The Shenmue 3 Kickstarter page has received a new update, explaining what the team has been up to over the past three months, and showing a few new screenshots. The game’s story and scenarios are out of the planning stage, and the team is currently working on map testing. This involves making decisions about how big a particular area needs to be. The development team is said to be in high spirits, with some people even working on Saturdays at times. You can take a look at the screenshots here (note that these are early screenshots, featuring character models and areas that will all be reworked later on):
Battle test 2
Thatched roof house test model
Conversation testing scene
Battle test 1
The update also contains a link to an interview with Yu Suzuki, where he answers questions from the various Shenmue fan communities.