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"Wait!" Ye Yi questioned. "If that's the case, how is it any different from a regular RPG? It won't achieve the expected results at all!"
Li Xue did not answer the question directly. Instead, she focused on the notebook in front of Fan Xiaohu and asked, "With your current personnel, plus the four teams from Zhi Cheng Entertainment, if everything is prepared on the planning side, how long would it take for you to develop a standard large-scale RPG?"
Li remained silent for a moment. The entire classroom, or rather the game planning office, held its breath, afraid to make a sound that might disturb the calculations of the lead developer.
"If it's a VR RPG game, the number of selectable characters typically ranges from twelve to thirty at this stage. Of course, this is just for the initial version; more selectable characters will be added during later production," Liang spoke continuously, with the entire state of VR MMORPGs clearly laid out in his mind.
"Then there's the issue of resolution. Currently, most VR games have a resolution around 8K. Some more refined developers use even higher display settings, which significantly increases development time."
Li Xue waved her hand dismissively. "I'm asking how long it would take for you to develop the most advanced online game right now."
"The hottest title at the moment is a VR FPS—Emergency Appointment. This game took over a hundred developers sixteen months to complete in order to achieve near-photorealistic lighting effects and dynamic experiences. It currently has seven selectable characters and features eight street-level maps and several city-level maps."
"If we were to develop this game with assistance from Sincerity's four teams, along with an already written script, production details, character designs, etc., we would need three months!"
This statement shocked everyone in the office. A team of over a hundred people took sixteen months to finish their project, yet they claimed they only needed three months!
However, Li Xue's next words astonished even more people.
"That's too slow!" Li Xue rubbed her chin and complained softly.
"The four developers from Sincerity can all be allocated to either the programming or art teams. This way, your personnel count would exceed two hundred. Plus, there are nearly a hundred game planners standing here. We are a game development team of over three hundred people!" Li Xue clearly analyzed their existing resources. "Even so, you still need three months?"
Liang fell silent again. After a while, he looked directly into Li Xue's eyes and said, "Two months! And during that time, the planning team cannot delay us; any data that has already been written cannot be rewritten—meaning the script cannot change!"
"But how can we guarantee the quality of the game?"
"We will have people playtest it at the end and then make global adjustments and modifications during the final stages. This is also the fastest method." A bead of sweat slowly formed on Liang's forehead. "Moreover, during production, no programmer can make significant errors! Otherwise, it will really be impossible to complete."
"Alright!" Li Xue slammed her hand on the table, her excitement evident. "Two and a half months should be enough, right? Now, let me start explaining our game. Everyone, please listen carefully."
As soon as she spoke, everyone in the game planning office and the programmers attending the online meeting focused intently on Li Xue.
"First, our game 'World' must have at least eighty selectable characters for the Human Race. I want the game resolution to be top-notch! As for the maps, they don't need to be overly complicated; we can skip city-level and street maps entirely. I want a complete national-level map! If that's not feasible, we can use around ten state-level maps instead, but those states must be connected—essentially still one large map."
"Impossible!" From the other side of the computer, Feng Quan loudly rejected this proposal. "For starters, just creating those eighty character designs is not possible in such a short time!"
"Is that so?" Li Xue asked softly, though no one knew who she was addressing.
Liang thought for a moment and shook his head. "You may not realize it, but those familiar with game development certainly do. Creating a nearly perfect character design isn't too difficult, but designing multiple characters with different professions and attributes is incredibly challenging. The increase in character quantity raises the complexity for the planners; after all, similar profession characters don't offer much gameplay variety."
Everyone considered this and agreed; indeed, common character types were relatively simple to create, but the more characters there were, the greater the difficulty.
Moreover, if the planners couldn't keep up with the pace, the programming progress would inevitably lag behind. Developing a game of this scale with such unreliable planners would indeed be quite challenging.
"Then let's not give players any options!" Chen Rui pushed open the door and walked into the office with a smile.
"What do you mean?" Li Xue knew that Chen Rui never joked during critical moments, so this statement must hold some important insight.
