Thursday, November 10th.
The imperial capital.
Qiu Hong looked at the address on his phone, then looked up at the old community in front of him.
People who come and go in the community are some elderly people. Because the old community is very old, the living conditions are quite worrying, and the apartments in the residential buildings are also very narrow. For young people, it may be difficult to live together. I don't want to live here, let alone work here.
But according to the address on the phone, there is an independent game producer here.
Qiu Hong also spotted the unit building number and climbed up the corridor filled with various psoriasis advertisements until he reached the sixth floor.
After repeatedly identifying which one was 601 and which one was 602, Qiu Hong knocked on the door gently.
"Tuk-tuk-tuk."
A moment later, there was a sound of footsteps inside, and the old-fashioned security door opened.
A young man with messy hair and two big dark circles under his eyes asked hesitantly: "Are you... Mr. Qiu?"
Qiu Hong nodded. : "Yes, you are Wu Zhicheng?"
Wu Zhicheng nodded: "Yes, Mr. Qiu, just call me Xiaowu, please come in."
Wu Zhicheng Step aside.
Qiu Hong stepped in and closed the security door.
The imperial capital should not be heated until around mid-November. It is still nearly a week away, so it is the coldest time.
After entering, Qiu Hong did not feel very warm. Instead, he felt as if wind was constantly coming in from the gaps in the window.
Wu Zhicheng seemed to be used to it and dragged a chair over: "Sorry, Mr. Qiu, this is too messy. You can make do with it."
Qiu Hongye Not paying attention, he pulled up a chair and sat down.
Originally Wu Zhicheng wanted the two of them to find a coffee shop to chat, but Qiu Hong insisted on coming to Wu Zhicheng’s place of work because he wanted to see the most real working environment and working status.
Qiu Hong looked around.
This looks like a small one-bedroom apartment. The living room has become Wu Zhicheng’s studio, with computer desks, computers, messy stacks of books, game consoles, small TVs, and small dining tables... …There’s barely much room to put your foot down.
The other room is Wu Zhicheng's bedroom. Apart from the bed and wardrobe, there is not much room for it. The bed is also filled with books, and the situation is equally worrying.
Wu Zhicheng was a little embarrassed. After searching for a long time in the small refrigerator, he only found Feizhai Happy Water. He didn't know whether Mr. Qiu was used to drinking this.
Qiu Hong hurriedly said: "No need to be busy, let's get straight to the point."
Wu Zhicheng nodded: "Okay, let me briefly talk about the situation here. ”
Compared with Jiang Fan of Cherry Studio, Wu Zhicheng’s experience seems much simpler.
Jiang Fan originally worked in a law firm. After first making a successful game in his spare time, thisOnly then did he decide to use the money to set up Cherry Studio to start a business.
Wu Zhicheng worked for a while after graduating from college and had a certain amount of savings. Then because he was dissatisfied with his job, he resolutely resigned and started making games.
As for what to do if the game can’t be finished and it can’t make any money, Wu Zhicheng didn’t think much about it at all.
Anyway, if you can’t support it anymore, just find another job.
Qiu Hong asked: "At what stage of game development is it? Can you give it a try?"
Wu Zhicheng nodded: "Yes, but... the degree of completion is very high "Hey, Mr. Qiu, you may have to play with your imagination."
As he said that, Wu Zhicheng turned on his computer and opened the game project he made in the official editor.
Qiu Hong sat down in front of Wu Zhicheng's computer, looking at the dust on the keyboard and mouse, as well as the ashtray full of cigarette butts and empty Coke bottles on the computer table, he was speechless for a moment.
Wu Zhicheng quickly took out two tissues from the tissue box next to him, wiped the keyboard and mouse carefully, and then tidied up the computer desk.
"Mr. Qiu, this is a mobile game, but currently it can only be played on a computer. You need to use a mouse to complete the hand-drag operation, which is inconvenient. Please bear with me."
< p>Qiu Hong nodded and started to enter the game.The name of the game is "Ink Clouds and Smoke". It is a 2D horizontal version of the game with high difficulty. The biggest difference between this game and ordinary side-scrolling games is that it has a rather special gameplay, which is to interact with the scenes in the game through painting.
