Kate didn't quite understand what was going on.

Its own Omi game factory, although not as large as Blizzard and Arts, but controls the largest game platform of the entire Omi, DFgame (The Digital Frontier, Chinese translation: Digital Frontier, is a fictional game platform under the world view of Blue Star, and will not be explained later, collectively referred to as DFgame)

Due to the continuous optimization and upgrading of the company's business in the past ten years.

So much so that Vivendi currently accounts for more than 30% of the distribution rights of the Omici game market.

Don't look at it as only 30%, but this number is definitely astronomical when dissected.

Generally speaking, there are three steps to listing a game and making it available to players.

1. Producer/developer, refers to the game maker, from an independent game designer to an entire game company, who is responsible for making a game.

But the vast majority of game designers or design companies on the market don't have the ability to operate.

It's like a vegetable farmer whose task is to grow vegetables.

If it is a small farmland, vegetable farmers can also carry their burdens to the market to sell in addition to harvesting vegetables, and produce and sell their own vegetables.

But once the scale expands to a few acres of land or even more than ten acres of land, I can't be busy every day, let alone take the vegetables to the market and sell them.

Moreover, even if it can really achieve self-production and self-consumption.

With tons of fruits and vegetables, you can't expect a long queue in front of your stall to buy your vegetables.

Therefore, there is another link.

Vendors.

They are responsible for purchasing large quantities of fruit and vegetables from vegetable farmers, and then pulling them to the market and distributing them to district-level agricultural agents, and finally to the market.

The same is true for the gaming industry.

Successfully making a game has exhausted the strength of the entire game company.

From the launch of a game to the general public, including but not limited to 'materials, screenshots, copywriting, promotional CG required for listing', 'media trial and release', 'major game exhibitions', and 'continuous operation of social media'

Without knowing whether the game will sell well, the game production company does not have the extra money to set up a new chain of self-production and self-sale.

That's where publishers come in.

They took care of that.

It is responsible for a series of packaging assistance such as publicity and promotion, continuous operation, social media, etc.

Although everyone knows that as long as the game is done well, no publisher will slowly build a reputation.

But the problem is that in any industry, the best are always in the minority.

Most people are mediocre, and so is the gaming industry.

If you could make every game well, who wouldn't want to do it?

Unfortunately, most of the games have both advantages and disadvantages, or only meet the preferences of a small number of players.

At this time, the role of the publisher's packaging will be very large.

The sales of a game produced by a publisher can sometimes increase by hundreds or even thousands of times compared to the slow promotion of individual designers.

Such examples are by no means rare in the industry.

Of course, the publisher who is responsible for so many things can also be said to be the bone marrow for the game's share price.

Usually the price of a game, if it is 100 yuan.

Then the publisher will basically draw the range of 40 yuan to 80 yuan.

There is no cap.

Sometimes it sells for 100 yuan, and the publisher takes you 95 yuan.

The bigger the game manufacturer, the more confident it is when facing the publisher, and the greater the revenue it can talk about.

The smaller the game manufacturer, the more likely they are to compromise in the 60%~80% commission range.

For some individual indie games, they can even be bought out by the publisher at a fixed price.

Give you 350,000 yuan, and this game has nothing to do with you.

No matter how good it sells in the future, you don't even want to divide it again.

Don't agree?

If you don't agree, then you can ask Gao Mingbei to do so.

Or think about it yourself.

When the entire market is monopolized by high-margin publishers.

Game designers are nothing more than vegetable farmers in disguise.

It would be a mistake to think that publishers are the biggest vampires.

On top of the publishers, there are also masters!

Gaming platform!

As a trading channel, it is also the terminal where players can directly pay money.

The game platform controller has the greatest right to speak.

After all, it doesn't matter if you're a gaming company.

Game publishers.

You made the game, and you also packaged and promoted.

But you've got to have a way for players to get their hands on the game, right?

The game platform came into being, completing the last link, allowing a game to close the loop from R&D and production, to publishing, and finally falling into the hands of players.

Usually on Blue Star, the commission ratio of the game platform will fluctuate in the range of 20%~50%.

It depends on what the final result of the negotiation between the publisher and the platform is.

And this share still excludes game companies first.

