Chapter 454: A Genius Regarding
the next arrangements for the PC department.
Lin Yao was in a dilemma.
In fact, it is really not easy to manage a company. Even if Mu Wanqing and her team can help with specific matters, Lin Yao still has a headache just formulating strategies...
Because as the company expands, the stage of making whatever game makes money has passed...
For example, online games can be made now, and Lin Yao actually has ideas.
But the online games that Lin Yao wants to make now are too large... Once the project is launched, it means that a large number of staff in the PC department will be completely locked in one project.
And now there are already quite a few staff locked in the PC department, two MOBA game projects, "Fantasy OL", "Breakout", "Battle Royale"... The staff of these departments have been transferred twice, but they are still very large, almost occupying more than half of the entire PC department.
After all, online games are long-term operations. Maybe this version has just been updated, and it will be on the agenda after a few days of rest.
And then the cycle repeats.
The staff of these project teams can't do anything else at all. Even if Lin Yao transfers these skilled staff, she must immediately add the corresponding number of people to the project team.
Otherwise, the online game will collapse.
If Linmu Studio insists on doing online game projects now, it is not impossible, but the stand-alone and Vaporwave game platforms will inevitably be greatly affected.
After all, most of the half of the PC staff that were squeezed out with great difficulty will be locked up again...
The mobile Internet era is approaching, and the Switch has been on sale for less than a year. The Vaporwave game platform must also prevent backstabbing by big companies such as Gibbs and Dreamland. Lin Yao has just decided to try to get as many chips as possible during this period.
In this case, it is not a good choice to do online games and reduce the available project teams in the PC department of Linmu Studio.
If it is just an online game company, then Lin Yao can completely not think so much, just do online games, it is not unprofitable.
But now she has to consider the Vaporwave game platform, the impact of the mobile Internet era, and even the Switch. After all, it is too stressful to rely entirely on the host product department to make first-party masterpieces. She also has to consider the PC department to supplement the first-party masterpieces for the host...
It is quite distressing.
"...Headquarters."
Lin Yao looked around the current location of Linmu Studio and gently picked up a pen and tapped the desktop.
She actually wanted to change this situation.
But the venue was too limited...
However, the headquarters construction has been prepared for so long, it is estimated that it will be put into use by the end of this year or early next year. At that time, she will probably be able to integrate departments more easily, and online games and even mobile games will become possible.
Of course, the premise is that
there must be enough staff.
Otherwise, after the venue problem is solved, the staff will have to be trained again, which is probably still painful.
Where will those people come from? Expand the recruitment?
How to train after the expansion?
The people in the host product department must not be moved.
At present, the remaining project teams in the PC department are left, leaving behind the staff locked in the online game project, the staff who maintain the Vaporwave game platform, and various miscellaneous departments such as plug-ins, Greenlight, and third-party game approval.
At most, it can support the simultaneous start of three games. If it is a large-scale 3A, it is estimated that at most two games.
This is the current team of Linmu Studio.
So in addition to expanding recruitment, ready-made foreign aid is also very important.
For example, the two studios of Conglong and Xihan acquired last year...
But there is a problem with these two studios.
That is, they are not yet able to take the lead.
After they joined Linmu Studio last year, although they were said to be responsible for game production independently, in fact, 80% of the core personnel of the two game projects they were responsible for came from Linmu Studio.
Moreover, Lin Yao had a hand in art settings and visual effects.
Both of their studios also participated in "Dark Soul", but the main force was still from Linmu Studio. They were only responsible for some modeling and map production.
Not to mention the first party, they are currently just a miscellaneous person.
Now it's time for them to exercise...
Lin Yao lowered his head slightly, and his thoughts began to diverge.
From what the PC department should do, he jumped to the two acquired studios.
After all, these two studios have always mentioned that they want to be responsible for the project, and Linmu Studio does need more manpower.
Of course.
Since they need to be trained, then the situation like last time, when 80% of the core personnel responsible for making the game came from Linmu Studio, should be avoided as much as possible...
That would not train them, and it is not realistic to let them independently make a masterpiece at the beginning. Although there is a plan for the completion mechanism, the development process of the masterpiece, the grasp of the project progress, and the various trade-offs during the game development process all need to be trained.
Although Linmu Studio seems to have made a big step, it started from online games step by step... The game development experience has been accumulated step by step, and Lin Yao has been watching the whole process, which is completely different.
Hmm...
