Ruan Guangjian’s expression changed upon hearing the horror theme. “Horror games? No, no, I’m most afraid of horror! I won’t have come here if I knew that the project you are developing on is a horror game!”
“I was nearly scared to death watching ‘Midnight Call’, ‘Zerg’, ‘Chain Saw Madman’, ‘Ghost Shadow’, ‘Resurrection Night’, ‘Bright Flash’, ‘Ghost Record’… ‘The Curse!!”
Lin Wan was stunned. A question mark floated over her head.
What? You are most afraid of horror, and yet you watched all the classics of horror movies?
Lin Wan did not know how to continue the conversation suddenly. She gave it some thought before replying. “No problem, our game is still in the development stage. It is not scary at all.”
“Not scary at all?” Ruan Guangjian reluctantly clicked opened the Be Quiet icon. “I’ll try to play for a bit then.”
Lin Wan nodded. “Alright, take your time experiencing it. Let me or Ye Zhizhou know if you have any comments.”
Ruan Guangjian out on his headphones and quickly entered the game.
Lin Wan secretly pulled Ye Zhizhou and whispered, “Observe Big Boss. He said he is timid; don’t scare him too much. Pay attention to him, understand?”
Ye Zhizhou nodded. “Don’t worry, leave it to me.”
The two of them heard a not-so-silent ‘Ahh’ before the two of them finished their conversation.
There was a dynamic scene when entering the game.
Night shrouded the lunatic village. A weird blue flame was burning, reflecting a lunatic villager with bloodshot teeth and eyes. He was slashing something with his machete by the blue weird flame.
The light was very dim. One could vaguely see the dark red blood spattering from the thing he was chopping up. The entire scene would suddenly become darker when the loading was complete. The lunatic villager, who had been chopping something by the light blue flame, would suddenly get up and walk out of the screen.
The lunatic villager’s face would suddenly stick out from the right side of the screen before the player could react. He would appear at an ultra-close distance in the player’s field of vision and emit a sickly mad grin. He would then slash at the camera with his machete.
The screen would be covered with blood in no time, accompanied by the screams. The title of the game would then appear before entering the game officially.
Ruan Guangjian was shocked by that scene just now. He almost jumped up from his seat.
Ye Zhizhou asked hurriedly. “Are you alright?”
Ruan Guangjian nodded. “Fine, fine… Ah!”
He was shocked by a small mouse that suddenly rushed past the scene not long after entering the game proper. Ye Zhizhou was speechless.
He suddenly doubted that Big Boss Ruan could successfully experience the entire game and put forward opinions for corresponding art modification.
He thought for a while before suggesting. ‘Big Boss, maybe you can just look at the art resources including the original concept art, models, and the like. The level of horror should not be too bad.”
Ruan Guangjian shook his head. “That definitely will not do!”
“From the concept to the original art, then to modeling and the setting; every step would experience changes. For example, the original artist’s thoughts would be distorted when it went from the original concept art to the model since the model master would add some of his own ideas.
“Such a situation is almost unavoidable no matter how hard you try.
“Therefore, I can only feel the disharmony in the entire setting and make targeted changes if I see the actual settings in the game.
“Don’t worry, I’m alright. I can do it.” Ye Zhizhou could not help but feel a little moved seeing how the big boss was persisting even though he was scared twice in succession.
Look, this is professionalism!
Big Boss was obviously very sensitive to horror games, but he was trying to overcome his inner fear to make the game better. That spirit was really touching!
It did not take long for Ruan Guangjian’s shrieks to fill the Shang Yang Games office. Even Lin Wan could vaguely hear it from the director’s office.
No one had any thoughts of snickering. They now admired Ruan Guangjian even more.
He insisted even though he was so afraid; that was true love!
They could only say that Big boss’s success was not accidental but inevitable. This perseverance was not something ordinary people could have!
Moreover, Ye Zhizhou, who was sitting next to Ruan Guangjian, felt pride.
The horror effects of our game are so good!
Ye Zhizhou actually had no idea how good the horror effect was previously.
It was the first horror game made by Shang Yang Games. The design team had been playing horror games for quite some time now. Lin Wan and the rest also went to haunted houses for research, but they were still lacking in experience.
Moreover, the main gameplay of this game was within a network where it relied on people frightening other people instead of scaring people with set procedures and mechanisms.
However, the game had not reached the testing phase at all. There were no players yet; all of them were AI so the scariness must be discounted.
Coupled with the art resources that had yet to be fully put in place. The gameplay was not perfect so there were small bugs. Ye Zhizhou felt that the game was far from complete.
However, it managed to scare Ruan Guangjian to this level. Did that mean that this game had a good horror effect on ordinary people?
Ruan Guangjian quit the game and took off his earphones.
Ye Zhizhou was about to comfort him only to realize that Ruan Guangjian’s face was ruddy; he even seemed a little excited.
Ye Zhizhou, “?”
