Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 159 Only You and Me Left

Since the player is staying at the sect leader's house, he and Jinxi are childhood sweethearts. In the early part of the story, Jinxi appears as the player's junior sister.

It started with a black-haired girl, and then introduced her senior sister Changli, who also had black hair.

Subsequently, due to the annihilation of the Cangming Sword Sect overnight, players witnessed Jin Xi's hair turn white overnight, and saw the girl cry and collapse into their arms.
Her pretty face and bright eyes are now just numbness and emptiness.

Her once flowing black hair transformed into a frosty, silvery-white hue, beautiful yet fragile against the backdrop of blood and fire.

Jinxi's gaze lingered on the player's face for a moment before his reflection was finally seen in her empty eyes. That faint glimmer of light seemed like the last piece of driftwood a drowning person could grab onto.

She struggled to stand up, but her legs gave way and she fell forward.

The protagonist rushed forward and pulled her into his arms. Her body was frighteningly light and she was trembling uncontrollably.

"Senior brother..."

"Father, Mother, everyone is gone."

"Only you and I are left."

As soon as she finished speaking, the girl could no longer hold on, her head lolled to the side, and she completely lost consciousness.

The protagonist tightened his arms, holding her cold body tightly.

He didn't answer, nor could he offer any words of comfort. Empty promises seemed utterly pale at that moment. He simply lowered his head, rubbed his cheek against her striking white hair, and then picked her up in his arms.

The girl in his arms was the only thing he needed to protect in this hell on earth.

After this part of the story, there's another reunion with Senior Sister Changli, where the player discovers that Changli, driven by revenge, is consumed by karmic flames.
For Chu Chen, as long as he separates the character design and pay-to-win mechanics, and as long as he captures the essence of martial arts and establishes a basic gameplay framework, getting female players to spend money is actually something he excels at.
What about childhood sweethearts, gentle and virtuous senior sisters, refined ladies, rich young ladies, spoiled little princesses, princesses about to be married off, exotic dancers, poisonous women from the Miao ethnic group, and snow maidens from the Tianshan Mountains...?
What's even more ingenious is that, because a pure pixel art style wasn't feasible during the development of "A-HD Engine," Akira Ishii also explored combining it with 2D games.

Although there are still many problems in this exploration, Chu Chen believes that the technology is interconnected.

The resulting visuals are simply a change from pixel art to 2D character illustrations.

The previous version of "Fire Ring" did the same thing to some extent, with high-definition character illustrations that didn't actually conflict with the style of the background and the lighting effects.

Even if we take a step back and assume a pixel art style, it doesn't actually affect selling characters. Just like in Azur Lane, the "dumb" little characters that appear in gameplay don't affect the sale of skins.

However, Chu Chen personally hoped that the character could be more clearly defined and "easier to portray".

This will increase players' willingness to draw, and the skins will sell better.

Of course, the specific technical implementation path involves ensuring the characters don't look out of place, and whether to add a zoom system so players can adjust the camera to observe the characters up close.
That’s all in the future.

Besides martial arts anime, another genre suitable for 2D-HD technology is *Touhou Gensokyo*.

Similar to the two-dimensional martial arts project, if the world of Touhou Gensokyo were to be made into a 3D open world, the cost would be quite high. Just the 3D modeling of hundreds of characters alone would be a considerable undertaking.

Moreover, the reason why the Touhou Project IP is so appealing is its vivid characters and stories, as well as the Gensokyo that carries these stories and events.

To create a Touhou Project world, you must recreate the complete Touhou Project map. This would be very complicated if you were to create a 3D open world. On the contrary, 2D-HD technology might produce a better result.

Moreover, 2D-HD technology is actually quite suitable for combat in terms of bullet patterns, image quality, and style.

Let's imagine.

Players can be someone who is accidentally drawn into Gensokyo. As they try to figure out why they were drawn into Gensokyo, they gradually unlock areas, explore Gensokyo, and freely explore the unlocked areas, experiencing daily life in Gensokyo and solving thrilling incidents.

The visual style can be high-definition 2D characters with pixel-style backgrounds.

After all, it's a two-dimensional game, as I just mentioned.

If you're talking about selling your wife, a clear character portrait is definitely more appealing than a pixelated one, and StarCraft Games is already quite proficient in 2D technology.

By adding enough animation frames to the main characters, such as Reimu, Marisa, and Sakuya, they can come to life in the game.

Aside from characters, backgrounds, scenes, and lighting, 2D-HD can be used.

Octopath Traveler uses some tilt-shift photography techniques to blur the background and foreground to create depth of field. Although this demo does not have similar techniques, Chu Chen can add them in post-production.

In actual use in Touhou Project, for example, the foreground of the Magic Forest can be clear pixelated trees, the midground can be slightly blurred groves, and the background can be a hazy, colorful forest outline.

Mountains, lakes, and skies are all rendered with multiple layers and parallax scrolling to create a sense of depth.

In addition, 2D-HD has the advantage of being able to use dynamic lighting and shadows to create time effects.

The pale golden sunlight of early morning slanted through the Hakurei Shrine, casting long shadows on the ground.

The warm orange light of dusk bathed the Misty Lake, its surface reflecting shimmering ripples. The Scarlet Devil Mansion stood in the sunset, the Hakugyokurou was bathed in the night, and the Human Village was illuminated by warm orange lights.

In addition to the scenery, since 2D-HD is essentially a 3D engine, a weather system can also be added.

The weather system is actually a very important system for the Touhou Project IP.

Because many of the anomalies in the original Touhou Project are related to the weather.

