"One way to solve a production problem is to bring on more people," matter-of-factly states Matsuhana. A core team of 35 to 40 employees had been working on the game since 1999, but during the final months of development the team would balloon to 70 members, most of whom were brought over from other development teams at Konami. "It negatively affected the other projects, but it was a huge help to us," believes Matsuhana, who says the addition of the extra employees is what really allowed the team to make a 2001 release possible.
Although the team would grow to be 70 members strong, everyone inside the development office still tried to adhere to a process dubbed "Kojima-style." This is a familial game-development approach where everyone is encouraged to collaborate and discuss ideas with each other. "Back when we were a team of 10 working on Policenauts, we were a family," says Uehara. "Today, we try very hard to keep that family feeling and are always talking to each other. You have to be an extrovert to be on our team." This open style of development is further evidenced by the large development room where no walls separate any of the developers.
Matsuhana explains that it is his job to "control everyone's emotional level" on the team, even though he admits it is hard to do with upward of 70 members. Developing a game 18 hours a day, seven days a week can take its toll on anyone, but Matsuhana believes crunch mode is when the bond between the team can actually grow strongest. "A natural high starts to kick in when you start to work with your coworkers into the night," he says. But there are still sacrifices--Matsuhana's second son was born in February, and he hasn't had the chance to see him much. When asked what his wife thinks of his long hours, he laughs and puts his index fingers above his head as if to mimic the Devil's horns.
Kojima himself knows firsthand what it feels like for Matsuhana and the other employees with families. To lessen the time he spends away from his family, Kojima often brings his young son into the office during the final months of development--that is, if his son promises not to break anything. "When I come into the office on Saturdays or Sundays I try to bring my son with me," he says. "But I have to be careful. Once I brought him into the motion-capture studio and he almost damaged quite a bit of equipment." Apparently Kojima's son, who takes karate lessons, became interested in acting out his own action scene in the motion-capture studio. "There was this scene we were filming where an actor was flinging a blade," Kojima recalls with a laugh. "Well, when the scene was over my son picked up the stick and started poking the actor and the sensors."
Even if his son is putting expensive equipment at risk, Shinkawa says that Kojima's son is clearly very near and dear to his heart. "He is a very loving father--we are always hearing about how 'my son did this' and 'my son did that,'" says Shinkawa. "I don't think it's any surprise that the whole theme of the game involves passing things on to future generations. That is Kojima speaking as a father about wanting to pass things on to his son."
The close atmosphere in the office even extends after hours. Often the team will get together late at night to discuss progress on the game and the general state of their lives. "There's this local Ramen noodle placed named Chorori," says Matsuhana. "It's open until 4am and we will often go there at 1am if we are working late. We will eat there, and, while we probably shouldn't be doing this, we also have a few beers and talk about our personal lives and what is going on inside our minds." So, even as the pressure mounts, the team makes sure it has time to let off steam and build relationships with each other.
But as the final weeks of development approach, the team knows that even late-night trips to Chorori will be out of the question. With the end of summer setting in, the team now has literally only a few precious weeks to finalize the game's many scenarios and polygon demos.
Tempting fate and trying to do the impossible is never easy--and it will just get tougher when an unthinkable tragedy strikes during the final days of development.