At this moment, Mr. Pei gave everyone the impression of being a supreme grandmaster.
It was as if disciples had asked: “Master, what martial arts will you teach us today?”
And Mr. Pei replied: “What would you like to learn?”
The implication was obviously that he could teach whatever they wanted to learn!
Otherwise, if a disciple said they wanted to learn swordsmanship, and the master responded, “I don’t know that, choose something else”—would that make any sense?
Clearly, only someone who possessed every skill could confidently ask such a question.
So when Mr. Pei asked this question, it left everyone speechless.
Those designers who had been eagerly waiting to make a good impression temporarily lost their courage to step forward and fell into silence.
Because they had never imagined they could participate in this kind of discussion.
According to normal procedures, the producer should first decide on a game type, or even a rough game prototype, and then everyone would discuss and express their opinions based on that foundation.
Now they were directly discussing the game type itself?
With such a broad and vague topic, nobody knew how to begin.
Added to this was the invisible pressure from Mr. Pei, making everyone afraid of saying something wrong, which made it even harder to speak up.
Pei Qian was a bit confused. What’s wrong, was this question too demanding?
I’m just asking what kind of game you want to make, just say whatever comes to mind!
Why is nobody speaking up, and why are some even lowering their heads in embarrassment?
He couldn’t help but look at Zhou Muyan, thinking: Are you sure these are Tianhua Studio’s best designers?
Zhou Muyan cleared his throat: “Boss Pei, we should just follow Tenda’s process. Don’t worry too much about our opinions.”
Clearly, Zhou Muyan also had some misunderstandings about Tenda’s work model.
No matter what, the game type should be decided from the beginning, right? Discussing it during the meeting seemed too strange.
Pei Qian said: “This IS Tenda’s process. For game types, everyone can freely express their opinions. You can suggest anything you want to make, and it’s fine if you’re wrong.”
Hearing Mr. Pei say this, everyone became even more convinced of their earlier guess.
Mr. Pei really could design anything!
Such a versatile talent could only be described as brilliant…
Obviously, Tenda’s practice of making unique games for each project was no coincidence.
Zhou Muyan remained silent for a moment, finally recovering from his shock. Seeing that others were too embarrassed to speak up, he had to take the initiative.
“Currently, our studio develops games in three main categories: the first two are quite traditional—MMORPG and shooting games—both with successful projects, and the third category is mobile games.”
“For mobile games, there are many subcategories, including PC game adaptations, as well as independently developed card games and nation-building mobile games.”
“If Boss Pei wants to choose a game type, it would be better to select from these categories. We have some experience in these areas and won’t be completely lost.”
Zhou Muyan was also worried that if Mr. Pei gave them a design plan for an action game like “Turn Back to Shore,” it might be quite difficult to execute.
It wasn’t that they couldn’t make it, but they were concerned it wouldn’t have the right feel.
Pei Qian nodded: “Alright, in that case, let’s make a shooting game.”
He also thought it would be better not to make a single-player game, but for completely different reasons.
He mainly felt that single-player games weren’t challenging enough. The more unusual and niche game types were actually more likely to impress people and break through to new audiences.
In contrast, for shooting games, Tianhua Studio already had the failure experience of “Bullet Hole,” and there were also very powerful competitors like “Sea Fortress” in the market, greatly increasing the possibility of failure.
Of course, if he wanted to be even more ruthless, he could have Tianhua Studio develop a MOBA game to compete with GOG.
But considering that Min Jingchao himself was GOG’s lead designer… that plan was certainly off the table.
In short, a shooting game met the requirements of both Tianhua Studio and Longyu Group. The chance of success wasn’t high, but it still existed. All things considered, Pei Qian felt this was the most appropriate choice.
Upon hearing FPS game, Zhou Muyan instantly perked up.
This was Tianhua Studio’s specialty!
Although “Bullet Hole” wasn’t doing well now, it had enjoyed a brief period of popularity when it first came out, and at least it hadn’t lost money.
Moreover, Tianhua Studio had a very strong talent pool for FPS games, and Boss Pei had the already-proven successful ideas from “Sea Fortress”…
Combined, wasn’t this almost a 100% guarantee of success?
Pei Qian thought for a moment and said: “Didn’t you previously have a game called ‘Bullet Hole’? Don’t waste a good IP. Let’s call the new game ‘Bullet Hole 2.'”
Zhou Muyan: “…”
The enthusiasm that had just risen was instantly doused with cold water.
This name seemed a bit inauspicious, didn’t it?
Back then, “Bullet Hole” might not have lost much money, but it could hardly be considered a successful project! It was completely crushed by “Sea Fortress,” unable to put up any resistance.
What was the point of continuing with such an IP?
Couldn’t they use something better?
Zhou Muyan looked at Min Jingchao and found him silently taking notes without saying anything.
Was this really Tenda’s workflow?
Zhou Muyan considered that he had previously said he wouldn’t ask too many questions and would fully cooperate. Now, raising objections about the name seemed a bit inappropriate, so he had no choice but to silently accept it.
Seeing that no one was speaking, Pei Qian felt a bit uncomfortable.
You need to speak up!
You need to reject my proposal!