That is, if a game is priced at 100 yuan, the platform takes 50%.

Then it will only be 50 yuan in the hands of the publisher.

This 50 yuan, and then seven or three points with the developer.

The game that costs 100 yuan finally falls into the hands of the real designer, and there are only 15 yuan left.

This is also why a game that looks a little good on the Blue Star market often starts with three digits.

The 3D masterpiece level is even more rushing for four or five hundred.

If the manufacturer is a little more famous, it is not impossible for the price to soar to seven or eight hundred.

At this time, he turned his head to look at the Viwang flute.

Owning 30% of the distribution rights of the entire Omega market means that Omega produces games every year.

Thirty percent of them will be issued by Wei Wangdi.

DFgame, a subsidiary of Vivendi, is the largest game platform in the entire Omi market.

It is equivalent to saying that Wei Wangdi has earned all the money from the distribution and platform.

In recent years, he has even started to build his own production line and start making his own games.

For such a behemoth in the Omega gaming market.

To target a small number one player is something that Kate can't figure out anyway.

After more than ten years at Viwangdi, and now sitting in the position of game director of the design of the third part, Kate feels like the number one player is like a little bug that can die if you pinch it.

A small company of this size......

What can it do?

I don't know why the superiors treat it so highly.

At the beginning, let yourself lead the team to win all the awards in the game design contest officially promoted by the number one player.

After the failure, they began to grasp this matter overwhelmingly and vigorously publicize it.

even made the number one player in the whole of Omi to the point where everyone was black.

And now, when I learned that the number one player has announced three game works for the reference of the participating designers.

I also entrusted myself to spend money to find some evaluation-oriented anchors and let them say bad things about the number one player.

At first, Kate thought it was a little cool.

From his own point of view, after he was despised, the company behind him helped him slap the other party in the face.

It really made Kate breathe a sigh of relief.

But as things have developed so far, Kate feels a little ......

Overdone.

Is it really worth a small company to be targeted by Viwangdi at such a big price......

What exactly are the top brass afraid of?

"I don't understand." Kate shook her head and turned her gaze back to the computer screen.

Since it was entrusted by the company's senior management, he could only agree.

found a streamer under the Twitch live streaming platform who specializes in complaining about various games - Josiah.

and promised to pay 100,000 knives to the other side.

The other party also took the job easily and happily.

Before the trial began, Kate thought that the number one player would shatter at the slightest touch.

Nothing stands up to focus.

A game, in the period of obscurity, may have a high praise rate.

But it's the same game, and after it gets blown up and gets a lot of attention, more voices come out, 'It's not fun.'

What's more, the intention of the number one player's three publicized works this time is still for textbook purposes.

This naturally pulls the threshold for all to a very high level.

In other words, to put it simply.

Maybe if you post a work normally, and your work reaches six or seven points, the player thinks you're good and thinks it's really a good game.

But when you release a work, you say that your work is fun, and the player may reach seven or eight points, only to find that it is only six or seven points after trying to play, and they will start to be disappointed.

And when you post a work and call it a 'textbook', the player's expectations will rise to more than nine or even a perfect score!

At this time, if there are still only six or seven points, it will be hacked by the whole network.

But what Kate never expected was ......

Josiah's first game, Time and Space

As soon as he came up, he began to lose the king and bomb it.

The setting of time and space rewind, even Kate, who continues to watch the live broadcast, was so amazed that she couldn't help but raise her eyebrows.

And the follow-up combination of the gameplay of 'regression' has bred more bold and novel innovations, which also makes Kate can't help but be amazed again and again.

Wait until you come to your senses and then take a closer look at its proposition.

It fits perfectly with the theme of 'platforming' and explains 'how to make platforming fun'

"It's not a textbook, it's just an impeccable textbook...... If its picture quality, music, and scene details can be a little better, it will be almost a perfect score. Kate makes games herself, and she knows what it means to be a game.

But.

The answer of 'Ready Player One's new game is indeed strong' is certainly not something that Vivendi's top management wants to see.

As a result, Kate began to increase the volume and price, urging Josiah to stop playing "Time and Space Fantasy".

If you play for him for another hour, the audience who came to the live broadcast room to scold the number one player will all become the number one fans......

