Ever since its release in 2024, HoYoverse’s free-to-play action RPG Zenless Zone Zero has been continuously praised for its diverse, yet visually appealing cast of characters. In a recent interview with Denfaminicogamer, Zenless Zone Zero’s producer Zhenyu Li revealed more about the process behind creating characters for the game, citing the development team’s decentralized approach to problem-solving and focus on communication as essential to making interesting character designs.
While some may expect that the characters are first created by scenario writers and then handled by the design team – in the case of Zenless Zone Zero, this process does not always follow such a one-dimensional “factory-line-like” flow, Li suggests. “We don’t have a single set flow in which we create characters,” he says. “If we end up settling on just one fixed workflow, I believe that would only limit our ability to create interesting characters.”
As an example, they have recently been experimenting with the character design process by having the animation team create concepts for new characters. As the animation team’s main task is bringing already existing designs to life by adding motion, having them think of interesting new movements and action first, and then building the characters around those ideas could possibly lead to some unique character designs. Aside from the scenario and art team, members of various other departments are also encouraged to participate in the design process and share their ideas and opinions.
While it hasn’t always been like this in the studio, Li explains that they managed to reach this stage as a team thanks to constant work and improvement, and most importantly – communication. “To me, the process of character design is the process of communication,” he explains. People who work in different departments have vastly different skillsets and approaches to problem solving, which opens the door for more innovative character designs – but only if there is good communication between the members of different teams. “Our goal as a team is to create interesting characters. And to do that, it is essential for us to go beyond the concept of separate ‘departments’ and have everyone work together as a same team.”
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