With 300,000 yuan in the card, how to make a game?

In September 2013, Lu Qi, an ordinary planner in the parallel world, had just resigned from his previous company and someone lent him 300,000 yuan in start-up capital.

The three projects he had experienced before, from execution to copywriting and system, to the main strategy without title, didn't need him to start over, and now this is the first problem he faces.

A lonely man starts from scratch.

First, you have to find a game engine.

The game engine can actually be roughly understood as a series of tool integrations related to game development.

For example, if you want to make a delicious pickled fish, if you have a game engine, just buy a fish and get it.

It is theoretically possible without a game engine, so you have to get some matte steel or steel first, and then build a stove, forging, composite, forging, quenching, grinding, assembly, and you can first have a kitchen knife.

Then continue to make pots, chopping boards, squeeze some oil, and plant some pickled cabbage and chili. By the way, you also need to know how to make pottery and set of bowls and chopsticks.

Therefore, the significance of a game engine is to allow developers to focus on game development itself without wasting a lot of time and energy on a lot of basic and repetitive work.

There are many excellent game engines on the market now, and they can make the development process of a game simpler and the threshold for individual developers is getting lower and lower.

Of course, there are open source and some charges, although open source does not completely equal free.

The project Lu Qi intends to do has no requirements for engine performance, but this is not the only consideration.

If you want to make something a little unpopular, maybe you can't find a programmer in China who can use it, and you can't even start working.

In the end, he chose a more friendly V3 engine for small and medium-sized enterprises. It may be very stressful to make 3A games, but it is completely enough for this 2D project now, and it is even more suitable for a little.

Many game companies in China use it for development. Everyone says it is good. Programmers should not be too easy to find. The technical support documents are very detailed and the supporting editor is also perfect.

The payment model is also humane. If you use it commercially, you need to pay US$30 per month, which is equivalent to more than RMB 180. Unlike some other engines, although they are easy to use, they have to charge money according to the percentage of your income.

Then we determine the art style, which Lu Qi has considered very clearly.

Due to the development cost, pixel wind is his best choice. It is not that pixel wind is simple, but the workload is definitely relatively lower, which will greatly shorten the development cycle.

As for the game type, for new players and new projects, you can only win by playing.

Fortunately, his mind contains countless great game designers and their works from another world.

...

Lu Qi rented a two-bedroom and one living room more than 200 meters away from the school.

After two years of exploring school, he returned to school.

During this period, he also registered his personal studio and locked the platform where the game was launched in Marge.

The Marge platform is currently the world's largest digital game distribution platform. It was developed by the Wonder Group in the United States. Since its launch in 2005, the total number of platform games has exceeded 20,000. Almost any game with a digital version can be purchased on it.

The number of users worldwide exceeds 120 million, even in China, with 9 million sales on the entire platform exceeding US$3.2 billion last year.

It's such a giant.

I ran around for a few days and was a little tired, but it wasn't expensive, so I could do it all for just over a thousand.

When I was naming, I thought of the person who borrowed his money, Xie Xile's Xile Studio, so I could also name it after my own name.

So, Studio 42, located in Room 401, Room 3, Building 7, Xingyuan Home Community, No. 741 Wangjiang Road, was established, even with an English name, 42 Studio.

It's so simple and easy to remember, and catchy.

Because it is not an industry where business nature has traffic that will disturb the public, and it is just about developing game software, it is not so strict in residential areas.

I ordered office computers online, and there are a total of three. The configurations for art and programs must be higher. This is all-round. Compiling and running program codes will destroy the mood. The color gamut, color accuracy, and color depth of the art monitors have certain requirements, as well as handwriting boards.

As for his own words... it's enough to be able to run games and write documents.

Fortunately, there is no need for a server, as for printers, scanners, motion capture, recording equipment... Let's talk about it when you need it in the future.

It’s enough to use Yunxin’s broadband. When he went to the company, he did an outsourcing project for Yunxin. The fate was always in such unintentional ways.

Then he recruited troops and immediately, he wanted to start the project before school reports began.

In fact, recruiting people is really similar to blind dates, you have to try your luck.

Sometimes I can chat in interviews, but after getting along for a long time, I find that both parties are still not suitable. I just say that I can do my best and slowly get through.

In situations like Lu Qi, what is needed is an all-round player. For example, art cannot distinguish between full-time original paintings, modeling, action special effects, etc. in the company. You don’t have to be proficient in a certain item, but you have to know each item. This is a basic requirement.

He first ruled out the idea of ​​outsourcing. He was outsourcing the project. Although he has now changed from Party B to Party A, he also knows how low the communication efficiency of both parties is. How can remote communication be conveyed more information than face-to-face? If he wants to change his needs temporarily, he will be anxious to death.

Recruiting people in school? Not to mention, this project is crucial. It can be said that he has a lot of money on it. He is half-working and half-reading, and then he recruits program art that is half-working and half-reading. He is just having fun, not everyone has the same efficiency as himself.

