A few days ago, at the "Game+" forum of the 2023 China Game Industry Annual Conference, Lin Fengyang, head of product planning at Tencent Interactive Entertainment Social Value Exploration Center, delivered a keynote speech on "Design Methodology of Tencent Functional Games".
In his speech, Lin Fengyang took several functional games released by Tencent in the past few years as cases to classify functional games from the perspective of product design, analyze the practical application of product design under different categories, and share the product methodology precipitated by Tencent Interactive Entertainment in the design of functional games.
The following is a transcript of the speech:
Hello everyone, I'm Lin Fengyang from Tencent Interactive Entertainment Social Value Exploration Center. The topic of my speech is Tencent's product design methodology in the past four or five years in functional games.
Before I do that, let me give you a brief background. In the past five years, Tencent has released more than 20 feature games. These games are highly rated on third-party gaming platforms, and the feedback from players and media has been overwhelmingly positive. In recent years, it has also won many industry awards, and I would like to thank you for your support and recognition.
Next, let's move on to today's topic sharing section. First of all, before talking about the functional game design methodology, we have done a reclassification of functional games. Generally speaking, traditional games may be divided according to gameplay, action-adventure games, shooting games, and racing games. However, for functional games, it is more suitable to classify them according to their functional design goals. The first type is defined as a vehicle for conveying information, and the second type is divided according to the way games are used to solve real-world problems.
Under the first type, the information may be very diverse, for example, it may convey the knowledge of popular science, it may also convey the feelings of family and country, and it may also convey some moral-related concepts or public welfare concepts, or it may also be information related to our traditional culture. No matter what kind of information I'm dealing with, I classify games as a digital medium used to convey information. Under this, I will subclassify it according to its underlying logic. The secondary classification is based on the perspective of product design: that is, whether the advancement of the game is driven by gameplay or content narrative. This is the first big classification I did.
The second type of game is the one that solves real-world problems. It's really for these users who may have problems in real life and have needs, to help them solve real problems. For example, the game "Mandarin Town" we made before was used to promote the Xi of learning Mandarin. In some remote areas of the mainland, there is indeed a big obstacle to learning Mandarin Xi, and they need such a more interesting and convenient tool. There is also a game we are currently developing for teenagers' cognitive training, which is also designed for many teenagers who need to improve or enhance their cognitive ability in reality.
Under this framework, I have precipitated my own methodology for various game designs under different categories.
First of all, for the functional games that transmit information, I will start from the functionality of the game as a carrier for transmitting information, and disassemble several elements (dimensions) that affect the effect of information transmission.
Horizontally, there are four different dimensions. The first dimension is the presentation mechanism of information on the user side, that is, how the player sees and receives the transmitted information, the second is the display density of this information in time, and the third is how the player precipitates in the brain after receiving the information and forms a relatively long-term memory. The fourth point is whether the information conveyed is accurate/professional. Functional games are not a completely apocryphal fantasy world, they need to convey serious popular science or professional cultural knowledge, so the rigor and professionalism of the content are also very important.
For games with two different design pillars, gameplay-driven and narrative-driven, we have taken a whole set of different approaches, which I will explain in more detail in the case sharing later.
For this kind of game that solves real-world problems, we will take a completely different approach to design. It is not based on the gameplay or how the story should be told, but what needs the user has, what kind of problems exist in reality, and on this basis, we refine the path to meet the needs or solve the problem. First of all, we can put aside the game itself and gain insight into the solution to this real problem. Then use the game as a tool to maximize the efficiency of this path to solve the real-world problem by using the advantages of the game itself.
There are two advantages of the game, the first is that it can actively mobilize the user's resources to participate, and the second is that the game itself has a very fast target feedback loop, which can stimulate the user to continue to interact with the game. The above is the design idea for different genres under the whole game category.
I'll use three different game examples to illustrate how each methodology is applied.
The first case is a WeChat mini-game we developed called "Carbon Island", the top layer is my design method, I use it as a tool for information transmission, it needs to educate users about the concept and knowledge of environmental protection related to "carbon neutrality". How do we land on the mechanism of information presentation, the time density of information transmission, and the precipitation and accuracy?
