"So, what are game makers really trying to convey?"
"It's actually a good distinction."
"The real problems reflected in the game are the content that the official is collecting in Weibo activities. This is the role of the "mirror" of the game "Struggle". By reproducing the elements of reality, everyone can pass This game sees reality."
"But if it fully reflects the reality, it is obvious that documentaries or non-fiction films will be a better carrier, which can show all the content in front of everyone more objectively."
"And "Struggle" is a game. The reason why the game is used as a carrier is because the producers can combine the content they want to express with the game mechanics!"
"So, those parts that are combined with the game mechanics are what the producers really imply through this 'mirror'!"
"Next, there are a series of questions and answers. These questions are all unreasonable for the producers to stay in the game, and it is precisely because they are unreasonable that they are puzzles."
"Everyone can think about the meaning behind them."
"[1] Why is the game divided into a poor version and a rich version, priced separately, and it is stipulated that buying together cannot enjoy a discount?"
"On the one hand, it is because pricing itself is a kind of performance art, such as emphasizing that 'there is no second chance in life', we can choose games, but we cannot choose our own life; on the other hand, it is because the poor are encouraged to buy rich Human version, encourage the rich to buy the poor version, so that each other is not stuck in their own world, but can truly substitute into each other's living environment."
"In the game, the living conditions of the poor and the rich are so different that they are completely unable to understand each other."
"The rich protagonist asked, why can't the poor take time to spend with their children, can they be busier than the president of a big company?"
"This is because the rich protagonist has never really brought himself into the situation of the poor, so he cannot understand why the poor at the bottom cannot manage their time;"
"The protagonist of the poor believes that as long as you work hard, you can get a better life, and you can change your life by learning from excellent people and changing the thinking of the poor."
"This is because the poor only see the efforts advocated by the rich, but often ignore the blessings provided by the massive resources behind the rich. Many rich people advocate that their 'wealth is zero outside of their efforts' and that they start from scratch, while The poor still believe it, why? It’s because the poor can’t know the rich people’s connections, ways of thinking, educational background, etc., how much benefit it has brought to the rich.”
"Including the murderer who thought the rich man was a liar, also because he originally believed the rich man, but later found out that the rich man only told part of the truth."
"So, this pricing strategy itself is encouraging the poor and the rich to experience each other's life in the game, get out of their own cognitive blind spots, and look at this issue from a more comprehensive perspective."
"This approach is to break the dimensional wall and use real-life decisions to determine your experience in the game, and this approach can only be achieved by the artistic carrier of the game."
"[2] Why use struggle for the English name of the game?"
"This is precisely the beauty of language. If you simply express the meaning of 'struggle', then fight or strive are obviously better. These two words are more positive, positive, and more in line with the original meaning of struggle."
"But the word struggle not only means struggle, but also struggle and struggle. Combined with the background of the story in English, it is easy to find that this is actually a pun: the rich are struggling, and the poor are struggling."
"After understanding this layer of meaning and then looking back at the Chinese translation of 'struggle', it will add a layer of irony. You will know that although both are struggles, the struggle of the rich and the struggle of the poor are not the same thing at all. "
"The struggle of the rich is in the misty clouds. If you want to struggle, you will fly up. If you don't want to struggle, you will lie down and roll, but no matter how much you struggle, you are still in the clouds;"
"And the struggle of the poor is in the quagmire that keeps sinking. Working hard is only to prevent themselves from falling further. Once they stop, they will be swallowed up by the quagmire."
"[3] Why are the characters in the game so facialized?"
"When playing games, everyone will find that rich people are handsome and bright, and different poor people fit our stereotypes of such people."
"Even the style of the game exaggerates the appearance, demeanor and expression of each character, so that they no longer look like a living person, but become a face mask."
"This is obviously not in line with the theme of the game, because if the realism theme wants to highlight the sense of reality, it must be as real as possible, and the masked characters and exaggerated art performance will weaken this sense of reality."
"On the one hand, it weakens the player's sense of discomfort, and on the other hand, it also allows players not to indulge too much in the perspective of the character itself, and to be able to look at these issues with a higher dimension and a more detached mentality."