Another problem is that he does not know how to program, and he understands a little bit of it only logically, so as to avoid the program saying "the underlying layer does not support" to deal with it when requesting it.

It is impossible to have a technical interview at this level. People can do whatever they say to you, but they find that they can’t do anything. What can I do?

What should I do if I get a waste of time when I fire a replacement? What should I do if I get one?

What Lu Qi thought of was his brothers who had been on the top and bottom bunk.

It was not in school, but in Gusu Tianchuang, he went to the previous company.

At that time, Tian Chong rented a small community as the employee dormitory for newcomers, and they became the place for the novice village themselves.

As a relatively well-known game manufacturer in the second-tier domestic market, Tianchuang is average, but there are many people.

For example, the project where Lu Qi used to work, there were only 260 planning teams, divided into countless groups, four gameplay groups, and there were also dungeon groups, skill groups, copywriting groups, trigger groups, etc. The organizational structure was quite cumbersome.

What can I learn in such a team? This is why Lu Qi chose to leave the Tianzhu.

The four-person dormitory is also occupied by the same group of rookies.

The room where Lu Qi lived was his planner, program and two artists. He has left Tian Chong, and the other has gone to Huangpu. The two are in Yangzhou. Everyone is still in contact on weekdays.

I didn't know where I heard a saying before, don't start a company with your best friend, which made Lu Qi subconsciously block this idea.

In addition, the project has not yet been revealed, so friends have to give up the company's welfare protection. Perhaps outsiders may be suspected of pushing it into the fire pit.

But he is quite confident in the project. After several experiences, he is no longer the time when Wu Xia Amon was working hard for the same goal with his good friends, and he is quite passionate when he thinks about it.

With my understanding of their personality and situation, as long as I mention this matter, I will probably gather and respond to it.

I don’t know what I’m pretentious. Anyway, I don’t force it or kidnap it with friendship. I have to say it out and let the other party make a choice.

Anyway, those people are all single now, so everything is easy to say.

Lu Qi opened the TT group "Abnormal Human Research Center" in the 302 dormitory of Tianzhu Novice Village. This is the place where they chat and blow water on weekdays. They are all kinds of different things and talk about everything.

He would occasionally participate, which was one of his few leisure methods when he was in the Mingcheng City.

There were two people chatting happily, Yang Haitong, Art Art Wei Bin, and Lu Qi flipped through the chat records, but they were still able to chat as always.

I just talked about the brand choice of insecticides. After that, it has become a difference in the methods of Thai and Japanese massage. This is the standard rhythm of this group.

"I went back to Mansion and opened a studio." Lu Qi said straight to the point.

"Wow!"

"Yo!"

It was like a thunderclap on the ground, and the group exploded in an instant, although the two of them were chatting.

"Qizi is promising."

"What are you doing to make money? Are you still a law-abiding citizen now?"

"Don't forget each other if you are rich and noble!"

"You haven't bubbling for half a month, and you're so explosive when you come?"

In fact, in the past two years, the 302 dormitory occasionally dreamed of starting a business together. Yang Haitong, the oldest in the dormitory, was also a buddy who had slept in Lu Qi's lower bunk. He also looked for the boss in his hometown to try to attract investment.

At that time, I was brainstorming in the group to write a plan. Several people rushed to help come up with ideas, and finally found a website, which was positioned as a place for workplace and social animals to complain and vent their stress.

The site name is "Misfortune", and slogan has already thought about it: share your hardships with the whole world.

But it was left alone later. The boss looked at it and thought it was too unreliable. He didn't invest a penny with his fellow villagers' friendship.

Maybe everyone has their own dissatisfaction in their own workplaces.

Unexpectedly, Lu Qi was the first to take this step in the end.

Lu Qi said again: "I got the business license and the equipment was shipped on the road. The house was rented, but now there is only a shortage of people. I have a planner, and I have started to build a poor program and art."

"You can really hold it in. You'll come to tell us after you finish it!"

"Maybe this is the one who does big things."

Yang Haitong asked: "Do you already have a clear idea of ​​what project?"

"I've already got it. I've uploaded the project establishment document to the group attachment, so you can read it." Talking people to express sincerity first, and they are all in a dormitory friendship, which is 100% trustworthy.

He roughly described it: "2D pixel style, horizontal movement, A3 engine, a large number of art resources can be reused to form a random scene. The process is short and the characters are few monsters. The completion time is expected to be 60 to 80 minutes, and the workload is not large. The plan has been decided and will not be changed. The version plan has been completed. If we start the development cycle at full speed, we estimate that one and a half months can enter the test optimization stage."

Wei Bin asked: "So short?" It naturally refers to the game duration.

Lu Qi replied: "It's just a time to pass the level, but the game mechanism requires repeated clearance and unlocking more plots, weapons and skills. The actual time to play is long, so the random airport scene is needed to ensure that the players have a sense of expectation."

“Add Marge?”

"right."
To be continued...