E-mail: limu@kean.edu Tell: +86 13736038888
Portfolio Li Mu
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Portfolio is divided
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Four parts
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Self-introduction & Career
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Main Project: Proposal of Peak
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Game analyze cases
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Other Works
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Self-introduction & Career
About Me Here, I will detail my personal information, educational background, and project
Player
From China
21 years
Li Mu CPS Major
My name is Li Mu, a junior at the Department of Computer Science of Wenzhou Kean University (WKU) which is a new university known by less people, but one of the handful of schools and universities under sino-foreign joint operation. Specifically, it is run by Wenzhou University and Kean University located in New Jersey, USA. At WKU, courses are taught entirely in English, offering world-class education to us. In this learning environment, I not only experienced the features and advantages of American education, but also gradually found my aspiration — to learn game design in the US. My undergraduate major is Computer Science. Among its many branches, I mainly learned data mining and machine learning with my supervisor, and have done several projects in these fields. Meanwhile, I have taken many courses in mathematics and biology, and carried out research in statistics and genetic engineering.
As a university student, I participated and organized quite a number of club activities and social activities apart from gaining academic developments. For example, I worked as Student Ambassador, responsible for the promotion and maintenance of the student image. I also served as Director of Global Volunteers at AIESEC where I brought in over 50,000 USD worth of profits with my volunteer products. Besides, I have planned more than three large-scale social activities, attracted more than 3,000 participants to the speech contest, electronic music festival, and wine party I organized. The rich activities and leadership experiences have equipped me with maturity, stronger team leadership, logical thinking, and learning ability, which I all consider to be lifelong benefits.
WenZhou-Kean University E-mail: limu@kean.edu Tell: +86 13736038888
Career Plan With an endless enthusiasm for game design and creation, and a longing for the American education environment, I hope to have a systematical study in game design in the US for 2-3 years, and at the same time develop several complete games of my own. After that, I would like to have the chance to work for some time in a major gaming company in the US, so as to acquire experience in the most advanced game developing environment in the world and participate in the creation of games with distinct features. Within ten year after graduation, I plan to become a mature game producer, on the basis of which I will consider starting my own team to make games I love.
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Game Experiences Apart from being a student, I am also an enthusiastic gamer. During my undergraduate years alone, I played more than 300 games on different platforms. As I accumulated more and more gaming experience, I began to pay attention to the differences between games while thinking ways to design a game with more fun. Therefore, in my sophomore year, I came into contact with everything related to game design, and purposely learned about the story, developing process, and design ideas behind games. During my undergraduate study, I took part in the Game Jam for three times where I created games within an extreme time limit of 48 hours and enjoyed the passion of creating. Also, I formed a project group with several classmates to create our own indie games. Taking my activity experience and personal abilities into consideration, I found that game designer is the occupation that suits me the most, and also my strongest passion. I enjoy creating and trefining brand new gaming worlds.
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Main Project: Proposal of Peak battle
Outline 1. Game Description
1. Game Description a) Brief introduction Peak Battle is a collection card game (CCG) and also a multiplayer game on the PC platform. b) Research standards
2. Mindmap
Peak Battle is a CCG with western fantasy styles, which will be developed using Unity 3D and combining 2D interface with 3D animation. The game will be initially launched on the PC platform and operated with keyboard and mouse.
3. Core Gameplay
Background Story
4. Card System 5. Summoner System
Multi-racial people once lived on the Kane continent together, but the wars were unceasing among these races for occupying the resources and lands. However, a sudden disaster killed the majority of the population, and almost ruined the ecological environment on the continent, making the resources even scarcer. For the future development of the continent, the leaders of these races decided to compete in the virtual world using cards instead of wars in the actual world to reduce the damages caused to the people and ecological environment. c) Design ideas
6. Battle field UE design 7. Play Mode
Peak Battle is a turn-based CCG, emphasizing fast rhythm and card-collection elements. Compared with other similar games, Peak Battle focuses more on the players’ management of their own decks, and also pays attention to the competitive development of the game based on fun gameplay. The design idea aims at creating a competitive cross-platform card game which is friendly to all kinds of players.
8. Shop system
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Overall mindmap for all systems
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2. Mindmap
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Overall mindmap for Card system
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2. Mindmap
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Core elements and rules
Main Interface
a) Game elements During Peak Battles, the players may control the summoners to summon units with cards, release spells, and battle their opponents using artifacts. The purpose is to defeat the summoners of the opposite party. Each summoner owns a 40-point initial health. The summoner whose health decreases to 0 point and below due b) Battle rules At the beginning of the game, each player initially obtains 4 cards and may change any number of cards once. The attack sequence of players is decided by coin-tossing carried out by the system, and the defensive player may draw two extra cards after they finish changing the cards. The offensive player is allowed act first in the turn; at the end of the turn, the right to act is transferred to the defensive player, and so on in a similar fashion. In every card-drawing phase, each player draws two cards. The upper limit of cards in hand is ten; in the case that any player already has 10 cards before the card-drawing phase, the newly-drawn cards will be automatically placed into the discard pile. Units stay asleep for one turn after being summoned onto the field, and may not attack in that turn. In the next turn, the sleep state is automatically removed, and the summoned units may attack the summoned units or summoner anytwhere in the opponent’s field (taunt units must be treated as priority targets). All destroyed cards or used magic cards will be automatically placed in the graveyard, of which the consumable cards will be automatically removed from the game after being used/destroyed, so they cannot be used again in this game. In addition, the number of consumable cards allowed for each player is limited. As a summoned unit attacks on an opponent unit, the latter’s health point will deduct the same amount of points as the former’s attack points. If the health of the attacked unit decreases to 0, it will be destroyed. Damages caused by spells or skills also directly decrease the target’s health, but the target cannot cause any damage to the spell caster with counterattack. Card effects will go into operation in accordance with the sequence of use, of which the cards already in the field take effect prior to those just placed onto the field. If a player has drawn all the cards in his/her deck, all of the cards in the discard pile will automatically go to the draw pile, which is called as a deck cycle. After each deck cycle, the maximum health of the player decreases by 15 points. In the case that a player prepares to draw a card, but no card can be drawn from the deck, the player will suffer a damage which equals to 10 - the current number of cards.
The main UI indicates 4 main functions of game, including play, card management, summoner system and shop. The option menu of game in the upper left is expanded and then some operational effects of game may be set up and the designer’s contact information may be obtained. Followed proposal will introduce these four parts one by one.
When a summoner’s health is 0 or less, the player is judged as the loser.
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3. Core Gameplay
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Card System
Card management interface
a) Energy points In Peak Battle, each player has to consume energy points to use cards. At the beginning of each game, the energy point is 0; later at the beginning of each turn, the maximum of energy points automatically increases by 1 and restores to the full value. The energy points in the game automatically increases to 5; after that the energy points will not automatically increase. However, the upper limit of energy points is 10, and the remaining 5 points can be added by artifacts/card rules.
