game trailblazer

Chapter 170 Problems in Game Development

After leaving Universal Interactive, Zhang Lexing immediately contacted the people from Dongfang Electronic Entertainment Co., Ltd. and asked them to come over immediately to discuss the details of the acquisition with Naughty Dog.When the people from Oriental Electronic Entertainment Co., Ltd. appeared in front of Jason Rubin and took out the PS game console development materials and the technical materials of the analog joystick, all the members of Naughty Dog were shocked.The subsequent acquisition negotiations went extremely smoothly, and all the details were negotiated in just one day. Finally, Naughty Dog was successfully acquired at a price of 400 million U.S. dollars. Jason Rubin also got the development funds and PS games he desperately needed. Machine development technology, and Zhang Lexing also added another bargaining chip for his future game console.

After completing the acquisition of Naughty Dog, the time gradually came to the end of June. After Zhang Lexing went to San Jose, he came to the Boston area again because Chen Zishan was on vacation.Since Chen Zishan came back to the United States, the two of them were very busy, so they didn't get together for a long time. Except for the one week of spring break, Zhang Lexing flew around like a migratory bird, and occasionally went to Boston. District and Chen Zishan were two days apart, and both of them had been looking forward to this summer vacation for a long time.After two days of rest in Boston, Zhang Lexing and Chen Zishan came to San Francisco, planning to go to Big Sur, the first destination of the trip.

Big Sur is located on Highway 1, which refers to the Panshan Coastal Highway about 150 kilometers from Carmel to San Simeon. It is about 200 kilometers away from San Francisco, and it takes about 2 hours to drive.It is said that the best season to come to Big Sur is autumn. It is not easy to encounter fog, and it is not as bleak as winter. In the thick autumn, the sea water is even more blue.

On this trip, Zhang Lexing drove the car himself, while the bodyguards drove two cars respectively, one behind the other for protection.Thanks to Yang Xinxin's great help for being able to drive the car. Under her secret special training, Zhang Lexing finally succeeded in breaking through his own mental barrier, passed the road test, and got the notebook.

The car passed Carmel, and there were almost no traces of human habitation on both sides of the road, only the vastness of the Pacific Ocean and winding mountain roads.The entire coastline is full of uncanny rocks, the sea water is very clear, beating the abrupt rocks, stirring up pieces of white waves.Seabirds flitted across the water in single file, while California vultures croaked and hovered in the air.Scene after scene is breathtaking, revealing a pristine natural beauty that has never been polluted.

Before coming here, Zhang Lexing had heard that the roads in Big Sur were very winding, steep, and even thrilling. It was a huge challenge for the weak-willed, the weak-hearted, and those with fear of heights. Although Zhang Lexing did not have these problems, for a novice Said that the difficulty of this road has exceeded imagination, and the speed of the car can't help but slow down. Fortunately, there are not many people coming to Big Sur this season, and there are even fewer cars passing by on the road. It's just a good time to enjoy the scenery.

Chen Zishan could happily enjoy the coastal scenery along the way, and even took photos along the way. Of course, at this time, she would eventually shout: "Stop...slow down...Okay, we can go."

But Zhang Lexing was not so lucky. As a driver, of course he couldn't be distracted all the time. In addition to the narrow road surface, he could see the cliffs and the sea on one side, and the rocks on the other side were in danger of falling, so he naturally had to be more careful.Fortunately, as one of the best scenic roads in the United States, the government has specially set up some viewing spots where you can park your car on the roadsides that are worth viewing. Every time you go to these places, Zhang Lexing will stop the car and enjoy them with Chen Zishan. A rare sight.

There are many interesting places in Big Sur. Along the way, Zhang Lexing and Chen Zishan have seen the heroic appearance of seals basking in the sun by the beach, admired the Bixby Bridge, which is known as the first in the history of bridge construction in the United States, and visited the rare seaside waterfall. I have watched the clouds and fog on the Big Sur Mountain, tasted the food and sea view of the RockyPoint restaurant, and experienced the feeling of camping in tents at night.Of course, in front of such a beautiful season and such a wonderful sea, the two of them naturally went to the sea to play a few times.

