The background of the story will be left out separately for now.
Just in terms of gameplay.
Whether it's numerical points, equipment, or the combat system's rolling, shield counter, backstab, and other elements.
In fact, in other ACT and RPG games, it is basically nothing new.
But one of the biggest features of "Dark Souls" is that it perfectly combines these existing contents with the shaping of map levels and BOSS into a distinct level-driven game.
Everything is designed to allow players to advance through levels, defeat powerful enemies, and gain a sense of pride of achievement.
Together with the memory capsule, the entire concept draft took Chen Xu almost a full day.
And it's not a complete concept draft.
It only briefly mentioned the core elements of the game, but there was no more extensive content, including detailed plots.
After all, it is just a first draft, and there are still some details that need to be perfected before proceeding.
Everyone in the conference room arrived early and sat in their respective seats to discuss quietly.
However, as Chen Xu pushed open the door and entered, everyone immediately became quiet.
"I believe everyone has basically already made a guess about the content of today's meeting. Yes, it is a new game."
"I won't say any more. First, let me introduce the game project to you. As for the theme, it is a Western fantasy-themed story."
"In terms of art style, it is quite different from the games we have made so far."
"The overall theme is based on deep and dark realistic art, and the impression of the entire game is based on Western European architecture. At the same time, the game has different areas, Fran Fortress, Undead Town, Cold Lie Valley, etc., which will cover different cultures Elements such as Baroque architecture and Romanesque churches.”
Chen Xu pressed his hands on the table, and various original paintings he drew by himself were displayed on the projection screen behind him.
If the story of "Dark Souls" is the skeleton and the gameplay is the soul, then the artistic expression of the game is obviously the skin.
This is also the first thing that players can come into contact with, which is why Chen Xu made the CG so sophisticated and then released it at the exhibition.
Classic Western European architecture, combined with a darker art style, as well as medieval-like cold weapon armor and weapon shapes.
Obviously, the art style revealed by Dark Souls at the exhibition has directly touched the hearts of players.
Next, Chen Xu told everyone about some systems in "Dark Soul".
For example, in the combat system, in addition to invincible roll, shield deflection, backstab, and durability, there are actually settings in most ACT games.
Everyone is not unfamiliar with it. Basically, we all have a concept in our minds, but we just need to make subtle adjustments and changes in the movements later.
There will also be some special settings.
For example, various weapons have their own special combat skills.
At the same time, different from the previous life, the technical power of the parallel world can also allow Chen Xu to make the visual expression of the game better.
Of course, this is not the main core, but the detailed experience.
"In addition, our main work in the early stage will be on the output of art resources. As for Qin Yi and you, I need to make the game's movements even better."
Chen Xu looked at Qin Yi and said.
After hearing Chen Xu's words, everyone in Qin Yi nodded.
Although "Dark Soul" is not an ACT type game, but a level-driven game.
But that doesn’t mean that action elements are unimportant in the game. On the contrary, action elements are also a core point in the experience of “Dark Souls”.
In other words, any game involving action has very strict requirements for its effects.
As for action feedback, to put it more bluntly, it is the so-called impact feeling and smoothness.
For example, the famous Lao Gun 5 in his previous life, his hitting feeling is basically equivalent to cutting the air.
As an ARPG game, although it does not hinder its excellence, in terms of combat experience, it is really not that good, and it has even become an option for some players to persuade them to quit.
The most common way to create a sense of impact, apart from sound effects, is the so-called freeze frame.
To put it simply and clearly, it means that the weapon cuts into the monster. If it takes 60 frames from the move to the withdrawal, then it will pause for a few stitches when it hits, creating the feeling of the knife cutting into the flesh. This is what is called The feeling of blow.
For example, Monster Hunter, God of War, Street Fighter, etc. in the previous life are among the best.
But for "Dark Soul", if you want to create a suitable sense of blow instead of cutting the air, you need to debug various parameters.
The stuck meat is not suitable for all games. For example, the smooth rhythm of Ninja Dragon's chopping tofu in the previous life and the combo combos of the Devil May Cry series are basically not suitable for the use of stuck meat.
These require constant modification by the team. It would be unrealistic for Chen Xu to do them all by himself.
And he will definitely not say that he will not develop games involving action in the future.
Therefore, the team still needs to constantly try to optimize. When developing "Escape" before, Chen Xu had this intention.
At the same time, during the two months of developing "Jelly Bean Man" and "Three Kingdoms", Qin Yi's main work was also to continuously optimize the action feedback.
The results so far are not satisfactory, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.
In addition, other content of the game is more convenient, mainly through outsourcing to produce art resources.
For example, in the design of map levels, all areas of "Dark Soul" are linked to each other, which is relatively complicated.
Because this is a standard through-type design.
For example, a player is in area A, goes to area B, and then discovers that there is a path in area B that can lead back to area A.
After the final meeting in area C, I found a small road that could lead back to area A.
This is actually a standard Metroid map design technique.
It's just that in "Dark Souls", it changed from a 2D horizontal version to a true 3D stereoscopic mode.
With some decryption and exploration content, this is also a unique feature in "Dark Souls".
The previous version of "Dark Souls 3" dissatisfied many old players who had played Souls 1. They believed that Souls 3 was not as good as Souls 1, mainly due to changes in map design.
As for new players, this design can be considered a mercy.
But even so, Ruan Ningxue, who was in charge of the map levels, was still confused when listening to Chen Xu introducing the details of the game.
"The game will not provide mini map design?" Ruan Ningxue noticed a core point mentioned by Chen Xu and asked with a confused look.
"That's right, so that players can feel the charm of the map in the game. Why are more and more games making the UI of the game smaller, or even trying not to let the UI appear in the game?"
"The purpose is to increase the player's sense of immersion. Think about the background of Dark Souls. This is a world of despair. The design without a mini map is to increase the player's sense of immersion, and the design of the map penetration can also make the player feel more immersed. Players feel the surprise of harvest." Chen Xu explained with a smile.
There is no mini-map to guide you, which is a major feature of Souls games.
Even though the subsequent Elden Ring has a map system, it still requires players to collect fragments manually, just like Hollow Knight, which can be said to be a quite classic design.
As for not knowing the way
If you die a few times and run back and forth, you'll get to know each other!
This is all for the players!
Players spend money to buy games without thinking about how to make them feel more immersed. Are they still human