The designers looked at the design plan and Min Jingchao's explanation with different expressions.
Obviously, this design is quite subversive for traditional FPS games.
And it’s not the kind of subversion that happens on a whim, but rather an improvement made by Min Jingchao to the FPS gameplay after accumulating a lot of experience in game balance and mechanism innovation at GOG.
Will this kind of gameplay be more fun than the traditional blast mode and tug tug mode?
This is not necessarily the case.
The reason why classic mode is called classic mode is because its fun may gradually fade, but it will never become outdated.
At least within a few years, the classic mode of FPS games will still have a large number of players.
But the mission of "Bullet 2" is actually not to transcend, but to find another path.
As Min Jingchao said before, Mr. Pei actually hinted very clearly that continuing to follow the path of classic mode will inevitably run into games such as "Sea Fortress" and "Counter-Terrorism Plan". As a latecomer, "Bullet Mark 2" does not have any
The accumulation of players is actually a big disadvantage.
Therefore, choosing this new battle mode is equivalent to providing FPS players with a different gaming experience, forming a misaligned competition with other FPS games.
From this point of view, "Bullet Trace 2" does not need to surpass "Sea Fortress" and "Counter-Terrorism Plan". It only needs to be the best in this segmented field and be able to make stable profits, then it will fully achieve its goal.
Some designers marveled at Min Jingchao's whimsical ideas and felt that this plan was bold and subversive, while others were full of doubts about it.
Is it possible to create a new gameplay with such a high degree of originality?
Tianhuo Studio is influenced by Zhou Muyan. They make games in order to make profits and avoid risks. Overall, they still focus on safety.
Before developing a game, it is best to find prototypes from successful games so that you can make it without any doubts.
Otherwise, if it fails, anywhere from several million to tens of millions of R&D funds will be wasted, which is not something that ordinary game companies can afford.
But they looked at Zhou Muyan and found that Zhou Muyan did not raise any objection, so they remained silent.
Of course Zhou Muyan felt guilty.
Because the process of "Bullet Marks 2" from project establishment to development is unreliable in every aspect!
At first, Mr. Pei simply put forward a few suggestions at the meeting, and then Min Jingchao came up with an unconstrained design, and the prototype of the game came out.
Prototype of a successful game? Market research? Feasibility demonstration?
Nothing!
This is really completely contrary to the development process Zhou Muyan was used to.
But he couldn't say much. After all, Mr. Pei's reputation was here, and Min Jingchao was a very capable designer under Mr. Pei. With GOG's successful experience as a foundation, he couldn't question this.
Moreover, this plan seems to be relatively perfect in theory, and Min Jingchao has considered all aspects of the problem, so it is not considered a risk.
Sun Xi raised his hand and said: "I saw that there are some special character mechanisms written on the design plan, such as career settings."
"This profession is different from the one I understand."
"I initially thought it was a combat profession, but I didn't expect it to be closer to a life profession."
"Are there any special considerations in this regard?"
The so-called combat professions are professions that have a direct impact on combat ability.
Just like the traditional settings of warriors, assassins, and mages, different professions have different fighting methods. Some are fast, and some are high in long-range damage.
In the game "Bullet Marks 2", the professions Sun Xi understands are also professions that will affect combat ability.
For example, a sniper does more damage when using a sniper rifle and has a certain concealment and anti-detection effect; an assault soldier may mainly use a submachine gun and also has rapid displacement skills; a heavy armored soldier moves slowly but has stronger firepower, etc.
It's not easy to differentiate between professions in games with a modern warfare background, but it's no problem in future battlefields.
All these skills can be explained by high technology.
In Sun Xi's view, since the big map has already implemented these mechanisms, and Min Jingchao is the designer of GOG, isn't it normal to give players some skills?
However, the professions written in Min Jingchao's design plan are more inclined to life professions, that is, professions that do not have a direct impact on combat ability.
For example, the doctor profession saves people faster. At the same time, it is easier to obtain medical supplies by opening boxes when searching. The medical supplies scattered on the map will also be highlighted. You can carry more medical supplies, and you can also use a certain amount of time to transform these supplies.
, let them return more blood or have some other beneficial effects.
Engineers have the ability to repair stronghold machinery, can use materials to increase the lethality of some stronghold weapons, and can repair the outer walls of the stronghold.
The only thing that has something to do with combat ability is the machine gunner. When operating the heavy machine gun in the stronghold, he can reload faster and shoot more accurately. However, this increase is also very limited, and if you want to use this ability, you must first occupy it.
A stronghold can only be used after capturing a fixed machine gun.
In addition, there are a series of limiting factors such as blind spots in the viewing angle and limited number of bullets.
Some abilities that can be made into professions are not included in the profession, but are made into props or regular skills, such as anti-reconnaissance.
