Creator's Salon: Graphics Team, Part 1
The beautiful background graphics are one of the selling points of Final Fantasy X. We asked 10 representative staff members involved in the design to share stories about the various setting drawings.
◆Back row, from left: Sugawara Mizushi, Takahashi Tetsuya (chief designer (1), Honjo Takashi, Naora Yusuke (art director), Kamikokuryou Isamu, Kusano Hiroaki. Front row, from left: Dairaku Masahiko, Tanabe Sachiko, Nakamura Mariko, Yoshioka Airi [Titles omitted]
BA: All images included in this section can be found at the Final Fantasy X wiki.
Zanarkand
Naora: At first, Kitase (director Yoshinori Kitase) expressed a desire to make water a key element. So, we decided to create a city overflowing with water. I drew the first illustration, which served as the starting point, and then Kamikokuryo and Sugawara built on that.
Kamikokuryo: The concept of an Asian taste was present from the beginning, but for Zanarkand, I especially emphasized Islamic architectural styles. At the same time, we were also working on Spira, so I made a conscious effort to distinguish Zanarkand as a clearly different world. To be specific, while Spira is full of ruins and rubble, giving it a generally decayed feeling, Zanarkand was designed to feel like a city still progressing and developing.
Naora: Speaking of Zanarkand, the opening and closing of the stadium dome was quite a challenge, wasn’t it?
Kamikokuryo: I designed the exterior and created detailed drawings of the entrance, and just when I thought the design was complete, Kitase said, "Can you make the stadium transform so that the dome opens and closes?" It wasn’t something that was planned from the start—it was a request that came after everything was already finished (laughs). It was quite a struggle to figure out how to add a mechanism for the dome to open and close while keeping the existing design intact.
Kusano: Designing the tanker truck was also very challenging. I had been in charge of the "Front Mission" series for a long time, so when it came to placing mecha into a world like "Final Fantasy," I struggled with how to make them fit seamlessly into that universe. Especially with vehicles, I usually design them based on detailed mechanical structures and theories. But for this project, I had to start by clearing my mind of all that. I ended up designing dozens of concepts, but none of them seemed to work. In the end, I had to rely purely on instinct to create the final design (laughs).
Sea Ruins (Baaj Temple)
Naora: I think we started with the exterior.
Yoshioka: Yes. I had never drawn such a large building before, so it was extremely challenging. Also, the request was for it to have an "Asian-like, yet painful" feel, but I struggled to capture that image, so I looked through various materials and experimented a lot.
Naora: This area was included in the demo version at the "Tokyo Game Show 2001," so I asked him to do some pretty intense work within the tight schedule. Tanabe was the one who drew the hall before it collapsed.
Tanabe: The event team asked us to place flowers there, and arranging them was quite difficult.
Naora: Basically, it's a ruin, so there are very few objects. So I think it was challenging to make it visually interesting with just the structural elements and to avoid making it look too plain. Also, in terms of the game's progression, this area needed to make the player feel a significant gap. It was supposed to feel like they had suddenly arrived in a completely different place from Zanarkand, a place they didn't understand. To achieve that, we emphasized a strong Asian-inspired design.
Salvage Ship
Kamikokuryo: Initially, I drew the ship as quite large, but later on, it was decided that various events would take place on the ship's deck. So, I had to redesign it to be just the right size for characters to walk around, yet still spacious enough for battles to occur. The crane was one of the additions made specifically for those events. Design-wise, I had the image of a turtle or something animal-like in mind. Additionally, the ship is supposed to have been salvaged from the water during Zanarkand's prosperous era, so its materials differ from those of Spira's ships.
Kusano: For the interior design, I experimented with various props, like adding Al Bhed text and placing sphere monitors, but unfortunately, those elements weren't used in the end.
Besaid Island
Kamikokuryo: The first thing I drew was Besaid Temple. Since the overall image of Spira hadn't fully taken shape yet, I started with the concept of a tropical island—featuring a bright blue sky and tropical plants. For the temple itself, I wanted to incorporate elements of the sea, so I designed it with a large shell on top. I also gave the surface a weathered, rugged texture from the sea breeze to make it feel like it had been standing for a long time. By the way, I chose a low-angle perspective when drawing it because the background was rendered in real-time polygons. I thought that even though it might make the building's structure harder to discern, it would be more visually interesting from the player's perspective.
