Chapter 208: Can this be turned up?
"Mr. Chen, I'd like to ask, what is the specific direction of our new game this time?"
As soon as Chen Lin finished speaking, someone asked.
“Directions.”
Chen Lin touched his chin and said, "Because the Dawn team is now fully committed to making Red Dead Redemption, only the Dawnbreaker and online game teams have manpower, so we can't make a game with a long production cycle."
Quality is the most important thing, which does not necessarily mean that the picture quality must be very high.
Rather, the overall gameplay content should be good, unlike those junk games that just change the skin and come out to cheat money without any ambition to make progress.
To put it bluntly.
As long as the game you make is fun.
Players are willing to pay for it.
"It seems that platform battle games like Zhanqi are very popular recently. Several manufacturers have become successful by playing these games. How about we make one too?" Lao Li started the conversation first.
Although he has been busy with the subsequent operations of the game, he has also been paying attention to industry trends.
Especially in recent months, many games with outstanding performance have emerged, which have made many game categories popular, and platform battle is one of them.
"Platform battle?"
Chen Lin fell into deep thought.
The first thing he thought of was moba games.
When he was trying to seize the online game market before, he had thought about making these games.
But after careful consideration, I gave up temporarily.
The reason is simple, plagiarism!
Once he really makes these games, Penguin and other big companies that dominate the online game market will probably copy one soon.
Because this type of game is too easy to copy.
With Honghuang's current player base, although there is no need to be afraid of Penguin anymore, the huge number of Penguin users cannot be ignored.
Once the copying really starts, it is hard to say who will win or lose.
If a protracted tug-of-war ensues, it will be even more disadvantageous to them with their weak capital, and they will only be making things worse.
So now is not the best time.
"This type of game is indeed quite popular recently, but there are also many people making it, so it is not a very good choice."
As if seeing Chen Lin's hesitation, Old Song on the other side spoke.
After the two big guys finished speaking, the others also started talking.
"Battle Banner is actually a derivative of card games. We already have Slay the Spire and just released Yu-Gi-Oh. Would it be a bad idea to make another game of this kind?"
"I think it's better to be conservative. What's the problem if you've done it before? At least there's an audience. As long as the gameplay is different, it's fine."
"If we make another similar game, won't it affect the sales of other games?"
"This worry is completely unnecessary. The total number of players of the two games combined will definitely exceed that of one game. They will always have different audiences."
"us……"
In a blink of an eye, the entire conference room became lively.
Employees have various opinions.
Card games and open world games continue to gain popularity.
Role-playing and FPS mainstream.
There are even unpopular romance and crime investigation games.
In short, there were so many different things that Chen Lin couldn't help but laugh.
He likes this kind of environment where everyone can express their opinions, which can liven up the atmosphere and gather ideas.
"Xiao Li, why don't you also tell me your opinion?"
At this time, Lao Song suddenly noticed Xiaoli, who was concentrating on writing and was responsible for recording the content of the meeting.
"Ah? Can I give some advice too?"
Xiaoli was stunned for a moment and subconsciously looked at Chen Lin.
"We are all attending the meeting, so what can't be said? If you have any good ideas, you can raise them even if you are not from the production team." Chen Lin said with a smile.
"Uh, well...actually I don't have any idea."
Xiao Li scratched her head awkwardly with a pen in her hand: "It's just... I just heard someone talking about criminal investigation games. I think they're good. This kind of game is mainly about brain-burning. It shouldn't be difficult to make, right?"
Criminal investigation game?
Everyone was stunned when they heard this.
Especially the team leader who proposed this kind of game, his face was furrowed.
He just said it quickly. Is there really anyone who would make such a game?
You know, there is not even a single game of this kind on the market.
Yes.
None at all!
Either they are dead or no one is doing it.
No matter how well you do it or how well you design the case, it will be useless.
Because the audience is too small!
On the contrary, its brother category, puzzle and exploration games have been enduring and many games have become popular.
Purebred criminal investigation is a genre that is as cold as the Arctic Ocean. Unless there is a huge innovation, there is no way it can become popular.
"Sister Li, aren't you trying to hurt me? I was just joking..."
The team leader's face fell.
Seeing this, the others also laughed.
"You know what, although this category is a little unpopular, there really isn't much competition."
"Just because others can't make it popular doesn't mean we can't make it popular."
"That is, have confidence in yourself!"
“Since you want to bring change to the market, be bold and go for the least popular one!”
"Hahaha, stop teasing him."
The laughter continued to echo in the conference room, full of strong mockery.
But as they talked, they stopped laughing.
Recalling the words that came out of my mouth subconsciously.
Be able to do what ordinary people cannot do, do what ordinary people don’t do, and open up new horizons.
Isn’t this their original purpose?
And just recently.
They just said they were going to bring changes to the market.
Those inspiring words were still echoing in their minds, and they gradually came up with a bold idea.
"Mr. Chen."
Suddenly, a team leader looked at Chen Lin and said, "How about... we give it a try?"
After these words were spoken, no one spoke out in opposition.
As if they had some kind of tacit understanding, they all looked at Chen Lin with expectation in their eyes.
yes.
What others can’t do, if they do it.
Doesn't this mean that they are better than others?
This alone is enough to make them excited.
Anyway, it is just a transitional product and the investment will not be too much, so it is most suitable to use it for this kind of innovative attempt.
Even the conservative Old Song surprisingly did not refute this time, but analyzed: "Making unpopular categories popular is indeed suitable for building our reputation, but the risk is a bit high."
"Um."