There are two different anti-reconnaissance methods in the game, one is the optical camouflage effect, and the other is the anti-radar effect. The former can blend oneself into the environment and make it difficult for other players to detect it with the naked eye, while the latter can make oneself invisible to the naked eye.
Disappeared from radar detection.
Only one of these two detection effects can be selected, and it must be replaced according to the actual situation. For example, large strongholds are covered by radar, but it is better to use optical camouflage in places where radar coverage is not available in the wild.
Of course, in order to prevent optical camouflage everywhere, these resources will be subject to certain restrictions. At the same time, players can also have countermeasures such as "small portable radar".
This ability can actually be used to develop a "ghost"-like career, but Min Jingchao did not do this. Instead, he made it a general prop that everyone can use after searching for it. Of course, there is also a certain amount and time.
limit.
Min Jingchao said: "My consideration in this regard is... although combat professions seem to be more differentiated and have richer gameplay, they can easily have the opposite effect in FPS games."
"That is to say, it seems that the gameplay is richer, but in fact it makes the gameplay more simple."
"It is difficult to balance FPS games with combat professions, and it even conflicts with the core of FPS games."
"An FPS game must be a game where you beat me and I beat you. This is the main premise. If it is to be as balanced as a MOBA game, long-range professions must be able to defeat melee professions. This is obviously inappropriate."
In MOBA games, many shooters clearly hold guns, but some tank heroes and assassins still require many hits to kill them.
This is because the shooting range of the shooter is long. If the damage is higher, the team battle will probably become a brainless battle. The battle will all depend on which shooter has the stronger output.
If you want to ensure the balance of the game, you must form a cyclic restraint relationship and impose some restrictions on the shooter's output ability.
But FPS games cannot be like this, otherwise their most basic fun will be gone.
If you want to retain the core gameplay of FPS games and add combat professions, it will be difficult to balance.
Min Jingchao explained: "Let me give you a relatively common example. Suppose there are several different types in an FPS game: tank profession, with slow movement speed, high defense, and many bullets; assault profession, with fast movement speed; sniper profession, with certain
The concealment effect is high, and the long-range damage is high; the healing profession can increase the blood of teammates."
"Then let me ask you, which profession should a novice choose?"
Sun Xi thought for a while: "Tank profession or treatment profession?"
Min Jingchao shook his head: "If you choose the tank profession, you will find that you have become a living target. If the master chooses the rush profession, you will fly around and you can't catch it. Then, if you choose the tank profession, you will just lie down if you choose the treatment profession.
You will find that you are following your teammates obediently throughout the whole process, but any enemy can kill you."
"Then the doctor asked, why don't you protect me? Others may be thinking, why does this person die so easily?"
"At this time, you may think that the rush profession is so good and I play it, so the problem is, although you are indeed stronger than before, when you meet other masters who also play the rush profession, you still get nothing."
Sun Xi said doubtfully: "That's not right. If the rush profession is so strong, then the game will be unbalanced and needs to be weakened."
Min Jingchao asked: "Then to what extent do you think it is appropriate to cut it?"
"The setting of the Assault profession is that it can move easily. When masters use it, it kills people invisible. If you change its damage to be very scratchy, then masters can simply play tanks or snipers. The game may become tanks or snipers again.
world."
"MOBA games have different professions because they can create a cyclic restraint relationship. Players can accept things like scraping melee soldiers from a distance."
"But in FPS games, everyone uses guns to do melee combat from a distance, which directly destroys the fun of FPS games."
"But on the premise of retaining this kind of fun, FPS games are a 'you beat me, I beat you' game. Breaking into the profession naturally has a huge advantage. You can either kill it with one knife until no one plays anymore, or you can't play again."
No matter how you cut it, it won't achieve the effect, and experts still can't solve it if they use it."
"For novices, they are trapped in an endless cycle. If they don't play the rush profession, they will be beaten by the boss. If they play the rush profession, they will still be beaten by the boss."
"Except for those big guys who can really do cool things, the gaming experience of other players will be ruined."
"The fun of FPS games is that they kill people quickly and die quickly. Novices can also kill masters through Yin people. As long as the level gap is not too big, they will not be unable to fight back."
"Therefore, these special mechanisms must be restrained. Displacement capabilities, whether it is teleportation, acceleration or gliding, will not be provided if they are not provided. The more provided, the greater the gap between players will be, and the less gaming experience will be lost for novice players.
"
"The distinction between life occupations is very clear, so that players can have a division of labor in the second stage of the battle. Some people are responsible for firing up the cannon and guarding points, some are responsible for searching for medical supplies and rescuing people, and some are responsible for repairing machinery."
"If you want to capture a stronghold and quickly restore it to operation, you need players from different professions to coordinate and cooperate, and the commander must also allocate manpower well."
"No matter what profession, the gap in combat will not be too big. This way, we can maximize the game experience for novice players and prevent the frequent occurrence of boss players killing dozens of people in one game."