CH: Thank you so much for taking the time to speak to us, your work with the series proceeds you, having terrified gamers with your wonderful creations. During your time with Capcom, which Resident Evil designs and textures are you responsible for?

RS: For Biohazard, I made the Hunter, Neptune, Chimera, Plant-42, Zombie 3 and also Richard Aiken. And for Biohazard 2, I made the textures for and designed the Licker, and Plant 43. I also made the textures and designed G1 through to G4, and I designed G5. G5 is my favourite! I also designed the Tyrant T-103 and the Super Tyrant.

CH: How did you get into game design, when did you join Capcom, and for how long did you work for them?

RS: I studied design in college. As a student, I wanted to be involved with video games, but employment was kind of hard to find anywhere in Japan when I graduated in 1994, so I was happy to have any job. I joined Capcom straight after graduating from college. I was twenty-one years old. I joined the company in 1994 and left in 1998.

CH: When and how did you manage to join the Biohazard/Resident Evil team?

RS: My boss at the time, Mr. Yamazoe, told me to ‘head over to the Biohazard team’. I think it was spring or summer because I joined the Biohazard team right after working on Mega Man 7.

CH: Did you watch any horror movies at work for inspiration and what were other sources of inspiration for you?

RS: We looked at a lot of pictures of mutilated dead bodies, splatter movies and zombie movies. Also books about zombies. There were illustrated mummy encyclopaedias everywhere.

CH: Which creature was your first design, in which order did you design the enemies and how long did each complete texture take to create?

RS: The Hunter came first. I started the Hunter texture on my first day at work. I think that the last one was the Chimera. They took one or two weeks.

CH: You mentioned that Chimera was the last texture you worked on. Like the Hunter, there were a number of colour tweaks.

RS: I think chimeras had their eyes brightened because they appeared in dark places. Chimera was said to resemble the Japanese comedian Honkon.

CH: Can you describe the Resident Evil team’s weekly progress meetings, and any memorable recollections you have of them?

RS: I remember having a progress meeting every week. In the old days at Capcom various development department staff were mixed into one team. Almost everyone got together and reported on the progress of development. I think I was participating the most during those meetings. However I was often late for my presentations, which I would be scolded for! We once found one of our team who stayed to work late, asleep on the conference room floor, and another guy was even caught playing a racing car game on the conference room TV!

CH: Is it true that Capcom almost went bankrupt during production, and if so did that threat of bankruptcy instil a sense of worry among the team?

RS: Capcom was always on the brink of bankruptcy. On a regular basis, we were on the verge of bankruptcy, trying to recover business performance. It’s been a very lucky company. Was there a feeling of concern within the biohazard teams… well it’s a frequent emotion.

CH: What were your first impressions of Resident Evil when you joined the team?

“It was my first time playing 3D games, I felt like I was achieving great things, but everyone outside the biohazard team thought we would fail.”

CH: Labelled ‘Zombie 3’ in development notes, which particular zombie was this?

RS: It’s the zombie that appears in the first cut-scene after entering the mansion.

It looked very different to the original in-game design, but because it would take considerable time and effort to edit that cut-scene, I had to then create a zombie design that would match it.

CH: Are you saying that the green-coat zombie from the cut-scene was arbitrarily created by an external company?

RS: I commissioned an outside company to produce the cut-scenes ‘Zombie 3’ & ‘Kenneth zombie attack’ but they ignored my design, making a white-headed zombie instead. It takes a long time to remake cut-scenes, so I had to make a new white zombie!

CH: How did you and your colleagues react to this?

RS: We were all very disappointed. However, asking for a fix can be time consuming. Reluctantly, we created ‘Lightbulb Zombie’, which then appeared in the game from the Capcom side. Zombie 3 was called Light Bulb Zombie by the texture team, because the head resembles a light bulb.

CH: Did your team nickname any of the other monsters?

RS: Yes, we nicknamed the shark ‘Neptune’. It was a pity you couldn't see the texture very clearly because it was a monster in the water.

CH: Judging from the concept art, the design of Plant-42 changed considerably. Was there a reason for this and with its considerable size, did that pose any technical challenges?

RS: We had to reduce the size of the room because we didn't have enough time. That's the way I remember it. The design changed to accommodate what was possible with the PlayStation.

CH: Did you work on the textures for any 3D objects like the clock in the dining room?

RS: I made the tiger statue that you can insert jewels into and the Goddess statue that you can push off the dining room balcony.

CH: How did you end up designing Richard Aiken, what did you do to differentiate him from the other S.T.A.R.S. members, and did you have any input into his backstory?

RS: For Richard Aiken I drew a basic sketch which was approved by Mikami and Kamiya, before proceeding to make the texture. I remember rushing the basic design, just as a victim of a giant snake. As the character dies shortly into the game, I was careful to keep his design distinct from the others. I was only responsible for the designs and appearance, and Isao Oishi created his name and back story. However my design was not perfect and it was not well received within the team.

CH: What did you use for software and was is challenging?

RS: I used Photoshop on a Macintosh PC, and it froze a lot! I lived in the office all the time!

CH: What is your opinion of Resident Evil’s opening live-action movie and do you remember why it was made grey scale?

RS: I thought it was a very interesting attempt. It was shot in colour and later turned grayscale. I don't know the reason. I really like its atmosphere.

CH: You created many of the enemies for the Resident Evil 2 prototype, referred to as ‘1.5’ that was ultimately scrapped, including ‘Spider Man’, ‘Gorilla Monster’, ‘Infected Alligator’, and ‘Golgotha’. Can you comment on this?

RS: I was responsible for the design and illustration, someone else thought of the name and back-story. However, the quality was quite poor and not well received within our team. Most of the 1.5 enemies were removed due to their inferior standard, which was my responsibility. However, I think that some designs did fid their way into the ‘G monster’ for Resident Evil 2.

CHE: On the subject of the five stages of G mutation, you illustrated in the form of your varying ‘Birkin Monster’ designs, what was the inspiration for that iconic giant eyeball?

RS: Birkin monster, G1-5 got a huge eye because we wanted a symbol that would be easily recognisable even if it was deformed. G5’s design is inspired by the Japanese food Tokoroten (Gelidium jelly)

CH: Can you describe a memorable experience during the development of Resident Evil 2?

RS: From a production error, Claire Redfield’s line ‘What is your name?’ was instead replaced by Brian Irons’ line ‘Who are you?’. We found that funny!

CH: Were any of your ideas cut from Resident Evil 2?

RS: I had a very hard time designing the G mutations and tried to dump it, but the team around me made great efforts to prevent this. I'm glad I was stopped. As a joke, I drew the Blue Oyster Bar zombies from the movie Police Academy, but I'm glad I didn't continue with that!

CH: Can you tell us a secret about Resident Evil 2?

RS: Robert Kendo of the Kendo Gun Shop was named after a Cambodian drink, that was the source. He was named by a background designer who likes the Kendo energy drink!

CH: Can you recall an instant where you or one of your colleagues tried to sneak something into the game?

RS: I think that a Pikachu was hidden on the top of a bookshelf in the mansion. Yeah, there was defiantly a Pikachu in the background during production but not in the finished version though!

CH: What about in Resident Evil 2?

RS: The names of our design team were placed on signboards in the background of Biohazard 2. For example, the yellow sign ‘AMAGOMIHS’ when read from the right is ‘Shimogama’.

CH: Do you have a message for the Resident Evil fans?

RS: I never thought that the series would last this long. Please continue to enjoy it as long as more Resident Evil games continue to be made.

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