My Animation Era

Gundam is actually not the kind of work that quickly became popular all over the world as soon as it was released, aroused great attention and discussion from all walks of life, and reached its peak influence.

 Quite the opposite!

　　Mobile Suit Gundam, a work born in the 1980s, was actually very average when it was first born.

 Perhaps this will be unacceptable to many Gundam fans and think it is impossible.

Gundam is a milestone in science fiction animation, and it is also one of the most famous, most enduring, and most commercially valuable series in the world. How can no one watch this kind of work?

 But it’s true…

……

Compared with the same type of robot combat animations of the same period and mainly for the public, mainly "elementary school students", the threshold for appreciation is relatively high.

This is why, after the birth of the Gundam 0079 animation, it did not gain the expected popularity, but was temporarily ignored.

It can be said…

If it weren’t for the knowledgeable viewers at the time who wrote to the TV station asking for rebroadcasting, coupled with the strong support of sponsors, would Gundam? Just the tears of the times!

This is one of the reasons why Gu Miao is so concerned about this. He is really afraid that people like Wanbao Games will give up exploring the route of realistic war robots in order to cater to the public's taste.

 After all, games are different from animations.

 The carrier is different, and the perspective of thinking about things is also different. If you look at Gundam from the standpoint of making a game, the Gundam will definitely become completely different and deviate from Gu Miao's original intention.

“I don’t know much about animation, and I don’t know what you want to do, Mr. Gu.”

　　Xiao Lin frowned and said: "But what I want to say is that I just want to make a cool and handsome robot. As long as you don't deviate from this starting point, you can do whatever you want."

 “Yes, handsome and cool!”

“Your aircraft design is already great. To be honest, you are even better than our professional aircraft designers at Wanbao Animation.”

 Gu Miao gave a thumbs up and praised without hesitation: "What we have to do is to tell an attractive enough story around this robot, and in this regard, Wanbao Animation is better than Wanbao Games, isn't it?"

 “Indeed.”

Xiao Lin nodded.

 Storytelling is indeed a major weakness of Wanbao Games.

After all, the games they have made are either purely "competitive" battle games without a main plot like "Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Frontline", or games adapted from animations like "Pokémon" and "Die Fighter".

 So in terms of plot conception, Wanbao Games is indeed inferior to Wanbao Animation, or even far inferior.

 This is nothing to be ashamed of.

How many game companies can tell good stories? It's as powerful as Riot Games, and it also created a big event called "Destroying the Clown King"!

 Blizzard?

 Stop joking!

 Blizzard in the past might have been able to tell good stories and give players a great sense of immersion and involvement, so Blizzard at that time was a god!

But now, Blizzard is thankful to God if they can make the game well. Do you expect them to tell you a good story on the premise of making the game well?

Game manufacturers are generally not very good at conceiving a complete and contagious story. This is not the case for Wanbao Games alone, but for the entire industry.

 That's why Gu Miao said it.

 In terms of body design, he can follow Kobayashi's advice and follow Wanbao Game's design plan, but in terms of plot, Wanbao Game had better not "interject".

 It’s not that I look down on Wanbao Games, it’s mainly that they are really not very good at this aspect…

Which of the core animation scriptwriters of Wanbao Animation is not a master? If they just make up a short story, they can completely destroy Wanbao Games, a group of programmers who can only write code.

 For professional things, let professionals do it!

 This kind of thing where a layman guides an expert does not exist in Wanbao, and Gu Miao will not allow this to happen.

Although "Mobile Suit Gundam" is created by Wanbao Games, they are only suitable for making games. As for the animation adaptation and creation, Wanbao Animation has to do it itself.

 Xiao Lin has nothing to say.

Although "Mobile Suit Gundam" was the first idea that Wanbao Games came up with, they were unable to make good use of this idea, and it was normal for them to leave it to Wanbao Animation for in-depth development.

You can’t just occupy the latrine and not poop, right?

　That is not only irresponsible for yourself, but also irresponsible for the "Mobile Suit Gundam" project!

 …

 After a visit to Wanbao Games, Gu Miao felt quite embarrassed after forcibly taking away the development leadership of the "Mobile Suit Gundam" project.

 Mainly Gundam is at stake!

If it were anything else, he might not be so shameless and directly reach out to grab things from his subsidiaries.

But this is Gundam after all...

Considering that this matter was indeed handled improperly and that he owed Wanbao Games a bit, Gu Miao decided to ask Wanbao Games to put forward a condition to compensate them.