The first is the mechanism of information display, I will do information implantation around the core gameplay of the whole game, we know that every game has a basic core gameplay. That is, players need to recognize a new game mechanic in the game, and they need to have a clear goal and motivation. The game then provides a difficulty, and the player needs to apply what they have learned to solve the difficulty, get positive rewards and feedback, and then Xi. This cycle is what all games go to follow.
Under this mechanic, we applied it to a carbon neutrality-themed business simulation game, which basically goes like this: first, the first layer first establishes a basic understanding for the player, which is a game about construction. In it, you need to spend gold to build the most basic houses, and this is very simple.
The next thing you need to build is to build more houses, and soon you will encounter a new problem called lack of funds, you need to level up, or wait to get more funds and increase the gold income. This may seem to have nothing to do with the theme, but it's a core little loop. Next, there is another layer, this layer is this game is a game about resource planning, in addition to playing such a small building as a house, but also on the macro layout, where to lay out your resources and energy.
Finally, a bigger one, which is a game about environmental protection and sustainability. The development of the island is the most important core, and in all the construction of houses, there will be a carbon emission or absorption, which will affect our environment and the development of the island. The development of small islands will create a contradiction between the environment and economic development, and how to solve this contradiction?
So I put three layers on the most basic cycle of the game, and the biggest layer is to implant our information into it, which is carbon neutral information.
Under such a cycle, how to distribute it to different time dimensions, in fact, the above curve is our common mental calendar curve, with the continuous release of resistance and relief, you will have different experience effects. This is also the case in the long-term planning of the game, where we simulate the process of environmental development in reality, for example, at the beginning, our society generates electricity every day, and there will be a lot of high pollution, which will produce a lot of bad environment, and then the effect of eating up the environment. The state of your heart, the visual senses, all the artistic effects, all the story displays, are also according to this. It creates different densities of experience across your entire mental curve.
The third point is how to really precipitate the information into the user's mind, we have adopted a different time dimension density of dispersion methods, such as scattering a lot of events, a lot of answering games, and a system of knowledge popularization. It will push information in front of you in different forms at different time frequencies, and then continue to strengthen your memory fragmentedly, so as to achieve the effect of knowledge precipitation.
Finally, how can our professional knowledge be rigorously popularized? We invited a lot of industry experts to communicate with them. Then, after receiving their guidance, the relevant knowledge is as professional and rigorous as possible.
The second game is still to convey information, and it conveys the history related to our Komsomol, so we adopt the logic of narrative activation.
First of all, the first one is that we first have to use the story to carry the information, the gameplay is to serve the story narrative, and the gameplay will take a back seat, it will not be so important. We'll start by choosing what kind of story you're going to use, and then we'll decide what kind of perspective you should use to tell the story, whether it's a third party or an eyewitness. Finally, there is the consideration of gameplay.
In the game "Star-Fire Dream Builder", we first determined that this is a game dedicated to the centenary of the founding of the Communist Youth League, and our goal is to reproduce the history of the Communist Youth League and show its spiritual core.
The perspective we chose was how some of the young people who were there at the time looked at the overall historical evolution and the microcosm of society, which can reflect the multi-role group. Since this is a historical theme, we must achieve accurate communication of information and controllable ending, so we take the way of taking risks with words, and set the main axis, so that users will not deviate no matter how they play. Then add some light interactive gameplay, so that the game has a certain interactivity, but at the same time it is absolutely rigorous in history.
Then in terms of the time and density of information transmission, we chose to learn from the classical theory Xi of film, such as our common three-stage film theory, the beginning, climax and ending, this game process is also designed in this way, starting from the May Fourth Movement, with the burning of Zhao's house as the flashpoint, and then introduced to the workers' movement, followed by the establishment of youth leagues in various places, and then the convening of the First Youth League. These are all very important events in history, and through the series of major events, we gradually intersperse the story of the development of the Communist Youth League over the past hundred years, and complete the narrative and telling of the entire process.