Honjo: The illustration of the sunken ruins was drawn back when Tidus was originally intended to be a plumber working in an underwater facility in Zanarkand. The idea was to place parts similar to those in the underwater facility here, to make players think, "This building looks familiar. Could this be the future of Zanarkand?" However, when the concept of Zanarkand was drastically changed during development, this idea lost its relevance.
Kamikokuryo: The houses and other structures were made as low-tech as possible, using materials like fabrics and plants. Since Besaid is a village on the outskirts of Spira, I thought it was best to avoid elaborate designs. The visual inspiration came from mangoes and other fruits. I wanted the colors and shapes to give off a fruit-like impression at first glance.
Naora: Everyone did a great job of using simple materials without making them look dull.
Nakamura: Yes, and this time there's a hidden theme called the "Besaid Pattern." Besaid's specialty is textiles, and the patterns used on them are unique to Besaid. For example, if you look closely at the bandana Wakka wears, you'll see it features the Besaid Pattern, indicating that the bandana is from Besaid.
Yoshioka: During the Mihen session, the cage that contained "Sin's Scale" also had a cloth with the Besaid Pattern draped over it. There are Besaid patterns in various other places too, so I hope you'll take a look for them.
Ferry
Naora: Initially, the silhouette of the design drawn by Hama (Art Designer Eiichi Hama) was really impressive, so I wanted the ship to have a unique atmosphere. He did an excellent job of giving it a distinct Besaid-like feel, with no complaints at all. During development, the ferry was split into two ships: the Liki and the Winno. To differentiate them, we gave the Winno red sails to evoke the image of Kilika.
Kilika
Yoshioka: Initially, Kamikokuryo provided the design for the temple, which we then expanded upon to create the town's design.
Dairaku: Since it's a fire temple, we prominently featured warm colors like yellow and red, aiming to create a warm atmosphere despite being on the sea. Additionally, because the first visit occurs at sunset, we designed the town to be enveloped in the colors of the setting sun.
Naora: We planned to use fire effects for the otherworld send-off, so we included items like street lamps that could be lit in various places.
Honjo: The houses are centered around a large mangrove tree, giving the impression of a life on the sea. If you remove the roofs and walls, you'll find that the trees are growing naturally. We draped various fabrics over this basic structure to distinguish the shops and inns.
Naora: I knew from the start that this area would be destroyed by Sin, so I designed it to show destruction well. However, I didn't anticipate how spectacularly the movie team would render its destruction (laughs).
Honjo: It was indeed destroyed in a grand manner.
Naora: Even though I had designed it to withstand destruction, seeing the finished movie made me think, "That's awful!" (laughs).
Luca
Naora: The entire exterior of Luca was designed by Fukai. The initial concept was inspired by Dejima in Nagasaki. I envisioned it as a place with a strong foreign atmosphere compared to other locations in Spira, reflecting a vibrant and lively environment.
Sugawara: The town is bustling with people and attracts many tourists coming to see Blitzball, so I imagined it as a lively, energetic place. To evoke a festival-like atmosphere, we used bright colors and included elements like flying balloons. The overall color scheme is white-based but incorporates various colors and some Bastille-like elements. I mixed an Asian aesthetic with Mediterranean influences by using curved lines for the buildings to enhance the exotic feel.
Naora: The design of the Luca Theatre was done by Kamikokuryo. His distinctive lines are unique to his style, which we now refer to as Kamikokuryo lines (laughs).
Kamikokuryo: It ended up as pre-rendered imagery because it couldn’t be created with real-time polygons (laughs).
Yoshioka: The texture team and modelers put in a lot of effort into the stadium, adding detailed work beyond the initial illustration I provided. I was really pleased with how it turned out in the final movie.
Kamikokuryo: For Luca, it was more challenging to correct the design after completion than during the initial creation. There are many events in Luca, and since camera angles weren't decided during the design phase, the final shots required close-ups of areas that weren’t initially intended. This meant that wooden boxes and walls appeared much larger than anticipated. Whenever the camera work was finalized, we had to rework the textures to ensure they looked good. Additionally, the complexity of Luca’s buildings meant that unexpected areas ended up in shots, requiring rework from the modeling stage as well.