While playing the game, the player may create the decks, compose and decompose cards, and carry out other operations in the interface of card management. The interface may be divided into two parts of “Decks” column and “My Cards” column. In the left of the interface is the “Decks” column, and the background color of each deck name indicates the two attributes contained in the deck (e.g. Deck 1: double attributes of green + red); the number to the right of the deck name indicates the total number of cards in the deck (e.g. Deck 1: containing 25 cards).
b) Card rarity i. Cards are divided into four classes of black, bronze, silver card, and gold as per the rarity. ii. The difference of rarity is mainly indicated on the special effects of cards instead of their numerical values. In Peak Battle, the player may obtain cards by purchasing card packs, and through training or composition. The tutorial level in the single player mode helps the player to learn the game and gives a large number of basic cards to the player, ensuring that novice players can enjoy the game. Card packs are sold in the shop at the price of 100 gold coins (see the details for the currency system in the following context). Each card pack contains 5 cards, of which the probabilities of getting a black card, bronze card, silver card and gold card are respectively 60%, 30%, 8% and 2%. In the game, each card may be decomposed to get magic crystals or be composed by consuming magic crystals. The numbers of magic crystals generated by decomposing a black card, bronze card, silver card and gold card are respectively 5, 20, 100 and 400; and the numbers of magic crystals for composing a black card, bronze card, silver card and gold card are respectively 25, 100, 500 and 2,000. c) Color attributes All of cards in the game own their card attributes, and the cards with different colors own different characteristics. Some of the cards simultaneously own two color attributes. The color attributes of cards may be jointly indicated by the background colors and energy-point colors. The card color is an important criterion for the player to put up a deck. Specific color attributes and characteristics are described as follows. Green: buff enchantments, group effects, acceleration, and card drawing Red: burst damage Blue: healing, continuous damage, control, and silence Yellow: protection, taunting, single effects, restriction of the deck Black: control of the discard pile, debuff enchantments White: healing, buff enchantments, control of the player’s own deck
In the right of the “Decks” column is the slider. They player can slide it to the bottom to show the “+” button for adding a new deck, and click on the “+” button to enter the interface of creating a new deck.
In the interface of creating a new deck, the player needs to determine the name and attribute(s) for the deck by choosing at most 2 from the 6 colors given. After that, the chosen color(s) will glow as shown in the above picture (the blue and yellow are chosen here). Later after the player returns to the main interface of deck management and clicks on the deck name, the deck will unfold and show all of the cards contained.
When the deck is unfolded, the color attributes, name, quantity and rarity corresponding to each card may be seen in the thumbnail (the outline color of the card refers to its rarity; the background color refers to the color attribute; the name at the middle and number on the right respectively refers to the name and quantity of the card). Clicking on any card in the “Decks” column will show specific card information on the left; Double clicking any card in the “Decks” column will return the card to the deck. To the right of the Deck Management interface is the “My Cards” column, or the player’s card storage.
d) Decks In Peak Battle, the player may own 10 decks at most, each containing no less than 20 and no more than 30 cards, of which the consumable cards cannot be more than 10 pieces. When creating the deck, the player needs to choose the color attributes for the deck. Each deck may own two color attributes at most and only consist of the cards with the chosen color attribute(s), including cards with both of the chosen color attributes. When creating a deck, the number of rare cards is also limited, and the details are shown as follows: Black card: no more than 3 cards of the same name Bronze card: no more than 2 cards of the same name Silver card: no more than 2 cards of the same name; no more than 6 silver cards in total Gold card: no more than 1 card of the same name; no more than 4 gold cards in total
The left part of the “My Cards” column is the side column with 6 colors. If any color block is clicked, it will be enlarged, and all of the cards with the same color will be shown (the white is chosen as per the picture). In the “My Cards” column, the player may search any specific card in the above search box or search manually using the bottom slider. Clicking on any card in the “My Cards” column will show specific card information on the right; double clicking on any card in the “My Cards” column will add the card to the deck unfolded on the left. At the bottom of the specific card information, options of composition and decomposition are provided, and the number of magic crystals owned by the player is shown.
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4. Card System
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Category of Cards
Sommoner system Brief Introduction In Peak Battle, the player-controlled character is a card summoner. They may use different artifacts, equipment, and skin to show their personalities. The artifacts are only obtained by leveling up, and skins are obtained through training or purchase. a) Artifact system In the game, the summoners will obtain different artifacts as they level up. Each summoner may take two artifacts at most in every game. The artifacts are mainly divided into three categories as follows: Skills: the artifact is used by energy consumption to achieve the effects of healing/damage/summons/card drawing; generally, such artifacts are only used once in a turn. Passive artifacts: the artifact does not need to consume energy, and continuously takes effect. Restricted artifacts: the artifact is only used once and causes special effects 7KH EDVLF DUWLIDFWV VDPSOH DUH VKRZQ DV IROORZV 1DPH
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Summon cards: Summon units on the field after consuming energy points. Units stay asleep for one turn after being summoned onto the field, and may not attack in that turn. In the second turn, the sleep state will be automatically removed.
Spell cards: used in the main phase and have different effects
Field Card: used in the main phase. After used, the card will be placed in the field card slot; new field cards will destroy the former ones.
Name of summoned units: displays the name of the card; cards with different rarities summon units with different names and colors. Health point (the right number): represents the health of the unit; when it reduces to 0, the summoned unit will be destroyed. Attack point (the left number): represents the attack of the unit; when the unit attacks, the health point of the target will be directly damaged. Skill: demonstrates the unit’s special ability. Energy (the top energy ball): the number of the colored balls equals to the number of energy points necessary for using this card. Outline color and bottom colored ball: indicate the color attributes of the card. Outline color of the card: indicates the rarity of the card.
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4. Card System
b) Summoner Attributes Level: summoners will level up as they accumulate battle experiences, and the highest level is not limited. Experience point: indicates the current experience of a summoner and the experience necessary for leveling up. The summoner may only obtain experience from player-versus-player (PVP) battles. In case of a win, 100 experience points will be obtained; in case of a loss, 25 experience points will be obtained. It takes 1,000 experience points to level up. Obtainment of artifacts: The summoner respectively obtains two basic default artifacts at Level 0, Level 3, Level 7, and Level 15. After that, the player will have an opportunity to draw a random artifact every 10 levels.
In the Summoner Interface, the player may check all the artifacts owned and change artifacts he/she wants to take to the next battle by dragging them from the “My Artifacts� column into the “Selected Artifacts� column. Meanwhile, the specific information may be presented by clicking on the icon of an artifact.
5. Summoner System
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Battle field UE
Field card slot: shows the thumbnail of field cards Name of summoner: shows the name of the summoner (no more than 12 letters) Level: shows the level of the summoner Cards in hand: shows the cards currently owned by the opponent and the player, of which the player can only see the backs of the opponent’s cards. When the cursor hovers above the player’s cards, they will be enlarged to a readable size. Energy Gauge: indicates the energy points owned by the summoner, which may be automatically restored at the beginning of each turn. The grey color means the energy is not obtained. Deck: the player may click on his/her own deck to see the remaining cards in it (in random order). Graveyard: the player may click on his/her own discard pile to see all discarded cards (in the order they were discarded).
