September 2012 - Ping'

[Mr. Incognito]

Silly Ping, It was supposed to be a interview, not an opportunity for you to write a novel.
Interesting read though.

Oh God, KSA.
What ever happened to him?

[percey]

I, uh... I'm not going to read all of that. Instead I'll just say: Congratulations Ping'!

[GuardianDreamer]

All of you must embrace the text walls. They're good for your soul. Anyway, congratulations, Ping'. Allow me to ask this: Is there any particular videogame that has gotten a very strong emotional reaction from you? (Whether it be a sad reaction, a happy one, or something else entirely.)

[kwando1313]

One more question from me. What was your favorite trial that you've been a part of the team for? (Kinda worded funnily, I know. >.<)

[Unas]

I guess part of the reason why this has happened a few times is that when I'm writing fan cases, I tend to put myself in Takumi/Yamazaki's shoes: what would I want to write if I were them? What would be the logical next step? Where would I take the story without repeating myself too much?

Takumi is probably the one I identify the most with. I don't have a tenth of his talent, but I think we like the same things. We have the same natural tendencies.

I understand that, but still, the fact that you come up with almost the exact same ideas among the infinite possibilities is striking
Or perhaps you're a medium. Your last name wouldn't happen to be Fey ? (Nah, silly me, only the women in the Fey family are mediums...)

About Ghost Trick, I can only agree : this game managed to put into a single game a story almost as complex, and certainly as funny, well-written and moving, as that of the PW trilogy. It's definitely one of my favourite DS games.

I'm flattered you think we have things in common. I'd already noticed some similarities myself - and not just the fact that we're Frenchies ^^

Well, I'm flattered that you're flattered ! After all, you're one of the most respected figures in the AA fan community as well
But seriously, you're one of the persons I most enjoyed debating with over the last few years - and boy, I have debated quite a bit, be it online or IRL.
From what I remember, you're indeed a little more open minded than I am. That's probably because for me understanding the other person isn't an objective, but a mean : a mean to assess the validity of my own reasoning and improve it, in order to reach the optimal conclusion. I strive for perfect logic - Edgey is my favourite AA character for a reason
But anyway, this led to interesting discussions, and I'm sure you'd be the perfect opponent if I ever were to start a political carreer

Something tells me V6 is not going to like some of the things we do in TBT.

Now I'm worried. What are you doing there ? I'll have to spoil myself and have a look at it.

Meph > Well, I am lucky enough to live relatively close to Disneyland Paris, so I've been there tons of times, both with family and friends. One of my friends is obsessed with it and always tells me trivia about its construction.
You've been there too, right? It's a great theme park, it really manages to create its own atmosphere and make you forget about the rest of the world.

Meph spent his life in Disneyland Paris. Honestly, it keeps amazing me that he goes there almost every year
(And actually, I used to live in the suburbs of Paris, but never went there at all, so geographic proximity doesn't explain everything )

[Ping']

BP > Thanks, avatar buddy

Mimi Mika > Well, objectively, I'm pretty sure sleep is a good thing. It's something we're biologically meant to do a certain number of hours a day.
Not sleeping enough reduces your life expectancy, so you're not saving any time by doing so.

Those are the rational arguments, but I still have trouble sleeping at times. Not because I want to use the time to create - I'm at my best in the evening, not during the night, not to mention that both rest and dreams are essential to creativity. But I guess part of me is still afraid of "that one moment where you fall asleep". One second, you're there. The next, it's as if you no longer exist. It's not a fear of sleep per se, more of a fear of... not being conscious.

"Mr. Incognito" > Well, they did say I rarely make a sound, so I thought I'd compensate
But you're right, I never miss an opportunity to write a novel.

GuardianDreamer > I'll start with the obvious: " a certain character from FF7 dies", but it's kind of the video game equivalent of Bambi's mother.
The ending of PW3 made me sad, as did the one in the third Layton, Ghost Trick and Link's Awakening. I easily get emotional for a guy. The credits in FF6 make me cry, but only because of the music.
Some twists genuinely surprised me, like the one in the middle of Baten Kaitos or at the end of Braid.
I often get a feeling of pure happiness from exploring overworlds such as the ones in Shadow of the Colossus or Twilight Princess, solving a well constructed puzzle, or going through a fun platformer level. Oh, and Kirby always makes me feel happy and nostalgic at the same time.

kwando1313 > So in other words, you mean my favourite trial out of Turnabout Substitution, New Year's Turnabout, MSAT, Redeemer, Nexus, "mysterious comp case", and The Black Turnabout.