Takahashi: There was a bit of a tug-of-war between those deciding the camera work and the modelers, with demands to redo models based on what would be visible in the shots.
Mi’ihen Highroad
Dairaku: Kaku and I worked on this simultaneously. Hama worked on the new road, while I worked on the old road. Since characters can freely walk around and ride chocobos, we designed it to be spacious to allow for more exploration. We put a lot of detail into the flowers and grass growing on the roadside. Although it's hard to notice while walking, if you freeze the screen, you can see the flowers and grass swaying in the wind at the edges. I hope players will take a moment to appreciate these details.
Naora: Both the designers and modelers put in a lot of effort to create an enjoyable visual experience for the players.
Nakamura: Everyone had a lot of fun working on this.
Naora: I designed the Mi’ihen statue. I just felt like adding something like that. However, it was likely Nakazato (Map Director Naoyoshi Nakazato) who decided to place it there. The idea was to encourage players to explore every corner of the map. After the design phase, the map team adds these kinds of small details. That’s why I found some details only when reading ULTIMANIA (laughs).
Honjo: I was responsible for designing the travel agency. The goal was to make it look like an Al Bhed shop, but with a Zanarkand style.
Naora: That’s quite a challenge (laughs).
Honjo: I made the materials appear as if they were excavated from Zanarkand, and I designed the architectural style to be distinct from typical Spira buildings. The idea was to create a shop that would make players question why such a building exists there. The various signs were inspired by Naora’s suggestion, aiming to capture the image of American roadside stops with accommodations and food.
Mushroom Rock Road
Naora: I found the initial inspiration at a bar I frequent.
Honjo: Really?
Naora: Yes, there was an unusual decoration in a bar close to my home. It was a skull with several candles melting on it, creating an intriguing silhouette. The way the wax stacked and melted was fascinating, so I used that as a motif. However, I thought it needed more, so I incorporated mushrooms as a more recognizable shape. I also added a limestone cave-like texture to make the details more convincing. I didn't expect it to be named Mushroom Rock Road (laughs).
Djose Temple
Naora: From the early stages of development, Kitase and I wanted to include some striking features on a temple's exterior. When I first visited the Djose Temple, I thought it would be interesting to have the building emerging from the rocks. This concept was decided quite late in the development process, which made things challenging for the modelers. For the exterior design, I asked Hama to create something that matched this idea. For the interior, since it's a temple of thunder, I wanted to avoid a typical plasma look. Instead, we incorporated thunder-like silhouettes into the architectural style. Also, while Kilika was red, we decided to make this one blue and mix in some yellow to evoke the image of thunder, which we hoped would bring everything together.
Moonflow
Takahashi: The first concept I drew was of a creature resembling an elephant carrying a lot of stuff on its back. Nojima (scenario writer Kazushige Nojima) then expanded on this idea, leading to the creation of the Moonflow area.
Nakamura: The entire view of Moonflow was inspired by the Golden Triangle (the confluence of two rivers forming the border between Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar). My initial drawings had a European style, depicting an old city submerged in the river, aiming for a fairy-tale feel.
Takahashi: The Shoopuf dock and related areas were initially intended to be real-time polygon maps, but we had to switch to pre-rendering to meet deadlines.
Naora: With the long-distance perspective, the characters' acting appeared somewhat isolated.
Takahashi: Due to time constraints, we had no choice but to change to pre-rendering.
Dairaku: The gondola for the Shoopuf was originally planned to be powered by a chocobo running on a disk, but in the final game, only the disk spins (laughs).
Guadosalam
Naora: When I first saw Seymour's illustration, I noticed vein-like patterns on his face and decided to use a tree motif. I thought it would be interesting to make a pattern that resembled water running through veins and arrange it like stained glass. This concept was used as a starting point for the design. However, aligning this with the map team's more complex three-dimensional approach was challenging, making it difficult for the modelers.
Yoshioka: The modelers requested not to add too many flashy elements due to the high polygon count, but we ended up adding a lot (laughs).
Naora: Eventually, I even asked for a pendulum to add some motion (laughs), as Seymour has long dialogues in his mansion, and I wanted some dynamic elements.
Honjo: During development, the portraits of the Guado chiefs were humorously replaced with the faces of the location leaders...
Nakamura: And everyone had beards (laughs). We often had fun during development, saying it was just for testing (laughs). Of course, such playful elements were removed in the final version.
