Bao Xu paused for a moment before continuing, "In fighting games, there are some technical terms, such as' Resurrection ',' Selection ', and so on. They often don't emphasize the same thing, but rather a very broad and general concept. The strength of a player is determined by their mastery of these abilities and their flexibility in using them."
"For example, the concept of Revival is difficult to translate. It generally refers to all the actions you do before attacking or defending against an opponent's attack. Be it walking back and forth, restraining, or tricking, they can all be seen as part of Revival.
"In other words, the goal of Revival is to do everything possible to turn the situation in your favor and put the opponent in a disadvantageous position.
"If you really can't understand it, you can roughly understand it as the ability to prepare for an attack that includes awareness and control. It's just like in a MOBA game, you use frequent small movements to lure the enemy to a terrain that is advantageous to you."
"Therefore, although action-type games like Repent and be Saved suffer, their growth curve is more scientific. At most, it's more difficult to get started. Once you get on the right track, you will gradually get used to it.
"Fighting games, on the other hand, are different. Their growth curve is very low, and their growth is very slow. What's more, the upper limit is unknown. During this process, it's very difficult to accurately assess how much stronger you have become. It's very likely that when you meet a big shot, you will start to doubt your life.
"Compared to action-type games, which can make you stronger by memorizing, fighting games are not just about memorizing, practicing your reaction speed, and making your moves. You also need a lot of targeted practice. Most of the time, you might even need to use your muscle memory to break down each action into individual frames.
"If we compare it based on data, many players who play games like Repent and be Saved can become familiar with it within thirty hours. They can become big shots within a hundred hours. If we add more time, they will only be able to beat the game quickly or kill the boss instantly.
"However, fighting games are different. It's normal to play a hundred hours, but you might still be beaten up after a thousand hours. There's no limit to three thousand hours or five thousand hours."
Yu Fei could not help but be stunned. "Five thousand hours …"
He did a simple calculation.
If he played it every day for an average of five hours, he would need to play it for three years to play it for five thousand hours.
If he played it for an average of one hour a day, he would need more than ten years.
Just thinking about it was frightening.
Although there was such a thing as the "Ten Thousand Hour Law", that was only when discussing some very complicated and profound professional fields.
Games were different. Even if they managed to squeeze out a lot of time, they would eventually get bored and lose their fun. After all, it didn't have the depth of a professional field.
The key was that after playing many games for hundreds of hours, the improvement that could be gained from practicing would be negligible.
Perhaps he had reached his limit, or perhaps the game's mechanics didn't support him anymore.
MOBA games and shooting games also had the feature of being able to be replayed. However, even if it was a shooting game, one would still be able to get a shot or two if they encountered a big shot.
If it was a fighting game, it would be difficult for him to even move when he encountered a real boss.
Bao Xu continued, "That's why there's a very crucial problem here. Fighting games must have a certain legacy."
"Those true big shots have played thousands of hours in all fighting games. That's because all fighting games actually have certain similarities. Their original experience can be used in new games, and they can quickly get used to it."
"This group of people are the most loyal to fighting games, and at the same time, they are the most picky."
"If a fighting game conflicts with their existing experience, they will think that the game is not good and won't play it at all."
"Of course, from another perspective, this also saves us some time in the design process. After knowing that certain traditions must be continued, we don't need to worry about them anymore."
"For example, the basic combat system and a series of operations such as rubbing moves must not be changed."
Yu Fei nodded. He was even more aware of the mistake in his original thinking.
For fighting game players, rubbing moves had already become muscle memory and an instinctive reaction. In a flustered state during a battle, rubbing moves within a few tenths of a second was a skill that every fighting game player had to master.
If these things that they had painstakingly practiced did not exist in Ghost General 2, why would people play it?
Therefore, since Ghost General 2 was a fighting game, it could not be forcefully changed in terms of the basic combat system. It could only be modified on the basis of traditional classic fighting games. Moreover, any changes had to be made with great care.
The character's appearance, movements, and moves could all be changed, but the core must not be changed. Even the operation method could not be changed.
The reason why games were strictly divided into action games, horizontal games, and fighting games was because each game had very clear limitations and could not be confused.
Yu Fei thought about it and said, "Therefore, Ghost General 2 has to continue the operation of fighting games. The joystick must take into account movement, jumping, and rubbing moves. It cannot become the operation method of an action game."
Bao Xu nodded. "That's right. That would harm the fun of fighting games, and it can no longer be called a fighting game."
As he spoke, he took a game controller from Yu Fei's table.
"There are four areas on the front of a normal game controller. They are the left and right joysticks, the left function area (up, down, left, and right), and the right function area (ABXY). However, in a fighting game, there are only two areas that are used. "
"The right thumb is placed in ABXY, and the right joystick is not used at all."
