After calming himself down, Pei Qian clicked on the promotional CG for Black Ink and Clouds.
The entire CG was in the traditional Chinese ink style.
A bit of ink spread on the light yellow rice paper and turned into black clouds. As it gathered and dispersed, a ferocious-looking beast was born. It circled in the sky, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws. Dark clouds enveloped the ancient city of China in the distance …
At the same time, an old, low voice-over sounded.
"According to legend, in ancient times, there was an evil beast formed from resentment in China. It was called a Nightmare. There are rumors that the Nightmare Beast can weave dreams and feed on human fear, hatred, despair, resentment, and other negative emotions. It grows stronger day by day … "
The game's CG began to change with the voice-over. The Nightmare Beast hid behind the dark clouds in the sky. Countless strange-looking monsters spawned and brought disaster to the world.
A scholar realized that he was trapped in a dream. He held a painting in his left hand and a brush and ink in his right. He began to use the power of his calligraphy and painting to defeat the monsters in the dream. He wanted to find the Nightmare Beast hidden in the dream. The Nightmare Beast was also continuously producing evil demons to stop the scholar.
Countless evil demons charged at the scholar. The scholar waved his brush and drew a huge rock on the painting. Then, with a gentle wave of his brush, the huge rock immediately appeared above the monsters and smashed them into wisps of black smoke.
The monsters also raised the falling rocks and huge trees on the cliff and threw them at the scholar. However, the scholar waved his brush and wiped these foreign objects out of thin air.
The brush and ink flew everywhere, and the black fog dispersed. The scholar and the monster began to fight intensely. The voice-over also explained the background of the entire game …
This promotional CG was actually not complicated. It was not the kind of CG that could be seen from every hair and pore. It could not even be compared to the promotional video for the GPL Spring Competition.
However, the beauty of this video was that it perfectly matched the game itself.
Black Ink and Clouds was a horizontal 2D game. It was not a 3A masterpiece with a lot of investment. What's more, it was a Chinese-style game. It was related to calligraphy and painting elements. Therefore, it was perfect to use such an ink-style CG to display it.
Not only could it highlight the characteristics of the game itself, but it could also reduce the difficulty of production.
In the updated demo, even though there were only two small stages in the game and the game only lasted about ten minutes, the core gameplay of the game was displayed.
Based on the traditional 2D horizontal mode of operation, there were movement, jump, double jump, attack, defense, and other operations. In addition, there were also calligraphy and painting skills.
After clicking on the Draw skill, the game screen entered a stagnant state. Time passed at an extremely slow speed. Players could choose to erase the elements in the game or create items by drawing specific shapes. For example, drawing circles could create boulders, drawing lines could create lightning, and so on.
However, this also meant that the game could not be played with a controller. It could only be played with a mouse or a touch screen.
The game developers were obviously planning to use the computer and mobile platforms as the main battlefields. They promised that the players would first go to the computer version, then the mobile version.
Logically speaking, the mobile version would be more comfortable to play, but after all, there were more independent players in the computer version. It would be easier to develop, so it was better to play the computer version first.
…
Pei Qian's expression was solemn as if he was facing a formidable enemy after watching the promotional video and the trial portion of the game.
No wonder so many people were pre-ordering. It seemed to be very reliable!
The local independent gamers were one of the groups that supported domestically-produced games the most. Black Ink and Clouds was a Chinese-style game. It also combined traditional cultural elements such as calligraphy and painting with the game. Obviously, it was even more likable.
However … could the game's DEMO alone have such a good publicity effect?
That didn't make sense, right?
Pei Qian clicked on the promotional video of the Destitution Plan on the game's details page with some confusion.
…
At the beginning of the video, it was in a dark room.
A child in shorts and a white singlet was hiding under the blanket, reading a game magazine under the dim light of the flashlight.
Suddenly, footsteps came from outside the door. The child quickly turned off the flashlight and lay down. He hid the magazine under the pillow and pretended to be asleep.
The camera changed, and it became daytime.
His parents were not at home. The child carefully turned on the computer. The screen was a domestically-produced standalone game with a thick mosaic style.
The child put the game magazine aside and started playing seriously according to the strategy.
Suddenly, the clock on the wall began to chime. The child quickly turned off his computer and covered his head with a wet towel. Then, he quickly returned to his room, opened his school bag, and took out his homework. Finally, he put away the wet towel.
After a while, the anti-theft door opened. The child's father returned. He touched the computer monitor and looked at the child who was studying seriously. Then, he turned around and busied himself with his own matters.
