Recently, Chiba Games has actually had a number of game series in transition. Railway simulations, for example, have recently begun to follow the nostalgic style of ancient times.

In ancient times, there was no railway, how to simulate, so the railway became a horse-drawn carriage. The whole game has also become a simulation type of building roads and building post stations.

The main reason for the transformation is that all the countries that are a little popular have already finished the game. It can be said that this set of games shows all the customs of all famous countries in the world.

Of course, the earlier works, probably due to their age, are not particularly good now. The railway simulation project team also has plans to make a high-definition reset.

However, they don't want the working group to survive by making HD remakes in the future. For example, Railway Simulator 2006: Revisiting Europa.

Rather, I hope to continue to do something groundbreaking. But how easy is it to start a new series?

After many times of planning and overthrowing, they finally got to Lin Yan, and Lin Yan gave a very simple answer, "There is no space, use time." ”

So, they set their sights on ancient times. In this way, the field of view suddenly widens.

In the beginning, it was not entirely ancient. It's the Industrial Age. The round black steam locomotives, the gentlemen with high hats and tuxedos, and the antique classic cars.

In fact, these things, although far away from people's lives. However, there is his unique charm in it. Otherwise, there would be no steampunk style.

Like the multi-turret god cult of billions of stars, billions of turrets, and multi-riveting and steaming, it was actually gradually developed from that time.

The reason why that era is particularly attractive is that although technology has developed at that time, it is not particularly advanced. Technology came in the form of a violent, beastly form, with huge machines, roaring sounds, exposed gears, and various transmissions.

These things all show a primal sense of power, and the general public can see the subtlety at a glance.

Otherwise, in terms of sophistication, modern electronic equipment is better than ancient mechanical equipment, so much so that I don't know where it is. But why don't too many people have a different kind of feelings for electronic devices?

It's because although electronic devices are very powerful, not to mention ordinary people, even professionals, it is impossible to see with their own eyes.

Since you can't see it, you can't see it for yourself, so naturally you don't have such a great sense of worship.

In fact, this is also the same as the ancient religious buildings, which mostly appear as magnificent complexes, or as a separate, but very majestic building.

Think about it, not to mention an ancient peasant who lived in a small house all day long and never saw any insomnia, he is a modern person who has undergone the baptism of modern culture. When you go to this kind of building, you don't always feel like you're worshipping.

Human beings have a natural sense of worship and oppression for large buildings, which produces a will to obey.

So, after discussion, the tone is better to make the ancient age first, than to make the industrial age first.

Actually, in this way, the idea is not a new idea. Because, in the previous "Railway Simulation", there was already a concept of a timeline.

However, the timeline starts relatively late. This is because the timeline is too long, there are too many models to make, and the workload is too large, and the adaptation of the whole scene is very problematic. So, basically, the previous game flow was probably only about fifty years long.

According to the train process in China, it was just a green train that burned coal at the beginning, and then a tram train like the Harmony.

Because, such a timeline can reflect the changes of the times, and second, it does not require too much energy, and the cost can be controlled.

Therefore, the previous "Railway Simulation" basically went to such a routine.

And now, to make a rather retro industrial era "Railway Simulation", in fact, can get a lot of cheers.

Because, there are already many players who have such demands again.

However, since "Railway Simulator" is not a particularly popular game, the average sales volume is basically only about one million copies.

The game budget of Chiba Games is basically based on the sales volume made in the previous one. In this case, natural production is not particularly well funded.

Not to mention that it's not as good as the kind of sales that sell tens of millions.,Chiba Games' masterpiece.,It's compared to the general two or three million series.,There's a gap.。

Because, the game "Railway Simulation" is already so big that it is impossible to continue to expand too much. There's no need to do too much publicity, it's just too wasteful.

And the reason why this project was not canceled was to maintain the diversity of the Chiba game platform. Otherwise, such an old game series is supposed to have entered the end of its life cycle, and there is really no reason to continue doing it.

But, of course, fans are happy to be able to play these games.

In fact, as three-dimensional technology becomes more and more mature, games such as "Mushuang", which is simple to operate and refreshing, like mowing the lawn, are becoming more and more popular.

There are many game series that can't be done anymore, either by succeeding with "matchlessness", or by relying on that kind of action role-playing to bring the dead back to life.

For example, the already popular Devil May Cry series is like this.

Although Chiba Games claims to ensure the diversification of game genres across the entire gaming platform, it is not true that every game is produced.

There is no need for this, and I maintain the production of the most profitable Mario series, and the rest, basically, are some relatively niche games. And the space for those money-making games is generally given to third-party game companies.

After all, third-party game companies are here to eat meat. And not to be angry.

You can't give them enough profit, and they will soon fall into someone else's arms. So-called, if you don't occupy them, there will be others fighting for them.

And Chiba games, due to the number of employees, although for each game type, there is a relatively deep research record in the archive.

But that's basically to help those third-party manufacturers solve technical problems while planning to get it.

However, although Lin Yan is now very famous. However, some of his die-hard players are starting to complain about him.