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6. Battle field UE design
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Battle field Operations Normally, the thumbnail in the in-hand cards area displays the name and energy consumption of the card. When the cursor hovers above any card, the card will be enlarged with its attributes shown.
By clicking on the deck/discard pile, the player may refer to all the cards in the current deck/discard pile (in random order). On each page, at most 8 cards can be shown, and the remaining cards may be checked in other pages as the player moves the cursor down. Hover the cursor above a summoned unit on the field and click on it to show specific attributes.
During the main phase, the End Turn button is green, which means it is in the clickable state. During the opponent’s turn, however, the button is red, which means it is in the unusable state. In the main phase, as the player commands a summoned unit to attack, the attack direction is shown by a red arrow.
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6. Battle field UE design
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Play interface
Play Mode a) Casual Battle Casual Battle is the main PVP battle mode, where the player can obtain experience and gold coins as rewards no matter winning or losing. Player level is the matching standard in the process, so the system will only match up players with levels as close to the other as possible to do the casual battle. After each casual battle, the player may obtain 10-30 gold coins. In the cases of long battles and successive wins, the player will obtain a large amount of gold coins, so do the winning players of each battle. During casual battles, the player is judged as the loser when he/she gives up the game, and cannot obtain any award. b) Ranking Match
In the preparation interface of the multiplayer mode, the player s may check the decks set up by themselves in advance in Player Decks and choose one of them to battle with. Meanwhile, they may also check the artifacts selected by themselves in the preparation interface for reference. Later, the player may click on the Casual Battle or Ladder Match to do PVP battles.
Ranking match is an important way to assess the player’s competitive level. Each player initially owns 1,000 ladder scores; a winning match in this mode will bring 25 scores to the player, while a lost match will result in a deduction of 25 points to the score. The Ranking scores of a player is the primary standard of ladder matching; the closer the ladder scores of both parties are, the closer their strength will be. In the case that the player gives up the game in Ranking matches, the system will halve his/her earnings in the next 5 Ranking matches. If a player gives up in this mode for more than one times, the punishment will stack. c) Ranking system and reward system The Ranking scores are reset once every three months and the award is settled once a month. Each month, players who rank among the top 1% in the whole server will obtain 3,000 magic crystals, 5,000 gold coins, and awards of the season. Players who ranking among the top 1%-10% will obtain 1,000 magic crystals and 2,000 gold coins. Players who ranking among the top 10%-30% will obtain 1,000 gold coins. The Ranking scores for the 1%, 10% and 30% are published on the official platform in real time.
d) Tutorial Tutorial is the first level that each player needs to experience in Peak Battle. Before completing of the tutorial, players cannot enter any other mode or interface. The game guides new players to engage in the tutorial by hiding other operating options.
In the preparation interface of the multiplayer mode, the players may check the decks set up by themselves in advance in Player Decks and choose one of them to battle with. Meanwhile, they may also check the artifacts selected by themselves in the preparation interface for reference Later, the player may click on the Casual Battle or Ranking Match to do PVP battles.
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The flow of the tutorial is shown as follows: 1. Introduce the object of the game, i.e., damaging and defeating the opponent summoner with cards. 2. Introduce the distribution of elements on the main battlefield; the field is the place where players summon and command summoned units to attack. 3. Explain the concepts of energy, in-hand cards and summoned unit attributes. 4. Guide the player to summon units and attack the opposite party’s summons. 5. Introduce the significance of spell cards and field cards, and guide the player to use them. 6. Explain the concept of artifacts and introduce the way of obtaining them. 7. Walk the player through a complete battle and defeat the opponent.
7. Play Mode
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Shop system
Shop interface
a) Goods and currency Gold coin: the gold coin is the award obtained through battles. The player may also obtain gold coins by in-game purchases. Card chest: the main way of obtaining cards in the game. A single card chest contains 5 random cards with random color attributes, while two card chests contain random cards with a specific color attribute.
In the top of shop interface, the player may see the quantities of gold coins and card chests owned by himself or herself. When clicks “+” near the picture of gold coin, the player may recharge using the real currency. When activates the card, the player clicks the card chest in the center, and then the player may consume a card chest to obtain 5 full-colored random cards, or the player may consume two card chests to obtain 5 specific-colored cards by dragging the card chest to impact the surrounding 6 blocks of color.
Player can puchase card chest at shop interface. The main interface of shop is divided into two parts of the open chest and putchace cards.
The player may obtain new cards by clicking on cards with an “?”.
When purchasing card chests, the players may adjust the quantity with the “-” and “+” buttons, or click the “max” button to obtain as many card chests as they can currently afford. The player may click on “Purchase” to consume gold coins in exchange for card chest(s).
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8. Shop system
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Game analyze cases
Competing product analysis : HearthStone
Case analysis: Where ‘s my water ?
Case analysis: World Conqueor 3
Case analysis: BlackSmith Story
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Competing product analysis
1.1 Background The Hearthstone is a collection card game (CCG) developed by Blizzard Entertainment. The story background is based on the worldview of the Warcraft series. The game has been released on IOS, Android, Windows, Mac platforms, and player data can be used on all platforms. 1.2 User Analysis As of April 2017, the number of registered people in Hearthstone has exceeded 70 million. The ratio of male to female players reached 97:3, which is basically the same as the ratio of male to female users in the overall card game of 97:3. There are three main reasons why the number of users of Hearthstone has reached the peak of card games: 1.The huge number of original gamers in the Warcraft series: All the cards of Hearthstone are created based on the elements of the World of Warcraft series, so the original Warcraft players will have a great deal on the elements of Hearthstone. Intimacy. At the same time, similar property settings and professional skills can also allow Warcraft players to quickly get started with Hearthstone. As one of the most influential game IPs in the world, the Warcraft series of games provides a large part of the users of Hearthstone. 2. Easy to use, but also strategic and fun: Hearthstone is a card game that is innovative and simplified in Magic gameplay. Compared to other card games, Hearthstone's average duration of game is shorter and has fewer game elements. So it is easier to learn and play Hearthstone. Consulting firm Quantic Foundry analyzes the data collected by nearly 140,000 gamers and finds that Hearthstone is in the ranks of Balanced fun, which means that the strategic and interesting nature of Hearthstone has reached a balance. 3. Excellent publicity: After the onset of Hearthstone, the Hearthstone has won the praise of the players. The players will spontaneously promote the game in social media and game forums. At the same time, the Hearthstone has also encountered the fiery stage of the live game industry. Its exquisite style, diverse gameplay and fast-paced battle are all necessary elements for a great live game show, which makes the Hearthstone be popular in live game platform. Hearthstone anchors, players, and official co-promotions have made Hearthstone a household card game.
