NOVPUBChapter 726 -410: Art-like Game (Part 2)_1
Chapter 726 -410: Art-like Game (Part 2)_1
Although he felt a hint of regret, the subsequent plot quickly immersed Huang Ping in the game.
Before this, he could hardly imagine a story-driven game being so captivating.
The narrative of the game was quite intriguing; an ordinary child sets off from Huaxia, then, after surviving a shipwreck, sees colossal beasts at sea, encounters mermaids in the deep ocean, chats with Santa Claus in the Arctic, and takes part in the war against Prussia in Britain.
The experiences that followed were equally bizarre, blending reality and fantasy in a way that filled the game with an array of incredible tales.
What was most ingenious was that the game’s plot seemed to be connected to real life.
Seeing the names of characters that appeared, Huang Ping even paused to search for information about them and later found that some of them were indeed historical figures.
This intertwining of fiction and reality ignited a strong desire in Huang Ping to explore the game’s narrative further, and he even felt that some events might have really occurred.
After completing the story once, Huang Ping leaned back in his chair, his eyes shining with excitement.
This story was genuinely fascinating!
The game was currently a demo version, and it still had plenty of room for additions and reductions; minigames could also be interspersed to enrich its content further.
Fang Cheng granted players considerable freedom but also established certain restrictions: players needed to trigger the main events, but they had the choice of how to progress and could meet different companions along the way.
Depending on how players interacted, the companions’ fondness and attitudes could vary, and some might even join in for subsequent battles side by side with the player, immersing them in the game’s special storylines.
What Huang Ping loved even more were the items in the game.
The items in the game weren’t numerous, but each had its unique purpose.
This ordinary-looking magnifying glass was a magical item that could magnify everything. When Huang Ping thought about magnifying a dandelion to fly out of the canyon, he realized he could actually voice his ideas and then take flight.
Watching the game’s protagonist soar with a dandelion, Huang Ping marveled as he ascended with the wind, everything beneath him appearing so insignificant – the display of imagination left him utterly amazed.
This game truly allowed players to achieve whatever they imagined.
Although there were limitations, the game’s degree of freedom made Huang Ping realize its value in replaying it. The whole game was like a romantic fairy tale, giving Huang Ping a sense of delight he hadn’t felt for a long time.
Besides, a major characteristic of narrative games is the difficulty of making them interesting to play repeatedly, but this demo expertly avoided that issue.
While different narrative branches would all converge at fixed points, the journey in between allowed players to customize their experience. Some characters who died could be saved through different methods and then appear later in the story.
After playing several times, Huang Ping discovered that this game by the boss was indeed a treasure.
Their ideas were not just realized but achieved beyond expectations – it was hard to imagine someone having the genius to fit all these elements into a game.
After that, pressure came crashing down, making Huang Ping aware that this time he had to get serious too.
And once the game’s content was nearly complete, the promotion video was released simultaneously, alerting many to what Fang Cheng Studio’s next game would be.
A narrative game.
The name was “The Legendary Adventure of Cheng Tianhua”.
At first glance, the name seemed to hint at a game for younger children, and the recommended age of three and up reinforced the impression that this was a game for young children.
After watching the promotional video, product planners from other companies concluded that this was likely the case and breathed a sigh of relief.
Games geared toward young children typically have a large user base but a low willingness to pay.
The actual target audience for this market isn’t the kids, but their parents.
Convincing parents to let their children play games is hard enough, let alone convincing them to purchase games for their children – that’s an even tougher sell.
Therefore, apart from companies specializing in children’s education, very few game companies focus on this market.
After much deliberation, product planners from various game companies reached a similar conclusion:
“Fang Cheng Studio is preparing to broaden their game market.”
While this move couldn’t be said to be wrong, most game companies end up failing during transitions, whereas those that rehash old content can often survive nicely, releasing just enough old stuff annually or simply repricing their games with a resolution tweak to sell them all over again.
Sell them again on a new platform.
Sell them yet again with enhanced graphics.
If dissatisfied, sell them once more after reverting the graphics.
And other game developers also heaved a sigh of relief.
Currently, there are many official rankings in the game industry, and the charts on Game Inn are very persuasive.
Game Inn doesn’t accept advertisements; any game can have its forum set up by players, and the popularity of different forums is compared daily, serving as a significant indicator of whether a game is hot or not.
Whenever a Fang Cheng Studio game is released, other forums tend to see a drop in popularity, an effect jokingly referred to as the “Fang Cheng Effect”.