After spending two days in Big Sur, Zhang Lexing and Chen Zishan set off for Yosemite National Park (Yosemite National Park), which is located at the western foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in eastern California. It is now a good season to play, because the water volume of the waterfall is the largest at this time.

Covering an area of ​​2848 square kilometers, Yosemite is one of the most beautiful and most visited national parks in the western United States. The altitude ranges from 600 meters to 3966 meters. There are lawns, lakes and woods, as well as cliffs, canyons and snow-capped mountains.Waterfalls and wild flowers can be seen everywhere. Two rivers originate here, and California's most famous redwood grows here, so Yosemite has always been considered the most precious natural treasure in California.

Hearing that Zhang Lexing is coming to Yosemite, Yang Xinxin made a point of explaining as someone who has been there: "If you want to spend the night in Yosemite, you must not put food in the car, or the big bears that come out at night will tear down the car... ..."

After receiving the warning, Zhang Lexing would of course be vigilant. Unexpectedly, when he was resting in broad daylight, a squirrel appeared out of nowhere, stole a piece of cake from Chen Zishan's backpack and ran away, waiting for Zhang Lexing After thinking about it with Chen Zishan, the thief squirrel had long since disappeared.

Fortunately, the scenery here is very beautiful. The uncanny cliffs, the various waterfalls flying down, and the thousand-year-old American pine all make people feel very comfortable, especially a grassland in the canyon. The suffocating beauty made the two of them completely forget the unhappiness of losing food, so that the cunning squirrel succeeded again.

……

Playing until the last day of June, the two reluctantly ended their happy journey and returned to San Francisco. After a short rest, they boarded the flight to BJ.

On the second day back to BJ, after breakfast, Zhang Lexing sat in the car driven by Ma Guanghai and first picked up Wang Mengyao, and then went to the Beihang Building where the creative workshop is located, intending to see the development of the game.

On the way, Wang Mengyao opened her notebook and reported the recent situation: "Boss, we are investigating the piracy of "Legend of Sword and Fairy", and the sources we have obtained are mainly from Guangdong and Fujian. All three versions have appeared, among which the pirated version in mainland China is the most popular. However, due to the unsatisfactory popularity of optical drives, the sales volume of pirated versions is roughly three times that of the original version. However, it is estimated that there will be room for growth in the future... ..."

"Well, you've done a good job. At present, the country doesn't pay enough attention to this area. We can only grasp more of the situation ourselves, and then act when we need it."

Wang Mengyao continued: "Boss, the PS version of "Legend of Sword and Fairy" is currently under intense production by Tianzhiyuan, and it is expected to officially enter the RB market before the end of the year...

After completing the game development task, the members of the "Legend of Sword and Fairy" project team have disbanded and returned to the creative workshop.Due to the new graduates from Fengyun Game Academy, the number of developers in the creative workshop has risen to 350, including 70 planners, 164 programmers, 62 artists, 42 QA, 12 music...

射击游戏《怒火坦克》开发已完成，计划7月9日上市。模拟经营游戏《开心农场》和冒险游戏《C+侦探》开发已完成，计划7月16日上市。FPS游戏《血战上海滩》正在进行最终测试，预计8月15日上市。即时战略游戏《三国风云》和卡片对战游戏《神话》还在继续开发中……

Tianzhiyuan plans to launch 15 games this month, including 10 SFC games, 3 GB games, and 2 PS games..."

"Tianzhiyuan is full of veterans. I'm more at ease. I came back this time mainly to see the situation of the creative workshop. By the way, when will the seminar of the China Game Industry Association be held?"

Wang Mengyao said after a little thought: "Boss, the seminar will be held on July 7, that is, two days later, and the conference will last for three days."

"Well, then you will go with me."

Wang Mengyao closed the notebook, and suddenly remembered something again, and said: "Oh, boss, Sister Yan told me that two places have been selected for the villa you need. When you are free, go and have a look."

"Well, if you have nothing to do tomorrow, go and have a look." Zhang Lexing nodded and said.

