The two sides reached an agreement, but how to sign the specific contract will have to be considered slowly.

Shimmer Studio also has legal affairs now, so Zhong Ming doesn't have to have a headache anymore when signing a contract, he only needs to take a general look after the contract is finalized.

Lin Xiaoguang wanted to talk to Zhong Ming about the design details of this game, but he probably didn't feel the bottom of his heart.

Originally, he didn't have much hope for Shimmer Studio, but he planned to spend two or three million to buy a random game and enrich the game library. As a result, Zhong Ming's confident appearance, Lin Xiaoguang was also quite looking forward to it.

"Don't worry, wait for the game to make a demo, and then show it to Mr. Lin. If you don't make a demo of this game, I can't say anything by just relying on my mouth. Zhong Ming said with a smile.

Lin Xiaoguang was stunned: "Mr. Zhong is very confident, isn't he afraid that the demo will be made, and our side will not be satisfied and will not sign the monopoly?" ”

Zhong Ming laughed: "Don't worry, Mr. Lin, if you don't want this game, I won't worry about sales." ”

……

Back at home, Zhong Ming flipped through his hand-drawn tablet and began to draw concept art about the game.

On the other hand, he was also thinking about how many people Shimmer Studio needed to recruit urgently.

This time it's a big job.

Although the handheld platform is a little less powerful than the console, it is far more than the indie games that have been made before. At the end of the day, this has to be a serious 3D game, and it has to be picturesque, have a good combat system, feel good, and take full care of the limits of the handheld.

If you can't do it, the game can't blow up; It's been done, and the handheld can't be brought up.

Just like the reason why "The Legend of Zelda" was blown so many people in the previous life, it was because of such a large open world that could run smoothly on the handheld, which showed Sitch's ability well.

Moreover, we have to consider the actual situation of the current Shimmer Studio.

There aren't too many people, and most of them don't have experience in developing similar games, so trying to make a game similar to The Legend of Zelda in the short term is pure fantasy and is not allowed in any way.

The key is that you have to get some Chinese elements.

There are also specific Chinese elements. This game is to take into account both Chinese players and Western players, so the proportion of Chinese elements in the game can be said to be too much, and it must be just right.

To make "Taiwu Picture Scroll", of course, Chinese players like it, but Western players will definitely not buy it; However, if there is too little content of Chinese elements, and there is no way to show the cultural characteristics of this game, maybe Chinese players and Western players will not like it.

Moreover, it is better not to use some particularly esoteric and complex cultures, such as the set of myths of ancient China, it is better not to use them, because Westerners do not understand them.

They don't know about Pangu, Nuwa, and Houyi, and even if they do, they only know a little bit about it, and it is too hard to use these contents in the plot of the game, and the gains outweigh the losses.

Shimmer Studio has not yet reached the stage of exporting Chinese culture to the world as it pleases.

All of these factors were combined, and Zhong Ming had a rough idea of a game.

This game is adapted from a classic game "Wanda and the Colossus" in the previous life, and after adding Chinese elements, it was renamed "Zodiac Guardian".

As a result, the game's art style needs to be slightly changed, and the boss battles need to be overhauled, but this change is still within the acceptable range of Zhong Ming.

As for why you should choose this game, there are three reasons.

First, it's perfect for handheld platforms. "Wanda and the Colossus" is a game from the PS2 era, and has since been reset during the PS3 and PS4 periods. The game was released back in '05 and featured a very stylish seamless map, which was a hit for all players at the time.

Even from today's point of view, the combat system and design concept of this game are not outdated at all, and it can almost be said that the performance of PS2 is squeezed to a limit.

Now you can use it as a handheld, and you can show the performance of the handheld through this shocking boss battle without worrying about not being able to run.

Second, its development difficulty is still within the affordable range of Shimmer Studio. "Wanda and the Colossus" has a total of 16 bosses throughout the process, only bosses, and no mob battles, which greatly reduces the development content.

