Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 190 is simple, straightforward, and a little bit satisfying!
At the end of the animation, the camera pulls back from inside Chaldea, through the wind and snow, and finally freezes on a sea of ​​fire.

That was the burning city of Fuyuki, the crimson flames illuminating the night sky, and raindrops streaking across the lens, each drop clearly visible, carrying a faint glow.

This was followed by a series of subtitles.

[A certain time in 2004]

【Fuyuki City】

Then, the protagonist arrives directly in Fuyuki City, where there is a PowerPoint-style cutscene. However, before the PowerPoint presentation has even finished, the second animation appears.

This second animation segment is a martial arts scene.

The protagonist stands on the street, and in the dark sky, a red light and shadow rush towards the player.

The adorable researcher Mash from just now has transformed into a Heroic Spirit, clearing out the surrounding enemies while raising her shield to block the attack from an unknown Heroic Spirit in the distance.

This concludes the prologue animation.

The game has officially entered the combat control screen, and a mission reminder appears in the upper left corner of the player's screen.

[Investigating what happened in Fuyuki City]

It has been about fifteen minutes since I entered the game.

The animation alone is 9 minutes long, plus the cutscenes.

In fifteen minutes, the presentation clearly and logically explained several key points that players need to know.

Who is the player: The player is the "Chief Master" of the Chaldea organization.

What players need to do: Go back to Fuyuki City in 04 and save the world.
Who are the player's teammates? The adorable shield girl, Mash, who was saved by the protagonist during the fire and then saved the protagonist again shortly after arriving in Fuyuki City.

This prologue, with its extensive animation, looks like a blockbuster movie. Not only is it easy to understand, but this unique narrative style of "Fate" quickly drew Li Mingzhe in.

"Huh?? That's it?"

"The plot doesn't seem that complicated, does it? It's easy to understand at a glance."

When entering the game.

Li Mingzhe was actually a little worried because when he first learned about FATE, people always said that it had a complicated setting and was a work for fans, but now it seems okay.
Anyway, after playing for fifteen minutes, Li Mingzhe not only didn't misunderstand it, but also became interested.

After the initial setup was completed, the protagonist made his appearance, and then we arrived in Fuyuki City.

If the initial animation piqued Li Mingzhe's curiosity about the story of "FGO", then the actual gameplay that followed was a real eye-opener for him.

He had actually seen some articles introducing FGO before, which showed the original battle scenes and UI of FGO and praised it highly.
However, in Li Mingzhe's opinion, the original FGO's visuals...
How to put it? There's a kind of beauty that "doesn't belong" to this era, which is why he didn't initially plan to play "FGO".

However, after actually playing it, he discovered that the remake and the original were completely different things. The remake's combat scenes not only kept up with the current game.

The game even has a "next-generation" feel due to its engine and art style iterations.

Take the background of the battle scene in front of us as an example.

The scene before me is a burning street. This background is no longer the original rudimentary 3D scene; the details are handled quite well.

The nearby ground was a broken asphalt road, and the streetlights were twisted in the flames, emitting a crackling sound of electricity. In the distance, buildings were billowing thick smoke and flames soaring into the sky, turning the entire night sky a dim yellow.

It felt as if sparks and ash were floating in the air, and you could even feel the visual distortion caused by the scorching air currents.

It utilizes a partial 2D-HD engine enhancement, resulting in relatively realistic lighting, depth of field, and particle effects throughout the scene. These lighting effects, combined with the interaction between the battle scenes and 2D characters, create a truly immersive experience.
Mashu, a girl wearing purple armor, wields a huge cross shield. Although the character still uses the original 2D illustration, the animation technique is achieved by adding motion points through joints and other parts.

However, after this technology is used for 2D-HD rendering, complete re-rendering of character portraits, and input of more animation effects, the resulting texture is completely different.

For example, Mash's character model, even in idle mode, exhibits subtle breathing movements, and the edges of her armor, thanks to a diffuse layer, reflect the shimmering light of the surrounding fire. The shadows on her shield subtly shift with the flickering flames in the distance.

Opposite her were three swaying skeletons, their stark white skeletons burning with eerie blue flames that also burned dynamically, casting a strange blue halo over the ground beneath their feet.

It can be said that this scene truly unleashes the full potential of the Unity 3D engine, and the addition of 2D characters creates a very unique visual experience.

Some people ask, is it really necessary for a turn-based card game to have such elaborate battle scenes?

The answer is, absolutely!
This is especially true for Chinese players, who have a "bad habit" that the better the graphics in a game, the higher their skill level.

This would imply that manufacturers have greater pricing power.

Why were so many small developers criticized for copying the "Mixed Pool" model in the past? Besides the inherent problems with the Mixed Pool itself, another reason was that players felt the game's quality couldn't justify the price.

You're "not worth" this price, yet you're selling it for such a high price. If you don't get criticized, who will?

This is why Chu Chen insisted on resetting FGO, since it would be difficult to sustain FGO's long-term operation solely with the support of Japanese FGO fans.

We need to attract more new players, especially new players from China, to join the game.

The best way to get Chinese anime fans hooked is through the mascot Mashu's long, black-stockinged legs—not the game's graphics or presentation.

First impressions are very important.

At least for Li Mingzhe, seeing this battle scene still gave him the motivation to continue playing.

"Please give your instructions, senior!"

Mashu's clear voice rang in my ears, and the system began the beginner's tutorial.

Although it was called a tutorial, it was actually just some very basic operations, such as choosing three red cards from the five cards that popped up to get extra damage. Following the instructions, he randomly chose three Mash command cards.

"Drink!"

With a shout, Mashu moved.

The movement was not complicated. He took a step forward and then swung his giant shield with a dexterity that was completely disproportionate to its size, slamming it heavily into the skeleton soldier at the front.

"boom!"

The dull thud was accompanied by the crisp sound of bones cracking. The skeleton soldier was stunned for a moment, then struck again, its HP bar was emptied, and its entire body shattered into a pile of broken bones with a "crash".

Mashu's movements didn't falter at all, nor did she have the awkward pre-attack animation of whipping a corpse. With a smooth turn of her body, she swung her second and third blows at another skeleton soldier beside her.

The entire attack was fluid and powerful, full of speed and precision.

"Holy crap, the impact of the attacks..."

Li Mingzhe couldn't help but swear.

This was completely different from the soft, turn-based combat he had in mind. Starry Sky Games not only made the combat "look" more gorgeous, but they completely remade the entire combat presentation.

In the following rounds, Li Mingzhe tried different card combinations with great interest.

During the Arts attack, you can clearly see ethereal particles flowing into Mash's NP gauge, and the growth of the NP gauge has a very strong visual feedback.

The Quick attack is swift and fierce, and each hit will produce several critical stars, which fly into the counter in the upper right corner with a crisp and pleasant sound.

Although Li Mingzhe didn't even glance at the explanation of NP and the use of critical stars, he felt that he had completely grasped the core of the system.

Simple, intuitive, and kind of satisfying!
(End of this chapter)