Hideo Kojima Talks ‘Metal Gear Solid V’ Design Challenges, Paints Mother Base Pink

He may be one of the most accomplished designers in the business, but that doesn’t mean Hideo Kojima doesn’t struggle from time to time. In a series of tweets, the acclaimed director outlines one of the tougher challenges the design team at KojiPro is facing on its first open-world title; “Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.”

The tweets were captured by PlayStation Universe and translated by “MGS,” “Snatcher” and “Policenauts” fan, JunkerHQ. In them, Kojima spoke with gamers about the challenges of marrying open-world design with the off-the-cuff spontaneity that comes with player freedom. He explained that because players could now choose how, where and when they wished to infiltrate a base and with what equipment, the game’s design had to take all these variables into account.

“This doesn't just mean that the maps are big; infiltration routes, approach to intel gathering, time of day, equipment, means of transport - these are all up to the player. We have to ensure there is freedom that is not only logical but allows for spontaneity,” he said.

Kojima promises that his days and nights are currently spent working hard on these issues. He stated that he’s playing the game extensively on real hardware and in the same environment players will encounter when they get their hands on the game.

In a set of follow-up tweets picked up by Siliconera, Kojima tweeted a pair of pictures that showed his version of the highly player-customisable Mother Base, painted a sassy shade of pink. Mother Base serves as Snake’s headquarters and base of operations in “Metal Gear Solid V.” Hugely expandable and acting as a sort of warehouse, Snake is able to send items, equipment and personnel acquired on missions back to Mother Base. Mother Base is also fully explorable and Kojima has stated he expects every player to have a unique layout. As LazyGamer notes in their coverage, players will be able to attack and raid each other’s bases online.

Eurogamer mentions that while away on missions, the soldiers Snake has recruited will train at Mother Base to improve their abilities and are able to join him in the field. Using the research and development area of Mother Base, Snake can also have weapons and items sent to him while away on missions and can even call in reinforcements, such as an explosive airstrike.

“Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain” is scheduled for release sometime in 2015, for the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PC.