The Scarlet Mist Incident in Touhou Koumakyou ~ the Land of the Scarlet Devil, the Spring Snow Incident in Touhou Youyoumu, and the Great Earthquake at Hakurei Shrine in Touhou Hisoutensoku, all accompanied by sudden downpours and thunderclaps.

In Touhou Project: Flower Echoes of the Void, all the flowers in Gensokyo bloom simultaneously regardless of the season, accompanied by a large number of ghosts.

These are all linked to weather systems.

Therefore, a good Touhou Project IP work must "deconstruct" the weather, and the fact that 2D-HD is essentially a 3D engine is obviously of great help to this system.

Raindrops fall with a pixelated particle effect, creating puddles on the road in front of the Scarlet Devil Mansion, followed by a shot of a young lady walking by, creating a reflection.

When fog is thick, the blurriness of distant scenery increases, and the edges of characters in the foreground also have a hazy halo.

The changing seasons can also be a visual feast.

In spring, cherry blossoms flutter down, and the magical forest is lush and green.

Under the blazing summer sun, what secrets lie hidden within the boundless sea of ​​sunflowers?

In autumn, the red leaves blaze like fire, and the lost bamboo forest is a tapestry of gold and white. In winter, the mountain is draped in silver and white, a pristine white blanket of snow.

Based on this technology, with a little polishing, seasonal changes can not only alter texture colors but also change the pixel representation of vegetation and the ground, thus matching the anomalies in the storyline.

at last.
In terms of combat, 2D-HD is also very suitable for Touhou Gensokyo.

Whether it uses turn-based or "semi-automatic" combat, the engine, bullet hell, spell card skills, and spell effects are actually quite well-matched.

In 2D-HD, these effects will be a combination of gorgeous high-definition pixel animation, particle systems, and dynamic lighting.

Marisa's Master Spark is a thick, pixelated beam of light with a halo effect and energy distortion.

Reimu's Yin-Yang Orb spins with trails and light-effect particles; Sakuya's throwing knife trails flash with a cold light.

The more Chu Chen thought about it, the more he felt that this engine was very suitable for him, and the team was also very good. As for the so-called failure to win the bid, it was actually normal.

While this demo showed some "advantages," compared to Acquire, even though Akira Ishii's resume is indeed impressive, they are still just a small company that has been established for less than a year.

When selecting outsourcing partners, it's perfectly normal for SE to prioritize cooperation risks and choose more reliable options.

After chatting for about half an hour, Ishii Akira stopped, still feeling a bit embarrassed, and scratched his head.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Chen, once we start talking, it goes on and on, and I'm taking up your precious time."

"It's alright. I can tell you've put a lot of effort into this engine."

Chu Chen smiled and changed the subject.

"So, Mr. Ishii, are you here at CNJOY hoping to find buyers for your engine and seek project collaborations?"

coming!

Upon hearing this, Ishii Akira's heart skipped a beat.

He exchanged a glance with his colleague, and they both saw a hint of nervousness and anticipation in each other's eyes.

A Japanese company coming to China is certainly not here for tourism.

In fact, since failing to win the bid for the SE project, Ishii Akira's company has suddenly become difficult, not to mention the costs of developing the DEMO that still need to be paid.

Their company doesn't have a single project that can generate revenue.

All I have is a demo.

It's no exaggeration to say that if they couldn't sell this demo or attract investment, Akira Ishii's entrepreneurial journey might have come to an end.

The reason Ishii Akira traveled all the way to China to attend the exhibition was because they had heard that the Chinese gaming industry was full of "foolish and rich people."

But when he arrived in China, Ishii Akira discovered that while there were many people, not everyone was stupid.

After three days of exhibition, there were quite a few people looking at the demos, but almost every Chinese company that came to ask about their projects asked the same question: "Has any successful game already used this technology?"
Well, how should I put this?

Basically, it was like a recent college graduate going for an interview, only to find that all companies required work experience...
Three days down.

The initial lofty ambitions have vanished, leaving only exhaustion.

The Chu Chen who appeared before Ishii Akira at this moment was simply an "angel." More importantly, during their conversation, Ishii Akira remembered the other party's identity.

This is the owner of Starry Night Games!

Starry Night Games is even more famous in Japan than in China.
After all, Japan doesn't have Tencent, so the internet...
So when he heard the other person ask this question, Ishii Akio suppressed his excitement and tried his best to make his voice sound calm.

"Yes! Although our project is still in the demo stage, as you can see, it is already quite complete."

"If applied to games, it can greatly shorten the development cycle of similar games."

"If you or Starry Sky Games have any related projects, we are very interested, and... we can offer you the best possible discount on licensing fees!"

He was afraid that Chu Chen would refuse, so he even took the initiative to lower his stance.

However, Chu Chen's answer was completely unexpected.

“I am not interested in licensing your engine at the moment.”

Ishii Akira's heart sank to the bottom in an instant, and the hope that had just ignited on his face quickly faded away.

"What interests me are you guys who made this engine."

"I want to acquire your company."

Ishii Akira suddenly raised his head, his face full of disbelief.

"what?"

Ishii Akira opened his mouth wide, wondering if there was something wrong with his hearing, and subconsciously asked back.

"No, not acquiring the engine? You mean, acquiring our entire company!?"

"Correct."

Chu Chen gave an affirmative answer, then stood up, took out a business card from his pocket, gently placed it on the table, and pushed it in front of Shi Jingxiao.

"This is not the place to talk. Make this call tomorrow, or any time that is convenient for you."

“We can find a quiet place to talk about the specific details.”

After saying that, Chu Chen didn't linger any longer. He nodded to them and turned to leave.

All that remained were three Japanese people standing in front of that small booth, seemingly frozen in place, their minds completely blank.

(End of this chapter)