Game Development Giant

Jester originally planned to talk to Itagaki Tomonobu about the combat system. For example, a setting that Capcom is very good at is the connection of moves.

Many players may not notice some of Capcom's very small settings in beat-'em-up games, some of which they take for granted, but are very subtle settings, such as what Jester told Itagaki Tomonobu before. Give players full and absolute freedom of movement.

This setting is taken for granted by players, because this is the reality.

However, this setting was indeed the first one made by Capcom designers.

Secondly, it’s Capcom’s combat settings.

When playing games like Capcom and controlling the characters in the game to fight, you will often find a scene like this. That is, after the character controlled by the player hits the enemy with consecutive punches, the enemy will stiffen, and the stiffness will After that, if you continue to press the punch button, the character in the game will no longer punch, but will use moves similar to throwing skills to throw the enemy away.

For example, in Fighting Tornado, the mayor takes action and bends the enemy to bend down to receive the throwing skill, and the baby in Famous General.

In fact, because the action game Jester has not been studied too deeply, and Mars Entertainment's main focus is not in this aspect, although Mars Entertainment has also produced games such as Knights of the Round Table that directly changed the clear version of the game. However, in the field of action games, Capcom still has the greatest influence in this world.

They were the first to come up with many settings that make action games fun.

It can be said that without throwing skills, without sliding changes of direction, without aerial changes of direction, and without eye pressure continuous skills, action games would not be fun. And without Capcom, almost none of this would be possible.

However, this question is too in-depth. If we expand on it, we may not be able to finish it even after lunch. And there are still many things that Jester has to deal with today, so these can only wait until the carnival is over. The conversation continued with Itagaki Tomonobu. Anyway, Itagaki Tomonobu will not leave the United States until he completes this action game called Shadow Blade.

certainly. Now that there is still some time, Jester plans to talk to Itagaki Tomonobu about a game that he needs to talk to him about.

That's the problem with the difficulty of the game.

Regarding this point, Jester is very worried about Itagaki Tomonobu, because Itagaki Tomonobu has a too pathological pursuit of the difficulty of the game. Of course, this is also the charm of Itagaki Tomonobu's game. If Ninja Dragon It's not that difficult, and probably not that attractive.

but. If it was Itagaki Tomonobu who had completely matured more than ten years later, Jester would naturally not discuss this issue with him, because Itagaki Tomonobu at that time. I have a deep understanding of the delicate balance between difficulty and exhilaration. This balance is something that few designers can grasp. It can make you want to die again and again, but it will never throw it away. Drop the handle. Instead, he will actively seek abuse again and again.

It can be said that this is a shaking M-like pleasure.

However, the current Itagaki Tomonobu. Jester didn't really believe that a young man who was just starting out had such ability and level.

If you care too much about the difficulty of the design, then it is very likely that this will become a very difficult but not interesting game at all. Such a game will not sell many sales.

But Jester doesn’t want to affect Itagaki Tomonobu’s design ideas and his spirituality in action games, because in Jester’s eyes, the height that Itagaki Tomonobu can reach in the future is more important than the success or failure of such a game. Much more important.

Itagaki, it's almost noon. Let's talk about the last question. I would like to know what you think of the difficulty setting of the game. Jester deliberately pretended to be indifferent and asked casually, After saying that, Jester's eyes fell on Itagaki Tomonobu's face. He really wanted to know the answer to this question.

And Itagaki Tomonobu's answer did not disappoint Jester.

I like to make games more difficult. I think the more difficult the game, the more players will have a sense of accomplishment after they play it and pass it.

His tone was also very confident.

A sense of accomplishment.

Jester did not immediately express his opinion on Itagaki Tomonobu's answer. He first repeated the words sense of accomplishment that Itagaki Tomonobu said, and then he looked at Itagaki Tomonobu with a half-smile, knowing that Itagaki Tomonobu When Jester looked a little uncomfortable, Jester just withdrew his gaze and said in a very calm tone.

