Text/Black Cat
Lead
After the first demo of "Three Volts" was launched, the discussion and topic heat caused by the producer Moonlight Cockroach were also unexpected. Players have dug up the details of the game to the point of "hammer and baht must be compared", in his words: "There are some bugs and materials in demo, which are misunderstood by players as foreshadowing". Now, in addition to advancing the progress of game development, his favorite is to "post" a large number of secondary fan creations related to "Three Volts" on Weibo.
The reason why "Three Volts" can get such a high degree of attention is not unrelated to the success of the previous work "Fireworks". For a long time since last year's Fireworks explosion, Moonlight Cockroaches have been labeled "horror games", but for him, he does not like to make multiple repetitive works in the same style. So after the official release of "Three Volts" in April last year, he repeatedly stressed that the horror of the game will be weakened, and the experience of the game will pay more attention to "psychological suspense".
As a result, we saw Xu Qingyuan, a "fake Taoist" wearing sunglasses and a serious nonsense, in "Three Volts", and felt the strange plot that even without any jumpscare, he could break out in a cold sweat. Black humor, bizarre, broad daylight, unforgettable, "Three Volts" jumped out of a narrow circle of horror games, but relied on the core of "suspense" to once again firmly grasp the player's curiosity.
Recently, the game teahouse invited Moonlight Cockroach, the producer of "Fireworks" and "Three Volts", to talk about "what is Three Volts" and the story behind it, as well as the sunglasses worn by the "popular" old Xu.
01
"Chinese Horror" with Localized Themes
Teahouse: Last year, you made and developed the horror game "Fireworks", which was on fire in China, so what does this success or even circle-breaking mean for you? Did it have any influence on the creative aspects of subsequent works?
Moonlight Cockroach: I think the success of "Fireworks" or the breaking of the circle proves that the local theme does have a certain market for domestic players, and players have a high degree of recognition for this genre. So to me, it means that in the future, if the games of this genre are grounded enough to resonate with the players, then they can be commercially successful. "Fireworks" is more like an experimental work, and from the results, everyone has great interest in this genre of games and is more likely to recognize.
Of course, there was a huge pressure that followed, because at that time I did not expect this work to get such a wide range of attention, I thought that there might be some heat, but I did not expect to break the circle, so the pressure was also very large.
Teahouse: Many independent game producers tend to replicate this model after running a commercial path, but both in terms of genre and graphics, "Three Volts" and "Fireworks" make me feel a big difference.
Moonlight Cockroach: In fact, in essence, the core of "Three Volts" and "Fireworks" is still based on local themes, that is, the kind of works that pursue socialism and are committed to realistic games that reflect social reality, which is a common point.
But as you said, in many ways Fireworks and Three Volts give players a different experience. I myself actually mentioned on Weibo that "Three Volts" is different from fireworks in terms of the narrative technique of the painting style theme, and even the character portrayal, which can be seen as a pursuit of the studio.
The hand-drawn game screen is very "pyrotechnic"
Teahouse: Why did you choose to do this?
Moonlight Cockroach: I said after the release of Fireworks that for me personally, I don't want every work to have the shadow of the previous work. Even I've complained that you definitely don't see a sequel to my work. Because every piece I want to bring the player a "fresh" experience, you can understand it as my personal pursuit.
For example, after the "Fireworks" fire, if you launch a sequel, in fact, the pressure is very large. The previous work itself is already very complete, and to forcibly lengthen the original story line, it is easy to become a defect of the dog-tailed sable. I used a lot of good ideas in "Fireworks", if you use it repeatedly in the sequel, it will only consume the freshness of the player, and it will not improve the experience of the game, so it is better not to do it.
Finally, creating a new work is actually very helpful for opening up ideas. For example, like "Three Volts", which uses group portrait dramas and adds some black humor lines, the overall painting style is different. In fact, my development process is usually more painful when drawing these materials in the early days, once these things are sorted out, and then on this basis to conceive the follow-up content will be very smooth, and it is easier to make a more interesting work.
Game Style (bushi)
Teahouse: After playing Demo, many players said that the experience of "Three Volts" is closer to "Chinese horror", how do you understand the concept of "Chinese horror"?
Moonlight Cockroach: Actually, I don't think it's too scary (laughs). When I was promoting it before, I also said that the feature of this time is not in the sense of horror. I think it's possible that because of the background of the era of "Three Volts", it is closer to the real life of modern players, because in "Fireworks", all the stories take place in remote mountainous areas, and many players may not be able to empathize. In "Three Volts", the era background of the game comes to the mountain city around the millennium, compared with the funeral culture in "Fireworks", paper man and the like, this game experience that is closer to urban life can strengthen the player's sense of substitution.
So I think one of the cores of "Chinese horror" is the sense of substitution, for example, if there are certain things that the player may have experienced, then it will leave some psychological shadows in his heart, and once he sees similar things again, it is like awakening the subconscious mind and arousing the fear in the depths of the heart.
Cold "little horror", pay attention to the reflection on the elevator door
02
The suspense hidden in the "dark side"
Tea house: I remember when "Three Volts" was first announced, you emphasized that this work focuses on "suspense".
