Game production: I really have landed

Chapter 102 The Making of the Dark Dungeon
Design department.

"I believe that you have read through the classic chapters of the Cthulhu Mythos, including "The Call of Cthulhu", "Mountains of Madness", "Shadow Beyond Time" and so on.

For the element of Cthulhu, everyone should have a certain definition in their hearts more or less. "

Luo Bai sat at the top and had an open conversation with all the current design department employees including "Monster Design", "Map Design", and "Character Design".

"When human beings face those indescribable existences, their rationality will be crushed, and the whole person will fall into irreparable madness.

But among them, there are also human beings like investigators, who rely on their own courage to fight against madness, demonstrating the hymn of human beings.

The core selling point of the game "Dark Dungeon" is to transform this state of madness from the description in the text into a game.

After a week of precipitation, the discussions within the groups should have produced certain results. The reason why I held this discussion meeting today is to hope that everyone can brainstorm. "

Looking around, Luo Bai first extended his right hand towards Shu Boyue, the leader of the monster design team.

"Boyo, there are many different types of monsters in the Cthulhu mythology, let's start with you."

Although Shu Boyue, who has just graduated from university, has participated in similar speech activities in school, but after entering the society, it is the first time for him to show himself like today.

He was a little nervous.

But after seeing Luo Bai's encouraging eyes, he still settled down.

"Speaking of the monsters in the Cthulhu Mythos, um, I have to talk about the most famous deep diver among them, um, this monster is a marine humanoid race with fish characteristics.

Well, although the appearance may seem imbecile, the deep divers are a highly intelligent race that will live forever unless they are killed, and they will use fish and gold to trade human sacrifices with the residents of the island..."

Although he didn't know why he became the leader of the monster design team in a daze, but he liked these weird things since he was a child, and after being directly "entrusted with a heavy responsibility" by Luo Bai, he dared not relax.

In addition to working hours, he is also enriching himself after get off work, looking up various information on the Internet.

He was just nervous, not out of stuff in his stomach.

"Well, according to the plan given by Mr. Luo before, we can know that the characters have two types of blood bars, one is blood volume, and the other is pressure.

Well, so, we also designed the monsters into two types, well, one is a warrior-type deep diver that can deal direct damage, and the other is a deep diver that deals pressure damage.

Well, according to the setting that deep divers are actually highly intelligent races, they also have their own civilization inside. The kind of deep divers that cause pressure can be set as things like priests and prophets of deep divers.

Mr. Luo, my sharing is over. "

Luo Bai applauded first, and then the entire design department burst into applause.

"thank you all!"

Shu Bo sat down with a blushing face, took a few deep breaths, and continued to focus on the audience.

"Jiang Qiyi."

After Luo Bai clicked his name, Jiang Qiyi, the leader of the map design team, got up and bowed to everyone.

"Speaking of the Cthulhu mythology, the deep diver is indeed a monster that cannot be avoided.

According to the characteristics of deep divers living in the sea, if deep divers are to be designed as a main type of monster in the game, then the location of this dungeon must be close to the ocean, or even enter the ocean.

The protagonists in the Cthulhu myth are all mortals with extraordinary courage and will, and there is no power of supernatural elements.

So we use the bay as one of the main dungeon types in the game.

According to the article "The Haze of Innsmouth", some folk tales about the sea mention strange jewels, huge stone artifacts and strange underwater structures in the sea.

The main interactive items in the bay should be related to corals, shells, and stone artifacts worshiped by deep divers.

My sharing is over, thank you all. "

"Clap! Clap! Clap!"

Jiang Qiyi nodded slightly, then sat down.

"Li Shuo."

Li Shuo, the leader of the plot design team, pushed his glasses and said with a smile:
"Mr. Luo, our group is also studying literary works on the Cthulhu mythology, but the things we think about are fragmented, and we don't have any systematic ideas.

