Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 490 Beating Up Foreigners

While Frank was conquering Red Alert, Lin Yu also began his journey in Heroes of Might and Magic V.

Unlike those "veterans" in their 30s and 40s, Lin Yu is only a sophomore this year. Before today, he had never even played any Heroes of Might and Magic games.

However, Lin Yu did know about Heroes of Might and Magic.

I learned about it through online novels; there was a popular type of online novel called "Heroes of Might and Magic" at that time.

It basically borrows the setting of Heroes of Might and Magic and uses the skin of an online game novel.

So when he saw that the Starry Sky platform had "revived" these old games and added a matchmaking mode, he downloaded the games immediately.

However, he didn't play Heroes of Might and Magic III. Instead, he bought Heroes of Might and Magic V for $9.99, mainly because the town scenes on the Heroes of Might and Magic V page looked too beautiful.

Moreover, compared to Heroes of Might and Magic III, Heroes of Might and Magic V, as a 3D game, has significantly more refined graphics.

Enter the game and click "Matchup".

"Matching you with an opponent..."

The match was successful very quickly.

Seeing the American flag fluttering in front of his opponent's ID, Lin Yu's lips curled into an uncontrollable smile.

"Holy crap, Lao Li!! He's really good at beating foreigners!! This game!!!"

Yes, Lin Yu's enthusiasm for matchmaking isn't entirely due to the Heroes of Might and Magic IP; it's also about the genuinely "hot" topic of playing against foreigners, a topic that's become all too familiar to Chinese internet streamers.

Lin Yu typed a line of text in the chat box.

"Hello?"

The other end replied quickly with a simple "Hi".

Afterwards, Lin Yu chatted for a few more minutes in college English and quickly became excited.

Why would a Chinese player be so excited just from being matched with a foreigner?
This is a question that Western gamers may never understand.

For them, the online world is inherently "flat." Playing games with a German or a Canadian is essentially the same, except for the potential language barrier.

But in China, the situation is completely different.

For a long time, for various reasons, China's internet ecosystem was more like a huge, self-sufficient local area network. Outsiders couldn't easily get in, and those inside didn't go out much.

This environment fosters a unique psychological state.

There's a psychological term called the "forbidden fruit effect." The more you forbid something, the more people want to try it.

For the vast majority of ordinary Chinese gamers, the world outside the Great Firewall is a huge "forbidden fruit." They are filled with the most primal and simple curiosity about everything outside the firewall.

This curiosity is not about likes or dislikes, but only about the unknown.

Therefore, when a game can provide a window for players to glimpse the world outside the wall, and even allow them to interact with players outside the wall in real combat, this attraction is fatal.

There was a time when, in the Chinese gaming community, one of the unspoken rules for judging whether a game was "awesome" was simply asking, "Can this game beat foreigners?"

Yes? Then this game has the foundation to become a hit.

No? Then the appeal would drop by at least one level.

The reason why games like DayZ and H1Z1 can create a craze in China is not because the games themselves are fun, but because they provide a stage for Chinese players to "expedite" overseas servers in groups.

Countless players tirelessly chase after foreigners in the game, shouting various slogans in broken "Chinglish" and pinyin. That chaotic, absurd, yet strangely nationalistic experience constitutes an irreplaceable kind of fun. It's a release of pent-up emotions after a long period of suppression.

Chu Chen had been consciously using this point for a long time.

From foreign streamers during the "Final Front" era to the multilingual comment section introduced by the Starry Sky Games platform, Chinese players can see the opinions of foreign players on the same game, and their own comments can also be seen by foreign players.

This time, the so-called "classic game remake" with cross-border matchmaking is just another way of exploiting this "selling point".

This strategy might not make a ripple in the European and American markets.

They might not even appear in Villefort's analysis list in the aftermath, which is not their arrogance, but a kind of alienation.

They cannot comprehend this cultural psychology and collective sentiment deeply rooted in the upbringing of a generation.

They would never have imagined that a simple "cross-border matchmaking" could be more attractive than the launch discount of a AAA game.

Of course, this "curiosity dividend" generated by information barriers and the suppression of the times also has an expiration date.

In a few years, as society gradually opens up, the selling point generated by this curiosity and repression will naturally disappear. However, for now, it remains a tried-and-true "hot remedy."

~~~
The following morning, as the first rays of sunlight shone through the gaps in the blinds onto the faces of countless players who were still hungover or fast asleep after an all-night gaming session, the Chinese internet world had already taken on a new look.

The first to be ignited were major gaming forums.

【Red Alert Battle Report】Beat the Japanese to a pulp!!!

Posts like these are everywhere, and most of them are battle reports, with the occasional chat screenshot.

"This guy kept typing from the start, and even after I killed him, he kept typing. Can anyone translate this for me?"

These chat screenshots often spark a lot of discussion.

Thanks to the global brand recognition of the Starry Sky Games platform, more than 500 million people participated and claimed the game by the end of the first day of this event.

Most of these players have downloaded and played some older games.

It's not just Chinese players who haven't played the online modes of these older games; many overseas players haven't either.

Under such circumstances, the chances of Chinese players encountering foreigners are very high.

Due to latency considerations, games like "Red Alert" use Asian servers, so the probability of being matched with players from Japan and South Korea is naturally higher, taking into account the relationship between players from these three countries.

It's not surprising that a post like this could go viral.

In addition, major media outlets have been closely following current events since yesterday.

From the beginning, focusing on player votes to determine which four games would be selected for the first batch of remasters, to today's "global multiplayer" feature...

It's like chasing after a cow's rear end to gnaw on its meat.

This morning, almost all the headlines in various media outlets were similar.

GamerSky: "Starry Sky's 'open conspiracy'! Using a bowl of leftover rice, they stir-fried a Manchu Han Imperial Feast!"

1717 Games: "My youth is back! 'Red Alert' and 'Heroes of Might and Magic' launch global servers. Which country's players did you fight against last night?"

Huaxia Esports: "A Double Victory of Technology and Passion! In-Depth Analysis of the Star Platform's 'Global Matchmaking' Function"

(End of this chapter)