There is no other reason than because he is too unfocused. Often, after making this game, I don't make the next part of the series, but go straight to the next game series.

Therefore, many people call Lin Yan "the king of digging pits", because he "doesn't care about killing and burying, and after digging the pit, he doesn't care anymore".

However, since some people think that he is not doing it right, some people think that he is doing it right.

Among those who support Lin Yan in doing this, it is a logical concept that if Lin Yan is like an ordinary game producer, after making a game series that sells well, he will never make a new game series.

Then, it is possible that Lin Yan has produced only one well-known game series now, "Space Invaders".

After that, how could such a magical game, including Super Mario Bros., be born.

Although it is not right for Lin Yan to be so "flowery", for most people, they agree that Lin Yan is a very pioneering and enterprising person.

Otherwise, I would have thought about the game makers who have long been silent in the dust of history.

If Lin Yan was such a game producer, how could he still have such a peculiar charm now.

What's more, Lin Yan's "flower heart" is very remarkable for the entire game industry.

Even, to a certain extent, led the trend of video games.

For example, after the launch of "Space Invaders", it was all this kind of shooting game, and when "Super Mario Bros. was launched", the side-scrolling platforming game was popular for many years. appeared, similar to "Demon Village", "Contra", "Mega Man", and other excellent works.

And then came real-time strategy games, simulation games, and shooting games. have been imitated by many people.

Of course, as before, these games that follow the trend are almost impossible to do the games made by Lin Yan. It stands to reason that the first game in a new category of games is often ambiguous compared to other genres. Because, for these games, they are just some games that make micro-innovations on the basis of the original. They most likely don't even know that they're starting a new genre of play.

Therefore, the later games will almost certainly be better than the previous games. Because, they complete and strengthen a game type.

If in another world, Dune is the ancestor of real-time strategy games, then StarCraft is the pinnacle of real-time strategy.

You must know that the game "StarCraft", even in 2016 in another world, ranked among the top 10 Internet cafes in South Korea.

You know, a year is a long concept for the gaming industry. After all, video games have only been around for a long time.

And "StarCraft", a game that was launched almost twenty years ago, is still in the mainstream, and it has not been updated for a long time, and it is still in the mainstream. This is a very noteworthy achievement.

Some Blizzard fans have become such fans because of Blizzard's exquisite games and perfect game quality.

Historically, Blizzard has never created any new genres of games.

When it was first called Silicon and Neural Bonds, the Lost Vikings was a platforming game. However, after micro-innovation, that is, the protagonist has three people, each with different abilities, and the three abilities of the three people can design some puzzles.

Let the platforming game go from being a game that almost only sees the gamer with no hands left, to a game that requires some brain power.

And the later "Diablo", basically the same. Break through the shackles of turn-based games and, finally, break new ground.

Not to mention the later "Warcraft", it is still more popular. However, they have learned to control resource gathering and confrontation between the various classes.

Finally, when StarCraft is the culmination, each race has its own unit, its own characteristics. High-level combat units are not necessarily crushed, but in many cases, they will be restrained by those lower-level units.

Take "StarCraft II" as an example, the stinging snakes of the Zerg are afraid of the same number of forks with charges, which is not the same reason.

If you simplify the design principles of StarCraft, you will find that there are six types of confrontations in StarCraft. Corresponding to six cases of rock-paper-scissors.

In each case, the confrontation is different. Resource collection can be determined to the second. Under such conditions, the whole game naturally becomes a complex and dynamic confrontation system.

Harassing the economy, for example, is something that almost every player does. Because, only if the economy of the other party is harassed, at the same level, there is a possibility of victory.

And each race, like a class, takes care of the characteristics and personalities of these different players.

For example, the Terrans, for example, pay great attention to multi-line coordination. The Zerg, on the other hand, are more focused on reconnaissance, and so on......

It is this rigorous design that makes this game step on the altar.

Later Blizzard games, such as Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone, Overwatch. They were also able to find prototypes.

For example, the prototype of "Heroes of the Storm" is the famous "Fallen Tower", and the prototype of "Hearthstone" is a variety of card games, as for the prototype of "Overwatch", it cannot be said that there is no element of "Team Fortress II".

However, they all strive to be better than the original game. Of course, there are examples of failures.

For example, the transformation of "Heroes of the Storm" is actually a wrong transformation.

Although it makes the game much easier to get started, it's too simplified. However, there is no problem with their thinking.

The mistake is that before "Fallen Tower" and "Heroes of the Storm", there was a game like "League of Legends" that has done a good job of simplification.

Later "Overwatch", although it looks a lot like "Team Fortress II", is a first-person shooter. However, he is more like a three-dimensional version of "The Fallen Tower".

Because, the whole game is not about killing people as the ultimate goal. Instead, a variety of missions are used as the final indicator of the success of the game.

Overwatch was launched after the failure of Heroes of the Storm, and in a short period of time after its launch, it sold seven million units, which is actually a good indication of Blizzard's strength. (To be continued.) )