Chapter 1303: Boss Pei’s Design Philosophy

Yan Qi asked very urgently. “Big Sister Li, how should we analyze Boss Pei’s inspiration?”

Li Yada paused for a moment and said, “Actually, my friend can’t be 100% sure about this. It’s just some speculation. I felt that it made sense after hearing it from her. You can verify it yourself.”

Yan Qi nodded immediately. “Of course.”

It was hearsay after all. It was inevitable that there would be mistakes and omissions after hearing it second hand.

What’s more, no one knew what Boss Pei was thinking.

Even the designer who worked with Boss Pei could only guess Boss Pei’s true intentions. There would definitely be some deviation as long as it was a speculation.

Yan Qi would definitely not believe everything that Li Yada said. What Li Yada said made sense. He would listen to it and perhaps be inspired. What she said made no sense. He would just not listen. Yan Qi would not lose out.

Li Yada typed the disclaimer and then said, “Actually, if we want to come up with Boss Pei’s inspiration, we have to start with the few basic requirements that Boss Pei gave us.”

“Obviously, Boss Pei derived these requirements from his inspiration. These are the cornerstone of the game design. Then, he confirmed the ultimate form of the game.”

“The core of this ultimate form has been completely locked by Boss Pei. Only the external expression can change to a certain extent. This change actually does not affect the essence of the game.”

“After Boss Pei decided on the general direction, he only needed to check on the work from time to time. Once he confirmed that the game was not too far away, there would be no problem.”

“This is the basic process for Tengda to develop games.”

“Of course, it’s difficult to reverse engineer Boss Pei’s inspiration from these basic conditions. There are few sources of inspiration after all, and there are many basic conditions. It’s very difficult for us to determine which basic condition was directly derived from the source of inspiration and which was supplemented by Boss Pei based on the final form of the game.”

“This is also the difficulty that has been troubling my friend for a long time.”

Yan Qi nodded in agreement.

That was exactly what he was confused about.

According to the prediction of Boss Pei’s design process, he should first have a few inspiration sources, then derive the basic requirements of the game based on the inspiration source, and then design the true form of the game.

However, there was another step after that. He would add a few basic requirements based on the game’s true form. That was because these basic requirements were for the designers to see. They had to ensure that the game would not deviate.

For example, if Boss Pei wanted to build a building, he would first set up a few pillars on the ground. Then, he would think of what the building would look like after it was completed based on these pillars.

However, if there were only these few pillars, other designers might not be able to meet Boss Pei’s requirements. Thus, Boss Pei built a few additional pillars based on the state of the building after it was completed.

The two batches of pillars added together could completely lock the appearance of the entire building. Other designers could build Boss Pei’s building based on these pillars.

What confused Yan Qi now was how to distinguish the two batches of pillars.

He had to identify which were Boss Pei’s inspiration and which were supplemented later.

It was just like when he was building the house. The walls looked similar, but some were load-bearing walls that could not be dismantled. Some were not load-bearing walls that could be removed.

If he made a mistake and treated the non-bearing heavy wall as a load-bearing wall or knocked the load-bearing wall off, the consequences would be very serious.

Li Yada said, “Actually, this is very difficult, but it’s also very simple.”

“It would be indistinguishable if there was only one design plan.”

“However, if we can go through every game that Boss Pei designed and put all of his requirements together, compare and analyze them, we would naturally be able to extract their commonality.”

Yan Qi could not help but feel enlightened.

Yes! That made sense!

It would not do if there was only one game.

However, if he could come up with the requests that Boss Pei had made when designing all the games, he would be able to summarize the requests and screen them out. Then, he would naturally be able to find the right answers!

The more samples there were, the closer the deduction would be to the truth!

Although he had not come to a conclusion, Yan Qi was already quite convinced by Li Yada. He felt that she was indeed a well-hidden talent. It was almost as if she had opened a door to a new world for him.

Li Yada continued speaking. “There were too many games involved, and my friend didn’t explain all of them to me. However, she told me some of the rules that she had come up with.

Yan Qi nodded. This was very reasonable. After all, Boss Pei had worked on so many games before. Even if Li Yada’s friend was a designer and had thought through all the games, he would definitely not have told Li Yada the details.

The key was still the final outcome.

Li Yada answered, “All in all, Boss Pei’s decision to create games had its own merits. Some could not be referenced or learnt, but some could be referenced and reflected the game design rules.

“First of all, Boss Pei likes to create games that he had never done before. Even if they are of the same genre, you have to choose a completely different entry point.”

