Chapter 728: Independent Game Designer

November 10th, Thursday…

In Beijing…

Qiu Hong looked at the address on his phone and then looked up at the old district in front of him.

The neighborhood was filled with elderly people. The neighborhood was very old and the living conditions were rather worrying. The residential buildings were also very narrow. Young people might not even want to live here, much less work here.

However, according to the address on the cell phone, there was an independent game designer here.

Qiu Hong also looked at the unit number. He followed the corridor that was filled with various psoriasis-style advertisements and climbed all the way to the sixth floor.

Qiu Hong knocked on the door after trying to determine which was unit 601 and which was 602.

Knock, knock.

A moment later, footsteps came from within. The old anti-theft door opened.

“You are… Boss Qiu?” A young man with messy hair and dark circles under his eyes asked hesitantly.

Qiu Hong nodded. “Yes, you’re Wu Zhicheng?”

Wu Zhicheng nodded. “Yes, Boss Qiu, you can call me Little Wu. Please come in.”

Wu Zhicheng stepped to one side.

Qiu Hong walked in and closed the door.

Heating would only be available in the middle of November in Beijing. There was still a week to go, so it was the coldest time right now.

After entering, Qiu Hong did not feel warm at all. Instead, he felt like there was wind blowing in through the gap in the window.

Wu Zhicheng looked like he was used to it. He dragged a chair over. “I’m sorry, Boss Qiu. I’m too messy. Please make do with it.”

Qiu Hong did not mind. He pulled a chair over and sat down.

At first, Wu Zhicheng wanted the two of them to find a cafe to chat. However, Qiu Hong insisted on coming to the place where Wu Zhicheng worked because he wanted to see the most realistic working environment and working condition.

Qiu Hong looked around.

It looked like a very small one-bedroom apartment. The living room had become Wu Zhicheng’s workroom. There was a computer desk, a computer, a messy pile of books, a game console, a small television, a small dining table… There was almost no space to step on.

The other room was Wu Zhicheng’s bedroom. Apart from the bed and the wardrobe, there were too many things. The bed was also filled with books which was equally worrying.

Wu Zhicheng felt a little awkward. He searched in the mini fridge for a long time, but all he found was Coca Cola. He wondered if Boss Qiu was used to drinking this.

Qiu Hong quickly said, “Don’t bother. Let’s get to the main topic.”

Wu Zhicheng nodded. “Alright, I’ll briefly explain my situation.”

Compared to Jiang Fan of Cherry Workspace, Wu Zhicheng’s experience was much simpler.

Jiang Fan had originally worked in a law firm. He had first created a game in his spare time and succeeded. Only then did he make up his mind to set up Cherry Workspace to start a business.

On the other hand, Wu Zhicheng worked for a period of time after graduating from university. He had a certain amount of savings. He resigned and started to work on games because he was not satisfied with his job.

Wu Zhicheng had never considered the problem of not being able to finish the game and not earning money.

In any case, if he could not take it anymore, he would look for another job.

Qiu Hong asked, “How far have you developed the game? Can I give it a try?”

Wu Zhicheng nodded. “Sure, but… the completion rate is very low. Boss Qiu, you might have to use your imagination when you play it.”

As he spoke, Wu Zhicheng turned on his computer and opened his game project on the official game editor.

Qiu Hong sat down in front of Wu Zhicheng’s computer. He looked at the dust on the keyboard and mouse, as well as the ashtray full of cigarette butts and empty Coke bottles on the computer table. He was speechless.

Wu Zhicheng quickly took out two pieces of tissue from the tissue box beside him, wiped the keyboard and mouse carefully, and then tidied up the computer desk.

“Boss Qiu, this is a mobile game. However, it can only be played on the computer at the moment. You have to use the mouse to complete the manual operation. It’s not very convenient. Please bear with it.”

Qiu Hong nodded and entered the game.

The game’s name was ‘Black Ink and Clouds’. It was a 2D landscape version of the game. It was relatively difficult. The biggest difference between this game and ordinary landscape version of the game was that it had a special way of playing. It interacted with the scenes in the game through drawing.

