Tokyo Video Game Tycoon.

Character progression in the game is very limited; each level up only increases abilities by a very small margin.

When facing many formidable enemies, this improvement can only increase the probability of making mistakes, but it cannot solve the fundamental weakness of the character itself.

Honestly, everyone in the 10th Development Department had a hard time understanding what was so enjoyable about this kind of game for players.

This is such a heart-wrenching game.

You see, Monster Hunter is moving towards a lighter and simpler design these days, and the overall difficulty of the game is actually decreasing.

Monster Hunter World further reduced the overall difficulty of Monster Hunter by a level, and the reward was that Monster Hunter World's overall sales increased by millions compared to previous titles, making it the best-selling game in the Monster Hunter series.

But this Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice game has once again drastically increased the overall difficulty of the game.

Can't understand.

The development team really can't understand it.

Jiang Chuanlin actually felt a lot of sympathy for the doubts raised by the core members below.

"Making player progression a source of enjoyment? But wouldn't this kind of player-torture gameplay drive players away from the game from the start? If players give up early on, how can it become a source of enjoyment later on?"

Seeing their questioning expressions, Jiang Chuanlin said, "These are the core gameplay ideas proposed by the president. I know you have many doubts, but the president has already said that once the half-finished product of this game is actually made, we will understand what makes this game so fun."

"Hmm, to be honest, I actually find the president's suggestion to add more fragmented narratives in the game quite interesting. Piecing together the general outline of the entire game world through continuous exploration is a godsend for a completionist like me."

"Oh, by the way, I also really like the map design with enough depth proposed by the president. Although it's driving our map designers crazy, this kind of perfectly balanced map depth is really appealing to me."

"Stop talking! Just mentioning this map design is driving me crazy!"

Beside him, the key member of the team responsible for leading the overall map design looked pained.

If we were to pinpoint the most frustrating aspects of Sekiro, it would probably be two:

One issue was that Zhu Youxing had extremely exaggerated requirements for the sound and movement of swords clashing, which drove the motion capture team almost crazy.

The other team is responsible for map design.

The entire Sekiro map is designed like a nested doll, with each part connected to the next.

This was a completely new map design that they had never encountered before.

This type of map design is actually quite common in Metroidvania games.

It's simply a matter of obtaining key items or unlocking mechanisms in places visited earlier, and then returning to the previous map for new exploration.

The short stretch of road at the very beginning of the game actually conceals the essential paths to several key plot points in the later stages of the game.

In other words, the depth of the game map design should be tied to the storyline from the very beginning.

Because of the 2D side-scrolling perspective, the map depth design in Metroidvania games is not actually that complicated.

However, when this kind of map depth design is applied to 3D games, the difficulty of map design increases exponentially.

No wonder map designers are going crazy.

Zhu Youxing provided the overall world view setting and gameplay design, but he could hardly remember all the details of the game map, so he had to ask a dedicated design team to design a completely new large map.

It is necessary to take into account both the gameplay itself and the gradual progression of the game from the inside out.

"I'm sorry, I touched on a sore spot for you. But I think if you could make a breakthrough in map design, the game's maps would definitely be eye-catching, and perhaps that's one of the game's appealing aspects?"

After being comforted, the person in charge of map design felt a little better.

But this still couldn't stop his resentment towards the map design itself.

At this moment, Jiang Chuanlin asked, "Alright, I will summarize and study the difficulties and problems you raised. Now let's summarize the game development progress."

Chapter 904 Progress

904

"The modeling is fine. The modeling of all the characters is basically finished. After all, the graphics requirements for this game are not too high, so the development is not difficult."

"The program is fine. The game is of medium size, and the progress is about 70%. We have developed quite a few large-scale games, so developing a medium-sized game like this is naturally not a problem. The convenient programming features that come with the Unreal Engine itself can solve at least half of the program problems."

"Half of the sound effects team is still out gathering material, but overall progress is quite fast. I estimate that the sound effects should be fully completed within three months."

"The motion capture team's overall progress is about the same. The most difficult part is the details of the character's movements, which the president has put forward. I have to say that the president is really a detail maniac. Some parts could have been omitted according to the president's industrial game development theory, but this time the president specifically asked for this aspect to be strengthened. Does this conflict with the president's industrial game development theory?"

Jiang Chuanlin was taking notes when he heard the head of the motion capture team raise a question. He looked up and said, "Regarding this, the president has actually said before that industrialized game development is not about saving manpower, but about maximizing the development of game creativity. The manpower saved in game engines, motion capture systems, etc., is not essentially about saving money, but about giving game developers more time to think about how to add more highlights to a game. It seems that you still haven't learned the essence of industrialized game development that the president taught you. I think you should go back and watch our internal teaching videos carefully."

The head of the motion capture team immediately showed a slightly embarrassed expression.

The head of this motion capture team was actually someone who joined the game development team halfway through his career; his previous job was as an action director for a tokusatsu drama series at a television station.

Later, he had unique insights into action design and was recruited by Rinto Egawa.

He himself isn't really a game enthusiast; he just happens to be quite skilled at it.

He felt a little embarrassed after hearing what Jiang Chuanlin said.

However, Jiang Chuanlin did not make things too difficult for him, but simply glossed over it and continued to tally the development progress of others.

"The design of the original artwork and the modeling were done simultaneously. They were basically finished on their side, and we were basically finished on our side as well. Now we are just working with the modeling team to enhance some details."

