Chapter 175 3A's Ambition
This hot pot tasted average.
The reason was that the hot pot ingredients Yang Dong bought were not fresh enough, especially the vegetables, which were wilted and had no taste after being put into the pot.
"That's enough! Let's just make do with what we have..."
Yang Dong rolled his eyes and said, "It's snowing outside. Even the delivery guy is taking a break. Where can I get you fresh vegetables?"
"That's true."
Chen Ba turned his head and glanced out the window, and found that it was snowing heavily today. The entire food court was covered in white and nothing could be seen clearly.
In this weather, it is already a blessing to have hotpot, and we can’t ask for too much more.
The studio is closed for holiday.
Due to the bad weather and the approaching Spring Festival, other employees were working from home and Xianyu Digital also stopped express deliveries. They were the only three people still on duty in the entire studio.
"How's the GAL League going?"
Picking up a piece of beef that Xiao Lu had just put into the pot, and completely ignoring Xiao Lu's resentful look, Chen Ba asked Yang Dong: "Does AMD still have the best chance of winning the championship this year?"
"no!"
Yang Dong put down his chopsticks, handed a bottle of drink to Chen Ba and Xiao Lu, and then said, "AMD is so old news. This year, Nvidia is leading in GAL points."
It’s time to open the champagne! As long as the spring and summer games don’t let you down, we can congratulate Huang for successfully dominating the GAL League and winning two consecutive championships.
That’s right, two consecutive championships!
AMD won the first championship, and Nvidia won the second. This year's competition has not yet been completed, but based on the standings, it is likely that Huang will still win.
“This is about establishing a dynasty!”
When Chen Ba heard that Huang was about to win the championship for the second time in a row, he was a little surprised for a moment. He didn't expect AMD to pull ahead so fast.
He guessed that AMD's early lead would not last long and that Nvidia would most likely catch up with it later, but he did not expect that Nvidia would catch up so quickly.
Moreover, isn't this technical strength too strong? One championship can be said to be luck, but two consecutive championships are just around the corner. This requires us to admit that NVIDIA is indeed unique in tuning PC consumer graphics cards.
"Ha ha!"
"I don't think Huang squeezed as much toothpaste in the past five years as he has in the past two years. The game "Star Emperor" has really stimulated the graphics card industry."
Xiao Lu gave a string of data.
According to data, after the release of "Star Emperor", the technology iteration speed of major graphics card manufacturers has obviously doubled compared with previous years.
In other words, although we are still squeezing toothpaste, the share of toothpaste squeezed in the past two years is getting stronger year by year!
Taking N cards as an example, the 50 series is very popular, and the 5070 is even hailed as another "god card" after the 1060.
But the 50 series is nothing...
Huang said that he will continue to break through himself in the 60 series and will not give up until the goal is achieved. This time the 60 series must conquer "Star Emperor".
He even said that if the 6060 card couldn't handle the ultimate sublimation + the method of transformation of "Star Emperor" in 1080P, he would swim around the Pacific Ocean.
What a cruel old Huang!
Since he said so, the players naturally understand that the 60 series seems to be even more aggressive than the 50 series. In order to defend the honor of the graphics card manufacturer, Huang is serious this time.
This is undoubtedly a good thing for the majority of players.
After all, no one likes to squeeze toothpaste. For the same selling price, the more ingredients you pile on, the more willing people will be to pay for it.
Chen Ba was actually very happy too.
Game manufacturers are actually very happy to see hardware manufacturers promote technological iteration, because with new technologies, they can freely develop all kinds of eye-catching masterpieces.
only……
The 50 series uses a 3nm process technology, how can the 60 series be improved on this basis? This is very strange!
But no matter how strange it was, Chen Ba could roughly guess that Huang's improvement this time was most likely an improvement in the driver or core architecture, and was unlikely to be an improvement in the process technology.
"The greatest contribution of the GAL League is to accelerate the speed of upgrading and replacing PC hardware platforms."
Yang Dong took a bite of green vegetables and said thoughtfully: "Nowadays, PC game players, especially single-player players, have top-notch hardware configurations."
What does this mean? It means that many ideas that were originally limited to PPTs can now be turned into products.
