Game development begins with destroying Girls' Frontline.

Therefore, in a very short time,

Videos related to "Drinking Simulator" have been flooding in like a spring.

It came along with this game.

There are also the rules for the "Spark Game Creation Competition".

There are actually many game development competitions around the world right now.

Most competitions use 24 hours, 48 ​​hours, or 72 hours as the competition time.

These competitions are somewhat similar in focus to competitive sports.

To be as fair as possible, within a certain timeframe, using prescribed themes, create a game that is as fun as possible.

It is undeniable.

This kind of competition does have some merit, but for Spark, this kind of competitive competition is not what Spark needs.

Spark actually requires manufacturers with a certain level of commercial production capabilities to participate.

The finished product from the competition can be sold online immediately, even if you sell it for 6 yuan.

It can also enrich the game library, right?

However, Spark isn't entirely without consideration for entertainment value. After all, a game competition needs a lot of gimmicks to attract viewers, in addition to money, i.e. prize money.

It also attracts a larger number of participants.

Therefore, in addition to the main competition, Spark also held a "rendering competition" that no one had done before. This competition involved Spark providing a fixed white model and having the developers render a fixed shot and characters themselves.

After its emergence in the previous life, this competition quickly went beyond its original niche, evolving from a contest initiated by a blogger into an official competition.

It's definitely sensational enough.

Following this idea, Lin Li also created a "programming competition" with the theme of "Let the little people jump over this high wall".

A copywriting contest titled "What Did They Say?", using short, rendered story clips as the subject.

An art scene competition themed "Starry Sky"

An art character contest themed "White Hair with Twin Tail Ponytails"

Chapter 453 Pasya and Zhou Xun

渝州

Pathea Technologies

Zhou Xun is currently planning a regular version update for Planet Explorers.

In Zhou Xun's view, updating single-player games is relatively easy.

Because once a single-player game is completed, its development is essentially finished.

The remaining task is often to gather player feedback from the community and then update features and optimize patches accordingly.

Therefore, although Zhou Xun has now been promoted to product manager of "Planet Explorers", he is actually quite important in the company.

At the very least, he's invisible.

However, the one who made this choice was not someone else, nor the company, but Zhou Xun himself.

Last year, in 2017, Planet Explorers was launched on Steam and topped the sales charts in its first week, bringing Pathea Games its first pot of gold.

This also put Pathea Technologies on a fast track.

After making a profit, the boss did not rest on his past success, but instead rapidly expanded the number of people in the entire studio.

In this expansion.

Zhou Xun was supposed to join the project team and become a senior project manager.

But Zhou Xun did not.

He chose to stay with Planet Explorers.

The reason is simple: he's a hardcore science fiction fan; he loves science fiction games and wants to make one.

however.

Li An, the owner of Pathea Technology, chose a different path: simulation management.

This path isn't entirely wrong; following it, Pathea Games ultimately created "My Time at Portia."

but.

Zhou Xun had absolutely no interest in those kinds of simulation management games.

For game development, the creative team's passion for the subject matter can greatly influence the final product of the game.

Zhou Xun was well aware of this, so after talking with his boss, he chose to stay on the Planet Explorers project to maintain and update the content.

But deep down...

He has always had a dream of making science fiction games.

"Phew, all done. This week's priority is to add this feature first."

Zhou Xun breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to close his laptop and leave work.

Suddenly a phone call came in.

"Song Shiyu? Why is he calling me?"

Zhou Xun was familiar with the name of the caller.

After all, Song Shiyu has been doing very well in the small circle of science fiction game developers in China ever since he got involved with Xinghuo.

His WeChat Moments are either filled with posts about his work progress, seemingly complaining but actually showing off.

Or they're posting job advertisements.

Especially around the time of the "The Wandering Earth" Gamescom exhibition in Cologne, wow, my WeChat Moments was like a chat room; after work, I'd refresh it and see at least twenty posts...

At that time, Zhou Xun also received a call from Song Shiyu, inviting him to join Xinghuo.

