There is a Problem with This Online Game Planning

  Chapter 454 is a genius

  For the next arrangement of the PC department.

  Lin Yao fell into a tangle.

   In fact, managing a company is really not easy. Even with the help of Mu Wanqing and her team in specific matters, just formulating strategies will give Lin Yao a headache...

  Because with the expansion of the company, she felt that the stage of making whichever game makes money has passed...

  For example, online games can be made now, and Lin Yao actually has ideas.

  But now the online game that Lin Yao wants to make is too big... Once the project starts, it means that a large number of staff in the PC department will be completely locked in one project.

And now the PC department has a lot of staff locked up, two MOBA game projects, "Fantasy Online", "Breakout", "BattleRoyale"...The personnel of these departments have been transferred twice, but they are still very large, almost Occupies more than half of the entire PC department.

  After all, online games are long-term operations. Maybe this version has just been updated, and the next version will be on the agenda after a few days of rest.

  Then the cycle repeats.

  The staff of these project teams can't do other things at all. Even if Lin Yao transfers these skilled staff, she must immediately add the corresponding number of people to the project team.

   Otherwise, the online game will collapse.

   If Linmu Studio insists on making online game projects now, it is not impossible, but the stand-alone and Vaporwave game platforms are bound to be greatly affected.

   After all, half of the PC workers who were finally squeezed out, most of them will be locked again...

  The era of mobile Internet is approaching, and the switch has been released for less than a year. The Vaporwave game platform still needs to prevent the backstabs of big players such as Gilbert and Dreamland.

  In this case, it is really not a good choice to make online games and reduce the available project team of the PC department of Linmu Studio.

  If it's just an online game company, then Lin Yao doesn't have to think so much, just do online games, and it's not that it doesn't make money.

But now she has to consider the Vaporwave game platform, the influence of the mobile Internet era, and even switch. After all, the host product department is completely dependent on the first-party masterpiece, and the pressure is too great. She also needs to consider the PC department to supplement the console. First party masterpiece...

   It's quite distressing.

   "...Headquarters."

  Lin Yao looked around at the current location of Lin Mu's studio, lightly picked up a pen and tapped on the table.

  She actually intends to change this situation.

   But the venue is too restricted...

  However, the construction of the headquarters has been in preparation for so long, and it is estimated that it will be put into use by the end of the year or early next year. At that time, she will probably be able to integrate departments more easily, and online games and even mobile games with multiple lines will become possible.

   Of course, the premise is.

   Staff should be adequate.

  Otherwise, the venue problem is solved, and the personnel will have to be trained again in the end, which may still be very painful.

  Where did that person come from? Enrollment expansion?

  How to train after the enrollment expansion?

  The people in the host product department must not move.

  At present, there are only usable project teams left in the PC department, leaving aside the staff who are locked in online game projects, the staff who maintain the Vaporwave game platform, and various miscellaneous personnel such as plug-ins, Greenlight, and third-party game approval departments.

   At most three games can be started at the same time. If it is a large-scale 3A, it is estimated that there are at most two games.

   This is the current team of Linmu Studio.

  So in addition to expanding enrollment, ready-made foreign aid is also very important.

  For example, the two studios of Conglong and Xihan acquired last year...

   But these two studios have a problem.

  That is, they can't take the lead yet.

  After they joined Linmu Studio last year, although they were said to be in charge of game production independently, in fact, 80% of the core personnel of the two game projects the two of them were in charge of came from within Linmu Studio.

  In addition, such as art settings and visual effects, Lin Yao intervened.

  The two studios of "Dark Soul" also participated, but the main force was still within Linmu Studio, and they were only responsible for some modeling and map production.

  Don’t talk about the first party, it’s just a handyman at the moment.

   Now it’s time to give them some exercise…

  Lin Yao lowered her head slightly, her thoughts began to diverge.

   Jumped from what the PC division was supposed to do to the two acquired studios.

  After all, these two studios have been mentioning that they want to be in charge of the project, and Linmu Studio does need more manpower.

certainly.

  Since we want to train them, we should try our best to avoid the situation where 80% of the core staff are responsible for making games like last time but come from within Linmu Studio...

  It can’t train them that way, and it’s not realistic for them to make masterpieces independently at the beginning. Although there is a plan for the completion mechanism, the development process of the masterpiece, the grasp of the project progress, and the various choices in the game development process all need to be tempered.

  Although Linmu Studio seems to have made great strides, Linmu Studio has made a fortune step by step from online games... The game development experience has been accumulated step by step, and Lin Yao is watching the whole process, which is completely two situations.

