December, early winter day.

Although it hadn't snowed in Jianglin, through the sturdy floor-to-ceiling glass on the right side of the Player One conference room, you could still see the bleak street scene, and the people in thick winter clothes walking in a hurry on the street, and the sky was also foggy.

"What I'm going to explain to you today is about the meaning of beauty in games." Ke Jin looked at the number one player and the high-level executives who rushed to the Oasis Branch, and said slowly: "What do you think is beauty. ”

Game understanding seminars held by the chief designer of Ready Player One are held from time to time.

The main role is to engrave a one-way output in terms of game understanding for his employees.

As the company grows larger, so does the scale of the game.

Kejin gradually discovered.

Even with a detailed proposal, it's hard to get your staff to design a big game perfectly.

This point has been repeatedly frustrated in the production process of "Extinction".

Although Kejin and Dongzhi talked about the cooperation plan of the offline panoramic demo.

But that's just a bold forward-looking idea.

It is naturally unrealistic to expect players to be able to experience the whole process of the game offline.

First of all, the area of the site is not allowed at all.

Therefore, the "Extinction" itself will still be sold in the most traditional online mode.

As a 3D-level game with high graphics quality and a relatively high degree of freedom.

In the production, Kejin found that the number one player was the same as the Oasis.

A large part of the workforce has entered a strange phase – the talk of experience.

Once they were given their own content, they still designed the game based on their experience in developing traditional 2D or linear 3D.

Although in terms of content, it is true that it has almost restored the original.

But after Kejin experienced the first few minutes of development of the first few minutes of "Extinction", which had not yet been rendered, he always felt that this game was quite far from the original.

In other words.

It's like a person being perfectly copied by a 1:1 equivalent to another individual.

The details of their appearance, behavioral characteristics, and way of speaking are exactly the same.

But as his old friend, he can tell which is his real buddy in just a few words.

Because, what is lacking in this is a soul with past memories.

The same is true for now.

If you still have the mindset of developing traditional 2D or traditional 3D to design an open world game.

Even if you make the same skin, you can't achieve the same soul as the original.

And many times, the reason why a game is a classic is often a combination of many aspects.

Once some parts are missing, let alone the earth in the previous life, it may not be able to catch fire on a blue star that has never seen this type.

Therefore, Kejin felt that it was necessary for him to hold a symposium for his employees.

The gameplay of the open world and the linear world are two completely opposite propositions.

Linear game, as the name suggests.

All of the player's moves follow a bright or dark line.

The bright line on the bright side is the main line that guides the player.

Let players continue to be attracted by the main story, follow the route developed by the game designer, and move forward to defeat one strong enemy after another.

The ultimate driving force of the player is always only to 'push the main line'.

At first, this kind of game design idea will be strongly bound to the game plot text.

That is, if the story of the game is not exciting enough, the game will be overshadowed immediately.

If players aren't even interested in your biggest storyline, how can you expect them to follow a route you've designed?

But a game that is strongly bound to the plot will have another drawback.

The playability of the game itself seems to be less important again.

On Earth, for a long time.

There was a time in the gaming world where 'I don't want to go on a killing spree, I just want to watch the plot, please show me more of the plot'.

Most designers have a hard time choosing between gameplay and story, and the balance between linear games.

Later, many designers came up with a variety of solutions.

The first is to add a lot of branches to the linear game.

It not only enriches the world view setting, but also allows players to postpone the progress of the main story and learn more things, thus bringing a stronger sense of substitution.

But soon this trick failed.

Because many designers have found out.

Unless players are fanatical about this game, every detail and every easter egg is eager to collect.

Otherwise, they'd not be interested in touching those damn side quests at all.

I'm about to save the princess I have been thinking of, she has brought me so many fond memories, my princess, and I can't wait to fly into the castle and get you out at once.

At this time, the designer gave me a task of 'helping Wang Mazi drive away the goblins', are you sure I will be interested?

When that didn't work, the designers began to experiment.

Make side quests more rewarding.

Since you're not interested in just showing you the side plots, the setting, and my rich worldview.

Dragon Slaying Treasure Knife, I'll send it after I finish the branch, you're interested after all, right?

Measurements have proved that there is interest, but it is not large.

The side rewards are too weak, and the players are still unmoved, anyway, I will give me better if I clear the main story.

The side rewards are too strong, or even noisy, which will make players lose the motivation to explore the subsequent main story.

With all sorts of constraints that are difficult to balance, linear games are not without their own masterpieces.

It's just that there is too little room for development, which is very detrimental to the entire game industry to dig up more new content.

Then, there were game designers who realized.

Since linear games are so instructive to the player that designers can't choose what to do.

Can we simply step out of the box?

Can we make players stop caring about the damn mainline.

Experience the content of the game itself firsthand.

Let the player take charge of the game and define what he wants to play.

It's not what the designer can make him play.

At this point, the first concept of the open world was born.

An open world does not mean a large map, and the player can run around to be considered an open world.

