Reboot the age of gaming

Chapter 240 Zodiac Guardian

The two parties reached a consensus, but how to sign the specific contract will have to be considered later.

Weiguang Studio also has legal affairs now, so Zhong Ming no longer has to worry about signing a contract. He only needs to take a rough look at the contract after it is finalized.

Lin Xiaoguang wanted to talk to Zhong Ming about the design details of this game, but he might also feel that he had no idea.

Originally, he didn't hold much hope for Weiguang Studio, he just planned to spend two to three million yuan to buy a random game to enrich the game library.As a result, Zhong Ming's confident appearance made Lin Xiaoguang look forward to it.

"Don't worry, wait for the game to make a demo, and then show it to Mr. Lin. If this game doesn't make a demo, I won't be able to say anything." Zhong Ming laughed.

Lin Xiaoguang was taken aback for a moment: "Mr. Zhong is very confident. Don't be afraid that our side will be dissatisfied after the demo is made, so why don't you sign and monopolize it?"

Zhong Ming laughed: "Don't worry, Mr. Lin, if you don't want this game, I won't worry about selling it."

……

Back home, Zhong Ming pulled out the hand-painted board and began to draw the concept map of the game.

On the other side, they are also thinking about how many people Weiguang Studio needs to recruit urgently.

This time, it's a big job.

Although the performance of the handheld platform is worse than that of the mainframe, it is far better than those independent games made before.In the final analysis, this time it has to be a serious 3D game, and it has to have picturesque scenery, an excellent combat system, a good hand feel, and it has to take full care of the functional limits of the handheld.

If you can't do it, the game can't make people blow up; if you can't do it, you can't carry it on the handheld.

Just like the reason why so many people praised "The Legend of Zelda" in the previous life, it is because of such a large open world, which can run smoothly on the handheld, which well demonstrates the function of Switch.

Moreover, we have to consider the actual situation of the current Weiguang Studio.

There are not too many people, and most of them have no experience in developing similar games. If you want to make a game similar to "The Legend of Zelda" in a short period of time, it is purely a dream, and it is not allowed in all aspects.

The point is, there must be some Chinese elements.

How many Chinese elements are there is also particular.This game is to take into account both Chinese players and Western players, so the proportion of Chinese elements in the game can be said to be too much, it must be just right.

Chinese players would of course like it if it was made into "Taiwu Painting Scroll", but Western players would definitely not buy it; but if there are too few Chinese elements and there is no way to show the cultural characteristics of this game, Chinese players may not be as good as Western players. Players don't like it.

Moreover, it is best not to use some particularly esoteric and complicated cultures, such as the mythology of ancient China, it is best not to use it, because Westerners do not understand it.

They don't know about Pangu, Nuwa, and Houyi, and even if they know, they only know a little bit. Applying these contents to the plot of the game is too laborious to do, and the gains outweigh the losses.

Weiguang Studio has not yet reached the stage of exporting Chinese culture to the world as it pleases.

All these factors were combined, and Zhong Ming roughly thought of a game.

This game was adapted from a classic game "Wanda and the Colossus" in the previous life, and after adding Chinese elements, it was renamed "Zodiac Guardian".

In this way, the art style of the game needs minor changes, and the boss battle needs major changes, but such changes are still within the acceptable range of Zhong Ming.

As for why this game was chosen, there are three reasons.

First, it's a perfect fit for the handheld platform. "Wanda and the Colossus" is a game in the PS2 era, and then it has been reset in the PS3 and PS4 era.This game was released as early as 05, and it used a very fashionable seamless map, which can be said to have caught the eyes of all players at the time.

Even from today's point of view, the game's combat system and design concept are not outdated at all. It can almost be said that the performance of PS2 has been squeezed to a limit.

Now use it as a handheld, you can show the performance of the handheld through this shocking boss battle, without worrying about running.

Second, the difficulty of its development is still within the acceptable range of Weiguang Studio. "Wanda and the Colossus" has a total of 16 bosses in the whole process, only bosses, no mob battles, which greatly reduces the development content.

