674 Make all the Mistakes You can Make
"Erm… I would like to express my opinion." Zhu Xiaoce, who had been silent until now, raised his hand to say.
"Brother Huang, your idea is too ideal.
"Make a game CG and screen it in the movies by-the-way to make profits on both sides seemed to be pretty perfect, but no game companies had ever done it.
"There is basically no precedent in the world, be it the games company releasing a game CG as a movie or to take the movie to make it into game CG.
"Why? Because it doesn't work!
"A movie wants us to tell a whole story within that time frame. There must be a coherent plot and rich elements. The same is true for sci-fi.
"The CG of a game must be divided into several sections. One chapter of the story will be shown after another. It shows the best essence of the game through fragments.
"And the battle part of the story is portrayed through its gameplay.
"That meant to say if we are to make a very good game CG and link it to a movie, it will miss a lot of information and make the viewers of the movie confused.
"If we are to disassemble a movie into CG, it would be too lengthy. A clear stage and a short plot would be played so that the original smooth plot becomes fragmented. It would make most players feel baffled. Most players were waiting to play the game; they would want to skip it instead of patiently watching the plot.
"So, we cannot do both sides; we have to choose one. If you are doing the CG type with the essence of the fragmented plot, then don't expect it to be released as a movie. If you make it into a movie, then it would be divided into many segments. It would not have a good reputation with the players."
Huang Sibo thought carefully about it. It seemed like it was indeed the case.
The idea that came to him did not work.
Everyone discussed it for a long time, but this question still seemed unsolvable so he had to look at Boss Pei, wanting to get more tips from Boss Pei.
Pei Qian was trying to suppress his joy at this time.
Very good, you all know how to answer for yourselves now!
Why should I not copy your standard answers?
Pei Qian had a plan in his heart. He thought about it and said. "Plan each chapter in the way of game CG and shoot in the way of sci-fi movies. It had to be completed within the development period and has to be more than an hour and a half."
Zhu Xiaoce nearly fainted.
Did Boss Pei not hear a single word they were saying?
Or could Boss Pei have another plan?
The three of them looked at each other, wanting to ask more; but Boss Pei's resolute attitude stopped them. They noted it down silently to figure it out slowly when they got back.
Pei Qian continued saying. "The name of our game is 'Mission and Choice' with a sci-fi theme."
Hu Xianbin almost thought that he heard something wrong. "Huh? Mission and Choice? Isn't that…?"
Pei Qian nodded. "Yes, think of a way to get the copyrights of this game. We'll make a high-definition version of it!"
Hu Xianbin was dumbfounded.
'Mission and Choice' was the shame of domestically-produced games! It was the nightmare of countless old players, the worst and most failed RTS game!
On top of having its own worldview as a copy of Starcraft, there was no plot while the art was a mess and had no merit at all!
People who engaged in IP were reproducing classics…
Why were we picking trash while engaging in IP?
Moreover, wasn't it poisonous, harmful, and worthless garbage?
Why bother? Tengda had so many good IPs. Couldn't we just use some of them? Or simply rewrite an entire world; wouldn't it be much better?!
Pei Qian saw Hu Xianbin's exaggerated expression and was secretly delighted. He did not intend to explain further.
Huang Sibo frowned.
However, he suddenly realized something, and his eyebrows smoothened out instantly.
"Boss Pei, I understand now!
"'Mission and Choice' is the pain in the hearts of all domestically-produced games. It represented the downturn of standalone games. It is also the shame of domestically-produced games.
"Boss Pei, you chose to remake this game to wash away the shame of this game and declare that the domestically-produced games are heading for glory!
"If it was successful, it would definitely reverse the players' impression of domestically-produced games and give the domestically-produced game producers a boost!"
Hu Xianbin suddenly realized it as well.
That's why Boss Pei made these games. It was not out of utilitarian considerations but a strong symbolic meaning!
He could not help but show his admiration on his face.
Sure enough, only heroes like Boss Pei could do it!
Pei Qian: "…"
Say whatever you want; I'm used to it.
Pei Qian sorted out his mood and continued, "This game must be innovative as compared to the traditional RTS game."
Everyone nodded. Obviously, Boss Pei could not stick to the rules.
Boss Pei was not the type to go for safe choices based on successful cases like Starcraft 2 and Fantasy Battle.
Pei Qian thought about it for a while before saying, "There should only be two races in the game, the humans and Zergs. You can do whatever you want for balance. It doesn't matter if you don't do it well.
"The operation of the game must be as simple as possible. It was best to not be able to play without APM.
"Hmm… the greatest difficulty should not come from the enemy but from his own people. Every soldier must have his own mind and often not listen to the commands and orders of the players.
