Chapter 1268 A Simple Cloze Test

In the afternoon, at the Tianhuo Studio conference room.

After Zhou Muyan repeatedly struggled, he decided to choose Sun Xi to assist Min Jingchao.

Originally, he wanted to select someone based on their grasp of President Pei's design intentions, but he discovered that everyone had uniformly submitted zero-point answer sheets.

Since that was the case, he could only choose the lead designer he trusted the most and who had extensive experience with FPS games.

After considering everyone, he was most satisfied with Sun Xi.

At this moment, the two of them were staring eagerly at Min Jingchao, wanting to say something but hesitating, stopping and starting again.

President Pei had already left, so their only hope rested on Min Jingchao...

Zhou Muyan and Sun Xi were also well aware that Min Jingchao was the lead designer of GoG and should be quite competent in his professional abilities.

In other words, even if he was separated from President Pei, if the game he designed had some unexpected issues, it shouldn't be a complete disaster.

But this game wasn't just required to be passable.

Three of the industry's top companies were collaborating, and if the resulting game had a mediocre reception, it would essentially be a failure.

With President Pei's broad requirements, it was highly doubtful whether Min Jingchao could design a game that wouldn't disgrace the Tengda brand.

Zhou Muyan said very considerately, "Brother Min, it's okay if you don't have any ideas for the design plan right now. You can take a few more days to think about it. You can't rush design, it's easy to make mistakes when you're busy."

"Once the design goes off course, it will be difficult to correct it later."

"Do you need anything in your daily life? If you don't like the food here, I can ask the company cafeteria's master chef to make more dishes that you like."

Zhou Muyan had to take good care of Min Jingchao.

On the one hand, it was because the working environment at Tengda was top-notch, and he might not be able to adapt here; on the other hand, it was also because he was afraid that he would be in a bad mood and affect the design of the plan.

Min Jingchao smiled and said, "Oh, it's okay, thank you for your concern, President Zhou. There's no need to worry about the design. I already have a basic framework for my design, and I just need to refine it a little bit."

Sun Xi was shocked: "Ah? So fast?!"

Although it was just a general framework, it was still difficult to quickly come up with one!

Because this framework determined the basic fun and core concept of the game, like the foundation of a building. Although you could cut corners, the consequences would be severe.

He came up with it so quickly?

Didn't he need to think about it some more?

Sun Xi and Zhou Muyan were a little dumbfounded.

If they didn't trust President Pei and Min Jingchao, they would have almost thought that the two of them had come to form a group to deceive them and scam research funding.

Seeing the shocked expressions on their faces, Min Jingchao was a little surprised: "What? Is this speed very fast?"

"Oh, maybe each company has different workflows. You don't know much about the situation at Tengda."

"I'm not designing from scratch. I'm solving it based on the hints given by President Pei."

"This isn't a self-assigned essay, but a cloze test with certain rules."

"As long as you master the methods, it's very fast to complete."

"My speed is only in the middle to lower range among the lead designers at Tengda. After all, I've been at GoG for many years, and I don't have many opportunities to participate in other types of games."

Zhou Muyan and Sun Xi were still dumbfounded.

Min Jingchao gave a thorough explanation, but after the explanation, the two of them were even more confused.

You call this a cloze test?

A cloze test should give most of the article and only require filling in a few words, right?

President Pei's was completely the opposite, only giving a few words and asking you to write the entire article!

Moreover, the words given were all ambiguous and not key words. How could they do this?

Your ability is simply heaven-defying, okay?

And you're telling us that such a heaven-defying ability is standard among the lead designers at Tengda? And you're still in the middle to lower range?

This is...

The talent reserves of Tengda's designers can simply be described as terrifyingly strong...

Zhou Muyan coughed lightly twice: "Well, Brother Min, why don't you talk about the specific details of the plan now? I'm too curious!"

Sun Xi also nodded: "Yes, how can you deduce a design plan from President Pei's such broad conditions? This is simply a miracle!"

Min Jingchao smiled slightly: "Well, it's difficult for those who don't know how, and not difficult for those who do. President Pei has been training us in this area, and I've been working at Tengda for so long, even a piece of wood should have become enlightened."

