glad that you were scared (lol). I believe this song was rejected for reasons such as being too short and monotonous.

However, I liked it myself, and I remember forcing myself to use it. When I tried it out, I found it surprisingly matched. I don’t remember much about how it was used at Okumura’s house. The melody is a little similar to the song at the crime scene, and

The synergistic effect with the slightly dark atmosphere of Okumura’s house may make it feel even scarier. [Fighting Shunsuke] It’s an impressive scene that can be called the climax of the story, so it’s a bit of an experimental song. I’ve always liked songs with odd time signatures, such as jazz and progressive rock.

When I listened to the finished song, it had a punk feel to it, and even though it wasn’t originally a song with an odd time signature, the performance was so bad that it ended up sounding like an odd time signature (lol).

That’s not what I was aiming for from the beginning. But it was a coincidence, or rather, when I listened to the finished product, it had that kind of atmosphere, and

It was interesting, so I used it as is. Also, in my club activities, I used to play difficult songs with odd time signatures, so I guess I wanted to try writing songs with odd time signatures myself. [Ending Theme ~A New Journey]

I didn’t have a particular image of a band feel. So when I heard from the record company that Momoi-san would be covering the song, I was looking forward to seeing what kind of song it would be.

So, when I listened to the final version of the CD, it was arranged to have a cool band sound, and Momoi-san’s lyrics were included in my songs, so I was really happy. If you read the lyrics card vertically, you’ll notice that there was a hidden message included.

Please get the CD and check it out. It seems that you can listen to just the song on music distribution services. [About Sound Adventure: Hokkaido Serial Murders: Vanishing in Okhotsk]

At the time, I had no idea that I had the authority to check the arrangements for the arranged version, so I left it up to them almost entirely. There is no pre-production or post-production involved. The music must have been transcribed and arranged by the arranger by ear.

This is because all the songs were created by typing them directly into the sequencer, so there was no sheet music. So, I didn’t have anything to give…and I probably needed to do a medley, so it must have been difficult, and now that I think about it, I’m sorry.

I was only present during the recording, and only made corrections where it was necessary. For example, there were some parts where the melody and chords were different from the original song, but since it would be impossible to have them fix everything on-site, we sometimes asked them to

Bring the melody closer to the original. I remember that in the recording studio, the PC-8001 was used to control the synths, etc., and I was impressed by how high-quality the sampled strings were at the time. I was also impressed to see an electric guitar solo performance up close.

As a side note, this album was released in three media: LP, CD, and cassette tape. It may be quite unusual for game music to be released in these three media. This was probably because the company was in the transition period from records to CDs, and Apollon was also focusing on cassettes.

At that time, there was no optimal solution for arranging game music, so it may have been a time when people were searching for it.

Regarding the fact that the key is different from the original song, it may have been transposed due to the range of the tones used or the convenience of making it into a medley, so

I personally didn’t find it all that strange. In the first place, I am sorry for the inconvenience of not being able to provide you with the scores, so I cannot comment on this.

I had no idea that a reprint CD was being produced, which was decided to be resold on Fukkan.com in 2002, and before I knew it, it had already been released. I never imagined that a game music CD that was out of print would be reprinted 15 years after its release…So I do

N’t know the details of your question. By the way, I also missed out on getting the Nipopo doll that was a bonus for purchasing the CD, which was apparently available on a first-come, first-served basis.

As for the Nipopo doll, I was finally able to get it. This year, there was a project called JR Hokkaido’s “Drift Ice Story” x “Disappearing in Okhotsk”, and the writer Ninja Masuda-kun bought a doll called “Tear Carved Nipopo” that was sold there and sent it to me. is.

There was a handwritten note on the delivery slip that said “wooden carved doll”, which gave me a bit of an occult feel, but what I needed to have was my friend and the ninja. I’m sure everyone has many fond memories of games they played as children.

I am truly grateful that this event was made possible, and I would like to express my gratitude to all those involved and participants. As for future developments, I think it would be interesting to have a restructured arranged version that doesn’t rely too much on the story.

However, when fans listen to the various arranged versions that have been released, they all seem to be “correct!” In that case, even if you arrange it yourself, you might not be satisfied with it! ? I feel like that…

Apart from that, I also feel like I would like to create a completely new work. I sometimes compose short songs when I feel like it, but I don’t have the patience to sit down and write them carefully…

I do it when I want to, but I rarely do it, so I don’t know when I’ll be able to release a song that I can properly announce (lol).