Um…

  Lin Yao stopped tapping the pen, and after a pause, her eyes lit up slightly, and suddenly she had a good idea!

   Reasoning game, or rather, action-adventure game.

   Also, 2D games.

The former can mainly exercise the 3D game production ability of the acquired studio. As for why Lin Yao chose reasoning games, because Lin Yao has ready-made stories, and this type is the least prone to mistakes. The two studios of Long and Xihan are free to play.

  As long as the story is interpreted according to what she gave.

  In this way, no matter how the gameplay is, at least the story level should satisfy the players.

  Because the most important thing about reasoning games is the story! As long as the story satisfies the players, the gameplay can be used as a training point for the two studios of Conglong and Xihan.

  This kind of experience of making a finished 3D game in-house without support is very precious. It can not only be fully familiar with the engine from the beginning, but also learn to think independently, and the pressure will not be so great.

  In addition, this kind of reasoning game, the picture does not have to be too good, and it can help the host to supplement the first-party masterpiece...

   And most importantly, this can also support IP.

   As for the latter 2D game, it is a supplementary option.

  For small-scale games, the PC department of Linmu Studio can do it, but it feels a bit inappropriate, and it feels like killing a chicken with a sledgehammer.

  Like those great indie games... Overcooked, Dead Cells, Hades, and after Dark Souls came out, Hollow Knight could be a genre extension.

   These can all be considered for the acquired studio.

  As for the project team of Linmu Studio Headquarters, in the case of acquiring a studio to make games...you can loosen the shackles a little bit, and make some masterpieces that don't consider Switch at all.

Um.

  That's about it!

  Lin Yao sorted out her thoughts, the more she thought about it, the more feasible she felt!

  …

  In the afternoon, Lin Yao found Mu Wanqing and told her about her thoughts.

   "A reasoning game?"

  Mu Wanqing was holding the materials she was going to take to the financial department in her arms, and was a little surprised after hearing Lin Yao's words.

   "Yes." Lin Yao nodded.

   "This type of game...doesn't seem to exist on the market yet. What kind of game do you want to make?"

  Mu Wanqing pondered for a moment, then asked.

   "I only have one idea, what to do specifically, I plan to only give the story, and let the other two acquired studios play the role first, and then intervene if it is impossible."

  Lin Yao was taken aback when she heard Mu Wanqing's words, and then she remembered that there really didn't seem to be such reasoning games on the market.

  In other words, there is no game dedicated to this type of game. Many games have reasoning content, but there is indeed no game dedicated to this type of game.

"what?"

  Hearing Lin Yao's words, Mu Wanqing was even more surprised.

   "In order to train them, our headquarters will of course check the quality of the final game and provide relevant support, but I hope that the game can be completed independently by them."

  Lin Yao explained: "Because we will be short of people even more in two years at most, and it will be too slow to train developers at that time. We must prepare in advance to avoid the development of developers."

  Lin Yao does have such worries.

  Bluestar engine is currently being updated continuously with the efforts of the engine team.

   But no matter how powerful the engine is, it’s useless without skilled developers. No one will use it. In the end, no matter how good the concept is, the game will become “Battlefield 2042”…

   "I see... what do you need me to do?"

  As the chief steward of the entire Linmu studio, Mu Wanqing knew what Lin Yao was worried about, so she quickly nodded and asked.

Lin Yao thought for a while, and said, "Help me ask the heads of two studios to come over, and then look for some mature studios. I plan to make a growth line for this reasoning series, and then there will be supplementary 2D games, so We need a lot of people... On the one hand, Linmu Studio will expand its own recruitment, but on the other hand, I hope you can find some studios who are willing to join us, as the first party, this is a little faster than recruiting people."

"I understand…"

  Mu Wanqing nodded slightly again, and then asked curiously, "But I also have a question."

   "Huh? What?"

   "What kind of reasoning story do you plan to tell in the reasoning game?"

  Mu Wanqing looked really curious.

  After all, the girl in front of me doesn't seem to match the word reasoning at all...

"I'm thinking."

  Lin Yao flicked her ponytail lightly, but did not give a clear answer.

   She was really thinking.

  When it comes to mystery novels, there are quite a lot of factions, such as the authentic, social, tough guy, court...

  Among them, the Benge School also has a bunch of Sub Schools.

  Lin Yao actually doesn’t understand very well. She is most familiar with the most classic style, that is, Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series, Agatha Christie’s Poirot series, etc.

  The court sent her to barely understand, a reversal of referee.

  Oh, there is another social mystery film that impressed her very much, that is Detective Di Renjie.

No joke.