"Then I'll briefly talk about how President Pei wants *Bullet Marks 2* to be designed."

"You all remember the content that President Pei said at the meeting, and the questions that I asked later, right?"

Zhou Muyan and Sun Xi nodded together.

They were all very simple questions, not profound, and they had all recorded them.

Min Jingchao said: "Having these requirements is enough."

"President Pei has already explained the feel of the game and the charging model himself."

"In short, President Pei never repeats his designs. The same tricks that *Sea Fortress* used once will definitely not be used again."

"Moreover, the current market situation has changed compared to before."

"*Sea Fortress* has cultivated and absorbed a group of FPS game enthusiasts, and the entire player base has expanded compared to before. Moreover, *Sea Fortress* has been operating for two or three years, and many players are already tired of playing it."

"If you copy *Sea Fortress* again at this time, you definitely won't be able to catch up. If the gameplay isn't attractive, can a pirated version beat the genuine version even if you change the skin? That's impossible."

"So, there must be some changes and breakthroughs."

"Everyone says that Tengda Games is a golden brand, and players will buy any game they release, but this golden brand is also built on continuous innovation, constant change, and always bringing surprises to players."

"If one day Tengda releases a game that can't bring people a sense of novelty, then this golden brand will probably rust very quickly."

Zhou Muyan nodded, expressing his sincere admiration.

The reasoning was simple, and everyone understood it.

Not innovating and sticking to the old ways was equivalent to sailing against the current, not advancing was retreating.

But sometimes knowing this reasoning didn't mean that you could put it into practice. If knowing it meant you could do it, then most problems in this world wouldn't be problems.

In reality, innovation often meant risk, and risk meant failure.

It wasn't difficult to advocate for an innovative spirit, but it was difficult for a company to consistently pursue innovation at any cost, and for the thinking of everyone from the boss to the employees to be highly unified in pursuing innovation.

Min Jingchao continued: "President Pei said that the game's skin must be completely changed, and also said that being low-key and realistic doesn't conflict with being unique."

"In fact, combined with the previous requirements for the feel, this can be guided as a very clear hint, or even a clear instruction!"

Zhou Muyan and Sun Xi looked dumbfounded: "Huh?"

Where was the clear instruction?

The meaning of unique was to make a cool feeling like the Fire Kirin, but if it was low-key and realistic, how could it be unique?

If they were all real guns that existed, being realistic meant being as close to the real gun as possible, so how could it be unique?

Min Jingchao shook his head slightly, seemingly unable to understand their slowness: "It's very simple, change the packaging!"

"Who said that you must make a modern-day FPS game? Isn't a future setting good?"

"Think about it carefully, the path of modern firearms is actually impassable. There's *Counter-Terrorism Project* in front, and *Bullet Marks* and *Sea Fortress*, you'll run into them no matter how you go."

"But if you make it a futuristic sci-fi style, can't you take into account both realism and coolness?"

"The realism that President Pei is talking about doesn't specifically refer to the realism of modern firearms. It can also be the realism of future firearms."

"Make those high-tech firearms of the future a little more simple and realistic. Don't add so many strange special effects, so that they look more realistic."

"And in this way, the problem of the feel can also be solved."

"The reason why the feel of *Bullet Marks* was unpopular was because the guns were the same as those in *Counter-Terrorism Project*, but the feel had subtle differences."

"These subtle differences made players feel a little awkward, so they were neither here nor there."

"But what if you change it to future guns? As long as you change the packaging of these weapons, players won't have this awkward feeling. They won't think 'the AK47 doesn't feel like this', they will only think 'this gun feels similar to the AK47', or 'this is the future version of the AK47'."

"Since technology has improved, isn't it normal for the feel of the guns to change a little?"

Min Jingchao's explanation stunned both Zhou Muyan and Sun Xi, and their dumbfounded expressions were tinged with a hint of realization.

Was this what President Pei meant?

They hadn't even considered this direction before, mainly because their thinking was limited.

As soon as President Pei said to make *Bullet Marks 2*, they followed the thinking of *Bullet Marks*.

