Wen 丨 Qian
Tencent Interactive Entertainment
Tianmei T2 Studio "Gone with the Wind" project team of the main beauty
The game was my choice from one to the other. I plunged into the game industry after graduating from college, and since then, I have grown from an ordinary designer to a major beauty, about 16 years ago. This choice will not change from the beginning to the present or in the future, so here, I use the "heart" of the original heart instead of the "end" of the end.
Games and anime are my two big passions. Like many post-80s generations, when I was growing up, I spent watching others play Contra in the shed, or playing Street Fighter in the arcade. I remember in the essay assignment, I also wrote an essay that started from the 8-bit machine all the way to the history of the development of the game console of the SFC 32-bit machine at that time, which made the teacher look confused. So, I consider myself a gaming enthusiast all the time. However, there may be a preference for a more action-oriented, adventurous, and story-based genre.
At the same time, my passion for anime has never diminished. Therefore, during the reading stage, their rest and exam rewards are basically allowed to draw comics and characters in games. Later, I had the desire to let the image of Chinese animation sweep the world. This wish may be a little too big, but I am always looking forward to this day.
When I defended myself after graduating from college, the title of my thesis was "How to Promote the Image of Chinese Cartoons". At that time, I felt that the entire industrial chain in China was not perfect, and it would be slow to derive high cognition and high-circulation images or cultural concepts from animation. So in the paper, I put the game, a relatively mature product with relatively mature commercialization, in the first promotion position, and then synchronized the anime peripherals and so on. That's why I choose the gaming industry directly over other industries.
After entering the industry, I did mobile games at my first company, and now I am still developing mobile games, and I feel that some things may really be a bit of chance. Before joining Tencent, in addition to mobile games, I was also involved in the development of PCs and various handhelds, as well as all major console games from 08 to 11 years. But I've always been doing European and American design.
It wasn't until I joined Tencent that I really began to participate in the development of the Chinese people's own games. However, in the beginning, the projects I worked on were still European and American in terms of art style.
Until the end of 2012, I began to participate in the development of the first batch of WeChat games with a national style in Tianmei. Since then, through one project after another, I have gradually shifted my art style towards Asian aesthetics.
Finally, in August 2017, the National Style War Strategy mobile game we developed- "Gone with the Wind" was successfully launched. (hereinafter referred to as "Troubled World")
Games – What else can you bring in other than entertainment?
I'm not the first beauty of Gone with the Wind. By the time he took over, the entire project had been running online for almost 3 years. Both the art style and workflow are leveling off. At this time, everyone is thinking more about one thing: "Gone with the Wind" as a game with the background of the Three Kingdoms, how can it better convey the national style culture to players in the future?
After a lot of discussion, the project team decided to take the Chinese dynasties as the version of the packaging, in each year through the refresh of different dynasties, the corresponding visual symbols, features, characters, stories, etc., through the game to present, promote to players.
2020 Datang edition
Taking the Datang version of "Troubled World" last year as an example, in order to get close to the truth, in addition to consulting a large number of historical documents, we also invited professors of history at Xi'an University, Daming Palace National Heritage Park and Datang West City Museum to supervise and guide the design of buildings, artifacts and so on. We restored various treasures of datang in the small game, integrated the sundial design into the activity, and reproduced the architectural features of the Tang Dynasty in the new pvpve game "Defend Daming Palace".
For example, Qin Qiong's original painting added Tang Dynasty battle robe elements such as two armor embedded with breastplate pieces, phoenix wing eyebrow protection, etc. At the same time, combined with Qin Qiong's proficiency in marksmanship and the allusion of "Pegasus Planting Guns", he designed an inherent skill that would have a strengthening effect on the gunners.
Gunnery general Qin Qiong
This year's Version of the Han Dynasty, still by the students of the Art Center, first began to collect and extract the culture and visual elements of the Han Dynasty. At the same time, we also invited Yang Yong, an associate professor of the History Department of Sun Yat-sen University who specializes in the historiography of the Qin and Han Dynasties, to examine the historical details. Finally, the project team was given a discussion and the design tone and direction were screened.
