“not being able to program, I had a very hard time making Metal Gear. As a planner you write what you want in the planning documents, and convey your image as best you can, but ultimately it comes down to the programmers' sensibilities.”
Kojima explained in 1999 that he made Snatcher and Policenauts for two reasons: the impression The Portopia Serial Murder Case left on him and his desire for cinema, but also because, not being able to program, making Metal Gear had been very hard — as a planner you write what you want in the planning documents and convey your image as best you can, yet ultimately it comes down to the programmers’ sensibilities, and there were things he could not fully transmit to them. He wanted a system in which, as planner, he could control every facet, and so for Snatcher he had them create a simplified scripting language, a sort of compiler, which he used to control and oversee the timing of sound effects, fades and almost everything, making him the only person in development who fully understood how the whole fit together.
“For Snatcher, I didn't leave everything up to the programmers; I had them create a simplified scripting language, sort of like a compiler, and I used that to control and oversee everything. That's how I created Snatcher entirely by myself.”