It was like if the previous game was set in the Three Kingdoms period, the sequel would definitely still be considered within the grand setting of the Three Kingdoms. What if it suddenly became high-tech Three Kingdoms? Would that make sense?

But after listening to Min Jingchao's explanation, the two of them felt that it made a lot of sense.

Yes, making a sci-fi game could indeed perfectly solve the above problems!

Sun Xi asked suspiciously: "But, couldn't President Pei just say to make a sci-fi game? Why did he have to beat around the bush?"

Min Jingchao shook his head slightly: "Say it directly? Then why not just tell you the entire design plan?"

"President Pei is testing this, to see if you can jump out of the limited constraints and come up with the most perfect solution."

"If he had said from the beginning, 'make a sci-fi setting', would you still delve into why you had to make a sci-fi setting? Would you still think about the interconnected issues of art style and feel?"

Zhou Muyan quickly asked: "Then what about the plot and the game mode? Did President Pei also give corresponding answers, but we didn't understand them?"

Min Jingchao nodded very confidently: "Of course!"

"However, President Pei gave different degrees of freedom for these two questions: the former is clear and the scope is relatively narrow; the latter is vague and the scope is relatively broad."

"President Zhou, you can actually try to interpret it."

"Do you remember what President Pei said when I asked him if we should make a plot?"

Sun Xi immediately replied: "I remember, President Pei said not to make a plot, and the funding could be used elsewhere, such as working on the maps."

Min Jingchao nodded: "That's right."

"In President Pei's language system, anything that clearly points out the direction is basically more important."

"Then, what do you think President Pei meant by 'working on the maps'?"

Sun Xi thought for a while: "Combining the sci-fi setting that we summarized earlier... Does it mean to make more maps for the battle mode? A stronger sci-fi style and a more complex structure?"

Min Jingchao asked rhetorically: "No matter what the setting is, these battle maps have to be made. Can making a sci-fi setting cost more money? Is there any essential difference between making a sci-fi setting and making a modern war setting?"

Sun Xi was speechless. He thought for a moment and then said: "...No."

For the art team, it's all about drawing anyway. Although drawing a sci-fi setting requires some original content, the workload won't be much higher than that of a general modern war setting, so it's impossible to spend a lot of budget on this alone.

Min Jingchao continued to ask: "So, how can you spend more money on the maps?"

Zhou Muyan seriously considered it and said somewhat uncertainly: "...Make a big enough map?"

If they made small maps, changed the style, or increased the number a little, it wouldn't be enough to spend a lot of funding.

The only way was to make one or several super-large maps, which would cost more money.

But Zhou Muyan said this hesitantly, because he felt that this idea didn't seem very reliable.

What would they do with a super-large map?

There had to be corresponding gameplay to support it, right?

Min Jingchao nodded: "Yes, that's it!"

"Of course, I'm not sure either, so I asked President Pei about the gameplay. President Pei said to cut off all the ghost mode, biochemical mode, and demolition mode."

"Then I asked if I could create other original modes, and President Pei said I could."

"After summarizing it like this, the answer is very clear: President Pei hopes that *Bullet Marks 2* will be a futuristic sci-fi shooting game that is different from the current mainstream FPS games. It will put a large number of players on a large map for a new battle mode."

Sun Xi's face was full of surprise.

He never expected that he could really sort out the big framework of *Bullet Marks 2* with just this information, and it also made people feel that it made sense...

"But, President Pei didn't say what this new game mode is, right? You can't deduce it either, right?" Zhou Muyan said with some hesitation.

Because Min Jingchao had interpreted too much from President Pei's words, he asked with considerable uncertainty.

Min Jingchao nodded: "Indeed not, because President Pei's purpose is to let me design freely."

"If the previous part was a cloze test, then this later part is a composition."

"Because the cloze test is no longer a big problem for Tengda's designers. President Pei has already begun to consciously increase the difficulty, give full autonomy, and let the designers independently design the mode."

"I already have some preliminary ideas, but I still need to focus on tackling it next, and refine and implement this idea as much as possible. It will probably take three to five days."

I'll be a little lazy during the New Year these two days. There are more things to do. I wish you all a happy New Year again~