Messages

26

General Discussion / Re: Final Fantasy XV New Video

« on: 2015-02-08 15:10:42 »

I really don’t know much about the port—your guess is literally as good as mine.
I’d expect the same options as the original.


L. Spiro

27

General Discussion / Re: Final Fantasy XV New Video

« on: 2015-02-08 14:04:55 »

Wasn’t me, LeonhartGR, but if any videos are released of the meeting we had the day before, I am the guy sitting behind Mr. Tabata, and the guy who shouted out when they asked if anyone knew “King’s Knight”.
To be honest, I didn’t know about King’s Knight until Tuesday’s English class, during which another member mentioned it.
It was mentioned for a reason, but again you’ll just have to wait to find out why.

sunz, the performance gains I contributed are necessary for the demo, and some of them are present in that video.
After that video’s creation I improved a lot of other areas in terms of performance (1 millisecond shaved off post-processing, for example), and they will all be part of the demo release.

But there is still a lot to do.  The demo release will be good, but the final product will be even better.


L. Spiro

28

General Discussion / Re: Final Fantasy XV New Video

« on: 2015-02-08 03:52:40 »

Maybe.


L. Spiro

29

General Discussion / Final Fantasy XV New Video

« on: 2015-02-08 01:21:25 »

I’ve been waiting a few weeks for this to finally be made public.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBnvuytCpFc#t=576

My direct influence has been on optimizations.


L. Spiro

30

Completely Unrelated / Re: 3D model search engine

« on: 2015-02-07 07:36:15 »

Niftypuff.

I’ve already used it to get some more test models for my personal game engine.




L. Spiro

31

General Discussion / Re: Final Fantasy XV (new TGS trailer)

« on: 2014-12-20 16:44:07 »

*sigh* As usual the people in charge of the English voice actors quality control in video games are absolutely incompetent :c

Ironically I am a professional actor and could easily do better voices than those (although my voice is not low enough for those characters) and all they have to do is come get me at my desk—I work right there in their own building.

If anyone here has access, they should inform square to add a toggle-able option of the western release to switch between English and Japanese voice actors, or at the very least add a PC port with those options

I don’t know what you mean by “access”, but I can assure you it will do no good.
I am in a senior position working as a programmer on this game, but even so nothing I could say would matters because:
#1: Japanese culture.  Game development and movie making are the same in Japan—everything is strictly hierarchical and no one dares question the boss, and the boss never listens to outside influences.  This is why Japanese TV is so bad compared with American TV—in Japan the whole show/movie is just one guy’s idea whereas in America everyone is bouncing ideas off each other and picking the best from the whole group.  Even though Square Enix is less culturally Japanese than some companies, the main people in charge of projects prefer to work this way.
#2: The bottom line is money, and if it does not make sense financially to have both languages on a single disc they simply won’t do it.

Spiro try to leak some news

How about this?
Newsflash: I have seen private videos we use at our internal meetings etc. and now I want to play the final game even more.


L. Spiro

32

General Discussion / Re: Final Fantasy XV (new TGS trailer)

« on: 2014-12-09 21:35:57 »

Wow, this really looks amazing. I hope they get proper fps, this looks very demanding

That is exactly my current job.


L. Spiro

33

General Discussion / Re: Final Fantasy XV (new TGS trailer)

« on: 2014-11-22 06:59:58 »

Can you please tell them to make it good? I've been waiting for it so long that any actual game would be really hard to live up to my festering anticipation as it is.

Oh.  All this time Square Enix has been focusing on making it bad.  Now that you mention it, it would have been a better idea to try making it good instead.
Oh well, live and learn.  Maybe next time.


L. Spiro

34

General Discussion / Re: Final Fantasy XV (new TGS trailer)

« on: 2014-11-22 01:09:32 »

I can tell them.
It won’t change anything but I can tell them.


L. Spiro

35

General Discussion / Re: FINAL FANTASY XV Tech Demo Vol 1

« on: 2014-11-20 08:32:26 »

Darn it L.Spiro! You are a lucky b*tard!!!

I do my best.

The 3 main tasks I will have on the engine will be:
#1: Optimization.  CPU and GPU.  They need this badly as the engine is new and until now have focused on feature support rather than performance.
#2: Visual FX.  The video shows some existing effects, but more are needed.
#3: Anything related to the rendering pipeline.

I also have some ideas of my own of what to implement to make improvements here and there.

I will do my best to ensure the highest quality of graphics is delivered in the final product.


L. Spiro

36

General Discussion / “Welcome to Square Enix”

« on: 2014-11-13 14:09:02 »

I am the new senior graphics programmer in Square Enix’s R&D department (Advanced Technology Division—Luminous Engine).