As a narrative-based game, we want players to accept and immerse themselves in the story as much as possible, so what we need to do is to make the whole story cut into the angle to cause emotional resonance, and finally to trigger the player's reflection, and only after he takes the initiative to reflect on it, can he really recognize it. In this process, we adopted different character shapes to resonate with users.
Among these people, some were daughters of wealthy families who became the backbone of the student movement under the influence of new ideas and eventually chose to become part of the revolution; some were born in rural areas and came to big cities to resist arranged marriages, and eventually embarked on the revolutionary road in factories; some were high-achieving students of Peking University and rushed to the front line of the May Fourth Movement, and eventually grew into staunch and loyal revolutionary fighters; and some came into contact with advanced theories and ideas at an early age, made a grand wish to save the country, and became disseminators and practitioners of revolutionary ideas...... Their experiences are thrilling and resonant, and their spirit is passed down and carried forward in the products.
The third example is our real-world problem-solving game.
To solve real problems, we have to start from the problem itself, taking "Mandarin Town" as an example, this is a game that solves the real needs of promoting Mandarin.
The promotion of Putonghua is an important means to help rural revitalization and promote economic and cultural exchanges, but in the actual promotion process, digital Putonghua tools are urgently needed. For example, some couriers come from rural areas, but in fact he may not speak the language very well, and his work is not very smooth. Therefore, if he wants to break the communication barrier, he needs to get out of his mountain village and establish himself in the city, and there will be a need for linguistic Xi.
However, focusing on the actual situation, our original form of pushing, it is difficult to quantify and track the teaching results, the feedback cycle of offline teaching is long, and it is necessary to verify the learning effect through Xi exams.
In the face of such needs and problems in reality, we should think about the path and method to solve them. First, we need tools that have a low threshold, can be learned at any time, and can improve the user's independent Xi. The second is that the teaching methods should be scientific enough to connect the whole cycle of learning, practice and verification of learning Xi results. The third is that we need to be professional enough. These three paths actually have nothing to do with the game, but we transformed it into the game and gave full play to the advantages of the game to do this, so the game "Mandarin Town" was born.
In view of the first threshold is the user's "learning", we need to improve the user's voluntary participation, so we made a way that the public loves very much in terms of art style and gameplay. So in this way, users are easily attracted to the game and have a spontaneous internal drive to play the game.
Next, the whole loop of our game will have a goal implementation feedback system, the goal of the game is to let you play, but in the process of playing, it will make you do linguistic Xi, and will give you linguistics Xi very rapid feedback technology, this cycle constantly motivates you to be able to play in real time.
The third is that we have made this content professional enough, so we have bound the relevant textbooks to do it, so there will be almost no deviation, and it can even be applied to some environments where Mandarin linguistics Xi exams are done. We also got a good social recognition for this game in the end.
I have just finished talking about some of the methodologies that I have accumulated in the past four years. Finally, looking forward to the future development, this is the space for my imagination.
I think the first point is very interesting, it must be the integration of games + industry. For example, overseas, we see that many games have a perfect cycle in the field of education and medical care, and the industry has developed, and it must be possible in China. Now we are also seeing very good trends, including education and digital health, for example, there are some technologies that can be used to identify digital therapeutics using AI cloud technology, and some can be screened out in this way in the early stage of Alzheimer's disease.
The second is technological breakthroughs, which will not only bring about the development of the game itself, but also radiate to other fields. After our stealth art, AI, and other related technologies must take off, we can do a lot of things. For example, there is a trend that digital twins can be used to restore many historical ancient buildings. For example, if you show the central axis of Beijing with AR and VR, many people will experience this charm.
The third point is the new experience across the entire level. Apple's latest XR device, for example, has the potential to change the way media and digital interact with each other. The appearance of this thing may also bring about a take-off related to our games. In the future, we may be able to stand on Earth and experience what it is like to live on the moon.
Therefore, I think that whether it is a technological breakthrough or the integration with our industry, there must be very good prospects and trends in the future.
That's what I'm going to share today, it's my methodology for feature games, and some of my visions for the future, thank you.