Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 328 Personal Traffic Channels
With the launch of "Floating Dreams", the entire domestic game industry, especially the field focusing on MMORPGs and martial arts themes, quickly became lively.

It's important to know that the test for "Floating Dreams" was not a limited test, but a completely open test.

Open beta testing puts a lot of pressure on the servers, but it also has a wider reach in terms of word-of-mouth. Especially when the game's core quality is decent, playing a demo is definitely a plus.

However, in this first round of promotional coverage, the things that initially trended on social media and were discussed by players were actually quite unexpected.

It's not an event system, not a battle system, and not a companion system.

Instead, it refers to Chang'an, the main city showcased in the game.

In China, the main cities in most online games are quite "empty". Running from one side to the other, you'll only find a handful of functional NPCs.

There was absolutely no one there.

Moreover, because domestic "art design" pursues a "grand sense", it often enlarges the proportion of buildings, making the city appear very large while reducing the pressure on game modeling and scene creation.

Therefore, the proportions of the main city buildings in most domestic MMORPG online games are quite strange.

A single floor tile is big enough for several people to stand on, and a cabinet is three or four meters high and two or three meters wide.

The lantern-shaped vase is half a person's height, the lotus flower is nearly 2 meters tall and half a meter in diameter, and you could lie down and sleep on the stairs without any problem. These bizarre proportions are also a basic way to judge the "dedication" of a game development team.

(Illustrative diagram of the world of Jade Dynasty)

Because this kind of design is nothing short of blatant "perfunctory".

In 17, most domestically produced MMORPGs on the market had this problem.

Many players who are used to this will naturally find it very novel to see cities with normal proportions in "Floating Dreams".

It's not just about the scale; it's also because the cities in "Floating Dreams" look much more vibrant compared to the main cities in other games.

From the moment the player leaves the inn to the moment they sit down at a roadside stall, the entire animation features over a hundred NPCs. As a 2.5D game, having over a hundred NPCs doesn't actually affect the game's performance much.

But it can make the whole town look very lively.

The streets weren't crowded, but people were coming and going—eating, buying groceries, chatting, old people sitting by the roadside smoking pipes, children running around, and young people squatting on the ground playing cricket fighting.

Making these things is not as complicated as you might imagine.

However, few people in the industry do this.

Of course, this is also based on reality. After all, it's an online game. There's no point in putting in so many NPCs, and you can make money easily, so why care about immersion?
But this also gave Chu Chen an opportunity.

When everyone else is doing something, and you do it, it naturally creates a sense of novelty.

Moreover, as the first main city after the DEMO was launched, the city was naturally the first thing many media outlets and players experienced, so it was the first thing they noticed.

Many media outlets have added labels such as "江湖气" (a sense of chivalry and江湖江湖义气, a kind of ...) and "生活气" (a sense of life and everyday life) to their reports.

With the promotion from these media outlets, streamers from various platforms have also begun to join in.

Those on the front lines of "traffic sensing" will quickly discover that this novelty isn't just appealing to gamers, but also a powerful "hook" for those watching streamers.

~~~
Later in the day.

Starry Sky Games Studio.

"Dear viewers, see you next time for the live stream!! And don't forget to participate in tomorrow's Starry Night Games platform event!!"

Chu Chen gestured to his assistant to turn off the live streaming app and let out a long sigh of relief.

On the screen, the live stream chat was still scrolling wildly.

Even after Chu Chen logged off, the enthusiastic viewers showed no sign of leaving. After all, if you were to ask who had the highest profile in the entire Starry Sky Games, it would undoubtedly be Chu Chen, the boss.

If we're being really strict, Chu Chen didn't actually appear in front of players very often over the past year. He basically only participated in game-related programs once a month, occasionally recorded debunking videos, and occasionally did live streams.

Of these programs, this one has the highest viewership.

It's a spin-off program from the game.

From the very beginning, when Chu Chen himself started the show by saying "Don't do challenges," it has now evolved into something akin to an "internet variety show."

The production team of the show has gradually transformed from a makeshift operation into a professional team, and the content has been continuously optimized and upgraded.

In addition to the hit show "Starry Sky! Don't Do the Challenge," the game currently in development also includes "Starry Sky Tap Player Alliance," where voice actors introduce the new game and match with players to play together.

These two programs not only have domestic versions, but also local versions in Japan and South Korea.

Apart from South Korea.

The show is quite popular both domestically and in Japan.

On the one hand, domestically...

Starry Sky has its own reserve of voice actors. A large number of voice actors take turns appearing on the show. Those with good performances and a sense of variety are gradually selected to become regular guests.

This group, along with Chu Chen, became the core of the show's ratings.

In Japan, there's an abundance of established and popular voice actors, as well as well-established program production teams.

Apart from people.

Although Chu Chen is no longer directly involved in the production of the show, the ideas he provides are quite good.

Moreover, because the video views have remained at a relatively high level, the Starry Night Video Studio in both China and Japan has gradually expanded like a snowball.

In China, they even poached many real television station staff and began to try out some rather large-scale projects.

For example, last month, Starry Sky organized a program called "Starry Sky Water Showdown!"

At the time, we invited a bunch of domestic cosplayers and dance content creators from Bilibili.

The appeal of this show is obvious to anyone who knows.

They use the gimmick of having girls cosplay in character swimsuits, but all they're really interested in is the swimsuits and those long, white legs.

Although the project itself was just two groups of girls playing games and competing, and it was their first time filming, the whole program looked quite "simple".

However, the video has a very high number of views.

Recently, Chu Chen has been planning a new program.

He plans to bring together the lead designers from all the games in the Star Project and hold a "Super Designer Face-to-Face" event, or rather, an event to "torture" the designers.

Of course, besides frequently appearing in videos, Chu Chen's popularity is also related to his regular browsing of Weibo, Tieba, Bilibili, and Twitter, and his replying to comments.

In order to "build" itself into a "traffic channel"

Chu Chen specifically hired someone whose job was to collect the latest news topics from several major player gathering places in StarCraft, besides China, such as South Korea, Japan, the United States, and Europe.

Then Chu Chen would reply when he had time, and occasionally share some photos.

(End of this chapter)