The other thing is the bonfire placement. It use to be in a different location, the place it's in now used to be a small pond. We had problems with the original placement because the ground wasn't flat and it interfered with the player's sitting animation, so we had to search for a level location to move the bonfire to and that's were it stayed… but of course you can't have a bonfire in the middle of a pond, that water had to go, too.

I suppose the last thing about the contest is that we didn't really give the entrants any directions. I thought it would be far better to just let the entrants use their own imagination. Miyazaki: There's something unnatural about Smough's armour, it doesn't look like something that would have been created by a normal, sane person, I think that's what I like about it. There was a rumor that we were hunting players who bought the game early. I wasn't us, but whoever it was, they were wearing Smough's armour and I remember thinking how fitting it was. Miyazaki: This is actually how most of the areas were constructed. The map design was really what dictated everything else, once we determined what needed to happen in each area we would immediately draw up a rough map, then once the basic layout of the area was decided, we'd work on the finer details. Through the rough map I was able to communicate the requirements, structure and appearance of an area to the artists, and have them develop those ideas through collaborating with one another. I'm never satisfied with design works that simply follows the design brief so I often requested that the artists and designers add some of their own ideas. I believe that these ideas can enrich the area, if not the entire game, although this can lead to more work of course. Waragai: It feels like a place everyone will gather, so I think this location actually worked really well.

New printings of the Dark Souls: Design Works trilogy are now available from Udon

Miyazaki: Yes, Nito is in the pre-rendered intro, but it's a really intricate design so it was extremely difficult to communicate what I wanted to the animators. The character had to be cloaked in shadow, shrouded in a deathly aura, but that's not easy to get across and their first attempt wasn't what I wanted at all. Waragai: How about the tentacled beasts in the Izalith Ruins? When I look at them all I see is Mixer Taiteifrom Kinnikuman. I think some of the players noticed it too. Satake: My first design was a huge guy covered in spikes, but that wasn't what you wanted at all, was it? Hatsuyama: Can I ask aboutGwynevere, because compared to the other female charters she's very different, almost glamorous. Miyazaki: The Crow Demons came about during the initial concept stages. I think the animator did a really incredible job.

Miyazaki: I always thought of the Painted World as a place where things go to escape and the bird men are no different. They were originally designed as worshippers of the Goddess Velka whose bodies were warped by their devotion. I think this obsession makes them really interesting characters. Satake: It was made to connect with areas in every direction. In fact, we had to remove some routes in the final game, as well as some other things. Initially Priscilla was the heroine of the story and she was going to be there, for example. Miyazaki: You mean the Crystal Ring Shield? I must admit, I wasn't entirely happy with how that turned out.I suppose I'm getting slightly off-topic so I will stop there, but it's something I want to work on in the future.

Miyazaki: Yes I suppose so, but each of the areas had it's own feel or tone, as far as art direction was concerned. for an area like Blight Town for example, we found that once we decided on the general direction and gathered together the appropriate reference materials, there wasn't really a need to spend too much time developing the look of the area, it just came together. However in areas which were composed of more traditional architecture we had to spend a lot of time working on the finer details. There weren't a huge amount of artists on the team so it was a case of moving people to where they would be of most use. Miyazaki: For the warrior, we wanted to move away from the traditional soldier class seen in Demon's Souls and instead aim for something more like an adventurer. We used relatively simple image words of leather armour with metal plating and I suppose, a little of Parnfrom Record of Lodoss War… Miyazaki: Well this is going to get a little abstract, but I really like equipment that shows feeling or emotion. The best example of this would be the Armour of Favour, I mean, armour the only thing you have to depend on when you step onto a battlefield, so I really wanted players to say, "I trust this with my life". Whether it's a sword, shield or armour, I want it to evoke some kind of feeling, and to do that sincerely, be it the devotion of the wearer or the hopes and dreams of the one who made it. I went into all the designs with that in mind and while I wasn't able to get that into every single one of them, I feel I wasn't entirely unsuccessful. Of course, this doesn't just apply to the aesthetics, the game systems must also be constructed around this idea. It's something I always strive for; a theme that carries through everything I do. I don't have that problem with people like Mr. Nakamura or Mr. Satake. I've worked with Mr Nakamura for a long time on both Armoured Core and Demon's Souls, and have always trusted him with the most important designs. I've also worked with Mr. Satake since Armoured Core, and on this project he worked with the out-of-house artists which basically meant he had to translate my abstract directions into something they might understand. I'm very grateful. Miyazaki: We drew a great deal of concept art for the Painted World. It was actually based on the map used in the Dark Souls prototype. Of course, the prototype is your chance to really get your vision for the game across so we spent a lot of time on the area. So much, that I really wanted to use it in the full game but I couldn't find a way to make it fit with the other areas. In the end I cheated and put it in the Painted World.