If it's like The Legend of Zelda, there are boss battles, hundreds of shrines, a map full of collecting elements, and a lot of plots...... That gives the current Shimmer studio a year, which is enough to complete.

But if there are only boss battles, the amount of development work is reduced a lot, and the number of 16 bosses is reduced again.

Third, its gameplay and artistry are rare masterpieces, and even after ten or twenty years, it is still not outdated, such a game is enough to blow up.

Of course, in order to add Chinese culture to it, Zhong Ming must also make certain magic changes to it. However, because the plot of the original work itself is relatively simple, the difficulty of magic change is not high.

The heroes and heroines and the background of the story are relatively easy to say, and the framework of the whole story can be directly followed.

The biggest difficulty lies in the art style and the design of the boss battles, which can be said to account for more than 90% of the game's changes.

However, this also happens to be the reason why Zhong Ming chose it, because the game content is very suitable for Chinese culture!

In the original game, each colossus is extremely designed, leaving a deep impression on players.

And Zhong Ming's "Zodiac Guardian" to be developed is also trying to achieve such an effect.

A relatively simple plot framework is not difficult for Western players to understand; And the cultural output of the Colossus in terms of artistic image is more acceptable to Western players.

People are more likely to receive information on the screen.

Just imagine, a temple full of Chinese style, surrounded by twelve zodiac guardian gods, each of which has its own characteristics, and also has a strong Chinese style in appearance, which is also very attractive to those Western players.

This method is definitely a hundred times better than making Chinese culture into a plot and feeding it to those Western players.

Ugly Bull Bull Tiger Rabbit Dragon Snake ......

Each zodiac sign is a ready-made animal, and the artistic recreation on this basis, while the design of the boss battle around this image will be much less difficult to develop, and the effect will be extremely good.

What Zhong Ming has to do now is to make a concept map of the twelve zodiac signs as much as possible, different bosses, completely different appearances, active areas and environments are also different, and skills and playing styles are naturally different.

Once you have all these things in place, it will be much easier to develop them later.

……

The next morning.

Zhong Ming called the heads of several departments and core members to the conference room.

"Good news for everyone, I have taken on a big job." Zhong Ming said, "As for how big...... As long as we can achieve 500,000 sales, there will be an exclusive fee of 30 million; If we can achieve 1 million sales, then there is an exclusive fee of 50 million! ”

"50 million!"

A lot of people's eyes lit up.

Just the exclusive fee, so much??

You know, the 50 million is equivalent to extra earning, and if the game really breaks one million, then the share that should be taken will not be less.

Fu Xing'an hurriedly asked, "Exclusive?" Which gaming platform is exclusive? ”

Zhong Ming smiled: "It's not a game platform, it's the exclusive handheld platform of Moya Technology, what we're going to do this time is a handheld game, which is to be hard steel with those 3A masterpieces on the market." ”

As soon as they heard this, many people were a little discouraged at the time.

Fu Xing'an and Wu Mingliang looked at each other, both a little confused.

It's not that I look down on Moya Technology, nor do I look down on the handheld, but I look down on myself......

Sell a million copies on a handheld?

Too hard, right?

500,000 copies, it's hard!

The key is that so far, although Shimmer Studio has been smooth sailing, it is basically tossing in this small circle of Chinese cultural circles.

It's true that Taigo Picture Scroll is expected to sell one million in the first month, but the problem is that it's an indie game! Indie games, naturally, have a set of special evaluation criteria, and those triple-A masterpieces are not suitable for the same evaluation system.

Make similar games, work hard, and rush to millions of sales, and everyone still has confidence.

But do you want to wrestle with those 3A masterpieces on the market? It was empty in an instant.

What's more, how many user groups are targeted by handhelds?

The number of PC players is the largest in the world, and the number of console players is also quite large, and it can even reach more than 20% of the console share in some developed regions. In comparison, the user group of handheld computers is very rare, and it is estimated that it is a fraction of the host group.

