Chapter 157 The Loser Leaves the Marbles

There are many simple balls.

But not every type of ball is popular, and not everyone has played every type of ball. Most people probably won’t be interested in balls that are too unpopular.

This is also Chen Ba’s consideration.

Gun, car and ball are the golden three elements. In the ball category, there are many options. The more famous ones are basketball, football, volleyball, table tennis, etc.

Unfortunately...

These ball sports are too professional and competitive. It would probably take ten days or half a month just to understand the various professional rules.

If you want to create a game using these popular ball sports as material, you will need at least two to three years, or even three to five years, of data collection and research in the early stages.

The same is true for other ball games.

So when Xiao Lu mentioned the word "ball", he thought, is there a ball that is simple to understand, extremely well-known, and that most people have played or heard of?

“Is glass ball considered a sport?”

"It depends on what you think!"

Chen Ba explained: "In theory, this is also a kind of competitive sport, but everyone thinks it is childish and it is not recognized."

Actually, there is nothing to worry about.

Are marbles, or pinballs, considered a ball sport? In a broad sense, yes! If someone thinks it is not, then just don’t associate it with ball sports and don’t label it as such!

After all, it's just a game, not the Olympics, so why do you care whether it's a serious sport or not?

"That's fine."

Xiao Lu scratched his head and said, "Marbles and glass balls, this thing really has a wide mass base. I think kids born in the 90s and even the 00s have played with it."

“People born after 2000 may not necessarily…”

"My nephew was born in the 2000s. When he was a child, he played with all kinds of cool toys. If you're talking about marbles and rubber bands, he didn't have any of those," Zhong Shengwei retorted.

Chen Ba waved his hand: "It's not important. What's important is that many people have played with this thing."

This is a special product of the times.

Only those kids back then would be interested in this stuff. Nowadays, kids are playing with pesticide CPDD with their phones. Who would want to play with glass beads? "That's the reason..."

Xiao Lu nodded: "Maybe some of the post-90s kids have never played marbles, but it's OK for most people to have played it."

One hundred percent impossible to play.

But if only half of the people have played it, that would be a terrifying number. Not to mention, given the popularity of marbles back then, it would definitely be more than half of the people.

"Going the nostalgic route?"

Hearing this, Yang Dong couldn't help but reminisce and said, "You know what, if there really is a nostalgic game with marbles as the theme, I will probably play it."

Don't ask why.

The question is to commemorate the lost childhood. At an age with old parents and young children, I hide in a quiet room, light a cigarette, turn on the computer, and relive the carefree days of my youth.

The main focus is on feelings...

Yang Dong still remembers that he was the little prince of marbles in school. His miraculous marble skills allowed him to go home with bulging pockets every time.

When his mother was washing his clothes, she found a handful of glass beads in his trouser pocket. She thought he bought them with his own money and almost got beaten up.

Fortunately, he proved with facts that he did not buy it, but won it with real money, so... the beating was a little lighter! "The winner will also be beaten?"

"My mom doesn't care whether you won it or bought it. If you don't study hard and play with these things all day, you will be beaten!" Yang Dong said with a wry smile.

"Then you're better off. At least you won."

Chen Ba's face darkened, as if he recalled some bad memories, and he said with a painful expression: "I was miserable at that time. I used my pocket money to buy marbles and then lost. I had to get beaten by my father when I got home."

This is the most painful thing in childhood.

If I had won, and went home with a big bag of loot and got beaten, I wouldn't be so sad.

But the key is...

He went out with a bag full of glass beads, and came home with empty pockets, and ended up getting beaten. It was a double blow to his mind and body.

"Hahaha!"

Everybody started laughing.

If we were kids, everyone would definitely like to play with Brother Ba. After all, who doesn’t like that generous classmate who always gives you glass beads?

"What's so funny about this!"

"I may not be very good at playing marbles, but I can jump rubber bands! Do you guys know this skill?"

Chen Ba said proudly: "Looking back to the past, there were few girls in my class who were better at skipping rubber rope than me."

"You also know this?"

