Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 59 Comic Walkthrough?

Chiba, Japan

Even during the day, the rooms in Sano Yujun's apartment were still brightly lit.

Sano Yujun put down his graphics tablet and stretched his stiff neck.

He glanced at the time in the lower right corner of the computer screen again before saving the drawing he had just completed and opening the "Final Front" icon on his computer.

"Ten minutes left..."

Although it was only ten minutes, Sano Yujun felt that those ten minutes were really too hard to endure.

I picked up my phone and opened the LINE chat group again.

Sano Yujun casually sent a message.

"Why isn't it open yet..."

The moment this sentence was sent, the already lively atmosphere in the group became even more lively.

"You're still playing games? Yesterday's comic hasn't even been posted yet!!!"

"Yes, yes!"

"There are still ten minutes left, right? I think Falcon, you can draw for another ten minutes."

Seeing this string of messages urging for more updates, Sano Yujun couldn't help but smile.

The comics they were referring to were none other than his works.

Since discovering "Final Battlefront" on Pixiv two months ago, Sano Yujun has quickly become addicted to the game, but in the process of becoming addicted...

Like many other Japanese players, he also encountered some problems.

For example, language barriers.

The language barrier often leads to Japanese players having a lag in understanding team compositions compared to the current version. In addition, the community is small, so Japanese players who play on the Chinese server usually have their own LINE groups for communication.

Even so, the all-Chinese interface is still troublesome to play.

Especially during the process of attracting new users, sometimes, once you've recruited a new user, it can take up to half an hour just to teach them how to play the game.

Although there are guides available, it's actually better not to provide them. Once a guide is provided, many newcomers give up immediately upon seeing the dense text.

Unfortunately, recharging in the Chinese version is particularly troublesome for Japanese players.

The best and fastest way to acquire resources is to attract new users.

So, after his manga submission was rejected by the magazine once again, Sano Yujun suddenly had an idea in his disappointment: to create a strategy guide for "Final Battlefront" in the form of a manga.

New players often don't understand what these buttons mean, right?

Then I'll draw it and you'll know, right?

Soon after, his first guide to the "Final Front" manga was published, and he unhesitatingly chose his favorite tactical doll, AR15, as the guiding character for the manga.

Of course, it's a chibi (Q version) character.

Since AR15 does not appear in the main storyline of "Final Battlefront" and has no personal storyline, he only has some stories in the background setting.

Simply put, AR15 is a somewhat "lazy" girl who likes to lie down when she has nothing to do, but is actually quite reliable when something happens.

Therefore, Sano Yujun made some derivative works based on this basic image.

And so, very quickly.

A tiny, slightly arrogant, yet obliged-to-work chibi version of AR15 has appeared.

In terms of character design, this little AR15 has a slightly "tsundere" personality. She's the kind of person who often says, "You bunch of newbies are such a pain," but still carefully explains the strategy.

The comic then unfolds from the perspective of this chibi AR15, starting with the buttons in the UI of "Final Front" to provide beginners with some information.

She would poke at the icons on the screen with her little hands in a huff, or simply plop down on a huge button and begin to "reluctantly" explain what the buttons did.

With the adorable AR15's interactive features, the all-Chinese interface of *Final Battlefront*, which had once posed a challenge even for Yujun Sano, seemed to become more approachable and endearing, no longer so daunting. Later, Yujun Sano experienced a surge of inspiration.

They even add some "mini-storylines" to some of the UI interfaces.

For example, when explaining the "warehouse" interface, the chibi AR15 is overwhelmed by mountains of various props and equipment, with only her big, bright eyes showing, accompanied by her complaints.

"Hey! Commander! Do you never tidy up your warehouse?! If you don't clean it up soon, I'm going to call Springfield to deal with you!"

"The organization interface is here!"

The chibi-style commander appears, points to the organize button on the UI, and then presses the button, neatly arranging all the scattered weapons and equipment.

"Whoa!! This is magic!?"

"Ahem, this isn't magic, it's just the power of the developers... It's so convenient, so incredibly convenient."

When introducing the "Team Formation" feature, the chibi AR15 stands with its hands on its hips, trying to puff out its little chest, with silhouettes of several chibi teammates with the same miniature art style following behind.

"Hehe, how about it? My team is super strong! Look here, look here! If there's a star icon in the bottom left corner of the team, it means it's the main force."

After saying this, AR15 glanced at the interface and showed a surprised expression.

"Σ(д|||)ノノ What?! I'm not in the main squad?!"

"Why is the main force squad only rated 95?! Commander! You idiot!!"

After saying this, AR15 turned and fled.

The commander's chibi version quickly grabbed an AR15 rifle from the warehouse, shouting, "AR15, whatever, I love it the most!!"

Although this reference from CLANNAD is a bit old.

However, the inclusion of these anime references also adds a unique kind of fun to this strategy comic.

In short, every button, every function.

Yujun Sano strives to present the story in the most intuitive, humorous, and accurate way through the "performance" and commentary of the Q-version AR15.

Thanks to the decent art style, Yujun Sano's understanding of the game, and the inherent attributes of the strategy guide itself.

His comic-style strategy guide gained considerable attention as soon as it was released.

Over the past two months, he has been updating this comic on and off, and of course, he posts the guides on the amazing Pixiv (Pornhub).
He posts pictures when others post them.

The images that others post are usable, and the images that he posts are also usable.

The usage is just a little different.

His manga strategy guide has been gaining popularity over the past two months, and more and more Japanese players have become hooked because of it.

His fame is growing.

This has created a peculiar phenomenon on Pornhub: amidst a sea of ​​"beautiful pictures" and "erotic pictures," occasionally a random strategy comic will dominate the day's trending topics.

His fanbase has grown from a few hundred to tens of thousands, including not only Japanese players but also many Chinese players who come to admire his comic strategy guides.

Even recently, Hoshino Japan approached him, offering him a very generous incentive for derivative works and a contract for continued creative work.

After signing the contract, they also reposted his work on the official website of "Final Battlefront" and uploaded the official Chinese version as well.

Sano Yujun never expected that his long-held dream of creating manga would be realized by chance because of a game.

Because Xingchen only performs simple content review and does not interfere with his creative process at all.

So, Sano Yujun was quite excited.

The launch of the Japanese server for "Final Front" and the sudden appearance of gameplay updates in the logs were all valuable resources for him, both in terms of creating "strategy guides".

Both the game itself and the game were things he couldn't wait to see.

He was so excited last night that he barely slept, and he was squatting there early this morning, waiting to go online today.

(End of this chapter)