Turnabout Substitution is the one that gave me the best memories, that's for certain. The first game I ever released... by definition, it can only happen once. Working with Ceres and BP, panicking over the deadline, wondering whether I could ever finish it... Releasing the final part the same day Cardy released his was special. I'll always remember the praise I got from Leesers when she told me she'd had a bad really day irl and playing TSub at night made her forget about everything. Experiences like this make it all worthwhile.

But I don't think it's the best case I've been involved in. At this point I think it's the TSub sequel - it's close enough to completion for me to know how good it is. Eventually it'll probably be The Black Turnabout, but not enough has been scripted yet.

By the way, Tap, you forgot the end of the sentence before "speaking of PWLib".

[Meph]

Meph > Well, I am lucky enough to live relatively close to Disneyland Paris, so I've been there tons of times, both with family and friends. One of my friends is obsessed with it and always tells me trivia about its construction.
You've been there too, right? It's a great theme park, it really manages to create its own atmosphere and make you forget about the rest of the world.

As Unas said, I've been there about 15 times, so I've definitely been there too. It must be nice to have a friend who's a Disney Parks fan. Have you ever stayed in the hotels? Even though you live so close, it's still worth staying.

[kwando1313]

Meph > Well, I am lucky enough to live relatively close to Disneyland Paris, so I've been there tons of times, both with family and friends. One of my friends is obsessed with it and always tells me trivia about its construction.
You've been there too, right? It's a great theme park, it really manages to create its own atmosphere and make you forget about the rest of the world.

As Unas said, I've been there about 15 times, so I've definitely been there too. It must be nice to have a friend who's a Disney Parks fan. Have you ever stayed in the hotels? Even though you live so close, it's still worth staying.

You've been to Disney Parks 15 times? Wow.

I wanted to go to the one in Paris a few months ago, but... Alas, the admission was expensive and it would've taken about an hour by metro to get there.

[Ping']

Meph > You know, when I said "tons of times", I think it was still less than 15 XD
Unless you count the times I went to Disney Village, of course.

And no, I've never stayed in the hotels, sadly.

[Unas]

I wanted to go to the one in Paris a few months ago, but... Alas, the admission was expensive and it would've taken about an hour by metro to get there.

Actually, because it's quite far outside of Paris, it's out of the area covered by the Metro. You'd have to take the RER (regional trains) to go there from Paris, which can indeed take a while. And even more depending where you are in Paris, since you have to go to an RER station first
But yeah, while the RATP network (Paris transportation network) is much more reliable than the TFL (Transport For London) in my experience, you can still spend a lot of time in the transports.

[kwando1313]

I wanted to go to the one in Paris a few months ago, but... Alas, the admission was expensive and it would've taken about an hour by metro to get there.

Actually, because it's quite far outside of Paris, it's out of the area covered by the Metro. You'd have to take the RER (regional trains) to go there from Paris, which can indeed take a while. And even more depending where you are in Paris, since you have to go to an RER station first
But yeah, while the RATP network (Paris transportation network) is much more reliable than the TFL (Transport For London) in my experience, you can still spend a lot of time in the transports.

Well, my hotel was pretty close to the RER... But still, it would've taken too long. (I went to visit Roland Garros instead. )

[Blackrune]

Congratz Ping'.

I do have to wonder what Tap did during those presumably huge time intervals it took you to reply. xD

Hm, I remember it took a while before I even heard much of you. Well, unless you spontaneously showed up for a competition and beat me. (Then again, that's what caused me to push my productivity 2 more times, producing ToC and TP. Losing isn't always a bad thing it seems.)

You seem to be quite fond of my work. I'm honored. You also seem to have a horribly large amount of projects to take care of, looking forward to all of those.
Your collab with Gumpei (you had better not be trolling with that one) is quite up there on the list of cases I'm hyped for. Though I have to admit it seems you're facing some serious competition. So yeah, eagerly awaiting whatever you two are going to throw at me in 26 days.

