Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Chapter 1264: Design Direction

Zhou Muyan hesitated for a moment before saying, “Boss Pei, I have some questions. Can you please explain?”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you. I just want to learn more advanced design concepts.”

He was too embarrassed to say it out loud because he did not believe it.

It was not that he did not believe in Boss Pei’s ability or his integrity. The key was that integrity was not absolute.

There was a saying that there was a difference between family and friends.

When Boss Pei designed Tengda’s game, he had definitely gone all out. However, Boss Pei was only in charge of one idea now. The specific development and operations were completed by Sun Strike Studios and Long Yu Corporation. Could Boss Pei still go all out?

Would he come up with his best idea?

Would he analyze the market situation and dig into the details seriously?

What’s more, as an FPS game, Bullet Hole 2 was directly competing with Ocean Stronghold. If they snatched too many users, would Ocean Stronghold’s income plummet?

Considering these factors, it was completely understandable for Boss Pei to hold back on the design of Bullet Hole 2.

He could not ask such things too directly, but he had to ask.

After all, he would have to invest a few million yuan in the game no matter what he did. He would be able to spend tens of millions of yuan with just a few details. If he really made ducks and drakes of all that money, he would feel the pinch.

Pei Qian sniggered, not flustered at all.

He had experienced similar scenes too many times. He would feel uneasy if no one asked about it.

All you had to do was ask and all sorts of twisted logic would definitely come out of your mouths. I guarantee that I would arrange for you to be obedient.

Pei Qian smiled and said, “Where are your doubts?”

Zhou Muyan pondered for a moment and said, “First, the hand sensitivity of the game.”

“When Bullet Hole was compared to Ocean Stronghold back then, a huge disadvantage was that the hand sensitivity was too similar to Counter-Strike, causing newbies to not feel so comfortable playing it.”

“At that time, I kept thinking that if I were to make FPS games in the future, I would definitely learn from Ocean Stronghold and try my best to lower the threshold for newbies.”

“Why are we continuing the hand sensitivity of Bullet Hole?”

After the failure of Bullet Hole, Zhou Muyan had practically led the entire project team to learn from Ocean Stronghold. He had analyzed many problems very thoroughly.

Learning about successful experiences was a must for every designer.

That was why Zhou Muyan felt that Boss Pei’s words were unreasonable.

Pei Qian remained silent for a moment and then said, “Times are different now. Ocean Stronghold was a game from two or three years ago after all. Wouldn’t it be akin to asking for a sword to row a boat?”

The corners of Zhou Muyan’s mouth twitched slightly. “Boss Pei, do you mean that the design of Bullet Hole is actually two or three years ahead of the times? It failed because it was born at the wrong time?”

That sounded ridiculous, but that was exactly what Boss Pei meant!

Otherwise, why would the hand sensitivity of Bullet Hole continue after two or three years?

Pei Qian smiled awkwardly but politely. “Well… you can’t use such a still and one-sided method to analyze games.”

“Trends are recycled. Take the fashion world for example. When a new trend reaches its peak, it often becomes retro. However, this retro is not a complete replay and imitation of the past. Instead, it is a spiral that rises and surpasses…”

“Think about it. Ocean Stronghold’s model has been for gamers for two to three years. Many gamers are sick of it. Their standards have improved. Shouldn’t we change to something more difficult?”

“Therefore, it is not very accurate to say that your design was born at the wrong time. It should be said that you chose the wrong coordinate on the spiral where the trend is constantly evolving. You can touch the trend if you retreat a little or rise a little.”

Pei Qian did not dare to talk about the details because the more he spoke, the easier it would be to be exposed.

On one hand, he did not have much professional knowledge in this area. On the other hand, the more details there were, the easier it was to show flaws.

It was just like how fortune-tellers could not make things too clear when they were bluffing others. They had to talk about it in a big empty space. It was very mysterious.

It would only be good if explanations made sense at any point in time.

Wouldn’t it be easy to be slapped in the face if there was a particularly accurate result?

After listening to Boss Pei’s explanation, all the designers quickly lowered their heads and recorded it in their small notebooks.

Indeed, Boss Pei’s thoughts were very different from the other designers. They were obviously on different levels!

It was akin to kungfu, ordinary experts would often be obsessed with techniques and specific kungfu moves when discussing kungfu. Thus, they would talk about very details.

However, real experts had already mastered all sorts of moves. What was the point of talking about the details?

What he was talking about at this time might be some concepts about martial arts. On the surface, it looked like something big and empty, but it represented a higher level and had a strong guiding effect.

It was just as Boss Pei had said. The fact that the trend was in a constant spiral was enough to provide major guidance to the future when everyone chose projects and studied the market trend.