He did not expect this situation. Was this still the same person who was screaming when a little mouse passed by just now? Ruan Guangjian said sincerely, “Director Lin didn’t lie to me. This game isn’t scary at all.” Ye Zhizhou, “?”
What’s this? Wasn’t the person screaming like mad just now you, Big Boss? Ye Zhizhou vaguely felt something wrong. Big Boss Ruan’s definition and his performance did not seem to be the same.
Before playing: No, I’m very afraid of horror themes.
During gameplay: Screamed in fright
After playing: Hm, it isn’t that scary.
Moreover, it gave people the feeling that he was speaking from the bottom of his heart.
Ye Zhizhou took out his little notebook hurriedly. “Big Boss, please tell me your thoughts.”
Ruan Guangjian was in a good state. He did not look like he had just been frightened. Instead, he even seemed a little excited.
“I think the gameplay is roughly there, but it lacks the detail and atmosphere.”
“It is through these minor details that increase the atmosphere of horror to make it easier for players to gain a sense of substitution. How to make a successful horror team? The key is in the details!
“For example, I really liked the scene at the beginning of the game! “I usually used the decibel and frequency of my screams to judge whether a horror theme is good or not. Obviously, the scene at the beginning was really good.
“However, there is still too little content. These minor aspects are not taken care of.
“For example, you can add a setting. The player will be able to hear the sound of his own heartbeat when something scary approaches. The closer that was, the faster the heart would beat!
“This seemingly simple sound effect would be very useful for the enhancement of the atmosphere!
“Another example is that it isn’t true that the darker the art, the better it is. Low visibility could definitely add to the tension of the players, but if this was done for an extended period, it would make the player very depressed and would want to quit before long.
“So, limit the player’s field of vision to a certain degree. Neither too bright nor too dark… I may not
explain it well. Let me find a picture for you to see its effect.”
“Another example would be the minor details. There might be some scary mechanisms in the game now, but they are all relatively large. What is a small mechanism? They are things like the sound of weird wind and grass, the slow movement of objects on the table… a bloody handprint that suddenly appeared on a piece of glass…” “Such small mechanisms might not be seen by some people, but when under high tension, the effect might be even scarier than monsters that suddenly pop out…
“They are not difficult to make. The key is to have patience…”
Ruan Guangjian did not stop. Ye Zhizhou quickly recorded them in his little notebook.
There was only one thought in Ye Zhizhou’s mind while he recorded the points
This is ‘more afraid of horror theme’?
Is there something wrong with Big Boss Ruan’s perception of himself? He just screamed more often during the horror game, but in fact, his tolerance for horror games seems to be much higher than ordinary people…
Chapter 382 - You Call This a Phone Booth?
After more than an hour, Ye Zhizhou looked at the little notebook which he wrote several pages of opinion in and the different artworks that Ruan Guangjian sent. He became speechless.
Ye Zhizhou looked at Ruan Guangjian who was in full spirits. “Big Boss, are you sure you are afraid of horror themes?”
Ruan Guangjian nodded. “Yes, I’m very afraid.”
Ye Zhizhou was speechless. “Then, why did you collect these horror-related artworks?”
Ruan Guangjian, “It’s needed in work.” “Why do you know so much about the details of scaring people and grasp horror psychology so well?” Ye Zhizhou asked again.
Ruan Guangjian, “You’ll remember them, too, if you watch a lot of horror movies and get scared often.”
Ye Zhizhou was even more confused now. “No, isn’t it contradictory if you’re timid, and yet you watched so many horror movies?”
Ruan Guangjian shook his head. “Not at all. I’m really timid, but it doesn’t prevent me from watching horror movies. It would be just like a person with no sense of humor watching comedy often. Is that contradictory?”
Ye Zhizhou was speechless.
There was no problem; it was reasonable!
Ye Zhizhou sighed inwardly. It seemed like every true big boss had some unknown strange quirks…
Ye Zhizhou did not bother too much about this. It was a good thing if Big Boss Ruan claimed to be very timid but was actually very keen on horror themes!
There was no point dwelling over it.
The urgent task was to quickly summarize these opinions put forward by Ruan Guangjian, form a document, and then add it to the next version of the development plan.
Ye Zhizhou turned on his computer and hurriedly put together a document of amendments proposed by Ruan Guangjian, to be added to the development plan of the upcoming version.
There were only two months left until the game’s scheduled release date. There were also seven days of Chinese New Year holiday in between. The development timeline was rather tight.
Boss Pei ordered that they should not be working overtime. It was an extravagant wish to even work one hour of overtime during Chinese New Year. They could only quickly work on them now.
Ruan Guangjian, on the other hand, found the art resource of Be Quiet and was proposing amendments according to his own ideas.
The biggest advantage of his proposed amendment was this:
Ruan Guangjian could draw out his proposed amendment if the other party could not accurately understand his proposal. Ruan Guangjian would really do it himself if the other party found it too difficult and expressed the attitude of ‘you do it if you’re so good’.
Ye Zhizhou could not help but look at Ruan Guangjian who was working hard.
Big Boss was Big Boss.