The 2021 Dahan version of the new gameplay "Chasing Deer Wei Yang" announced the material
Dahan version keyword extraction
For example, the color of clothing is mainly black, red and yellow. The building is characterized by its weight, roof, straightness, stretch and simplicity. In terms of craft calligraphy and painting, certain elements have also been extracted for pottery, lacquerware patterns, murals, paintings, etc.
Han Dynasty weapon extraction
In terms of the order in which the warriors were placed, because the main weapon of the Han Dynasty's war with the Xiongnu was the donkey, the donkey received unprecedented attention at that time. So we also took the lead in launching the martial general Wei Qing.
In terms of design, we did not show him as a general, but combined with the characteristics of Wei Qing as a shepherd boy and often hunting with Emperor Wu, we designed him as a partial ranger to open up the difference, and equipped him with an eagle next to him.
Wei Qing, a military general
The Characteristics of the Han version of the costume are refined
From the results of the preliminary investigation, it can be seen that the costumes of the Han Dynasty itself are not as gorgeous as those of the Tang. If we just copy and restore, we may not be able to meet the aesthetics of most players. So on the basis of the original visual of the Han Dynasty, we integrated some exaggerated or popular elements, such as local gold accessories, hanging ornaments, white bangs and so on.
In terms of the form of martial arts, because we are limited by the technology of 2D engines. You can't have cool 3D appearance animations like most of the game's heroes do today. So we strive to seek a breakthrough on the 2D level, players will see this year's new martial artist Lihua, Dongfang Shuo with his back against a tree, Weiyang goddess sitting on a crescent-shaped swing, and inventor Zhang Heng touching his large invention. Last year,the mighty and domineering Wu Zetian was replaced with a new skin accompanied by a white tiger.
Yes, we give the characters a certain situation to complement their personality or profession. Even if we are veteran martial artists in the past, we will also produce some new skins that integrate traditional culture, such as this year's Peking Opera element Xiangyu skin.
While exploring the manifestations of martial artists, we are constantly experimenting with iterations of technology and design processes.
Last year, the original painting students began to use the 3D-assisted design process. To put it simply, after the sketch is confirmed, the original painting will first adjust the character scale and Pose in the 3D software, then make the cloth and solve it, then try to match the color, texture, material and lighting, and then 2D draw after the output.
In addition to enhancing the performance of each material, 3D Assist also allows us to use its accuracy to avoid small mistakes. Of course, 3D software is a tool after all, and we can use its accuracy of performance, the speed of modification, etc. to improve quality and efficiency, but we cannot rely on it too much. In fact, before the final product, a lot of hand-drawn work is still required to improve and tune.
We have never stopped exploring the quality of art and expression. Therefore, if you compare the version of "Gone with the Wind" that was just launched in 17 years, you can see that there is a big change in the martial artist in the game, and we have been looking for a breakthrough.
Guan Yu (2017) and Peking Opera Elements Xiang Yu Skin (2021)
In addition to delivering the corresponding national style culture to players through the annual version of the dynasty change, we also actively cooperate with various cultural and creative and intangible cultural heritage cultures to promote and promote both inside and outside the version.
We also know that in every EB COLLABORATION, many other game teams are doing the same thing. Each game corresponds to a different group of user players, and the more such activities, the more people can understand the cultural creation and intangible cultural heritage of various dynasties and generations in China.
In 2020, the cultural and creative cooperation with the popular program "National Treasure" was linked to publicize the material
Publicity materials related to intangible cultural heritage cooperation
If through our games, more and more people can be interested in the design of the national style or the history and culture of China, then we will be very pleased!
Linglong - The first SLG Ancient Style Companion Virtual Idol
Dynasties change, and the beginning and end of the story require a narrator, so the project team, together with the art center, operations, worldview, and audio and research students, conducted a design and discussion of the first SLG category's accompanying virtual idol, Linglong. Let Linglong accompany players to get closer and learn the stories of China's various dynasties.
Exquisite
Exquisite 3D model process documentation
From a large number of user research, world view construction, character identity, character shaping, and then to original painting design, 3D production, character dubbing, etc., the entire Creation Cycle took almost a year.
Everyone can be described as cautious about the overall setting of this image, and I have participated in several rounds of the previous research results discussion meeting. In the middle of the period, the team held intensive meetings and discussions on Linglong's life, the proportion of various personality characteristics, as well as the image, clothing, accessories, etc.
