Game Making: Start By Healing the Player

Everyone present in the conference room was a little stunned.

Before that, they also knew that Chen Xu would lead them to a new game, and it was basically a sandbox game.

They thought about a lot of themes and related gameplay.

But now, looking at the toy building blocks that Chen Xu put on the table and used as a better example, both Qin Yi and Ruan Ningxue were a little confused.

"Mr. Chen, is our next project a building block game?" Yang Xin asked curiously, looking at the building block toy in front of him and the simple concept draft on the projection screen.

Although the content is detailed, Chen Xu has not fully explained the concept draft.

But at present, Qin Yi and the others have also identified some features of this game called "Minecraft".

First of all, in terms of art, the game uses a pixel style.

Everything in the game is basically composed of pixels and can be destroyed.

For example, the basic pixel block in the game is 1*1, then a huge stone may be composed of 4 1*1 blocks.

The same goes for other things.

"Mr. Chen, isn't the content of the game "Minecraft" too simple? I'm not talking about the extended content in the game, but a direction of the game itself." Qin Yi also took Yang Xin's words and organized the organization After a while, the language continued.

Qin Yi didn't say anything about the rest, but everyone present understood what he meant.

That is, compared to "Famine", "Minecraft" does not seem to have a clear gameplay.

"Moreover, President Chen will probably launch a large number of sandbox games in the future." Zhang Yida said, this is what he cares most about as an operator.

It is also a very important core issue.

Other game makers want to take a bite of the sandbox game style brought by Don't Starve.

There may be bad ones, but there may also be some fine games that will affect Minecraft.

In addition, there is a very critical factor, that is, the time when the sandbox game "Minecraft" was launched was too short from "Don't Starve".

If the quality is not as good as "Don't Starve", it will also have a certain impact on the reputation of Nebula Games.

"And in terms of game art, Mr. Chen, why do we use pixel style? It feels a little weird." Ruan Ningxue, who was in charge of art, also asked his doubts.

Pixel-style games are actually very rare these days.

After all, pixels often represent retro. The reason why pixel game screens were used in the past was due to the limitations of display devices and the limitations of the memory size of game consoles.

And it's really not easy to do well in pixel-based games, because pixels are simply a bitmap, which is composed of square pixels. If you really want to make pixels well, you need art. It is more troublesome than normal art to click on each pixel one by one.

Therefore, unless the game is based on age and feelings, the pixel style is generally not selected now.

But "Minecraft" chose to use the pixel style, which made Ruan Ningxue feel a little strange.

After all, from the design concept draft, "Minecraft" is not a retro and showy game.

Everyone said a word and said the doubts in their hearts.

Obviously at this time, the development of such a sandbox game, and it is also a pixel-style sandbox game, is confusing to everyone.

After listening to everyone's words, Chen Xu smiled.

He didn't care about people's doubts.

He even thinks this is a good thing, after all, everyone is thinking.

"First of all, recall the core content of "Don't Starve" that I told you before. Survival is a strong goal for players, but it is not the core of the game. Creation is the core of sandbox games."

"And everything in Minecraft revolves around the core gameplay of 'creation'."

"This creation is not simply building blocks, but using "Minecraft" as a carrier to create gameplay."

"In fact, if other sandbox games in the same period are all based on the survival of Don't Starve, then they have gone completely wrong, and may become an excellent survival game and cooperative game, but they will not It's an excellent sandbox game." Chen Xu said to Qin Yi and everyone.

Qin Yi thought thoughtfully: "So sandbox games are based on creation and freedom, and everything else can be discarded."

"Yes, that's what it means. Of course, I didn't know if players could accept this unique sandbox gameplay, so "Famine" is a test of water, and from player feedback and results, it seems that good."

"In terms of art, first of all I need to correct a perception. It's not that "Minecraft" must use the pixel art style, but that "Minecraft" needs to be pixelated! Pixels are sacrificed for freedom and creation, Because of the gameplay of Minecraft, it is destined that this world must be composed of countless blocks, just like building blocks." Hearing Chen Xu's words, Ruan Ningxue was also stunned.

These are two completely different concepts. Pixel wind games just say that this game has this art style, but Minecraft is different. It needs to pixelate the game world, which means dividing the game world. Into a cube, that is, the pixels in normal pixelation.

The departure concept is completely different.

To put it simply in one sentence, a sandbox game like Don't Starve Together is a semi-assembled toy.

Buying this toy requires players to piece it together, and according to the body of the piece.

Change clothes and color matching, but the foundation itself is unchanged.

"Minecraft" belongs to plasticine and sand. It looks ordinary in itself, but what can be pinched, whether it is beautiful or ugly, depends on the creativity of the players.

"Don't Starve" is played within the established rules of the world, while "Minecraft" is to create the world by itself, just like the name of the game.

In the conference room, it was very quiet, obviously everyone was still thinking about Chen Xu's words.

"So it is." Qin Yi nodded deeply.

From the design concept draft alone, Qin Yi feels that there is nothing special about Minecraft.

But after Chen Xu's in-depth analysis, he has fully understood.

Although for such a game, whether it can be recognized by players and the market, he is not sure.

But there is one thing not to worry about.

That is, for the game "Minecraft", Chen Xu obviously thought about it carefully.

"And the pixels are not necessarily simple, they can also be made beautiful." Chen Xu looked at Ruan Ningxue and said.

Pixel style does symbolize retro.

But it does not mean that it must be retro.

Can't modern art techniques be applied to pixel style?

Of course, there was a very famous pixel game in the previous life, which perfectly integrated its technology into the pixels, that is "Octopian Traveler" produced by SE, of course, because the price of SE was also regarded as a party 50 by players.

The traditional kingly plot and the fragmented group portrait narrative are not perfect. The most commendable place is the pixel art style combined with music and modern technology.

And in the previous life, "Minecraft" was marked with various high-definition texture packs, as well as various light and shadow effects, which can also give players a feeling of not losing to the 3A-level game screen. Visible pixels are not necessarily equivalent to the backwardness of the screen.