A few simple comments brought the quality of the game to a higher level. Such a method — turning stone into gold—had only been seen in Boss Pei!
Of course, Boss Pei was on a higher level.
That was because Ruan Guangjian still needed to make changes to achieve the results. Boss Pei only needed one sentence or even a simple word.
“Big Boss Ruan and Boss Pei are the best partners. Leaders are often kindred souls.”
Ye Zhizhou was sincerely convinced as he began to organize the document of the new version to be developed.
Afternoon, Dream Realization Ventures…
He Desheng looked at the rendering in his hand and then at Zhang Wang who was sitting opposite him.
“You… call this a phone booth?”
Zhang Wang smiled with embarrassment. “The budget given by Boss Pei was too high. I revised it until I realized that it was a little off subject.
“However, not to worry. Boss Pei did not specify how the shared phone booth should look like. It’s just a little bigger and with a little more stuff. The nature of the shared phone booth remained the same.” He Desheng looked carefully at the disassembly diagram at the back. “The entire phone booth was designed by you? Your efficiency is a bit too high…”
“I used the stuff I didn’t use before to change it. It did not take too much effort,” Zhang Wang said humbly.
“I have a workshop in my hometown in the nearby county. This is just a rudimentary form that was done in a few hours.”
He Desheng remained silent for quite some time before he managed to squeeze out a word. “Impressive.”
He held the real photo and the disassembly diagram of the ‘shared phone booth’ in his hand.
It was not the same as what was mentioned before. Boss Pei increased the budget after all. The design of the phone booth should be adjusted accordingly.
It would stand at 2.2 meters high and cover an area of about two square meters. It was significantly larger than the phone booths he had in mind and was spacious enough to sit two.
This shared phone booth seemed indeed easy to install and disassemble, judging from the disassembly diagram. The frames were not welded. Just remove a few pieces of tempered glass, and one could tow the frames away easily.
The key parts of the assembly and disassembly could be locked.
Of course, that was just a sample that Zhang Wang made in his ‘workshop’. They would need to consider all aspects of the material, strength, cost, and other detail if they were to start manufacturing it.
At least there were samples; they were just not shipped here.
There were some other aspects in the physical photo of the phone booth with some detailed explanations.
For example, there was a counter with a small coffee machine, jukebox, three-port charger, Wi-Fi, bookshelf, capsule machine, and two folding seats next to it. There was a small screen in the phone booth of which the contents could be clearly seen by the people outside through the glass.
Of course, a phone should not be missing from a shared phone booth.
There was a beautiful retro phone with a dial in gold and black at the upper right side of the phone booth. It looked very smart. Obviously, the emotional significance of this phone was greater than its practical use.
What was more outrageous was that there was something under the table.
He Desheng was confused. “AED? What is that?”
“Automatic External Defibrillator, a medical device,” Zhang Wang replied.
He Desheng was a little puzzled. “That should be rather expensive, right? Isn’t it a little awkward to put it in the phone booth?”
Zhang Wang smiled. “It’s alright. It cost less than 20,000 yuan. It’s not awkward because there are other medical devices as well like a weight scale that can measure body fats and a blood pressure monitor.” He Desheng “…is there enough money?” Zhang Wang nodded. “Of course! “I was planning to build a traditional phone booth originally which cost about 5,000 yuan but it had to be upgraded since the price gave me a new budget!
“The current size and material cost almost 10,0
00 yuan per unit. After adding other equipment and installation costs, it cost about 18,000 yuan without the AED.
“The monthly rental for the venue is about 500 to 1,000 yuan. The initial investment amount is about 40,000 yuan after calculation. It’s enough!
“Boss Pei gave 500,000 yuan. I did some calculations. We’ll invest in 10 shared phone booths. The remaining 100,000 yuan and income would be used for follow-up maintenance costs.”
He Desheng was suddenly aware of a problem. “Wait, the monthly rental is 500 to 1,000 yuan? So expensive?”
Zhang Wang nodded. “Of course. I asked several big shopping malls in Jingzhou. They have similar reserved spaces. The cheaper ones are 500 yuan. Those like Huanyu Tianjie are more expensive but can be rented for about 1,000 yuan. It will only occupy about two square meters anyway.”
He Desheng blinked, obviously a little lost. “Aren’t we setting them up by the side of the
road?”
Zhang Wang laughed. “On the side of the road? There are so many cars on the road; who would use them?”
“There will only be a total of 10 to 20 sets. We have to put them in shopping malls with large traffic.”
He Desheng was speechless. Why did he feel as though he was being looked down upon? This did not sound right at all!
He Desheng flipped through it again. “Why is the ‘cultural connotation’ left blank?”
Zhang Wang said. “I didn’t think too much about that mainly because I have no more budget.”
“My original plan was to leave a separate screen by this phone booth, find an artist to paint a futurist painting, and decorate it a little. Each phone booth would have a unique theme everyone was allowed to photograph.
“Then, we’ll design a different stamp for each phone booth. Those who visit it can stamp it as a memento.”
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