Pre-image planning
First of all, why do you want to do Linglong?
At that time, as a game that had been operating online for 3 years, "Gone with the Wind" lacked its own unique visual symbols. At the same time, in addition to the players of our game itself, the radiation position of "Gone with the Wind" is smaller, and it is less able to expand the circle to external players. So we desperately need an image that represents Gone with the Wind.
In addition, virtual people, virtual idols are the more popular and popular elements at the moment. There are also a large number of virtual people at home and abroad that have received unprecedented attention. Therefore, in addition to the role of narration and companionship, this avatar also hopes to bring players some freshness, and also hopes to attract the attention of some players outside the circle.
So before we can determine the name, we must first determine whether it is "he" or "she"? SLG as a heavy game category, the players are mostly male, so we almost immediately thought of a female character.
And then what is her identity? The original core visual element of "Gone with the Wind" is the red dragon on the Logo, and the dragon itself is also a representative element of the national style culture, so we position her identity as a dragon girl. After these basic elements were confirmed, the team also decided on the name of "Linglong", which is more oriental and girlish.
Then we began to discuss with our worldview classmates repeatedly: how to integrate Linglong's life into the huge worldview of "Gone with the Wind"?
As the main beauty, during this period I was more involved in such discussions and meetings. After the plan is almost finalized, you can devote more energy to discussing linglong original painting design and 3D production with your art classmates.
In the image design, we refer to the previous research data, the player's primary demand for the avatar is beautiful. It's very real and grounded. At the personality level, we found that the player's preference is concentrated on personality characteristics such as intelligence, gentleness, external cold and internal heat, preferring to be mysterious in appearance, expressing the image of an iceberg beauty that is subtle but hot inside, and this answer is also very oriental.
Survey statistics
According to the exquisite description in the world view, we can also carry out some targeted design at the sketch stage. Of course, during this period, art students will also discuss the iconic elements of Linglong's body with their worldview classmates.
For example, the broken dragon horn on Linglong's head, in the initial setting plan, also thought that the dragon horn was put away when it was in human form. But after putting several schemes together, we will find that the lack of dragon horns will appear to be more ambiguous. In addition, combined with the world view description, linglong has half of the memories sealed in her own dragon horn, which will be gradually unlocked with the encounter with the player, and she appears in the game in human form, so the dragon horn is exposed, and one long and one short, we think that such a design can quickly stand linglong's features.
Early sketches of Linglong
Other features, such as full of white hair, are due to Linglong's personal preference for helping the Yellow Emperor clan, which leads to the anger of the gonggong to crash into the Zhou Mountain, the flood outbreak, and the giant carp attack. Her parents sacrificed themselves to save the world, and Linglong was so remorseful that she closed herself in the Pangu Temple, mourning day and night, and turning her head into white snow.
The two shawls on Linglong's arms are woven by the fiery clouds collected by the mother and daughter, and the heavens are seamless, and the water and fire are not invaded. The eyebrow heart cinnabar mole is the illusion of the dragon's horn when reincarnated and reborn. The dragon-shaped jade pendant around the waist is the jade of Kunshan taken by Dayu, carved by hand, and given to Linglong, which has the same name as "Linglong" with the dragon girl.
All the big and small details were formed after many discussions and attempts by the team.
Exquisite setting confirmation
After the team finalized the basic setting of The Linglong humanoid form, it was time to design the Linglong Dragon form.
At that time, we had the honor of inviting the big god in the industry who was good at drawing dragons, the teacher of the grasshopper cauliflower brother, to write the design. Because the teacher is very professional and careful, each submission will be accompanied by detailed design instructions and personal understanding, and can patiently listen to the ideas of the project team and integrate them in the work. Thus ensuring the design progress and quality of the entire image.
The whole cooperation process is very smooth, there are not too many back and forth modifications before and after, and the progress and quality of the image design are excellent.
Sketch scheme of early dragon morphology
Dragon-shaped original painting confirmed
Too detailed character backgrounds and character settings are a double-edged sword. The good thing is that this allows the original painting students to have more details on the basis. The difficulty is that with such a detailed text setting, everyone who has seen it will have different ideas about this image in their hearts. How can it land in line with the exquisiteness of most people's hearts? There are no shortcuts, only discussion and discussion, voting and voting.