"Hmph, I'll think your "Time and Space Fantasy" fits the theme of platforming."

"So how should your number one player deal with the next two themes, rampage and meat pigeon?"

"You know, especially after "Time and Space Fantasy", if the works that appear later cannot reach a certain height, they will be covered by the light of "Time and Space Fantasy"." Kate clasped her hands to her chest and stared at the computer screen, Josiah had opened the next game.

《Dead cells》

Dead cells.

Maybe it's because of the rush in the production time, or maybe it's because the game is too well-made for the majority of designers to imitate in just one month.

As a result, the game is still pixel-style.

In the game's UI, a headless warrior stands on the top of a mountain, looking out at a castle in the distance.

A black mist emanated from the warrior's severed neck, and the position of the pupils of his eyes emitted a bright light like a supernova.

And when Josiah clicks on the game.

A filthy seaweed-like mass of slime emerges from a dark, damp damp dungeon pipe.

Falling to the ground makes a disgusting 'snap' sound.

With Josiah's control, the mass of slime rolled forward, eventually fusing with a severed head.

became the warrior who saw the UI as the player.

Soon, after a simple beginner's guide.

Josiah manipulated the Headless Horseman to the first level.

【Prisoner's Cell】

"On this island, rats and dingoes are at the bottom of the social hierarchy, and the prisoners are even lower than them."

After a short cutscene CG.

The level begins.

Starting the game, the player will bring a rusty knife, which is equipped in the left mouse button.

Two other pieces of equipment will be placed on the ground that belong to the right mouse button bar.

One is a beginner's bow and arrow, capable of attacking enemies from a safe range from a distance.

The other is an old wooden shield.

Absorbs 75% of enemy damage when raised, and if you tap Raise Shield, you can successfully stop the damage and bounce it off.

The player can only choose one of them to equip it with the right click.

After some thought, Josiah chose a more secure wooden shield.

Offensive and defensive, invincible.

And the moment he picked up the wooden shield, a wooden door in front of him was opened.

Enemies are also drawn in.

True to the theme of this level, this is a dungeon used to imprison prisoners.

The people who live here...... No, they weren't even human, they weren't human, they were tortured like a walking corpse, like a shackled soul.

Josiah manipulates his character closer, clicks the left mouse button, and slashes out with a single sword.

"Poof!"

It was not as difficult as he imagined, but it killed two monsters in an instant with a single sword.

The moment their corpses exploded, the clumps of flesh, bloodstains, and trace treasures scattered beneath the mosaic pixels.

There is no need to pick up, as Broken Gold Treasure is automatically absorbed and pooled into usable gold coins.

Immediately, Josiah continued his exploration.

After a few minutes or so, he groped his way around the twists and turns of the terrain.

Oncoming monsters, whether they are melee or archers, or mages who drop bombs from a distance, are basically easy to slash in seconds.

Unless some enemies who seem to be heavily armored can withstand their own two swords.

"Does this seem like a simple game?" Josiah probably expressed his first experience of playing.

And in the course of this first experience, Josiah found that he was not bored by the simplicity.

On the contrary, an invincible thrill always accompanies him.

See the blame, a knife in seconds.

Then get some souls or wealth from the monster and continue to explore other unknown territories.

Along the way, Josiah also picked up something called the 'Power Scroll'.

After using it, three color boxes will pop up: 'red', 'purple', and 'green'.

Each color corresponds to the weapon's attributes.

Select Red to permanently increase Authority Damage by 15% and increase the character's Health by 70% for all weapons marked with the red mark.

And the same goes for purple and green.

Josiah glanced at the 'Rusty Knife I.' he was currently wearing.

The property bar is also quite concise.

138 damage/sec

And it's highlighted in red.

This corresponds to the red attribute in the Power Scroll.

After choosing, not only did the health go from 100 to 170, but the damage also increased from 138 to 159.

And this kind of improvement with the naked eye is very intuitive, which also makes Josiah and all the viewers in the live broadcast room feel a little comfortable in their hearts.

Armed with his strengthened weapon, Josiah hit the road again.

In the winding side-scrolling dungeon, he jumped up and down everywhere, and he was quick to see a few knives.