Mostly for the fans

Nakamura: When I started working on these four designs I decided that I didn't want to just create a standard set of armour and swap parts around. Instead, I aimed to create something that, while not traditional, looks like it could exist. Designs that feel like they are from another world while being entirely plausible. Miyazaki: This was my first time working together with Ms. Hatsuyama, so I wanted to begin designing something that was relatively orthodox, and use the opportunity to get us thinking on the same wavelength, unite our ideas of fantasy if you will. I think that was my plan… but it took quite a while to get right.

Miyazaki: Yes, we struggled at first but I think the final design is great. In fact when I find the armour in-game myself, I can't help but equip it for a while. With the blue surcoat and other additions, I really think it turned into a very cool design. Miyazaki: That's Dark Souls in a nutshell. In the end, they lost something of their initial resemblance to Bazuso but I'm very happy with the way the two characters turned out. Siegmeyer's story, including his touching final scene is actually enhanced by the fact that he's wearing that armour, don't you think? … or perhaps that's just me. Miyazaki: Not quite, we didn't have a single designer making Maps, Characters or Equipment, but we did have separate people in charge of each of the game's areas. I believe Mr (Masanori) Waragai was responsible for Anor Londo. It was actually a very difficult period of time for me, I was determined to have something substantial before I showed my designs to Mr. Miyazaki, to be able to explain my choices and defend them if needed. I worked on them intensively for a long time before I was finally ready to show them to anyone. In fact, as soon as I received the "OK", I went straight home. Miyazaki: I'm sorry. Haha. Of course, If I don't get what I want, then I start giving more specific descriptions, and I might even start drawing things on the white board, but even then I'd never go so far as to say it has to be this colour or this shape. I don't want the designers to just become my tools. Of course, It doesn't always go as I want, but I think that's probably due to me not getting the best out of the artists, and this is something I want to get better at in the future.

Miyazaki: The depths were based around the image of an underground aqueduct, but its aesthetics are very similar to that of the Undead Burg. It also shared the same lead artist so the two areas really fit well together. Miyazaki: She joined us slightly later in the project, when we'd already finished the initial concept stage, so I had her work on those designs which had to adhere to a more rigid set of conditions. As Ms. Hatsuyama just said, the Gargoyles where one of those designs. This enemy would appear just before you rung the bell in the Bell Tower; this much was decided but I couldn't get a clear image for the creature. Originally the centipede demon from Izalith was here, but looking at the route you take through the opening stages of the game, to Sen's Fortress and Anor Londo and beyond, it didn't really fit. It's also the first large boss enemy you face so I wanted something a little more typical. So since it's a church and we have a relatively open space, we decided on gargoyles. It was one of your first designs, wasn't it, Ms. Hatsuyama? Miyazaki: Yes, but each of the areas had its own feel or tone as far as art direction was concerned. For an area like Blight Town for example, we found that once we decided on the general direction and gathered appropriate reference materials, there wasn't really a need to spend too much time developing the look of the area, it just came together. However in areas which were composed of more traditional architecture, we had to spend a lot of time working on the finer details. There weren't a huge amount of artists on the team so it was a case of moving people to where they would be of most use. Miyazaki: I suppose it was… As to why I made him naked, I wanted to show that the character had found enlightenment but unfortunately the models in Dark Souls weren't built with a wide range of emotional expressions, so as I was thinking about how to overcome this problem, for some reason, I came up with the idea of making him naked…