Zhou Muyan hesitated for a moment and then said: "Mr. Pei, I have some doubts. Can you please explain it a little bit?"
"It's not that I don't believe you, I just want to learn more advanced design concepts."
He didn't have the nerve to say it explicitly, but in fact he just didn't believe it.
It's not that I don't believe in Mr. Pei's ability, nor that I don't believe in Mr. Pei's integrity. The key is that integrity is not absolute.
There is a saying that there is a difference between closeness and distance.
When Mr. Pei was designing games for Tenda, he would definitely go all out. But now Mr. Pei is only responsible for coming up with an idea. The specific development and operation are completed by Tianhuo Studio and Longyu Group. Mr. Pei can still give his best.
What?
Will you come up with your best ideas?
Will you analyze the market situation in depth and dig out the details carefully?
What's more, as an FPS game, "Bullet Trace 2" is directly competing with "Sea Fortress". If it grabs too many users, will it affect "Sea Fortress" and cause its revenue to drop significantly?
Considering these factors, it is completely understandable that Mr. Pei has some reservations in the design of "Bullet Marks 2".
You can't ask this kind of thing too directly, but you still have to ask.
After all, millions of dollars have to be invested in making this game casually, and if you pay attention to the details, it can amount to tens of millions. If so much money is wasted, it will be very distressing.
Pei Qian chuckled, not panicking at all.
He has experienced similar scenes too many times. If people don't ask, he will feel uneasy.
As long as you ask, all kinds of fallacies will definitely come out of your mouth, and I guarantee that you will be docilely arranged.
Pei Qian smiled and said, "Where are the doubts?"
Zhou Muyan thought for a while and said, "The first thing is the feel of the game."
"Compared with "Sea Fortress", "Bullet Trace" had a big disadvantage in that the feel was too close to "Counter-Terrorism Plan", which made it less comfortable for novices to play."
"I have been thinking at that time that if I make FPS games in the future, I must learn from "Sea Fortress" and lower the threshold for novices as much as possible."
"Why does it continue the feel of "Bullet Marks"?"
After the failure of "Bullet Marks", Zhou Muyan almost led the entire project team of designers to study "Sea Fortress" and analyzed many problems very thoroughly.
Learning from successful experiences is a must-have ability for every designer.
Therefore, Zhou Muyan felt that Mr. Pei's statement was a bit unreasonable.
Pei Qian was silent for a moment and said: "This moment is the same as that moment. "Sea Fortress", after all, it was an old almanac two or three years ago. To learn it again, wouldn't it be like carving a boat and seeking a sword?"
The corner of Zhou Muyan's mouth twitched slightly: "Mr. Pei, do you mean that the design of "Bullet Marks" was actually two or three years ahead of its time? It just failed because it was born at the wrong time?"
Although this statement is quite outrageous, that’s what Mr. Pei seems to mean!
Otherwise, why would you continue the feel of "Bullet Marks" two or three years later?
Pei Qian smiled awkwardly but politely: "Well... you can't analyze the game in this static, one-sided way."
"Some trends are reincarnated. For example, in the fashion industry, when the new trend reaches its extreme, it often turns into retro, but this retro is not a full reproduction and imitation of the past, but a spiral upward and transcendent..."
"You think about it, this mode of "Sea Fortress" has been played by players for two or three years. Many players are tired of it and their level has improved. Do you need to change it to something more difficult?"
"So, it is not accurate to simply say that your design was untimely. It should be said that in the spiral of evolving trends, you have chosen a wrong coordinate. You can go back a little or go up a little.
Hit the trend."
Pei Qian didn't dare to talk about those special details of his philosophy, because the more he talked about it, the easier it would be to reveal the truth.
On the one hand, it is because he does not have much professional knowledge in this area, and on the other hand, it is also because the more details and clarity, the easier it is to reveal flaws.
Just like when a fortune teller is trying to deceive people, he must not explain things too clearly. He must talk about them in a broad and open way, and be as mysterious as possible.
Even sometimes, no matter how you explain it, it makes sense, and that's all.
If you say a particularly accurate result, wouldn't it be easy to be slapped in the face?
After listening to Mr. Pei's explanation, all the designers hurriedly lowered their heads and recorded it in their notebooks.
Sure enough, Mr. Pei speaks differently from other designers, obviously not on the same level!
Still speaking of martial arts, when discussing martial arts, average masters tend to be obsessed with techniques and certain specific martial arts moves, so they talk in great detail.
But for real masters, who have mastered all the moves, what details do they need to talk about?
What I am talking about at this time may be some concepts about martial arts. On the surface, they seem to be big and empty things, but they represent a higher realm and have a strong guiding role.
