Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 365 Torture Planner
Games that achieve a high level of completion during the "gray-scale testing" phase will proceed to the next stage, which is the pre-launch promotion and marketing phase.

Among the various channels used for early promotion was "The Torture Plan".

Like a certain show called "Roast Conference" which is actually a "whitewashing conference," the ultimate purpose of "Torture the Planner" is to use Chu Chen's roasts to promote these new games.

Therefore, the first highlight of this show is the new game.

but
If it's just an advertisement disguised as a吐槽 (tu cao, a form of online commentary/criticism), players won't be very interested in the show. Therefore, besides watching new games, it's another core highlight of the show.

It was Chu Chen's sharp criticism.

This is a highlight that Chu Chen had already shown potential for becoming a hit in his previous live streams. However, in this program, the吐槽 (tu cao, a form of online commentary/criticism) changed from Chu Chen's one-sided吐槽 while playing games to a face-to-face吐槽 session offline.

Many people assume that Chu Chen would be gentler when they are face-to-face with him offline.

It can be seen in the first episode.

Chu Chen's "gentleness" was genuine; he didn't use a single swear word, and his descriptions were entirely objective and humorous. Yet, the damage he caused was considerable.

It perfectly illustrates the saying, "Lies don't hurt, but the truth does."

This sharp and witty style kept many players entertained, with smiles never leaving their faces throughout the entire show.

When analyzing why the program "Torture Planner" became popular, many media outlets cite some "similar" political questioning programs as reasons for their analysis.

It's the kind of program where TV stations invite officials from relevant government departments to the studio and bombard viewers with the most pressing and pressing issues concerning people's livelihoods.

The biggest draw of these kinds of programs is the awkward, sweaty appearance of the originally "pretentious" official officials.

To some extent, players also have this mentality towards certain "producers".

Normally, these "producers" mess things up and nobody can control them. When they get criticized by players, they either play dead or act all wronged, as if the players who criticize them are the bad guys, which is infuriating.

In "Torture the Planner", Chu Chen, as the boss of Starry Sky, exudes a strong sense of authority over the boss and producer of Starry Sky Game Alliance, both in terms of seniority and as an investor.

"I think you get investments too easily."

"At this rate, I'm afraid I'll only get the basic score in next month's assessment."

"Aren't you afraid that if you do this, all the players will leave next month? If it were me, I definitely wouldn't be able to play."

Although these jokes have a clear element of showmanship, that's what the audience loves to see.

The first step to eliminating barriers is communication.

To put it bluntly, Chu Chen's show "Torture the Planner" is a bridge he built between players and planners, but this bridge is full of broken glass.

As long as you can get through Chu Chen's "roasting", you'll get the traffic.

The only problem is that when you get hit, it really hurts.
"Mr. Chen, who are on today's script?"

A producer wearing black-rimmed glasses looked somewhat guilty.

His game had just launched a new gray-scale test version, and while the objective reviews were positive, there were already quite a few complaints in the player community regarding the numerical settings. He had received these complaints a few days ago, but hadn't had the motivation to address them, since it was a gray-scale test.
But when I heard today that I had to record a torture plan, I felt a little guilty.

"President Chu, this is too fast! We just recorded the first episode last week, and it just aired. Are we already recording the second episode? Isn't the recording schedule a bit too tight?"

Clearly, there was more than one person with a guilty conscience.

This is actually a typical example of "wishful thinking." Often, do you think game developers know that their games have problems? The answer is yes.

Just like when students are doing their homework, don't you know what you don't know?

Why not learn what you don't know? Why not correct the problems you have? Wouldn't learning be better for you?
The answer to this question is quite subtle.

Everyone knows that appearing on this show will significantly boost the game's popularity and reservations, but the baking process, the taste... you'll only know if you try it.

"After the first episode aired last week, the players responded very enthusiastically. Many people left messages in the background saying that our program updates too slowly, and one episode a month is simply not enough."

"Players are our bread and butter, and we have to take their demands seriously. In addition, with more and more games in our alliance, there are also more projects that need exposure. So starting this month, the 'Torture the Planner' program will be changed to a bi-monthly publication, so that more games can be featured. Are you all happy?"

Happy? Well, I really am happy.
After all, it's another channel for promotion, so why does the smile on their face look so fake?
~~~
The recording venue for the "Torture Planner" program was a medium-sized studio on the third floor of Xingchen, which was originally a large presentation hall.

The third and fourth floors are combined, with a ceiling height of nearly 6 meters, and are very spacious.

After removing the seats and interior trim, the space is more than enough for an "amateur" recording crew like Xingchen.

The main setting for the show consists of a main stage and a semi-circular "audience seating area".

There were two sofas on the main stage, and around the stage were the seats for the various game producers.

Bai Ruilin was also sitting below.

"The Torture Planner" does have a script, but for the sake of authenticity, the script only outlines the program's flow and does not specify who will be on stage.

Every single one of us here could be called up on stage.

Bai Ruilin secretly glanced around. Hai Mao and Yu Wan were sitting in the first row, their expressions relatively calm. Some of the other studio managers were chugging mineral water with their heads down.

Some were writing and drawing in their notebooks, seemingly checking themselves and thinking about what questions they would be asked if they were actually selected, and how to answer them.

This feeling is amazing.

Bai Ruilin recalled the days when she was in the magnesium industry.

Back then, when problems arose with a project, meetings turned into long blame-shifting sessions. The producer blamed the lead planner, the lead planner blamed the executives, the executives blamed the programmers, the programmers blamed the artists, and in the end, everyone blamed the marketing team for not understanding the users.

After going through all that, the problem was still there, but everyone had absolved themselves of responsibility.

Whether the meeting was held or not, the excuse for shifting blame has already been figured out. If we're talking about pressure, the pressure in this situation is even greater than when I was in a meeting at Wanmei.
No, not even some, it's a lot of pressure.

Even though Bai Ruilin's own game was still in the early stages of development and it was impossible for him to win, sitting here, he couldn't help but wonder if there was something wrong with him.
(End of this chapter)