I’ve been getting non-stop phone calls and hundreds of thousands of emails, and a couple hundred hand-delivered letters this past week, with people asking me “what the heck is happening with the SHOTGUN Showdown episode?!”
I keep telling them first of all, it’s Shogun, and second of all, it’s almost ready. I’ve had a blast this past past week and a half exploring every inch of the mission and crafting the most perfect play-through that conveys the events in a logical sense and presents them in a cinematic fashion with a perfect silent assassin style scoreboard at the end.
I can’t wait to lay it out here which should be happening this week. There are many little details about this level that I think have gone unnoticed. It’s tough to tell sometimes whether I am making a new discovery about the game, or if I am simply finding something that was at one point mentioned on the internet, but has since been removed. For example, whenever you press the big red button, and then make your way up to the top floor, there will always be a sword wielding ninja who runs down and across the third floor, and he will always become hostile if he sees you. However there is a little cubby screen thing right next to the door he will run through the room from, that seems to be designed for the player to crouch behind in order to avoid that one specific NPC. You don’t really see any discussions online about these kinds of things, and I wonder if they used to be before a lot of sites, such as Hitman Forum itself, wiped a lot of older content.
Anyways that’s all just wanted to say that it’s coming soon and should be uploaded this week.
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I finally have all the footage for part A of Shogun Showdown, only took me a year. I’m just going through and smoothing out and hiding all the cuts and things. Part A I’m considering to be up until you gain the first bonus save, which in my case is when I pick up the guidance system. I am debating whether I should upload Part A, B, and C as three separate videos, since part A alone is 27 minutes. I dont think parts B and C will be nearly as long though. B probably like 7 minutes and C maybe 10-15.
I’ve spent way more time on the first 1/3rd of this one than I’ve ever spent on any of the previous entire missions, so this one is definitely gonna be next-level. I’m really leaning in hard on making everything as perfect as possible, making all the gameplay look like a cutscene. a lot of factors are involved in this and I feel like I’ve learned a lot about the movie-making process during this journey. The way I will get a dozen or so takes of me walking down a hallway, turning, and opening a door for example, then Ill add it to the folder for that scene, then go through and compare all the takes, “the reticle did a little bounce at the end of the turn in this one, I want to keep it smooth and on the same plane” etc.
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New clip/teaser let me know what you think. This is probably my favorite scene I’ve ever pulled off with this series so far! Also you gotta check out the last one if you haven’t seen it yet the choreography is so perfect. I recommend headphones for the music. Once again sorry about the sideways screen lol It’s just that when I post a link here with a non-shorts it requires a login to watch which is annoying
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I know I’m just basically releasing it in chunks at this point but it’s only because I indicated it would be done soon way too soon and because I just have to share these with someone. I’m now fully done with all the capture and editing for part A. It’s ready to rock. I think I will wait and release it all as one video though for consistency. Here is the intro you gotta get a load of this with headphones and full screen I think it’s the best yet. Perfectly sets the mood and feels like a perfect use of the song at the start
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This project is slowly coming together piece by piece. I was really happy with how this second floor portion in particular turned out so decided to share the clip. The room does not give you much to work with for something like this since it isn’t very interactive so I had to get a bit creative and construct this mini narrative of 47 noticing the sword and then noticing the ninja up in the corner, then trying to acquire the sword without arousing suspicion, keeping one eye on the ninja. I wanted to also convey all the aesthetic design and atmosphere of this little portion of the mission.
This is the final portion of the mission that uses this song. It’s the fourth and final time we hear it to my knowledge when taking my idea of the most canonical route. Please let me know what you think of this one and the other clips I’ve posted from the project. It will be out in full before too long.
Edit: second floor* not third
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Looking good! Excited for the full version!
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Thank you man I’m excited too I’m glad someone is seeing these. I also forgot to mention I really love the ceiling in this sword gym/dojo area with the lights that hang so wanted to show that in a cool way. My favorite part though is the very beginning with the timing of the music starting to creep up just as I am creeping up the stairs and then slowly passing through the black shadow while moving the camera up. It feels like a perfect transition to a new scene if that makes sense. I definitely gotta get a new cut of the portion just before that where I’m walking past the guards though because currently the cut that happens just as I step onto the stairs at the beginning is pretty gnarly and obvious
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Hello everyone. I am DEEPLY curious to hear your thoughts on the following short clip, from an artistic and aesthetic perspective. It’s only 2 minutes and it’s unlisted. Does this convey beauty and tension in your opinion? Thank you.
Very rough cut btw
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Here is my personal take on the canonical approach to 47’s first encounter with Lei Ling. Full video is still in the works. I’ve finally finished part B (up to the second bonus save) and will now begin working on the final chapter which is the shortest thankfully, but will definitely take a while for perfection!