Although you can argue about the faction of detective Di Renjie's reasoning, as long as you discuss it, you have to admit that in the first part of this TV series, the cracking of the case is completely evolved according to the structure similar to Sherlock Holmes, focusing on reasoning. Then there are some martial arts elements and conspiracy theories mixed in as gimmicks.

  The suspense setting is very successful and fascinating.

  Hmm...it seems to work!

  Lin Yao thought of Di Renjie, for some reason, suddenly felt that it was quite interesting to restore the most special dynasty Wu Zhou in the game...

   And this can also export a wave of culture...

  Sherlock Holmes, Di Renjie.

  One uses the Wu Zhou era, known as the legacy of Zhenguan in Eastern history, as the background of the story, and the other uses the Victorian era, known as the Golden Age in the West, as the story background. As long as the game is not made into a text AVG, it feels really interesting.

   I don’t know how to play the game...

   But forget it!

   Practice for the acquired studio, give it a try!

   Maybe it will have a miraculous effect, and it may even become a new game series of Linmu Studio.

  Lin Yao thought about it, and the girl in black silk glasses couldn't care less about it, so she turned around, opened the document on the computer, and started typing.

  Mu Wanqing froze for a moment, then looked at the girl's back, smiled gently, turned her head and left.

  …

  June 18th.

  Lin Yao met with the heads of Conglong and Xihan studios as scheduled, and told them what she said.

   "Huh? Reasoning game? How to do reasoning game?"

  After listening to Lin Yao's words, the two responsible persons were ecstatic at first, because Lin Yao was finally willing to give them a chance...but then, they were a little confused.

  According to Lin Yao, the two games will be developed by their studio completely freely this time, and they will be positioned as reasoning games.

  The time span between the two games is quite large.

   One story is set in the Wu Zhou period, and the other is in the Victorian period... just, it feels very inconsistent.

   "..."

  Lin Yao was silent for a moment after listening to the words of the two persons in charge. Although it was said that they were allowed to play freely, there were no game types, and it was really difficult for them to let them play freely...

She thought for a while, and then said: "I will give you the script of the game first, and then after you read it, think about the type of game adaptation for yourself. Don't worry, try to think about it yourself. I have three requirements. .

  First, pay attention to characterization.

  Second, in the game, action gameplay and even shooting gameplay can be added, but the game must focus on solving puzzles, not putting the cart before the horse.

  Third, the performance and story of the game should be put first. Don’t make it too difficult for the players. The player experience is the most important. "

Lin Yao explained her request, and then said: "As for the direction, I can also give one, but if you have different opinions, you can also raise it—I think the direction is like this. The main line of the script is the main line of the game, and the case is the main line." Leads connect the entire game, and the player’s troubles can be set on the way to obtain clues, adding some difficulty to this level.”

   "On the way to get clues?"

  Hearing Lin Yao's words, the heads of the two studios were thoughtful.

  Lin Yao added: "Well, in these two games, there will be the concept of criminal groups, do you understand?"

   "..." The two persons in charge looked at each other and reluctantly nodded.

"That's good. Let's read the script and think about it. Don't put too much pressure on this game. While ensuring the storyline, let go of it. The most important thing is to be familiar with a 3D game. The production process of a masterpiece."

   "..."

   After hearing this, the two persons in charge had strange expressions on their expressions.

   seems a bit disappointed.

  Because according to Lin Yao, these two games seem to be for them to practice their hands, and they belong to the group that was sacrificed...

   And the story is the first, it really doesn't match the concept of the game at all.

  Just... I don't think it will be very popular with players.

  Lin Yao also saw their thoughts, but didn't say much. After they read the story, they would understand why they put the story first.

  This practice is indeed the main purpose, but it is really not a sacrifice. The reasoning game does not rely on the story, does it rely on the gameplay?

   "Is it possible to make it as difficult as "Dark Soul"?" Suddenly, Wang Mang, the person in charge of Conglong Studio, asked.

"Can't!"

  Lin Yao immediately replied: "Are you letting the player solve the case or let the player die... The point is the story! The player experience!"

   "I see, I'm sorry, playing "Dark Soul" is a bit of a brain, it's really fun..."

  Wang Mang said a little embarrassingly.

   "Okay, I've finished talking, now there is one question left, which one do you want to be responsible for?"

  Lin Yao picked up the script from the table in front of him: "The Victorian period? Or the Wu Zhou period?"

  The heads of the two studios looked at each other.

  Each said the era they were interested in.

   Just staggered.

pretty good.

  Lin Yao handed the scripts to each other respectively, and then said: "Okay, you guys go back and have a look, and then write a plan."

"OK."