If it is like "The Legend of Zelda", there are boss battles, hundreds of shrines, a map full of collection elements, and a large number of plots... then one year is enough for the current Shimmer Studio can finish.

But if there are only boss battles, the development workload will be reduced a lot at once, and the number of 16 bosses will be changed to twelve zodiac signs, and the number will be reduced again.

Third, its gameplay and artistry are rare masterpieces, and even after ten or 20 years, it is still not outdated. Such a game is enough to blow up.

Of course, in order to add Chinese culture to it, Zhong Ming also had to make some magical changes to it.However, because the plot of the original work is relatively simple, the difficulty of magic modification is not too high.

The hero and heroine, the background of the story, etc. are relatively easy to say, and the framework of the whole story can be directly used.

The biggest difficulty lies in the art style and the design of boss battles. Changes in this area can be said to account for more than 90% of the game changes.

However, this is precisely the reason why Zhong Ming chose it, because the content of the game is very suitable for Chinese culture!
In the original work, each colossus has a strong sense of design, leaving a deep impression on the players.

The "Guardian of the Zodiac" that Zhong Ming wants to develop is also trying to achieve this effect.

A relatively simple plot framework is not difficult for Western players to understand; and the cultural output of the Colossus in terms of artistic image is easier for Western players to accept.

People are more likely to receive screen information.

Just imagine, a temple full of Chinese style, surrounded by twelve zodiac patron saints, each patron saint has its own characteristics, and also has a strong Chinese style from the appearance, which is also very popular for those Western players. attractive.

This approach is definitely a hundred times better than making Chinese culture into a plot and stuffing it into the game to feed those Western players.

The rat is ugly, the ox is the tiger, the rabbit is the rabbit, the dragon is the snake...

Each zodiac sign is a ready-made animal. Artistic re-creation on this basis and boss battle design around this image will greatly reduce the development difficulty and the effect will be excellent.

What Zhong Ming has to do now is to make a concept map of the twelve zodiac signs as much as possible. Different bosses have completely different shapes, active areas and environments, and naturally their skills and styles of play are also different.

Once these contents are fixed, the subsequent development will be much easier.

……

The next morning.

Zhong Ming called the heads and core members of several departments to the conference room.

"I've got good news for everyone, I've accepted a big job." Zhong Ming said, "As for how big...as long as we can achieve 50 sales, there will be an exclusive fee of 3000 million; if we can achieve 100 million sales, Then there will be an exclusive fee of 5000 million!"

"5000 million!"

Many people's eyes lit up.

Just the exclusive fee, is there so much? ?

You know, the 5000 million is equivalent to extra earning. If the game really breaks a million, then the share that should be taken will not be less than a penny.

Fu Xing'an hurriedly asked: "Exclusive? Which game platform is the exclusive?"

Zhong Ming chuckled: "It's not a certain game platform, it's exclusive to Moya Technology's handheld platform. What we're going to do this time is a handheld game, and it's going to be hard steel with those 3A masterpieces on the market."

Hearing this, many people were a little discouraged at the time.

Fu Xing'an and Wu Mingliang looked at each other in blank dismay.

It's not that I look down on Moya Technology, or that I look down on handhelds, but that I look down on myself...

Sell ​​a million copies on the handheld?
Is it too difficult?

50 copies is also difficult!
The key is that so far, although Weiguang Studio has been going smoothly, it is basically tossing in the small circle of the Chinese cultural circle.

The sales volume of "Taiwu Painted Scroll" is indeed expected to reach one million in the first month, but the problem is that this is an independent game!Independent games naturally have a set of special evaluation criteria, and those 3A masterpieces do not apply to the same evaluation system.

Make a similar game, work harder, hit a million sales, everyone still has confidence.

Want to wrestle with those 3A masterpieces on the market?It's gone in an instant.

What's more, how many user groups are handhelds aimed at?

Indie games are aimed at PC players. The number of PC players is the largest in the world, and the number of console players is also quite large. In some developed regions, the share of consoles can even reach more than 20%.In comparison, the handheld user base is very scarce, probably a fraction of the host population.