Lin Yao stopped tapping the pen, paused, and her eyes lit up slightly. Suddenly, she had a good idea!
Reasoning games, or action adventure games.
Also, 2D games.
The former can mainly train the acquisition studio's 3D game production capabilities. As for why she chose reasoning games, because Lin Yao has a ready-made story, and this type of game is the least likely to make mistakes, Lin Yao can even let Conglong and Xihan Studios play freely on how to design the gameplay.
As long as the story is interpreted according to her, it will be fine.
In this way, no matter how the gameplay is, at least the story level should be able to satisfy the players.
Because the most important thing about a reasoning game is the story! As long as the story satisfies the players, the gameplay can be used as a training point for the two studios of Conglong and Xihan.
This experience of making a 3D game without relying on support is very valuable. Not only can you be familiar with the engine from scratch, but you can also learn to think independently, and the pressure is not so great.
In addition, the graphics of this kind of reasoning game do not need to be too good, and it can help the console supplement the first-party masterpieces...
and most importantly, it can also support the IP.
As for the latter 2D games, they are used as supplementary options.
For small-scale games, the PC department of Linmu Studio can do it, but it feels a bit inappropriate, and it feels like killing a chicken with a sledgehammer.
For example, those great independent games... "Overcooked", "Dead Cells", "Hades" and "Hollow Knight" can be used as a type extension after Dark Souls comes out.
These can all be considered for the acquired studio.
As for the project team of Linmu Studio headquarters, if there are acquired studios to make games... they can be slightly untied and make some masterpieces that do not consider Switch at all.
Yeah.
That's about it!
Lin Yao sorted out her thoughts. The more she thought about it, the more feasible it seemed!
...
In the afternoon, Lin Yao found Mu Wanqing and told her about her idea.
"A deduction game?"
Mu Wanqing was holding the documents she was going to take to the finance department. After hearing what Lin Yao said, she was a little surprised.
"Yeah." Lin Yao nodded.
"This type of game... doesn't seem to exist on the market yet. What kind of game do you want to make?"
Mu Wanqing pondered for a moment and asked.
"I only have one idea. As for what kind of game it should be, I plan to only give the story first. The other things will be handed over to the two acquired studios to play. If it doesn't work, I will intervene."
Lin Yao was stunned when she heard Mu Wanqing's words, and then she remembered that there seemed to be no such deduction-type game on the market.
In other words, there was no game specifically made for this type of game. Many games have deduction content, but there is indeed no game specifically made for this type of game.
"Ah?"
Mu Wanqing was even more surprised when she heard Lin Yao's words.
"In order to train them, our headquarters will of course check the quality of the final game, and relevant support will also be provided, but I hope that they can complete the game independently."
Lin Yao explained: "Because at most two years, we will be even more short of people, and it will be too slow to train developers at that time. We must prepare in advance to avoid a generational gap in developers."
Lin Yao did have such concerns.
The Blue Star Engine is currently being continuously updated with the efforts of the engine team.
However, no matter how powerful the engine is, it is useless without skilled developers. No one will use it, and the final concept of the game will become "Battlefield 2042"...
"I understand... What do you need me to do?"
As the housekeeper of the entire Linmu Studio, Mu Wanqing certainly knew what Lin Yao was worried about, and soon nodded gently and asked.
Lin Yao thought for a moment and said, "Please invite the heads of two studios to come over, and then look for some mature studios. I plan to make this mystery series a long-term series, and then there will be additional 2D games, so I need a lot of people... On the one hand, Linmu Studio will expand its own recruitment, but on the other hand, I hope you can find some studios that are willing to join us. As the first party, this is a little faster than recruiting people."
"I understand..."
Mu Wanqing nodded again, and then asked curiously, "But I also have a question."
"Huh? What?"
"What kind of mystery story do you plan to tell in the mystery game?"
Mu Wanqing looked really curious.
After all, the girl in front of her didn't seem to have anything to do with the word mystery...
"I'm thinking."
Lin Yao shook her ponytail lightly, without giving a clear answer.
She was indeed thinking.
When it comes to mystery novels, there are really many factions, such as the orthodox school, the social school, the tough guy school, the court school...
Among them, the orthodox school has a lot of sub-schools.
Lin Yao didn't really understand it. She was most familiar with the most classical orthodox school, that is, Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes series, Agatha Christie's Poirot series, etc.
She barely understands the court faction, Ace Attorney.