"The details of the main storyline and side quests will have to wait a while, since there are many more endings in this game than before, and some of them are interconnected. The current progress is about 30%, but everything is proceeding in an orderly manner."

Jiang Chuanlin said, "Then we can speed up the pace a bit. Your plot design is a bit slow. If your story is still not comprehensive after the modeling and motion capture are completed, the game development may not be able to continue. Also, there is the issue of voice acting. Without your lines, the voice acting work cannot proceed either."

"I understand, I will speed things up."

Jiang Chuanlin nodded and said, "Okay, let's move on to the next one."

"The editing of promotional materials and trailer videos is going on simultaneously, so there's no need to worry about that. We're already working with the marketing and PR team. However, we still hope to produce a few boss battles with actual gameplay demonstrations soon, so that our promotions will have a clearer direction."

After listening, Jiang Chuanlin looked at the game programming and modeling team and said, "You guys work well together, I won't say anything more."

The rest of the report is basically finished.

Jiang Chuanlin roughly estimated that, based on the overall game development progress, it should be around 60% complete. If there are no serious bugs in the game program, it should be able to be released by the end of this year without any problems.

Then it will be a competition between their own Tsushima Island and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. It will be a test of which will prevail: their own Sekiro or the Ghost of Tsushima, developed by another team.

However, deep down, Rin Egawa was actually very confident in the Sekiro that his team had developed.

Compared to fully-fledged, standard industrial games like Ghost of Tsushima, Sekiro is a unique product.

The more unconventional something is, the more likely it is to attract core players.

Core gamers are the group most willing to spend money.

Therefore, as long as you put your heart into it, it is still possible to achieve extraordinary success.

However, just like some people on his team had concerns, he was also worried that the game's difficulty might be a bit too high.

Although it can only be considered a medium-sized game in terms of scale, the manpower and funds invested are also considerable. Sekiro's unique artistic atmosphere is also one of the characteristics of this game. For this reason, he also went out to find external help, looking for top-notch art masters to participate in the artistic creation.

If it weren't for the endorsement of the Japanese government, these master artists probably wouldn't have even considered this collaboration request.

Oh, by the way, they were actually quite interested in the world-building they proposed for Sekiro, although the fictional history didn't satisfy them.

However, the Japanese-style background included was very appealing to them, so they were willing to contribute their artistic creations.

Also, the money that Youxing Electronic Entertainment gave them was quite a lot.

Perhaps, in Egawa Rinto's opinion, the last point is the most important for these art masters.

Modern art masters may seem to have a high social standing, but their daily lives are not particularly affluent. It's rare for someone to invite them with so much money, so they really can't refuse.

Of course, in the end, the money was well spent.

These master artists used their skills to create a complete set of Sekiro artworks, which greatly pleased the Japanese government. They have even begun to study whether a large-scale art exhibition based on the Sekiro game can be held.

This is a great way to enhance the game's style and the Japanese government's ability to spread culture. Moreover, the Japanese government is willing to provide full support, including venues and funding. Yusei Electronics only needs to provide artwork, which Yusei Electronics will naturally accept.

Now, let's get back to the game's difficulty itself.

He remembered the president telling him that once a small section of the game's levels was completed, they should experience it themselves to understand the charm of Sekiro.

It was at this time that Takeyusei arrived at the Tenth Development Department, and Egawa Rinto happened to report all the data he had compiled to Takeyusei.

Chapter 905 Must Be Kept Secret

905

The overall development progress of Sekiro is quite optimistic. It will definitely be released by the end of the year if nothing unexpected happens. He also checked the current state of Sekiro. The first level has been basically completed, but the game character models and scenes need to be more refined.

This requires simply piling on time to complete, which is where the industrialization of games can be reflected.

Based on this schedule, Takeyusei felt that Sekiro should have completed a demo version of the game in August or September, which would be a good time to discuss with the Japanese government about jointly promoting the game.

Since the Japanese government is willing to do the publicity work for free, how could Takeyusei not take advantage of it? He can also save on publicity costs, which is quite good.

"By the way, what's today's date?"

After reviewing the development progress of Sekiro, Takeyusei suddenly asked Rinto Egawa a question that had nothing to do with the game.

"Uh... April 13th, what happened to the president?"

April 13th?

"President, are you estimating the exact release date of our game? I think it should be around Christmas."

Zhu Youxing shook his head and said, "No, it's not the game's release date. I just remembered something else."

"What is it?"

"Is Japan going to win the bid for the Olympics?"

"Bidding for the Olympics?" Jiang Chuanlin was stunned for a moment, then suddenly remembered the news he had seen on TV, and replied uncertainly, "It seems that there is such a thing."

Jiang Chuanlin couldn't quite remember either, because lately he had been thinking about how to make the game better. Even when he was off work, he would often think about how to make Sekiro even more perfect.

The other game development teams were all working hard and looked incredibly dedicated, and he didn't want to fall behind.

For him, Japan's bid for the Olympics was not as important as his work, and he had little interest in sports.

"This might also be a good publicity opportunity, don't you think?"

"A good publicity opportunity? Does the president mean... to promote our Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice together with the Olympics?"

“That’s definitely not it.” Zhu Youxing shook his head with a smile. “I just suddenly remembered this. It has nothing to do with Sekiro.”

"Oh, so, President, are you planning to capitalize on this hype and develop an Olympic Games-themed game?"