"Facialization is a highly condensed image of each character, and at the same time, it also symbolizes that the story of "Struggle" is a highly condensed story of many stories."
"In the game, each face is used to represent a certain type of people, and the game also uses the life of a poor man and a rich man to reflect the lives of all poor and all rich."
"And it's obviously a symbolic implicit expression, just like the propaganda method."
"[4] Why does the game have only one ending, and it cannot be changed?"
"The rich get killed no matter what they choose, and the poor get caught in the cycle of poverty no matter what they choose."
"At the beginning, I thought it was a fatalistic idea, which suggested that no matter how hard people try, they can't change their destiny."
"But I quickly realized that was clearly wrong."
"The reason is very simple, because President Pei, the creator of this game, cannot be a person who believes in fatalism!"
"Although I have never met President Pei, anyone who knows a little about the inside story will know that President Pei is different from the rich protagonist in the game. He really started from scratch!"
"From "Lonely Desert Highway", to each successful game, to each industry, we have witnessed the rise of Tenda in the past two years, and no matter how hard we tried, we could not find any signs of capital involvement. , All indications are that Pei was always born into an ordinary working-class, completely step by step, starting from scratch."
"Mr. Pei himself is a person who completely changes his life by himself. How can he promote a fatalistic idea?"
"It's like a scholar who studies hard and scores 100 points in every test, but tells you every day that studying is useless, do you believe it?"
"If you use your brain a little, you will know that this view is completely unfounded!"
"So, why does the game have only one ending, and it can't be changed?"
"As I said before, the game is using the life of a poor man and a rich man to reflect the lives of all poor and all rich."
"Everyone's life is not the same, the difference between the poor and the poor, the rich and the rich is also huge, so once you let go of the multiple endings, it will dilute the ideas that the game wants to express."
"The game enforces the only ending for the poor and the rich. There are two considerations."
"First, like most stories and movies, a single ending ensures the integrity of the entire story and allows the creator's mind to be expressed."
"If you don't define the ending, you can't make the beginning and the end of the game echo each other."
"The kind rich end in tragedy, the kind poor also end in tragedy, the story will have more tension, and if a happy ending is used, the tension of the whole story will be diluted, and the ideas the creator wants to express will be strayed."
"Secondly, this is a higher level of 'fatalism'. It does not emphasize that people cannot change their own destiny, but emphasizes that in this social environment, the choice of an individual cannot change the entire class."
"The rich may die, or they may enjoy their old age, and even the vast majority of the rich will enjoy their old age. However, the hatred between classes has been established, and the hatred of the poor for the rich is irreversible, so 'kill the rich' It becomes an inevitable event, just the difference between 'who kills the rich' and 'who kills the rich'."
"The poor may turn back into the rich, or go bankrupt and become beggars, but the relationship between the poor and the rich remains unchanged, just like in the game, if the poor are always exploited by the rich in various ways, then the poor will always be Poverty is an inevitable event, even if there are individual exceptions, from the point of view of the whole group, it will become more and more insoluble."
"So, the game deliberately locked the ending, and let us open up various branch lines in the game over and over again, make different choices, and find two versions of the hidden plot... In the end, nothing changed."
"Why can't we change the ending? Because the game mechanics are restricting us."
"And by extension, the poor in the game cannot change their lives through struggle because the game mechanism of the whole society is restricting him."
"Here, the dimensional wall of the game is broken again: in a certain game rule, no matter how hard you try, you will not be the real winner."
"[5] Only one clothing brand appears repeatedly in the game, what does it mean?"
"Many people should have seen the brand luxury, which is the golden logo of 'll'. This is the only brand that appears in the game. It is a luxury brand run by the rich protagonist's father and inherited by the rich protagonist. It has also appeared in on many people."
"From the perspective of games, players' memory is very limited. If two brands are made, it is likely to be confused, so the best way is to make only one brand to represent luxury goods, and the ones without labels are ordinary products. This is a game The basic concept of design: Occam's razor, expressing something in the most concise way."
"But this expression is magically integrated into all aspects of the game, and it is not just a decoration."
"Have you noticed the biggest difference between the rich version and the poor version? The rich version, no matter how you choose, will only change from one kind of success to another. And the poor version, you only need to choose a little bit. If it is wrong, it will slide down immediately and usher in the end of the poverty cycle ahead of time.”