Oh, there is also a social faction mystery film that she is very impressed with, that is Detective Di Renjie.
No kidding.
Although there will be arguments as long as the discussion is about what faction of reasoning Detective Di Renjie belongs to, you have to admit that the first part of this TV series is completely based on the structure of Sherlock Holmes, focusing on reasoning, and then mixed with some martial arts elements and conspiracy theories as gimmicks. The
suspense setting is very successful and fascinating.
Well... it seems to be really good!
Lin Yao thought of Di Renjie, and for some reason, she suddenly felt that it was quite interesting to restore the most special dynasty Wu Zhou in the game...
and this can also export a wave of culture...
Sherlock Holmes, Di Renjie.
One uses the Wu Zhou era, which is known as the legacy of Zhenguan in Eastern history, as the story background, and the other uses the Victorian era, which is known as the Golden Age in the West, as the story background. As long as the game is not made into a text AVG, it feels really interesting.
I just don’t know how the gameplay is...
But forget it!
It’s a practice for the acquired studio, so let’s give it a try!
Maybe it will have miraculous effects and even become a new game series from Linmu Studios.
As Lin Yao was thinking, she didn't care about the girl with black silk stockings and glasses anymore. She turned around, opened the document on her computer, and started typing.
Mu Wanqing was stunned for a moment, then looked at the girl's back, smiled gently, and turned away.
...
June 18th.
Lin Yao met the heads of the Conglong and Xihan studios as promised, and told them what she had said.
"Ah? Reasoning game? How to make a reasoning game?"
After hearing what Lin Yao said, the two heads were ecstatic at first, because Lin Yao was finally willing to give them a chance... but then they were a little confused.
According to Lin Yao, the two games will be developed completely freely by their studio this time, and they will be positioned as reasoning games.
The time span of the two games is quite large.
One story background is the Wu Zhou period, and the other is the Victorian period... It feels very unrelated.
"..."
Lin Yao was silent for a moment after listening to the two responsible persons' words. Although they were allowed to play freely, it was indeed a bit difficult for them to play freely without the type of game...
She thought about it and said, "I will give you the script of the game first. After you read it, think about the type of game you want to adapt. Don't worry, try to think about it first. I have three requirements.
First, pay attention to character portrayal.
Second, action gameplay and even shooting gameplay can be added to the game, but the game must be based on puzzle solving, and the priorities cannot be reversed.
Third, the performance and story of the game should be put first, and players should not be overly difficult. Player experience is the most important."
Lin Yao stated her requirements, and then said, "As for the direction, I can also give one, but if you have different opinions, you can also raise them. The direction I want is this. The main line of the script will be the main line of the game, and the case will be the lead to string the entire game together. The player's troubles can be set during the process of obtaining clues, adding some difficulty at this level."
"On the way to obtain clues?"
After hearing Lin Yao's words, the heads of the two studios seemed to be thinking about it.
Lin Yao added: "Well, both games will have the concept of criminal groups, do you understand?"
"..." The two responsible persons looked at each other and nodded reluctantly.
"That's good, you should read the script first and think about it. Don't have too much pressure on this game. Let go and do it while ensuring the story. The most important thing is to familiarize yourself with the production process of a 3D masterpiece."
"..."
After hearing this, the two responsible persons looked a little strange.
They seemed a little disappointed.
Because from what Lin Yao said, these two games seemed to be for them to practice, and they belonged to the group that was sacrificed...
and putting the story first really didn't match the concept of the game at all.
It just... I don't think it will be too popular with players.
Lin Yao also saw their thoughts, but didn't say much. After they read the story, they would understand why she said to put the story first.
This time, practicing is indeed the main purpose, but it is really not a sacrifice. If the reasoning game does not rely on the story, does it rely on the gameplay?
"Can it be made as difficult as "Dark Souls"?" Suddenly, Wang Mang, the head of Conglong Studio, asked.
"No!"
Lin Yao replied immediately: "Are you asking the players to solve the case or to die... The key is the story! Player experience!"
"I understand, sorry, playing Dark Souls has me hooked, it's really fun..."
Wang Mang said a little embarrassedly.
"Okay, I've finished talking, now there's only one question left, which one do you want to be responsible for?"
Lin Yao picked up the script that had been rushed out in the past two days from the table in front of her: "Victoria period? Or Wu Zhou period?"
The heads of the two studios looked at each other.
Each of them said the era they were interested in.
It just happened to be staggered.