“Amongst the many types of games, Boss Pei preferred unpopular niche games. He tried his best to make niche games that suited the taste of the public, thereby breaking out of the circle.”

“Secondly, Boss Pei likes to go against the popular competitions in the market and choose unexpected methods.”

“However, this is different. The prerequisite is that we cannot go against the core fun and objective laws of the game and achieve a ‘on the surface, it looks bizarre but it is reasonable to analyze it carefully’ effect.”

“On top of that, Boss Pei thinks that we should not follow the gamers’ habits and ideas on the surface. Instead, we have to work hard to find deeper demands from them.

“In other words, working hard to find the same gameplay can bring players deeper pleasure.”

“Lastly, in terms of packaging, Boss Pei would choose the background story that would best represent traditional Chinese culture and be more representative. He would also add some philosophical thoughts that would resonate with domestic players.”

“Simply put, Boss Pei is very good at doing the exact opposite of what’s popular in the market.

“On the surface, it looks like it is going in the opposite direction of players’ taste, but in fact, it has broken the stereotype that players are tired of playing. It uses another kind of deeper pleasure to guide players and stand out among the games.”

Yan Qi listened as he quickly recorded it on his computer.

These contents sounded relatively empty, more like pure theory content. It was actually very difficult to understand if there was no corresponding case to make annotations.

Yan Qi could not understand it very deeply yet, but he could slowly understand it based on Tengda’s games.

After recording everything down, Yan Qi quickly scanned the rules and seemed to have realized something. “Therefore, my previous thinking was completely wrong.”

“I think Repent and be Saved is perfect in domestically-produced action games. In fact, I’m looking at the problem with a rigid and still eye.”

“What I saw was actually what Boss Pei saw two years ago.”

“If Boss Pei decided to create an action game now, the game he created would definitely be very different from Repent and be Saved.”

“If I want the game to succeed, I have to learn from Boss Pei and think from his perspective.”

Li Yada nodded in satisfaction. “That’s right, that’s the logic.”

Yan Qi’s previous thoughts were completely overturned. He frowned and began to think seriously.

Repent and be Saved was indeed not outdated until now, but he could not create a game that imitated Repent and be Saved.

That was because Boss Pei’s games could only succeed because they were ahead of time.

If Yan Qi wanted to succeed, he had to learn from Boss Pei and design a game that was ahead of time.

It had to be very different from Repent and be Saved’s style.

Yan Qi knew very well that he would not be able to achieve Boss Pei’s level. The action games he made would probably not be able to reach Repent and be Saved’s level.

However, there was a saying that one had to try his best. If he worked hard for 100 points, he might end up with 90 points. However, if he worked hard for 60 points, he might end up failing.

Thus, Yan Qi had to work towards Boss Pei’s direction. That way, even if he could not become popular, he could at least earn money and lay a solid foundation for future explosive games.

“Then… Big Sister Li, how should we do the opposite?”

“Repent and be Saved is indeed the opposite of the previous domestically-produced action games. It forcefully increased the difficulty. If I were to do the opposite again and reduce the difficulty, wouldn’t I be back?”

“It doesn’t seem to work either.”

Li Yada smiled. “Of course not.”

“The so-called ‘thinking in reverse’ is not a straight line, but a spiral rise process. Thinking in reverse is not to let you walk back, but to continue pursuing higher development after consolidating the existing rules.”

“As for how to spiral upwards, that’s the question you have to think about. I can’t help you.”

Actually, Li Yada could design it, but she did not want to interfere too much.

It was better to teach a man how to fish than to teach a man how to fish. She had already imparted the methodology to Yan Qi. Whether the game could be made or how far it would go depended on Yan Qi himself.

Yan Qi quickly said, “Thank you so much!”

“If not for you, Big Sister Li, I might still be thinking about creating a game to imitate Repent and be Saved. I would probably have failed in the end.”

“We might not have a clue about the new game now but the general direction is much clearer!”

“I really don’t know how to thank you for sharing such precious content with me!”

Li Yada smiled. “You don’t have to thank me. You can thank Boss Pei if you want to.”

“Making more and more outstanding domestically-produced games is Boss Pei’s long-cherished wish and what Boss Pei has been pushing for.”

“The fact that you could create an outstanding domestic action game is a form of repayment in itself.”

“In my opinion, you don’t lack anything. What you lack is the right method, confidence, and courage.”

“Now, you have also grasped the method. As long as you maintain confidence and courage, there will definitely be no problem!”