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HearthStone
2.1 Rule setting 1. First, the game will randomly select 4 (backhand) or 3 (first hand) cards in the player's card group (30), and then the player can replace some of them to complete the opening. 2. Each turn will automatically add 1 mana crystal. Mana Crystal is the necessary unit to summon the card. After the turn, it will automatically reply (the blue gem in the lower right of the interface is the mana crystal). 3. Cards In addition to the summons cards (cards with no rounds for offense and defense), there are also spell cards that are consumables in the deck. 4. When the player has enough mana crystal, you can use the card inside the range of Mana Crystal multiple times. 5. Different hero skills are different. In addition to having public cards, you can also get hero-only cards. 2.2 Gameplay Analysis 2.2.1 Battle mode: The battle mode is the most basic mode of fighting against the players in the Hearthstone. It is divided into casual mode/ranking mode according to the different scoring methods, and divided into standard battles/wild battles according to the limitations of the decks. The standard battle is a new battle mode that Blizzard launched in 2017. In this mode, players can only play against the latest cards. The Hearthstone has launched thousands of new cards so far. If you want to collect all the cards, this is a big burden for the players. In order to narrow the gap between old and new players while continuing to increase the player's desire to buy, Hearthstone has introduced this model to balance these issues. Questions about payment will continue to be analyzed.
2.3 Hero System Analysis Hearthstone has nine basic professions, each with special skills and exclusive cards. The heroic system of Hearthstone's legend has shown that the characteristics of the nine professions and the restraint relationship between each other are very good, which greatly restores the profession system of World of Warcraft. With some special cards, players can change or upgrade heroes in the game, resulting in different ways of playing. Hearthstone's legendary hero system allows the game to be sublimated from a simple card-playing game, allowing the entourage to interact with the hero, resulting in a lot of gameplay based on heroic skills and detachment from the card. (such as the micro infinite fireball method)
2.2.2 Adventure mode Hearthstone legend also has an adventure mode that is crucial to the computer. Hearthstone's adventure mode is relatively small in content and does not have the ability to play repeatedly, so for most players, this is a model for familiarizing with the rules of the game and collecting cards. 2.2.3 Athletic mode In the competitive mode, players use a gold coin or a battle dot to form a new set of cards in a random card to compete against others. Compared with the ordinary battle mode, the competitive mode is more fair and more representative of the player's game level. This is a parallel game mode with two different game modes. Different players have different preferences and choices. 2.2.4 Chaos mode The chaotic mode is the entertainment mode specially introduced by Hearthstone. Every week, there will be a completely different game mechanism to ease the fatigue of the players in the frequent battles and bring freshness. .
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Competing product analysis : HearthStone
2.3 Card System Analysis 2.3.1 Card Classification The hearthstone card is divided into three categories: Summons card: Summon the entourage to fight on the field. The follower contains three attributes (attack power, blood volume, card effect). When the follower is attacked, it will be countered by the attack power of the attack. Spell Card: The Spell Card releases a variety of spells. The spells are divided into two categories: single and group. Individual spells can target any unit other than the sneak, and can't be spelled by the spell (not affected by the mocking card). Group spells (AOE spells) take effect on multiple followers on the field, and some group spells even take effect on heroes. The secret is a kind of spell. Unlike other cards, the secret can enter in the form of downward coverage (in the game, it is a question mark on the hero's head). Weapon Card: A weapon card can equip a hero with a weapon, giving the hero a stronger attack. The weapon can be used after being equipped. When the weapon is attacked by the weapon, it will also be counter-injured by the target enemy. (Note: Only warriors, paladins, stalkers, hunters, and shamans have professional weapons cards.) 2.3.2 Card group composition In the Hearthstone legend, a set of cards consists of 40 cards. After forty cards have been drawn, the player will be subject to cumulative superimposed damage each time they draw a chance. In a set of cards, each card can be configured with a maximum of two cards, of which only one legend card can be configured. The setting of the upper limit of the number of decks of Hearthstone and the rules of deducting blood after the light card limit the duration of the game, ensuring that each plate can be solved within ten to fifteen minutes. The limitation on the number of cards with the same name eliminates the situation that some cards in the game are too strong. 2.3.3 Card Collection and Production In Hearthstone, players can browse all of their cards in the collection and use the searcher to easily build their own decks. For redundant and unusable cards, players can decompose them by a quarter of the card's cost, which reduces the difficulty of card acquisition to a certain extent, allowing players to have more options.
3.1 Payment System Analysis In the Hearthstone legend, there are two types of currency that players have, one is the gold coin obtained through the game and the mission, and the other is the battle network point of the reality recharge. Hearthstone legend users' main consumption goal is to get cards/golden cards that they don't have. In the game, the card draw is used to let the player get the card. There are 5 cards in each card. The probability of a rare card being drawn at the time of drawing is 20% (each package must be rare) Rare card probability is 5% Legend card probability is 1% The form of drawing cards allows players to participate in the game, with certain gambling attributes, which can greatly increase the player's desire to consume and increase the fun of players' collecting cards. At the same time, with the design of the card synthesis system, the player can recover the remaining “waste card”, help the player to find the comfort and provide stable income, so that the entire card package payment system enters a healthy cycle. At the same time, the game also adds a gold card design. The probability of a gold card is one-fourth of that of a normal card. It is more difficult to obtain and the visual performance is more impactful. It provides players with deep consumption to get a different experience. It also allows ordinary players to get stronger positive feedback during consumption. The goods sold in the mall have a card package and an adventure mode/hero skin. The adventure mode is a buy-out system. After purchasing, you can unlock the adventure mode and you can go to the customs and get the cards that are unique to the adventure. The skin is an extra jewelry decoration that offers players a variety of different options. The price of each card pack in the game is 100 gold coins, and the arena mode is opened to 150 gold coins. If the game can complete the given task every day, the player's daily gold coin income is between 80 and 150 gold, which is the income of a card package. This level of profit allows the player to use time to make up for the shortage of money, and at the same time does not suppress the player's desire to buy, but has a positive effect on the desire to buy.
2.3.4 Card Model Design Analysis In the card design of Hearthstone, there are several rules: 1. Card score is fee *2+1 2. 1 card = 2 points, 1 blood = 1 point, monster damage 1 blood = 1 point, Character damage 1 Blood = 2 points, attack power 1 point = 1 point, health point 1 point = 1 point. Special effects are calculated differently by type 3. Special hero’s card score is 1 more than regular card 4. Some cards have supermodel phenomenon
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Case analysis: Where ‘s my water ?
