Bao Xu paused for a moment and continued: "Some professional terms in fighting games, such as 'Li Hui', 'Selection', etc., they often emphasize not one thing, but a very broad and very general concept.
, and the strength of a player lies in the mastery and flexible use of these abilities."
"For example, the concept of "Li Hui" is difficult to translate. It generally refers to all the actions you take before attacking the opponent or defending against the opponent's attack. Whether it is walking back and forth, containing or deceiving, it can all be regarded as part of "Li Hui".
"
"In other words, the purpose of immediate retaliation is to do everything possible to make the situation into a situation that is beneficial to oneself, and to put the other party into a more unfavorable situation."
"If you really can't understand it, you can roughly understand it as the pre-attack preparation ability that includes awareness and operation, just like you use frequent small movement deception skills in MOBA games to lure the enemy to an area that is beneficial to you.
This behavior of the terrain.”
"So, although action games like "Return to the Shore" are also very painful, their growth curve is still relatively scientific. At most, it is a little difficult to get started. Once you get on the right track, you will gradually adapt."
"Fighting games are different. The starting point of its growth curve is very low, the growth is very slow, and the upper limit is far away. In this process, it is difficult for you to accurately evaluate how much stronger you have become. It is very likely that you will be killed when you meet a big boss.
I was so abused that I doubted my life.”
"Compared with action games where you can become stronger by backing up, fighting games are not just about backing up or practicing reaction speed and rubbing moves. They also require a lot of targeted practice, and many times even use muscles.
Memory breaks down each action into frames."
"If we compare from the data, many players can become proficient in a game like "Return to the Shore" after playing it for more than thirty hours, and become a boss after a hundred hours. If you add more time, it is nothing more than speedrunning or killing the boss in seconds.
.”
"But fighting games are different. One hundred hours is normal, one thousand hours may still be bloody torture, three thousand hours, five thousand hours, there is no cap."
Yu Fei couldn't help but be stunned: "Five thousand hours..."
He simply made a calculation.
Assuming that you play every day for an average of five hours, then it will take three years to play for 5,000 hours.
If you play for an hour a day on average, it will take more than ten years.
It's scary to think about it.
Although there is such a thing as the "10,000 hours rule", it is discussing some very complex and advanced professional fields.
Games are different. Even if you really squeeze out so much time, it will always be boring and lose the fun. After all, it does not have the depth of the professional field.
The key is that after playing many games for hundreds of hours, the improvement you can get by practicing again is minimal.
Maybe my ability has reached its limit, or maybe the game’s mechanism doesn’t support it.
MOBA games and shooting games also have the feature of being replayable, but even in shooting games, you can still get one or two shots when you meet the boss.
When it comes to fighting games, it may be difficult to even move when you encounter a real boss.
Bao Xu continued: "So there is a very critical issue here. Fighting games must have a certain inheritance."
"Those real bosses have played thousands of hours in all fighting games. That's because all fighting games actually have something in common. The original experience can be used in new games and they can adapt to it.
You can get started quickly.”
"This group of people are the most loyal to fighting games, and they are also the most picky."
"If a fighting game conflicts with their existing experience, they will feel that the game is not good enough and will not play it at all."
"Of course, from another perspective, this also saves us some time in the design process: after knowing that certain traditions must be continued, we no longer need to worry about them."
"For example, the basic combat system, a series of operations such as making moves, can never be changed significantly."
Yu Fei nodded, and he became more deeply aware of the error of his original idea.
For fighting game players, rubbing moves has become a muscle memory and an instinctive reaction. In a hurry during the battle, pulling out a super kill in a few tenths of a second is a skill that every fighting player must master.
.
If these things that you have worked so hard to practice are not available in "Ghost General 2", then how can people come to play it?
Therefore, since "Oniji 2" is a fighting game, it cannot forcibly change the basic combat. It can only make minor repairs on the basis of traditional classic fighting games, and any changes must be made with caution.
The character's appearance, actions, moves, etc. can be changed, but the core cannot be changed, and the operation method cannot be changed basically.
The reason why game types are strictly divided into action games, side-scrolling games and fighting games is because each game has very clear limitations and cannot be confused.
Yu Fei thought for a while and said: "So, "Ghost General 2" still needs to continue the operation of a fighting game. The joystick must take into account movement, jumping and making moves, and it cannot become an action game operation method."
Bao Xu nodded: "Yes, that will fundamentally damage the fun of fighting games, and it can no longer be called a fighting game."
As he spoke, he took a game controller from Yu Fei's desk.
"A conventional game controller has four areas on the front, namely the left and right joysticks, the left functional area (up, down, left, and right), and the right functional area (ABXY). But in fighting games, only two areas are actually used.
