https://stayclose.social/MelissaMcLeish/ Latest updates from Melissa McLeish https://stayclose.social/blog/109824/nier-automata-developer-blog-details-development-process-and-challenges/ Our very own Giuseppe recently had an interview with Tales of Berseria producer Yasuhiro Fukaya. Since the main female protagonist Velvet wears quite a revealing outfit, some of you might have been worried to see it censored when it comes to the west. Luckily, we got to directly ask the question to Fukaya-san and his answer on the topic was quite encouraging. You can read about it in the arti

Character models are animated through a system of joints that we call "bones." Each of these colorful lines is one of the boss’s bones. She has 364 bones in total – 249 in her body, plus another 115 in cloth details like her cape and dress. The metal skirt that makes up her lower body is collapsed in this view, so it’s covered by her cloth dress

Weekly Famitsu featured this week the first two packs of DLC bikinis for PS4 and PS Vita exclusive Dead or Alive Xtreme 3 . Much to your astonishment (or not), they reveal quite a lot of the lovely heroines' body. You can see more of them in the article, but be sure not to read this at work.

Nier: Automata is a game fans of the series have been eagerly awaiting and even has a demo available. So what makes Nier so important and what does it have to offer gamers? Well, for one, the series is known for its dark tone (sorry Yoko) and almost horror-like storytelling with settings to match. The narrative of Nier and its parent game Drakengard have overly-depressing and somber narratives. Nothing good really happens in these games and it would be a safe bet that Nier: Automata will follow suit. The storytelling in these games is about as adult as they come (make sure kids aren’t around when playing). For anyone who hasn’t played the original Drakengard, go play it: it comes highly recommend. It wasn’t mind blowing by any means, but what it was doing for gaming was something drastically different.

As a series, it has managed to keep up with the times in good stride ( even if it got weirder along the way ). Nier and its predecessor Drakengard were both superb reflections of their time. Nier: Automata is already looking to address certain themes all too familiar for the times right now. Again, making a giant leap into the future, possibly to speak on what technology means for the world. How it shapes and effects our lives. It will be interesting to see where Automata goes because it will be the first game without human protagonist. Heroine 2B looks female, but like her counterpart S9 (looks male), they are both fully functioning machines. Not a single human thing about them, aside from looks (they both look dope). It will also be a game without blood, as far as what has been shown. Surprising as this series oozes blood; even the shades in Nier spouted fountains of gore. Yet even this design choice of focusing more on explosions than gore is important. Giving pause to thought, maybe Nier: Automata is saying something about our world in a clever way that is built into its world.


While some among the easily offended crowd might take issue at the display, a whole lot of artistically-inclined fans appear to be appreciating, and that has given birth to a veritable cornucopia of fan art prominently showcasing 2B's rear

Here’s a common situation: You’re patting yourself on the back for making an animation that looks super-cool and flows really nicely. Then, you put your perfect animation into the game engine and try controlling it, and it dawns on you that it’s too slow, too clunky. With tears in your eyes, you go back and cut away huge parts of your magnificent creation until it finally feels good.

There is a really popular show for instance, Game of Thrones, well Drakengard was dealing with all themes presented in GoT long before it was popular. This game has it all, incest, child abuse, sadism and other heavy themes. It also has dragons, which are dealt with in a more realistic way than GoT. Fans of fantasy know Dragons are almost god-like beings, hell, in Dark Souls they’re immortal…. getting back on topic though. This series is known for pushing boundaries’. Drakengard was the first of its kind, a game doing something different that few games, especially beat ‘em ups were approaching. The storytelling in Drakengard was astounding. Drakengard, convey's a sense of permanence of choice that games can still struggle with today. Not that every game must have a rigid backbone to it, that wouldn’t make video games fun. It’s understanding the way the story is being told though that allows for the praise this game series deserves. Long story short, Drakengard tells a story in its own way, also knowing how to end a game. The same can be said for Nier. Even both game’s sequel game’s manage to keep things interesting while remaining in the realm of the weird.

It took three different designers to arrive at the character you see now: One made the original concept, another made the full rough design, Nierautomatafans.com and a third (that’s me!) added all the additional details. I also worked on the designs for the other machine lifeforms you’ll find in NieR: Automata, making sure they have an appropriate amount of visual detail. I also check over all these designs with an eye towards what configurations and mechanical details would make for the best possible 3D character models.
]]> https://stayclose.social/blog/109824/nier-automata-developer-blog-details-development-process-and-challenges/ Sat, 18 Apr 2026 09:47:12 +0000 Melissa McLeish https://stayclose.social/MelissaMcLeish/ https://stayclose.social/MelissaMcLeish/ Sat, 18 Apr 2026 09:46:58 +0000 Melissa McLeish