This is very grinding, because every submission of art is based on their own satisfaction. However, it may need to be overturned again and again, and most of the students who give their opinions are not art majors.
But it's also very "Gone with the Wind" because we've been trying to do designs that are more in line with the aesthetics of the masses. And the public aesthetic must satisfy most people.
The meaning of popular aesthetics
In today's stylized and diverse world, the various character images of "Gone with the Wind" are not many characteristics. Handsome for men, beautiful for women. This may just be a very "mediocre" level. As an artist, who wouldn't want to do more personalized design and experimentation? But we know that the popularity of anything starts with the masses.
I think that visual promotion, if you are not a god standing on the top of the mountain, then first do it so that most people can accept and like it.
Talented like Zhang Yusheng, his own most satisfactory works are not the albums with the highest popularity and the best sales. As strong as "Melting Pot" director Huang Donghe, he also made a "Squid Game", which is simple in everything, but it has reached the top of many Netflix coverage areas (here I would like to say that it takes a very high level to do a good job of "simple").
The high degree of singing and the ranking of the first place may not be a measure of artistic achievement, but it is an important basis for how widely disseminated it is. Is "Chosin Lake" good? I know that a considerable number of people watched "Chosin Lake" and later went to see a series of documentaries on the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, Defend the Homeland, "Ice blood Chosin Lake" and a series of documentaries on the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea to understand this battle and this period of history. From this point of view, I think "Chosin Lake" is good and successful.
Therefore, if the national style culture wants to better go abroad, I think it must first achieve a considerable degree of popularity in China, and arouse more people to like or be curious about it.
So in the character itself, what we seek is always a balance.
I often say, "The right one is the best." "So we're always looking for a design that works and will satisfy the players." It is also common to collect suggestions or complaints from various players, then analyze and discuss, and gradually optimize iterations. A good or bad sentence for a player may contain multiple meanings and need to be eaten by ourselves. In this way, under the premise of ensuring quality, we can find the most suitable preferences and directions for most players.
In the early stage of the design of each warrior, the original drawing students will send out several sketches together for voting, and finally adjust and refine the plan with the largest number of votes, in order to make as many people as possible like or accept it.
We will not be too entangled in the personalization of the face, most people like, think it is beautiful, we will choose to pass, instead of focusing more on clothing, accessories and action dynamics, that is, to think about how to better present the corresponding era of the national style vision, and integrate it with the popular aesthetics of the times.
For example, when painting the face of a martial artist, you will always see the monitor of the original painting classmate piled up with photos of the faces of various stars or models. That's what they're thinking about, which characteristics of a wide audience can be integrated into the current warriors of this personality trait.
In the early stage of costume design, you will also see the original painting students' desktop in addition to traditional clothing, pattern references, there are also photos of various fashion shows. The collision of ancient and modern, the fusion of tradition and popularity, this is the direction we continue to try in the secondary creation. The purpose, also for the purpose of the aforementioned, is to produce content that is "suitable for the preferences of most players".
Each warrior sets a preliminary sketch
Fit means meeting the player's needs, but also allowing the quality and performance of the art to change with the version of the game. Because popularity is changeable, people's requirements for quality are also constantly improving.
After the introduction of the multi-dynastic concept, this actually gave the art more room for secondary shaping, and we also designed characters that are more in line with the preferences and aesthetics of most current players according to the suggestions and feedback of different players.
In the current Western culture, the image of China may also differ from what I call "popular aesthetics." Many films, television, advertisements and other cultural works will also portray the "Chinese face" as a stereotype of squinting eyes, high cheekbones, thick lips and so on.
However, I also believe that although there are differences in aesthetics between China and the West, most people's standards of beauty are similar. For example, recently Spears Britney Little Sweetie was on the cover of major magazines because of some news, and her smile is very infectious, and I believe that for people of different cultures, her bright smile is beautiful.
In order to break the outside world's inherent thinking about Chinese culture, orthodox cultural output and exchange is indispensable, but the process is also "heavy" and slow. In contrast, video games, as a lighter and more popular leisure and entertainment, can more quickly, effectively and comprehensively export culture and ideas, so that people inadvertently accept it.
The materials of national style culture are inexhaustible
Whether it is national style design or Chinese culture, in terms of cultural output, character design is only a small piece of it.
