ATPnovel #216 - The small game development festival is fierce (2 in 1 order required)
#216 - The small game development festival is fierce (2 in 1 order required)
A day later, all major game media outlets featured trailers for the "Celestial Cup Indie Game Development Festival" on their homepages.
At the beginning of the trailer, the scene slowly rose from darkness, with brilliant starlight weaving into a giant Celestial Cup LOGO.
Various game elements began to flash: warriors, mages, mechs, swordsmen...
Then, the scene switched to a group of enthusiastic independent game developers, immersed in brainstorming, each taking out their notebooks, with flying materials and blueprints, showcasing burning creativity.
Programmers frantically typed on their keyboards, code cascading down the screens like waterfalls. A giant mechanical hand, with a sense of technological light, projected the programmers' code into the virtual world.
With a burst of exciting music, wildly different game scenes quickly switched, including fantastical wonderlands, futuristic tech cities, and ancient mysterious ruins, each frame filled with the creators' ingenuity and unique designs...
The climax of the trailer featured dodging in smoke-filled gunfights, warriors desperately fighting back against the siege of giant monsters, and swift aircraft engaging in fierce aerial combat in the high sky.
Each scene was thrilling, as if one could feel the sparks of challenge blooming in the air.
As a series of appetizers for the annual "Celestial Cup" event, this indie game development festival trailer quickly whetted the appetites of players.
Although the indie game development festival doesn't limit game genres, the Celestial Cup is, after all, a competition focused on action games, so many players were full of expectations for which small games with action elements and operation challenges would appear at the development festival.
The biggest participant in this indie game development festival was naturally Youyi Company's Youyi platform.
Faced with Taoyuan Township's newly launched Taoyuan Illusory Realm platform's challenge, Youyi Company directly activated Sharingan, nanometer-level replicating Taoyuan Illusory Realm's policy of supporting developers.
Anyway, in Shi Yi's view, the competition for small and medium-sized game developers is nothing more than a battle of resources between the two sides!
Based on this idea, Youyi Company announced measures to support game developers on Weibo like a string of firecrackers.
As the first step in nanometer-level replication, Youyi Company decided to launch a "Creative Workshop."
In this workshop, Youyi will also assist developers in a series of custom content development.
Secondly, Youyi Workshop launched a "Mentorship System."
Youyi Company will send some industry-experienced mentors to provide guidance to new developers.
Youyi Company also decided to host a "Developer Technology Conference," claiming to invite industry experts and technology leaders to share cutting-edge experience.
Third, to support the entrepreneurial dreams of small and medium-sized game developers, Youyi Company established a "Dream Fund."
The fund will provide start-up funds for excellent small game projects and provide funded teams with comprehensive support in promotion, marketing, and distribution.
Among these, the most important measure is that Youyi Company decided to build a "Cooperation Alliance."
Alliance members will share resources, experience, and technology, and regularly hold cooperation salons and exchange activities.
However, this alliance must be exclusive. Manufacturers joining this alliance can no longer release any games on the Taoyuan Illusory Realm platform.
...
Soon, with the support of Youyi Company, various types of small games were incubated. The types were also diverse, including billiards, chess, puzzle, side-scrolling, and so on.
Various previews of the Youyi platform's small game carnival exhibition began to bombard major media outlets:
"Billiards Master": Challenge your skills, pass through different difficulty levels, and become a true billiards master. There are various billiards skills and tactics waiting for you to explore in the game.
"Fantasy Movement": A miniature turn-based adventure game that unfolds in a world full of fantasy elements. Players will face various monsters and level challenges, collect props, upgrade equipment, and become the hero of the adventure movement.
"Extreme Skiing": Feel the thrill of speeding skiing, cross snow, forests, and mountains, challenge various steep slopes, and become the extreme king of skiing.
"Magic Garden": A simulation management game where you build your own magic garden, plant various magical plants, cultivate cute little elves, and create a unique garden wonderland through reasonable resource management.
"Candy Paradise": Eliminate various candies in Candy Paradise and complete various tasks and challenges. Simple and easy gameplay, suitable for players of all ages.
When they saw the previews of these new games, many players expressed their expectations:
"Damn, Youyi Company is really serious about this Celestial Cup, coming on strong."
"These new games are my type, especially that billiards one. As an old billiards player, I have no resistance to it. Looking forward to the experience!"
"I like that kind of Japanese single-player RPG like 'Fantasy Movement.' Looking forward to the plot and gameplay!"
"All domestic games are point card and krypton gacha games. It's very conscientious of Youyi to support small and medium-sized single-player game developers like this now."
Of course, some players also said:
"Aren't these small games all reskinned template games with the same old soup? Is it interesting?"
But these sporadic voices were quickly besieged by water army voices until they deleted the posts:
"Why be so harsh on domestic single-player games? If you stifle the hope of the rise of single-player games, can you take this responsibility?"
...
Although the public opinion stirred up by Youyi was quite hot,
soon after, some small and medium-sized game developers broke the news in the NGA forum, saying that they were tricked by Youyi Company.