My main focus initially will be on the graphics the engine needs for Final Fantasy XV—I will be working on both Luminous Engine and Final Fantasy XV directly.
I hope to make a heavy contribution to a quality game that I hope you will all enjoy.


宜しくお願いします。
L. Spiro

37

Completely Unrelated / Re: Accidental eBay Sell; Going with it

« on: 2014-01-01 20:50:18 »

99% sure it is NTSC after more checking.
Anyway its main selling point is supposed to be to play Japanese games, and any Japanese games you get for it will work on it.
If others do as well (American etc.) then that is extra.


L. Spiro

38

Completely Unrelated / Re: Accidental eBay Sell; Going with it

« on: 2014-01-01 07:03:06 »

I didn’t actually specify that, I used the code from here: http://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-Wii-Black-color-Japan-Import/dp/B0046ECA0E
eBay used B0046ECA0E to fill in all that information.

Researching shows:

• The box does not say if it is PAL or NTSC.
• It basically shouldn’t matter.  Apparently they can be switched to work either way, or you just need to change the brightness on your TV.

One source online mentioned that the games that are PAL will specifically say they are PAL and NTSC games will not mention anything.
Assuming that is true, mine is NTSC.  I will update the eBay listing.
Thank you for mentioning it.


L. Spiro

39

Completely Unrelated / Accidental eBay Sell; Going with it

« on: 2013-12-31 23:16:03 »

I wrote a submission for my camera on eBay but didn’t hit the final Submit button for a few weeks.
Then I forgot about it and noticed an eBay page session timed out so I innocently logged in and it submitted the item before I knew what happened.


Oh well.  I’ll just go with it.


My Canon PowerShot G9 is in great condition:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=281237085695

And some of you may be interested in a Japanese Nintendo Wii console with 3 bundled games (none of which require Japanese language knowledge to play):
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=281237102608


L. Spiro

40

Completely Unrelated / Re: happy new year

« on: 2013-12-31 13:59:57 »

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM TOKYO!!!


L. Spiro

41

Completely Unrelated / MARS-ONE Results

« on: 2013-12-31 11:27:07 »

Over 200,000 people applied and only 1,058 were chosen for the next round.
With less than a 0.526% chance at being chosen, there really wasn’t any chance for me to be selected.

But I was anyway!!
I guess they have some Final Fantasy fans among them.

They have not released the details for phase 2 but in their e-mail they told me to expect an e-mail from their chief medical officer and that a quick reply will be helpful.
I will likely be told to get tested for certain diseases.  I am tested regularly for all STD’s and have no other underlying medical problems, so passing phase 2 will be no problem.

After that later this year it seems I will be shipping off to The Netherlands for training.


Thank you to everyone who voted.
We can still use some support here: http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/mars-one-first-private-mars-mission-in-2018


L. Spiro

42

Completely Unrelated / Re: MARS-ONE Application

« on: 2013-08-19 00:41:09 »

Thank you for the votes.  That puts me on page 9 when sorted by rating.

I’m not really famous.  People tend to vaguely remember seeing me from somewhere but can’t quite place it.
What sucks is I finally got a major role in a movie (SPEC ~零~) as the leader of America but I am wearing a mask the whole time so no one is going to recognize me.


L. Spiro

43

Completely Unrelated / Re: A solid ground

« on: 2013-08-18 08:36:24 »

In my experience, that is just the way communities go.
I’m really sure it can be solved at all, but making a community about just anything might not work out for a different reason.

There was a discussion on deviantArt about whether you would be shooting yourself in the foot by trying to do all kinds of art rather than a specific set.  Would doing all kinds of art get you more followers since you appeal to a larger range of people?

After quite a debate I felt the winning position was this:
People want to know that when they go to a forum/community they will not be dissatisfied in the content (or at least only rarely).  On deviantArt you would get more followers by just doing anime, just doing realism, or just doing photography, for example.  People will be less sure about following you if they think half the time they get an update it’s about your photography when they are really only interested in your anime.

Communities thrive better when they have a specific focus, especially because of how many communities there are out there.
The groups of friends they make on each separate forum may not be the same people, but that is likely to be the case on a mega-all-encompassing forum as well.  If I go to the art section I will likely see a lot of different people there than from the game section.


But all that being said your goal is to make it thrive in a way that has not been doing (so often, if ever) before, so it may be worth the experiment to see what happens.


L. Spiro

44

Completely Unrelated / MARS-ONE Application

« on: 2013-08-16 07:18:28 »

Hi, I’m L. Spiro and you might remember me from such films as 奇跡体験！アンビリバボー and 少年H.

I’ve applied for MARS-ONE and now I need your support to get there!  Only you can prevent forest fires.  And me going to Mars.

