Game Development Giant

Carnival's sense of identification with fans and user stickiness are unparalleled.

This is why Mars Entertainment values ​​the annual carnival so much. As for exposure or attention, game companies like Mars Entertainment no longer need to rely on E3 to attract the attention of players or the media.

And almost all players or media also know that Mars Entertainment’s big news comes at the carnival.

Naturally, E3 is still being prepared, but the priority has been lowered within Mars Entertainment. It is no different from the importance of Cologne. There will naturally be a dedicated team to do this, instead of thousands of people dispatching together like a carnival. , for fear of not having enough manpower, Jester doesn’t have to worry about these things, he still has many chores to deal with.

Warcraft is his work. It is the second RTS game of Mars Entertainment. The first one is Age of Empires, which is also the work of Jester.

But the difference is that Jester doesn't seem to care much about the sequel to Age of Empires. It seems that when he makes this game, he just makes a template for how an RTS game should be made - contrast with his work on Warcraft 》 series of attention, this is definitely not the same. He personally produced the first Warcraft: Orcs and Humans.

The entire story structure was completed by a top Hollywood screenwriter who spent a lot of money to complete the story bed frame.

The structure of the world and the direction of the story were all reviewed by Jester personally.

Moreover, novels and comics were released at the same time as the game, but many people didn't understand it, including now, and many people don't understand it. Isn't it just an RTS game? Is it necessary to do this? It's not an RPG - no player cares about the origin and inheritance of a soldier he controls.

Of course, it is undeniable that Warcraft has evolved from the first generation. As of now, the third expansion pack of the second generation has been released, and its plot mode is very well-made. After all, it is a story line completed by the top screenwriters in Hollywood and Jester, and. It seems that Jester's ambition for this series is definitely not just an RTS, but what kind of ambition does he have for this series?

No one can guess.

The third game in the Warcraft series is currently being prepared. The story is still completed first, and then the game is made - this series has always been like this, very similar to RPG games. Jester is particularly fond of the plot mode.

Of course, RTS games have always been Mars Entertainment’s strength.

But this time, Jester seems to want to make some modifications to the current RTS mode. He has a brand new idea that he wants to add to this RTS game.

The reason for this is that the StarCraft that Rob Pardo spent two years developing is really too good. After completing the Invincible Heroes project, Rob Pardo Participated in the development of StarCraft, and Rob Pardo also liked Jester's way of treating Warcraft by treating the plot of an RTS game as the depth of an RPG game.

So, on StarCraft. Especially in terms of plot, Rob Pardo also worked with several people from Sons of Mars to complete a complete world system. The entire storyline is logical and strict. Not only that, they also did an exceptionally good job in RTS battles. , to put it bluntly, after the people from the Warcraft development team played the internal version of StarCraft.

I feel that all the RTS games they made before are outdated.

Because what StarCraft does is really great.

Especially when there are various types of troops. It can also ensure a very tight balance, and various unexpected tactics emerge in an endless stream.

Within the company, when conducting internal tests of StarCraft, people from other development teams were always beaten by people from the StarCraft development team in different ways. All kinds of weird tactics made them cry without tears.

Moreover, it is very addictive to play.

Therefore, this also put the development work of Warcraft 3 at a standstill.

It’s only now, a year and a half late, that it’s starting again – while Jester was working on the finale of Gallant . In addition, he also had a lot of things to do, and he really didn’t have much time to participate in the development of Warcraft 3. Therefore, he had no choice but to come up with a game that could compete with StarCraft. In the case of a new RTS mode, Warcraft 3 will not start production rashly.

It was only recently that Jester suddenly brought up the project, which had been delayed for more than a year.

The development team of Warcraft 3 has begun to gather again. This time the scale is larger than any previous one. The plan is to have a team of sixty people. Of course, the initial architecture stage cannot use so many people. Twenty That’s about it for people.

A total of nineteen people participated in the Warcraft 3 development meeting hosted by Jester this time. Three people did not come because they were still in other development teams, but the nineteen people were almost there.

I think you guys are a little scared of StarCraft.

Among these nineteen people, seven or eight are actually key members transferred from the original StarCraft development team of Robert Pardo. This behavior also caused the development of a new expansion pack for StarCraft. Rob Pardo of Brood War was so angry that he even gave up his options and went to Jester's place. However, this was Jester's wish and there was nothing Rob Pardo could do.

Although, Rob Pardo has great ambitions for Brood War.

Hearing what Jester said, the dozen or so people who were not from the StarCraft development team laughed a little sheepishly. StarCraft was really too good, and they really didn't think of how to do it. Only by making a new Warcraft can we defeat them - or let's not talk about defeat, even if it is to make a Warcraft that is different from StarCraft, they don't have any good ideas for the time being.

In their hearts, they even believe that StarCraft is simply perfect and has reached the pinnacle of RTS games. Basically no game in this genre can surpass them.

Traditional RTS game... Jester suddenly spoke after being silent for a while. He saw that someone seemed to not quite understand what his traditional RTS game was, so Jester explained it. , What I mean by traditional RTS games is, for example, the RTS games with the model of Age of Empires when I made them, where I create units. And then kill my opponents...