Moonlight Cockroach: Yes. My understanding of suspense can be deconstructed into suspense and doubt. How to use the problem to make the player wonder, and then weave the next problem or trap through this suspense, and constantly guide the player to continue to explore, is the goal that "Three Volts" wants to achieve.
How many people are startled by this?
Teahouse: How exactly is it implemented in the game?
Moonlight Cockroach: For example, I start in Demo by throwing players many questions that make them wonder. Some players may find that when Lao Xu and Chengguan communicate, Chengguan suddenly asks a question "I seem to have seen you", and then Lao Xu suddenly fell silent, at which time the player may wonder why Chengguan knows this "false Taoist". Is it because I am often caught, or for some other reason?
Later, when Lao Xu went to the restaurant to talk to the boss, the boss said that there was a distinguished guest, wearing glasses and looking like Sven was looking for you, at this time the player may wonder why this seemingly highly educated character would come to find a "fake Taoist", it is through this small detail to create doubts to stimulate the player's curiosity, in order to drive the player to continue to play.
The picture detail is very rich
Teahouse: These seem to be some small suspense points, and I found that there are also a lot of deep suspense in the game.
Moonlight Cockroach: Yes. When I design, I usually throw out a bigger suspense after a few small suspense. For example, the initial signal hijacking incident, the third window seen from the videotape tv. If you play the first chapter carefully, you will find that from the beginning of entering the mall, small suspense including elevators and fortune tellers has not been broken, which will make players constantly doubt. After entering the video hall to investigate, until the section where Lao Yang killed people in the lost and found portrait, it actually ran out of a big suspense at once, if you count the last big suspense, it is about twenty or thirty minutes apart.
A different way of playing with time and space and scene interlacing
Teahouse: Big suspense points like this seem to be several in demos.
Moonlight Cockroaches: There are almost three or four of them. The first is the signal hijacking incident, the second is the three windows, the third is the old Yang killing scene, and the fourth is the demo's final climactic performance part. Basically every 20 minutes or so, the player will get a relatively large reversal or accident like this, that is, the need to constantly control the rhythm in order to make the player have the desire to keep playing.
Tea house: I found the name "Three Volts" very interesting, you also said at the beginning of the game, three volts is the hottest and the most yang, even ghosts will not appear, why did you take such a name?
Moonlight Cockroach: The first is the word "three" in "three volts". I've hinted at it countless times in Demo, and it's almost to the point of mental pollution. Like three-eyed children, three windows, etc., in fact, this design is also for the purpose of the problem.
As for the introduction of "three volts" at the beginning of the game, it is indeed a hint that I put out. When the yang qi is at its heaviest, even evil spirits do not appear, in fact, what I want to express is that in broad daylight, where we can't see, there is a dark tide, and these evil events are happening in places where the sun can't shine.
If you correspond to the game, you will find that just like the character of Lao Yang, in the demo, in fact, only show his side, many players think that he is a fierce character, do things decisively and kill people without blinking, but in the plot of the performance, you will learn that he adopted the three-eyed boy, and also taught the invisible three-eyed boy to write and draw, and seems to be a kind and loving person. This is actually something hidden behind him, deep inside.
Even Wang Zong, you may think at first that he is a conservative with corrupt ideas, and in the end you find out that he is actually a very clever character. Many of the characters in the game are like this, he will always have a hidden side that the sun can't shine, these may be good or bad, and eventually need to be dug up by the player himself.
Teahouse: Very interesting idea. This small move of Mr. Wang's sudden change of mouse made me feel that this person was not as simple as it seemed.
Moonlight Cockroach: At the beginning of the design, Wang Zong was indeed like the upstart in the late 90s, the image of a simple mind and easy to be wronged, but later I collected some of the real deeds of entrepreneurs at that time, and found that the real ones who could make a fortune were definitely not "fuel-saving lamps". Later, when I created this role, I slowly stopped him from being one-sided, and made the character image more full through various details.
Players have also become "spectators"
03
"Human nature" under artistic processing
Teahouse: The era background of "Three Volts" is set around the turn of the millennium, is this background unique to the game's plot?
Moonlight Cockroach: When I first started the project, I wanted to make a game about the special function training class. Because isn't the news like "Quantum Reading" hot last year? This gave me a lot of inspiration, and I had some knowledge of the special features boom of the last century, so I chose the specific time point of the millennium.
Teahouse: Many players say that Demo gives them a sense of nostalgia.
Moonlight Cockroach: There are many depictions of small objects in the game, which are also in line with the background of the millennium era, such as some posters, pagers, banners and the like, these visual experiences are the most intuitive. Secondly, including story design, plot details, and line dialogue are more time-limited, but the player may be the most intuitive or at the level of art design.
A picture with a sense of age
Tea house: I was deeply impressed by the full-handed painting surface of "Three Volts", what difficulties were added to the development process?