At the time of production, I never imagined that it would become a work and song that continues to be loved for over 30 years. That’s a blessing. I hope that you will continue to listen to it from time to time, looking back on those days when you were troubled by solving mysteries.

6. Traveling partner Now, although it has nothing to do with the game, I would like to introduce my partner who traveled with me in Hokkaido in a car graphic TV style. By the way, in the game you are traveling by car. The Suzuki Gixxer 250

Design emphasizes the glamorous and edgy curves from front to rear with its powerful tank shape and flowing shroud shape. It is characterized by its low-slung silhouette and subdued exterior design.

Equipped with a thin and compact LED headlight that emphasizes the Gixxer 250’s character. It is divided into three parts, top and bottom, and its distinctive headlights make it instantly recognizable as a Gixxer.

Equipped with an edgy undercover as standard. Together with the tank and shroud, it creates a low-slung, powerful appearance that complements the engine. The taillight uses an LED rear combination lamp. Its flowing form is also a characteristic of the Gixxer’s beauty.

The fully digital LCD meter has a sophisticated design that displays the shift position, and the large GO letters that appear after a system check when the key is turned in convey the desire to start running right away, just like a racehorse. I’ll tell the rider.

Now, let’s take a look at the engine that characterizes the Gixxer 250. The single-cylinder SOHC 4-valve 249cc engine uses oil cooling as its cooling method, and was developed to be a high-output engine with excellent environmental performance.

This engine, which incorporates a generous amount of Suzuki’s technology, produces a maximum output of 19 kW (26 PS). While producing a sticky torque feeling in the low rotation range, it achieved a record speed of 147 km/h when measured on a circuit. A pleasant sense of acceleration was achieved in the mid-to-high rotation range.

Since it is a single cylinder, it has the same explosive power as a 4-cylinder liter bike, and the sound that has been replaced with a Yoshimura muffler produces a pleasant sound even when idling.

The lightweight engine also greatly contributes to driving performance, and together with the Gixxer body, it embodies the fun of lightweight sports. A 6-speed transmission, front and rear disc brakes, radial tires, and ABS are also standard equipment.

Although the fuel tank has a small capacity of 12 liters, the Gixxer has excellent fuel efficiency. You can drive 40km per liter while driving normally. It can easily run 400km with full refueling. By refueling once a day, you can travel on lower roads without worrying about the amount of gasoline remaining.

It has fallen several times, and each time the Yoshimura emblem gets damaged, so it is remade from a copper plate by hand by a craftsman (the person inside). The current one is the fourth generation.

Each character is only about 3 mm long, and it takes half a day to cut it out with a cutter and reproduce it. Many people may be surprised to find out the price of a bike they used to ride. Currently, the price of motorcycles has skyrocketed, and they cost about 1 million yen.

On the other hand, the Gixxer 250 has excellent cost performance. The all-inclusive starting price is 460,000 yen for a new car, and less than 400,000 yen for a used car. The person inside bought it with the pocket money they had saved little by little. My wife will be informed after the fact.

It’s the perfect bike to go on a trip and reminisce about your youth. Now, I’m going to digress a bit here and give a supplementary explanation about Famicom drawing. As you probably know, the Famicom screen is drawn using a background (BG) and sprites. BG is the background and Mario is the sprite.

Sprites may not seem to be used in adventure games, but that’s not the case. There is a concept called a character, and it can have 256 BG and sprites each with 8 x 8 dots. BG can only use 4 colors including transparent color for 1 character. This may seem like a lot, but

The resolution of the Famicom is 256 x 240, and when divided by 8 dots per character, 32 x 30 characters are required, resulting in a total of 960 characters. If you try to draw freely, you will only be able to draw 26% of the screen with 256 pieces.

Apart from this, character data is also used for text. In short, there isn’t enough character data to display images on a screen as large as Okhotsk. That doesn’t mean you can use sprites freely. You probably know that you can only display up to 4 people in Dragon Quest.

8×8 sprites can only display 8 sprites horizontally. The graphic artist overcomes these limitations and depicts a beautiful world disappearing in Okhotsk.At a point where I can no longer digress, I return to the main topic. 7.What kind of existence did the disappearances in Okhotsk mean to us?