It turned out that in order to make profits from these small and medium-sized manufacturers, Youyi Company's so-called support plan put forward many additional conditions.
First of all, the beginning of all third-party small games must be marked with Youyi Company's LOGO.
Moreover, Youyi Company requires brand advertising to be implanted in small games. For example, in skiing games, advertisements for ski board brands must be added.
In addition, Youyi Company proposed exclusive distribution rights, that is, small games can only be released on the Youyi platform within a certain period of time, and are prohibited from being launched on other competing platforms.
Youyi also stipulates that small games must be updated according to frequency to maintain player activity, otherwise they will be subject to certain penalties or reduce the recommended position on the Youyi platform.
Of course, these are not the most excessive. What's even more excessive is that
there is an exclusive rights clause in the cooperation agreement. Youyi Company requires small game developers not to release similar types of games on other competing platforms within a certain period of time.
These nearly hegemonic cooperation models have caused many small and medium-sized game developers to complain, but they dare not speak out.
Youyi platform's market share is 80%, and the other 20% is Tenghui's ME-GAME, which is not as good as Youyi, with even more ruthless splits, and no one wants to go there.
Recently, although Taoyuan Township announced its own game platform "Taoyuan Illusory Realm" and engine "Taoyuan Kaiwu".
But whether this platform is reliable and whether it is worth their risking offending Youyi to switch to, all small and medium-sized developers are drumming in their hearts.
...
Youyi Company headquarters building, general manager's office.
At this time, Shi Yi was high-spirited and quite confident.
Looking at the constant stream of new small and medium-sized developers applying for exclusive cooperation in his mailbox, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but bend into an arc.
"The young boys in Taoyuan Township still don't understand the advantages of scale effect."
Even if Taoyuan Township's own self-developed games have some advantages, it is destined to not have as early a start as Youyi in attracting small and medium-sized developers.
After following up on the signing of contracts with small and medium-sized developers, Shi Yi didn't want to lose the wind in public opinion in this development festival.
He quickly dialed the phone of Nan Bian Thomas from "Central Plains Five Editors."
"Mr. Thomas, this small game development festival still needs your Central Plains Five Editors to build momentum for me throughout the whole process."
On the other end of the phone, Thomas's voice was quite confident:
"President Shi, don't worry, the people I invited this time are absolutely foolproof."
Soon, Jian Feng, the North Editor from "Central Plains Five Editors," published an article praising the Youyi platform after trying out many small games participating in Youyi's competition.
Jian Feng is known for his sharp and direct comments. His game taste focuses on the playability and entertainment of the game, and he also pays attention to the combat and competitive elements in the game. It is precisely because of this style that he has more than 10 million fans on the entire network platform.
The title of the article published by Jian Feng was "Youyi Platform: The Spring of Small and Medium-Sized Games."
"Hello everyone, I am North Editor - Jian Feng.
After visiting the Celestial Cup Small Game Development Festival, I have to say that this year's Youyi has left a deep impression on me.
First of all, let's talk about Youyi Platform's support for small and medium-sized game developers.
As a game industry practitioner, I know that small and medium-sized game developers have always faced many challenges,
and the entire industry, only Youyi Company, is willing to provide more opportunities and support for small and medium-sized developers. This respect and support for creators really makes me feel respect.
Secondly, I personally tried some of the small games that Youyi selected to participate in the competition this year.
These games not only cover various types, but also have quite good quality. From billiards, chess to puzzle, side-scrolling, everything is available, rich and colorful, making me want to stop.
What makes me even more delighted is that these small games not only make breakthroughs in gameplay, but also do quite well in technology and innovation.
For these developers, the support provided by Youyi Platform is simply like a tiger adding wings.
In this era, having a great game company like Youyi is the luck of all of us players!"
After boasting for a while, Jian Feng really started the traditional skill of the Central Plains Five Editors - pulling and stepping.
"Finally, I want to talk about Taoyuan Township's Taoyuan Illusory Realm platform. I have to say that, in my opinion, this platform is destined to only become a launcher for its own games.
The reason is very simple. Taoyuan Township Company's attracting fans mainly relies on its own self-developed games,
How many small and medium-sized developers have currently moved into Taoyuan Illusory Realm?
The answer is - zero!
Under the openness, richness, and user experience of Youyi Platform, Taoyuan Illusory Realm is even more cramped and limited.
The latest novel is first published in 6⊥9⊥book⊥bar⊥⊥!
As a player who likes adventure and competition, I would rather choose to pick my favorite games on Youyi Platform.
...
As soon as this article was released, it once again stirred up a thousand waves.
In the comment area below the article, supporters of Youyi and supporters of Taoyuan Township fell into a fierce quarrel.
"Youyi Platform is indeed the savior of small and medium-sized games. What's wrong with supporting developers and bringing more choices to players?"
"Savior? Developers originally have better platforms in their hands, and they don't have to be controlled by Youyi. Taoyuan Illusory Realm is a truly free utopia!"
