Chapter 1277 Three Game Modes

Min Jingchao paused slightly and continued, "The game's background can be set in a deserted battlefield in a future world, where players play soldiers undergoing special training and need to win the exercise."

"In my vision, the game is divided into two stages."

"The first stage can be called the exploration stage, or the free-for-all stage."

"Before entering the game, players can choose their identity: ordinary soldier, squad leader, battlefield commander, with a primary and secondary option."

"The game defaults to a four-person squad with one leader. Players can play solo or choose to team up."

"The system will adjust based on the actual situation of the players in the current game. For example, if there are not enough players selecting squad leader as their primary choice in the battlefield, it will filter from those who chose it as a secondary option. If that's still not enough, it will select players with better stats from the ordinary soldiers."

"After forming a squad, the leader designates a location on the map to land, and begins searching for resources, looking for better guns, more bullets, and medical supplies, etc."

"Whether to fight at this point depends entirely on the player's personal preference."

"If players want to fight, they can go to strategic locations rich in supplies, such as battlefield hospitals, airports, bunkers, etc. These places will encounter other players early on, and the fighting will be intense."

"If players don't want to fight, they can go to places where supplies are relatively scarce, such as camps and strongholds in the wilderness."

"If a squad member dies in the early stages, teammates can revive them at a designated location; if the dead member quits the game, a new player can be summoned to enter."

"Of course, in the matching interface, players can freely choose whether to join a game that is already in progress."

"If the entire squad is wiped out, they are eliminated from the game."

"The first stage of the battle is 100 vs 100, which is a total of 200 people, with 50 squads deployed into the map."

"To prevent players from hiding and dragging out the time, I added a 'radiation suit battery' setting. Players must find batteries for their radiation suits to maintain full health. Once the battery is exhausted, they will continuously lose health due to radiation until they die."

"When the field is reduced to 100 people, that is, half of the squads have been eliminated, or after the game has been going on for a certain amount of time, the second stage begins."

"At this time, the system will comprehensively consider factors such as player performance in the first stage and the distribution of players in various strategic locations, and divide the battlefield into two evenly matched sides."

"In the initial state, the two sides are inevitably mixed together. Some squads may naturally be deep in enemy territory, occupying a key bunker; while some squads may be in the rear of their own陣營, very safe."

"At this time, the commander selected by the system can begin to command the battlefield and issue instructions to all squads."

"To facilitate player communication, we need to create a very complete signal marking system. Squad leaders and commanders can directly issue orders through the marking system, or they can use voice communication."

"In this stage, even if a player is killed, they can be revived in a camp or hospital, but it requires consuming resources, such as batteries for the radiation suit. The resources on the map are limited, and once they are used up, players can no longer be revived. Ultimately, victory and scoring are calculated based on the number of strategic locations occupied by both sides and the points earned for killing enemies and collecting resources."

Sun Xi hesitated for a moment and then asked, "Wouldn't that make the game time too long? Most FPS games are quick mode with a few minutes per game. The emotional stimulation for players is fast and direct. Dividing it into two stages like this definitely won't be completed in a few minutes, right?"

Min Jingchao nodded. "Yes, I expect the entire game to last about 30 minutes. Actually, this time is okay, basically similar to the game length of a more bladder-busting game in GoG."

"And unlike games like GoG, *Bullet Marks 2* has a screening mechanism. Not every player will play for 30 minutes."

"The first stage is the screening stage. If players jump into densely populated areas for intense combat right away, they may kill everyone, allowing their squad to directly occupy a strategic location, or they may be wiped out, forcing them to quit."

"So, for players who like fast-paced games, they don't need to last for 30 minutes; for players who like slow-paced games and like to search slowly, they can jump to some less populated areas in the first stage. As long as they survive the first stage, they can keep reviving in the second stage, and they can keep their good weapons and resources, etc."

"Moreover, if you die in the first stage, you die. You can quit and start a new game immediately, which doesn't delay anything; if you survive the first stage, you can revive in the second stage, and your weapons and equipment will be better, plus the rewards after the battle, the motivation is also very sufficient, and you won't quit halfway."

"As players' shooting skills improve and they become more familiar with the game mechanics, they can gradually try to choose more competitive locations, allowing the player base to achieve a natural flow."

"This mechanism is equivalent to a segmentation of different types of players, allowing players to find a gameplay that suits them in this mode."

Zhou Muyan and others nodded in agreement. Min Jingchao's method seemed to really work.

