After establishing the general direction for “Ghostly General 2,” Pei Qian looked at Yu Fei again: “This was mainly my fault for not being clear from the beginning. Actually, your idea was pretty good too.”
“We’ll settle on this game background for now. Now tell me more about the gameplay aspects.”
“Don’t be constrained. Say whatever comes to mind.”
Yu Fei fell silent again.
Mr. Pei, this is a bit unfair.
You told me to speak freely, but as soon as I finished, you shot me down.
Although you claimed you had forgotten something, it was obviously because you didn’t approve of my suggestion, so you tactfully offered a modification!
What happened to seriously considering my proposal?
Liar!
Now Mr. Pei was asking about the detailed gameplay, which truly entered Yu Fei’s knowledge blind spot.
With his shallow gaming knowledge, he had proposed a “Tenda All-Stars Smash” concept, which was already the most feasible idea he could come up with.
As for the game’s details, he had absolutely no understanding, so how could he possibly discuss them?
Yu Fei struggled like someone with constipation for a few minutes, then somewhat resignedly said: “Fine, I’ll really speak freely then.”
“I think the reason fighting games have become niche is multifaceted.”
“One major reason is that they’re too hardcore, and almost all the fun is concentrated in PVP.”
“For ordinary players, they’re difficult to learn, difficult to practice, and difficult to enjoy. There are PVE modes, but they’re relatively monotonous. And while PVP can be intensely enjoyable, due to the small player base and large skill gaps, newcomers are easily crushed and quickly give up.”
“To change this, I think we should consider the following points.”
“First, consider changing the perspective of the fighting game to something like ‘Return to Shore,’ and adjust the combat mechanics to let players fight in a more mainstream, familiar way.”
“Second, enhance the PVE gameplay by adding numerous minions to battles, expanding the battle scenes, and strengthening Boss attributes.”
“Third, introduce two control schemes—one being the original control mechanism, and another simplified version to lower the entry barrier for beginners.”
“Fourth, establish a more comprehensive practice mode, not just letting players figure things out on their own, but making it clearer and more explicit, allowing players to repeatedly practice until muscle memory forms. Also, provide more in-depth explanations of technical content, saving players the time of searching for tutorial videos online.”
Yu Fei was truly speaking freely, saying whatever came to mind.
Didn’t you want me to speak randomly? Well, now I’m really speaking randomly!
Whether to adopt my suggestions or not is Mr. Pei’s business. No matter how unreasonable my ideas might be, Mr. Pei would surely carefully evaluate them and choose the right approach.
After hearing Yu Fei’s speech, the surrounding people showed various expressions.
But those designers who knew slightly more about fighting games were shaking their heads.
Clearly, Yu Fei’s ideas were purely from his own perspective, completely disregarding the target audience’s preferences.
Just the mention of changing the camera angle revealed his absolute amateur status.
If you change the perspective of a fighting game, how could it still be called a fighting game?
Changing to a third-person perspective like “Return to Shore,” making a larger map, adding some minions, increasing the difficulty of story mode bosses…
Wouldn’t this just be an action game like “Return to Shore”?
It would just be wearing a “Ghostly General” skin.
Of course, this wasn’t his fault.
After all, Yu Fei was an action game enthusiast. He had admitted he didn’t understand fighting games, and given the sudden request, he couldn’t possibly have had time to research and investigate.
So coming up with this proposal was actually quite reasonable.
In a sense, the game model Yu Fei proposed would definitely be more profitable than a pure fighting game, considering the foundation laid by “Return to Shore” and “Eternal Reincarnation,” plus the more mainstream appeal of this game type.
But Mr. Pei had already said this was a fighting game, so Yu Fei’s proposal couldn’t possibly be adopted.
Pei Qian listened attentively, trying to extract potentially money-losing elements.
After hearing everything, Pei Qian was silent for a moment before saying: “According to your description, this game seems more like an action game than a fighting game.”
Yu Fei: “Ah, well…”
“It does seem that way.”
“Could we perhaps add some special move inputs to the action?”
“That is… well…”
He continued with decreasing confidence.
Yu Fei was just saying whatever came to mind, but seeing the atmosphere and Mr. Pei’s reaction, his ideas were clearly not feasible.
The key was that he himself gradually realized that with such changes, how could it still be called a fighting game? It would clearly be an action game.
Moreover, even adding special move inputs couldn’t salvage it.
On one hand, fighting games and action games had completely different control schemes. Just the use of the joystick was entirely different, making them incompatible. The idea of “performing special move inputs in an action game” was practically impossible to implement.
On the other hand, even if they made it work, it would only count as “an action game with some fighting game elements,” not “a fighting game that looks like an action game.”
There was a fundamental distinction between the two.
Pei Qian rubbed his chin, also feeling this approach wouldn’t work.