Sell millions of copies in this group? It is absolutely not enough to rely on the Chinese market alone, and it is necessary to open up the Western market.

Can...... Shimmer Studios has never had the experience of selling games to the Western market, and the games it has developed are basically very unsuitable for the taste of Westerners.

So in the final analysis, this matter is not as reliable as Zhong Ming said.

Wu Mingliang raised his hand and said, "Boss, I have a question." What if our game is doing well, but because the handheld platform is too spicy, it drags down our sales? ”

Zhong Ming nodded: "This is a problem. This handheld will be released in the near future, and it is estimated that it will be a bit difficult for us to catch up with its debut. However, it is also a good opportunity to take a look at the reputation and performance of this handheld. If the performance is not good, we will use the method of limited-time exclusivity, and the game can still be sold on other platforms. ”

Wu Ming nodded brightly, relieved.

Exclusive for a limited time, reduced risk. However, there are still risks.

Because according to Zhong Ming, this game is completely developed for the handheld of Moya Technology, and it must take into account the requirements of the other party first in all aspects. If the sales on the handheld platform are not good, then the game will not necessarily sell particularly well if it is sent to other platforms, such as the console platform and the PC platform, after all, it is completely developed for the handheld platform, and there are some design and technical problems in the port.

However, Wu Mingliang also understands that it is a rare opportunity to cooperate with a large company like Moya Technology. Even if it's a bit of a risk, it's worth it.

The key is to see how the game works.

"In the near future, we are urgently recruiting a group of people, mainly programs and artists. In terms of programming, it is very important to recruit programs that are very proficient in 3D engines, and on the art side, modeling, movements, etc., are also very important. But the whole doesn't need much, the main thing is to make up for ......"

Zhong Ming said a lot here, and he and Miao Zhu frequently recorded on the side, these recruitment matters, they will be busy in the future.

Recruiting people, it should be okay, although some missed the golden period, but after all, it is still a year later, it is really not good, you can still go to headhunters to dig people, anyway, the current Shimmer Studio, there is no problem in giving some premium.

"Okay, let's stay and talk briefly about the games we're going to develop next."

After Zhong Ming finished his order, he sent Miao Zhu and them away, leaving the R&D personnel to listen to Zhong Ming talk about some basic information about "Zodiac Guardian".

Design concept draft, not available for the time being.

However, this game is not particularly needed, and it is enough to have concept art.

Zhong Ming first showed a large map, with a little bit of the feeling of Chinese landscape painting, but the lines were not so thick. In the center of the map is an ancient temple, around which there are mountains, seas, swamps, snowfields, volcanoes, waterfalls, deserts, and other different terrains, which are very naturally pieced together, and the whole large map forms a whole.

And on each terrain, there are different images marked, and these images are very recognizable, and everyone present can recognize them at a glance.

"Zodiac?" Xiao Mu blurted out.

These zodiac guardians also have a close relationship with the terrain, such as the dragon flying on the seaside, the afternoon horse galloping on the grassland, the rat drilling holes in the mountains, the monkey in the dense jungle, the pig in the vast swamp, the snake shuttling through the desert, and the sheep in the volcano......

Zhong Ming cut to the second picture.

This time, it's a ready-made concept draft of the Zodiac Guardian, which is the image of these bosses in the game.

Zhong Ming's painting is a Chinese dragon, which is very different from the winged, fire-breathing monsters of the West.

The appearance of this dragon has undergone artistic processing, it is no longer the image of a pure flesh dragon, but has become the form of a flesh + stone statue, its whole body seems to be covered with stone armor, these stone parts are very delicately combined with its body, giving people a sense of vicissitudes and age.

In other words, it doesn't feel like a mythical beast or a living thing, but more like a creation of some kind of god, like some kind of guardian.

Then, Zhong Ming showed the cow and the monkey, these three guardians, which he conceived last night, and the other zodiac guardians have not yet been scored.

However, these three drawings are basically enough to express his design ideas clearly.