Where’s My Water? is a casual mobile game featuring physics puzzle-solving elements designed by the Walt Disney Company which since launched has "topped the Apple AppStore list in more than 80 countries" (Of all the phenomenal mobile games accompanying our growth, how many have you played?) and won the heart of a large number of casual gamers. As a phenomenal mobile game which arose much attention, its success is hardly copyable but informative. The Walt Disney Company is the second largest entertainment company in the world with a profoundly long history in cartoon production and outstanding storytelling skills, which has created one after another well-known cartoon characters and fairy tales, such as Mickey Mouse, Snow White, Big Hero 6, and Zootopia. Nevertheless, Disney's gaming business is not so good as its animated movie business. From 2008 to 2013, the gaming sector of Disney resulted in a total loss of 1.4 billion USD, which not only lowered its status in the company, but also reduced the distribution of talents and resources to this sector. In 2014, Disney laid off as many as 700 employees in the gaming sector. In 2015, Disney merged its consumer goods and interactive sectors, and announced to stop all independent game development businesses and turned to authorizing operations. (Disney has cut its gaming sector; under what circumstances are innovations of big companies doomed to fail?) Why did the gaming sector of Disney Entertainment end in failure? Disney displays nearly 80 independently made mobile games on its official website, but 90% of the projects are simply derivative games combining existing famous intellectual property (IP) images or movies with popular game modes. These games, often born with IP images, are tightly bound with the IPs, and will lose vitality shortly after the hot spot cools down. While independently researching and developing games, Disney was more focused on finding a way to increase the social influence and heat of its other products (like movies and animated characters) rather than paying attention to the content and gameplay. Besides, Disney mainly focused on consumers of lower age groups during product production and promotion, despite the fact that teenagers and adults were the major paying players of their games. The misplacement of target user groups led to the large number of failed games produced by Disney. The 2011 game Where’s My Water?, however, managed to avoid the two minefields of Disney and became phenomenal.
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In making Where's My Water?, Disney designed its very first original character for a mobile game. "The initial goal of this game project was to contribute a new character to Disney and at the same time make a fun game" (Interview: Disney Mobile's Tim FitzRandolph on 'Where's My Water'). Disney firstly designed Swampy and built up a complete story background around it, based on which the company then created a new game. From the perspective of Disney, Swampy is a novel image, instead of something made to promote existing IPs, so more importance was attached to the core gameplay, thus avoiding the first minefield the company used to step into. From the perspective of other game companies, the game has not only innovative contents, but also a complete animated background world which helped it stand out. A series of well-made cartoons and making films can be found on the official website of Where’s My Water?, helping players to have a broader understanding of the world that Swampy and his friends live in, and get to know their characteristics and creation. With this information, it will be easier for the players to understand many ingenious designs (like level titles, details in the map, Easter egg memes, etc.) and have a deeper sense of substitution and better experience. As a giant of the entertainment industry, Disney has been wielding its advantages in game promotion and operation. Campaigns launched prior to the game attracted many game websites and game testers to help publicize it. The derivatives of this game designed and put forward at later stages of operation also fit perfectly with other sectors of Disney. By then, the design goal was met as a new star had been added to the Disney family.
Another highlight of the game is the portrait of three different characters, Swampy, Cranky, and Allie. Following are snapshots of the three characters: Swampy attaches much importance to personal hygiene. Cranky is dirty and stinky. Allie loves music and can play musical instruments. This game also unfolds around the love triangle among the three, which is not only told in the background story, but also showed in the game. Swampy and Cranky are rival suitors. Meanwhile, they have totally different living habits, so the liquids they each need (fresh water and poisonous water) are completely different from each other. Also, both the fluids can destroy the type of duck required by the other character, and have opposite effects when contacting with algae. But they can both coexist with the steam and pink ducks representing Allie. An interesting detail in the game is that when the player touches the alligator in the main interface, ingenious actions will be triggered. For example, Swampy will play with the rubber duck and scrub and wash, Allie will play a flute, and Cranky will vomit and sleep. All of these were designed carefully following the characters, and will help build these three images in the player's mind. This game cleverly makes use of two reverse thinking methods. The first one is the reverse of game characters. While players almost always control a movable character to pass game levels, the main characters (i.e. the alligators) of Where’s My Water? are at the finish line of each level and cannot be manipulated by the player. The second one is the reverse of operation units. In this game, water, the moving element, is not an operation unit of the player. All the player can do is to erase dirt and form paths for the water, and the moving of water cannot be operated by the player. Such reverse thinking overturns the normal cognition of players, asking them to discard their past experiences and explore from the start, which brings infinite possibilities. Consequently, as the players get their hands on this game for the first time, they will find everything fresh and new. The boundless thinking space will make them fall in love with this innovative game.
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Case analysis: Where ‘s my water ? Gameplay is the core reason why players have responded so positively to this game. One of the biggest game features of Where's My Water? is the gravity system based on its realistic physical engine. This game basically reproduces water in real life, and gives full expression to the properties of water, including texture, inertia, gravity, fluid flow, and adhesiveness, on the 2D screen. The core gameplay of Where's My Water? is finding a way to cleverly use all these properties of water to complete the task of each level. In the beginning, the players will have a general understanding of the water in the game based on their knowledge in real life. Then the game levels will gradually guide the player to find other properties of the water to clear further levels. The players are given one new element every level, which may be a new equipment, a new material, or a new playing method. Besides basic levels, there are also six different challenge levels which involves reverse thinking and spatial sequence to challenge the players' minds. While most Disney games simply put a "Disney cover" outside existing game modes, Where's My Water? is the precedent for mobile games with puzzle-solving elements using water property. Among its wide range of user groups, not only younger players, but also teenagers and adults interested in puzzle games were drawn to this game with unique gameplay, which indicates that Disney managed to avoid the second minefield it used to step in. After this game became a success, many games adopting similar game designs emerged in the market, such as Where's My Mickey?, Where's My XiYangYang?, and H2FLOW, which all gained favor from countless players. Although Where's My Water? has a style of its own in terms of visual effects and gameplay, there are still some parts with less well experiences. For instance, the audio system of the game is less than satisfactory since many audio effects (including the sound of water flow, the sound when you erase rocks, and the whistle when you complete a level) sound harsh and incoherent. Moreover, there is no background music (BGM) throughout the game except for in the computer graphics (CG) animation, and the entire audio system merely consists of three different alligator cries and some basic sound effects. Other than the audio system, the tutorial level also leaves much to be desired. Since Where's My Water? is a puzzle game with innovative design, there were no other games of the same kind in the market, and many players found it confusing at first sight. On the other hand, the tutorial level is relatively simple and crude, only containing some textual instructions, which requires the players to figure out how to play this game on their own without providing any sufficient instructions.