Maybe in the deeper part of the dungeon, the overall attributes of the monsters are also rising appropriately, but because they have been strengthened, they can still maintain the pleasure of a knife.

Moreover, hovering in the dungeon with a light and agile body will also give Josiah a different kind of pleasure in his heart that is flowing and silky.

Soon, they arrived at the second glass test tube containing the power scroll.

After breaking, take it out.

The red attribute is still selected.

And this time Josiah was surprised.

Unlike other games, which always like to suppress the player's attributes.

In Dead Cells, the designers seem to be afraid that you won't improve enough.

Attributes are like giving for nothing without money.

In a normal game of fighting monsters and upgrading genres, assuming that your initial attack is 100 points, then every time you pick up an item that increases your attributes by 15%, you usually increase the base attack power of this 100 points.

Namely, 115 points.

The next time you pick up an item with the same boost, your attack will be 130 points.

Each subsequent one is to be expected.

But the improvement in "Dead Cells" is given every time from the attribute value of the item you currently obtain.

100 points increase by 15%, which is 115.

And the second time, it was promoted from the node of 115.

115+15%

It becomes 132.

After repeating it many times, the value of this attribute will be infinitely magnified.

Compared to the step-by-step improvement that players already know.

This kind of setting that gets stronger and stronger later will also make players want to play down and see how far they can grow.

And in the process of constantly killing monsters and breaking through the levels.

Josiah also picks up a variety of weapons, each with a different effect.

or ranged, or melee.

And the feel is also different.

But no matter what kind of weapon you use, after picking it up and playing with it, there is a different kind of pleasure.

In the midst of this.

Josiah's favorite is a purple semi-ranged weapon called the Electric Whip.

The attack speed is extremely fast, and the characters under his control will continue to wave the whip frantically with his high-frequency mouse clicks.

The silk electric current wrapped around it can form a small area of AOE and draw towards the enemy within a certain range in front of it.

Watching them wail and lose their health, one after another falling one after another without a fight, the refreshing feeling also poured into Josiah's heart one after another.

In one breath, he went from the prisoner's cell to the avenue of the guilty.

Then he stepped on the rampart that towered high in the air.

Josiah slashed more and more, slashing harder and harder.

After passing the Black Bridge, I met a boss named Keeper.

After mastering the boss's attack several times, jump or roll to dodge through a yellow exclamation mark warning on the opponent's head.

Then find the right time to go crazy out.

Until the boss is successfully killed, countless rich treasures and newer and more advanced weapons are exposed.

At this time, the entire live broadcast room was densely brushed with barrages of the same artistic conception composed of different sentences.

"Where's this game?"

Yes.

Not as amazing as the setting of "Time and Space Fantasy".

But the game "Dead Cells" has really hit the hearts of every audience.

It looks really simple.

As in all side-scrolling action games, there are settings, up and down, left and right, double jumps, rolling invincible frames, and shield reversal.

But it is precisely because of this simplicity that people can get started after playing, and they can feel cool when they get started.

The audience in the entire live broadcast room was attracted.

It makes people's hands a little itchy to watch, and I can't help but want to download a trial.

Josiah, who came back to his senses from the explosion, suddenly secretly said that it was not good in the face of the full screen of questions.

But at this point, he can't pretend to be deaf and dumb, and he can't forcibly hack this game against everyone's ideas, so he can only bite the bullet.

"This game...... At present, the number one player is only in the announcement stage and has not yet been released, so it cannot be downloaded. ”

The barrage expressed regret one after another.

"Alas, alas...... Why isn't this game on the shelves? I can't wait to pay for it now! ”

"Why is it that such a rudimentary-looking pixel art can make such a fun game?"

"This is already the second paragraph, right? "Fantasy in Time and Space" proves that Ready Player One does have what it takes to be a mentor, and Dead Cells proves that Ready Player One knows too much about what type of game players want to play! Now I can't help but look forward to the third game......"

"I don't understand, although I haven't heard of this company before, and I haven't played their games, but judging from the quality of the two games shown in the live broadcast so far...... does "Escape Highway" really have shortcomings, and the number one player may not be wrong?"

"yes, I don't really believe that the designer who was able to make these two games in a short period of time would deliberately smear "Escape Highway", I don't think he needs it."