As Mr. Pei said, "The trend is in an ever-changing spiral", which is enough to have great guiding significance for everyone to select projects and study market trends in the future.
Zhou Muyan nodded slightly, his confidence level greatly improved.
In fact, when he asked the question "Is "Bullet Marks" two or three years ahead?", Mr. Pei would not be particularly satisfied whether the answer was yes or no.
If the answer is yes, then Zhou Muyan will feel that this is perfunctory with him. He has a very clear understanding of how much he weighs. If he says no, it will contradict Mr. Pei's previous statement.
But Mr. Pei's answer is somewhere between "yes" and "no". The trend is not a straight line, but a spiral. The design of "Bullet Marks" is actually very close to the trend in a straight line distance, but in fact it is very far away.
.
As expected of Mr. Pei, any explanation can be so philosophical!
Zhou Muyan immediately extended this sentence: "So, Mr. Pei, do you mean to use the design of "Bullet Marks", but not to copy it completely, but to continue this concept,
Make some changes?"
Pei Qian: "Well... yes."
He originally wanted to say no, because once this thing was modified, it might not be easy to lose money, but then he thought again, he had just been talking for a long time, wasn't that what Zhou Muyan understood?
At this time, I can only bite the bullet and admit it.
However, he added: "But we must pay attention to this kind of modification. We must be careful. Even if we modify it a little less, we cannot pass it."
"Too much is too little."
"We must maintain the original core as much as possible, and we must control the degree ourselves."
This can be regarded as a slight remedy, allowing the game to stay on this wrong path for as long as possible.
Zhou Muyan nodded, he had no problem with this point, and Mr. Pei's ingenious explanation completely convinced him.
But there are other problems.
Zhou Muyan coughed twice and looked at Sun Xi: "About the charging model of "Bullet Marks 2"... Sun Xi, what do you think? We are not outsiders here, so we can speak freely."
Sun Xi was very smart and understood it right then.
You want me to question it!
Obviously, the one who really has doubts is Zhou Muyan, but Zhou Muyan is a producer after all, and he can't always ask questions like a primary school student. That would be a shame!
What's more, the other designers are just watching with cold eyes, letting Mr. Zhou ask questions, which is outrageous.
Therefore, at this time, the younger brother still has to step forward and help the older brother solve his problems.
If Sun Xi dared to answer "I think Mr. Pei's design is very good and there is no problem", then he would be able to pack up and leave tomorrow.
It just so happened that Sun Xi did have questions, or in other words, the more normal designers here all had similar questions.
"Mr. Pei, I do have some questions about the charging model."
"The prop charging in "Bullet Marks" was criticized miserably. This model can no longer be used and a new charging model must be adopted. We all know this."
“But why not use the paid model of Sea Fortress?”
"The model of "Sea Fortress" with free game + Fire Qilin heavy krypton has proven to be a very successful model. It is indeed very popular and players have basically accepted it."
"The charging model will not be suspected of being borrowed or plagiarized. Players will not feel disgusted because the charging models of the two games are similar."
"At this time, why not follow the charging model of selling epic weapons in "Sea Fortress", but sell skins?"
"After all, in FPS games, players can't see their own bodies. All they can see is the gun in their hands. The effect of selling skins is very different from that of MOBA games."
Sun Xi’s meaning is very clear, and the charging model is not considered plagiarism. Why not use the method that players are already familiar with?
For example, if there is already a MOBA game on the market that charges for selling skins, and another MOBA game is released, will it not charge for skins? Should we just introduce other charging points?
That obviously makes no sense.
The same goes for FPS games. Facts have proven that this group of players particularly accepts the paid model of "Sea Fortress", which is a free game plus limited edition epic weapons. It satisfies both civilian players and wealthy players, with good income and good reputation.
Moreover, the charging model has nothing to do with the "spiral" concept of game design. This does not involve any skills, it is simply a matter of choice.
So why change it?
Pei Qian was silent for a moment and said: "There is indeed no plagiarism in the game's charging model, but if there is a sense of déjà vu, it will still arouse players' disgust."
"Time charging, prop charging, skin charging and other models have been used too much in other games and have become normalized, so it won't feel strange if they are used again."
"But the epic weapons of "Sea Fortress" are only used by itself, and most of them failed after being used in other games."
"So this sense of déjà vu will still make players disgusted."
"Moreover, the charging model of "Sea Fortress" is related to its gameplay. Its feel takes care of novice players, so overall it is a less 'professional' shooting game. It doesn't matter if it is a little unfair. Players are more
tolerant."
"But if it is a game that is positioned as more 'professional', then any unfairness may arouse players' resentment."
"When these two kinds of disgust are added up, the first impression "Bullet 2" will give players will be very bad."