"
"Place your right thumb on ABXY, and the right joystick is completely unused."
"Use the cross keys or the left joystick with your left thumb, it depends on personal habits, but no matter which one is used, the other one is not used."
"The dedicated controllers for fighting games on the market simply cancel all unnecessary joysticks and add two more buttons in the ABXY area."
"The fighting controller you hold in your hand has a floating cross-key, which is convenient for making moves. The controller is similar to a large game console and has a big joystick on the left side. The principle is the same, but the specific choice depends on the individual.
I like it."
"But regardless of the differences in form, they all have one thing in common, that is, the player's hand can only take care of two partitions, and the functions of these two partitions are very fixed."
Bao Xu explained it in great detail, and Yu Fei understood it quickly.
The pace of fighting games is so fast that you can't find time to do anything else.
In action games, the player can let his left thumb leave the left joystick to press the cross key to use props, or he can let his right thumb stop and press the attack key or roll key to move the right joystick to adjust the perspective.
Although it will affect the original action, after all, losing a few tenths of a second will not have very fatal consequences. Just take the time to do it during the battle.
But fighting games are different, because a mistake of a few tenths of a second may be caught by the opponent and cause huge losses, so the player cannot take his hand to press other keys.
Of course, the layout of fighting game controllers even appeared earlier than the current console controllers, and much earlier.
Therefore, the operating modes and controller styles of fighting games are in a unique state of their own, and are difficult to be fully compatible with current mainstream controller usage.
You can use mainstream controllers to simulate the controller operations of fighting games, but you cannot design the gameplay of fighting games according to the layout of mainstream controllers.
Yu Fei suddenly realized a problem: "Doesn't that mean that it can only walk back and forth on one plane? It actually becomes a two-dimensional creature?"
The cross keys of fighting games are used to move forward and backward, as well as jump and crouch.
In this way, there are no keys responsible for horizontal movement to the left or right side, that is, inside and outside the screen.
If it were in other 2D fighting games, this would certainly not be a big problem, but Mr. Pei said that "Ghost General 2" is a purely 3D game, and soldiers may come from all directions!
If you want to hit the creeps on the side, how should you hit them?
Bao Xu said: "This problem has actually been solved in some fighting games. The method is to press the up button twice. The effect is to move sideways to the left, that is, into the screen."
"It not only allows the character to dodge the opponent's attacks, but also allows the entire screen to rotate and move."
"In the same way, if you press the down button twice, you will move to the right, that is, out of the screen, and the camera will also rotate accordingly."
"We can go one step further and continue to move horizontally by double-clicking and holding down, or use a key combination to complete the horizontal movement."
This operation method is quite scientific. In fighting games, clicking, double-clicking and holding are different operations. For example, pressing and holding the right direction key is to move, and double-clicking and holding is to sprint quickly.
Yu Fei suddenly nodded: "I see, that means the operation itself can be completed, and there is a ready-made design plan."
"It's just that it is still under the operating system of a fighting game. Compared with other games, especially action games, they are two completely different systems."
"In this case, we actually don't have much design for the most basic combat system. The main thing is to continue the classic gameplay of fighting games. We can only tinker with some small details."
"Well... after saying so much, I have gained something. It has eliminated many absolutely unfeasible directions."
"But this is just demining. I still have no idea how to do it."
Bao Xu smiled and explained: "Of course, this is just a foundation. Designing a game is not a quick matter, but requires repeatedly weighing the pros and cons and thinking about the details."
"Just like building a building, this is an overall project. If any part is not handled well, the entire project may be affected. In serious cases, it may even have to be torn down and started all over again."
"Now that the foundation has been laid, the next step is to perfect everything bit by bit."
"As for the specific method, it is actually very simple. It is to start with Mr. Pei's needs, analyze them bit by bit, determine a prototype first, and then slowly fill in the details."
"I can't help you much with this process. You have to have enough time to think independently."
Yu Fei thought for a while: "In this way, I have a clue."
"However, the battle system is still very difficult. Even if it is to be based on other games, the characters, skills, and actions all have to use the settings of "Oni General", so there is no way to copy it."
Bao Xu said: "This is very simple. Since you are not good at it, then find someone who is good at it."
"There are many champions of fighting game competitions in China. Wouldn't it be enough to spend some money to hire them as action coaches?"
"Mr. Pei asked you to be responsible for the design of this game, and he certainly didn't ask you to fight with these contents. After all, this requires thousands of hours of game experience."
"You should change the direction, explore the differences between yourself and others, find a breakthrough from Mr. Pei's words, and complete the design of the entire game bit by bit."