No matter how big the map of a game is, if the player still moves forward step by step according to the ideas designed by the designer, first go to point A, then go to point B, fight this boss first, and then fight that boss.

This will still be locked into the framework of a linear sex game.

Only a game that revolves around the word openness, allows players to go wherever they want, can do whatever tasks they want, and can freely arrange their own behavior, can it be called an 'open world game'

With the birth of the open world concept, it has gradually solved the problem of 'strong main plot or strong gameplay' that has been plaguing designers before.

Game designers can design a game through a weakly attractive main line, or through some fragmented and hazy plot.

What's more, you can let players not know what your main story is talking about after clearing the game, and they don't even remember the name of the boss, and they don't remember the appearance of any passerby NPC, but they only know that they are playing very cool, very free, and very happy.

This is unthinkable in the original linear world.

Now, the space for designers to play is instantly larger.

But the open world is not without its drawbacks.

Due to the weak mainline traction, the player loses a large drive to the ultimate goal.

In the linear world, a lot of text or plot or foreshadowing will be used to make the player like the princess and then rescue her.

In the open world, players don't know what the princess is called, I don't know, what she looks like, I don't know what her personality is, what she has done, and what she has done.

That's what you're going to ask me to save her? You're telling me it's my ultimate goal as a player?

Sorry, I'm not interested.

Therefore, having the best and no immersion in the linear world is especially important in the open world.

Immersion can even replace the main story as the biggest driver of continuous exploration of an open-world game.

"What do you think is beauty in the game?" Ke Jin asked again.

"Exquisite painting or beautiful architecture?" An employee replied after a moment's thought.

"The beauty of human nature in the story, I feel that some of the stories full of the brilliance of human nature are very attractive to me, which has a kind of macro beauty in the general sense." Cheng Bage immediately answered.

"I think cool is also a reflection of beauty, and this game makes me very happy, very cool, and in a beautiful mood...... I wonder if this counts? Secretary Qiao Kite also attended the meeting and had the courage to express her opinions.

In Ready Player One's high-level meetings, Kejin always encourages any employee to speak their minds.

It's okay to be wrong.

The answer itself may be wrong, but it will lead others to think differently.

"I think there's another kind of beauty that's ......"

"Oh yes, does this count, my opinion is ......"

There are also many department heads who have expressed their thoughts one after another.

After listening to it for a while, Ke Jin nodded slightly.

"You're all right, but there's a sense of beauty that overrides all of that and is at the heart of our innovative open-world design concept."

Hearing this, everyone's eyes looked towards Ke Jin, and their eyes were full of curiosity.

A glance swept over everyone, and Ke Jin said slowly.

"The beauty of intuition."

When the words fell, a strange voice suddenly sounded in the conference room.

"Huh?"

"Uh......?"

This definition...... It's so abstract. ”

"Let's be clearer...... We don't have enough talent to get that......"

"I know intuition, but why does intuition produce beauty?"

Faced with the stunned scene of all the staff, Ke Jin was not surprised.

The wisdom summed up by so many outstanding designers and predecessors in the previous life with their lifelong experience, if you can get it casually, then the development of Bluestar's game will not be what it is now.

After thinking about where to start, Ke Jin walked to the window again.

"It's winter now, and the temperature outside should be very cold."

I didn't understand what I always wanted to say, so the employees could only nod and say in unison: "Hmm." ”

"Then how do you judge this 'cold'?"

"Uh...... It's because the temperature is low. Cheng Bage touched his head, which immediately caused a burst of laughter in the conference room.

Another employee said: "The main thing is that it is not just today, it has cooled down since last week, and when I go out to the company, I can clearly feel the change of seasons." ”

"And there's also a weather forecast on my phone."

"On the contrary, I was reminded by my mother, saying that it was cold, so I should wear more clothes or something when I went out."

Everyone gossiped and listened to Ke Jin's analysis on the first floor.

"Suppose you are now locked up in a room with a constant temperature, and you can't use your mobile phone, and you don't have relatives to tell you, just by looking out the window, how can you know the temperature information of the outside world."

"Look at how thick their clothes are." Bao Jingbi glanced out the window.

The bleak street scene, and the people hurrying down the street wrapped in thick winter clothes, the sky also takes on a foggy patch.

At a glance, you can tell that the temperature has plummeted.

And just as Bao Jingbi's words fell, his eyes suddenly widened, as if he had figured out something.

The top executives of the number one player, under Bao Jingbi's surprised reaction, let out subtle exclamations one after another, such as '', '......hiss', 'I see' and so on.

The top players are a group of talented young people.

In the area of understanding, although it is not enough to say a little bit.

But Ke Jin has already said this, and he almost pierced the layer of window paper.

There is no reason why you still don't understand.

Seeing that everyone's expressions had changed, Ke Jin nodded with satisfaction and said with a smile.

"Yes, that's what I want to say to you, the beauty of intuition."

"When you don't directly feel the temperature information from the outside world, you can understand the outside temperature by 'looking', because your intuition tells you that people will wear more clothes when it's cold."