In the face of more and more gradually changing audiences, as well as the increasing popularity of the live broadcast room, Josiah only felt a tingling in his scalp.

If this continues, let alone judge the number one player in today's live broadcast......

It's pretty much the same to advertise their home......

When the time comes, his generous reward of 200,000 dollars will also disappear.

Therefore, Josiah needs to quickly shift everyone's attention.

"Ahem, this game is not so much a side-by-side game, I feel that it is more of a meat pigeon element, right? You see, each weapon drop seems to be random, and there is no way for the player to know what type of weapon they will get until they kill a boss or open a chest. There are also a lot of genres that can be played, isn't this just a meat pigeon? ”

"No, not a meat pigeon." Kate, who was sitting alone in the conference room, was watching Josiah's live broadcast, while frowning and shaking her head slightly, thinking to herself.

"This game must not be considered a meat pigeon."

The meat pigeon genre has also been developing in Omi's independent game circle for two years, although Wei Wangdi does not make this kind of small game at home.

But Kate still has a general idea of what it means to be a meat pigeon.

The game "Dead Cells" seems to have a variety of genres for players to experience.

The weapons that the player picks up are also random.

But it has a completely different kernel from the meat pigeon.

Its genre is in a class of its own.

It's not the meat pigeon's 'powerful combination of multiple props'.

When the player gets the electric whip, then the next output method is this, at most with a secondary weapon, with a little skill.

However, regardless of whether the level of the electric whip is increased or not, the essence of its output will not change qualitatively.

In other words, the game's weapon genre is fixed.

Since the player chose it, a genre that has been fixed has been played from start to finish.

Changing weapons in the middle of the process is nothing more than changing another fixed genre.

This model is not a meat pigeon.

Otherwise, in the traditional Western fantasy theme of Omi, there are so many characters to choose from, and each character represents a genre, wouldn't it also become a meat pigeon?

If I have to say, the randomly changed terrain may have a slight meat pigeon element.

But this innocuous setting cannot be called a meat pigeon by orthodoxy.

It's like an action-adventure game with some casual mini-games of chess, and you can't put the cart before the horse and say it's a board game.

Well, after taking off its meat pigeon's hat.

Of the remaining two themes, "Dead Cells" only fits the other theme - side-scrolling.

Although there is also a platforming setting in "Dead Cells".

But the core of the game is not the player's jump switch between platforms.

In other words, it's not about games that use platforming to give birth to a lot of fantastic gameplay.

"It's a pretty standard side-scrolling ......," Kate thought.

So, can this game afford the reputation of 'crossing the textbook'?

He carefully recalled the more than half an hour of game flow that Josiah had just played.

What did you see in the process?

The effortless way to kill monsters, the energy continues to give players the thrill of breaking through.

It is the core motivation that supports players to continue to play this game.

If a few monsters come up, they will attack and have thick blood, and the player can't kill them for half a day, and he will feel tired.

But the horizontal push gameplay will get tired after a long time.

As a result, the mechanic of Powerscrolls was added to the game.

So that players can always improve themselves, and the process of improvement is also very clean and neat.

And after the improvement, the player will still remain at the node of one or two second monsters.

In this way, it will be clear to the player that "I have indeed improved" and "I will definitely not be able to blame the first weapon"

And when it comes to power scrolls, it's because of the indulgent setting of infinite multiplication.

It will make the player want to explore the future to see how much their damage can swell.

This is something that Kate herself has a clear feeling when she watches the live broadcast.

If it gains +15 attack damage each time, the sense of anticipation decreases dramatically.

Then there's the ability to change weapons along the way, which further locks in the player's freshness and encourages players to keep trying out various genres and finding new joy in a variety of new attacks.

The most important thing to revitalize the whole game is its smooth and silky percussion design.

The actions of the characters are swayed forward and backward, without any dragging, slashing when the knife is out, and closing after chopping, which can allow players to better connect various operations such as jumping, rolling, and shield reversal.

And these operations are not difficult in themselves.

Therefore, when these are combined, it will give players a very silky visual experience and a good operating feel.

Finally, there are the various details that adorn the whole game.

