Chapter 158 No Problem At All

After settling on the general direction for "Ghost General 2," Pei Qian turned to Yu Fei again: "This is mainly my fault for not being clear at the beginning. Actually, your idea was pretty good."

"Let's stick with this game background for now. Tell me more about the gameplay."

"Don't hold back; just say whatever comes to mind."

Yu Fei fell silent again.

President Pei, you're being a bit unfair.

You told me to speak freely, but as soon as I finished, you shot me down.

Although you said you forgot, it's clear you didn't agree with my idea, so you subtly suggested changes!

You promised you'd seriously consider my suggestions!

Liar!

Now, President Pei is asking about the game's detailed gameplay, which is really entering Yu Fei's area of ignorance.

He used his shallow game knowledge to come up with the "Tengda All-Stars Brawl" concept, which was already the most reliable idea he could think of.

As for the details of the game, he doesn't understand them at all, so what can he say?

Yu Fei struggled for several minutes, like he was constipated, and then said with a sense of resignation: "Okay, then I'll really speak freely."

"I think there are many reasons why fighting games have become a niche genre."

"One of the biggest reasons is that it's too hardcore, and almost all the fun is concentrated on PvP."

"For ordinary players, it's difficult to learn, difficult to practice, and difficult to experience the fun. PvE gameplay exists, but it's relatively boring. And while PvP is fun, the player base is small, and the skill gap is large, so beginners are easily crushed and quickly give up."

"To change this, I think we should consider the following points."

"First, consider changing the perspective of the fighting game, like in 'Islands of Salvation,' and make some adjustments to the combat mechanics so that players can fight in a more common and familiar way."

"Second, increase PvE gameplay. Consider adding a large number of soldiers to the battles, while expanding the battle scenes and strengthening the Boss's attributes."

"Third, introduce two sets of control mechanics: one is the original control mechanics, and the other is a simplified control mechanic to lower the barrier to entry for new players."

"Fourth, establish a more comprehensive practice mode, not just allowing players to explore on their own, but making it clearer and more explicit, so that players can practice repeatedly to form muscle memory, and provide more in-depth explanations of some professional content, saving players the time of having to go online to find videos to learn."

Yu Fei spoke freely, saying whatever came to mind.

Didn't you tell me to say whatever I wanted? Then I'll really say whatever I want!

Anyway, whether or not it's adopted is President Pei's business. Even if what I say is unreliable, President Pei will definitely carefully screen it and choose the correct plan.

After listening to Yu Fei's words, the expressions of the people around him varied.

But designers who knew a little bit about fighting games were shaking their heads slightly.

Clearly, Yu Fei's idea was purely from his own perspective, and he didn't consider the target audience's thoughts at all.

Just Yu Fei's idea of changing the perspective showed that he was an absolute amateur.

If you change the perspective of a fighting game, what kind of fighting game is it?

Changing it to a third-person perspective like in "Islands of Salvation," creating a larger map, adding some monsters, and increasing the difficulty of the Bosses in the story...

Isn't that just an action game like "Islands of Salvation"?

It's just wearing the skin of "Ghost General."

Of course, he can't be blamed.

Because Yu Fei is originally a fan of action games. He said he doesn't understand fighting games, and the matter was sudden, so he couldn't possibly have had time to learn and research.

So giving this plan is very reasonable.

In some ways, the game model Yu Fei proposed would definitely make more money than a pure fighting game. After all, it has "Islands of Salvation" and "Eternal Reincarnation" as a foundation, and this type of game is more popular.

But President Pei has already said that this is a fighting game, so it's impossible to adopt Yu Fei's plan.

Pei Qian listened carefully, trying to extract elements that might lose money.

After listening to everything, Pei Qian was silent for a moment and said, "According to your description, this game seems more like an action game than a fighting game."

Yu Fei: "Uh, this..."

"It seems like that's true."

"Then can we add some combo input settings to the action?"

"Like... um..."

The more he spoke, the less confident he became.

Yu Fei just came up with ideas on the spot, saying whatever came to mind, but looking at the atmosphere and President Pei's reaction, it was clear that what he said was very unreliable.

The key is that he gradually realized it himself. If it's changed like this, what kind of fighting game is it? It's clearly an action game.

Moreover, even if you add combo input settings, it can't be saved.

On the one hand, the operation modes of fighting games and action games are completely different. Not to mention anything else, the way the joystick is used is completely different, and it can't be compatible at all. The idea of "inputting combos in an action game" is basically impossible to achieve.

On the other hand, even if it's made, it can only be considered "an action game with a bit of fighting elements," rather than "a fighting game that looks a lot like an action game."

There is still an essential difference between the two.

Pei Qian stroked his chin, also feeling that this plan wouldn't work.

The key is, if you turn a fighting game into an action game, then I'm going to make money, right?

Pei Qian decided to make a fighting game because he thought it was niche and didn't make money.