But based on the speeches of two previous colleagues, I have some ideas. "

Li Shuo coughed twice and cleared his throat:
"Since there is a main map in the dungeon arranged in the bay, the main location where the story takes place is either the island or the coastal land.

But dungeons and dungeons must have land to become dungeons. The island is too cramped, which is not conducive to subsequent development.

According to the settings of stories such as dungeons and dungeons in the past, the general background will be placed on the fiefdom of a certain lord in the Western Middle Ages.

Therefore, we can assume that the main place where the story takes place lies in a nobleman who enfeoffs the coast.

Even, our protagonist can be such a down-and-out nobleman, otherwise why can he summon a team of four to explore the dungeon?

Moreover, this nobleman can't be too powerful, he must be downcast, because only downcast, it seems reasonable for him to pursue such a terrible thing as Cthulhu.

And this can be extended, has this nobleman been so downcast all this time, or has he gone from being strong to being down?
And is the reason that led him to downfall also related to other supernatural forces? "

Li Shuo's deduction and supplements to the plot made many people present slightly nod their heads.

Obviously, new inspirations and new ideas emerged in the minds of the design team members through keywords such as "coastal fief" and "down and out nobles".

And this is exactly what Luo Bai hopes to see.

Even if he has a ready-made plot and a ready-made design idea in his mind, he can't say it directly.

Because, he is developing a team.

A team that only needs Luo Bai to provide core ideas and core selling points, and can create games that Blue Star players love according to local conditions.

Only in this way can Luo Bai move those ninth arts from the earth to this world one by one with higher efficiency.

Next, the character design team, special effects design team, and animation design team all gave their opinions and ideas on the entire Dark Dungeon.

After four hours of sharing and discussion, the exchange seminar was successfully concluded.

The results of this meeting will also be announced in the entire game development department.

But Pu Xingyu and the planning team he leads are already busy.

Let's match the table!
As a dog planner, Pu Xingyu is very busy at work every day.

First of all, go to Mr. Luo and report on the development progress of the various departments of the entire Dark Dungeon project team today.

Then Luo always puts forward new needs for everyone based on their existing workload.

After collecting, summarizing, and sorting out the needs put forward by Mr. Luo, Pu Xingyu needs to summarize all these needs into a demand table in a way that the following departments can understand, and guide the following departments to complete the work at hand.

For example, for the program group:
"Making a character data template for a hero and a monster", "Making a basic framework for a 4v4 turn-based battle", "making a floating range of rewards that may appear inside a treasure chest".

Except for the original mechanisms such as "Death Gate", "Pressure System", and "Floating Combat Values", the combat system of Dark Dungeon is actually not much different from the common turn-based RPGs on the market.

And because the design team has not finalized the unique mechanisms of "virtue" and "torture", so the tasks given to the program team are relatively simple each time, and they can be completed quite smoothly.

Also for the art team:
"Draw a murloc monster based on the design given by the monster design team", "Draw a dungeon style with a bay background", "Draw an interactive item with elements such as shells and pearls"

Compared with the fact that the characters of the program group can be completed smoothly every time, the art group can be called a fateful one.

Every time the manuscript was drawn with great difficulty, it was always returned by Luo Ge to redo. Of course, Luo Ge would also appropriately attach his own revisions when sending back.

This caused the entire art team to fall into a low pressure during that time.

Pu Xingyu still remembers a time when Qian Fei, the leader of the art team, couldn't take it anymore and rushed into Luo Ge's office, and there was a quarrel.

"Mr. Luo! You still have better talents in your hands, so just grab them and use them? You are not satisfied with what we make, why did you recruit us? Why don't you just fire us?"

"I need to control the operation of the entire project as a whole. It is impossible for a game to only have art. How can I have time to devote myself to art like I used to draw Ori?
Besides, didn't I give a revision opinion?I'm not the kind of Party A who makes weird demands, you came according to my revised opinion, did I call you back? "

"Mr. Luo? Are you the artist of Ori?!"