Players can create or erase objects in the game scene through painting. This interactive experience will bring players a very novel experience in some special levels and boss battles.
But...this is the ideal situation.
The gameplay of many games is full of ideals, but the reality is very skinny.
In order to achieve the effect that Wu Zhicheng expected, there must be two prerequisites: first, every level and every battle must be carefully crafted, and second, there needs to be extraordinary Outstanding artistic effects.
The biggest difference between "Ink Clouds and Smoke" and other 2D horizontal version games is this painting-style interactive experience, but if you just simply draw a little and wipe a little, the player's experience will be very... It's boring, and this gameplay innovation is meaningless.
The so-called gameplay innovation must not be a simple concept, but a rich set of gameplay and content.
The game must be conceived and planned for every level and every boss, and more tricks can be developed based on this gameplay. Only then can the game be considered a success.
Furthermore, since this game is a game that features interactive graphics, the graphics must be great, otherwise the fun of playing will be greatly reduced.
Judging from the current game completion level, it is actuallyIt's too far off.
This is also normal. Wu Zhiben is just a student who has just graduated. He is making this game purely out of love. Depending on the conditions, whether he has the ability to complete the gameplay and levels well. Ability aside, at least the art resources are unsolvable.
Wu Zhicheng is not good at art, and he cannot afford to hire experts on the official platform, so the resources in the game are all cobbled together, which looks very classless.
Moreover, all operations are done with the mouse, which is not as smooth as playing on a mobile phone.
In short, Qiu Hong’s enjoyment of this game depends entirely on his imagination.
Qiu Hong sighed slightly melancholy.
Before, he felt that a company like Cherry Studio, whose capital chain was almost broken and wages could no longer be paid, was very suitable for the rescue conditions of the "Dead End Plan".
As a result, when I saw Wu Zhicheng today, I realized that there is such a thing as "endless road". There is only poorer, not the poorest.
Then the question is, does this project meet the conditions?
Mr. Pei said that neither those who are too reliable nor those who are too unreliable can vote.
According to general standards, this must be considered particularly unreliable. An ordinary person with absolutely no experience in game development, using his love to generate electricity, has no way to guarantee his level design ability or art level.
But Qiu Hong instinctively hoped that Wu Zhicheng could get help, because Wu Zhicheng had a belief, and it was this belief that made this project reliable.
"Mr. Pei said, if I'm not sure whether it's reliable or not, it's up to me to decide."
"In that case..."
Qiu Hong considered Xu Jiu asked: "How much do you think it will cost to complete this game?"
Wu Zhicheng was stunned by the question: "Uh... this..."
" To be honest, I can’t tell.”
“If I have two hundred thousand, I can use it to hire a good painter to help draw the game scene.”
"If you have another 50,000 yuan, you can use it to pay the rent first, which will last for a long time..."
Qiu Hong also fell into deep thought.
For Cherry Studio, there are very clear plans for how much the project will be completed, what employee salaries and daily expenses will be.
But for Wu Zhicheng, he does not have a very clear concept of project planning, construction period, and resource control, so naturally he cannot give a specific number.
No matter how much money you give, you can only solve the urgent needs first, and we will talk about the rest later.
Qiu Hong is not worried that Wu Zhicheng will spend too much money. Given his condition, he can't spend much.
The key is that without a clear plan, project management and control will fall into chaos. Qiu Hong knows very well that this is a fatal factor that may lead to complete failure of the project.
For these independent game producers, heWhat they lack is not just money, but also various other supporting facilities.
For example, how to plan the project development cycle, how to control costs, how to solve financial problems, etc., are all difficult problems to solve.
But for a game the size of a game studio, it would be particularly wasteful to have all the equipment.
You can’t find three or four people including finance and administration to surround Wu Zhicheng alone, right? That doesn't make sense.
Qiu Hong thought for a while and said, "Wait a moment, I'll make a call."
Wu Zhicheng nodded and waited patiently.
Obviously, he also knew that given his condition, it was indeed too far-fetched to get people to invest.
I hope the big leader that Mr. Qiu asked for instructions can be kind.
————
For the game details of "Ink Clouds and Smoke", please see Chapter 194 of "Restarting the Game Era". If you are interested, you can check it out and it will not affect the plot of this book.