Thinking of this, Pei Qian cleared his throat twice: "I think there are still many merits to it, but the first point you mentioned is debatable."

"The game's perspective can't be changed at all. If you change it, it's not a fighting game."

"Of course, the perspective issue won't be so absolute. We can fine-tune it to a certain extent to differentiate it from traditional fighting games."

"Apart from this point, I think what you said is fine and meets my expected general direction."

"Especially the setting of adding soldiers, I think it's very novel!"

"But one thing to note is that the soldiers can't all be on the same horizontal plane. Although this is a fighting game, we want to make it purely 3D. The soldiers will come from all directions."

"And all the operations of a fighting game are performed on a 2D perspective's horizontal plane. How to balance the relationship between these two and integrate them together, that's where you need to use your ingenuity."

As soon as he said this, the people at the scene were a little surprised.

Ah?

President Pei's explanation of the first point did meet their psychological expectations, but the rest wasn't the same!

The perspective can be fine-tuned, but it can't be changed drastically, that's for sure.

But the rest of these things, making big scenes, adding soldiers, and adding attributes to the Bosses, are a bit difficult to understand!

The key is that it's hard to imagine what it would be like to add soldiers to a fighting game. How chaotic would that be!

Of course, many people will subconsciously consider it from the perspective of a side-scrolling game, that is, letting all the soldiers concentrate on the same horizontal plane, or adding a certain depth of field to the horizontal plane.

But judging from President Pei's meaning, he definitely doesn't want to make a side-scrolling game.

What he wants is a fighting game, which means that the setting of inputting combos must be retained. And to retain the combo input, the player's operating habits must conform to the habits of fighting game players, whether they use a joystick or directional keys.

Moreover, the soldiers can't all be on the same horizontal plane.

President Pei is saying that the game is actually 3D, and the soldiers will come from all directions, but what the players see is the side of the character, which conforms to the perspective of traditional fighting games.

So how to add this thing is really a bit difficult to understand.

Looking at the blank expressions on everyone's faces, Pei Qian couldn't help but smile.

Good, the effect has been achieved!

Actually, Pei Qian's main concerns were two points: one was that "Ghost General 2" would become an action game like "Islands of Salvation," or some Musou-style game, which wouldn't be considered a fighting game at all, greatly increasing the probability of making money; and the other was that "Ghost General 2" would become a purebred fighting game, attracting the support of these die-hard fans.

Therefore, by messing around with the plan that Yu Fei came up with on the spot, he could turn this game into something that's neither fish nor fowl.

Plus, a main designer, Yu Fei, who doesn't understand fighting games at all, and the great plan can be accomplished!

"Does anyone have any other opinions?"

"Very good, then let's do it according to this plan."

"If you think of any other ideas in the future, you can tell Yu Fei, and Yu Fei will give me unified feedback."

Pei Qian was just asking symbolically. At this time, everyone was still racking their brains to think about what President Pei's design meant, and no one stood up to say their thoughts.

This is also good. When they have ideas, let them give feedback to Yu Fei.

Yu Fei is not good at fighting games, and has no concept of the ultimate form of "Ghost General 2". If his subordinates keep giving him suggestions, he will definitely become very confused.

But it shouldn't be impossible to complete. After all, the entire Tengda Games team is relatively professional.

The biggest possibility is to complete it by the deadline, and then make a spliced monster that's neither fish nor fowl. They'll spend money to buy a lot of resources, so the graphics will be good, but it's just not fun.

That's the ultimate goal that Pei Qian wants to pursue.

Pei Qian was very satisfied with his plan and got up to leave.

When Yu Fei saw that President Pei was about to leave, he almost panicked.

"Wait a minute, President Pei!"

"Are you just handing over this job to me like this?"

Pei Qian nodded: "Of course. Aren't you the main designer? Who else can I hand it over to if not you?"

"But..." Yu Fei looked confused and didn't even know what to say.

Didn't I just spout so much nonsense? Didn't I let President Pei see that I'm actually a noob? Didn't I let President Pei see that I really don't understand fighting games at all?

But why did President Pei still hand over this important task to me?

Seeming to see Yu Fei's confusion, President Pei gently patted him on the shoulder.

"Look, the main ideas for this game were all proposed by you, right? There's no problem with that."

"You are now the main designer of Tengda Games, right? There's no problem with that either."

"The 'Eternal Reincarnation' that you just worked on was a great success. Although it's not a fighting game, it's also a high-difficulty operation game, and there are certain things in common, right? There's no problem with that either?"

"There's no problem with any of these, so what problem do you still have?"

Yu Fei was dumbfounded. He didn't expect that President Pei would actually summarize three points to prove the "rationality of handing over 'Ghost General 2' to Yu Fei," and for a while, he couldn't think of a good way to refute it.

Pei Qian smiled slightly: "Then good luck!"

After saying that, he turned and left the meeting room, leaving Yu Fei in the meeting room looking blank and as if he were daydreaming.