As for a question, hm...
I do have to wonder, when you have vague ideas for cases... what do you usually think of first? In the interview it sounded partly like the general setting, sometimes more like the crime. You also posted that one idea in the Trial ideas thread that's basically more of a concept for a character. (dead culprit-AI) I'd classify this of thinking of a character first and then making the plot fit the character, instead of thinking of the plot first and then working the characters in.
So, what is it? Setting, characters, how the crime went down? Just some really vague idea like "x is the defendant"? An unorganized mixture of everything? Also, what would you recommend planning/coming up/deciding with first if one has no idea where to start, or do you think that depends on the author/type of case?

[Bad Player]

Interesting interview. I only really have one question... what's a "theatre lesson"?

Also, give me your opinion on every Miyazaki movie you've seen. (Ha! It's a demand, not a question!)

Tap: What other games do you really like?

Ping': I have pretty classical tastes, I think...

Like many people from my generation, I was raised on Nintendo - Zelda (especially Link's Awakening, Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess and Ocarina of Time, Mario, Pokemon... I also loved Rayman, all of Rare's stuff (Banjo Kazooie/Tooie, Conker's Bad Fur Day), Monkey Island, and RPGs such as FF6/7/8 and Chrono Trigger. The Dreamcast era was big for me, so games like Shenmue 1 and 2, Skies of Arcadia, Jet Set Radio, Soul Calibur count among my favourites... Even "failures" like Omikron had great playing value.
I've always been a big Castlevania fan (Symphony of the Night and the GBA/DS episodes in particular).
In more recent years I've been into games like Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Okami, Portal, Braid, Heavy Rain, and Little Big Planet. Not to mention Oddworld. Can't believe I nearly forgot it. =)

Shameless pleasures include Super Monkey Ball and I Wanna Be The Guy for the sheer difficulty. Oh, and of course you have the obvious: Ghost Trick, which I might actually prefer to the AA series, Professor Layton and Hotel Dusk.

Last great game I played was Journey. It's short but every second is worth it.

This reminded me...

GO.

FINISH.

999.

NOW.



And lastly...

I guess part of the reason why this has happened a few times is that when I'm writing fan cases, I tend to put myself in Takumi/Yamazaki's shoes: what would I want to write if I were them? What would be the logical next step? Where would I take the story without repeating myself too much?

Takumi is probably the one I identify the most with. I don't have a tenth of his talent, but I think we like the same things. We have the same natural tendencies.

I understand that, but still, the fact that you come up with almost the exact same ideas among the infinite possibilities is striking
Or perhaps you're a medium. Your last name wouldn't happen to be Fey ? (Nah, silly me, only the women in the Fey family are mediums...)

About Ghost Trick, I can only agree : this game managed to put into a single game a story almost as complex, and certainly as funny, well-written and moving, as that of the PW trilogy. It's definitely one of my favourite DS games.

I'm flattered you think we have things in common. I'd already noticed some similarities myself - and not just the fact that we're Frenchies ^^

Well, I'm flattered that you're flattered ! After all, you're one of the most respected figures in the AA fan community as well
But seriously, you're one of the persons I most enjoyed debating with over the last few years - and boy, I have debated quite a bit, be it online or IRL.
From what I remember, you're indeed a little more open minded than I am. That's probably because for me understanding the other person isn't an objective, but a mean : a mean to assess the validity of my own reasoning and improve it, in order to reach the optimal conclusion. I strive for perfect logic - Edgey is my favourite AA character for a reason
But anyway, this led to interesting discussions, and I'm sure you'd be the perfect opponent if I ever were to start a political carreer

Something tells me V6 is not going to like some of the things we do in TBT.

Now I'm worried. What are you doing there ? I'll have to spoil myself and have a look at it.

Meph > Well, I am lucky enough to live relatively close to Disneyland Paris, so I've been there tons of times, both with family and friends. One of my friends is obsessed with it and always tells me trivia about its construction.
You've been there too, right? It's a great theme park, it really manages to create its own atmosphere and make you forget about the rest of the world.

