Behind the Scenes: Engineering Game Development Tools Introducing the Sakura-gumi development team.

Q. What kind of tool is ProjectPortal?

K.K.
As N.F. mentioned, ProjectPortal was featured in detail during Nintendo's CEDEC2024 session titled "Know, Create, Connect: Development Environment and Sound Production Case Study Rebuilt for 'The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom'".
As presented in the session, in Nintendo’s game development, a component-oriented development environment* is primarily adopted, instead of an all-in-one game engine allowing for more freedom in the development process.
When adopting a component-oriented approach, you often face the trade-off between high flexibility and a decrease in usability, particularly due to weaker integration between tools. This drawback needs to be addressed, as improving usability usually comes with significant costs.

Q. What makes developing ProjectPortal exciting and challenging?

K.K.
The ProjectPortal is an in-house tool developed for Nintendo, so it works quite differently from developing a product for the market. One of the unique challenges of working on an in-house tool is that user experience often takes priority over being correct and without faults. However, what users truly need or what would make their work easier isn’t always clear from the start. To meet these unspoken needs, sometimes trying the tool first is more important than having it fully polished. At the same time, if the tool isn’t refined enough, users may not even be able to properly use it. Striking the right balance between these factors is one of the most difficult aspects of development.

N.F.
That's why the process of building it together with the client is so exciting. We receive direct feedback from actual users, which sometimes leads to the creation of features and tools that would never emerge in ordinary projects. It also makes me feel an even deeper connection to what I’ve created.
For example, we created a Gantt chart feature within the workflow. Unlike traditional Gantt charts, where each row displays a single task, in ProjectPortal, we implemented a mode where multiple tasks can be displayed in one row, grouped by worker or by phase. This was developed in response to a request from end users who wanted to check whether a single worker’s assigned tasks overlapped or focus on a specific phase to see how tasks are arranged within that phase. With a large number of tasks, displaying one task per row would make the layout too long vertically, but this feature allows for a more streamlined and organized view.

Q. What is necessary to be an engineer involved in in-house tool development?

N.F.
I believe that people who have the ability to imagine how things can be made more convenient or enjoyable from the user's perspective while considering their use cases, and who are motivated to make those ideas a reality and bring joy to users, are well-suited for this role. This is a career where individuals who can deeply consider how users will feel about the features they use can thrive.
The Sakura-gumi is a team of passionate members who love games and are driven by a strong desire to support and contribute to the world of game development. We are looking for like-minded people who share this enthusiasm and are excited to work together with us.

K.K.
In recent years, overseas game developers have made remarkable advancements in development and development technology, but I believe that the greatest strength of Japanese game development lies in the unwavering commitment to never give up on making the game fun. However, for those who have been involved in game development, I’m sure they can relate to the reality that, as development projects progress, there are moments when, due to the limitations of the development environment, we have to give up on the fun we wanted to achieve. I think that for engineers working in the game development environment, it’s crucial to have the mindset of never giving up on creating a development environment that prevents developers from compromising on fun.