Honjo: I worked on a lot of design for the other world, but only a small portion was used in the final game, which was a bit disappointing.
Naora: The other world was meant to evoke a sense similar to Mount Osore in Japan. However, expressing it directly might not be understood by players, and referencing the Sanzu River seemed odd. I aimed to create a unique "other world" feel without directly mirroring any specific religious depiction.
Tanabe: For the path to the other world, I placed numerous candles in tree hollows to enhance the otherworldly atmosphere.
Thunder Plains
Naora: This area was expanded from Kamikokuryo’s concept art.
Kamikokuryo: Initially, the project team expressed a desire to depict frequent lightning strikes and heavy rain. I designed the area with numerous lightning towers planted on a ground resembling tree roots. These towers were envisioned more like plants than traditional buildings.
Naora: Originally, this area was supposed to be right next to the José Temple. We discussed how the area around the temple would be filled with lightning. I jokingly suggested creating a mini-game where you avoid lightning. Later, “Thunder Plains” appeared on the map list, and indeed, a lightning avoidance mini-game was included (laughs).
Macalania
Sugawara: Macalania Forest was initially named "The Strange Forest by the Lake." Given the term "strange," I started by designing trees with unusual, never-before-seen shapes. As you delve deeper into the forest, it gets colder, so I initially imagined it with an icy theme. I thought it would be beautiful if the trees reflected light, so I designed them as crystal-like trees. I added spherical light sources here and there to illuminate the area. These plants are crystal-like from the moment they sprout.
Nakamura: At that time, I set all the crystals to glow without much thought, assuming that if they were supposed to glow, they might as well all shine. Later, I ended up helping with the field effects and found myself regretting that decision. I was working on making all the crystals glow while lamenting, "Why are they glowing so much?" (laughs).
Naora: I worked on the Macalania Spring, the location of Tidus and Yuna’s kiss scene. Early in development, we discussed this as a pivotal story moment, so we decided to highlight it. When I started, many excellent illustrations were already prepared, which made my job easier. It felt like I got the best part (laughs).
Dairaku: Designing the Macalania Temple was challenging. Despite multiple attempts, Naora never gave me the approval. Initially, Kamikokuryo’s illustration of a temple beneath a lake was the starting point. However, Naora had many specific requests, like making the building appear transparent from above and giving it an ice crystal-like silhouette.
Naora: In the end, I aimed to depict the temple as hanging below the ice on the lake's surface.
Bikanel Island
Kamikokuryo: Designing the Al Bhed Home was quite challenging. I had a week to come up with ideas but couldn't find inspiration. Eventually, I submitted seven or eight rough drafts and asked for feedback. From those, a design was selected, and I had another week to refine it. The concept was similar to the Besaid home, based on the idea of a large fruit split open. I used a gradient from orange to blue for the colors. Since the ground is a warm, desert-like yellow, I painted the building with blue at the bottom and yellow at the top, creating a rhythm of blue and yellow from above.
Naora: During this process, I frequently looked at photo books of Japanese coal mines and ruins.
Kamikokuryo: Yes, I wanted to give it an old, worn-out look, even though it's a machine.
Kusano: The inside of the home was designed to reflect severe damage after a battle, especially a gunfight. Expressing this was challenging. I considered adding dead bodies and pools of blood, but since it's a home video game (laughs), I opted for bullet holes and explosion damage instead. To avoid a cheap look, I varied the sizes of the damage to suggest different types of weapons used. I enjoyed drawing the cluttered everyday items in the residential area; it was the only part where I had fun with the design.
Airship
Dairaku: We held a competition for the airship’s exterior design, and Naora finalized the winning concept. I was responsible for the interior. To make the passages less plain, I added detailed patterns to make them more visually engaging.
Honjo: I even included a “tidy and tidy” sign in the Al Bhed language in the warehouse (laughs).
Dairaku: The cockpit was the most challenging part. There were specific requests, such as having Yuna’s image reflected in the sphere and positioning the cockpit at the bottom of the airship. I initially designed it with a full glass cockpit, but since the bottom position obstructed the view, I switched to a full monitor setup.
Naora: With the airship, there were many characters in the cockpit and various things displayed on the sphere monitor, so polygon count restrictions were stricter than in other areas. I wanted to avoid a sparse appearance, which made balancing the visual detail quite difficult.
