Chapter 43 (1/2)

Chapter 43: This Is Boss Pei’s Thesis Assignment

“Therefore, I think that this is a test for us by Boss Pei. A thesis assignment.’

“Boss Pei’s specialty is in low risk high reward gambles.”

“That was the case for both The Lonely Desert Road and Ghost General!”

“Therefore, we have to try producing the best result using the least resources as well!”

“I’ve thought about it from a few different aspects. Characters, setting and cutscenes… we have to save as much as we can. Otherwise, the produced story mode is going to be meaningless. We have to employ limited resources where they are needed most!”

Bao Xu was confident.

Huang Sibo continued nodding, expressing his agreement.

Bao Xu then continued, “Actually, once we’re decided that we have to save resources as much as possible, we only have a few options left to play with.”

“First, character design. The game will employ a first person point of view. That way, we’ll be able to save on creating the character models and make do with just showing their arms and legs.”

“We can go with a zombie theme as the genre where there are two types of enemies in the game, zombies and mercenaries. We can make use of universal templates and just modify them to ensure that there’s a huge variety of creatures.”

Huang Sibo nodded his head. “Yes, understood. That’s a good idea. However, if there’s only zombies and mercenaries, I don’t think there’ll be much of a story? We still need side characters too.”

“I’ve already thought about that. We just need one — a little girl.”

Bao Xu looked at the talisman like paper on his hands. “In order to save on resources, I’m intending to set it such that the little girl will be a mute. That way, we can save on the dialogue and voiceover cost. The entire game’s sound will merely require some of the common fighting sound effects.”

Huang Sibo was stunned. “Huh? The only side character is someone who can’t speak? How are we going to develop the story that way?”

Through Huang Sibo’s understanding, a side character’s dialogue is a critical element of displaying drama and character traits.

If they only had a single side character to begin with and they were to make her mute without any dialogue, wouldn’t the entire game turn into a silent one?

Bao Xu thought about it. “Yes… there’s no choice. This is the result of compromising. If we allow the little girl to speak, we’ll have to look for professionals to voice act. Not just that, we’ll have to create an accent based on her character background as well and that’ll be a lot of work.”

“Besides, I think that the story won’t be affected even if the girl can’t speak. We can use other ways to define her.”

“For example, through her actions, expression and motions.”

“If it’s a mute character, a little girl is the best way to go about it.”

“There are two reasons for the girl to exist.”

“First, she’s an emotional support. The entire game revolves around zombies and mercenaries. To the gamers, she will be like a beacon of light within the darkness and she can help to balance their emotions so that it won’t be merely filled with ratatatat sounds of guns.”

“Second, she can take part in some puzzle solving portions of the game. Many massive overseas standalone games deploy similar tactics to allow gamers to solve puzzles with in-game NPCs. We can create a scenario such as the main door being locked and the only other exit is a narrow ventilation tunnel at the side where the little girl will have to climb through to help the main character open the door.”

“That way, be it in terms of emotional support or practicality, the little girl will be extremely important to the gamers.”

Huang Sibo nodded. “Yes, that sounds great! However, I’ve got another question. What about the story background? Is it a doomsday theme? The world’s theme must be able to fit in zombies, the little girl and mercenaries and it has to be logical without feeling forced.”