has just finished the first test, and "World Qiyuan" has "rectified" a super big job again: the cross-border linkage of the heavy weapon "J-20". This is also the first time that players have experienced the charm of this contemporary cutting-edge weapon up close in a strategy game.
Recently, Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) brought its self-developed fifth-generation stealth fighter J-20 to the "China Brand Day" booth and launched a series of cultural and creative products, which received a large number of onlookers. Subsequently, the J-20 announced its cooperation with this cross-era war strategy game developed by Tencent Northern Lights Studio and published by Ruyi Jingxiu, which attracted wide attention from players.
In March this year, "World Qiyuan", which was produced by Sid Meier and cooperated with the genuine IP of "Civilization", aroused heated discussions and attention among the player community as soon as it was announced. At present, the number of pre-orders for the game has exceeded 2.5 million. Rooted in the unique inclusiveness and openness of the theme of "Civilization", "World Qiyuan" has innovatively designed the concept of "ONE SLG", which will accommodate the themes and gameplay of all strategy games.
This means that in the future, players can form a J-20 fleet in the game, command the fleet to simulate air battles, feel the combat charm of cross-era advanced technology, and personally feel the glory and dream that J-20 brings to the Chinese people. The strategy game with the J-20 is expected to bring an unprecedented and refreshing experience.
Full of anticrisy and curiosity, GameLook immediately interviewed international relations expert Jin Canrong, as well as game producer Yang Hai and publishing producer Chen Chao to learn more about how the most heavyweight linkage in the game industry was achieved, and how "World Qiyuan" introduced this proud fighter into the game.
Professor Jin Canrong believes that since the US victory in the Gulf War in 1991, mankind has entered an era of "infinite space" in essence. "In the past, when we were fighting, land, sea and air were all limited space, but space, the electronic world, and cyberspace were unlimited. When human beings begin to go from limited space to infinite space, the system must be complete, and the aerial platforms are all nodes. ”
"The significance of the J-20 today is that it is not only a traditional weapon platform, but also a node of intelligence and informatization in the future, which is very important."
Another turning point in the military world, in his eyes, is the growing and innovative ties with the gaming industry. Under this trend, the cross-border cooperation between "World Qiyuan" and J-20 can not only increase the immersion of players, but also a new form of patriotic education and national defense science popularization.
"Compared with fast-consuming media forms such as short videos, games allow users to deeply learn and understand complex military concepts and technical details in the process of participation through interactive experiences, and have a longer lasting memory. It is of great significance for cultivating national defense awareness and the spirit of scientific exploration at an early stage. ”
However, not all games can be deeply integrated with the J-20. Professor Jin Canrong told GameLook that the J-20 is the result of the mainland's defense industry, and the game also needs to reach a certain degree of industrialization before it can be integrated. "We're lucky that a brand new war game like World Apocalypse has come out at the right time. As a military fan, China is very happy to have the J-20, and it is also a good thing for players to introduce the J-20 in "World Qiyuan". ”
Focus on the three major capabilities of the J-20 and build a three-dimensional combat system for land and air
Whether the industrial R&D strength is mature is only one aspect, and the theme is another reason why most strategy games fail to link with the J-20. In order to pursue the sense of heaviness and epicness expected by core players, most traditional strategy games focus on the "hodgepodge" of multiple civilizations in the Three Kingdoms period or the era of cold weapons.
Yang Hai, the game's producer, explained that specific themes limit the addition of air units, and forcibly introducing them will destroy the shaping of the sense of the times, not to mention replicating the world's top level of fifth-generation fighters and achieving logical self-consistency in the setting. However, backed by the IP of "Civilization", the cross-era strategy game "World Qiyuan" naturally has the advantage of theme.
As he says, players will experience the development of a civilization from ancient times to the journey out of Earth and into the universe. Specifically, in the game: "Civilization will evolve into the Industrial Age in the first Season, and then a New Era will be added with each new Season, and more advanced classes will be added accordingly. ”
In other words, when the player's civilization develops to a certain stage, they can naturally experience the air combat gameplay, and "World Qiyuan" is even expected to build a complete three-dimensional combat system of sea, land and air.
"In addition to the traditional land unit class restraint cycle, we have additionally designed the air-ground integrated gameplay." Yang Hai further explained: "Ground-to-ground bombers can destroy the army, air-to-air fighters can intercept bombers, surface-to-air air defense guns can shoot down fighters, and the army can destroy air defense facilities - cyclic restraint constitutes a three-dimensional war strategy system that simultaneously competes for the sky and land." ”
He revealed to GameLook that the game will also join naval warfare in the future, and eventually realize the integration of land, sea and air, providing a more immersive cross-era war experience, rather than just limiting the war to one era, one space, and one plane.
Continuing this concept, the development team began to consider "whether it can be combined with advanced fighter jets" while introducing modern air warfare. However, how to restore the J-20 in the game has become the first problem in front of them. In the face of the "important weapon of the country" that represents the pride of the Chinese people and the national spirit, it is obviously far from enough to stay at the level of appearance.