Moonlight Cockroach: Mainly because the workload has increased, and I feel that the amount of illustrations for the "Three Volts" demo is worthy of the entire game of "Fireworks". In fact, when the game was released in April last year, the art style of the game was not completely fixed, but there was a general concept. Later, after spending more than half a year of exploration, he also painstakingly cultivated his painting skills, and then exploded for a period of time in this year's New Year, and finally let the player see the finished product in Demo.
This scene performance must make many people remember it vividly
Teahouse: Many of the scenes in the game are more exquisitely designed, especially the change of perspective, why do you do this treatment?
Moonlight Cockroach: Mainly I still want to pursue a cinematic narrative effect. In filmmaking, every shot is meant to be meaningful. Therefore, in "Three Volts", as long as each scene involves an important plot performance, I will deliberately design the composition of this scene. For example, the perspective outside the window was used in the scene at the beginning of the task, one was because he wanted to increase the player's sense of peeping, because Lao Shen confessed that it was a very confidential thing, and drawing a window to isolate the player would produce a strange feeling of eavesdropping on the secret.
The other is to bring out the big suspense of the three windows. When Lao Xu finds that there are three windows in the reflection of the TV, and the player finds that there are only two in the scene, this sense of suspense will arise spontaneously, so choosing this perspective in this scene actually has its own significance.
The suspense generated by the perspective of different scenes
Teahouse: Speaking of scenes, it's important to talk about the final climactic part. Many players said that the scene where the two hands touched at the end made the whole game sublimated at once, which was very artistic.
Moonlight Cockroach: I can only talk about the superficial part right now, because talking too much may involve spoilers (laughs). From the surface level, Lao Xu and Wang Zong are people of two eras, they are both digging the same thing behind the wall at the same time, for Wang Zong, it is a mouse, but it also represents a business opportunity, represents a future opportunity, just like Lao Yang said, "If you don't smash the wall, how can you see the magic power?" The subtext is: if you don't smash the wall, how can you see future opportunities? Therefore, if you observe, you will find that Mr. Wang smiled happily when he smashed the wall.
But for Lao Xu, when he reached out to take it, his expression was very serious, which may involve a murder case or a bad result. The same thing, the performance of two different people, so that the two are compared, you will feel the naked humanity revealed.
Two space-time, two characters, are intertwined by the same thing
Teahouse: In the last scene, there seem to be two people buried in the wall, and many people have not understood the meaning, can you reveal some useful information?
Moonlight Cockroach: Actually, a lot of people should have guessed it, that is, the slain conductor Xiao Wu, because I emphasized earlier that he had a mole on his face. As for the identity of the other person, you can guess it, and many people speculate whether he is the first person to predict death, that is, He Hui. Because the heroine will finally receive a message from Director Shen, "He Hui is gone", will He Hui also be teleported to this wall like a mouse and die?
The final climactic part of the game is performed
Teahouse: Since you've said it in plain sight, it's definitely not, or it's an "official spoiler."
Moonlight Cockroach: What I may say is true or false, just like a lot of the game is true and false, but in the official version the player can find out.
04
Group portrait dramas in the context of a specific era
Teahouse: "Three Volts" is a group portrait drama, and it is also the first time to use a dual protagonist's work, why would you want to try such a theme and gameplay?
Moonlight Cockroach: A group portrait drama means that the story doesn't just revolve around one or two people, but affects an entire era of people. I also want to show this era from more aspects through more people. In Demo, there are actually three groups of people, one is the investigation team, the other is the scammer group and the deceived group. Among them, there are speculators, entrepreneurs, scammers, investigators, and it is all kinds of talents who form a group portrait drama of an era.
As for the two-protagonist gameplay, in fact, it is to bring players a fresh experience, on the one hand, the two have a lot of interesting interactions during the investigation, like crosstalk, players will not feel bored when investigating. On the other hand, the dual protagonists can better convey some information, such as enriching the game plot through the form of dialogue, portraying the character image, and providing key information.
The ending Easter egg, "Ye Jingshan" in "Fireworks" appears
Teahouse: What is the current development progress of "Three Volts" and when will it be released?
Moonlight Cockroach: "Three Volts" was probably released in March and April last year, when I sent a logo, which was actually the stage of "creating a new folder", and then sent a screenshot of the game in May, when the game outline was being conceived, and it was not until October that the official development began.
Then in January this year, an initial version was made, and then during the New Year's Day, the liver exploded at home to fill all the art materials, and finally in March it was officially launched on Demo, which should currently account for 20% of the content. The idea of the rest of the content part is already very clear, and if the development goes well, it will be possible to officially meet with the players early next year.
Old Xu, do you want sunglasses?
Teahouse: Last question, will "Three Volts" consider the surrounding area in the later stages? I found Lao Xu's sunglasses to be unexpectedly popular.
Moonlight Cockroach: We have also considered the surrounding area, and if the situation goes well, if all the game development work can be completed in November or December this year, then the time in between may consider whether to do some peripheral work. But now it's time to focus on developing the game, and lately it feels like the enthusiasm of the players is very high.
Teahouse: Okay, then I wish Lao Xu's sunglasses peripherals can be listed as soon as possible.
To contact the author please click