studiobondurri Chapter 244 Half-Life
Chapter 244 Half-Life
As he was thinking, Zhou Mingzhe walked over and sat down next to him.
"There's something I'd like to discuss with you."
"explain."
When will the third batch of beta test codes be released?
Lu Ran thought for a moment: "Let's wait three more days."
Zhou Mingzhe continued, "How many are in the third batch?"
"Twenty thousand," Lu Ran said. "After this batch is sent out, we'll observe for another week. If there are no problems, we'll officially launch it."
"OK."
Zhou Mingzhe got up to leave, but suddenly turned back: "Oh right, there's something I forgot to tell you."
"What?"
"Weibo released an announcement today," Zhou Mingzhe said, handing over the tablet. "They said Tencent is also developing a battle game, which is expected to launch next month."
Lu Ran raised an eyebrow and took the tablet.
A Weibo announcement appeared on the screen:
[Half-Life, a brand new title from Weibo Games Center, is coming soon! Experience realistic shooting, choose from ten weapons, and compete online with other players in internet cafes! Stay tuned!]
Lu Ran's eyes widened.
Is he that capable?
This time, instead of imitating me as usual, the other party presented a new work.
Upon seeing the game's description and name, Lu Ran immediately thought of Half-Life, the online shooting game that was all the rage in internet cafes in his previous life.
Lu Ran clicked on the picture under the other party's game description, and the style was indeed extremely similar to that of Half-Life, which he had played in his previous life.
The scene simply looks like a basic grid pattern.
After examining the details and game design, Lu Ran knew that this game wasn't something that had been written on the spot; it must have been a game that Tencent, the company behind WeChat, had been planning for some time.
The timing of this release is twofold: firstly, the 3D first- and third-person perspective gameplay of "Seven Heroes" has been well-received in the market; secondly, the game has likely been optimized to a point where it's ready to be presented in a competitive market.
Lu Ran was actually starting to look forward to it.
If we compare Half-Life and Meteor, Butterfly, Sword from their previous lives, it's really hard to say which one was more popular.
However, with the continuous improvement of shooting games and the development of various online shooting games, this genre seems to have become even more popular.
However, martial arts games, which are based on martial arts moves, have not disappeared. Many large-scale online games are based on martial arts moves.
Therefore, it is difficult to say which one is better or worse.
Tencent's release of Half-Life certainly caused quite a stir.
The comments section is also buzzing with discussion:
[User "Shooting Game Fan"]: Holy crap? A shooting game? And a first-person one at that? How do you even play this?
[User "Internet Cafe Veteran"]: I watched the demo video. It seems you aim with the mouse, fire with the left mouse button, and you can even reload! This is way more exciting than whack-a-mole!
[User "Tech Geek"]: Tencent has really got something going this time. This kind of 3D shooting game must have very high technical requirements, right? Frame rate, latency, ballistics calculation... just thinking about it gives me a headache.
[User "Rational Gossip"]: The key point is that they also have an internal beta test! And the first batch only has 50,000 slots! Much more generous than TUTU!
[User "Non-European"]: 50,000? Then I should be able to win this time, right? TUTU's two batches only totaled 15,000, and I didn't get a penny!
[User "Lucky God"]: Wake up, upstairs. There are 50,000 people vying for it, and hundreds of thousands, even millions, of people watching. Do you think you can win?
[User "Non-European"]: ...Don't discourage me.
Lu Ran flipped through them one by one.
Tencent has definitely learned its lesson this time.
Although they developed the game themselves, they simply copied the gameplay from the closed beta.
The first batch of 50,000 slots is more than the total number of slots for all three batches of "Seven Heroes of the Jianghu".
They also implemented a mechanism where "the higher the activity level, the greater the chance of winning"—but not on their own platform, but on Weibo.
Forward, comment, like – all in one.
This move immediately boosted Weibo's activity level to the maximum.
"President Lu," Zhou Mingzhe leaned closer, adjusting his glasses, "Aren't you worried?"
"What's the rush?" Lu Ran leaned back in his chair and leisurely took a sip of tea.
"They have 50,000 slots; we don't even have that many across all three batches combined. And although their game is slightly different from ours, it will definitely steal our users. What if all the players go to them?"
Lu Ran put down his teacup and looked at Zhou Mingzhe: "Brother Zhou, I have a question for you."
"you say."
Have you ever played shooting games?
"Never played it."
"So imagine what a shooting game should feel like?"
Zhou Mingzhe thought for a moment: "It should be... take the gun, aim, fire, and the enemy falls. Pretty simple."
"Yes, it's quite simple," Lu Ran smiled. "But have you ever considered how sophisticated the technology is needed to achieve this sense of 'simplicity'?"
Zhou Mingzhe thought for a moment, and seemed to understand something.
Lu Ran continued, "What's the hardest thing about shooting games? It's not the graphics, it's not the weapon models, it's the feel. It's the recoil feedback the moment you fire, the impact of the bullet hitting the enemy, and the smoothness of the crosshair movement. If any of these things are off, it's like playing two completely different games."
He paused, then opened the Half-Life demo video and showed it to Zhou Mingzhe.
"Look at this firing animation. There's muzzle flash, but what about recoil? The bullet goes out, the muzzle jumps up a bit, but the crosshair doesn't move at all. What is this? This is a texture, not physical feedback."
"Look at the hit effects. When a bullet hits a wall, a bullet hole appears, but the hole is just pasted on and not calculated in real time. When it hits an enemy, the enemy just stiffens for a moment and then falls down; there's no hit feedback whatsoever."
"This kind of game is okay for playing a couple of rounds, but if you play it too much, you'll realize that it's just a half-finished product."
In terms of game design, shooting games are much more difficult than action-based games like these.
Skill-based games can occasionally cover up minor flaws with flashy animations, but shooting games will feel unrealistic if there are too many small bugs and the animations are inconsistent.
This was fatal from the very beginning.
Zhou Mingzhe stared at the screen for a while, then nodded thoughtfully: "So that's why you're not in a hurry?"
"That's right." Lu Ran stood up and walked to the window. "With Tencent's strength, money, manpower, and technology, making a shooting game wouldn't be difficult. But making a good shooting game takes time, polishing, and countless tests and optimizations."
"They're rushing to launch now to steal our thunder. But they've forgotten that ultimately, a game's quality is what matters."
He turned to Zhou Mingzhe and asked, "How long have we been polishing our 'Seven Heroes' tale?"
"One month."
"Ahem...that's because I've been polishing it in the early stages...um...for about half a year."
"Yes, it's been more than half a year." Lu Ran continued without blushing, "At least the subsequent content, from the core gameplay to the character models, from the combo system to the ranking mechanism, we've polished it up bit by bit. Tencent's Half-Life, as far as I know, from the project's inception to now, has taken at most three months. What can you make in three months? You can make a shell, but you can't make a soul."
Zhou Mingzhe slowly spoke: "So you're not afraid at all?"
"Don't worry." Lu Ran laughed. "Let them distribute beta codes, let them grab the hype, let them steal the spotlight. Once their players get tired of that half-finished product, they'll naturally come back to us."
He paused, then added, "And have you noticed that Tencent has a fatal flaw this time?"
"What's the problem?"
"They have too many beta test slots," Lu Ran said. "Fifty thousand sounds generous, but it's actually self-destructive."
...