I Just Want Players to Save Money, They Insist on Giving Me!
Chapter 605 - 190: Making an Open-World Mini Game to Practice!_1

Chapter 605: Chapter 190: Making an Open-World Mini Game to Practice!_1

December, the beginning of winter.

Though Jianglin had not seen snow, through the robust floor-to-ceiling glass on the right side of the top player meeting room, one could still see the desolate street view and people hurriedly walking down the street in their heavy winter clothes, with the sky shrouded in a misty haze.

"Today, I’m going to talk to you about the significance of beauty in games," Ke Jin looked toward the top players and the senior executives from the Oasis branch who had come, and he began in a calm voice, "What do you think beauty is?"

The game comprehension symposium held by the chief designer from top players was held irregularly.

Its main function was to present a one-way output of Ke Jin’s understanding of games to his employees.

As the company grew larger and larger, and so did the scale of game production.

Ke Jin gradually discovered.

That even a detailed plan was not enough to make his employees execute a large-scale game design flawlessly.

This point was repeatedly frustrating in the production process of "Extinguish."

Although Ke Jin had negotiated an offline full-scene demo cooperation scheme with East Intelligence.

But that was, after all, just a bold, forward-looking idea.

It was unrealistic to expect players to have a perfect offline experience of the entire game process.

Firstly, the venue’s size simply did not allow it.

Therefore, "Extinguish" itself would still be released in the most traditional online mode.

As a high-quality 3D game with a relatively high degree of freedom.

In production, Ke Jin found that whether it was top players or Oasis.

A large part of the employees had entered a strange phase—relying on experience.

When they received their respective responsibilities, they still designed the game based on their experience with traditional 2D or linear 3D development.

Although they did manage to nearly replicate the original in terms of content.

After Ke Jin experienced the first few unrendered minutes of the "Extinguish" early draft, he always felt that the game was significantly different from the original.

In other words.

It was as if a person was perfectly copied into another independent individual at a 1:1 scale.

The two of them had the same looks, behavioral characteristics, and way of speaking.

But as his old friend, you could tell in just a few words which one was your real buddy.

Because what was lacking was a soul with memories of the past.

It was the same situation now.

If one still used the mindset of developing traditional 2D or 3D games to design an open-world game.

Even if you made the same skin, it would not reach the same soul as the original.

And oftentimes, what makes a game a classic is the combination of multiple aspects.

If any elements are missing, let alone on Earth from his past life, it might not become a hit even on Blue Star that had never seen such game types before.

Therefore, Ke Jin felt it was necessary to hold a symposium for his employees.

Open-world gameplay and linear gameplay are two completely opposite propositions.

Linear games, as the name implies.

All of a player’s actions follow either an explicit or implicit line.

The explicit line out in the open is the main quest that guides players.

It keeps players drawn in by the main quest, following the path developed by the game designers to defeat one enemy after another.

The player’s ultimate driving force is always just one aspect: ’pushing the main quest.’

Initially, such a game design philosophy would be strongly bound to the game’s narrative script.

That is, if the story isn’t compelling enough, the game would immediately lose its luster.

If players aren’t even interested in your biggest main quest, how can you expect them to follow the path you’ve designed?

But a game that is strongly bound to the narrative also presents another disadvantage.

The gameplay itself seems to become less important.

For a long time on Earth.

There was a period in the gaming industry that went, ’I don’t want to go on a killing spree; I just want to see the story, please give me more story.’

Most designers struggled to balance gameplay and narrative in linear games.

Later, many industry designers thought of various solutions.

The first was to add many side quests to linear games.

It not only enriched the world-building but also allowed players to delay the main quest progress to learn more, thereby yielding a stronger sense of immersion.

But this approach soon failed.

Because many designers realized.

Unless the player was a die-hard fan of your game, eager to collect every detail and Easter egg.

Otherwise, they had no interest in touching those damn side quests.

I’m about to save the princess of my dreams, who brought me so many fond memories, my princess; I wish I could fly into the castle and rescue you right now.

At this point, the designer beside me presents a task like ’help Wang Mazi drive away the goblins,’ are you sure I’d be interested?

When this tactic didn’t work, the designers began to try.

To make the rewards for side quests more generous.

If just showing you the side quest story, the setting, and my rich world-building is still not interesting to you.

The Dragon Slaying Saber, given upon completion of the side quest, you must be interested now, right?

Tests proved, interested, but not much.

If the side quest rewards are too weak, players still don’t budge, as they will get better ones from completing the main quest.

If the rewards from side quests are too strong, even overshadowing the main quest, it will cause players to lose their motivation to explore subsequent main quests.