"What's the difference? In fact, the game has already given hints, it's the numbers."
"For the poor, life is a long series of numbers, because you have to be careful to keep the chain of life running. Once a number goes wrong, it will trigger a chain reaction, causing the entire chain to collapse in an instant, destroying all the previous ones. Efforts are instantly cleared up.”
"On the other hand, the rich, no matter how they choose, no matter how much money they spend, they will immediately have more funds to make up for it."
"So, the game mechanism has been controlling the number of game money, constantly 'putting the struggling poor back on track', trying hard to clear the money number to zero, and finally ushering in the only ending."
"Why is his spending increasing as the poor's income increases? Some people think that it is because many poor people lack financial awareness and are brainwashed by consumerism. But we have to pay attention to the many expenses in the game that we don't have at all. choice."
"For example, why does a poor man spend a month's salary on a luxury suit, a belt and a briefcase? Does he really need these things? Can't cheap things be used?"
"Yes, he really needs it."
"Because in that environment of the game, if he wears cheap clothes, he will be ostracized and isolated by his colleagues and the people around him, and he will never be able to fit into that circle."
"That's why a lot of people want to maintain 'decency', because decency is not just a matter of face, it's also a matter of real, real interests."
"Yes, this is consumerism as we know it."
"The luxury brand is the condensation of consumerism and a figurative symbol."
"In the game, both the poor and the rich wear this brand, and the only ones who don't wear it at all are the homeless and the homeless."
"Once the poor protagonist finds a better job, he must change into a luxurious suit, live in a better house, and drive a better car. Because if you don't do this, the people around you will use malicious or well-meaning words. way to keep reminding you.”
"Malicious people will stay away from you, exclude you, and prevent you from entering certain circles; kind people will remind you and tell you why you need these things."
"So, whether it is the poor protagonist or the player, there is no choice. This is another design that breaks the dimensional wall."
"You are angry because you made the right choice, but you still can't save money. Yes, the poor protagonist in the game feels the same as you."
"And what's even more ironic is that the rich protagonist never wears luxury. Is it because he is more disciplined? No."
"Because he is the son of the president of luxury, and he has a private horse farm, what if he wears luxury? No one doubts that he can afford it. It is normal for him to wear it, to support his own brand; he To not wear it is to have the virtue of simplicity."
"The rules and regulations for the poor do not exist for the rich at all, because no matter what the rich choose, under the blessing of a certain halo, it will become a virtue."
"Think about it even deeper. The rich don't wear luxury, but they are using the high profits of this brand to harvest all the poor indefinitely. The rich are desperately advocating consumerism and the quality of luxury, making you feel like yourself. With luxury, you can have the same life as the rich, and even make the whole group form a consensus, it will spontaneously reject the poor who can't wear luxury, which in itself is to prepare a cage for the poor and determine a poor The rules of the game that cannot be broken, no matter how you choose, the rich will win.”
"It's like playing dice, where the poor are trying their luck, and the rich are getting six points on each side no matter how they roll."
"[6] Are there really only two levels in the game?"
"Obviously not."
"I believe that many people are trying their best to find the connection between the rich protagonist and the poor protagonist, and even feel that the rich protagonist was killed by the poor protagonist or the son of the poor."
"But the game is desperately denying that, you can't find any connection between the poor and the rich."
"Why? Because it's not a complete closed loop."
"There is actually a third level in the game, the 'homeless'. You will find that it is the link that connects the entire closed loop, in fact, throughout the game, everywhere."
"The beginning and end of the rich man's version, who hijacked the protagonist's mother and killed the protagonist, are homeless."
"In the beginning and ending of the poor man's version, the protagonist's father worked hard to keep the protagonist from becoming a homeless person, so the protagonist was grateful to his father; and the protagonist struggled all his life, deceiving his son to continue to struggle, all for the sake of himself Don't be homeless with kids."
"Like my previous metaphor, in this game, there are not only the rich in the clouds and the poor struggling in the quagmire, but also the homeless who are completely engulfed at the bottom of the quagmire."