After hearing what Jester said, everyone understood.

But soon, they didn't understand. Because since Jester mentioned this traditional RTS game, there must be non-traditional RTS games, but what are the so-called non-traditional RTS games?

If it no longer has this characteristic of creating units to kill opponents, can it still be called an RTS game?

In fact, games have developed to this point. All types of games are basically very complete, FPS, RTS, FTG... Jester talked about many game types, Basically you can't think of anything that has never existed. Game types have changed, and it will become increasingly difficult to make something different from other games. So let’s take a step back and ask, can we combine different game types to form a game that looks like What about a very novel game?”

Faced with this problem Jester.

Everyone present was lost in thought. Jester did not disturb them, and after waiting quietly for almost ten minutes, he asked.

Picked one at random.

Dustin, do you have any good ideas?

This person whom Jester calls Dustin is a bald man, about twenty-eight to nine years old, with a beard. He was a little surprised that Jester suddenly called him, because he is not the planner of the game, but He is a programmer. He was previously the main programmer on the engine of the StarCraft development team. It was precisely because of his unique insights into program development during the development of StarCraft that Jester was transferred directly.

There is an interesting story about him and the StarCraft engine.

When the first version of StarCraft came out, there was a small internal test. But the response was not good. In the eyes of many people, this is just a new version of Warcraft 2 with no intention at all.

Pardo and his development team would certainly not be satisfied with this kind of feedback.

So, they immediately overturned the earliest version. The beginning of production from scratch is the development of what is currently called the most outstanding RTS game version.

It was at this time that Dustin joined the development team of StarCraft and was responsible for the engine.

Because we were starting from scratch, the development schedule was very tight, and we basically worked overtime every day. For example, Dustin, in order to develop an excellent enough engine, he even went home only once a week. You know, At that time, his newlywed wife was already pregnant and was about to give birth, but there was no way - only after knowing that his wife was sent to the delivery room, Dustin hurriedly went to the hospital.

I even took a company laptop with me when I left.

When he arrived at the hospital, the fetus was restless in the mother's belly, and his wife had begun to convulse. After seeing his wife enter the delivery room, he used the five or six hours to stay in front of his wife's delivery room to complete Interstellar All the programming work at the bottom of the Battle for Hegemony engine.

When his wife woke up from anesthesia after giving birth and saw him still typing codes on the computer, she angrily asked him loudly: Why are you still working on that damn game of yours even when our daughter was born?

Dustin immediately said, This isn't a fucking gaming job, it's StarCraft!

This incident also made Dustin a celebrity within the company. He was even awarded the Employee of the Year award last year, which is the most glorious honor within Mars Entertainment.

I...I don't have any good ideas.

When Jester asked, Dustin could only reply with some apology. Then Jester looked at the others. The faces of the others were just as confused as Dustin's, but this was okay. Jester expected that in just ten minutes, even the best game developers would not be able to improve a traditional game through the fusion of genres out of thin air.

Then let me tell you what I think.

Jester simply spoke directly: This is an immature idea of ​​mine, and it is also a whim that I had during this period. I think it would be very suitable to use it in Warcraft 3. Have you ever thought about it? , combine some elements of RTS games and RPG games? For example, upgrades, such as equipment.

When Jester suddenly said this, the people present were a little confused.

They didn't quite understand Jester's thoughts.

If upgrading is worth upgrading, then it started during the Age of Empires period.

equipment? Is it like what Invincible Heroes did?

hero!

Jester suddenly said a key word. He looked at everyone with shining eyes, as if he was saying something extraordinary: Yes, I mean to join the role of a hero, just like an army member. Like the commander, we have also added it to the game. Each player can have heroes belonging to their race during the game. These heroes can be upgraded and obtain equipment, just like an RPG game - and these Heroes will play a very important role in the game, and their strength will be enough to affect the outcome of the final game!

I heard Jester talking about his new idea with great interest.

It's rough though.

But the people sitting here are all the best designers after all. They quickly heard from Jester's idea how different the game produced in this way will be from traditional RTS games.

It can even be said to be an innovation in the entire gameplay!

DO-IT!

Finally, before Jester finished speaking, he heard someone say this, and then everyone agreed.

The development meeting of Warcraft 3 ended successfully. Originally, Jester didn't want to incorporate the hero system into it so quickly, but the situation has changed after all. He can't let the players think that Warcraft 3 It's just that another game has been reskinned, and this one is very detrimental to his management of this game IP.

In fact, in the original history, in the 1990s when RTS games were frequently released, except for the WAR series, almost no RTS game would pay so much attention to the plot of an RTS game.

I will publish novels and comics for him.

At that time, the developers of these RTS games had a very simple idea. They were just soldiers in the hands of players. What background did these things need?

But the result is self-evident.

Warcraft became a cultural phenomenon, and StarCraft sold millions of copies even when RTS games were in decline, and all other RTS games were dead. (~^~)