This Is Not a Bug but a Game Feature-Chapter 267 - 179: Is the Studio’s Feng Shui Off? (Part 2)
If you aim to enhance the difficulty or strive for a complete compendium and 100% perfect clearance, you might need to spend over 100 hours.
And for a AAA game, besides the lengthy story process, the game content is also very rich; it cannot be just pushing the plot forward without anything else to play.
"Then the map needs to be a bit bigger!"
"Luckily, we have the Tianba Engine; otherwise, just this vast game map would be enough to keep us busy for a while..."
Lu was quite relieved.
The game "Global Evolution" has a map template that is practically indistinguishable from the real-world map.
However, in the game, the map can’t be as large as in reality, and there must be some scale reduction.
But no matter how you scale it down, it’s still a colossal world map. Without the AI assistance from the Tianba Engine, relying solely on Tianba Studio’s manpower would likely require a year and a half just to draw the game map.
In an open world, having a slightly larger map is quite normal!
Aside from the slightly large map, the game also contains various fierce beasts and even spirit monsters.
Fierce beasts refer to Earth’s animals that have transformed into unique monsters due to mutations, which are quite hostile towards humans.
Spirit monsters are plants on Earth that, after mutating and gaining intelligence, become special species divided into two factions: one that also hates humans and another that is neutral, neither friendly nor hostile to humans.
Besides the land’s fierce beasts and spirit monsters, there are various sea beasts in the ocean. After mutation, they are undoubtedly the dominant race on Earth and the player’s main opponents and experience sources in the later stages.
"The game has a companion system!"
"Players can tame specific fierce beasts or spirit monsters to become companions..."
But as companions, they’re essentially an alternative "pet" system.
Pets have strong combat abilities, which is another interesting gameplay aspect; similar to Pokémon, it’s about capturing and cultivating pets everywhere.
"Cats and dogs, flowers and plants are categorized by animal or plant traits and their growth talents into different qualities."
"The higher the quality of the companion, the more difficult it is to tame and acquire. For example, the golden companion giant panda is one of the more formidable types of fierce beasts; players can only tame the cubs."
Chen Ba said this with a somewhat restrained expression: "But seriously, I still can’t imagine what a creature as lazy as a giant panda would be like after mutating into a fierce beast?"
He had established the game’s background framework.
But how to fill this framework with content was someone else’s job.
It’s not that challenging to create a "fierce beast" version of regular animals like tigers, wolves, and brown bears. But for creatures like huskies and giant pandas, which seem absent-minded, it just feels more complicated.
Especially huskies...
Chen Ba scratched his head, thinking that even if Spiritual Qi Revival turned it into a fierce beast, could it really sink an aircraft carrier?
If he couldn’t think of it, he just wouldn’t think about it.
After all, he only managed the general direction; the detailed game content could be handled by Lu and his team.
...
The development of "Global Evolution" mobilized around 400 people.
Among these, only 47 came from Tianba Studio, with the rest being outsourced teams hired specifically to assist Tianba Studio with various content branches.
For instance, MarvelousDesigner, which deals with character clothing design and modeling, requires using specialized 3D clothing design software and understanding fabric cuttings.
This is also quite a cumbersome task.
But never underestimate its importance; the immersion of a game is heavily influenced by the characters’ clothing styles.
In mobile games with 2D characters, this area sees the most investment, with each character’s clothing being extremely luxurious, showcasing a roasting culture to visually capture the player’s heart.
In addition to this, developing a large-scale game typically requires many personnel skilled in using Photoshop, Substance Designer, Zbrush, Houdini, and other software.
This is a massive project.
The more one delves into it, the more one understands one thing: AAA truly exemplifies the industrialization and mass industrialization of gaming.
Creating an indie game might demand from its developer just "having an idea," where creativity and technical prowess surpass everything else.
But for a AAA game developer, personnel scheduling and team management are the most crucial skills.
It’s no exaggeration to say.
Even if Chen Ba knew nothing about game development, not even where the power button of a computer was... as long as he clarified everyone’s responsibilities and managed the scheduling, he could become an excellent AAA game developer.
This is not hard to understand.
In indie game development, one works alone, so the developer needs to grasp certain skills and ideas, akin to a leading general in a battle.
But for a AAA game developer, with so many strong and skilled individuals under his command, he plays the role of an emperor.
As an emperor, personally leading the charge is good, but even without that ability, just knowing how to use one’s people wisely and deploying the most suitable general at critical moments is enough.
Chen Ba is currently in this "issuing orders" state; he doesn’t need to realize his ideas through action.
In fact, on the contrary.
He only needs to propose his concepts and allocate the right resources, and those under him will naturally realize them, awaiting results for him to review.
"You’re still relaxed..."
Yang Dong envied Ba a lot, as Ba was already the lead producer of a AAA masterpiece at a young age, which was envious beyond words.
In contrast, he was unfortunate.
One casual remark from Ba led him to run tirelessly, exhaustively, and once the game was released, people would only remember Ba, not the behind-the-scenes him.
"Everyone does their part!"
Chen Ba knew what Dong thought, so he comforted him: "It’s okay, if there’s a chance, I’ll let you have your own go at being a lead game producer!"
"Really?"
Yang Dong was overjoyed and excitedly asked, "Truly a lead game producer?"
"Of course, it’s true."
Chen Ba had no reason to lie; Dong had followed him for so long, why not give him a chance?
Plus, he also wanted to verify a certain suspicion in his mind.
The games he made always had all kinds of bizarre Bugs, causing the gameplay to deviate from its intended design.
So here’s the question.
If he didn’t meddle and allowed his employees to freely develop, would the game still present this kind of odd Bug?
Chen Ba was genuinely curious.
After the development of "Global Evolution," he had to find an opportunity to let Dong or Lu take the lead and test this assumption.
If the assumption was confirmed and even without his involvement, the game still spontaneously spawned all kinds of strange Bugs and mechanics, then Chen Ba would have to consider whether the studio’s feng shui was the problem?
Could it be his influence on the environment?
Surely not?
Chen Ba vaguely felt that although it sounded ridiculous, based on the nature of the Iron Fool System, the result was most likely to be thus.
After all, even if he didn’t participate in game development, handing over everything to others, the game engine and some code all came from the Iron Fool System!
It’s likely going to lead to issues...
But issues are fine too!
It would be a perfect opportunity to clear his name, letting the vast player base know that Tianba Studio wasn’t just Ba capable of developing Bugs; others weren’t innocent either.
See!
Even without Ba’s intervention, new Bugs would still emerge. Whose fault is that? Surely, it needs no further explanation?
Thinking of this, Chen Ba was eagerly looking forward as he said, "Dong, it’ll be up to you to perform then."
The number of copies sold doesn’t matter; there must be Bugs!
If he produced a serious game, where would Chen Ba’s reputation go? Wouldn’t it confirm the rumors that Tianba Studio equates Ba with Bugs?
If a single person makes a fool of themselves, it’s their problem.
If a group makes fools of themselves, then it’s not a human problem, but rather a feng shui problem. The fact proves that it genuinely can’t be blamed on Chen Ba; surely, it’s the studio’s feng shui being off, so the games under it ended up with all sorts of Bugs.
