Chapter 43: This is Pei's Assigned Essay

"So, I believe this is a test given to us by Mr. Pei, a thematic essay," said Bao Xu.

"Mr. Pei is best at achieving big results with little resources," he continued. "This was the case with ' Desert Bus' and 'Ghost General'!"

"Therefore, we also need to try to achieve the best results with the least resources!"

"I have considered several aspects, such as characters, scenes, and plot transitions, which must all be saved as much as possible. Otherwise, the plot mode we create will certainly be uninteresting. We must use our resources effectively!"

Bao Xu was confident.

Huang Sibo nodded frequently and agreed.

"In fact, once we have determined that these resources must be saved as much as possible, we have very few options," Bao Xu continued.

"First, in terms of characters, the game uses a first-person perspective. This way, we can save the main character's character model and only need two arms and two legs."

"The game can choose the zombie theme, with two types of enemies: zombies and mercenaries. Both can use generic templates, with minor modifications to ensure diverse types of monsters."

"Okay," Huang Sibo said. "I understand. That's a good way. However, with only zombies and mercenaries, there's no way to show any plot. We need supporting characters."

"I've already figured out the supporting character," said Bao Xu. "We only need one, a little girl."

Bao Xu looked at the printout with scribbles and said, "To save resources, I plan to set this little girl as unable to speak, so we don't have to make dialogue and voiceovers. Throughout the game, only some commonly used combat language is needed."

"What? The only supporting character can't talk, how can we show the plot?" Huang Sibo was shocked.

In Huang Sibo's understanding, the dialogue of supporting characters is a key factor in expressing the plot and character personality.

With only one supporting character and no dialogue, isn't the entire game a silent movie?

Bao Xu considered it for a moment. "Well...it's a compromise. If the little girl speaks, we still need to find someone to dub and adjust the model's mouth shape, which is a lot of work."

"Moreover, I think it doesn't affect the plot that the little girl doesn't speak. We can show it in many ways, such as her behavior, eye movements, and actions."

"If it's a mute character, a little girl is the best image."

"The existence of this little girl serves two main purposes."

"First, she is a spiritual comfort and relief. Throughout the game, players are fighting zombies and mercenaries, and this little girl is like a beam of light in the darkness, adjusting players' emotions so the game doesn't sink into a monotonous 'bang, bang, bang' mood."

"Second, she can participate in some puzzle gameplay. Many foreign large game studios have similar approaches in single-player games, where players interact with a specific NPC to solve puzzles. We can design some similar levels, where the front door is locked, but there is a narrow ventilation duct nearby that the little girl can climb through to help the main character open the door."

"In this way, whether from an emotional or practical help perspective, the little girl will be very important to players."

Huang Sibo nodded, "Well, it sounds good! But I have a question: how should we set the story background? Is it an end-times theme? This worldview must also integrate zombies, little girls, and mercenaries simultaneously and logically."

"This brings us to the second point, scenes," Bao Xu said, as he slashed on the printout.

"The premise is that the scenes must be reusable. Assuming we want to create a 3-hour storyline experience, typical foreign single-player games would provide three or four completely different and distinctive game scenes, which is too difficult for us."

"What I'm thinking is that the story takes place in a large fortress at sea, where an evil multinational corporation is conducting virus experiments. Their goal is to use the virus to transform mercenaries into tireless, powerful warriors."

"So, the protagonist's objective throughout the story mode is to fight their way out of this massive fortress, from the bottom level to the top, and ultimately escape. All the scenes players see can have a 'secret base' style within the fortress."

"We can distinguish levels in many ways, such as changes in monsters, subtle adjustments in scenes, etc. Although they all have a 'secret base' style, we can modify textures and make small adjustments to create different scenes."

"For example, some scenes are contaminated by the virus, with walls and floors covered in rusty stains and sticky, fleshy effects caused by the virus; some scenes maintain the original state of the fortress but are in disarray; some scenes have severe damage because mercenaries used heavy firepower to clear zombies..."

"With one type of scene, we can create three or four different effects, which can meet all the scene requirements in the game."

Huang Sibo stroked his chin: "Hmm, this idea is indeed good! But since it's a sea base of an evil multinational corporation, why is there a little girl?"

"That's easy to explain," Bao Xu said. "The little girl carries special antibodies, so she was captured by the corporation for experimentation. During the experiment, she lost her ability to speak."

"Brilliant!"

Huang Sibo had a flash of inspiration: "Moreover, this setting can be extended. I think we can do this: the little girl's blood can help the protagonist become immune to the virus, for example, if the player is accidentally scratched or bitten by a zombie, the little girl will actively use a syringe to draw blood to heal the protagonist."

"Great idea!" Bao Xu also thought it was a good idea, "In this way, the little girl becomes even more important to the player! Each blood draw can deepen the bond between the player and the little girl, and as the number of blood draws increases, the girl will become weaker and slower, so the player must improve their skills and deal with enemies better to avoid causing her more suffering. This is also a way to enhance the player's immersion!"

During their brainstorming session, many game elements were quickly determined.

The game takes place in a secret fortress at sea, and the protagonist is an Eastern special forces soldier who infiltrates the base to investigate, only to find himself caught in a virus outbreak.

The protagonist must continuously seize weapons from enemies, defeating hordes of zombies and mercenaries, fighting from the bottom level of the sea fortress to the top and escaping.

Along the way, the protagonist encounters a mute little girl who becomes the reason he must survive and escape.

The entire story mode revolves around the protagonist and the little girl.

The story is not complex, but it's far from monotonous!

Although there is only one supporting character, the little girl, as long as it's done well, the impression she leaves on the players will be more profound than ten minor characters!

Huang Sibo kept taking notes on his computer document.

Looking back at the entire document, Huang Sibo was even a bit amazed.

Such a perfect solution!

Was this the result of Bao Xu's brainstorming in just a few hours?

Not only did it perfectly solve the limited resources issue in the game, but it also made the story reasonable, logically consistent, emotionally complete, and impressive!

Huang Sibo couldn't help but give a thumbs up: "Bao, you're amazing!"

Bao Xu shook his head and said, "No, I just completed Pei's essay prompt. He probably intended to do it this way from the beginning and was just giving us a small test to see if we could understand his spirit well."