Meph spent his life in Disneyland Paris. Honestly, it keeps amazing me that he goes there almost every year
(And actually, I used to live in the suburbs of Paris, but never went there at all, so geographic proximity doesn't explain everything )

Well, I'm flattered that you're flattered ! After all, you're one of the most respected figures in the AA fan community as well
But seriously, you're one of the persons I most enjoyed debating with over the last few years - and boy, I have debated quite a bit, be it online or IRL.
From what I remember, you're indeed a little more open minded than I am. That's probably because for me understanding the other person isn't an objective, but a mean : a mean to assess the validity of my own reasoning and improve it, in order to reach the optimal conclusion. I strive for perfect logic - Edgey is my favourite AA character for a reason
But anyway, this led to interesting discussions, and I'm sure you'd be the perfect opponent if I ever were to start a political carreer

But seriously, you're one of the persons I most enjoyed debating with over the last few years - and boy, I have debated quite a bit, be it online or IRL.

IRL

whaaaaaaaaaaaaa

[Ping']

BP > I said "theatre lesson"? I must've been thinking about piano lessons.
But I do take acting classes at a drama school with students of all ages and backgrounds. We work on everything from elocution to improvs, and there's a play at the end of the year. It's quite fun... you quickly learn not to worry about looking ridiculous (playing a horse in front of everyone will do that to you).

As for Miyazaki, I've watched Nausiica (love the more somber tones... I also have the manga), Castle in the Sky (simply beau-ti-ful), My Neighbour Tororo (heartwarming but with some pacing issues), Princess Mononoke (my second favourite, combines the Miyazaki aesthetic with an unusually epic story), Spirited Away (my favourite, it's the best at creating a melancholic, contemplative atmosphere, not to mention its emotional power), and Howl's Moving Castle (visually superb as always, but I thought he was repeating himself a bit with this one). Wanted to go see Ponyo but didn't get the chance.

You're right, I really should finish 999

Blackrune > I think he went playing with his boomerang or something.

Obviously I'm not working on ALL of those projects at the same time, nor at the same pace, that would be physically impossible. Some are more long term than others.

Regarding what I usually start with, I think you answered your own question ^^

I guess I start with general story concepts more often than most, but I don't have a "rule". Ideas come to me all the time, and they come in every shape and form.
My general philosophy is this:
- start somewhere. "Hey, it would be cool if X happened"
- see if you can build upon it
- if you can't add anything inspiring to it, start again. If you can, keep going.

I would recommend the same trial and error approach to other people. Start with any piece of the puzzle that might inspire you, see if you can find a good corresponding piece, and go from there.

In my particular case, though, I can often tell from the start if what I'm writing is going to work. I've often let myself be ruled by inspiration.
Every day or so, I'll have a new idea for something (either for a new project, or within an existing one). One time out of a hundred, that idea will give me a rush of adrenaline. I'll feel excited with the possibilities, scared, even... all the potential implications will come to me at once.
That feeling, that manic episode is what I'm looking for - it's my drug, and the reason I try to think of new ideas in the first place. It's a cheap, powerful drug that keeps me going no matter what's happening in life.
Then the next day I'll try to destroy my own idea (at least that's the "ideal" process). I'll try my hardest to pretend it's horrible. It's already been done, it's too complicated... I'll go through all the reasons not to do it.
If it sticks after a week or so, I'll promise to myself to make that idea come to life and come up with a plan of attack.

[Bad Player]

Not sure how many of these you'll have, but......

Favorite novel?
Favorite mystery novel?
Favorite Golden Age Detective Fiction mystery novel?
Favorite subject that ends in "ology"? (we already know you like philosophy, politics, filmography, etc xP)
Favorite anime?
Favorite manga?
Favorite anime/manga if you discount the totally lame ending?
Favorite ice cream flavor?
Favorite primate that knows sign language?
Favorite film Morricone composed the score for?
Favorite Morricone film soundtrack?
Favorite Disney film?
Favorite word in each language you know?
Favorite ride at the amusement park?
Favorite lobe of the brain?
Favorite sense?
Favorite video game console?
Favorite video game console era?
Favorite video game news website?
Favorite news website?
Favorite website?
Favorite (English) joke?
Favorite Simpsons episode?
Favorite meme?
Favorite card? (in a standard 52-card deck)
Favorite card? (in a trading card game)
Favorite pokemon?
Favorite pokemon game/generation?
Favorite spin-off pokemon game?
Favorite item in the 2D zeldas?
Favorite item in the 3D zeldas?
Favorite American state?
Favorite Batman villain?
Favorite Marvel hero?
Favorite DC hero?
Favorite TV Trope?
Favorite AAOer that has the same avatar as you?