The key issue was that turning a fighting game into an action game would make it profitable!
Pei Qian had decided to make a fighting game precisely because he thought it would be niche and unprofitable.
With this in mind, Pei Qian coughed lightly: “I think there’s much to commend in your ideas, though the first point is debatable.”
“The perspective absolutely cannot be changed—that would no longer make it a fighting game.”
“Of course, the perspective issue isn’t entirely absolute. We can make minor adjustments to distinguish it from traditional fighting games.”
“Apart from this point, I think everything else you’ve said is fine and aligns with the general direction I had in mind.”
“Especially the idea of adding minions—I find that quite innovative!”
“But one thing to note: the minions can’t all be on the same plane. Although this is a fighting game, what we’re making is pure 3D, with minions coming from various directions.”
“All fighting game controls operate on a 2D plane, so figuring out how to balance these two aspects and integrate them together will require your collective ingenuity.”
As soon as he said this, everyone in the room was shocked.
What?
Mr. Pei’s clarification on the first point matched their expectations, but what followed was something else entirely!
The perspective could be adjusted slightly but not drastically—that made sense.
But the rest—large scenes, adding minions, enhancing boss attributes—was hard to comprehend!
The key issue was it was difficult to imagine what a fighting game with minions would look like. How chaotic would that be?
Of course, many would instinctively consider it from a side-scrolling game perspective, with all minions concentrated on the same plane, or adding some depth to the horizontal plane.
But from Mr. Pei’s perspective, he clearly didn’t want it to become a side-scrolling game.
He wanted a fighting game, which meant the special move input mechanic must be preserved. To keep this, whether players used a joystick or direction keys, the control habits had to match those of fighting game players.
Furthermore, the minions couldn’t all be on the same plane.
Mr. Pei was saying that the game was actually 3D, with minions coming from all directions, but players would see characters from the side, consistent with traditional fighting game perspectives.
So how exactly to add this was truly difficult to understand.
Seeing everyone’s confused expressions, Pei Qian couldn’t help but smile.
Good, the desired effect had been achieved!
Actually, Pei Qian had two main concerns: first, he feared “Ghostly General 2” might become an action game like “Return to Shore” or some hack-and-slash game, which wouldn’t count as a fighting game and would greatly increase the chance of profitability; second, he worried “Ghostly General 2” might become a pure-blooded fighting game that would attract die-hard fans.
So, he messed with Yu Fei’s hastily conceived plan, turning the game into a chimera.
Add to that a chief designer who knew nothing about fighting games, and success was assured—in losing money!
“Does anyone else have any other opinions?”
“Very well, then let’s proceed with this plan.”
“If you think of any other ideas later, you can tell Yu Fei, and Yu Fei will relay them to me.”
Pei Qian was just going through the motions of asking. At this moment, everyone was still wracking their brains trying to understand what Mr. Pei’s design meant, and no one stood up to share their thoughts.
This was fine too. When they did have ideas, they could report them to Yu Fei.
Yu Fei was already not proficient in fighting games and had no concept of “Ghostly General 2’s” final form. If his subordinates kept giving him suggestions, he would certainly become very confused.
But the project should still be completable, considering the overall professionalism of Tenda’s game team.
The most likely outcome was that they would finish just before the deadline, producing a chimeric patchwork monster that looked decent due to the resources invested but simply wasn’t fun.
And that was exactly the ultimate goal Pei Qian sought.
Pei Qian was very satisfied with his plan and stood up to leave.
When Yu Fei saw Mr. Pei preparing to leave, he almost panicked.
“Wait, Mr. Pei!”
“You’re just handing this job to me like this?”
Pei Qian nodded: “Of course, aren’t you the chief designer? If not you, then who else?”
“But…” Yu Fei was dumbfounded, not even knowing what to say.
Didn’t my rambling just now make it clear to Mr. Pei that I’m actually incompetent? Didn’t it show Mr. Pei that I truly don’t understand fighting games at all?
So why was Mr. Pei still entrusting me with this important task?
Seemingly noticing Yu Fei’s confusion, Mr. Pei gently patted his shoulder.
“Look, most of the ideas for this game came from you, right?”
“You’re currently the chief designer at Tenda Games, right?”
“You were just in charge of ‘Eternal Reincarnation,’ which was a huge success. While it’s not a fighting game, it is a high-difficulty action game with some commonalities, right?”
“If none of these are issues, then what problem do you have?”
Yu Fei was speechless. He hadn’t expected Mr. Pei to forcefully summarize three points to argue for the rationality of “entrusting ‘Ghostly General 2’ to Yu Fei,” and he couldn’t think of a good counter-argument on the spot.
Pei Qian smiled slightly: “Well then, good luck!”
With that, he turned and left the meeting room, leaving behind a bewildered Yu Fei who looked like he was sleepwalking in broad daylight.