Selling millions of copies in this group?It is absolutely not enough to rely on the Chinese market alone, and the Western market must be developed.

But... Weiguang Studio has never had the experience of selling games to the Western market, and the games it has developed basically do not meet the tastes of Westerners.

So in the final analysis, this matter is not as reliable as Zhong Ming said.

Wu Mingliang raised his hand and said, "Boss, I have a question. If our game is doing well, but because the handheld platform is too hot, it drags down our sales, what should we say?"

Zhong Ming nodded: "This is a problem. This handheld will be released in the near future. It may be a bit difficult for us to catch up with its first release. But it is also a good time to take this opportunity to see the reputation and performance of this handheld. If the performance is not Good, we will adopt a limited-time exclusive method, and the game can still be sold on other platforms.”

Wu Mingliang nodded, feeling relieved.

Exclusive for a limited time, the risk is reduced.However, there are still risks.

Because according to what Zhong Ming said, this game was completely developed for Moya Technology's handheld, so it must first take into account the other party's requirements in all aspects.If the sales on the handheld platform are not good, then this game will be released on other platforms, such as the console platform and PC platform, and the sales may not be particularly good. After all, it is completely developed for the handheld platform, and there are also transplants. There are some design and technical problems.

However, Wu Mingliang also understands that it is a rare opportunity to cooperate with a big company like Moya Technology.Even if you have to take some risks, it is worth it.

The key is to look at the effect of the game.

"In the near future, we will urgently recruit a group of people, mainly for programming and art. In terms of programming, we need to recruit programs that are very proficient in 3D engines. On the art side, modeling, actions, etc. are also very important. But the overall need not be too big. More, mainly to make up..."

Zhong Ming said a lot here, mainly around the studio structure. HR and Miao Zhu frequently recorded these recruitment matters, and they will be busy in the future.

It should be okay to recruit people. Although some missed the golden period, after all, it is still in the next year. If it is really not good, you can still go to headhunters to dig people. Anyway, the current Shimmer Studios, it is not a problem to give some premiums.

"Okay, the people from the R&D team will stay, and briefly talk about the game we will develop next."

After Zhong Ming finished his orders, he dismissed Miao Zhu and the others, leaving the R&D staff to listen to Zhong Ming explain some basic information about "Guardian of the Zodiac".

Design concept draft, not yet.

However, this game is not particularly necessary, and a concept map is enough.

Zhong Ming first showed a large map, with a little bit of Chinese landscape painting feeling, but the lines are not so thick.In the center of the map is an ancient temple. Surrounding the temple, there are mountains, seas, swamps, snowfields, volcanoes, waterfalls, deserts and other different terrains. These terrains are put together very naturally, and the entire big map is formed. A whole.

On each terrain, different images are marked, and these images are highly recognizable, and everyone present can recognize them at a glance.

"Zodiac?" Xiao Mu blurted out.

These zodiac guardians are also closely related to the terrain. For example, the Chenlong flies by the sea, the Wuma gallops on the grassland, the Zimo drills holes in the mountains, the Shen monkey moves in the dense jungle, and the Hai pig lives in the vast swamp. Snakes run through deserts, sheep live in volcanoes...

Zhong Ming cut to the second picture again.

This time, it was a ready-made concept draft of the guardians of the zodiac, that is, the images of these bosses in the game.

What Zhong Ming drew was a Chinese dragon, completely different from the winged, fire-breathing monsters in the West.

And the appearance of this dragon has undergone artistic processing. It is no longer the image of a purely fleshy dragon, but has become a form of fleshy body + stone statue. Its whole body seems to be covered with stone armor. The stone part is subtly combined with its fleshy body, giving people a sense of vicissitudes and age.

That is to say, it does not feel like a divine beast or a living creature, but more like a creation of some kind of god, like some kind of guardian.

Then, Zhong Ming showed the cow and the monkey. These three guardians were conceived by him last night. The other guardians of the zodiac have not yet been drawn.

However, these three pictures are basically enough to express his design ideas clearly.

(End of this chapter)