Chapter 159 A design genius ahead of his time

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On the night of the 23rd, while Lin Hui was busy perfecting the details of the "WorkFlow" software, many people were also busy. Dong Jiaqi was very busy at this time.

To be exact, Dong Jiaqi has been very busy since GRAY FOREST launched the game "Hill Climb Racing" on the afternoon of the 21st.

Originally, she didn't need to be so busy. Not long after the game "Hill Climb Racing" was launched, Dong Jiaqi wrote a corresponding review article without too much time interval.

After becoming editor-in-chief, she is now in charge of a new column. The main task of the new column is to review game developers rather than the games themselves.

Having said that, for an event as popular as the release of a new game by GRAY FOREST, it seems unreasonable not to take advantage of it.

However, just when she was about to publish the article, GRAY FOREST updated the game "Hill Climb Racing" to a new version.

Well, this situation is very sad. The article Dong Jiaqi wrote previously covered a lot of game content.

If there are a lot of changes in the game content after the update, then half of the article she wrote before will be basically useless.

Originally, Dong Jiaqi planned to continue to publish it, but after seeing that it was a major version iteration, Dong Jiaqi decided to download it and try it out first. If there were no big changes in this version iteration, it would not be too late to continue publishing it.

It turns out that Dong Jiaqi had a good idea. After downloading the new version, and after a short trial play, Dong Jiaqi found that the game "Hill Climb Racing" almost seemed like a different game after the update.

This statement is not an exaggeration at all. Dong Jiaqi discovered that in the reconstructed version, GRAY FOREST has added some new paints to the game "Hill Climb Racing". In addition, the new version has also added several brand-new colors to the protagonist.

Character image.

In addition to these new contents, GRAY FOREST has also added several new scenes in the v2.0.0 version of the reconstructed version of the game "Hill Climb Racing".

In the v2.0.0 version of the game "Hill Climb Racing", in addition to the basic scene (pastoral scene), desert scene, Arctic Circle scene, highway scene, moon scene, Mars scene, there is also a night scene,

There are three new scenes: the rooftop scene and the rainbow scene.

Although the style of the game after the update is basically the same as the original one, as an industry insider, Dong Jiaqi knows that the profit model of the v2.0.0 version of "Hill Climb Racing" after this update has been compared to the profit model of the original version.

There is a big difference.

What does the change in profit model mean?

It means that the target audience of this game has changed.

This change will not make much difference to ordinary players for the time being.

But for game critics, this change means a completely different interpretation.

The profit model is for all players and the profit model is for rich players is definitely not the same concept.

In this case, the manuscript Dong Jiaqi wrote previously is basically useless and can be dragged to the recycling bin.

In addition to the profit model, Dong Jiaqi also noticed that the player's operating experience in the v2.0.0 version of "Hill Climb Racing" seemed to be a little better.

Although it is only a little better, Dong Jiaqi feels that GRAY FOREST must be more than just changing a little code.

If just changing some code can improve the player experience, why not just do it in one step in version 1.0.0?

In fact, unless they are fixing some existing bugs or involving some PVE (player vs. computer) & PVP (player vs. player) mobile games, few game updates will make a fuss about the operation feel.

Why does GRAY FOREST take such pains to improve the player's feel this time on a game that doesn't really need to improve the feel?

The most mysterious thing is when she asks others about this question.

It seems that only some players have noticed that the gaming experience has improved.

More players seemed not to notice this at all:

"Has the game feel improved? Why didn't I notice it? Could it be your psychological effect?"

"The game experience has indeed changed after the update, but why do I feel that the game experience has become worse?"

"..."

Well, after receiving a lot of feedback like this, Dong Jiaqi even felt that she herself had some hallucinations.

It really is Schrödinger’s game experience!

Although he is a game editor, Dong Jiaqi is neither proficient in playing games nor good at developing games.

All it takes is sensitivity and subtlety.

But Dong Jiaqi believed in her feelings.

It involves this kind of change in experience that is close to metaphysics.

Although I don’t know the specific reason why this happens.

But Dong Jiaqi felt that there must be a deeper meaning behind this.

This problem has puzzled Dong Jiaqi for a while, but it was not long ago that Dong Jiaqi had the inspiration to solve this problem.

The reason why different gamers get different experiences after updating the same game.

Could it be related to the model of the machine?

Would it be easier for more advanced Apple models to unleash the "potential" of the game "Hill Climb Racing"?

With this in mind, Dong Jiaqi conducted a small survey among the players.

Players who feel that the experience has improved after the update are generally those holding 5s.

Users using 4s, 5 or 5c models feel that the improvement in experience after the game update is mediocre.

After reaching this conclusion, Dong Jiaqi was a little surprised.

Such a mediocre-looking little game couldn't realize its potential on the previous generation of Apple phones?

Is it the small game "Hill Climb Racing" that is too strong, or is the previous generation of iPhones too weak?

Although the 5s, as the first desktop processor chip, is very powerful.

But you can’t say that the previous generation model is weak based on this.

You must know that 4S has always been regarded as the legacy of Steve Jobs.

Under the hype of many media, 4s has a higher status to some extent than 5s, which has many new technology additions.

In this case, Dong Jiaqi feels that the only reasonable explanation is that the game "Hill Climb Racing" is too performance-intensive.

If this is indeed the case, then Dong Jiaqi suspects that even the 5S mobile phone cannot realize the full potential of this game.

Is a casual mobile game so demanding on performance?

(ps: Some people may think that I am making a fuss out of a molehill, but that is actually the case.

Unreal Engine 4 is also embedded in the new version of So-and-So software, just to allow some users to experience all the functions of So-and-so Show)

Although Dong Jiaqi doesn't quite understand why a game like "Hill Climb Racing" involves performance-eating.

But as long as you know that the designer of this game is GRAY FOREST, then all the unreasonable things will seem to become reasonable.

And why does GRAY FOREST design a game to be so performance-hungry?

Perhaps this is the real master of game design.

Only true design masters will not be limited by the limitations of the era's hardware when designing games, but will be ahead of the times.

This is the sense of worry!

Dong Jiaqi feels that GRAY FOREST’s sense of urgency is so high compared to other domestic designers that she doesn’t know where it is.

Always being ahead of the times is the quality that a true design master should possess.

For some reason, Dong Jiaqi remembered the description she saw in a media report on GRAY FOREST not long ago:

"The pixel-style bird in "FLAPPY BIRD" is the most authentic portrayal of life in GRAY FOREST. Once it flies, it never stops. The GRAY FOREST in reality should be like this, stubborn and extreme but persistent..."

Dong Jiaqi once thought that this statement was just a boast, but after thinking about it carefully, it seems that it is indeed true.

Although the game "Hill Climb Racing" has been updated to version v2.0.0, it seems to be a different game compared to version v1.0.0.

But what hasn’t changed in this update?

That is the style of the terrain in the game, whether it is the scene in the v2.0.0 version or the scene in the v1.0.0 version.

The style of terrain in these scenes is highly similar - the tracks are very bumpy.

Why did GRAY FOREST design the track to be so rugged?

Is it just to make things difficult for players?

Not really, the few mini-games previously launched by Huishen have been successful enough.

More than just success, it is no exaggeration to say that GRAY FOREST’s previous achievements were brilliant.

Needless to say, various records have been broken at home and abroad.

The key is that almost all of the games previously listed on GRAY FOREST have good reputations.

In this case, there is no need for GRAY FOREST to seek transformation or anything like that.

You only need to follow the steps and develop some sand sculpture games to achieve great success.

In short, at this time, GRAY FOREST no longer needs to make things difficult for players in exchange for money.
To be continued...