Chen Lin nodded: "That's a good idea. Sometimes being unpopular is just a way of saying it. Maybe changing the direction will work."
It is rare for his employees to have their own ideas, so he naturally does not want to refute their independent creativity.
Anyway, I don’t plan to make a very big game, so even if there is a loss, it won’t be that big.
If they succeed, they will become the first manufacturer to make the category popular.
A guaranteed profit.
After thinking about it, he made the decision: "In that case, let's decide. We'll make a criminal investigation game! And it has to be innovative. Tell us your ideas."
After saying that, he threw the question back again.
After the theme was determined, the next step was much simpler. The employees thought about it and put forward their opinions:
“The reason why this category is unpopular is mainly because the audience for the gameplay is too small and the threshold is too high, so I suggest making some changes to the gameplay.”
"Indeed, with those failed cases, the gameplay of running around to solve cases is obviously not feasible, because the various character controls will distract the player's attention and become tiring after a long time."
"Why not cancel the outdoor activities and focus on brain analysis as the main gameplay?"
"If that's the case, wouldn't it just be a boring stand-alone game of sitting at a desk reviewing documents and looking for clues?"
"If a single player doesn't work, then let's do it with multiple people. It should be possible for multiple people to solve the case, right?"
"Multiple people solving a case? Great idea! How about making it more exciting and letting one or two players play the murderer, so that players can fight each other to increase interaction?"
The employees became more and more excited as they talked, as if they had discovered a new world, and their eyes lit up.
Even Chen Lin was shocked by their ideas.
Multiplayer online, player murderers, online fights, isn't this the Werewolf gameplay that he is very familiar with?
How the hell can it turn that way?
It turned out that the decision to let them play freely was the right one.
"very nice!"
Chen Lin spoke directly and exclaimed in praise.
Upon hearing this, everyone stopped discussing and looked at him with confusion.
"Mr. Chen, have you come up with any good ideas?" asked Lao Li.
"It's not that I thought of it, but I think the ways of playing you just mentioned are very good."
"You mean multiple people solving cases online?" Old Song asked immediately.
"Yes, that's it."
Chen Lin smiled and said, "Based on what you just said, I have thought of a suitable way to play. We will form a multiplayer online voice chat room. At the beginning of each game, players will get a random identity and corresponding skills, and only they know them. They will then take turns speaking and voting to find out the murderer. It can be considered a board game."
"Board game!?"
Everyone was shocked; they had never thought about it in this way.
After all, most of the board games nowadays are mahjong, cards, and chess.
After coming to their senses, they were all surprised.
"Oh yeah, why didn't I think of that!"
"Since we don't want outdoor games, wouldn't a board game be the best choice?"
"Board games combined with solving cases, this gameplay is amazing!"
"If you use online voice, it can also increase the interactive attributes!"
"The player directly becomes the victim or even the murderer, using words to deceive and hide their identity. Doesn't this maximize the sense of immersion and tension?"
The more they talked, the more they discovered the merits of this gameplay.
If it can really be made, it will definitely have a huge impact on the board game market and even change the current board game landscape!
"Not bad, not bad. It's rare that you can give such good advice."
After figuring out the key, Old Song couldn't help but admire it.
Because this kind of gameplay has never appeared before, maybe it can really bring popularity to the criminal investigation theme.
“It’s a good idea indeed.”
Although Chen Lin didn't know how compatible this world was with Werewolf, the fact that he could come up with this suggestion showed that his employees were quite capable.
After deciding on the gameplay, he didn't waste any time and began to discuss more detailed settings and some production issues.
The meeting finally ended around noon.
The team leaders left the meeting room excitedly with their design plans and began to prepare under Lao Li's arrangement.
…
It is not difficult to make a Werewolf game.
The only thing you need to do is to set up the voice platform and write the rules and character codes.
So in order not to waste manpower, Chen Lin simply waved his hand and asked them to make a 3D version of the cartoon camp scene, with a campfire in the middle, and added scene switching and character appearance selection, as well as day and night special effects.
But even so.
It's been less than two weeks.
The news that the game was completed reached Chen Lin's ears.
Then not long after, a new announcement appeared under their official account.
[Honghuang Studio: We have tried to make a new game called "Werewolf", a criminal investigation board game, which has been launched on the Steam platform. If you are interested, you can go and have a look...]
There were no signs and no publicity.
This announcement appeared very abruptly in the players' field of vision, stunning them all as they were discussing "Red Dead Redemption" enthusiastically.
WTF?
New game?
Honghuang has released a new game?
It's only been half a month!
"No, my cousin hasn't even finished yet, so he went to play other games?"
"Shit! I just checked and this game really exists!"
"A criminal investigation board game. What kind of ridiculous combination is this?"
“There are still people making games about criminal investigations?”
"You've got some free time so you can start doing some crazy things again, right?"
"Werewolf, I'm still Cinderella, I want to see what kind of game this is."
Now, players are very resentful about the urge for updates to "Red Dead Redemption".
Seeing that Honghuang was not making games properly, he actually went to make some board games, and the subject matter was so obscure that even his mother wouldn't recognize it.
They were immediately furious and rushed to the Steam platform to search for this game.
Finally, I searched and found it.
[Game: Werewolf]
[Introduction: This is a game about survival and betrayal. Eight players will play various roles and win the game through language description, eloquence and analytical judgment. Attention, the werewolf is among you. Please stay alert at all times and close your eyes when it gets dark.]
[Genre: multiplayer, online cooperation, social reasoning, board game]
[Price: 22]