"You need to hire actors for the real shots, but you can only hire one protagonist; the others would all be bit-role actors. It doesn't matter if you were to hire big stars for the protagonist, but you have to remember that he or she cannot show any emotions or acting.
"Another point is that it has to be completed within schedule, and the money has to be fully used up. I have no other requests."
Pei Qian was very confident.
I don't believe I can still make profits like that!
These requirements basically eliminated all the advantages of traditional RTS games.
Just like what He An said, if the current RTS game was done like Starcraft 2, it could still make money since there were still many die-hard RTS players around. They would still pay as long as they were good games.
The RTS game was simple, and there was no way to cater to these old players. Moreover, there was no way to compete for new players with games like GOG. The probability of failure was greatly increased!
Other than that, balance was very important to an RTS game.
'Command and Conquer' was ranked lower than Starcraft and Fantasy Battle in the hearts of many players because their balance was not done well. It was difficult for it to be pushed out as esports.
Therefore, Pei Qian would make an RTS game with a very lousy balance!
There would only be these two races: humans and Zergs. It would not be balanced, and veteran gamers of RTS games would definitely not be able to accept it; neither would it be possible to be made into esports.
As for 'little soldiers must have their own thoughts', Pei Qian based this on his personal experience. It was time for the players to feel their own pain!
Imagine that in an RTS, you command a small soldier to attack an enemy army, and then the small soldier saw a lot of enemies and ran away.
How sour! The players would definitely be pissed off.
The actors were just in case.
What if this thing could really be released to the big screens, become popular, and earned hundreds of millions of US dollars?
The possibility was small, but it was still something he should guard against.
Therefore, Pei Qian had to ensure that it would fail even if it were made into a movie.
There was only one protagonist who could absolutely not show any acting skills and not too many expressions.
That way, the possibility of Lu Zhiyao's rise to popularity in Tomorrow is Beautiful because of his acting would not happen again.
The three of them froze after listening to Boss Pei's words.
They were baffled by Boss Pei's requirements!
However, everyone had experience. They were not too shocked and did not ask too much.
They knew very well that Boss Pei must have given them a new quiz.
However, the problem was Boss Pei's quiz this time was too ridiculous!
How were they going to solve this?
The name of the game itself was outrageous, and the mechanics of the game were completely inconsistent with the basic concepts of RTS games. Even the CG was so different.
Those who did not know him would think that Boss Pei was stacking the deck against them and making things difficult for them on purpose!
Pei Qian could not help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly, seeing the expressions of the three.
Very good, he knew that this game was almost finished when he saw everyone's expression!
He felt so happy thinking he would lose 500 million yuan at a time!
Pei Qian stood up. "Alright, do your best!"
…
Pei Qian returned to his residence while humming a song after arranging his work.
He arranged the work for Tengda Games and Fei Huang Workspace all at once; he was in a great mood.
However, Pei Qian calmed down and felt that he could not take it lightly.
He sent the plan to Teacher He to let his guiding lantern reconfirm to see if it could be compensated and how likely it was to make a loss.
What if Teacher He could find a suspicious point that he did not notice?
Pei Qian sorted out the main points of the meeting and sent them to He An.
"Teacher He, how high do you think is the success rate of 'Mission and Choice'?"
He An replied in less than two minutes.
"?"
"???"
Several question marks were sent in succession, followed by a video call.
"Boss Pei, are you really planning to do this?" He An asked in a humbled voice.
Pei Qian nodded. "That's right."
He An looked shocked. "That's 500 million yuan!"
Pei Qian could not help but be elated. "Yes, 500 million yuan!"
He An could not help but become silent. He observed Boss Pei's expression carefully but could not guess Boss Pei's true thoughts.
"I will definitely pray in advance if it was other games companies.
"The standard answer… 'Starcraft 2' is there. Not only did you not copy it, but you are making all the possible mistakes all at once. This 500 million yuan would be a total loss."
He An paused and said, "But…
"Boss Pei, you should have already figured out what to do and deliberately only released part of the one-sided news to deliberately confuse me, right?
"Are you showing off your skills again?
"I will definitely be shocked by you and would subvert many basic theories of game design after the game is successful.
"Isn't that what you think?"
Pei Qian: "…"
Sh*t, even Teacher He was starting to imagine things.
"Teacher He, how do you guess this game will profit?" Pei Qian tried asking.
"You're awesome! I can't guess it alright!" He An replied with a dark expression.
Pei Qian was a little speechless. Why did you suddenly become angry while we chat?
Alright, he was now reassured since Teacher He could not guess how to profit.
"Alright, thank you for your guidance, Teacher He. I'll definitely treat you to a meal after the game is published!"
Pei Qian hung up happily.