Listed are some method to make up the defect of this game: 1. The audio system should be updated, adding different BGM to different scenes in the game. Game scenes in Where's My Water? can be divided into the following types: the start screen and level map screen, Swampy levels, Cranky levels, Allie levels, six challenge levels, and special Duck Rush levels. Relaxed, happy BGM can be used because this is a causal puzzle game. Pleasant violin music can be used in the start screen, map screen, and Swampy levels, low-pitched instruments like a cello can be used to make BGM for Cranky levels, and piano music can be used in Allie levels. Music of the same kind but with a faster tempo can be used in challenge levels. In special Duck Rush levels, music with rather fast tempo can be used. The main problem in sound effects is that some of them are harsh and incoherent. Improvements can be made by softening current sound effects and adjusting their volume at the beginning and the end, or simply replacing those with new ones, which will to some extend solve the audio problem. 2. A simulation systems should be created, making the three alligators the objects. The game designer may design accessories on the five body parts of each alligator (i.e. head, face, body, hands and tail), which can be unlocked after the players fulfill achievements in game levels or randomly found in the game as Easter eggs when certain criteria are met. In times of holidays, a variety of holiday decorations can be sent to the players to satisfy their desire to collect. This design allows the players to have three customized alligators with countless possible costume matching schemes. Being able to share these onto their social media involves the players more into the game and increases user stickiness. 3. The tutorial level should be remade by adding tutorial videos and operation gesture tutorials. A most basic tutorial level should be made and displayed before other levels, where the players can learn about the game with gesture (using a finger image which swipes along a dotted line displaying the path to guide the players) and written instructions. By updating the tutorial level, novice players to the game will be able to grasp it faster. [1] Disney has cut its gaming sector; under what circumstances are innovations of big companies doomed to fail? http://tech.qq.com/a/20160517/031657.htm [2] Of all the phenomenal mobile games accompanying our growth, how many have you played? http://news.shouyou.com/news/03042015/092530962.shtml v [3] Interview: Disney Mobile's Tim FitzRandolph on 'Where's My Water http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gamehunters/post/2011/10/interview-disney-mobiles-tim-fitzrandolph-on-wheres-my-water/1#.WOfG2juGNhE [4] Where’s my water? review http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/iPhone/Where%27s+My+Water%3F/review.asp?c=33723
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Case analysis: World Conqueor 3
World Conqueror 3 is developed by an obscure Chinese company, EasyTech. In its early stages of development, the company produced 7 role-playing games with none of them making a heat in the market. Not until European War I received wide acknowledgment and hit a new download record on the Apple App Store, did EasyTech confirm its market orientation and focus on military simulation games (SLGs). Later game released by the company, including the European War series, the Glory of Generals series, and the World Conqueror series, all received high marks from both the media and gamers, which indicates that EasyTech has found a right direction. It is worth mentioning that Glory of Generals 2 and European War 4 were almost granted the maximum score on Apple App Store. (How to evaluate EasyTech as a game company, via Zhihu) By far, EasyTech has become a dominating figure in the small circle of military SLGs. It succeeded because all of its games follow the two fundamental principles of factualism and historicity. The company builds every one of its games on the basis of facts and actual war times described heavily in historical records of the mankind. Compared with most other games in the market which are based on fantasies, realistic games appear to be deeper and more realistic, offering a strong sense of reality and a background fitting with the players' current world views for them to blend in more quickly. In other words, fantasy games and imaginary worlds cannot provide as strong a sense of immersion as reality-based games. Basis for every general, weapon, and name of place can be found in the real world. Such a strong sense of reality will enable the players to immerse themselves into the battlefield as if they were generals with absolute power commanding the war. The historic feature of EasyTech games is another demonstration of their authenticity. Since games produced by the company often adopt real map and historical periods, spanning largely across time and space, which makes it especially important for them to respect historical facts. The historicity of EasyTech games can be found in many details: weapons and gears in different regions and times have different names, generals have attributes corresponding to their historical appraisals, and the troop assignments in each warfare stage is faithful to the historical battlefield. Therefore, as the players discover these details one after another, they will feel the sincerity and painstaking efforts of the game producer and thus have a good impression on the game.
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World Conqueror 3 is a game launched in 2015 by EasyTech, which combines elements from the Glory of Generals series and the European War series. It is also the second game adopting the whole world map developed by EasyTech (World Conqueror 3, via Bidu Encyclopedia). World Conqueror 3 has both the shared characteristics of EasyTech games, factualism and historicity. Apart from that, the ingenious SLG system adopted is the biggest feature of this game. Every turn, the player is allowed to manipulate the surviving units including tanks and troops to move and attack, or build architectures in the open space to produce more units. Different types of units have different strengths and weaknesses; for example, infantries are weak to armored vehicles. The game maps make full use of landforms including mountains, forests, and oceans, which affect not only the movement but also the attributes of the units. Besides basic unit operations, technology tree elements similar to that in the Sid Meier's Civilization series were added to World Conqueror 3, enabling the user to build and develop weapons in order to defeat the enemy. It is also possible for the players to take over buildings and mines in this game, which is the main gameplay of the Command & Conquer: Red Alert series, considerably enriching the tactic elements of this game. In World Conqueror 3, players can collect four kinds of resources through winning battles or assigning generals to complete missions; they are industry, energy, technology, and badge. The first three resources, which can be used to upgrade technologies or technological weapons in the battle, are also dropped in battles, but badges, which are used to recruit generals and cultivate them, can only be acquired in battles or by in-app purchases. The general system is the key purchase point of this game. Generals in World Conqueror 3 have two major functions. One is enhancing the abilities of the troop they are assigned to according to their own attributes and skills. Different generals can bring different additional skills and attributes to the troop; some outstanding generals can even triple or quadruple the troop's strength. The other one is collecting the above-mentioned three kinds of resources after being assigned to different places.
There are two game modes offered by World Conqueror 3: the military career mode, and the global conquest mode. The first mode is similar to side tasks in other games, which enables the players to obtain resources through completing tasks. In this mode, the players can command their own troops to recreate famous historical battles and use their wisdom to challenge specially-made levels. On the other hand, the global conquest mode is similar to the main task of a game, which leads the players to conquer one city after another following the time line of history and eventually dominate the world. Since the strength of player-controlled troops gradually enhances over time, it feels like the players were commanding the mighty troops in person, cultivating their growth, and leading them to conquer the world. In the initial stage of the game, the players can enjoy the fun of this game. As the level proceeds, however, they will gradually find the difficulty increases faster than the growth of their own strength. In order to enhance their strength, the players can choose to complete side tasks in exchange for resources, or to purchase badges directly. The former solution increases the players' time cost, while the latter increases economic costs. To become stronger and break through to the next level in a shorter period of time, many financially well-off players choose to purchase for more strength and defeat formerly unconquerable cities. Although World Conqueror 3 is not a top game, its player groups are mostly affluent middle-aged and young people interested in tactics and history, but with limited time to spend on this game. Therefore, in-app purchases in exchange for strength become the most straightforward way for them to enjoy the game.