What players really care about is whether the game can deeply restore a series of powerful combat performance of the J-20 in maneuverability, combat radius, stealth performance, informatization, and supersonic cruise.
But past experience tells us that it is never the best idea to paint a scoop from a gourd. Producer Yang Hai clearly realized that "games are not the same as complete reality", and the development team turned to focus on the outstanding capabilities that the J-20 is more suitable for showing in strategic gameplay - around the three major capabilities of stealth, ultra-long-range combat, and information-based combat.
"First of all, the in-game focus highlights the stealth ability of the J-20." Yang Hai said: "The game has the concept of vision, and to show the stealth ability, you need to look at it from the perspective of observation. This is a passive ability, and the J-20 will be less vulnerable to attacks from anti-aircraft guns and fighter jets in the game.
For example, the warning range of anti-aircraft guns and fighter jets is 5 blocks, and aircraft that enter the range will be attacked. However, due to the excellent stealth performance of the J-20, it may only be discovered by ground air defense when it enters 1 square, which greatly expands the combat space. "As experts commented, it has the effect of 'a needle breaking a net'. The originally airtight air defense system was torn apart by the J-20. ”
Focusing on long-range strike capabilities, the J-20 has a farther attack and alert range than industrial-age aircraft in the game. For example, the latter's air attack range is 10 squares and the warning range is 5 squares, while the J-20's air attack range is 15 squares and the warning range is 10 squares, basically restoring its long-range strike capability.
Yang Hai said in the interview: "Information-based operations are also a very critical point. After the J-20 gains vision, it can be passed to teammates, and mark high-value targets to guide teammates to attack. ”
In order to restore the title of the strongest fifth-generation aircraft in reality, the J-20 in the game is indeed quite powerful, changing the trend of the battle to a certain extent. However, the premise of strategic gameplay is always fairness, let alone cross-era war games. So, on the premise of satisfying military fans, how to ensure that this "son of version" will not affect the game experience?
The approach of "World Qiyuan" is: to make the J-20 more resource-demanding, which means that players cannot use it unlimitedly. Yang Hai said frankly: "This kind of large-scale killing weapon must be used in the most critical battlefield, as for the choice of what battlefield and when to use, it is an important test for the strategic game of alliance commanders and players." ”
In-depth linkage, a full set of free delivery, cross-border cooperation to establish a new paradigm
To be honest, cross-border linkages are not uncommon in the gaming world. However, the cooperation between "World Qiyuan" and J-20 can quickly arouse heated discussions. GameLook believes that it is not only from the blockbuster of the linkage object, but also from the more essential reason: this is not a slogan-like taste, nor does it simply stay in the peripheral linkage of limited-time activities, skin appearance and other dimensions, but really excavates the highlights of the J-20 and creates customized content in depth.
Chen Chao, the publisher and producer, mentioned that the linkage between "World Qiyuan" and J-20 is quite in-depth, including the common external main city skin, login animation, and the design of "...... for the special military units in the game" and J-20's full set of in-depth linkage, so that players can truly feel the sense of civilization identity brought about by the revival of Chinese civilization in the game, and can help "World Qiyuan" broaden its strategic player base. ”
In order to highlight this sense of identity, Yang Hai told GameLook that the J-20 related content in the game will be completely free. "We hope to share the joy of national defense development with all military fans and players. Therefore, we solemnly promise that a full set of game content, including J-20 class units, main city skins, season commemorative cards, etc., will be given to players for free. ”
Just as the J-20 has brought revolutionary changes to China's air force and national defense construction, the in-depth linkage between "World Qiyuan" and J-20 has also become another benchmark for cross-border cooperation in games.
Similarly, in Chen Chao's view, this in-depth linkage sets a new example of cooperation for strategy games and even the entire game industry, and is also a demonstration of the deep integration of game content and real-world technology and culture. "I believe that whether it is in World Qiyuan or other strategy games, the cultural content and symbols of powerful countries will be a major direction of mainstream cooperation."
He further revealed that "World Qiyuan" will bring more external linkages related to Chinese culture in the future.
"World Apocalypse covers a timeline from ancient times to the future, which represents a deep potential for game content collaboration. At present, we are actively seeking the possibility of cooperation from the symbols of Chinese history, military and culture, not limited to the licensing of modern military content. ”
Indeed, based on the cross-border linkage with the J-20, we can find that "World Qiyuan", as an "earth simulator", naturally has a more flexible linkage space. It not only refers to the unlimited number of objects and types of game cooperation, but also means that the form of linkage is rich and more in-depth, and to a certain extent, "everything can be enlightened".
What is certain is that players will be able to find more signs of Chinese civilization identity in the game in the future - as Chen Chao said in the interview, with the cross-border introduction of multi-field cultural content in "World Qiyuan", it will inevitably resonate with multiple circles of users. It is not only expected to write a new start for the open beta of the game, but also to promote the follow-up operation of the product and even the continuation of the new era of the "Civilization" IP.
The future is in a high place, perhaps it is the best way to describe "World Qiyuan".