"Literally!" Chen Rui approached Fan Xiaohu's desk and snatched a drink from him, taking a swig. "We're creating a world, not just a game. In this world, what players want to do should depend entirely on themselves—that's what makes it a world!"
Li Xue pondered for a moment before a smile spread across her face. "So you're suggesting we don't need detailed character settings but only create various different character appearances?"
"Exactly! You just need to design characters that look different from each other—like creating more detailed NPCs," Chen Rui replied with a grin.
Li Zheng, an experienced VR player, voiced his concerns. "This idea sounds good, but will players accept it?"
In typical games, players are usually required to choose their profession as soon as they enter the game. Once selected, they embark on a journey tailored to that profession's requirements.
Chen Rui explained that when players enter the game, they start as ordinary Bystanders, not as pre-selected classes like Swordsmen, Knights, Martial Artists, Sorcerers, Priests, Hunters, and so on.
"The professions players can choose will depend on their gameplay. If someone wants to be a Ranger-type Martial Arts character, they need to buy weapons and equipment themselves and look for Martial Arts Manuals. If they want to become a merchant, they must investigate local markets and start from scratch. Becoming a Politician or any other profession requires the same effort," Chen Rui said with a smile. "And if they get tired of their current profession, it won't be a hassle to switch because they've already established connections in their current role, making it much easier to change careers."
"For example," Chen Rui spoke passionately to a group of students and game developers about his vision for this new world, "I chose to become a merchant and eventually became a wealthy businessman in the area. If I want to switch to another profession, like a combat role such as Martial Artist, I can use my merchant skills to hire a famous Martial Arts Master to teach me martial arts and then spend money to acquire Martial Arts Manuals. This is much faster than starting over with a new character in a typical game, and I can always return to my previous profession."
This idea was indeed innovative and distinct; this gameplay felt less like a game and more like a real world.
Liang thought for a moment and said with a wry smile, "In this way, the pressure on character planning is indeed reduced significantly. But have you considered that this increases the pressure on plot planning, item planning, and level design?"
"Actually, you mean that this increases the pressure on the programming team," Chen Rui laughed. "If characters are designed this way, then everything else must follow suit!"
"You mean!" Li Zheng seemed to understand Chen Rui's point immediately and became greatly interested in the still-conceptualized game.
"My meaning is clear: everything operates according to the laws of the real world without needing to deliberately script any plots or levels. All tasks that drive the game's history will be left for the players to undertake. Of course, we still need some level design for hidden plots, such as Ancient Treasures."
Li Xue nodded with a smile. "So basically, the main job of plot planning is to write the entire world's World History? And then secondary work involves writing individual plots for notable figures and treasures that appear in World History."
Li Zheng chuckled. "What you're describing sounds like an adventure game where most players become adventurers seeking ancient ruins."
"It's not just that; the game's history is driven by players," Ye Yi sighed. "For combat professions, they can choose to seek ancient ruins or establish their status in martial arts circles or even recruit soldiers and lead uprisings."
"For merchants, they can become local Tycoons and influence national affairs. As for politicians, it's even simpler; once they reach a certain level, they can choose to eliminate banditry or instigate major events like declaring war on another country!"
These words left everyone in the office speechless; this model of gameplay could indeed be unprecedented.
Upon reflection, it was clear that these concepts were merely selections from various single-mode games combined into this 'world.'
"Do you all realize how difficult this will be?" Liang said with a bitter smile. "It's equivalent to producing all professions and all plots!"
Chen Rui shook his head. "It's not like that. What you need to do is simply make players feel free, make them think they can do anything and everything. In fact, this way, your work pressure will be greatly reduced."
"Reduced my ass!" Liang cursed Chen Rui in his heart, but he also felt a bit of anticipation for the arrival of the game "World."
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The following text is free of charge:
Note: Many people might already know this, but there are always some who don't, so let me explain.
VR - Virtual Reality
- Massively Multiplayer Online [Game Type]
RPG - Role-Playing Game
FPS - First-Person Shooter Game
VR RPG - Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game
VR FPS - Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online First-Person Shooter Game
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