The scene changed again. The primary school student became a high school student. He might have changed actors but he could still recognize that he was the same person through his clothes.
In the smoky internet cafe, some of his peers were playing various online games. He was the only one who was still playing domestically-produced standalone games. However, it was still the same game he played in primary school. There were no changes.
Someone mocked him for playing such an old game. He only smiled and did not say anything.
The scene changed again. The high school student became an adult. It was already late at night. In the dilapidated and messy rented apartment, he faced the computer screen and seriously used the game editor to create the game.
The messy room and piles of junk all hinted at his poor state. However, he still worked enthusiastically in front of the computer.
However, during the day, he was woken up by loud knocking on the door.
After returning to his room with the bill for rent and utilities, he was silent for a long time.
Finally, he reluctantly looked at the computer screen, closed the unfinished game project in the game editor, and opened his resume.
After sending his resume to a few companies, he habitually moved the mouse to the game editor. However, after hesitating again and again, he finally did not click on it.
The scene changed. He opened his wardrobe and flipped to a suit that he had not worn for a while. Then, he stood in front of the mirror and looked at himself.
In front of the camera, he was dressed neatly in a suit. His hair was neat and tidy, but his eyes were listless. He just stared blankly at the image in the mirror.
In the mirror, he was still wearing a white vest, shorts, and flip-flops. His hair was messy, but his face was full of smiles, and his eyes were full of hope.
The two images formed a sharp contrast, hinting that he still wanted to be an independent game designer.
Finally, he sighed softly, picked up the printed resume on the table, and prepared to go out to look for a job.
However, at that moment, he realized that there was a golden invitation letter in the mailbox at the door. The words' Destitution Plan 'were written on it.
A hopeful smile finally appeared on his face.
…
The promotional video ended there. It did not introduce the Destitution Plan in detail, but it had already pointed out the meaning of the Destitution Plan.
As for the plot at the end of the video, most people could imagine it: this independent game designer had gotten the money and could continue to persevere in his dream. He would complete the unfinished game project and contribute to the development of domestically-produced independent games.
The game's promotional video was filmed and edited in a very short period of time.
There were many old buildings in the capital that were filled with the style of the last century. Many video game shops in the alleys also kept game consoles and computers with big heads. Coupled with the filter of the era, it directly evoked many people's childhood memories.
The content of the video was also full of details.
In the era when home computers had just become popular, domestically-produced standalone games were also developing rapidly.
The newsstand next to the school would sell many game magazines. At that time, many students who did not have much time to play games could buy a game magazine and read it several times. Even if they had never played it before and could not buy the games inside, they would still read it with relish.
While their parents had not returned home from work, they would secretly turn on their computers to play games. However, they had to remember to use a wet towel to cool down in advance. Otherwise, their parents would be exposed the moment they touched it. They would have to welcome a violent storm.
With the rise of internet cafes, online games also developed rapidly. However, domestically-produced standalone games were on the decline at that time.
The protagonist in the video liked domestically-produced standalone games, but there was a gap in domestically-produced standalone games. While other students were playing online games, he was still stubbornly playing domestically-produced standalone games from a few years ago.
In the end, he became an independent game designer, wanting to fulfill his dream. However, because he was living a hard life, he had no choice but to make a difficult choice between his ideals and reality …
The content resonated strongly with the people who watched the video!
After searching online for a while, Pei Qian instantly understood why Black Ink and Clouds had gained so much attention in such a short period of time.
Its DEMO was very fun and likable. The more important reason was that the promotional video of Black Ink and Clouds and the Destitution Plan had been uploaded to Aili Island's website and caused a huge response!
On Aili Island's website and a few other video platforms, the promotional video of the Destitution Plan had already been pushed to the top of the gaming area. What's more, its popularity was still rising.
Many independent gamers who were lurking in the bullet screen comments and comments section were blown up.
"This video made me cry! Isn't this child me? However, I've already given up on the path of creating games … "
"The first thing Mom and Dad did when they got home from work was to touch their computers. This is too real! It's actually unified across the country? "
"Sigh, that scene in the internet cafe was really sad. Those of us who like standalone games have become outliers. When I was young, domestically-produced standalone games were still flourishing. In the end, only online games were left on the market. Sigh. "
"Actually, it's still alright. Now that things have calmed down a little, there are more independent games."
"Compared to overseas, we're still far from it!"
"Is this' Destitution Plan 'specially funding domestically-produced independent games? That's really meritorious! On account of this, I have to support it! "
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