"The sixth generation of the Dream Building Engine is about to be released. Brother Ba, should we access this engine as soon as possible and make a new game for it?" Xiao Lu asked.
“No!”
Chen Ba shook his head, indicating that he was not very interested in the so-called sixth-generation Dream Engine.
There was no choice before, and the technology of Dream Engine is mature and inclusive, so they use Dream Engine to develop games.
But now, Chen Ba has an immature idea, which is to develop a dedicated game engine for Tianba Studio for the upcoming new game.
"ah?"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Lu and Yang Dong were stunned.
Dedicated game engine?
This term is not new. The gaming industry already has many game engines, all of which serve one or even multiple games.
Brother Ba’s idea is not strange. It can be said to be a very normal thing in the entire industry.
The reason why Xiao Lu and Yang Dong were shocked was mainly because the practice of developing a game engine specifically for a game is usually exclusive to 3A games.
That’s right!
Only well-known 3A games like "Crysis", "Battlefield" series, "The Elder Scrolls" series, etc. have this honor.
In other words, what Brother Ba meant by this is roughly equivalent to "We want to make a 3A masterpiece!" Isn't this shocking? That's 3A! It is the highest dream of many game practitioners, and it is also a game that represents the highest level of the game industry. Who wouldn't want to give it a try? But dreams are dreams. Whether Tianba Studio has the basic conditions and technical strength is the key to determining whether the plan is feasible.
Just go for 3A on a whim?
That is not courage, but terribly stupid. If 3A games were really that easy to make, there wouldn't be only a few 3A games in the domestic gaming industry today.
"Why, are you scared now?"
Chen Ba joked, "Didn't you keep urging me to do 3A before, Xiao Lu? Why are you afraid now that I've made the decision?"
"Brother Ba..."
Xiao Lu rubbed his hands and said, "In principle, I support all your decisions, but for a project of 3A level, shouldn't we seriously consider it?"
"Considering what?"
"For example, funding, technology, personnel scheduling and reserve, development cycle planning, etc...."
Xiao Lu expressed a lot of concerns.
Chen Ba did not interrupt him, but listened to his story carefully, especially the foundation and accumulation that he pointed out that Tianba Studio lacked.
“As for the funding, don’t worry.”
"Although we haven't made much money these years, we can still afford the loss from the failure of a 3A game. We won't have to beg on the streets," said Chen Ba with a smile.
This is his greatest source of confidence.
The sales of many of its games have exceeded 1 million copies, which has also created rich profit returns for Tianba Studio.
Especially for the professional version of "Shenn's Grace Continent", not to mention the large fixed income every month and year, the bulk of it comes from the tolls collected by "Shenn's Grace Animation".
With this foundation in place, funding is actually the easiest problem to solve.
Just like he said, the success or failure of an ordinary 3A game cannot really shake the foundation of Tianba Studio now, and there is definitely a cost of trial and error.
As for the accumulation and reserve of technology, it is also a stumbling block for many friendly competitors, and Chen Ba also has corresponding countermeasures.
He is a cheating man!
Although the Tiehanhan system always causes trouble and lays landmines for him, this thing is definitely black technology. With the support of this kind of black technology, who dares to say that Tianba Studio lacks technical reserves and accumulation?
"As for personnel dispatch..."
There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!
The several difficulties listed by Xiao Lu are actually easy to solve in terms of funding and technology. The only problem is manpower, which is indeed the biggest shortcoming of the studio at present.
The only solution Chen Ba could think of was to split the entire 3A project into countless small branch projects.
This is like building a car!
Tianba Studio is responsible for designing drawings and key components such as engines and gearboxes, while components such as window glass, seats and steering wheels are outsourced to other teams.
Finally, all these parts will be transported to Tianba Studio for assembly and vehicle performance testing. Once they are confirmed to be correct, they can maximize the use of "division of labor and cooperation" to build a car.
"This is a good idea..."
Yang Dong nodded and said, "The disadvantage may be that the technical level of the outsourced team varies, and the cost will be more expensive than if we do it ourselves."
"I told you, money is not an issue."
Chen Ba nodded and said, "Technical levels vary, so try to find teams with a guaranteed reputation and good strength to work with."
It is normal to have omissions and shortcomings.
Who made it so that Tianba Studio was making such a large-scale game for the first time and had no corresponding development experience?