However, Zhou Xun was busy at that time, trying to persuade his boss to make the company's next work a true science fiction project, so he did not agree.

"Hey? Brother Song? What's up?"

After the call was answered, there was absolutely no small talk.

Song Shiyu got straight to the point.

"Hey, I have some good news for you. Haven't you always wanted to make your own sci-fi games? Now's your chance."

Song Shiyu still admired Zhou Xun.

After all, the fact that Planet Explorers managed to top the Steam charts without being released domestically or having much promotion shows that the development team has some talent.

Zhou Xun, unaware of these things, asked directly.

"what chance?"

The opportunity that Song Shiyu mentioned was naturally the Spark Game Competition.

As a game competition with no historical background.

At the same time, it is a competition that pursues immediate combat effectiveness.

Spark immediately unleashed its first major move, spending money like crazy.

[Top 10 finishers will share a base prize pool of 1 million RMB]

[100% of the sales revenue in the first month goes to the development team]

In addition to revenue, anyone who reaches the finals will receive a new game development fund of up to 1000 million yuan (interest-free).

Even if you don't make it to the finals, you still have a chance to receive a development fund of up to 500 million (interest-free) just by passing the preliminary round.

Three conditions.

Each one of them is like a blow to the heart of a game developer.

First, there is a base bonus of 100 million yuan, although in some people's eyes, 100 million yuan is just a small goal.

But it can be used in any competition.

This number is enough to make one's heart race and face flush.

Not to mention that making it into the top ten also secured them a 1000 million yuan interest-free loan.

It's important to understand that in business, interest-free loans are practically no different from giving money away.

These conditions.

Let alone indie games and small game companies, even some medium-sized game studios are very interested.

"Holy crap, is this for real?! A hundred million?! A bonus like that?! Are you guys crazy?"

This was Zhou Xun's first reaction after hearing it.

His second reaction was to open the laptop he had just closed halfway, grab the phone in one hand, and search for "Spark Games Competition" with the other.

A quick search reveals that the front page of Xinghuo's official website features the golden text: "One hundred million RMB is waiting for you to claim."

Zhou Xun couldn't help but swallow.

That's certainly an enticing number.

"Why would I lie to you? Did you even open the official website? Go check the registration details. This 100 million is after-tax, you know. How about that?"

Song Shiyu's tone was exactly the same as when they were chatting normally.

Zhou Xun felt uneasy listening to this.

However, Song Shiyu, having been accustomed to working at Xinghuo, was not particularly sensitive to such large-scale projects.

He did attend the meeting where President Lin formulated the rules for the Spark Games Competition, and he knew that the reason Spark was spending so much real money was because Spark did not yet have absolute influence on a global scale.

In short, the Spark platform alone cannot achieve the effect of commanding widespread support; it requires financial investment.

Fortunately.

Xinghuo is not short of money at present.

"Wow... more than 90 studios have already signed up!? That's way too many..."

After the initial excitement, Zhou Xun carefully looked at the number of applicants, and his enthusiasm instantly dropped by more than half.

"You've already clicked on the official website? That's quite proactive."

Song Shiyu first asked a question, then smiled and gave pointers.

"Don't just look at the number of applicants, click to register and see the specific rules."

Following Song Shiyu's words, Zhou Xun clicked on the registration page.

The format of the Spark Games Competition is very interesting.

It is divided into two stages.

He wasn't interested in the individual competition or the main competition; he looked directly at the rules for the main competition.

In the main competition rules.

This time, from registration to the selection of the champion...

The competition will last for three months.

At the same time, just like boxing matches have weight classes.

This competition is also divided into three levels.

These are starlight, moonlight, and sunlight, terms taken from the ranked matches in "Dimensional Battlefield," which actually correspond to three different directions.

Chapter 454 Lin Li Throws Money Away

First up is the Starlight Group, whose game is a themed competition.

In other words, the competition organizing committee sets specific themes and topics, and participants have three months to create a demo based on the theme to participate in the competition.

Moonlight Group is an independent game group, targeting independent game studios with fewer than 20 people. At this level, there are no restrictions on the genre.