"The poor told us from the very beginning that these people at the bottom of the quagmire are dropouts from the cesspool high school, prisoners in prisons, beggars and mentally ill people on the subway, and they are the ones who die socially and suffer from healthy hands and feet after taking relief. A homeless person who can only live on the streets all his life."
"Once the poor give up, they will become homeless, so they have to struggle in the quagmire. If you struggle, you may not be able to climb up, but if you don't struggle, you will definitely sink."
"The faster you give up, the faster you sink."
"So, why did the poor protagonist say that to the child? Doesn't he know that he has been deceived by his father's lies all his life?"
"Maybe he had a fluke and felt that his child would be different, maybe he just had to tell the lie."
"Because if he tells his children that fighting is useless, then his children will sink and become one of those homeless people, and the protagonist knows very well what a miserable life it will be."
"So, the poor protagonist has no choice but to tell his children to struggle. If you look at the result, this struggle is meaningless, because it can't get you to the cloud; but if you look at the bottom of the quagmire, You know this struggle is worthwhile, at least it keeps you from sinking."
"As for the rich?"
"The rich protagonist almost died when he was born, but he never believed what his father said. He met poor friends, and he worked hard to write books and wanted to help those poor people change their destiny."
"But he didn't realize that it wasn't the poor who kidnapped his mother, but the homeless; it wasn't the poor who killed him, but the homeless; he could be friends with the poor in college, but It's impossible to take a second look at the beggars in the subway."
"So, he thinks that the rich can be friends with the poor, and that's true; but he doesn't realize that the ones who really don't understand and become two species are the rich and the homeless, and the poor, just popping up The part of the quagmire that he could see, and more people slowly rotting under the quagmire, he couldn't see in the clouds."
"The irony is that what makes the poor homeless is precisely the rules of the game set by the rich."
"So, the homeless person said that the rich protagonist was a liar, because in the homeless person's view, this person advocated struggle and took everything from himself."
"And this, the rich protagonist will never understand."
"[7] In the game, there is only one relationship between the poor and the rich. So, what kinds of relationships are there between the poor and the rich that President Pei wants to express?"
"This is the last question and the last thing the game makers want to express after synthesizing all the above details."
"Actually, President Pei has already expressed this aspect."
"Do you still remember the movie "Better Tomorrow"? It was a more tragic scene than "Struggle"."
"It is conceivable that the society in "Struggle" will develop into "Better Tomorrow" after a few decades of development."
"In "Better Tomorrow", there is an Easter egg at the end, someone threw a gun into the protagonist's room. The implication is obvious, that when social conflicts reach the level of "Better Tomorrow", the poor have only one choice."
"In "Struggle", there is no similar choice, because the environments they describe are different, and the emphasis to be expressed is different."
"Violent struggle cannot cure all diseases, and it is not the best choice in any situation. In the environment of "Better Tomorrow", this may be an option, but in "Struggle", there is no such possibility. Soil. We can imagine that even if this poor man chooses to fight, he is nothing more than becoming the next murderer who talks about being a 'liar' and gets locked up, condemned and criticized by tens of thousands of people, hundreds of thousands of people, and will only make his situation worse. got worse."
"So, is there a third case?"
"In fact, there is, it is the real world we are in."
"In the game, the poor don't have an ascension channel, but in reality, we have."
"In the game, the poor can't fight consumerism, but in reality, we can."
"In reality, most people don't actually define a person by what he wears, clothing, and luxury items—except for a few people who are deeply influenced by consumerism."
"So, solutions that don't exist in games do exist in reality."
"In the game, the poor have no choice but to continuously improve their consumption level. Eventually, due to an unexpected factor, the number of a certain link is wrong, and everything collapses and returns to zero."
"But in reality, we have choices, we can reject consumerism, we can keep saving money, complete the initial accumulation of wealth, and change our destiny through struggle."
"If you have hands and feet, and if you work hard to get rich, you can get out of the quagmire."
"In the game, no one tells the rich and the poor what they should do."
"But in reality, someone is telling us what to do. The game "Struggle" is telling us what to do by breaking the dimensional wall."
"It's actually telling us that we should work hard in the real world, because our struggle now is meaningful."