Xiao Lu was shocked. He never expected that Brother Ba had such a hidden skill. It completely refreshed his knowledge.

How is it possible that there are boys who are bad at playing marbles but better at skipping rubber rope than girls?

"It's actually not that bad. I could dance at that time, but I've forgotten it now."

Yang Dong also said that he was also a good jump rope player back then, and he even made a bunch of close friends because of it, who would always call him every time they jumped rope.

"Is it possible that Xiao Lu and I are the only ones who don't know how to do this?"

Zhong Shengwei joked: "So, Brother Dong was so amazing when he was young. He could get along well with both boys and girls. He was definitely a campus celebrity!"

"That's about right."

Yang Dong said with emotion: "I was indeed a semi-famous figure back then. Now thinking about it, it was actually one of the few highlights in my life."

All the boys and girls in the class gathered around him!

How long has it been since he grew up and enjoyed this kind of attention? The older you get, the lonelier you feel, and you start to miss your younger self.

“Alright, alright…”

Chen Ba waved his hand to stop everyone from sighing. If they continued reminiscing like this, the meeting would probably not be over until the early morning.

Although he also missed the carefree days of his childhood, the reality is cruel after all, and no matter how beautiful the childhood was, it could never be returned.

People must always learn to face reality.

The reality is that since Brother Ba has decided to make a pinball game, how should he do it?

"rule!"

Chen Ba pointed out the key issue: "First of all, we need to clarify what the specific gameplay and rules are?"

Marbles have a long history.

If we trace back the history, the development history of this thing is enough to write a paper of tens of thousands of words, and the data and documents added up are as thick as a dictionary.

But these are of little historical significance.

Since the game they are going to make is a childhood nostalgia game, it must follow the gameplay and rules of childhood.

But there is a problem with this.

The marble game is so widely distributed that let’s not talk about overseas for now. Let’s just talk about China. There are huge differences in how the game is played between the north and south, and the ways of playing may also be different between provinces.

"Don't even mention the provinces..."

"The gameplay and rules of this thing are probably different in every county or village," Xiao Lu complained.

This is the truth!

Unlike games like table tennis and skipping rubber bands, which have clear rules, marbles have a high degree of freedom in how they are played.

The children in this village may like to play with marbles and roll them to see who can roll the marble farther.

In the next village, they might draw a line and dig a small hole to see who can roll the marble into the hole...

There is no clear system for playing! As long as you and your friends agree and both sides have no objections, you can play it any way you want, and no one says you can't play it that way.

"It's like this..."

"The only commonality is probably that, although everyone's playing methods are different, the rules for winning and losing penalties are still the same, and the loser keeps the marbles."

Chen Ba explained: "As for the gameplay, there should be only a few mainstream ones, right?"

One is the billiard style.

Circle a range, then use marbles to knock the opponent's marbles out of bounds. If they are out of bounds, you lose.

There is also a golf style.

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

The more popular game is to dig a pit or a small hole. Whoever's marble goes into the hole wins and can take away the marbles that don't.

Another way is to compare distance.

The farther the marble bounces, the more powerful it is.

“There are more than just these…”

Zhong Shengwei frowned and said, "There is also a way to play that simply hits other people's marbles. I forgot how to play it specifically. Anyway, the marbles are aimed directly at other people's marbles, and you can take them away if you hit them."

“Yes, yes, yes!”

"I also remember this way of playing. It's very simple and crude, but also more direct and popular than those other ways of playing." Xiao Lu echoed.

When it comes to gameplay, everyone has something to say.

The staff of Tianba Studio come from all over the world and from all provinces. Therefore, the way we played marbles when we were young is actually very different.

Chen Ba listened to their conversation for a while.

He roughly came to a conclusion, that is, no matter how to play, except for comparing the distance of the marbles, other ways of playing all require "aiming".

The more accurate you are, the greater the advantage! "Yes, in fact, most of these various ways of playing are just a competition of the accuracy of a marble."

Yang Dong agreed, “The collision of marbles, or the accuracy of marbles being ejected towards the target area, is the core gameplay of the game.”

