Chapter 216 The Nightmare Begins

Zhu Xiaoce, who had been silent the whole time, raised his hand and said, "Well… let me share my opinion."

"Brother Huang, your idea is too idealistic."

"Making a game CG and a movie at the same time, then releasing it to earn money twice over, seems perfect, but no game company has ever done that before."

"Whether it's a game company releasing a game CG as a movie or using an existing movie as a game CG, there's basically no precedent for this anywhere in the world."

"Why? Because it doesn't work!"

"Movies require us to tell a complete story in over an hour, with a coherent plot, rich elements, and the same goes for sci-fi movies."

"But game CG is definitely divided into several segments. A segment plays after each chapter of the story. It's a fragmented form used to showcase the most essential parts of the game's plot."

"And the combat parts of the story are shown through the gameplay."

"In other words, if we make a great game CG and put it together to watch as a movie, we'll miss a lot of key information and confuse the moviegoers;"

"And if we split a movie into CG segments, it will be too long-winded, with a segment of plot after each level, making the original smooth plot fragmented, which will make players feel confused. Most players are waiting to play the game and don't have the patience to watch the plot all the time. They'll want to skip it after watching for a few minutes."

"So, we can't have both. We have to choose one. If we make CG with that fragmented, essential plot, then don't expect it to be released in theaters; if we make it as a movie and then split it into many segments, the reputation among the players will definitely not be good."

Huang Sibao thought about it carefully, and it seemed that this was indeed the case.

The idea he came up with just now wasn't feasible.

After discussing for a long time, this problem still seemed unsolvable, so they had to look at President Pei, hoping to get more hints from him.

And Pei Qian was trying hard to suppress his joy at this moment.

Very good, you all know how to answer first!

Since you've all discussed the standard answer, how can I not copy it?

Pei Qian had a plan in mind. After thinking for a while, he said, "Plan each chapter of the story according to the game CG method, and shoot it according to the sci-fi movie method. It must be completed within the construction period, and the total duration must be greater than one and a half hours."

Zhu Xiaoce was dizzy.

So, President Pei didn't listen to a word of what he said just now?

Or does President Pei have other plans?

The three of them looked at each other, wanting to ask more questions, but seeing President Pei's firm attitude, they had to silently write it down and slowly figure it out when they got back.

Pei Qian continued, "The name of the game is 'Mission and Choice', a sci-fi theme."

Hu Xianbin almost thought he had misheard: "Ah? 'Mission and Choice'? Is that…"

Pei Qian nodded: "That's right, find a way to get the copyright of this game. What we're doing is its high-definition remake!"

Hu Xianbin was dumbfounded.

"Mission and Choice" was the shame of domestic games, the nightmare of countless old players, and the worst and most unsuccessful RTS game ever!

Moreover, its world view itself was a ripoff of StarCraft, with no plot at all, and the art was a pile of garbage, with absolutely nothing to recommend it!

Other people do IPs to recreate classics;

We're doing IPs to pick up trash?

And the kind that's poisonous, harmful, and worthless?

Why bother? Tenda has so many good IPs, can't we just take one and use it? Or just rewrite a world view, it's better than this!

Pei Qian saw the exaggerated expression on Hu Xianbin's face and was secretly delighted, but he didn't intend to explain more.

Huang Sibao also frowned.

But after a moment, he suddenly realized something, and his brows instantly relaxed.

"Ah, President Pei, I understand!"

"'Mission and Choice' is the pain in the hearts of all domestic game players. It represents the era of the great decline of domestic single-player games and is the shame of domestic single-player games."

"And President Pei, your choice to remake this game is to wash away this shame and declare the rebirth of domestic single-player games and its march towards glory!"

"If it succeeds, it will definitely completely reverse players' impressions of domestic games and give all domestic single-player game producers a shot in the arm!"

Hu Xianbin also suddenly realized.

So that's how it is. President Pei is making this game not out of utilitarian considerations, but with a strong symbolic meaning!

He couldn't help but reveal an expression of great admiration.

This kind of great undertaking can only be done by a heroic figure like President Pei!

Pei Qian: "…"

Whatever you say is what you say, I'm used to it.

Pei Qian adjusted his mood and continued, "This game must innovate on traditional RTS games."

Everyone nodded, obviously, President Pei couldn't be conventional.

Although seriously referring to successful RTS games such as StarCraft 2 and War of the Ring would be the most stable choice, President Pei was obviously not that kind of person.

After thinking about it, Pei Qian said, "There should only be two races in the game, humans and zerg. As for balance, do as much as you can, and it doesn't matter if you don't do it well."

"The operation of the game must be simplified as much as possible. It's best to be able to play without any APM at all." (APM is Actions Per Minute)

"Um… the biggest difficulty doesn't come from the enemy, but from your own people. Every soldier must have his own thoughts and often disobey the player's commands and orders."