Starting with the Portopia serial murders, many adventure games were released on the Famicom. After that, Kamaitachi no Yoru was released on the Super Famicom. A game called a sound novel with slightly fewer options was also created.

The latest game pays tribute to the way it was expressed at the time due to the hardware specs. It continues to this day. Among all of this, the Famicom version of Okhotsk ni Tsuyu was a special piece of software. There are several elements. Scenario by the genius Yuji Horii

Detailed depictions, character backgrounds, and captivating scenarios with the use of Horii-bushi.Video by Kiyokazu Arai of Famicom Tsushin.Early type , Famicom version by Kiyokazu Arai, who is known for his deformed illustrations as a reviewer for

Famicom News. Although there are beautiful graphics drawn with higher resolution and colors that have been released since then, the characters from the Famicom version are by far the most popular. The women are cute, and the men have their own unique personalities. Famicom has low resolution.

In the end, the graphics, which were adjusted pixel by dot by Mr. Arai, reproduce Mr. Arai’s worldview without any sense of discomfort. And Mr. Ueno’s legendary sound. A new genre of command selection adventure game invented by Mr. Horii. The idea was to create a story like a two-hour suspense drama.

As mentioned above, there is a secret to making a command selection adventure game interesting that was learned from the original manga. Its contents have not been disclosed to the developer. There should be hints in the scenario and flag system. First of all, it’s a tragedy.

There was a reason why the criminal had to commit serial murders. Old man Urata speaks. Gen’s father was killed and he was raised by an old man, Urata, but despite this, he had two daughters and lived happily ever after.

However, when Fumiyoshi Masuda took the easy step of calling himself Gen-san, things took a big turn. The Akutsu gang moves to dispose of someone who knows about the past. My beloved daughter was killed. He himself has terminal cancer and has only a short time to live.

It was a murder made to look like a traffic accident, and since the main culprit was a man who would soon become a minister, the police thought they were useless. Gen takes action to protect his other beloved daughter.

As someone who has two children, including a daughter, who has terminal cancer and is told that she only has a few years left to live, I understand how Gen-san feels.

If I were in a situation where I had lost one daughter, was forced into a corner, my other daughter was in danger, and there was no one to help me, I might do the same thing as Gen-san. This is the tragedy of a sad man who has been forced into a corner.

I didn’t understand this when I was a child, but now that I’ve become a father 37 years later, I’m sure many of you have been forced to reconsider Gen’s feelings. The rest is about the story and the skill with which the flags are used.

We meet Makiko many times at Lake Mashu in the beginning. At first I didn’t think anything of it. At that time, heroines like Fina and Lilia were the heroines, and Makiko, with her so-called Seiko-cut black hair, looked plain.

Normally, I get frustrated when the story doesn’t progress, but as expected, even after going around Hokkaido and trying all the commands, I couldn’t make any progress. Meanwhile, whenever I went to Lake Mashu, Makiko was always there. After that, the story progresses and we learn that Makiko is involved in the incident.

After that, Makiko, who was always at Lake Mashu, disappeared. Players desperately searched all over the vast Hokkaido. Then his room is ransacked and he is taken away by the yakuza. I found the album.

It is also the first time that Makiko sees the old man Urata, who is like a grandfather to her, and his younger sister. Then look for a coal mine. An operation memo is displayed in advance, and I get nervous because it’s a dangerous search.

After a frantic search, they found Makiko who was starved of oxygen. Although I was worried that he had not regained consciousness yet, the old man Urata told me the details of the incident. Then, he reunites with Makiko, who has regained consciousness and has messy hair. Shun’s lines probably speak for the player’s words.

“Boss. It seems that Makiko-san has finally regained consciousness. Wow , that ‘s really good. ” It didn’t stick to me.” I like the messy look of this hair. We get to see the real Makiko, who is not doing her job properly.

At that time, boys had never seen a real adult woman outside of their immediate family. And then there is the ending. It hints that the boss was also secretly in love with her. Children all over Japan would wonder why they hadn’t invited me to the wedding.

However, even as a child, she realized that she probably wanted to show off her bridelike appearance to her father, who had only a short time left to live. And here, thanks to Mr. Horii’s clever scenario and flag system,

The boy himself realizes for the first time that he, like Boss and Shun, has been in love with Makiko, completely unconsciously. I looked at the ending screen with mixed emotions, like being happy that it had a happy ending, but even more so, feeling like I was heartbroken.