If you don’t speak, where will I get inspiration and insights?
Without inspiration and insights, how can I counter your rejections and create designs?
Thinking of this, Pei Qian spoke again: “Everyone can freely express their opinions if you have any questions. Don’t be shy, and don’t be afraid of saying something wrong. I’ll make the final decisions for everyone, so don’t feel burdened.”
“Min Jingchao, please set an example for everyone.”
Min Jingchao, who had been quietly taking notes, nodded: “Yes, Boss Pei.”
“So for this game ‘Bullet Hole 2,’ are we going to continue with the previous design of ‘Bullet Hole’?”
“Such as the game feel, art style, monetization model, and so on?”
This question immediately stumped Pei Qian.
It wasn’t that he didn’t know how to make a decision—there was nothing in this world that Pei Qian wouldn’t dare to decide—the key was that he had forgotten what kind of game “Bullet Hole” actually was…
After all, it was something from more than two years ago, how could he remember so clearly?
But he couldn’t show this, and he definitely couldn’t directly ask Zhou Muyan. Otherwise, having just said they should make “Bullet Hole 2,” yet not even knowing what kind of game “Bullet Hole” was—how would that look?
Pei Qian fell into a brief silence as he tried hard to recall what kind of game “Bullet Hole” was.
Hmm… he remembered that when he visited Tianhua Studio, Zhou Muyan had introduced the design intention of “Bullet Hole.”
At that time, Pei Qian had listened and felt confident that “Sea Fortress” would definitely lose money.
So that meant… it should be the opposite approach to “Sea Fortress.”
Oh, now he remembered.
“Bullet Hole” had maximized the replication of “Counter-Strike” in terms of feel, achieving about 80-90% similarity; the art style was realistic, with absolute fidelity to weapons; and the monetization model seemed to use the MMORPG approach—free-to-play with in-game item purchases.
Looking back with hindsight, this combination of features in “Bullet Hole” would indeed lose money.
It mimicked “Counter-Strike” but didn’t do it perfectly, which discouraged novice players due to its high difficulty. The realistic art style, although authentic, wasn’t as cool and appealing as Fiery Qilin. The monetization model seemed generous but was actually more exploitative than “Sea Fortress”…
Unfortunately, such a perfect money-losing model had already been used once by Zhou Muyan and couldn’t be used again.
Should “Bullet Hole 2” completely inherit “Bullet Hole’s” design?
Pei Qian silently glanced at Zhou Muyan, saw his expectant expression, and quietly abandoned this idea.
If they completely continued with “Bullet Hole’s” design, it would be too obvious, and Zhou Muyan would probably be the first to draw his knife against him.
So, it would be best to preserve the most crucial failing points of “Bullet Hole” while making adjustments and modifications to the less important aspects.
After all, it was a spiritual sequel, so inheriting some of the previous settings seemed reasonable.
Pei Qian quickly considered this and then said: “Since it’s a sequel, we should inherit some parts and modify others.”
“In my view… we can inherit the game feel.”
“The art style needs to be changed.”
“As for the monetization model… sell very cheap skins, and don’t make them expensive at all.”
“Bullet Hole’s” game feel was close to “Counter-Strike,” but not perfect, so it satisfied neither side—core players felt it lacked authenticity, while novice players were discouraged.
In Pei Qian’s view, this was clearly the core reason for “Bullet Hole’s” failure and couldn’t be changed under any circumstances; it had to be continued.
Regarding the monetization model, although item purchases received more complaints, they also made more money!
The phenomenon of players cursing while still paying was all too common in the gaming world and should not be taken lightly.
Moreover, with the successful example of Fiery Qilin, the spending power of FPS game wealthy players should absolutely not be underestimated.
So, like GOG, making very cheap skin purchases would definitely earn less.
Of course, GOG didn’t earn little at all, but that was because of its large player base, which allowed for the effect of low profit margins but high sales volume.
FPS games only had so many players, and a large portion of them were already playing “Sea Fortress.” If “Bullet Hole 2” sold skins cheaply, it would be difficult to make money.
A generous game wouldn’t necessarily always achieve low margins but high sales; it might also have too little income to cover costs. “Game Producer” had already introduced this kind of failure scenario.
However, these two changes alone seemed too few and not obvious enough.
In the end, it would just be a change in the monetization model. What difference would that make compared to no changes at all?
The same dish, just with a different price?
That probably wouldn’t fool an old hand like Zhou Muyan and might make him suspicious of Pei Qian’s motives.
So Pei Qian thought about it and decided that to better silence Zhou Muyan, he needed to be more heavy-handed with the packaging.
After all, packaging was just a superficial layer that could be changed without affecting the core of the game.
Making major changes in this aspect would make it look like there had been significant changes, when in reality it was just changing the appearance but not the substance—which was perfect.
Min Jingchao lowered his head and quickly took notes.
Zhou Muyan and the other designers exchanged glances.
At this moment, they had many doubts in their minds.
Boss Pei, this isn’t how you designed “Sea Fortress” at all!
We now highly suspect that you’re deliberately avoiding “Sea Fortress'” design elements because you want to trick us onto the wrong path, so we won’t affect “Sea Fortress'” profitability!