Players could create or erase objects in game settings by painting. This interactive experience would give players a very novel experience in special stages and Boss battles.

However… that was the ideal situation.

Many games were full of ideals, but reality was harsh.

There were two prerequisites to achieve the effect that Wu Zhicheng was looking forward to. First, every stage and every battle had to be carefully crafted. Second, there had to be an outstanding art effect.

The biggest difference between Black Ink and Clouds and the other 2D landscape versions of the game was the graphic interactive experience. However, if it was just a simple drawing and smearing, the gamers’ experience would be very boring and this game innovation would be meaningless.

A so-called game innovation must not be a simple concept but a set of rich gameplay and content.

He had to think and plan every stage and every boss’s playstyle. He had to come up with more tricks based on this playstyle to be considered successful.

What’s more, since the game was a game that focused on graphic interaction, the graphics had to be outstanding. Otherwise, the fun would be greatly reduced.

It was far from enough based on the current game completion rate.

That was normal. Wu Zhicheng was a student who had just graduated not long ago. He had created the game purely out of passion. Looking at the conditions, he did not have the ability to complete the gameplay and checkpoints. At the very least, there was no solution to the art resources.

Wu Zhicheng was not good at art, and he could not afford to hire any big names on the official platform. Thus, all the resources in the game were resources gathered everywhere. It looked very unflattering.

What’s more, all the operations were done using the mouse. It was not as smooth as playing on the cell phone.

All in all, Qiu Hong’s enjoyment of the game depended on his imagination.

Qiu Hong let out a melancholic sigh.

Previously, he felt that Cherry Workspace whose capital was about to be used up and would not be able to pay their salaries soon was very in line with the Destitution Plan’s rescue conditions.

However, he realized that destitution had no end when he saw Wu Zhicheng today.

The question was, did this project meet the requirements?

Boss Pei said not to invest in those who were too reliable and unreliable.

According to normal standards, this was definitely not reliable. There was no guarantee of the design ability or level of art from an ordinary person who had no experience in developing games, developing completely out of passion.

However, Qiu Hong instinctively hoped that Wu Zhicheng would be able to obtain help. That was because Wu Zhicheng had a belief. It was this belief that made this project reliable.

“Boss Pei said that I’ll decide for myself if I’m not sure if it’s reliable or not.”

“Since that’s the case…”

Qiu Hong pondered for a long time before asking, “How much do you think this game would cost to complete?”

Wu Zhicheng was stumped. “Er… this…”

“Honestly, I don’t know either.”

“If I can get 200,000 yuan, I can hire a good artist to help me draw the game.”

“If I have another 50,000 yuan, I can use it to pay the rent first. It can last for a long time…”

Qiu Hong fell into deep thought.

Cherry Workspace had very clear plans for the completion rate, employee salary, and daily expenses.

However, for Wu Zhicheng, he had no clear concept of project planning, working period, and resource control. Naturally, he could not give a specific number.

No matter how much money he gave, he could only solve the urgent problem first and think about the rest later.

Qiu Hong was not worried that Wu Zhicheng would spend too much money. Given his conditions, he would not spend much.

The key was that without a clear plan, the project control would fall into chaos. Qiu Hong knew very well that this was a fatal factor that could cause the project to fail completely.

These independent game designers were not only lacking money, but also various other supporting areas.

For example, how to plan the development cycle, how to control the cost, how to solve the financial problems, etc. These were all very difficult problems to solve.

However, given the gaming studio’s size, it would be a waste to complete the entire set.

He couldn’t possibly ask three or four people, including the finance department and administrative department, to surround Wu Zhicheng, right? That would be ridiculous.

Qiu Hong pondered for a moment and said, “Wait a moment, I’ll make a call.”

Wu Zhicheng nodded and waited patiently.

Obviously, he knew very well that it would be too far-fetched to ask someone to invest with his conditions.

Hopefully, Boss Qiu’s leader would be kind.