In this way, Okhotsk ni Yuyu became a legendary game that boys across the country would never forget. Then the days pass. The boys, who developed feelings for Hokkaido, become adults and travel to Hokkaido, where they traveled with Shun, by bike, car, and train, looking for Makiko.

At that time, each heroine may have been next to them. Although I have been to Hokkaido for work, I have never traveled there. He got a motorcycle for the first time in 20 years,

Made a small board that reproduced the command selection screen invented by Yuji Horii, and traveled to his dream destination, Hokkaido. Each scene in the game was viewed with the naked eye, rather than through a monitor. It was an 8-day trip that made me wonder if such a wonderful thing could happen.

A month and a half after my trip, I was diagnosed with cancer and began treatment. Anticancer drugs have severe side effects, including a drop in platelet levels. This meant that it was difficult for the blood to stop, making long-distance touring with the risk of injury impossible.

However, I vow to overcome my illness so that someday I can travel around Hokkaido by bike with a small board. Also, early detection of cancer is most important! .

I think it’s a big burden for freelancers, but I hope they don’t ignore medical checkups and the need for re-examination, and deal with them properly. Looking back, I noticed some signs of illness during my medical checkup a year ago. As a result, I missed it. Also, cancer treatment is extremely expensive.

There is hospitalization insurance, etc., but private rooms in Tokyo cost over 20,000 yen. Normal hospitalization insurance coverage is 10,000 yen. Please check whether your current insurance includes hospitalization insurance and cancer treatment insurance. In my case, the option cost was about 6,000 yen.

I want you to take care of your body for the sake of the viewers, your precious family, and friends. And in the end, Gen-san’s choice turned out to be wrong. When people are pushed into a mental state, they make mistakes in judgment. Unfortunately, we also see news of people committing suicide.

It is possible to escape from home or work. It’s fine even outside the country. First of all, Japan has laws and all remedies available. Free consultations with lawyers are also available. I wish that people would talk to someone about their problems without worrying about them.

As long as I stay alive, something good will happen. You might find some really good movies or books. You may be able to take a trip to see spectacular scenery that you have never seen before. You might meet a lifelong friend.

After all, childhood friends just happened to be born in the same place at the same time. That’s not all. I also became a YouTuber and made friends. Everyone is more worried about my body than about releasing the video.

When I tried to push myself to keep the video release date, everyone got really angry at me. Whether you are a little worried or not, why not prepare a small board and fly to Hokkaido, where Mr. Horii, Shun and Boss traveled, and take a trip?

You will be surprised by the size of Hokkaido, and I think you will discover that there are beautiful places in Japan that you have not yet seen.

The stages of Okhotsk and Vanishing are concentrated in eastern Hokkaido, so if you rent a car at Kushiro Airport, you can make a pilgrimage to almost any sacred place in 2 nights or 3 days! This video ends here.

If you subscribe to the channel or press the high rating button, it will give me energy to create the next video. See you again in the next video!

※注意※
中の人はただの一般人です。
書籍及びインターネットで調べた情報と中の人の経験とで進めます。
多分内容も思い込みが強かったり間違いだらけの可能性も高いです。
開発者の方又は非常にお詳しい方、動画の間違いをハハ、コヤツめでスルー出来ない方、
またはゲーム映像だけを楽しみたい方は他の投稿者様による素敵な動画がたくさんありますので、
ブラウザバックを推奨致します。
※Note※
The people inside are just ordinary people.
I will proceed based on the information I have researched in books and the internet, as well as my personal experience.
There is also a high possibility that the content may be based on strong assumptions or be full of mistakes.
Developers or very knowledgeable people, people who cannot tolerate mistakes in videos,
Or if you just want to enjoy the game footage, there are many great videos by other contributors.
We recommend backing your browser.

■参考文献
・塩崎剛三氏と宮野洋美氏インタビュー
・ビデオゲーム史を巡る冒険シリーズ② オホーツクに消ゆ
https://booth.pm/ja/items/1910139
・堀井雄二氏インタビュー
ファミコン通信昭和62年6月12日号
サウンドアドベンチャーオホーツクに消ゆ

■参考WEB
堀井雄二氏インタビュー

「堀井雄二」調査団: アドベンチャーゲームは如何に日本のストーリーゲームを発展させていったか？ （中編）

上野利幸氏インタビュー
https://igcc.jp/ichihara-13/

■映像
MSX版

PC-6001版


PC-8801版