"Then your master, show some small games that you can show off, don't you think that other small game developers have the financial and human resources like Taoyuan Township?"
"That's right, under the support methods of Youyi, small and medium-sized games can have better development. Taoyuan Illusory Realm is a small circle, making cars behind closed doors!"
"Making cars behind closed doors? You are driving with your eyes closed, which game in Taoyuan Township has not been innovative and eating its old books?!"
"Come on, the quality of Youyi's small games is guaranteed. What about Taoyuan Illusory Realm? In the future, there may be all kinds of messy things. Small game developers are not stupid, everyone is waiting and watching."
...
This kind of public opinion vortex fermented for two days,
The originally extremely quiet Taoyuan Township official Weibo suddenly released a short message.
"We are very honored to announce that the first lightweight casual small game under Taoyuan Township is about to be launched on Taoyuan Illusory Realm. This game is fully empowered by Taoyuan Township's self-developed game engine - Taoyuan Kaiwu.
And will participate in this year's Celestial Cup Small Game Development Carnival.
Stay tuned!"
After this Weibo post from Taoyuan Township was released, the whole network's sense of anticipation was directly full.
"Damn, Taoyuan Township hasn't sent a message for a long time, but the result is that a message is like the Jade Emperor sneezing - extraordinary!"
"Yes, yes, I didn't expect Taoyuan Township to personally make small games."
"Nima, a few days ago, there were black fans clamoring for Taoyuan Township to release small games, I'm going to fight them now!"
...
Not long after, a game called "Banquet Simulator" was quietly launched in the small game area of the Taoyuan Illusory Realm platform.
A price of 18 yuan still continues Taoyuan Township's consistent corporate culture of selling products at cabbage prices.
This game is in line with Taoyuan Township's consistent publicity temperament, without any publicity, it is launched so secretly.
But Taoyuan Township's popularity is not what it used to be, and soon, through word of mouth among players, many game anchors also began to stare at this game.
DiLiDiLi bullet screen network.
G Sauce, Wang Tomato, Old Goose, Director Ju, and Sanren, five old acquaintances in the anchor world, gathered together.
Today, they are naturally here to play the game "Banquet Simulator."
Because this game is the first release of Taoyuan Illusory Realm, in order to be able to play online, the five anchors have logged in to the Taoyuan Illusory Realm platform account.
The barrage in the live broadcast room is also chattering:
"Isn't Taoyuan Township recently developing 'Superdimensional Moe Girl'? Why are they still in the mood to develop a small game?"
"And... what the hell is 'Banquet Simulator'? It looks like an improper game."
"Ah? I know a fifth nephew of the fourth younger brother of the third great-uncle of a second uncle, who works in Taoyuan Township. They said that recently, for more than half a month, all the employees of Taoyuan Township have not been in the company, and it seems that they have gone to Yunnan for tourism."
"So, this is a small game that they made casually during their trip?"
"What the heck? Don't make game development sound as easy as chopping vegetables."
"But Peach Blossom Village does have a habit of developing games while eating, drinking, and having fun. I heard 'Island Owner's Life' was casually developed while traveling."
"Emmm... I can't really comment on this company's culture, but I'm definitely envious."
Amidst the barrage of comments, G-chan said, "Alright, everyone, get ready to enter the game."
At this moment, the game icon for 'Eating Banquet Simulator' was already displayed on the screen.
G-chan gently tapped, and the opening animation began splendidly as expected.
A village full of Yunnan flavor came into view.
G-chan found herself as if immersed in a colorful rural wedding banquet. She could see the lush green rice fields, with rolling green hills in the distance, as if she were in a peaceful and serene idyllic painting.
In the center of the village was a majestic banquet hall, with colorful ribbons fluttering in the breeze, highlighting the festive atmosphere. Exquisite tables and chairs were placed at the entrance of the hall, and each table was filled with all kinds of delicacies, making people drool. Xia Shangyu could see from afar that the virtual guests on the screen had already begun to happily eat the food.
The comments section complained: "Emmm... what the heck? I thought there would be some kind of metaphor for eating a banquet, but it's really just eating a banquet? This... what's so good about making this into a game?"
G-chan replied: "Let's play and see. I always feel that if it's a game from Peach Blossom Village, it won't be that simple."
She couldn't help but click on the screen expectantly, and the game entered the title screen.
Refreshing and cheerful background music came to her ears, as if she could feel the laughter and joy in the village.
In the upper right corner of the screen was G-chan's classic golden twin-tail avatar. When creating the character, she chose "Enthusiastic and cheerful young woman."
After selecting the character, she noticed a small bubble below the avatar. After clicking it, the words "New Eating Banquet Task" appeared.
Her heart stirred, and she quickly clicked. A series of eating banquet scenes to choose from appeared in the task bar, such as wedding banquets, full moon celebrations, graduation banquets, birthday banquets, and so on.
After clicking on the banquet type, you can also choose the game scene. All kinds of rural square styles are available.
After G-chan selected the level and teamed up with four other streamers, she directly entered the game scene.
When she entered the game level, G-chan was stunned.