Of course, Pu Xingyu didn't dare to eavesdrop on the two of them chatting in the office afterwards, anyway, he would never say a word about such things.

It's just that Qian Fei was beaming after she came out that day. Later, when Pu Xingyu listened to Luo Ge's needs, he could often see Qian Fei sending some pictures privately to Luo Ge for advice, and Luo Ge always replied with a helpless expression.

Also since then, the art team has never had any complaints after the manuscript was sent back.

For the plot design department, the monster design department, the map design department...

Pu Xingyu has been busy during this time, but he must admit that he has made great progress.

This kind of progress is not in technology, but in a kind of overall control ability.

Follow Luo Ge to see how he puts forward requirements based on the existing development progress, how to overcome the following development difficulties, and how to organize a fruitful exchange seminar in a quick, easy and cost-effective way...

I have benefited a lot.

But the work is not always smooth. When the development progress of the dark dungeon officially entered the third week, some discordant voices began to appear within the team.

"This kind of painting style is not good-looking. The whole starting point of the producer to make the game is to disgust the player's mechanism. I knew I was going to die before I made it.

He also asks us to watch some broken "Cthulhu Mythos" every day. What's so good about that kind of stuff?

Someone really has a problem with his brain, so he doesn't want to do a good 'Like Ori', but insists on running across borders to do something that he has never done before.

When the game comes out, sales will teach this guy to be a man! "

Luo Bai saw Pu Xingyu's exaggerated "performance" and became a little angry. He threw the watercolor pen in his hand and hit Pu Xingyu's clothes:
"Do you believe it or not? Even if you are dissatisfied with me, no matter how weak you are, you can't say such a thing. At most, you just dare to be angry."

Pu Xingyu smiled, and quickly came up:

"Brother Luo, although I have added more oil and vinegar, the core meaning has not changed.

The guy who shakes the morale of the army at the very beginning of this kind of game, why don't you find him out and torture him severely? "

"The guy who shakes the morale of the army is put aside first."

Luo Bai raised his right hand to signal Pu Xingyu to stop, then asked with a smile,
"What do you think of Dark Dungeon?"

"The game Luoge made, it must be the gods to block and kill the gods and Buddhas to block and kill the Buddha! It was a mirror back then, punching Ren Hell, kicking...

ah!Brother Luo, I was wrong, I won't kick anymore! "

Damn, this living thing.

Luo Bai rubbed his forehead and realized that the reason why Pu Xingyu believes that this game will be successful is because he believes in himself.

But as to why the dark dungeon is attractive, there is still nothing in my heart.

"Grandma, I thought my plan was very clear. It seems that you guys are not good at basic skills. I have to make up for you."

Luo Bai shook his head and sighed, but also felt a little angry.

Although Pu Xingyu was adding oil and vinegar there, watching the fun is not a big deal.

But the basic meaning of the guy who shakes the morale of the army has not changed:
"This kind of painting style is not good-looking. The whole starting point of the creator's creation of the game is to disgust the player's mechanism. I knew I was going to die before I made it."

To die?

Do you understand the gold content of the dark dungeon whose sales volume of the main body + DLC exceeds [-] million?
What you think is the mechanism of disgusting players is the essence of this game and the real gameplay of this game!
"Then let's put the development progress of the last two days first, and find out this guy first."

Pu Xingyu didn't even know why the mechanism of the dark dungeon was fun, which meant that there must be many people inside who didn't understand the fun of the mechanism of the dark dungeon.

It is definitely not wrong to unify the thinking before doing things.

Luo Bai does not want his employees to just regard their work as a job.

They should understand why the game they are about to make is fun and what kind of sparks it will set off in this world.

That way, they'll be proud of what they're doing, and really find the joy of making games.

The 32-year-old Liu Cheng is considered an older employee for the current Chuxin game production team.