   The two stood up, looked at the script in their hands, and left the meeting room slightly disappointed.

  Lin Yao watched the two leave, raised her hands, stretched vigorously, smiled, and then left the meeting room.

All right.

  The arrangements of the two studios are settled, and then it is the turn of the most important production work of the headquarters—well, the game planning book of Kirby Star.

  Lin Yao returned to her seat, and as soon as she sat down, she opened a new document, and typed the words Kirby of the Star.

   Kirby was a very famous image in her previous life.

  After all, she is old, and her image is really cute. It's the kind of cuteness that can be felt even in pixels.

   Kirby has many games, but she only had one 3D work in her previous life, and that was "Kirby: Discovery".

   Tell the truth.

  Lin Yao has played many games.

  But the game "Kirby: Discovery" is still the most special experience among the games she has played.

   Many people like to compare this game with "Super Mario Odyssey", but in fact the two are not comparable at all.

  The most conspicuous label of the Super Mario IP is platform jumping, which means that the difficulty of the game will not be low... Maybe in the eyes of many players, Odyssey is not difficult, but for ordinary players, it is really difficult.

Moreover, in the Odyssey, after Mario dies, he will usually be resurrected at the last resurrection point. In the early stage, Mario only has three blood bars, so it is easy to go through a long level after death. If you are an impatient player, It can be really uncomfortable.

   But "Kirby", the previous games are hard to say, but "Kirby: Discovery", there is really no difficulty...

  First of all, this game has difficulty options, namely Spring Breeze Mode and Wild Mode, but even the Wild Mode is not wild, as long as players who have played a little bit of the game can easily pass the level.

  And in the wild mode, as long as the player dies three times, the game will immediately pop up a reminder, asking the player to switch to the spring mode, looking very worried about the player's frustration.

  In addition, in the game, Kirby's health bar is not like Mario, which has three blood bars, but a large health bar... and on the map, there are really a lot of resources for replenishing blood.

   Most importantly, Kirby can inhale air to float, which again almost completely avoids fall damage.

  These settings for fear of player frustration, all added together, combined with Kirby’s game of devouring and copying enemies, makes the player’s gaming experience very wonderful.

  Lin Yao played in Spring Breeze mode, and she really didn’t encounter any difficulties at all!

  She received the game that day, and cleared the level in one night. The whole process only took ten hours...

   But in the ten hours, she has gained a lot of happiness, because Kirby is cute, because the level design is very good, because it feels very interesting, because the game is... very fun.

   It can be said that the design concept of this game is completely opposite to that of "Dark Soul".

   Easy, fun, and pure fun!

   This is why Lin Yao chose to use this game to replace "Dark Soul".

   Take it as... comforting a wave of players.

   While thinking about it, Lin Yao lightly tapped the keyboard and typed out the first word of the new game planning book.

  …

  June 19th.

  The weather is getting hotter and hotter.

no way.

  Summer has arrived.

   And the hot weather will inevitably make players feel irritable. At this time, "Dark Soul" is used to cool down... it is perfect.

   After all, being so angry that your hands and feet are cold is also a cool experience.

   And this day.

  The sales of "Dark Soul" also officially exceeded three million...

  As more and more players clear the level, there are more and more discussions about gameplay and plot.

   Especially the plot.

  Although in "Dark Soul", most of the stories about the story only have some fragmented information, and the game doesn't even have a clear main story.

  But as long as players play the game, they will inevitably come into contact with those fragmented information, such as seeing the name of a certain boss, seeing the description of a certain item, seeing a flooded city, seeing a scattered battlefield...

  Players may not care about it most of the time, and choose to ignore the story countless times, but there will always be one time when the player finally pushes through the map, sits on the bonfire, and when checking the equipment, he will suddenly think—‘Why? '

  Why was Little Lund flooded? Who is that festering creature? Why did the giant wolf Schiff fight with himself?

  Once these questions come out, it is basically impossible to disappear, because the player's curiosity has already been aroused.

  After all, the same things, those obtained through painstaking efforts, will make people feel that they have higher value subjectively... In "Dark Soul", it is also not easy to collect fragments of the whole story.

  These factors, plus the world view of the game itself is very large and dark...

   The more curious the player is, what happened in this world?

Then.

  Psychologists were born here...

  They tirelessly collected various props in the game, and then tried their best to figure out the complete story line of the game.

   And more and more players, after clearing the game, saw relevant discussions and joined in.

  In the end, relying on brain supplementation and certain associations, the players restored the stories of most of the popular characters in the game.

but.

  About the complete story line of the game, many players are still a little puzzled.