Pretty good.
Lin Yao handed the script to each other, and then said: "Okay, you go back and take a look, and then write a plan."
"Okay."
The two stood up, then looked at the script in their hands, and left the meeting room with a little disappointment.
Lin Yao watched the two leave, raised his hands and stretched hard, smiled, and then followed him out of the meeting room.
Okay.
The arrangements for the two studios are done, and then it's the most important production work of the headquarters - well, the game plan for Kirby Star.
Lin Yao returned to her seat, and as soon as she sat down, she opened a new document and typed the words "Kirby the Star".
Kirby was a very famous character in her previous life.
After all, he has a long career, and his image is really cute, the kind of cuteness that can be felt even in pixels. Although
Kirby has many games, she only had one 3D work in her previous life, which is "Kirby the Star: Discovery".
To be honest.
Lin Yao has played many games.
But the game "Kirby the Star: Discovery" is still the most special game she has ever played.
Many people like to compare this game with "Super Mario Odyssey", but in fact the two are not comparable at all.
The most conspicuous label of the Super Mario IP is platform jumping, which is destined to make the game difficult... Maybe in the eyes of many players, Odyssey is not difficult, but for ordinary players, it is really difficult.
Moreover, in Odyssey, after Mario dies, he will usually be resurrected at the last resurrection point. In the early stage, Mario only has three bars of blood, so it is easy for him to die and have to go through a long level again. If you are an impatient player, it may be very uncomfortable.
But for Kirby, it’s hard to say about the previous games, but Kirby: Discovery is really not difficult at all...
First of all, this game has difficulty options, namely Spring Breeze Mode and Wild Mode, but even the Wild Mode is not wild, as long as the players who have played some games can easily pass it.
And in the Wild Mode, as long as the player dies three times, the game will immediately pop up a reminder to let the player switch to Spring Breeze Mode, looking very worried that the player will be frustrated.
In addition, in the game, Kirby’s health bar is not like Mario’s three blood bars, but a large blood bar... And there are really a lot of resources for blood replenishment on the map.
The most important thing is that Kirby can inhale and float, which almost completely avoids falling damage.
These settings that are afraid of player frustration, all added together, combined with Kirby’s gameplay of swallowing and copying enemies, make the player’s gaming experience very wonderful.
Lin Yao played the Spring Breeze Mode at the beginning, and she really didn’t encounter any difficulties at all!
She received the game that day and finished it in one night. It only took her ten hours to finish it.
But she was filled with joy during these ten hours because Kirby was cute, the levels were well designed, and the game was fun.
It can be said that the design concept of this game is completely opposite to that of Dark Souls.
Relaxed, pleasant, and pure fun!
This is why Lin Yao chose this game to replace Dark Souls.
Just think of it as comforting the players.
While thinking, Lin Yao gently tapped the keyboard and typed out the first word of the new game plan.
…
June 19th.
The weather is getting hotter and hotter.
There is no way.
Summer is here.
The hot weather will inevitably make players feel irritable. At this time, Dark Souls is the perfect game to cool down.
After all, being angry and having cold hands and feet is also a kind of cool experience.
And on this day.
The sales of Dark Souls officially exceeded three million.
As more and more players finished the game, there were more and more discussions about the gameplay and plot.
Especially the plot.
Although there are only some fragmentary information about the story in Dark Souls, and the game does not even have a clear main storyline.
But as long as players play the game, they will inevitably come into contact with those fragmentary information, such as seeing the name of a certain boss, seeing the description of a certain item, seeing the flooded city, seeing the scattered battlefield...
Players may not care most of the time and choose to ignore the story countless times, but there will always be a time when the player finally finishes the map, sits on the campfire, and checks the equipment, and suddenly thinks-'Why? '
Why was Anor Londo flooded? Who is that creature that continues to fester? Why did the giant wolf Sif fight with me?
Once these questions come out, it is basically impossible to disappear, because the player's curiosity has been aroused.
After all, the same things, those that have been obtained through hard work, will make people feel that they have higher value subjectively... And in Dark Souls, it is also not easy to collect the fragments of the whole story.
These factors, coupled with the huge and dark world view of the game itself...
make players more curious, what happened in this world?
Then.
Soul scientists were born here...
They tirelessly collected various props in the game, and then tried their best to figure out the complete storyline of this game.
And more and more players, after completing the game, saw related discussions and joined in.
In the end, relying on imagination and certain associations, players restored the stories of most popular characters in the game.