……

The car stopped at the entrance of Beihang Building. After Zhang Lexing and Wang Mengyao got off the car, they walked through the lobby and took the elevator to the floor where the creative workshop was located.There are not as many people in the company as Zhang Lexing imagined. The "Legend of Black Stone" project team led by Mike Ronald has not returned from other places, and the project teams of "Fury Tank", "Happy Farm" and "C+ Detective" have completed development After that, I took a one-week vacation, except for a few people, most of them have not come back yet. The development work of the "Blood Battle on the Bund" project team has been completed, but because it is still in testing, in order to prevent accidents, it did not leave.

After coming to the company, Zhang Lexing first went to the "Three Kingdoms" project team, intending to see the progress of their balance adjustment. After all, this is the first real-time strategy game of the creative workshop, and Zhang Lexing hopes to do better.

I didn't see Ren Haoqiang and the gang of planners in the work room, and I found out that the gang had gone to the conference room for a meeting after I went to the side to inquire.Walking to the door of the meeting room, because the door was not closed tightly, Zhang Lexing could clearly hear the sound of heated arguments coming from inside.

"This piece should not be designed like this, and a range limit should be added..."

"The damage output of the sword and shield hand needs to be reduced..."

"No, the defense of the sword and shield hand should be enhanced..."

"It shouldn't be changed like this, there must be a systematic overall adjustment..."

After standing outside the door for a few minutes, the voice inside the door seemed to be getting louder. Zhang Lexing reached out and pushed open the door of the meeting room and walked in.The debate in the conference room has gradually heated up. Everyone's faces are red, and no one has noticed that someone has walked in.

It wasn't until Zhang Lexing stood by the conference table for a while that everyone noticed, put down the topic they were arguing about, and hurriedly greeted Zhang Lexing.

Zhang Lexing actually understood, but deliberately pretended not to know, and asked, "What was everyone arguing about just now?"

After everyone looked at each other, Ren Haoqiang said, "Boss, we are studying the game balance of "Three Kingdoms"."

"Well, I remember that the bottom layer of "Three Kingdoms" seems to have some problems, how is the situation now?" Zhang Lexing asked.

Ren Haoqiang scratched his head in embarrassment, and said: "Boss, the previous "Three Kingdoms" was developed on the Kylin system. There are many parts that need to be modified due to problems in the underlying design. We plan to simply change it to Kylin Windows95."

"It's nothing, you can change it if you want." Zhang Lexing didn't mind, but seeing Ren Haoqiang's expression, there seemed to be more to come.

"There are many problems in the early design, the most prominent one is the balance of the game. The original system is very complicated, and it is very difficult to adjust. We are discussing whether to redesign, so the game modification has not been done yet." Ren Haoqiang seemed even more embarrassed.

"Then have you discussed a solution now?"

"We...we are discussing." The first time he took on a project, he didn't expect it to turn out like this. Ren Haoqiang's head almost buried under the table, and his voice became much quieter.

"Then tell me what is the main problem now?" Zhang Lexing asked.

"Boss, in order to make the game richer, we have designed a lot of arms, such as the most conventional light cavalry, heavy cavalry, archers, crossbowmen, sword and shield players, pikemen, scouts, volunteers, etc., and many special soldiers. Arms, such as Lv Bu's Bingzhou flying cavalry, Gao Shun's trapped camp, Gongsun Zan's white horse righteous follower, Cao Cao's tiger and leopard cavalry, Liu Bei's white-eared elite soldiers, and Sun Quan's Jiefan camp, etc. In addition, there are some such as ladders, nest cars, Attacking and defending equipment such as charging chariots, thunderbolt chariots, and ballistas. The more things are designed, the more factors need to be balanced, and some arms are involved with each other, and the result..." Ren Haoqiang shook his head and sighed.

Zhang Lexing originally only knew that there was a problem with the balance of "Three Kingdoms", but he didn't expect Ren Haoqiang to design such a complicated system when he was just a fledgling.

"By the way, I remember that the online game used to be a three-party battle. Is it still the same?" Zhang Lexing thought for a while and then asked.