"The live-action shooting needs to hire actors, but only one protagonist can be hired, and the others can only be extras. It doesn't matter who the protagonist is, it doesn't matter if you hire big stars, but remember not to have any expressions or acting skills."

"And the construction period must be guaranteed, the money must be spent, and there are no other requirements."

Pei Qian was confident.

I don't believe it can still make money like this!

These requirements basically eliminate all the advantages of traditional RTS games.

As He An said, if RTS games are made like StarCraft 2, they can still make money. After all, there are still many hardcore RTS players around the world, and they will still buy it as long as it's a good game.

Making RTS games simple will not be able to cater to these old players, nor will it be able to compete with games like GOG for new players, greatly increasing the chances of failure!

In addition, balance is also very important for RTS games.

Command & Conquer is not as popular as StarCraft and War of the Ring in the hearts of many players because the balance is not good and it is difficult to promote as an e-sports project.

So, Pei Qian is making an RTS game with terrible balance!

There are only two races, humans and zerg, and they are not balanced at all. The core players of RTS games can never accept it, and it is impossible to engage in e-sports projects.

As for the "soldiers must have their own thoughts" point, Pei Qian is drawing from his own personal experience. It's time for the players to feel his pain!

Imagine, in an RTS game, you command your soldiers to attack the enemy army, and then the soldiers see that there are many enemies and run away directly.

How refreshing! The players will definitely be pissed off.

As for the actors, it's to be on the safe side.

What if this thing can really be released in theaters and becomes a global hit, earning hundreds of millions of dollars at the box office?

The possibility is very small, but it has to be prevented.

Therefore, Pei Qian also had to ensure that this thing would definitely flop even if it was made into a movie.

There is only one protagonist, and he must never show any acting skills, or even have too many expressions.

In this way, the possibility of someone like Lu Zhiyao using his acting skills to hype up the popularity like in A Beautiful Tomorrow no longer exists.

After listening to President Pei's words, the three of them were all frozen.

President Pei's requirements were all a bit bizarre!

But everyone was a worldly person after all, so they were not too shocked, and they didn't ask much.

They knew very well that President Pei must have come up with a new puzzle.

But the problem is that President Pei's question this time seemed ridiculously difficult!

How to solve this?

The name of the game was very bizarre, the game's mechanics completely did not conform to the basic concepts of RTS games, and even making a CG was so different.

People who didn't know would think that President Pei was trying to make things difficult for everyone!

Looking at the expressions of the three of them, Pei Qian couldn't help but smile slightly.

Very good, seeing everyone's expressions, I know that this game is mostly done!

Losing 500 million at once, it's so cool to think about!

Pei Qian stood up: "Alright, let's get to work as soon as possible!"

…

After arranging the work, Pei Qian hummed a little tune and returned to his residence.

He had arranged for both Tenda Games and Fei Huang Workshop, these two serious problems, and was in a great mood.

But after calming down, Pei Qian felt that he couldn't be careless.

Send the plan to Teacher He An and let the Guiding Light confirm it again to see if it can really lose money and how likely it is to lose money.

What if Teacher He can find something he didn't pay attention to?

Thinking of this, Pei Qian sorted out the main points of the meeting and sent them to He An.

"Teacher He, what do you think is the success rate of 'Mission and Choice' if we do it this way?"

In less than two minutes, He An replied.

"?"

"???"

He sent several question marks in a row, followed by a video call.

"President Pei, are you really going to do this?" As soon as the video call was connected, He An asked head-on.

Pei Qian nodded: "Yes."

He An looked shocked: "That's 500 million!"

Pei Qian couldn't help but be overjoyed: "Yes, 500 million!"

He An on the other end of the video couldn't help but be silent. He carefully observed President Pei's expression, but he still couldn't guess what President Pei was really thinking.

"If it were any other game company, I would definitely offer incense in advance."

"The standard answer of StarCraft 2 is right there, but they can't even copy it, and they even made all the possible mistakes. This 500 million is definitely going down the drain, a complete loss."

He An paused and then said, "But…"

"President Pei, you should have already thought about what to do, and deliberately only released some partial information to deliberately confuse me, right?"

"Are you showing off again?"

"After the game is successful, I will definitely be shocked by you and subvert many basic theories of game design."

"Is that what you're thinking?"

Pei Qian: "…"

Damn it, Teacher He has also started to make up his own mind.

Pei Qian tentatively asked, "Teacher He, so how do you think this game will make money?"

He An put on a straight face: "You're amazing! I can't guess, okay!"

Pei Qian was a little speechless. They were having a good chat, why did he get angry?

Okay, since Teacher He can't guess any possibility of profit, then he can rest assured.

"Okay, then thank you for Teacher He's guidance. I'll definitely treat you to dinner after the game is launched!"

Pei Qian happily hung up the phone.