To be honest, I said before that it's up to you to make the decision about this game. I'm just here to check it for you. Although my name will be written first in the producer column of the game, you also know that this is Sega requirements, so I really leave this game to you to make. You are the first producer of this game. You have the final say on how to set the difficulty of the game. I Won’t interfere.”

With that said, Jester took a look at Itagaki Tomonobu's face at this time. As expected, a hint of joy appeared on Itagaki Tomonobu's face.

Jester didn't take it seriously either. He smiled and continued: However, for the sake of the quality of this game, I have to discuss this issue with you. Otherwise, if you make it too difficult and the sales are too ugly, Although we at Mars Entertainment have underwritten at least one million units, if the game with my name on it really doesn’t sell even one million units, then I will have no place to put my face.”

Hearing Jester teasing himself like this at the end, Itagaki Tomonobu couldn't help but smile.

You tell me, I'll listen.

And he nodded sincerely, but Jester also shook his head after hearing what Itagaki Tomonobu said, and said: I'm not saying, listen, Itagaki, don't put yourself in the position of a student. You are very talented. Have you forgotten what I just said? You are the person with the deepest understanding of beat-'em-up games and the most talented person I have ever seen. You must cherish your inspiration and your ideas. I As I said, you can only refer to it, but you cannot accept everything as ordered, do you understand?

Jester's words were very harsh, and Itagaki Tomonobu looked very ashamed after hearing it.

He lowered his head and whispered sorry.

But Jester waved his hand: No need to apologize. I said, our status is equal now. We are discussing how to make a game, not me teaching you how to make it. Okay, I'll make the story short. Still talking about the difficulty and ease of the game, I would like to hear what you think is more difficult. What kind of difficulty is it?

Regarding Jester's question, Itagaki Tomonobu was somewhat confident.

During this period of time, he had been thinking about this issue. Therefore, after hearing Jester ask him this, Itagaki Tomonobu just thought about it for a moment, and then began to say: Actually, many of the details are insignificant. , in the final analysis, it is a point of view, that is, all the designs in the game are to kill players.

oh.

Hearing Itagaki Tomonobu speak so directly, Jester agreed. He was a little surprised by Itagaki Tomonobu's point of view.

Because in the future, he had heard about another act game master Hidetaka Miyazaki, the producer of the Soul series and Bloodborne who often talked about it. At that time, a reporter asked him why he could make the game so good. Okay, Miyazaki Hidetaka said casually with a smile, because all my designs in the game are to kill players.

So……

Naturally, Jester would not just listen to Itagaki Tomonobu's general talk. He would want to understand his understanding of the difficulty of action games in depth.

...How do you maintain a good balance between difficulty and playability?

Thinking that Itagaki Tomonobu might not understand what he wanted to express, Jester further explained: In other words, how do you make players feel sick while still retaining the desire to continue playing? , instead of giving up the game directly? You should know that a game that is too difficult will make the player's character die many times. If the number of deaths is too many, then it is inevitable that the player will feel bored. Psychologically, they won’t continue playing.”

As he spoke, Jester paused for a moment before adding another sentence.

Except for the sense of accomplishment you mentioned, because I don't think that's the key factor that balances the difficulty.

this……

Jester's question was indeed difficult for Itagaki Tomonobu to answer. He had been thinking about how to design the game to be technically difficult. Of course, this was not the kind of difficulty where numbers were changed casually. He had never thought about it. Jester asked this question.

However, Itagaki Tomonobu also had to admit that Jester's question was indeed very accurate, and it was something he had neglected to consider before.

Indeed, as Jester said, if there is no balance between difficulty and playability, the biggest possibility in the end is that players will abandon the game they have worked so hard to design like a pair of worn-out shoes. The best result for a game is that it is only liked by a small number of very core players. As for sales? Even Itagaki Tomonobu could foresee that the sales of such a game would eventually fail.

For him, it doesn't matter if he makes another game.

But for a game with Jester's name on it, this is absolutely not possible, because Jester's golden name is too important to Mars Entertainment.

In just a moment, Itagaki Tomonobu felt the heavy burden on his body. (To be continued...)