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Case analysis: World Conqueor 3
Being a game heavily based on tactics, World Conqueror 3 has well-distributed systems and campaigns, but these pros are also the biggest cons of this game. World Conqueror 3 has a vast battle system. Even a simple battle involves the cooperation of many elements, which makes it extremely difficult for novice players to get hold of the game and results in the disorganized display of the overall battle scene (Review of World Conqueror 3: A SLG with Better Tactics than Gameplay). With only one simple and crude tutorial level provided and no hints on the user interface, the players basically have to feel their way through playing. Consequently, many novice players who are not history or military lovers fascinated by SLG have been intimidated by the complexity of this game and given up. In addition to that, there are some defection in the numerical design of World Conqueror 3 levels, because players often find sudden difficulty increases in the game level which make them suffer crushing defeats to the computer. The purpose of such designs may be to stay true to history and attract the players to pay for enhancements, but unreasonable numerical design will also irritate the players and reduce their passion for the game. In view of the existing problems, I put forward several solution:
1. Prompts should be added and improved in the tutorial level and the interface. When players enter the game, they should be able to simulate all functions within 5 minutes with the help of artificial intelligence (AI). By doing that, they will understand the design of this game, and ways to utilize different systems, including differences between the two game modes, ways to recruit and upgrade systems, and ways to build bonus buildings and upgrade troops. As for the most important tutorial of the battle system, players should be allowed to command a mature troop to battle, where they can learn the functions of all the units step by step. Upon experiencing the pleasure of an advanced player, novice players will be motivated to learn about the game and enhance the strength of their own characters. 2. On the basis of respecting history, free generals should be added in some difficult levels for the players to command, which will increase player strength to better get through the level without disturbing the recreation of historical events. Meanwhile, the players will be more eager to cultivate their own generals after borrowing powerful generals temporarily offered by the system. As the level difficulty is too prominent for the players to clear the level with tactics alone, the enhancement brought by generals becomes crucially important. A troop with a general can wield extremely high combat effectiveness and display obvious improvement in attributes and tactics. 3. In the battlefield scene, the screen can be made simpler and clearer if the relative size of the units and maps is adjusted. Specifically, the units should be shrunk reasonably to make the overall scene clearer. In the game, attack and movement animations of the units should be added. Other than that, damages caused by different units of different troops should be shown in different colors, so as to inform the players of the current battle situation in a clearer way. The unit icons need to be redesigned. Specifically, an outline can be added around each unit to further distinct the models of adjacent warships or chariots from one another, making it easier for the players to operate and estimate. [1] World Conqueror 3, via Baidu Encyclopedia http://baike.baidu.com/link?url=oCVRqIPXIeuumRPXbsxumHY_3CVEawM51K_jFig27ZGyI9kwADRLM5UemDlBNKd2gOVzE94xyIxPzM-04QouEUgi51tSVG_zrO1sqH2LFYbKwSe2z-LsItIDDpaomocAiA0b 0aNgvr8KooyulLyXsa [2] How to evaluate EasyTech as a game company, via Zhihu https://www.zhihu.com/question/41047703 [3] Review of World Conqueror 3: A SLG with Better Tactics than Gameplay, via 4399.com http://news.4399.com/gonglue/sjzfz3/pingce/m/527086.html
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Case analysis: BlackSmith Story On May 8, 2015, Blacksmith Story, a pixel-style game designed by Make Best Game studio was launched on Apple App Store. The game was recommended by App Store on July 24 in the same year, and made its way into the Retro Games Special of Apple App Store on August 14 (How to evaluate Blacksmith Story?). As an independently produced Chinese game, it is not easy for Blacksmith Story to have been recommended by App Store. It also proves that the quality of both the game and the indie studio has gained recognition from Apple editors, and that the game itself stood out among its contemporaneous peers. By the time it was first launched, Blacksmith Story was priced 6 CNY. In the first two months after release, the game was only downloaded for less than 6,000 times, bringing a total revenue of less than 30,000 CNY, which is envious to indie game studios but disdained by commercial game companies. After being recommended by App Store, however, the game was free for a limited period of time. On the very first day, it was downloaded for 32,800 times, almost quintupled the total statistics of the past two months (Sales Statistics on Apple App Store Released by Blacksmith Story). It was by no means a coincidence that the game resurrected with the Apple recommendation and gained recognition from the App Store editors. Its success can be analyzed from the following two aspects. Game Quality Blacksmith Story is a well-made idle simulation game produced by a Chinese indie studio, featuring many interesting mechanisms, such as manipulating the battle mode of heroes by giving them different types of equipment. The game adopts a pixel art style and takes pains to construct its plots and world view, which appeals strongly to those veteran gamers from the Nintendo Famikon era. Its gameplay centers in the management of a weapon shop, with an additional idle game system and a strategic battle system. Having a game mode familiar to the players and at the same time offering a brand new combination, the game is fun to play and stays enjoyable for a long time. Game Studio The production studio of Blacksmith Story is an indie group with only ten members. It is also the first production of the studio. The conception of the game started right after the studio established on May 8, 2014. On the same day a year later, the game was finally released. From its release to its receiving App Store recommendation, eight game updates were put forward, each making a rather major alteration to the gameplay and core contents. The fact that the game studio preserved its innovativeness and at the same time kept maintaining and updating the game shows how much they have dedicated to the game (Sales Statistics on Apple App Store Released by Blacksmith Story). It is also one of the reasons why App Store recommended this game.
[1]How to evaluate Blacksmith Story?, by Pin Ming Wan San Lang https://www.zhihu.com/question/33952274 [2]Review of Black Smith Story: A Fighting Spirit of Chinese Indie Mobile Games, by Qi Si Yu Wan Zi http://play.163.com/15/0813/17/B0TR442000314P37.html [3]Sales Statistics on Apple App Store Released by Blacksmith Story, by CHEN Qi http://www.chuapp.com/2015/08/09/190145.html [4]On the Future Development of Pixel Games http://game.huanqiu.com/roll/2015-06/6705726.html
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Case analysis: World Conqueor 3
Highlights of the game are summarized as follows: Core gameplay of weapon shop management plus battle tactics; Core systems including the idle game system In Blacksmith Story, the primary goal of players is to run the weapon shop, forge powerful weapons, equip the heroes, and arrange them to defeat monsters in different levels. The idle game elements are mainly shown in the resource collecting mode of the game, the tactic elements are embodied in the sales and equipment of weapons, and the battle system combines idle game and tactics. Such gameplay attracts both casual players who are willing to spend time and money to experience the fun of idle games and core players who would like to delve into game details in search for better ways to clear the levels. Random weapon and material forge system It is the forging system shown by the iron furnace inside the weapon shop that is used the most by the players and took the most efforts to design. Each material or weapon has a unique recipe. The material and weapon systems in the game are complicated. The players, therefore, will have to consider how to pick three elements and forge what they want. Forge recipes are hinted in many details in the game, but never revealed directly to the players. Taking advantage of the players' will to collect and solve puzzles, this design is likely to attract them to stay and explore the game world. Novel world view, fun language style, and other elements The game is located in a fantasy world where the players seem to be confined to a weapon shop, a street, and a battle scene, but are able to construct a relatively complete and peculiar world view with bits and pieces of information. Each hero in the game has his/her character and choice of words. Sometimes they may even update their status on the "wall of heroes" and "like" other heroes' posts. Black Smith Story also contains a large number of memes and solutes to other art works. For example, Run Hero, Where Is the Hero Going, and other books in the restroom of clerks, a monster named "Caonimo", a weapon named "The Faeces Stirrer", etc., which not only increase the depth of the game, but also act as an indirect collection system luring the players to discover more memes (Review of Black Smith Story: A Fighting Spirit of Chinese Indie Mobile Games). Pixel game; the design pays tribute to classic games The game adopts a pixel art style and takes pains to construct its plots and world view, which appeals strongly to those veteran gamers from the Nintendo Famikon era.