Bevelle
Naora: The silhouette of the initial illustration was interesting, so we asked everyone to build on that... that's how it felt.
Nakamura: All I remember is taking out my frustrations on Naora (laughs). Kusano and others had drawn the illustrations of the machina first, so I had to align the design with those, and I was really worried.
Tanabe: I drew the corridors and the execution site, but it was tough. I felt like I was being executed while working on the execution site (laughs).
Naora: Bevelle ended up being much smaller in scale than originally planned, which was a bit disappointing. It's supposed to be the largest city in Spira, but there wasn't a scene that fully depicted the cityscape and daily life there. the Highbridge is one of the few places where you can see the cityscape of Bevelle.
Yoshioka: The houses were Chinese-style, right? They were really well-drawn.
Kamikokuryo: I included a scaled-down version of the design for the houses in the background of the Highbridge, so you can check that out.
Calm Lands
Kamikokuryo: I attempted to depict various elements like sloping terrain, a valley below, and ruins in the plains, but when I tried to expand the map, the polygon count constraints became too strict, leaving no room for additional buildings. The only things that remained were a valley-like terrain and a travel agency building.
Honjo: The Stolen Fayth Cave was originally intended to be the cave of the Magus Sisters. There were rocks at the entrance of the cave shaped like the three sisters, but during development, the Magus Sisters were removed, so I quickly redrew it as a Yojimbo cave. The image I had was of a hole that appeared when Sin rampaged at the bottom of the valley in the Calm Lands, with gas that had been trapped inside endlessly spewing out. Also, since the setting was that the Fayth was stolen, I added stickers to make it look like it was sealed away after being taken.
Naora: The tape was modeled after those used by American police during investigations. It even says "tape" in Ebonics (laughs).
Takahashi: The Remiem Temple is based on a picture Kamikokuryo drew to pitch the idea initially.
Kamikokuryo: I wasn't asked to draw a temple specifically; I was just told to come up with an image freely. So, I envisioned a large temple-like structure.
Naora: This temple was unveiled at the Square Millennium event (held on January 29, 2000), so we called it the Millennium Temple (laughs). Thanks to this picture, the design direction for the entire temple was decided.
Mount Gagazet
Kamikokuryo: Anyway, I started by making a big-looking terrain. I put a lake in the middle and added a complicated outer rim to make it look less like an ordinary mountain. The silhouette of the whole mountain is not an ordinary cone, but is slightly hollowed out, so that it looks interesting when you look up from below. In the game, you can see the whole view for a moment in the movie where there are many prayer statues lined up on the summit.
Yoshioka: It was difficult to draw the prayer statues on the summit without making them look too cruel. The planning team told me that this was the place to express cruelty, but if I went too far, it would have caused a lot of problems.
Zanarkand Ruins
Naora: I asked them to casually place an object that left a strong impression on me in my dream of Zanarkand. The idea was to create a setup where the player would unconsciously realize that this was the first place they had visited. The CG image of Auron was made that way with the aim to make that aspect easier to understand. However, Dream Zanarkand and this road trail are not completely the same, so I made some small changes.
Kamikokuryo: The same goes for Yevon Dome. It is based on the Zanarkand Stadium that appears at the beginning, but it is similar but not the same, with subtle changes to the details. The production was done so that it was night with lots of stars out, and there were also pyreflies flying around like stars... that kind of atmosphere.
Naora: There is a scene where Tidus gazes upon the Zanarkand ruins from atop a hill, right? That is where the title logo appears, so I wanted to add something to the surrounding area, and made the pyreflies flow like a river. So I set Yevon Dome as a place where the river of pyreflies converges.
Inside the Body of Sin
Naora: This area had a lot of elements, like Seymour and Jecht, so I tried to use gradients that are typical of FFX everywhere. It's a gradient where multiple colors become cloudy and change, like the logo. Also, since it's a different dimension, I picked up various parts from other areas and made it into a hodgepodge. I just melted everything and stuck it together.
Yoshioka: I was surprised that what I drew had become part of the monster.
Honjo: Ah, you mean the magic circle behind the Seymour’s final form, right?
Yoshioka: I was thinking of it as a background, but it was going around (laughs). Seymour was an aesthetic person, so I drew it with the idea of concluding the story with an aesthetic feel.