However.
Regarding the complete storyline of the game, many players are still a little puzzled.
Because it feels that no matter whether it is the ending of passing on the fire or the ending of extinguishing the fire, it seems... a little unfinished.
It always feels like there is more story.
So after sorting out this conclusion, many players are discussing whether Lin Yao is preparing for a sequel...
"Da Me! No sequel!! Although I want to say this... but I still want to play it."
"Me too, I seem to be ruined by Lin Yao..."
"Look at the overseas forums, overseas players have begun to petition for a sequel, not just us who want to play."
"Lin Yao seems to have hidden something, let's make a sequel, I won't buy it..."
"It's over, everyone in the forum is ruined, actually looking forward to the sequel to Dark Souls, what? Do you think the suffering is not enough?"
"It's not enough... Hey, forget it, I can't tell you who don't play games, you will know after you play it." "
I guess the next game of Linmu Studio will be a sequel... Lin Yao has become dark, there is no way back."
"..."
On the forum.
The game was not released for long, and players started discussing the sequel...
Lin Yao saw it and really didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
What the hell...
"This is the plan for Kirby, take a look and tell me if you have any questions." Lin Yao handed the plan to Zhu Nianqiao.
I have to say, the completion mechanism is really easy to use... It's faster than writing a script.
Zhu Nianqiao took it immediately after hearing what Lin Yao said, and then quickly flipped through the plan, exclaiming as she flipped through it: "So cute!!!"
"Yeah." Lin Yao was absent-minded.
"You can't tell that this is something drawn by a senior who drew a creature like the Gluttonus!"
"Yeah."
"I really want to see the players' reactions!"
"Yeah."
"Senior, marry me!"
"Yeah... yeah? Go away!"
Lin Yao was halfway through her sentence when she suddenly reacted. Her voice suddenly rose in pitch, and then she gave Zhu Nianqiao a slap, shook her ponytail, and turned away.
Zhu Nianqiao looked at Lin Yao's back and smiled softly. Senior sister is so cute!
...
Although Lin Yao was also looking forward to the players' reactions.
But game production takes time...
It's meaningless to think more before that. With this time, it's better to consider what the PC department of Linmu Studio headquarters will do.
Yes.
After going around in a circle, Lin Yao went back again...
Although the idea of the reasoning game has been determined, it is the work of the Conglong and Xihan studios.
The next development plan of the project team of Linmu Studio headquarters has not yet been determined.
Lin Yao has some ideas, but she still needs to think about it.
In the second half of the year, she plans to start working on two games at the same time.
One is "Civilization" which focuses on turn-based strategy.
One is "Left 4 Dead" which focuses on multiplayer cooperation.
As for why these two games were chosen, it's very simple.
This type of game... is basically not available on the market, and even if there is, it is very old and has almost no substitutes.
Lin Yao wants to build a game moat for the Vaporwave game platform to prepare for possible backstabs in the future.
These two games, plus the reasoning game that is unique in this world, are expected to attract many players.
Of course.
With this set of combined punches, it is estimated that Linmu Studio will also be busy.
By the way...
How did the heads of the two studios, Conglong and Xihan, read the script? Why haven't they replied yet?
Lin Yao walked out of the elevator and suddenly thought of this, a little confused.
...
At the same time.
Just when Lin Yao was thinking about the heads of the two first-party studios, Conglong and Xihan... Wang Mang, the head
of Conglong Studio,
slowly closed the script in his hand, and then slowly breathed a sigh of relief.
Then...
a roar rang out.
"Fuck! !? Boss, why don't you write a novel! !?"
At the same time. Zhang Tian, the head of
Xihan Studio, also held the script, concentrating, and didn't even hear his men knocking on the door. Until. The employee encountered an urgent matter and couldn't wait, so he pushed the door in. Zhang Tiancai suddenly came back to his senses, as if awakened from a dream. "Boss, you just..." The employee saw Zhang Tian looking up and looking at him blankly, and was about to speak. "Lin Yao, the boss of our headquarters! He is a genius!" Zhang Tian suddenly spoke and interrupted her rudely. "Ah?" The employee was stunned. "No wonder the story is the main focus! So that's it! It really works!!!" Zhang Tian looked at the script in his hand with astonishment on his face, raised his voice slightly, and ignored the employee at all. Do you think this kind of long chapter is acceptable? Or is it better to develop it separately? (End of this chapter)
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