What is being tested is eyesight and dexterity! Not to mention eyesight, if you have bad eyesight when playing marbles, don't play it. Isn't that giving warmth to others?

Skill is also crucial.

The force with which the marble is launched determines how powerful it is and how far it travels. In those days, there were no tools, and the control of force was entirely dependent on one's hands.

"Eyesight is easy to tell!"

"But if we want to make a game, how can we simulate the real feeling of marble shooting?" Chen Ba asked.

This is a difficult task.

Strength is relatively subjective and depends entirely on perception. It is difficult to describe it in words, let alone simulate it in a game.

But without this thing, you can't make a pinball game. After all, if you can't even simulate the most basic force, what's the point of making a pinball game? "How about learning a billiard game? I remember that in billiard games, there is a relatively controllable mechanism for the force of the shot."

Zhong Shengwei made a suggestion.

He thought that he could learn from the elasticity of the cue in billiards games and control the force through the mouse or keyboard to achieve the effect the player wants.

"elasticity?"

When mentioning this word, Chen Ba immediately thought of the physics engine in "Ford".

This physics engine should be able to simulate a similar elastic effect, right?

But then again.

Even if the game can restore a more realistic elastic effect, how can the device used by the player, that is, the mouse and keyboard, sense it? This is not a controller...

The handle can also provide force feedback, vibration feedback and other sensors, but it is pure dream for keyboard and mouse players to experience these.

"Forget it, let's talk about this later."

Chen Ba shook his head and said, "Let's first talk about what the general framework would be if we really wanted to make such a game!"

Player vs. player for sure!

Not only is it player vs. player, but it also supports multiplayer online, which means multiple players can participate in one game.

This is somewhat similar to the battle and room mechanisms.

The host builds a room, which can be public or private, and other players enter the room and join the game.

besides.

The room owner can also choose the game mode, determine the maximum number of people in the room, and more.

"Crossfire?"

"almost!"

Chen Ba was stunned when he heard the name CrossFire suddenly. Then he smiled and said, "It's okay if you understand it this way. The logic is the same anyway."

After players enter the game, they will see a lobby page similar to CrossFire, then choose a room that suits them and enter the game.

You can also build your own house and become a homeowner.

The difference is that this game does not end the game automatically.

When you build a room, you can still entertain yourself even if no players join. And the joining of other players will not cause the game to end over time, so you can keep playing if you want.

The key to whether the game ends is actually the number of marbles! If you lose in the end and have no more marbles, why don’t you run away quickly?

"How do you get the marbles?"

Xiao Lu raised a very crucial question, which is the origin of marbles.

If you can only get a few marbles every day, and can only recharge to get more after losing them, then it is a free game model, similar to the gold beans and happy beans in chess and card games.

In addition, if marbles are easy to obtain and do not require recharge, then another problem will arise...

No one cares about winning or losing! Marbles are endless anyway, so losing or winning doesn't really make any sense. I can't experience the feeling when I was a kid, when I lost a few marbles and went home from school with a green face.

“A fixed quota is issued every day!”

"If it comes too easily, people won't cherish it. But there's no need to spend money. This is a pay-to-play game, not a free-to-play one."

Chen Ba thought of a good idea.

Add a small shop in the game. When you run out of marbles, you can go to the shop to buy them, but the prerequisite is that you must have game coins.

How do you get game coins? It's impossible to work, so why ask a child who plays marbles to work? Don't you know that employing child labor is illegal?

There are other ways to do this! For example, if you do your homework well, get 100 points on the test, etc., you can get praise from your parents, increase your pocket money, and buy more marbles.

Of course, you can also herd cattle...

However, now whenever Chen Ba mentioned the word "herding cattle", he would think of the lingering ghosts of the Cowherding Cult, which had left him with a psychological trauma.

This time, no matter what, I would not join the Cowherding Sect and completely destroy the Cowherding Sect’s hopes of multiplying and growing, and not give them any opportunity to take advantage.

(End of this chapter)