芹沢 SERIZAWA Developer’s Log 7: Godzilla Underwater

Similar to my last devlog about Serizawa underwater, this time, it concerns the same moments in the film but from a different angle.

I guess I should preface again by saying SPOILER ALERT for a 70-year-old movie, but yeah, spoilers ahead.

Taking place a little before the closeups in Devlog 6, Dr. Serizawa and Ogata dive down as Godzilla is sleeping in the background. It is one of the very final moments of the film, capturing Dr. Serizawa’s and Godzilla’s last moments alive.

The film's ending lacks the glorious end battle many filmgoers expect. Instead, the characters find Godzilla sleeping in Tokyo Bay, sneak up on him, and kill him. I like this aspect of the film; it feels like everyone involved took this film very seriously, especially how humans might try to kill a monster like Godzilla.

I’m not against the idea of a climatic clash, but I think people are much more calculated and would try a covert operation before committing to a winner-takes-all pitched battle.

Some interesting information: GB Studios has a limit of unique 8x8 pixel tiles on any screen. The standard GameBoy screen is 160x144 pixels, so every screen is made out of 360 individual 8x8 pixel tiles on a screen. Of the 360 tiles, GB Studios only allows 192 unique tiles.

This means 168 tiles out of 360 have to repeat themselves. The scene below is made up of 720 tiles. For the scene to work on the GameBoy, only 192 of those tiles are unique, and the remaining 528 tiles are repeating tiles.

I think that’s it for now. Thank you for reading this far.