"So if it is reflected in the game, the player will not be able to feel the virtual world through the screen. But if the NPCs he encounters are all dressed in thick clothes, his instinct will tell him that this is a cold place. ”

"This is just the most obvious example, there are many ways to express it intuitively, and sometimes you don't even need to look at it."

"For example, in a dark scene, you tighten a screw along the thread into the screw slot, in the process, you don't intuitively see the movement of the screw inside, but you can clearly feel that you are not tightened, or not screwed correctly, this is all from your intuition, because you have experienced what it feels like to tighten the screw."

"The soul of an open world is immersion. And the best way to express immersion is to integrate the intuitive beauty into the game. Let the player revel in the world. ”

"Wear more clothes when it's cold, let the NPC wear more clothes to resist the cold, raw food is not popular in our current society, and the game also allows the character to bake the food before eating. In the real world, when you are confused, no one will suddenly come over to send you the main quest, at most there are only one or two people who have come over, and they will give you a few words. If you want to bring immersion in the game, it's best to do the same. The beauty of intuition is a subtle and silent expression that allows players to sink into it without even noticing. ”

As soon as Ke Jin's words fell, a small supervisor of the art department said in shock.

"Shhh...... I remember! I always felt a little bit of a problem with the color processing of the sky in "Extinction", but after debugging it for a long time, I couldn't tell what the problem was. ”

"I created the evening of the world of "Extinction" according to the evening of the real world, although there is a sunset, and I also designed it according to the environment of the 'sunset like blood' mentioned in the project book, but no matter how the color palette is, it is not quite right."

"Now think about it, if you use your intuition and are in a world full of zombies, what kind of sunset is more intuitive for the scene? Not just blood, but also the color of despair, the dull suffocation that is foggy and the light seems to be impenetrable. This is in line with people's intuition when faced with hopelessness. If the sun is shining and the blue is incomparable, then it is difficult for the player to have a sense of substitution, because it is counterintuitive. ”

Soon, the director of the dubbing department, which the number one player had cultivated himself, also realized the problem.

Because after getting the "Extinction" plan book, he thought it was a game of fighting zombies + leveling up.

Therefore, in terms of dubbing, he focuses on the sense of power and the sense of percussion.

But if we follow the interpretation of the open world by Moment, the beauty of immersion and intuition is very important.

Then, the protagonist's appropriate respite when fleeing from the zombies, and the sound performance of panic and desire to survive when breaking free from the zombies, will be even more fascinating.

"The voice should be more hoarse and deep, with a hint of exhaustion, rather than always like a voice with endless strength and energy...... I understand, thanks for the pointers, I will further revise in this regard! ”

Soon, the senior management of major departments reacted one after another, and began to recall the link they were responsible for, and where there was a subtle problem.

Faced with this situation, Ke Jin nodded with satisfaction.

This kind of small detail in game design can ruin the entire game experience when it adds up, especially in an immersive open world.

In the first few minutes of trying out "Extinction", it was obvious to him that the game looked like the original on Earth, but there were subtle differences.

If you let Ke Jin carefully find out what the problem is, it will take time, and it may not be possible to find it all.

After all, this kind of game developed by hundreds of people is far better than telling everyone how to find the problem, and everyone can find the problem together.

"It feels like I have to be Mr. Ke...... How did you discover this kind of nuanced thing? It is even formless and colorless, and it is hidden deeply. If I am the general manager, I am afraid that I will not feel that there is anything wrong until the game is released......"

"If you can find out, you have to add a sum up to the end of your name."

"Convinced, I'm always really convinced!" A little supervisor who has only recently jumped from other manufacturers smacked his tongue, he was still a little arrogant when he came over at the beginning, he was not satisfied with being a director before, and he could only be a small director when he came here, until he followed up a meeting of the number one player today, he was full of shock, and he couldn't help but look at Ke Jin with admiration in his eyes.

"I can't do this for me...... The whole company has to be scattered all the time! ”

"Woo woo, the moment is always too fierce! Not only are your players fans, but our employees are almost becoming your fans! ”

In the face of everyone's chatter, even with sycophants and sincere praise and discussions, Ke Jin was unmoved, but smiled lightly.

"Now that everyone has a preliminary understanding of the core concept of making an open world, there is no need to rush the research and development progress of "Extinction", just follow the construction progress of Dongzhi's offline panoramic park. There's a bigger open-world game that you'll need to focus on, and I'll talk to you a little bit more about open-world design tips. ”

"But before that, let's make a little game to practice your hands."

The voice fell, and it was echoed by the energetic voice in the conference room.

"Good!"

"What kind of game? My favorite thing is to make mini-games! Hey! ”

"The work of practicing hands should be relatively simple, right?"

"It's all about a bigger open world!"

"Let's talk about it! We're ready! ”

Facing the expectant eyes of the employees, Ke Jin smiled.

"Elden Ring, I'll send you a copy of the proposal later."

"Since everyone thinks it's easy, let's do it in two months. Come on, everyone. ”

(End of chapter)