"As for the project development cycle, let's tentatively set it at one year! This is just a preliminary estimate of the construction period. The specific time will depend on how smoothly the progress is, and it will also be determined based on the theme of the game."
At this point, Chen Ba chuckled and said, "What do you think about our first 3A game?"
"Xianxia, it must be Xianxia!"
Xiao Lu was the first to raise his hand and said, "I've long had enough of those Western fantasy backgrounds that only have magic and swordplay to slay dragons."
"really!"
"If we want to make 3A, we have to differentiate ourselves from those big foreign companies. To be honest, I'm tired of the Western fantasy genre."
Yang Dong strongly agreed.
Over the years, he has played dozens of foreign AAA games. Modern futuristic games like Cyberpunk and GTA are fine, but he is really tired of games like The Elder Scrolls, The Old Guard, and God of War.
What he meant by "bored" was not the gameplay or the way to play the game, but the background of the game...
Western fantasy is a great subject!
However, the education and cultural background they received since childhood made Yang Dong and Xiao Lu still have a special liking for fantasy.
The reason why people play those 3A masterpieces with Western fantasy style is, on the one hand, curiosity, and on the other hand, it is because domestic games are not up to standard and there are no competing games of the same level.
If there are two 3A games of the same price and quality to choose from, one is set in a Western fantasy setting and the other is set in a fairy tale setting.
Without a doubt, Xiao Lu and Yang Dong will definitely choose the theme of Xianxia! Don't ask, the question is emotion.
For Chinese players, the sense of involvement and immersion in fairy-tale games is unmatched by ordinary Western fantasy games.
This is ingrained in me.
Magicians, dragonborns, dark walkers, these are not what I want. Only immortal cultivators who can fly and hide in the ground are the romance that Chinese players yearn for.
This condition did not exist before.
But now, after learning of Brother Ba's decision, Yang Dong and Xiao Lu said that the studio's first 3A game must be a fairy tale, and only a fairy tale can carry the expectations of 3A.
"I understand what you mean."
"But for a fairy-tale game, the background framework is not easy to build! My idea is different from yours. How about something simpler first? A modern urban background?"
Chen Ba did not quite agree with their proposal.
He also explained the reason, which is that Xianxia is good, but Tianba Studio may not be able to create a real and immersive Xianxia world.
Instead of making a defective product, it is better to lower the difficulty and start from the modern city. At least we won’t encounter stupid questions like “how does a cultivator walk and what is his posture?”
"A modern city..."
Upon hearing that his fantasy fantasy dream was shattered, Xiao Lu was very discouraged. At the same time, he was also full of doubts about the modern urban background proposed by Brother Ba.
3A games all have stories! But what kind of stories can be told in a modern urban setting? You can't make a game like GTA5 in this domestic environment, right?
That's really asking for too much!
Apart from anything else, this kind of game definitely cannot be made. Even if it is to be made, it cannot be aimed at the domestic market, otherwise everyone knows the consequences.
So cyberpunk?
But this is a sci-fi future...
“In the context of modern cities, it is indeed difficult to tell wonderful stories, but it is not without reference.”
Chen Ba smiled and said, "Have you seen the Spiritual Resurrection? Do you know about the National Martial Arts? What about the High Martial Arts Competition?"
Online novels provided him with a lot of ideas.
Especially in the modern urban context, constrained by various implicit rules and regulations, the creativity provided by many online novels can actually be used as a reference.
For example, spiritual revival!
When this theme is put into online novels, it is actually an alternative combination of fantasy/fairy tales + urban elements.
In the field of gaming, it is one of the best alternatives to fairy-tale games!
It has a hint of fantasy, but the story takes place in a modern city, giving it a magical and confusing feel.
The national martial arts style is actually not bad.
Foreigners generally have a stereotype that "Chinese people all know Kung Fu", so take this opportunity to turn this stereotype into a mental imprint.
However, to develop a Chinese martial arts game, one would definitely need to collect some kung fu information, which was actually the most difficult thing for Chen Ba to solve.
After all, he didn't know a Kung Fu master, so how could he get the inside information? Even if he found a Kung Fu master, who knew how good he was? What if he was good at the Lightning Five Whips? (End of this chapter)