  Because I feel, no matter whether it is the ending of passing fire or extinguishing fire, it seems... a bit unfinished.

  I always feel like there is still a story.

  So after sorting out this conclusion, many players are discussing whether Lin Yao is ready for a sequel...

   "Dah! Don't make a sequel! Although I want to say this...but I still want to play."

   "Me too, I seem to be spoiled by Lin Yao..."

   "Look at the overseas forums. Overseas players have started to petition for a sequel. It's not just us who want to play."

   "Lin Yao seems to have hidden something, so let's continue with the sequel, can't I buy it..."

   "It's over, everyone on the forum is broken, and they are looking forward to the sequel of Dark Souls, what's the matter? Is it easy to take the pain?"

   "A lot of people have suffered less... Hey, forget it, it doesn't make sense to those of you who don't play games. If you have played games, you will know."

   "It is estimated that the next game of Linmu Studio will be a sequel... Lin Yao has become dark and can't go back."

   "..."

   Forum.

  Not long after the game was released, players began to discuss the sequel...

  Lin Yao couldn't laugh or cry when she saw it.

  Continue fart...

   "This is the proposal for "Kirby the Star". Take a look and tell me if you have any questions." Lin Yao handed over the plan for "Kirby the Star" to Zhu Nianqiao.

   I have to say, the completion mechanism is really easy to use... faster than writing a script.

  Zhu Nianqiao heard Lin Yao's words, and immediately took it over, then quickly flipped through the planning book, and sighed while flipping through it: "It's so cute!!"

   "Yes." Lin Yao was absent-minded.

   "I can't tell that this is something drawn by a senior who draws creatures like gluttonous dragons!"

"Um."

   "I really want to see the player's reaction!"

"Um."

   "Sister, marry me!"

   "Um...huh? Get off!"

  In the middle of speaking, Lin Yao reacted suddenly, her voice suddenly rose, and then gave Zhu Nianqiao a chestnut, flicked her ponytail, turned her head and left.

  Zhu Nianqiao looked at Lin Yao's back and smiled lightly, senior sister is so cute!

  …

  Although Lin Yao also looks forward to the player's reaction.

   But game production takes time...

   There is no point in thinking too much before this. With this time, why not think about what the PC department of Linmu Studio headquarters will do.

Yes.

   After making a circle, Lin Yao went back again...

  Although the idea of ​​reasoning game has been finalized, it is the work of two studios, Conglong and Xihan.

  The next development plan of the project team of the headquarters of Linmu Studio has not yet been determined.

  Lin Yao has some ideas, but she still needs to think about it.

  In the second half of the year, she plans to start working on two games at the same time.

   A "Civilization" that focuses on turn-based strategy.

   A "Left 4 Dead" that focuses on multiplayer cooperation.

   As for why these two games were chosen, it is very simple.

  This kind of game... There are basically no games on the market, and if there are any, they are very old, and there are almost no substitutes.

  Lin Yao wants to build a game moat on the Vaporwave game platform to prepare for possible backstabs in the future.

  These two games, together with the reasoning game, which is considered unique in this world, are estimated to attract many players.

certainly.

  After this set of combined punches, it is estimated that Linmu Studio will be busy.

  Speaking of...

  How do you see the script from the directors of Long and Xihan studios? Why haven't you replied yet?

  Lin Yao walked out of the elevator, suddenly thought of this, and was a little confused.

  …

at the same time.

   Just when Lin Yao was thinking about the heads of the two first-party studios, Conglong and Xihan...

   From Dragon Studios.

  The person in charge, Wang Mang, slowly closed the script in his hand, and then heaved a sigh of relief.

   Next...

   With a loud roar, it rang.

   "Fuck!? Boss, why don't you write a novel!?"

at the same time.

  Western Han Studio.

  The person in charge, Zhang Tian, ​​was also holding the script and was so engrossed that he couldn't even hear his subordinates knocking on the door.

until.

  The employee encountered an urgent matter and couldn't wait, so he opened the door and walked in.

  Zhang Tiancai suddenly came back to his senses, like waking up from a dream.

   "Boss, you just..."

  The employee saw Zhang Tian looking up, looked at him blankly, and was about to speak.

   "Lin Yao, the boss of our headquarters! He is a genius!"

  Zhang Tian spoke suddenly and interrupted her roughly.

   "Huh?" The employee was stunned.

   "No wonder the story is the main thing! That's it! It really works!!" Zhang Tian looked at the script in his hand with a face full of astonishment, raised his volume slightly, and ignored the staff at all.

   Do you think this kind of large chapter is acceptable? Or is it better to develop separately?

  (end of this chapter)