It is estimated that many players know it. After all, the three words "dog planning" are deeply rooted in the hearts of the player community...
To put it simply, planners are responsible for all aspects of game development. They are the designers of game gameplay and functions. They have to write game background stories, formulate game rules, design game interaction links, calculate game formulas, and the development of the entire game world.
All the details.
It is the core of the entire game development process.
Of course, it is impossible for one person to complete such a heavy development work, unless... copying.
Generally, in a mature game development company, the planning team will have a corresponding division of labor. For example, the chief planner is responsible for the overall concept, game architecture, management and coordination, the system planner is responsible for the writing of system rules, and the numerical planner is responsible for the rule design of game balance, and
There is a clear division of labor such as levels, plots, scripts, etc.
Of course, this is just a division of labor that sounds nice to say... If it is in China, ordinary ordinary planners do not have the opportunity to speak out. Most of the time, they will be required to imitate mature game types on the market. Most of the time, they have no say in game architecture.
Can't make the decision and compromise everywhere.
Therefore, the chief planners of most game companies actually do the work of system planning, and the system planners often do the work of execution planning...
In the parallel world where Lin Yao is now, the situation is similar. The bucket-carrying director is a typical example. He says what to do, and the game director only listens.
To be honest, the situation of being a planner here is worse than in China.
Because this place has just started, there is no mature division of labor. Most of the time, the planning team is just one chief planner with a numerical plan and a bunch of execution chiefs with unclear division of labor.
In this case, the chief planner needs to know everything, and the right to speak has to be divided up by superiors, bosses, and even the main process. The general direction has to be dictated. Game development must be ensured, instructions from above must be implemented, and there is pressure on revenue targets.
.
It can be said to be very miserable.
Mu Wanqing has been working at Yaoshi, a game development company, for almost seven years and has worked in various development teams.
Even if some development teams have never stayed there, they still visit and learn about their experience.
She has seen many planning teams, and there are top leaders who can withstand the pressure from above, completely follow their own ideas, control the entire planning team, and ultimately leave everyone speechless.
There are also people who do nothing, just do what the boss tells them to do, and then lead the planning team to fill in the content in a formulaic way. Whether the game is good or not depends entirely on whether the boss points the right direction.
There is also a planning team that doesn’t even know how to fill in formulaic content, and the chief planner is an idiot...
However, no matter which type of chief planner is mentioned above, regardless of their ability, they often need the cooperation of the team.
After all, a person's ability is limited.
In games, the birth of a feature or gameplay often starts with a prototype of an idea, and finally the entire team diverges and finalizes the prototype of the idea.
After a process of roughly "idea-brainstorming-planning-requirement list", the program and art will finally be given and then it can be implemented.
From planning to demand order.
If there is no reference, various meetings need to be organized for discussion.
From why you do it, to how you do it, and finally whether you can do it or not, all aspects need to be considered.
All planning teams that Mu Wanqing has seen follow this pattern.
This is true regardless of the level of leadership ability.
……all.
until today.
She saw another pattern.
A girl who had just graduated from college, faced with a turn-based online game that was full of problems, wrote a plan to solve all the problems of the game alone...
This planning plan not only pointed out the problems, but also provided corresponding solutions to all existing problems, and provided earth-shaking modifications to the gameplay and structure of the game.
From why to do it, to how to do it, and finally whether to do it or not. The answer is given in all aspects.
Yes, all aspects.
Including values, systems, and underlying architecture.
Also...with functional renderings, implementation ideas, and the purpose of the function or gameplay.
For example, there is a gameplay in the planning book about Tiangang Disha.
The above briefly and comprehensively explains that this is done to enrich the gameplay and improve the player's initiative. Then it explains in detail how to brush Tiangang Disha, when to brush it, refresh the distribution map, and how to increase the difficulty from one star to ten stars.
Adjustment, what is the reward pool for completing a kill, how to control the probability, etc...
Another example is the rules of the gang system and the gang war system. All the rules are explained in detail above. The important points are marked with conspicuous marks, and the key points are filled in and bolded. All aspects have been taken into consideration.
Then a very easy-to-understand request form is attached.
And what made Mu Wanqing dumbfounded and horrified the most was——
The other party even... drew a set of emoticons and the appearance of more than a dozen high-end weapons.
Even the art part is involved.
This was the first time in her life that she had seen such a complicated and detailed plan.
And it wasn't just written in vain. Every function and gameplay written above, even if she didn't understand some of them, was all presentable and meaningful.
The more Mu Wanqing watched, the more fascinated she became. The more she watched, the more horrified she became. The initial contempt quickly faded away.
She began to construct the modified finished game in her mind according to the plan, and began to consider the gameplay from a player's perspective.
She forgot about pouring water.
I didn't even eat lunch during my lunch break.
It's past one o'clock in the afternoon.
finally.
Mu Wanqing turned to the last page of the planning book.
There is no content on the last page, only one line written with a ballpoint pen, which is similar to a conclusion.
"Manager Mu, let's try to create a miracle!"
The handwriting is graceful and pretty, and you can tell who wrote it at a glance.
Mu Wanqing looked at the words, smiled, then slowly put the extremely heavy plan on her knees, lowered her head and began to think.
She looked at it very slowly...and was extremely shocked.
She had to admit it.
My initial view was wrong.
So the next question is... is it possible for this plan to be realized?
Mu Wanqing lowered her head and thought quietly.
After nearly ten minutes passed.
She suddenly held the planning book on her knees and stood up.
…
Lin Yao sat in her seat, a little bored.
The planning document has been submitted.
There was nothing for her to do next, the only thing she had to do was wait.
So when she came to the company today and put the planning document on Mu Wanqing's desk, she started fishing.
At this moment, she was adjusting her sitting posture, looking for the position with the least burden...
But no matter how she adjusted it, she had little effect... After adjusting the position, she became even more tired.
"……never mind."
Lin Yao pursed her lips, gave up, buried her face in her arms, and lay on the table like a salted fish.
This is the most relaxing position...
Da da.
The sound of gentle footsteps suddenly came.
Lin Yao heard it this time.
She immediately raised her head and straightened her waist, looking at the computer screen seriously as if she had done nothing just now.
"...Lin Yao."
Mu Wanqing came up behind her, without thinking much, and called her directly,
"Um?"
Lin Yao turned her head to look at Mu Wanqing with a slight guilty conscience, and found that she did not notice her little movement. Instead, she was holding the plan she submitted and looking at her with a serious expression.
"Is it about the planning document?" Lin Yao asked.
"right."
Mu Wanqing stood still behind her
"What's the problem?" Lin Yao flicked her ponytail and continued to ask.
"There's just one question." Mu Wanqing looked at Lin Yao's stunning fair face, picked up the planning book, and asked slowly: "Did you complete this alone?"
"yes."
Lin Yao nodded.
Although the idea is to copy the mature turn-based online games from the previous life, the entire planning book was indeed written by her alone.
"Then I have no problem."
Hear Lin Yao's exact answer.
Although Mu Wanqing was mentally prepared, she was still slightly startled.
But she was not a college student who had just entered the workplace. She quickly recovered, put her round legs wrapped in black stockings together, and said very seriously: "I understand...Lin Yao."
She raised her voice slightly.
Lin Yao didn't know why: "Oh..."
"Then the rest of my life... I'll leave it to you!"