He has a good resume, and he came from another major domestic game company. Because of his excellent basic quality, and the fact that the monster design team was not fully recruited, Luo Bai also signed him.

What Liu Cheng has to admit is that Chuxin Game Studio is good everywhere.

The salary level of more than [-] is not as good as before he switched jobs, but he works from [-] to [-], and has [-] days of vacation every month, so he can come and go as he pleases, as long as he can ensure that the team he is in will not be idling.

In addition, allowances such as canteens, housing, and commuting are considered top-notch in the industry.

But the only thing that makes Liu Cheng very dissatisfied is that he has not been reused here.

He obviously has more than ten years of experience in the industry, but Shu Bo, a young man who just graduated from college, took the position of leader of the monster design team.

This is undoubtedly a contempt!It was Luo Bai who underestimated him!

Why?He, Liu Cheng, has been working in the industry for such a long time, and has also served as the leader of the monster design team of many popular games. In terms of qualifications, he can be regarded as your senior, Luo Bai.

It's fine if you don't maintain due respect to your seniors, but you even arranged for a college graduate to ride on his head and shit.

Of course, Liu Cheng would never admit that he was jealous of Luo Bai being able to make such a work of art as Auri.

In addition, he is also older, and many things are far less easy to accept than young people.

Just like the "Cthulhu Mythology" that everyone in the entire design team has to study this time, he really can't stand it. When he sees this thing, he gets dizzy and feels uncomfortable.

As for learning something, that is even more nonsense.

Before the construction of the Dark Dungeon had officially started, he was holding a book and studying every day on the surface, but secretly he was paddling for fish and trading in stocks secretly.

Of course, as a social person who has worked in the industry for so many years, Liu Cheng would not show his anger and anger on his face, so when he first joined the job, he was super obedient to the arrangement on the surface.

Even when facing Shu Boyue, he smiled all day long, without putting on any airs of a senior, but kept praising Shu Boyue for his youth and promise.

Of course, this is not what he thinks about Shu Boyue, it's just a flattery.

He fished and paddled here, and did not provide Shu Boyue with any meaningful help. In his opinion, this kind of inexperienced brat would definitely lose face in the group meeting.

When Luo Bai gets angry, shouldn't the position of group leader fall on his head?

But what was unexpected was that, originally, he wanted Shu Boyue to stand taller and fall harder, but he became a blockbuster in the group meeting, and the design results given by him even made Mr. Luo take the lead in applauding!

Liu Cheng's teeth were about to be crushed, but there was only a smile on his face, and he kept applauding.

What happened to Liu Cheng is a common problem of many veterans in the workplace. These people are not proficient in business. Can't stand out how awesome they are.

The multiple blows made Liu Cheng resentful. One day during his lunch break, he went out to drink some wine, and then there was the passage that is currently being circulated within the entire game development department.

At the beginning, Liu Cheng regretted it a lot.

It is impossible for him not to understand the truth of saying too much, but after waiting for a few days, he found that Luo Bai did not send anyone to find him, and when someone secretly discussed the future of the game "Dark Dungeon" with him, he also God was settled.

what the hell!

It turns out that it's not just me, so many people in the entire development department are not optimistic about the future of Dark Dungeon.

Heh, this Luo Bai is at the end of his talents.

Ori’s cold rice is not fried, and he has to cross borders to make this kind of turn-based RPG, so let’s just do it, and add some Rogue elements smartly.

It’s okay to add it, I don’t know where I saw that shit "Cthulhu Mythos", I think it’s a new thing, I want to catch up with the trend, and add mechanisms like pressure, dead door, etc. that exist entirely for disgusting players.

At that time, who will die if your sales do not die suddenly?
At that time, I will make an Ori 2...

Liu Cheng suddenly realized that even if he made Ao Ri 2, he would definitely be able to catch fire. He only felt a sour feeling rushing straight to Tianling Gai.