"Well, it's like this. We originally considered Wei, Shu and Wu, but if 4 or more people are online, then there will be players using the same unit. In order to reduce this situation, we..." Ren Haoqiang After hesitating for a while, he said hesitantly: "We have added more forces to choose from, such as Gongsun Zan, Lu Bu, Yuan Shao, Ma Teng, Liu Biao, plus the original set of Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Ce (Sun Quan), there are a total of eight forces. There are several forces to choose from, and in order to highlight different characteristics, the arms become complicated."

Zhang Lexing finally understood this time, no wonder he wanted to come up with Bingzhou Flying Cavalry, Trapped Faction, and Baima Yicong. It turned out that this was the way it came out. He couldn't help but shook his head and said, "You guys have violated the balance setting. One of the big taboos is to make the game system design too complicated, no wonder the balance is always bad. Originally, the three parties didn’t need to be controlled, but you turned it into eight parties, and the workload didn’t increase exponentially.”

"Boss, what do you think we should do?" Ren Haoqiang heard that his boss is a senior game designer with more than ten years of experience, so he naturally asked this question.

"Well, to put it simply, it is to reduce the complexity. Don't design so many forces. In the future, the mainstream of real-time strategy should be the three-party forces. In this way, there will be much less content to be balanced. We will consider adding new forces when we are done. Step by step..." Zhang Lexing said, thinking of "Warcraft 3", although "Three Kingdoms" originally referred to "Dune 2", or it was developing in the direction of "StarCraft", but due to Generals are indispensable in the Three Kingdoms game, so in fact, the most suitable combat performance in "Three Kingdoms" should be similar to the combat mode of the hero squad in "Warcraft 3".

Thinking of this, Zhang Lexing came to the whiteboard in the conference room, and said while gesturing: "This is how I think about it. I will do it in a few steps. Judging from the current computer performance, the game should not be too complicated, otherwise the operating efficiency will be a problem." There is a problem, so "Three Kingdoms" can be designed as a series. First of all, in the first part of the game, we mainly focus on the three parties, and then add some features of the Three Kingdoms game, such as the granary (providing food for generals and soldiers on the battlefield) , the destruction of the granary will greatly reduce the combat effectiveness of the troops within a certain period of time), villages (provide population, the basis for recruiting soldiers), training grounds (places for recruiting various soldiers), etc., the scale of battle is based on each unit consisting of 1 general plus Composed of up to 20 soldiers, each faction can control 3 to 5 troops. Reduce the number of arms. The conventional arms are divided into cavalry, archers, sword and shield hands, and pikemen. There are restraint designs between each other, such as cavalry against Sword and shield hand has additional damage, and then each side provides two special arms. For example, Cao Cao can have tiger and leopard cavalry and tiger guard battalion, Liu Bei has white-eared elite soldiers and Wudang flying army, etc. Special arms have strong combat effectiveness , and have certain special abilities, for example, tiger and leopard cavalry can disperse the opponent's troops and cause short-term dizziness...

In this part, our design focuses on small-scale contact warfare in the wild, and does not involve the common city attack and defense warfare during the Three Kingdoms period. The field base is designed according to the image of the camp.You can't learn from "Dune 2" in resource collection. It must have the characteristics of the Three Kingdoms. Some villages can be designed on the map. After the occupation, you can get funds, food, and population. You need a granary to store food. The growth rate of funds, food, and population is related to the village level...

In the next part, we will add more battles related to city attack and defense, the scale of the battle can be further increased, and the scale of the troops under control can also be increased..."

After gesturing on paper with several other planners and discussing with each other for a while, Ren Haoqiang nodded and said: "If this is the case, the content to be considered has been reduced a lot, and it should be much less difficult to think about." Several other planners also nodded in agreement.

"Well, you guys should think about it first, how to improve it. This time, when designing the system, we must carefully consider it, pay attention to the modularity of game elements, maintain a coherent design purpose, and pay attention to complexity. Do a good job of controlling and adjusting. Well, you should do it first." After speaking, Zhang Lexing said goodbye to everyone and left the conference room. He knew that many things are easier said than done, and game planning is not something that can be accomplished overnight. , it wouldn't urge them to come up with the finished product right away.

(End of this chapter)