"A lot of people complain that we live in hell just because we haven't seen the real hell."
"And after seeing the world in "Struggle", we realize that we are already living in heaven."
"Although this paradise is not so perfect, at least we are still full of hope."
"Many players don't have a good understanding of the plots in the game because these plots do not conform to our real life, so they will feel a sense of estrangement, and they will feel that the choice of characters in the game is very strange."
"And this actually just proves that what we take for granted is actually a great happiness."
"Using the game "Struggle" makes us realize the happiness of real life, and encourages us to cherish the present and work hard. This is the deep meaning of the game makers in making this game."
"For all game makers, "Struggle" is a textbook-level work because it repeatedly breaks down the dimensional walls in various ways, truly expressing the greatest advantage of games as the ninth art: among other art forms , you're just a bystander, and in the game, you're a participant."
"And many things can only be seen clearly from the perspective of the participants."
"This practice of repeatedly breaking the dimensional wall represents that the producer's ability to control the game's artistry has reached the pinnacle and perfection. Every detail has its meaning."
"So, back to the original question."
"How does "Struggle" surpass these four basic game theories on the premise of seemingly violating these four basic game theories?"
"The purpose of choosing a dislocated publicity method is to break the dimensional wall and make the publicity method part of the game content;"
"Interactive movie games with realistic themes seem to be unpopular, but they actually provide convenience for breaking the dimensional wall and build a bridge between games and reality;"
"The private goods entrained in the game will make people uncomfortable at first glance, but the more you dig, the more you can get inspiration, suffer in the game, but you can get happiness in reality;"
"It exists not to tap demand, but to create demand. In fact, most people don't realize that we need to understand these truths in order to live our lives well, so after we understand all this, we will suddenly realize that it turns out that we I need this game."
"So I think "Struggle" is the highest artistic peak of domestic stand-alone games so far, and even for players, it is a precious spiritual wealth."
…
After the last full stop, He An still felt a little unfinished.
He seemed to have a lot more to say.
In fact, there are many details in the game "Struggle", and every detail can be expanded to write hundreds or thousands of words in detail.
But He An still decided to stop here, because the attitude of Tenda's official Weibo has been very clear.
The reason why the game is all-encompassing and has countless details is that it has the function of a "mirror" itself. Analyzing these details is actually analyzing reality, and reality cannot be analyzed completely.
These should be handed over to all players on Weibo to complete it together.
And He An believes that his mission is to analyze the top design concepts in the game from the perspective of game designers, and drive the progress of the entire domestic game industry. At the same time, by the way, let’s analyze the depths that game makers want to express in the game. meaning.
It's just right here.
Therefore, He An checked the content of the entire long Weibo and pressed the send button.
The content is a bit long and a bit boring.
People who haven't played games may think this is meaningless preaching, but those who have played games should have some resonance.
He An feels that this is precisely the charm of the art of games.
The sugar coating on the outside of the pill may seem ineffective, and it can't really cure the disease, but it can make it less painful for the patient to take the medicine.
Just candy, not a cure.
Just a pill, will not be accepted by many people.
And sugar-coated pills can really help some people. This is precisely the ultimate goal that He An has pursued throughout his life as a game producer.
Just like the "Landlord Game" he once made, it is also to achieve this goal.
Although he experienced the disaster of domestic stand-alone games during the period, he had to switch to online games for the company's survival, but in his heart, he always regarded this as his mission and pursuit.
Even if his ideas are outdated, even if he can no longer make works like "Landlord Game", He An has never given up this pursuit. When teaching, he will try to pass on this pursuit as much as possible.
And now "Struggle" has surpassed "Landlord Game" in all aspects.
This shows that the domestic stand-alone game really has a leader, and He An is very pleased.
Although I have never met President Pei, through this kind of game communication, it is enough to be a confidant.
"Tell Mr. Ma about these contents, and all my teaching contents will be completed."
"The previous four basic theories were overturned and completely reshaped, and they fit perfectly at a higher level."
""Struggle" is a comprehensive transcendence and in-depth interpretation of "The Landlord Game", which can explain what a truly responsible and aspiring game producer should do."
"After listening to these contents, Mr. Ma will definitely be inspired, right?"