Recently, we have specially linked up with Shanxi Wenbo Group to make overall setting references for the game and develop the version of the theme packaging of "Shan Hai Jing". And invited relevant historical experts to jointly polish the game, the game content was deeply discussed and optimized.
I am personally excited to be able to combine the version packaging of the Classic of Mountains and Seas, design and development. Because first of all in China, the awareness of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" is relatively high, but most people know more about the relevant information, and the story may know only a few, such as Jingwei Reclamation, Dayu Zhishui and so on.
However, in fact, the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" itself actually has a lot of content, and because the author of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" has never been determined, and because there are obvious differences in the style and content of its various parts, the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" has also been described as the "Lost Book of Heaven".
All this adds a mysterious layer to the Classic of Mountains and Seas. If we can convey some of the content as much as possible through the game, so that players can stay at home, they can taste the myths and stories and ancient myths and beasts in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" that originated from thousands of years in the game, unveil the mysteries of world culture, and feel the wonderful fantasies of the ancients for the unknown world, I will feel a sense of accomplishment.
Or to let people who originally knew but were not very interested in it be able to generate interest in the Classic of Mountains and Seas through this version, and then to learn more about the Classic of Mountains and Seas through other channels.
More importantly, the story contained in the Classic of Mountains and Seas coincides with the worldview setting of our game. Linglong is the daughter of Fuxi Nuwa according to the setting, so we joined the Linglong force outside the three major forces of the Three Ancestors of China (Yandi, Yellow Emperor, and Xuan You) according to the worldview setting. The version of the Classic of Mountains and Seas allows us to visually present more mysterious Chinese mythology.
The Classic of Mountains and Seas version of the four major forces totem
In addition to the help of the expert group, we also consulted a large number of historical documents, and strived to create an ancient era that made everyone feel a sense of substitution, and restored the original stories and rare animals in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.
In terms of the architecture, map landform and image form of the "Classic of Mountains and Seas", we also let the world view students examine the evidence first, and then the art students design and develop.
The Classic of Mountains and Seas is a version of a conceptual map of a landform
The Classic of Mountains and Seas version of the power building
At the scene performance level, in order to give players a better visual experience, we have implanted a 3D terrain map in the 2D engine.
Although we have also used 3D to make maps in previous gameplay such as "Alliance Lucky Land" or "Chasing Deer", in contrast, the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" version has made more technical attempts in order to be more in line with the setting of the original book.
For example, the introduction of sea surfaces and naval battles, the impact of natural cloud projection on the ground, sea surfaces and buildings, etc., these effects may be very good to achieve in 3D games, but it is really quite difficult to restore in our old 2D engine.
Art, TA, and development classmates repeatedly tried, although the process is a little twisty and long, but even if the player can read the words depicted in the "Classic of Mountains and Seas", then all the efforts are worth it.
Version of the Marketplace asset
The avatars we have been exposed to the most since childhood are Japanese, European and American, and the monsters that have the deepest influence on us may also be foreign monsters or demons. And the Classic of Mountains and Seas itself covers both divine beasts and monsters. In terms of imagination and story mystery and the heat of discussion, I think it is far superior to those in Europe, the United States, Japan and South Korea. If these contents can be exported to the outside of the country in reverse, foreign people will also be interested in the mythical world of China. Maybe the good wishes I've been looking forward to are not far from being realized.
Maybe this matter was not achieved by our team in the end, or perhaps the first successful output of the theme is not "Shan Hai Jing" but "Journey to the West" or "Fengshen God" and so on. But at least at this stage, we can start small, starting from a version and a design. Starting from the players of "Gone with the Wind", we will gradually spread the broad and profound national style culture.
Version of the market material - author: xision
If one project can't do it, then two or three projects will continue to work like this. From the perspective of the work itself, I hope that in the future, with stronger engines and technologies, I can better realize the ideas of art design and expression. Thinking about it, I hope to see more and more people outside the country in the future not only like to play the games developed by our people, but also hope to see that they like Chinese themes, national style culture and national style visual elements. It may be a long way to go, but I know we're going to keep going, and I know that there are thousands of other teams inside and outside the company who are working toward the same goal as we do.
Let the world see the national style culture, will not exist only in the good wishes of some people. It will also be an inevitable trend.