Crystal Tools create “cool” Final Fantasy characters

At the Technology of Final Fantasy panel Taku Murata, general manager of research at Square Enix, gave the audience a look at the renamed White Engine. Crystal Tools is a package of programs including a cut scene editor, layout tool and character editor currently used for internal development to create, as Murata describes them, “cool” looking characters. Version 1.0 came out last September and we saw a model of a monster from the Final Fantasy XIII trailer sitting in the character editor.

However, the set of Crystal Tools isn’t only for PlayStation 3 development. The second slide in the presentation mentioned the target platforms are “PS3 / PC / Xbox 360”. Some of the tools also work with the Wii, but they aren’t perfect fit at this point. No, this isn’t necessarily a sign Final Fantasy XIII is coming to the Wii, Xbox 360 or PC. Crystal Tools are also used to develop a brand new MMORPG, which is likely to be a multiplatform release similar to Final Fantasy XI.

At the end of the presentation an attendee asked if Square Enix plans to license Crystal Tools to other companies. Murata responded that they have no plans to do so now, but it’s possible in the future.