Urban Super Alien Technology

Chapter 97 Triple A Masterpiece
Speaking a little dry, Yang Kaiwen took a sip of the tea, which Zhang Fei poured for him just now.

He said that out of excitement, he waved his hand to stop Zhang Fei from interrupting, and continued to describe the world in his mind: "Every aspect of the world of "On Sword" must make people feel real and credible. Believe it. Its beautiful, meticulously drawn graphics allow players to create their own, unforgettable adventures - each one unique."

"In a prosperous ancient city, players can fly over the walls of the city, just be careful of the officers and soldiers' pursuit, or get drunk with friends in restaurants and teahouses, of course, you can also sit in teahouses and listen to what's happening in the rivers and lakes. What major events have happened, and what matters are related to you."

"There are countless secrets hidden in the mountains and rivers. Perhaps under a certain cliff, there is hidden martial arts knowledge. It is not a fantasy to become a peerless master overnight."

"People are in the rivers and lakes, and they can't help themselves. Of course, you can also choose to hide in the city and be a tourist with peace of mind. You can visit mountains and rivers, visit famous mountains, and enjoy a free life."

"Vivid weather effects and day and night changes have been added to the game, and there are many interesting details waiting for players to discover - of course, occasionally you will meet a martial arts senior, who may pass you a trick and a half."

While listening to Yang Kaiwen's narration, he looked at the thick planning book.The planning book is very thick, but it is still not detailed enough. After all, it is still difficult to describe his ideal world with one person's efforts.

"Sounds like fun!" Zhang Fei couldn't help admiring.

Yang Kaiwen asked eagerly: "So, Mr. Zhang, do you agree?"

Zhang Fei didn't answer directly, but raised the plan in Yang's hand: "This investment is not small, Lao Yang, you are going to make a 3A masterpiece."

In the game industry, AAA is used to refer to game projects with top development levels and extremely high promotion budgets.And when the game comes out, in order to maintain its 3A title, it must be very commercially successful and have an excellent reputation.

Yang Kaiwen said cautiously: "Actually, the budget doesn't need to be that high. I also have some money here. If it's really not possible, I can also contribute part of it myself."

This plan has become his heart disease, for it, Yang Kaiwen would rather spend some of the money he has worked so hard to save for so many years.

Looking at Yang Kaiwen's cautious and tentative appearance, Zhang Fei couldn't help but feel a little sad.Now in domestic game planning, there are very few people who still hold this kind of thinking. Lao Yang is already a heterogeneous of heterogeneous.

With a 3A-level game planning proposal, any company in China may not easily pass the test.

Without him, the ever-increasing development costs, ever-changing development technologies, and demanding players make the production of 3A games more difficult.

《巫师3》300人做了3年，用了3200W美元是业内众所周知的事。这3200W美元还只是开发成本，宣传成本甚至要高于开发成本。

If IPs with tens of millions of sales such as "Call of Duty" and "Grand Theft Auto" cooperate with the developer's strength, then the entire development team may reach thousands of people, using the resources of the entire company's global development studio.In addition to marketing costs and labor costs, it is not uncommon for the entire development cost to exceed hundreds of millions of dollars.With such a scale of investment, if you want to recover the development cost, you basically have to reach the top ten results in the sales list.That is to say, most of the works at the bottom of the pyramid are traded at a loss.

Time cost is also an important part of development cost. Everyone knows that the development cycle of "GTA5" is 5 years. However, the first generation of "Assassin's Creed" took seven years from project approval to production before a new IP prototype was made on the basis of "Prince of Persia". to perfection.

The long development cycle is also an important part of the risk of 3A game development.Long nights lead to frequent dreams, changes in the market model, changes in the company's operating conditions, and conflicts between developers' ideas. During the development time of several years, any problems in any link may have an indelible impact on project development.

Therefore, even those big foreign companies, such as Ubisoft and EA, are cautious when approving a 3A game project.One wrong step can cost more than just money.

The regret that "Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain" was not completed is well known. After investing $8000 million in development funds from Konami, there is still no guarantee that it will be launched on the company's expected time.Even if it goes on the market as scheduled, even if it can sell 500 million copies, it will only be worth paying back.Under such a premise, the conflict between Konami and Hideo Kojima is not incomprehensible.

With such a difficult development process, it is no wonder that when describing the difficulty of developing 3A games, some people in the industry once said that "the development process of no 3A game is smooth and without twists and turns, even the team with strong ability and senior qualifications is the same."

Moreover, the slow growth of the market is also an important factor in the difficulty of 3A game development.Compared with mobile game players, console players who have long gaming experience and pursue gaming experience are persistent, simple, demanding and fanatical.

They will yell at the developer because the quality of the game does not meet expectations, and they will cry simply because of the trailer of a favorite game; He will give generously from time to time; he will desperately complain about the flaws and slots of the game script, and he will also be moved to tears at the game theme concert.They pay attention to the game experience itself, pursue freshness and excitement, long for fair challenges, and are eager for new technologies.

And decades of development experience have made console game developers very familiar with their long-term food and clothing parents.How many players will play your own game, how much capital you need to invest, and how much profit you can get, all can be estimated by console game developers.

Developing and cultivating groups with new behavior patterns and consumption concepts can certainly bring benefits to the company, but it requires a lot of resources and time to experiment, even for large-scale international game developers. It is not an easy task. accomplished.

Therefore, many game manufacturers are keen to make new year's goods.Because this is a relatively safe way to make money for them, and launching new game types rashly will take huge risks.

This is especially true for small manufacturers. It is like a gamble for them to make a 3A game rashly.

(End of this chapter)