 Any conditions are acceptable!

Whether it’s money or people, Gu Miao will satisfy them as long as the conditions are within a reasonable range. After all, the significance represented by Gundam is too great.

“We are not short of money! We are not short of people either!”

Learning that Mr. Gu wanted to compensate them and he could impose any conditions, Xiao Lin and the senior executives of Wanbao Games came up with an idea immediately.

 “We are going to make a AAA masterpiece!”

 “Okay! 3A is 3A.”

 Gu Miao was true to his word. Although this condition was a bit excessive. After all, as we all know, developing 3A masterpieces is a thankless task, he still agreed.

However, he still has some doubts about Wanbao Games' desire to develop a AAA masterpiece.

“Money is not an issue, but do you really have the ability? I mean the technical ability and psychological preparation to develop 3A!”

 In the eyes of ordinary people, AAA masterpieces generally refer to games with high investment and high cost, but high investment is only one of the thresholds for 3A. Real 3A refers to more than just high investment.

 Without that technical strength, claiming 3A is just a joke.

For example, those domestic manufacturers who develop flash krypton gold web games, and all they think about are big wings and dragon-slaying swords that can be given away with a click. Even if they are given sufficient funds, can they make 3A?

Although Wanbao Games has some strength, its "Pokémon" series has sold over 10 million copies in each generation, and the average number of online players for "Archives" and "Duel Frontline" is also over one million.

 But these are not 3A after all!

With no experience in developing AAA masterpieces, it is really a gamble to rush into this field. If you win, everyone will be happy. If you lose, you will be liquidated and counterattacked.

"There is no first time, how can there be a second or third time? Is there any manufacturer that has rich experience since its establishment?" Xiao Lin said disapprovingly.

He feels that Wanbao Games will always take this step, and only if you dare to try will you know whether you can do it or not.

If you don’t even dare to try, then what game is there? Quickly switch careers and go home to grow sweet potatoes!

What’s more, they were not unprepared.

 Wanbao Games started to accumulate technology very early. They often cooperate with "Dimension Studio" to produce CG animations for game cutscenes...

 That’s right!

Many of the CG and character modeling of Wanbao games were produced with the help of Dimension Studio. With such a top-notch CG special effects studio, it is impossible to say that they have no confidence at all.

  "Okay!"    Gu Miao immediately felt relieved when he thought that Dimension Studio was also a "strong foreign aid" for Wanbao Games.

Wanbao Games alone may not be able to support the company, but if Dimension Studio is added to it, the effect of 1+1>2 will be achieved.

 Perform CG with your heart and make games with your feet?

Hey! If you say so, it’s not impossible. Our CG is better than others!

"anyway…"

“You are going to make a AAA masterpiece, what subject matter do you plan to start with?” Gu Miao asked curiously.

 As a gamer and a die-hard fan, he is full of curiosity about the AAA games that Wanbao Games plans to develop.

 “Let’s go to the fantasy world!”

Kobayashi said uncertainly: "Our company has many fans of fantasy novels, and they all dream of making a game about the open world of fantasy heroes."

Gu Miao: “…”

 Good, very good, simply great!

 He ​​never dreamed that the first subject that these 3A **** would think of would be Chinese online articles.

But let’s not talk about it, if this thing is made, it seems to be quite interesting. After all, when he was reading novels, he often fantasized about it. It would be great if he could replace the protagonist and travel to a fantasy world.

 There is no way to travel through time in reality.

 But it is also a good experience to let everyone experience the beauty and magic of the fantasy world through a 3A game.

“I am very interested in this project. Please call me when you try it out. I am willing to serve as a test engineer for you for free.”

 Gu Miao was eager to try: "That's right! We must design a few more female characters that can be conquered, such as the Holy Land Saint, the Ancient Emperor's Daughter, and the Prodigy Goddess. I won't be too many if I have a few more..."

 “Ahem!”

Xiao Lin almost choked on his saliva and couldn't help complaining: "This hasn't even happened yet, and you've already started dreaming?"

"Why are you dreaming? In a fantasy world, if you don't hook up with a few saints and goddesses, can you still be called the protagonist?"

Gu Miao said contemptuously: "You dare to swear to God, when you read the novel, you never imagined having close contact with these female characters?"

 “Well, I did fantasize about it.”

