View source for Shenmue II/Development

{{back}}[[Category:Development]]
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As the ''Shenmue'' story was originally envisioned as one video game, development of ''Shenmue II'' ties directly with that of ''[[Shenmue|Shenmue I]]''. The concept of a second part of ''Shenmue'' only came into fruition in early 1999, when the game was split in two, with the first chapter set to appear in August 1999{{magref|edge|72|14}} and the second in December{{magref|nextgeneration|58|37}}. For the US release, both halves would be distributed as the same package{{magref|nextgeneration|58|37}}, but as time went on, the first part was expanded, the second part delayed (into 2001), and further parts were planned.

Prior to the split, most of the development work which had occurred had focused on Ryo's adventures in Hong Kong, so when the game was unveiled at the [[Shenmue Seisaku Happyoukai]] in December 1998, almost all of the footage was that of locations that would be featured in ''Shenmue II'' rather than the first ''Shenmue''. Characters such as Ren, Xiuying and Wong, neither of which appear in the first game (and Shenhua, whos appearances were fleeting), were shown in trailers and openly discussed, as were scenes of Wan Chai, Kowloon and Guiling.

Several quick time events from these areas were also discussed and demonstrated, as were mechanics such as part-time jobs and gambling, neither of which appear in the first game. By the middle of 1999, development on would become ''Shenmue II'' was paused in order to concentrate on releasing the first game, with [[Network Jungle II: Digitaliland]] (in May 1999) being one of the last trade events to discuss the wider ''Shenmue'' saga.

Work on ''Shenmue II'' is expected to have picked up again after the eventual release of the first game in December 1999, though new details did not become public until late 2000, after the first game's localisation (and the release of ''[[US Shenmue]]'' in Japan).

==Prototype screenshots==
===Dreamcast version===
Nine prototype screenshots of ''Shenmue'' appeared in issue #29 (June 2002) of ''Muecas''{{ref|https://web.archive.org/web/20020806215430/http://www.shenmue.com/muecas/029.html}}, Sega AM2's online Japanese ''Shenmue'' fan club. They depict Ryo riding a bicycle and a scrapped area of the game, both reportedly cut from ''Shenmue II'' either due to time restraints or not fitting in with the plot. These shots are sometimes erroneously marked as areas from ''Shenmue III''.

<gallery widths="320px" heights="240px">
ShenmueII DC no29 pic 01.jpg
ShenmueII DC no29 pic 02.jpg
ShenmueII DC no29 pic 03.jpg
ShenmueII DC no29 pic 04.jpg
ShenmueII DC no29 pic 05.jpg|A prompt for the {{R}} button?
ShenmueII DC no29 pic 06.jpg
ShenmueII DC no29 pic 07.jpg|"こちらで細也征さんの遺品を 預かっていると…". Debug text seems to have been blurred out.
ShenmueII DC no29 pic 08.jpg|桃李少老帥をご存知と ?"
ShenmueII DC no29 pic 09.jpg|"思えば、維也算を佐った通中も これが日当てだったのかも…"
</gallery>

==Promotional screenshots==
===Xbox version===
<gallery>
X02 ShenmueII S2 x02 1.png
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X02 ShenmueII S2 x02 10.png
X02 ShenmueII S2 x02 11.png
X02 ShenmueII S2 x02 12.png
X02 ShenmueII S2 x02 13.png
X02 ShenmueII S2 x02 14.png
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X02 ShenmueII S2 x02 17.png
X02 ShenmueII S2 x02 18.png
X02 ShenmueII S2 x02 19.png
X02 ShenmueII S2 x02 20.png
</gallery>

==Timeline==
===Dreamcast version===
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===Xbox version===
{{VTimelineDevelopment|collapse=yes
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==References==
<references />

{{ShenmueIIOmni}}