One of the biggest focuses in the development of Monster Hunter 4 was to create vast fields, with an emphasis on elevation with the game’s new climbing and jumping features that are new to the series. During an interview with Dengeki, Capcom talked about how they traveled around the world to gather data on different terrain.

Dengeki points out that Capcom previously talked about how they visited other countries to gather data for creating environment during an earlier Monster Hunter Festa event. They ask the developers to share a little more on these trips.

“This time, we went to Vietnam, Cambodia, Chile, and Argentina,” says Katsumi Iwasaki, who was in charge of Monster Hunter 4’s background graphics. “When we went to Vietnam and Cambodia to collect data, we went to some ruins that weren’t tourist spots, but actually places that were left in the state they were first discovered.”

Monster Hunter 4 director Kaname Fujioka, who didn’t travel with the crew, says that he saw some of the pictures and explains that it looked like the ruins were barely being supported by rocks and that it’s as if the entire place could fall apart with just a little shake.

“There weren’t any tourists, it was dark, and I was really scared,” adds Iwasaki with a laugh. “I really had to ask for guidance from the guide.”

Next, they talk about their time spent in the glaciers, grassy plains, and mountain scenery of Chile and Argentina, which was used to create fields such as the new map known as the Frozen Sea.

Upon seeing the pictures, Fujioka explains that they were full of places that can’t be seen in Japan, such as the scenery of such vast lands. Iwasaki mentions that they’re places that he has personally always wanted to visit in the past, to which Fujioka adds that he even talked about not wanting to go back home.

Meanwhile, Monster Hunter 4’s main planner Yuya Tokuda says that the roasted goat they had down in South America was really delicious, as he jokingly mentions that they should train two or three years to open a shop for it in Japan.

According to Fujioka, not only did they gather data for the background of Monster Hunter 4, but they also had to keep things in mind such as local ornaments and atmosphere, which was used to design the game’s interface. For this reason, they also sent the developer in charge of the interface to go along on the trip.

While on the subject of atmosphere, Tokuda mentions that it was during the early summer when they went to Argentina. When he asked Iwasaki what kind of clothes he should take, he was told “just bring your normal clothes, you’ll be fine,” but once he got there, he ended up freezing. “I remember seeing everyone around me properly prepared for it,” he adds with a laugh.

“I believe it’s important to see things you can’t normally experience,” says director Fujioka, going on to explain that you can’t fully understand what it’s like being in places with such heavy wind pressure until you actually experience it for yourself.

“The winds, the glaciers that have been here since the past, and everything else have shaped up the lands to what they are today, and there’s a reason behind everything,” says Tokuda. “And reality is born by taking these reasons seriously. There were a lot things that can’t be understood unless you experience it for yourself.”

Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate will be released in the west in early 2015 for Nintendo 3DS.