 Xiao Lin was stared at by Mr. Gu with strange eyes and quickly admitted it, but he also said that this was a mistake that every man would make.

If we really want to make a AAA game in a fantasy world, according to Kobayashi, it will still focus on the growth of the protagonist.

 From a waste material in a low realm, to a rapid rise after encountering adventures, breaking through the realm along the way, encountering various events on the way, and finally becoming an emperor and fighting fiercely for the Supreme Being in the Dark Forbidden Zone!

The entire game process is estimated to be longer than imagined, possibly more than 30 hours, equivalent to 20 90-minute movies...

 “That’s pretty tricky!”

Upon hearing this, Gu Miao's expression became less optimistic.

As Xiaolin said, setting a fantasy world as the background of the game is a very good idea, but the game process is too long.

 The rise of a good-for-nothing protagonist requires millions of words to be written in a novel!

 Even if half of these millions of words are meaningless water-filled content, that’s still only one to two million words. With so much content crammed into a AAA game, the amount of work is far more exaggerated than imagined.

“Since it was your choice, you must keep going no matter how difficult it is, and don’t give up halfway!”

Gu Miao finally encouraged: "Come on! I am very optimistic about you. Maybe the release date of this game will be the day you become a god."

 Be sure to say words of encouragement.

Let’s not talk about whether it can be made. If you have this heart and this idea, you have surpassed 90% of game producers.

Looking at the bright side, in this parallel world without "Black Myth Wukong", Wanbao Games may be the first domestically produced 3A game, which is also a great honor.

 Even if it finally hits the market, it can be regarded as opening a way for friends and businessmen to hit the market in the name of the first domestic 3A masterpiece.

 …

 After leaving Wanbao Game Company, Gu Miao did not return to Wanbao Animation immediately. Instead, he was invited by Xiao Ke to meet with several famous players in the Go world.

The animation "Go Boy" is coming to an end soon. Considering the reruns in the future, the popularity may increase a little, and the Wanbao Cup "Go Boy" competition can also be put on the agenda.

 Gu Miao is quite concerned about this competition.

After all, there is a precedent for the "Wanbao Cup" tennis competition. If this event is successfully run, it will gain huge social attention for Wanbao, and at the same time, it will also keep the "Go Boy" animation popular.

 If you don’t believe it, watch “The Adventures of Lolo”!

Due to the game "King of Fighters", the popularity has been very high in the past two years, and the competition is also extremely prosperous. Although the animation "The Adventures of Lolo" has been completed for a long time, its popularity is still high.

 This is the huge increase in popularity that the competition has brought to the original animation.

 The same principle applies to "Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Frontline", except that the popularity of "Duel Frontline" games has dropped faster, with fewer and fewer viewers.

 At this point, Gu Miao was helpless.

Poker players’ enthusiasm for watching games is really low. They would rather play with their own hands than go to the so-called professional games.

Following Wanbao’s official announcement that the entry threshold has been lowered to the “gold” level, the popularity of the Yu-Gi-Oh! competition has picked up slightly. At least low-level players will occasionally take a look.

 But it’s still the same old problem.

 The competition involves too much luck and is not very enjoyable to watch. Many people have the idea of ​​"I can do it if I can", so it is difficult to operate the competition.

I heard that...

  Wanbao Toys seems to be preparing to solve this problem, improving the viewing and operability of "Yu-Gi-Oh!" battles and reducing the impact of luck on the game.

 This operation may affect the "Yu-Gi-Oh! 4: ZEXAL" animation launched next year.

 Seriously, there are pros and cons!

 Modifying the rule system and adding some new things goes against Gu Miao’s definition of “the simpler the better” in Yu-Gi-Oh!

 But it must also be admitted.

 The simpler the gameplay system, the greater the element of luck, and the concept of winning or losing determined by magic drawing is becoming more and more popular.

 The complex system may be difficult for beginners to get started, but it also improves operability and competitiveness in disguise...

 So Gu Miao was very confused.

 At first he strongly opposed adding a new system to "Yu-Gi-Oh!", hoping to maintain the purity and simplicity of the gameplay rules and give new players a good experience.

 But as time went by, because he no longer paid attention to the progress of the "Yu-Gi-Oh" project, the Wanbao version of "Yu-Gi-Oh" actually followed the path of the original version.

 The key is that he can't say anything yet.

 After all, he has let it go, and it is up to the people who come after him to change it. He can't pay attention to "Yu-Gi-Oh!" all the time, right?