For example, the clearance items hidden in each corner allow players to explore as much as possible.

For example, the ubiquitous portals can help players reduce some of the burden of traveling.

If you keep unlocking more new items after collecting souls, you will make the whole game more malleable, attracting players to start another game again and again.

And so on and so forth......

After reviewing the whole process, Kate's eyes couldn't help but widen, and even her breathing stagnated a little.

This game ...... For the point of 'cool', it is indeed a textbook-level interpretation!

Everything about it seems to be providing players with 'cool' emotional value!

Let players just play with confidence!

And let's be honest, this is precisely the most important value that a rampage action game can provide to players.

After all, I'm playing you in this 2D side-scrolling pixel-style action game.

One doesn't picture your picture quality, and the other doesn't picture your music, what do I picture?

Isn't it just to be cool and happy?

The current presentation of "Dead Cells" on the point of 'coolness' gives Kate the feeling that is.

It can indeed be hailed as a textbook.

Let many fellow practitioners explain why this game can bring players a cool feeling, how to bring these experiences to players, what they want to do in the future, etc., can absorb a lot of inspiration from it.

"Ke Jin, is it...... This designer doesn't seem to be as simple as I imagined......" After a comprehensive analysis of the advantages of "Dead Cells", Kate's brows furrowed slightly.

This is already the second game.

If "Time and Space Fantasy" is like a trendsetter at the forefront of the trend, it opens up a new design idea for platform jumping.

"Dead Cells", then, is like a big brother who sticks to the side-scrolling version, it doesn't have so many bells and whistles and new things, and almost everything has been seen in other genres.

But it's as steady as a mountain, taking everything that isn't new to the extreme, and combining these designs to create a 'cool' gaming experience for players.

This is deceptively simple to say.

But in terms of actual production, there will always be problems of one kind or another because of the integration of various elements.

But "Dead Cells" balances all of this very well.

Even so that Kate can't pick out the shortcomings in it.

"It feels like a game that will sell well as soon as it hits the shelves."

"Having said that, this third ......" To be honest, Kate is starting to feel a little weak now.

You can't really make three of them, and all three are textbooks, right?

Where do you play like that?

What about the excellent matchmaking mechanism of Blue Star?

At that moment, the door to the conference room was pushed open.

A middle-aged man with blond hair in a suit walked in.

Seeing the comer, Kate hurriedly got up.

General Manager of Weiwangdi's DFgame platform - Alex Connor.

The latter pressed his palm and motioned for him to continue sitting.

Immediately, he sat down on the table next to Kate, pulled his tie to relax, and immediately looked at the screen and smiled.

"Just finished the meeting, come and see, how is the task given to you?"

"Not optimistic...... Kate exhaled lightly, telling the truth about what had just happened.

Hear the words.

Connor raised his eyebrows slightly, and smiled optimistically.

“Don't worry.”

"As long as there's a game that leaves something to criticize, we can take that and amplify it infinitely."

"There's a high and low in everything, and even the three games released by the number one gamer are bound to have a strong and weak gap. Maybe the two titles that Josiah randomly picked also happened to be the two best for the number one player. ”

"By comparison, the last game Josiah was about to try, The Binding of Isaac, was probably the worst of the three."

I don't know if "Dead Cells" has been revised, I revisited it today, reopened a file, 0 cell difficulty, and it really passed the king's hand effortlessly.

What I want to say is not that 0 cells are worth bragging about, but the difficulty of this game in the early stage doesn't seem to be very high.

There really isn't any pressure to survive...... All the way to the second second to the second. (I'm not unharmed, I'm just casually beaten)

The game itself is like this.,In the show of the anchor's trial,I really can't write how difficult it is.,I can't just open five cells to the anchor as soon as it comes up.。

Therefore, it is not like other texts to talk about its difficulties, but focuses on the point of why it attracts players.

Because you have to write three games in one go, there is not much space that can be used for each one, and this plot is not the main event, and the protagonist company has developed to the present, and the small production cost game has not been able to be grandly introduced, so it can't be like before, a game can write ten chapters before and after, and now it's basically a small game in one chapter.

And there's going to be a big guy in the future, so I have to streamline this plot and mainly highlight their differences.

(End of chapter)