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Defections of the game are just as evident, which can be summarized as follows: Insufficient expressiveness of the pixel style Although the game takes on a pixel style which is popular and easy for people to receive, it still has a great distance from real pixel masterpieces. For example, in the battle scene, the movements of characters are rather crude, and the operation differences among different weapons are left unexpressed. Also, game elements in the weapon shop are distributed in a messy way. Since many elements have similar color tones and small sizes, the players cannot differentiate them clearly and tend to overlook units like the iron furnace and the recruitment poster. Besides, the overall pixel artwork lacks aesthetics and has much room to promote. Insufficient scenes and incomplete storyline The game does not provide many detailed description of the storyline. Instead, the players have to pay continuous attention, trying to explore the game carefully and discover the story from words of some heroes and descriptions. Still, the story is incomplete and lacks many background stories. As there are only three games scenes (the weapon shop, the street, and the battle scene), the players are sure to grow tired of the game after playing it for a long time and lose the interest to explore further.
Retro games, as the name suggests, are either classic games made in the past or new games with retro elements. Due to the limitation of graphic technology, most old games adopted 2D graphics with low resolution or pixel graphics. A lot of games even took texts as their carriers. In those days when the need for fine graphics could not be met, the core gameplay and contents naturally became the focus of attention to most players, which are also the key competition point of retro games. The majority of retro games are made by small-scale indie studios because the relatively simple art style can drastically cut the development cost, which suits the small studios better. As a result, the whole studio will focus more on the research of core gameplay. As the term "retro games" appears more and more frequently in the market, people's opinion on it often go to two extremes. This game genre has been on the rise for the recent years, but will gradually wither a few years later. This statement will be explained from the following two aspects: Target groups Players of retro games mainly fall into three categories: 1) gamers who loves retro art styles, 2) veteran gamers who have spent many years in gaming and with reminiscence sentiments, and 3) core players who pay much attention to the gameplay. Among these three overlapping groups of players, a shared characteristic is that they are mostly older in age, with the Post-'90s being the youngest generation. Senior to them, the Post-'80s and Post-'70s did not have particularly good gaming experiences, because Famicon games and arcade games are the only gaming memories they had. Therefore, these generation of people have a strong sentiment and interest in retro games. They are the major player group of retro games with a stronger consumer power relative to other players. Nevertheless, when the young generation grow up along with the development of the virtual reality (VR) technology and games adopting other graphic technologies, the market for retro games will rapidly shrink in contrast to the golden age today. By the time the new generation of players who have few contact with classic games become the main player group, when new game carriers (game helmets and VR glasses possibly) can no longer support retro games, this game genre will begin to perish. The reminiscent group will always be there, but the market for retro games will slowly decline, making retro games a marginalized game genre. Business model For most retro game productions, the development cycle is usually rather short, requiring low development costs, so they are unlikely to be priced too high. The characteristics of retro games lead to the fact that they have relatively minor risks and stress. Particularly, many small game companies and indie groups choose to port retro games as a safer way of operation. It is of great importance to choose the right games to develop and suitable operational tactics for the game producers to march into this market segment. Minecraft and Auro are two pixel games produced during the same time period which have similar qualities. Due to their different business modes, however, they had very different outcomes. While Minecraft became the most successful representative among retro games, Auro failed to get the players' attention and faded away (On the Future Development of Pixel Games). Meanwhile, because of the short development cycle and monotonous graphics, the average lifespan of retro games is significantly shorter compared to other types of games. If producers of retro games can seize a suitable business mode, there is still much room left in the market for this gamte genre.
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4
Other Works
Pixel puzzle Game StoryLine; Cyclic process
2D adventure Game Unique operating method Develop based on Shan Hai Jing
Twins
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Introduction Awake is a plot-oriented game of 2D horizontal panel pixels. The story of the game takes place in the consciousness hallucination of the protagonist after his car accident. In the illusion, the protagonist can only stay awake for a short period of time, and then fall asleep into samsara. Before closing his eyes and sleeping again, the protagonist needs to find his realistic memory in the illusion, so as to wake up and return to reality.
Core Gameplay method In Awake's phantom level, players only have 45 seconds to break through the various traps in the phantom and find the entrance to memory. During these 45 seconds, the player's vision will continue to shrink, similar to the process of sleeping with eyes closed. When the eyes are completely closed, the player's vision will disappear and force to restart the level. Only by successfully finding the entrance to memory and entering the memory barrier can the mechanism of closing eyes and sleeping be abolished.
Awake emphasizes the concept of exploration, and the specific development of the plot is imagined by the players themselves according to the pictures in the memory checkpoint. Only one NPC in the game provides a small amount of text to prompt the players of the plot tone of the game.
After completing three memory checkpoints, the player needs a chase battle: the illusion is shattered by the impact of memory, and the player needs to find an exit to escape from the illusion before it is shattered. In the process of escape, there will be realistic plot text to reveal the plot behind the game.
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Twins is a special 2D adventure game set in the ancient Chinese mythology of Shan Hai Jing. The background story of the game is as follows: Yin and Yang fish are spiritual animals bred in the array of Tai Chi. Only when they are together can Tai Chi work properly and the world maintain order and balance. But at the time of this game began, the Yin and Yang fish were separated because of their loss of strength, and were hunted by the sparrow. After experiencing the journey through the Yin world and Yang world, they finally recovered their strength to reconstitute Tai Chi and saved the unbalanced world.
Black fish(Yin fish) exist in the Yin world, white fish(Yang fish) in the Yang world, they advance at the same speed, and are chased by the big mouth behind. There are many obstacle traps and spiritual beasts along the way, but only half of the movement ability of the two Yinyang fishes is gained to avoid danger. Players control the black fish to change its gravity and the white fish to jump by pressing the space key at the same time. Black fish only need to press one time to change gravity and move, while white fish need frequent keystrokes to keep floating (similar to “flappy bird� operation). One operation corresponds to two state changes of the two roles, together with the obstacles and traps behind it, twins requires players to have a strong ability to react and calculate. After a period of time, black and white caves will appear in the scene. After passing through the caves, Yin and Yang fish will exchange their positions but not change their operation mode, which further escalates the difficulty of the game. After all the cards, Yinyang Fish will regain its own strength and regenerate TaiChi to guide the end of the game.
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Art elements in Twins
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E-mail: limu@kean.edu Tell: +86 13736038888
Thank for Your Time Li Mu 2016-2018
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