"The left thumb can be used in either the cross button or the left joystick, depending on the person's preference. However, no matter which one is used, the other one is not needed."
"The controllers for fighting games on the market have all the unnecessary joysticks removed, and two more buttons are added in the ABXY area."
"The fighting game controller in the hand has a floating cross button that is convenient for rubbing moves. On the other hand, the controllers that are similar to large game consoles have a huge joystick on the left. The principle is the same, but the choice depends on the person's preference. "
"However, regardless of the difference in form, they have one thing in common – the player's hand can only take care of two areas. Moreover, the functions of these two areas are very fixed."
Bao Xu was very detailed, and Yu Fei understood it very quickly.
The pace of fighting games was too fast, so there was no time to do anything else.
In action games, the player could let their left thumb leave the left joystick to press the cross button to use items, or they could let their right thumb stop pressing the attack button or the roll button to move the right joystick to adjust the view.
Although it would affect the original movement, losing a few tenths of a second wouldn't have any fatal consequences, and it was fine to take the time to do it in the middle of a battle.
But fighting games were different, because a few tenths of a second of mistake could be caught by the opponent and cause huge losses, so the player couldn't take the time to press other buttons.
Of course, the layout of fighting games' controllers appeared much earlier than the controllers of current consoles.
Therefore, fighting games' controls and controller styles were a state of their own, and it was difficult to be completely compatible with the current mainstream controllers.
You could use the mainstream controllers to simulate the controls of fighting games, but you couldn't follow the layout of the mainstream controllers to design the fighting game's playstyle.
Yu Fei suddenly realized a problem: "Doesn't that mean that I can only move back and forth on a flat surface? I've actually become a two-dimensional creature? "
The cross button in fighting games was to move forward and backward, as well as jump and squat.
That way, there was no button responsible for moving to the left or right hand side, which meant moving horizontally inside and outside the screen.
Of course, this wouldn't be a big problem if it was any other 2D fighting game. However, Boss Pei said that Ghost General 2 was a pure 3D game, and the soldiers could come from all directions!
If one wanted to hit the soldiers on the side, how would one do it?
Bao Xu said, "Actually, some fighting games have already solved this problem. The solution is to press the up button twice, and the effect is to move to the left, which means to move horizontally inside the screen."
"Not only would it allow the character to dodge the opponent's attack, but it would also cause the entire screen to rotate horizontally."
"Similarly, pressing the down button twice means to move to the right, which means to move horizontally outside the screen, and the camera would rotate accordingly."
"We can take it a step further. We can continue to move horizontally by double-clicking and holding, or we can use a combination of keys to complete the horizontal movement."
This method of operation was rather scientific. In fighting games, clicking, double-clicking, and holding were different operations. For example, pressing and holding the button to the right was to move, and double-clicking and holding it was to sprint.
Yu Fei nodded in realization. "I see. That means that the operation itself can be done, and there is a ready-made design plan."
"However, it is still based on the operating system of fighting games. Compared to other games, especially action games, it is a completely different system."
"If that's the case, there isn't much that we can design for the most basic combat system. The main thing is to continue the classic gameplay of fighting games, and we can only tinker with some small details."
"Hmm … after saying so much, we have gained something. We have eliminated many impossible directions."
"However, this is just demining. We still have no idea how to do it."
Bao Xu smiled and explained, "Of course, this is equivalent to laying a foundation. Designing a game is not something that can be done in a short period of time. We have to weigh the pros and cons repeatedly and think about the details."
"Just like building a building, this is a holistic project. If any part is not handled properly, the entire project could be affected. In serious cases, we might have to start all over again."
"Now that the foundation has been laid, the next step is to perfect all the content bit by bit."
"As for the specific method, it is actually very simple. We have to start from Boss Pei's requirements and analyze it bit by bit. First, we have to determine a prototype, and then slowly fill in the details."
"I can't help you too much in this process. You have to have sufficient time to think independently."
Yu Fei thought for a moment. "In that case, I have some ideas."
"However, the combat system is still very difficult. Even if we want to follow other games, the characters, skills, and actions have to be based on Ghost General's settings. We can't copy that."
Bao Xu said, "That's simple. Since you're not good at it, find someone who is good at it.
"There are many fighting game champions in the country. Can't we just spend some money to hire them as action directors?"
"Boss Pei asked you to be in charge of the design of this game, but he definitely did not ask you to fight to the death with the content. After all, this requires thousands of hours of gaming experience.
"You should change your direction and dig out the differences between yourself and others. You should find a breakthrough from Boss Pei's words and slowly complete the design of the entire game."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