Zhou Muyan nodded slightly, his confidence greatly increased.

In fact, he would not be particularly satisfied even if Boss Pei replied affirmative or negative if Bullet Hole was two or three years ahead.

If he answered yes, Zhou Muyan would think that he was just humoring him. He knew himself very well. If he said no, it would be contradicting Boss Pei’s previous statement.

However, Boss Pei’s answer was between ‘yes’ and ‘no’. The trend was not a straight line, but a spiral. The design of Bullet Hole was actually very close to the trend in a straight line, but it was actually very far away.

Boss Pei was indeed Boss Pei. Even a simple explanation was so philosophical!

Zhou Muyan immediately repeated this sentence. “Boss Pei, do you mean that we have to follow the design of Bullet Hole but we can’t completely follow it? We have to make some changes based on the continuation of this concept?”

Pei Qian: “Um… Yes.”

At first, he wanted to say no, because once he edited it, he might not be able to incur losses. However, on further thought, he had just said so much. Wasn’t that what Zhou Muyan understood?

At that moment, he could only bite the bullet and admit it.

However, he added on. “However, you have to take note. Such modifications have to be done carefully. You cannot pass if you modified too little.”

“Too much is as bad as not enough.”

“We have to maintain the original core as much as possible and to grasp the magnitude.”

This was a little remedial so that the game could stay on this wrong path for as long as possible.

Zhou Muyan nodded. He had no problem with that anymore. Boss Pei’s exquisite explanation had completely convinced him.

However, there were other problems.

Zhou Muyan cleared his throat and looked at Sun Xi. “As for the paywall of Bullet Hole 2… Sun Xi, what do you think? We’re not outsiders here. Speak your mind.”

Sun Xi was very smart. He understood immediately.

Are you trying to question the doubt you have?!

Obviously, the person with the real question was Zhou Muyan. However, he was a producer after all. He could not always ask questions like a primary school student. That would be too shameful!

What’s more, the other designers were watching coldly from the sidelines. It would not be right for Boss Zhou to ask around.

Thus, his underlings had to step out and help him resolve his problems.

If Sun Xi dared to reply that “I think Boss Pei’s design is quite good and there are no problems”, he would probably be able to pack up and leave tomorrow.

It just so happened that Sun Xi indeed had questions, or rather, the more normal designers seated had similar questions.

“Boss Pei, I do have some questions about the charging model.”

“The charging method for Bullet Hole’s props has been scolded badly. We cannot follow this model anymore. We have to change the charging model. We know this very well.”

“But why not use Ocean Stronghold’s charging format?”

“Ocean Stronghold’s free game and Red Kilin’s high paywall model have proven to be a rather successful model. It is indeed very popular and gamers have basically accepted it.”

“The charging mode would not be suspected of borrowing and plagiarism. Gamers would not feel disgusted just because the charging mode of the two games is similar.”

“Why isn’t Ocean Stronghold selling epic weapons at the same price now? Why is it selling skins?”

“After all, players can’t see their own bodies in FPS games. They can only see the gun in their hand. The effect of selling skins is very different from MOBA games.”

Sun Xi’s meaning was very clear. The charging mode was not a copy. Why not follow the method that players were already familiar with?

For example, there was already a MOBA game that sold skins and a MOBA game in the market. Was he not going to make skins to charge? Was he going to make other charging points?

That obviously did not make sense.

It was the same for FPS games. Facts had proven that these gamers especially accepted the charging mode of Ocean Stronghold. It was an epic weapon that limited the number of free games. At the same time, it satisfied ordinary gamers and whales. The income was not bad, and the reputation was not bad.

What’s more, the charging mode was not related to the “spiral rise” of the game design concept. There was no technique to this. It was purely a matter of choice.

Why should he change it then?

After a moment of silence, Pei Qian said, “There is indeed no such thing as plagiarism in the game’s charging mode. However, if there is a sense of deja vu, players would still feel disgusted.”

“Time, prop fees, skin fees, and other modes. Other games use too many of them. It’s already normal. Therefore, it won’t be strange to use them again.”

“However, Ocean Stronghold’s epic weapon is only used by itself. Most of the other games failed after using it.”

“That’s why gamers would still feel disgusted by the deja vu.

“What’s more, Ocean Stronghold’s charging mode is related to its gameplay. Its hand sensitivity takes care of new gamers. Thus, on the whole, it’s not a ‘professional’ shooting game. It doesn’t matter if it’s a little unfair. Players are more tolerant.”

“However, if it was a game with a more ‘professional’ positioning, any unfairness could cause players to feel disgusted.”

“When these two types of disgust are added together, the first impression that Bullet Hole 2 gives players would be very bad.”