I bother!This kind of person is also worthy of Ori?too disgusting!
The entire development department only has dozens of people, so it is quite easy to find the guy who shakes the morale of the army among the gang.

This morning, when Luo Bai stopped all the work in progress and called everyone into the conference room, Liu Cheng vaguely felt that something happened to him.

But there is always a kind of luck in his heart.

Even if there were people around who looked at him with hidden eyes, he still smiled and questioned them as usual.

But what should come will always come.

Luo Bai stood on the stage, looked at all the current employees of the development department with a smile on his face and said:

"There have been some bad rumors within the development department in the last few days.

The main questioning directions of the rumors are, what is the future of the "Dark Dungeon" project, whether this game can be welcomed by players, and whether there is any problem with the design of the game mechanism. "

"It's over..."

Liu Cheng was shocked, Luo Bai made such a big commotion this time, obviously his end will not be good in the end.

But he really hates this job!

The sights cast from all around him both openly and secretly made him feel like a light on his back.

But later, Luo Bai's words made him breathe a sigh of relief.

Looking at the silent audience with their heads down, Luo Bai realized that his lesson today was indeed very necessary:
"Now I'm bringing everyone together, not to let everyone identify who is the spreader of the rumor, it doesn't make any sense.

The reason why rumors have the soil to exist must be that everyone has doubts in their hearts.

And today, I am here to dispel everyone's doubts.

To be honest, I can understand your doubts. After all, almost everyone already knows the core mechanism of Dark Dungeon. On the surface, it is indeed a design that exists purely for disgusting players. "

Having said this, Luo Bai chuckled a few times, which suddenly relieved the tense atmosphere in the audience.

Liu Cheng couldn't help murmuring "President Luo's big picture" in his heart.

Everyone raised their heads one after another, looking at the man on the stage with a face full of confidence.

"Before I explain to you why the project "Darkest Dungeon" must be successful, I want to tell you something else.

What is 'Gameplay'? "

"We hear that argument all the time.

A certain game has a good plot, but its gameplay is not good, or in other words, the game’s gameplay is good, but other aspects are relatively poor.

So, I would like to ask everyone, what is gameplay. "

Everyone in the audience, as practitioners in the game industry, is of course no stranger to the term gameplay.

But because it is so familiar, it is a bit hesitant at the moment, not knowing where to start.

Luo Bai didn't try to fool everyone, and said directly:
"The so-called gameplay, in a broad sense, actually refers to the fun of the game, the essence of a game's fun.

But there is no doubt that this kind of statement is relatively abstract, because there are too many factors that determine the fun of a game, so is there an indicator or theory that can intuitively describe the gameplay? "

At this time, most of the players on the scene were still immersed in the thoughts Luo Bai brought to them.

However, there are also a small number of people with particularly excellent business ability and unusually sensitive thinking who go further.

Mo Yun is one of them.

He raised his head and looked at Luo Bai who was talking eloquently on the stage, his pupils shrank for a while.

Although he already has a high enough opinion of Mr. Luo, at this moment, he seems to be witnessing a revolution in the game world!
Of course Luo Bai himself didn't know anything about it, and he was very satisfied when he saw this kind of thoughtful reaction from the audience.

He bowed his head and picked up a piece of chalk from the small table beside him, and left six large characters on the blackboard added behind him:
"Risk Reward Theory".

Luo Bai did not stop at this moment, he opened his mouth and continued to elaborate:

"Let's take Nintendo's immortal masterpiece, Super Mario Bros., as an example.

In this game, one of the great pleasures is that after stepping on the green tortoise, you can quickly clear many miscellaneous soldiers on a line by pushing the tortoise shell, and get points and precious rewards such as life in the process.

Here, we assume that 'killing the turtle shell' is a prerequisite for 'bringing happiness to the player'.

After all, not everyone finds this design fun, right? "

At the end, Luo Bai chuckled, and everyone present also laughed in the same way.