So vote for me here: http://applicants.mars-one.com/profile/a1b986f4-1d07-4aae-b489-5644cd1d6620

Every vote counts!


Thank you.
L. Spiro

45

General Discussion / Re: Luminous Studio engine

« on: 2012-06-16 03:15:14 »

Glad you like it.


L. Spiro

46

Completely Unrelated / Re: Elusive Kanji

« on: 2012-04-01 02:13:44 »

The first time I saw it  I saw both the above Kanji and 前 in the same font.  It was the same stream of news feed scrolling along the bottom of the screen.
The second time I was even more sure it was not a font issue because it was quite large and the font was very plain.  They didn’t do any decorations like how MS Mincho does.  It was like a stick font with just plain straight lines being used, and it was very clear that it had a flat bar with 3 separate marks on top.

I will pay even more attention to these details next time I see it though, and hopefully get a photo.


L. Spiro

47

Completely Unrelated / Re: Elusive Kanji

« on: 2012-03-31 14:21:20 »

The first time I saw it was during a news feed along the bottom of the screen.
I just happened to glance up while it was scrolling by, but I got a good look at it because I was confused as to why it had 3 marks on top instead of 2.

The second time was on a big font and part of some kind of title such as, “The Family, After 3 Months.”
I don’t remember exactly what it said because I was in a bit of shock to be seeing the exact same Kanji I was told did not exist and very clearly there it was.  I focused mainly on its shape and form to make sure I had not made a mistake before (which was then confirmed) and did not pay attention to the text around it nor the context.

Next time I see I will not only pay even more attention to it, but I will also try to get a photo or at least get a Japanese witness.


L. Spiro

48

Completely Unrelated / Re: Elusive Kanji

« on: 2012-03-31 13:42:06 »

I saw it on Japanese TV on a show called HIRUOBI—a variety show.  We all watch it during lunch before playing Mario Kart 7 or Bomberman DS.
The first time I saw it I was writing all the Kanji I know just from memory and I glanced at the screen for inspiration.  I saw the above Kanji by chance and remembered that I knew 前 from memory and jotted it down.  But I wondered why it had 3 marks on top, so I watched the screen longer and saw, in the same font, 前.  It was visibly different from the Kanji above, so it isn’t a matter of fonts.  Sometimes 前 looks similar to the above in some fonts, but this was the same font and they were visibly different.

So I asked my Japanese teacher and she replied that no such Kanji exists.  Her dictionary confirmed her story and I decided to consider that I had made a mistake.
Until I saw the same Kanji one week later plastered over the entire screen on the same show, in a very very plain font that made it clear it was indeed not 前.

I drew it for coworkers and none recognized it.

My teacher did some more research and found this:
http://kanji.sljfaq.org/mrj.html

6   光   当   7   肖   労   8   学   尚   畄
鼡   9   恍   栄   洸   削   単   10   珱   胱
悩   哨   宵   党   屑   峭   悄   挙   晃   晄
档   桜   消   11   巣   梢   淌   猟   脳   蛍
逍   堂   常   12   絖   覚   営   掌   弾   敞
敝   棠   硝   稍   13   溢   剿   勦   當   甞
幌   戦   滉   禅   蛸   誉   14   嫦   瑣   蝋
褝   誚   趙   隠   嘗   厰   裳   15   蝉   銷
霄   輝   賞   幤   廠   弊   撹   樔   箪   蔽
16   瞠   暼   獣   靜   鞘   鴬   17   償   瞥
螳   蟐   厳   18   鮹   斃   礑   襠   鎖   19
蟷   騨   20   巌   耀   黨   21   鐺   欅   22
儻   襷   25   鼈

Originally her dictionary confirmed that there is no such thing as a flat bar with 3 strokes above it in Japanese, but something similar does exist in Chinese.
挙 is one example.  But the strokes are not a match.  There it is:
\\ /
But what I saw was very clearly:
\ //


I am now watching TV and everything else I can see to find this Kanji again and either take a picture or show my coworkers while it is still on the screen.

But if anyone can solve this mystery here, you are probably amazing.


L. Spiro

49

Completely Unrelated / Elusive Kanji

« on: 2012-03-31 11:39:33 »

Can anyone identify this Kanji?

I created the image by modifying 前.  Much appreciation to anyone who can figure out what this Kanji is and what it means.


L. Spiro

50

Completely Unrelated / Re: Square Enix

« on: 2011-04-14 03:01:01 »

If you intend to live here then yes you will need some Japanese (visiting is another matter).
But you should already know how to solve that problem.  I studied in Thailand for 2 years before coming to Japan.

An alternative method is to join a company in your country that has offices in Japan, and then try to get transferred.  In that case you could probably still work in your native language, but I would certainly recommend learning Japanese.


L. Spiro