In fact, the reason why MOBA games are popular is because there are different joys in the early, middle, and late stages of the game.

In the early stage, players face off solo, establishing an initial advantage through their skills; in the mid-stage, they roam and support, helping the team open up the situation; in the late stage, they either compete for resources or look for opportunities to turn the tide, winning the victory.

Moreover, in this type of game, because players' levels and equipment are constantly improving, there is a sense of growth similar to that of an MMORPG. So in the mid- to late-stage, unless the situation is completely one-sided, players will not easily give up the sunk cost of the previous twenty minutes, as long as they have mixed up their equipment and have the power to fight, they will try to find opportunities to turn the tide.

The large map mechanism designed by Min Jingchao for *Bullet Marks 2* obviously also draws on some ideas from MOBA games. On the one hand, it screens and segments player groups through game mechanics, allowing different types of players to experience different fun; on the other hand, it guarantees that there is enough fun in the later stages through game mechanics.

Min Jingchao continued, "However, although in theory the design of this large map mechanism takes into account the experience of different players, some unexpected situations may occur in actual operation."

"For example, the matching mechanism may not be able to balance the strength of both sides well after the initial screening due to insufficient data; or the imperfection of the game mechanics may lead to the progress of different stages being too fast or too slow, affecting the actual game experience of the players."

"There is no good solution to this problem, and we can only adjust it slowly."

"But in the process of adjustment, it may cause player churn."

This is actually very easy to understand. If a game mechanism wants to operate perfectly, it needs the support of a lot of data.

For example, the reason why the experience of GoG, a MOBA game, is so outstanding is because the data such as how many soldiers are spawned per minute, how much experience is gained, how much money is earned, and what are the attributes of the monsters have all been carefully and complexly modified and tuned before becoming what they are now.

Once a problem occurs in a certain link, such as players leveling up too quickly, the rhythm of the entire game will be disrupted, resulting in serious chain reactions and even completely disrupting the initial concept.

Min Jingchao, who has been balancing GoG for so long, is of course very clear about this.

And it is impossible to completely avoid these problems from the beginning. He can only constantly adjust the game based on player feedback and collected data.

Zhou Muyan said, "This is actually okay. After the game is developed, we can just run a few tests and launch it after it's adjusted."

"Anyway, other games have to be tested for a long time before they are officially launched."

Min Jingchao nodded and said, "Testing is a solution, but I also thought of another solution."

"That is to use the existing large map and open up a few more new game mechanisms."

"On the basis of the original mechanism, split and simplify it, so that even if the classic mechanism of the large map encounters some problems in the initial stage, which affects the player's experience, they still have other modes to play."

"President Pei cut a lot of modes before, so we definitely won't do those. Compared with *Sea Fortress*, we only retained the most basic shoot 'em up mode."

"I thought about it and planned three modes."

"The first is a pure shoot 'em up mode. Randomly select a small area on the large map. Players can continue to revive, take their favorite guns by default, and shoot anyone they see. Scoring is based on the number of kills."

"Anyway, they are all taken from the large map. The map can be used with a slight modification. Divide the large map into many small maps, which can not only meet our needs, but also guide players to become familiar with the terrain of the large map."

"If players play a lot in this mode, they will naturally know the way in the large map."

"The second is a mode that only retains the first stage, but some adjustments need to be made to the details."

"Because the first stage is fought in squads, there is basically no need to balance the strength. Anyway, the one who stands to the end is the winner."

"But since there is no second stage of battle, it is obviously meaningless to have so many players left on the large map. We need to accelerate the death and exit of players, so I am considering adding a 'mechanical legion invasion' mechanism."

"In layman's terms, after the game has been going on for a certain amount of time, the mechanical legion will continuously refresh from the surrounding areas of the map, and their attributes will gradually increase."

"Players have two choices. One is to run into the map, which will naturally encounter other players and start a battle; the other is to search for resources, seize favorable terrain and strategic locations, and fight these mechanical legions head-on."

"If you don't want to fight players, you can stand in a bunker and刷 mechanical legions, which is similar to the zombie mode of *Sea Fortress*."

"The former is a '逃生' (escape) gameplay, while the latter is a '坚守' (hold the line) gameplay. It depends on the location of the player at the time and their personal gaming habits."

"The third gameplay is the classic gameplay I just introduced."

"Different gameplays can bring different fun to players in the process and complement each other."

"In this way, *Bullet Marks 2* can bring players a rich and unique gaming experience!"