"Super Mario Bros.", the childhood memories of everyone present at the scene. When I recalled the plumber who manipulated the red hat, sat the turtle to death with one foot, and then pushed the turtle shell to clear the screen. How can I control it? Where is the corner of your mouth?

However, Mr. Luo is really rigorous.

"After we assume that 'turtle shell killing' is a prerequisite for 'bringing happiness to the player', let's recall the situation when we played this game.

At that time, you were manipulating our protagonist Mario to walk forward, and at this moment, a green turtle came head-on.

At this time, Mario is still far away from the tortoise, and the tortoise has no way to attack Mario. At this time, Mario's risk is relatively low. "

When he said this, Luo Bai's fingers focused on the two big characters "risk" behind him, and poked twice.

"But as the tortoise keeps walking towards you, the distance between you is gradually shortening. At this time, Mario's risk is also gradually increasing.

When the turtle gradually moves in front of you and is about to touch you, your risk has reached the highest level. If you don't respond, Mario will die. "

Everyone present was also continuously infected by Luo Bai's narration, and held their breath.

Some people couldn't bear such a big pressure, so they yelled directly below:
"Jump!"

"Just jump!"

Following Luo Bai's short cry, everyone present seemed to be released and breathed a sigh of relief.

Mo Yun froze in place, as if he was going through a brainstorm in his mind.

"When the tortoise is very close to us, the opposite of reaching the highest risk standard is the return, which is the time for Mario to attack!
We only need to manipulate Mario to jump up slightly and step on the turtle's head, and we can make it into a turtle shell.

Fun, that's it. "

Luo Bai stood on the stage with a chuckle, but the audience in the audience seemed to have really played a game of Super Mario Bros., enjoying the little fun in their memories.

Someone in the crowd blew a whistle excitedly, and then the entire conference site erupted into loud applause.

Luo Bai enjoyed the applause until it slowly stopped.

"When pushing the turtle shell all the way forward, we also manipulated Mario to chase the turtle shell all the way forward. During this process, the turtle shell hit the monsters on the road all the way, bringing us points and lives.

The payoff is considerable.

But what if a water pipe suddenly appeared in the path of the shell? "

"The turtle shell will bounce and kill me!"

"Hahaha!"

There was a burst of cheerful laughter from the audience.

Luo Bai also raised the corners of his mouth:
"Yeah, there is a strong link between risk and reward, taking risks to get rewards, this is the essence of so-called 'gameplay'!

Of course, the so-called gameplay is just a feature of the game.

In addition to gameplay, the carrier of the game has many other things that can attract players to keep playing the game.

It can be a fascinating plot, or a game movie with strong interaction, it may be an adaptation of a big IP novel, or it may be an audio game full of rhythm.

But in any case, as long as we grasp the gameplay, at least this is a game that can keep players playing. "

The words came to an abrupt end, causing the audience to think deeply.

Mo Yun raised his left and right hands.

The left palm represents risk, and the right palm represents reward.

And when players use strategies to avoid risks and get rewards...

Clenching his left hand tightly, Mo Fan stared blankly at his right palm.

Take the teacher!I understand!

"And when we figured out the theory of risk and return, we went back to the project "Darkest Dungeon" we were developing.

We will find that the gameplay in the dark dungeon is traceable.

Those, which are mistaken by everyone as the malicious design of the developer, the 'dead door' and 'pressure' are actually the real core of this game! "

Use strategy, get out of dead doors, relieve stress, and emerge victorious.

Under the extreme pressure, players use their own operations to avoid the risk of death penalty breaking through the mechanism of the sky and obtain the final reward.

How could this be the malicious intent of the production team?

This is the ultimate gameplay!
………………

I wrote this at the time, and you can read it after Chapter 54.

Because I wrote something like corporate culture before, it was considered too procrastinated, so I can only reluctantly cut down [-] words here.

Send it out now, so don't waste it.

(End of this chapter)