SE director of technology: Kingdom Hearts III utilizes Crystal Tools

[DChiuch 5,773]

with Julien Merceron, the worldwide director of technology within Square Enix. The majority of this interview discusses their new "Luminous Engine", which was previewed at E3 2012, however, the interviewer asked about Kingdom Hearts III and if it will use the Luminous Engine, and Julien gave his answer. It seems to suggest that some work has already been done with Kingdom Hearts on the Crystal Tools engine (the engine that Final Fantasy Versus XIII is built on), however, it could just mean that this is still in the planning stages. We'll let you draw your own conclusion from the interview extract below, which was translated from French to English by TheApprenticeofKingMickey from KH13.

FFDream: We presume, of course that this technology will be put to use in future productions coming from Square Enix. Do you believe Tetsuya Nomura could perhaps make use of this technology in Kingdom Hearts III?Julien: It's already evident that we're using Luminous Engine on various franchises other than just Final Fantasy. However, Crystal Tools, as I was talking about earlier, is employed exclusively on Final Fantasy, only for now. Since the next Dragon Quest X uses Crystal Tools, as well as internal projects such as Kingdom Hearts which also utilize Crystal Tools, it's evident that Luminous Engine will cover a large spectrum of gaming franchises and I hope it will be taken advantage of by other teams, but we still have a lot of work to do.

[LightningXIII 310]

Thanks for the news, DC!!!

This is awesome!

[darkchaser 788]

nice cant wait to see what they can do on it

[Nohjx 157]

Some..work has already been done?

 

I can't..stop grinning.

 

EVERYBODY DANCE NOW

 

[Master Aqua 42]

Can't wait to see how Crystal Tools will effect the game.

[Imoore4 687]

Yay!^^

[SquareSora 133]

Wow this is great news! just one thing... what are crystal tools? anyone?

[Shana09 5,769]

Lmao

You forgot "King" in Genn's username xDDDDD

 

 

Great find DC and nice translation Genn~

 

 

 

Forgot to say:

 

YAY

THEY STARTED WORKING ON IT ;W;

Edited July 17, 2012 by Shana09

[KHLegendIII 709]

Hehehehehe....Ironic this is.....This is going to be great.....About time some more info about what KH3 has just makes me happy...

[xBerserkerSaix07x 125]

*Raises Glass*

TO Kingdom Hearts 3!!!

[Razorwind Keyblade 304]

Nomura hasn't confirmed nothing so I suggest we all calm down.

[EternalKeyblade 39]

Is the day finally coming when KH3 will be announced soon? \(O,.,O)/

[Spectrum of Life 188]

Wow this is great news! just one thing... what are crystal tools? anyone?

 

It's SE's In-House Game Engine for 6th (This) generation game consoles. (except the Wii) It's what they used to make Final Fantasy XIII and its sequel, and what they're using for FF Versus XIII

[burnsideking24 256]

OMG! That means KH3's gonna be all pretty and possibly realistic! =D

[SquareSora 133]

It's SE's In-House Game Engine for 6th (This) generation game consoles. (except the Wii) It's what they used to make Final Fantasy XIII and its sequel, and what they're using for FF Versus XIII

 

oh i see. so it displays like better graphics and higher resolution right?

[Oishii 3,987]

To me it looks like they would have to make a lot of adjustments to use this engine and haven't really started that process since it's a FF exclusive currently. Still, it's cool to see SE improving their technology.

[Rob 5,571]

DOES NOT COMPUTE! DOES NOT COMPUTE!

[mistressLuck 32]

Can it be? Actual news on... KH3??? NO WAI.

Seriously though, I'm glad we have at least a teeny bit of info on KH3 ^.^

[DarkRealm20 121]

Nomura hasn't confirmed nothing so I suggest we all calm down.

 

 

That`s true KH3 hasn't even been officially announced yet...

[LightningXIII 310]

Since they're using the Crystal Tools engine, I really hope the graphics will be similar to those of FFXIII^^

Edited July 17, 2012 by LightningXIII

[Aqua7KH 5,395]

Too bad were all going to be dead by then. I cant wait for my great-great grand kids to play this game

well maybe Rob might play it...

[anime10121 28]

Why do I get the feeling that this is just speculation on the dudes part? I mean a new console Kingdom Hearts hasnt even been announced yet, and hes just casually announcing that Kingdom Hearts uses Crystal Tools? I just dont think that this is just something that Square would announce like that, especially in an interview to a relatively small fan site:(

[J. Severe 1,137]

Well, that's pretty obvious. What other engine would they use?

[PrinceNoctis 1,011]

 

But the original interview was on video! I watched (I speak french) and I actually saw Julien Merceron so don't worry...the interview isn't fake.

 

 

But the original interview was on video! I watched (I speak french) and I actually saw Julien Merceron so don't worry...the interview isn't fake.

[Spectrum of Life 188]

oh i see. so it displays like better graphics and higher resolution right?

 

Yes. Whether or not they're actually overhauling the graphics or simply using it so they don't have to port the engine from the first 2 games over is another matter.