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I just watched the first one of these and it’s so good! The little details like even getting the car keys out to use them are really well done. It’s giving me a lot food for thought for one of my own characters, this scene is really getting me into that calculating assassin mindset.
I hadn’t realized Shogun Showdown had taken you over a year, that sounds like a real labor of love! Is it the amount of takes and perfectionism that takes the time in these episodes?
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Thanks! The earlier episodes like Anathema are a lot rougher around the edges. That was before I really settled on the vision for how I wanted them to be. They get a lot more “perfect” as they go. The Anathema one I did in just one real take iirc (with lots of restarts though).
And yeah the long super long time has only really been for this shogun showdown one. Back when I was in college I banged out most of them consecutively for those original uploads. Life got busy when I was in the middle of shogun showdown and I ended up taking a break for about 6 months. After then so much time had passed that when I got back to it I thought why not make it as good as possible and treat it like an art project
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Ah life gets in the way of living 
I just watched Stakeout at St. Petersburg (not sure if you want feedback on each episode) and it was so calm and methodical that it was almost meditative. My heart rate pretty much matched the slow beats of the music haha
I particularly like 47 checking his corners and waiting for people to walk away, even though as a player you know you could get the job done before they even finish their animation and turn to you
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Thanks that means a lot. I definitely have thought about marketing it as a kind of ASMR thing, “therapeutic gameplay” because of that meditative aspect. And yeah Jesper Kyd does a lot of the heavy lifting in that regard with his music
Just finished Kirov Park, I’m loving that 47 checks the guards even though as a player you know they don’t have the angle to see what you’re about to do. I appreciate too that you didn’t just bomb both cars, because you can do that and sit by the boat, with no cinematic element whatsoever
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Yeah I wanted to be able to show as much of the map and use as many of the tools as possible to give the most all encompassing version of the mission. It feels like the best way to me because it’s just more. You get to snipe and bomb, and you get to see the radio tower and you get the whole complexity of the general fleeing away thinking he’s safe then getting blasted
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Just finished Tubeway Torpedo as you replied I’m still not sure where that name comes from, but the level lends itself very well to the moody style you’re doing for. Checking the rooms, the first person peeking with the weapon drawn, and not immediately going to the right place like you’ve played it many times.
Interesting idea to blow the hole in the wall early in the level so the guards would be drawn away from the target, and then to slip away once they’ve stood down, that was nice!
I’m pacing myself on these videos because I don’t wanna get to At The Gates and run out 
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Oh yeah thanks! IIRC I started doing that in tubeway torpedo as a kid, because whenever I would do it at the end, the guards would shoot on sight when they saw me in the sewer with the agent.
Also, I know I could have done it with all zeros but shooting the generator is clearly the intended canon purpose of it, and the second shot to climb through the window is to make use of the window and climbing through it while also being able to use the pager since it’s the provided way, and the interrogation room feels like the perfect place to pull it off.
I’m always going for the silent assassin score, but only going for all zeroes where the most definitive all inclusive canonical method allows for it. Basically going for SA with the highest score possible in that sort of parameter. That’s also part of why I decided to include the saves with the pause menu and all that shown (but only when a bonus save is given), to show every feature the game has and the most definitive form of the full experience of the game.
The the next one invitation to a party is one of my favorites it’s l where I started really going out of my way to show all the unique AI behaviors and emphasizing more the cinematic aspect instead of just the realism/roleplay. You’ll see 47 observing and gaining all the meta knowledge about the level that I as the player have in a way that feels natural and fits narratively. It still has a few rough spots/wrinkles though, like sitting on one place for an awkward amount of time waiting for something, and I’ve definitely thought about remaking the older ones with all the attention and perfection I’ve been giving to Shogun but for now I’m just continuing forward
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I used to blast the wall and book it through the sewers with Smith, only to look behind and find he wasn’t with me
Shooting the generator is indeed the better way, and the first time I did it was with an unsilenced pistol by mistake. It was suit only and had to crouch behind the server tower as the guards poured in and around the tower, I still have no idea how they didn’t spot me but that was a tense two minutes.
Although the target can be lured out the first door with the pager and phone combo, it did look cooler from the interrogation room because 47 could see the target and Smith more clearly that way (and, as you say, it made use of the ledge vault mechanic). And of course, the earlier explosion meant the room wouldn’t have a guard patrolling in and out of it.
Something I noticed and forgot to mention is I like how you show all the pre-mission maps in the briefing, and even the way you select between the floor levels. Any other player would be flicking through those rapidly because they’ve seen them a hundred times. It’s little things like this that feel like I’m seeing the game for the first time again.
I look forward to Invitation to a Party
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lol that’s hilarious to imagine you ducking behind the server with the guards all pouring in and out. It’s awesome that you notice all the details yeah with the maps in the briefing I’m trying to look at them as 47 actually studying every path to explain how he knows where to go and what leads to what. Sometimes I will throw in the slow zoom in/out for dramatic flair 
