At the same time, He An also saw this post from Tengda’s Official Weibo account.
“Strange, what does this Weibo post… mean? The official sources say that there is no theme and that it is only a mirror?
“Ha, how was it possible?!
“Such rhetoric is enough to deceive ordinary players or UP Masters but not professionals like me. This Weibo post should have caused great trouble for many UP Masters who want to interpret Struggle, right?
“There was no helping it. The interpretation of this game had completely exceeded their scope of knowledge. It required very professional game design knowledge to explain it clearly!
“And this Weibo post… seems to be making certain restrictions and distinctions.
“All interpretations of Struggle could now be divided into two parts. One is to interpret the realistic issues reflected in Struggle; the other is to interpret the true meaning from the producer of Struggle.
“And this Weibo post is for all players to participate in the interpretation of the first part. Only professionals like me can see the second part!”
He An did not try to understand this Weibo literally.
The reason was simple. He recognized a simple truth: any creator would have personal opinions in their work. Any artistic work, be it a game or movie, can become a mirror. However, the creator would always have his own ideas projected into it.
In other words, any material after being processed and created in a certain art form would have a personal touch from the creator. It was just a matter of more or less.
Humans were subjective. No one could remain absolutely objective.
It was impossible for the works of this author to not have his personal opinions because that would mean the author had no thinking and his works had no soul.
Struggle was not a work without any soul!
On the surface, this emphasis from the Weibo post was obviously contradictory to the actual contents of the game Struggle.
Something must have gone wrong!
There must be something else hidden since it was not in line with common sense. Ordinary game lovers and UP Masters would not be able to analyze this hidden situation.
Only He An, who had been in the gaming field for many years and had reached the pinnacle of game creation, would analyze it!
As the saying went, ‘the connoisseur recognizes the artistry while the layman simply enjoys the show’.
In He An’s view, everyone’s previous interpretation of Boss Pei’s game was only at the level of ‘enjoying the show’ because the puzzles that Boss Pei set up before were actually in the game itself.
However, this time, the puzzle set up by Boss Pei was in the deep structure of the game, in the integration of the game and reality, and even in the basic theory of the game.
If ordinary game enthusiasts did not understand the basic theory of game production, how was he to analyze it?
That was why he felt at a loss.
Before, He An felt that this game gave him a special feeling. It was clear that none of the four basic theories had been met, and yet he still did not feel like it was a failed game.
Why was that?
He An suddenly recognized a problem after carefully studying the content of this game and compared it with four basic theories. Boss Pei actually strived to violate all four basic theories and rose from the dead! He used a type of great wisdom to give a complete twist!
It seemed to violate all four basic theories, but in fact, it had reached a higher level of all four theories. It directly transcended from ‘viewing a mountain as a mountain’ to ‘viewing it not as a mountain but when one reached it, it was still a mountain’.
After analyzing, He An felt that these contents were really suitable to teach Boss Ma.
That was because the four basic theories were a summary of the experiences of general game makers. However, Boss Pei was the first who broke all four stereotypes in one go!
He An felt that such wonderful content would be too wasted if it was only used to give lectures to Boss Ma. It was worthy of becoming teaching material for all game makers so that all game makers in China could make progress together!
Thinking about it, Boss Pei should also have such deep meaning in making this game.
Therefore, He An decided to explain the content of this course in detail and put it on the internet to teach all game producers a lesson!
Of course, that might not be good for Boss Ma since Boss Ma paid tuition fees.
However, that was alright. At the very most, he would refund Boss Ma! Refund the money for one class and let Boss Ma learn some knowledge at the same time… that was totally okay with him.
He An’s lecture was not just for that small tuition fee anyway.
He An began to prepare his analysis on Struggle. To be more precise, it was a subversive game design theory expressed by Boss Pei through the game Struggle.
Moreover, this game design theory could be said to be a spiral transcendence of all game theory designed that He An had spoken about previously. It seemed to have overthrown all the previous basic theories at a higher level, and yet they still coincided with these basic theories.
The title of the article was: “Struggle overturns and surpasses all traditional game design theories!”
At the beginning of the article, He An did not introduce himself because he had his own Weibo account and a large number of players and fans. In the domestic game circle, there were almost no producers who did not know him.
Therefore, he did not need to introduce himself. He only needed to write his content, and there would naturally be countless people to read it and spread it.
…
“I have had unexpected gains playing Struggle recently, which I would like to share with everyone.
“Struggle has completely subverted the traditional game design theory and pushed the theory to a whole new level. Strictly speaking, it is not exactly a game for players. It is more like a textbook, a textbook for all game makers.
“Only game producers, who understood the basic theory of game design, can understand this textbook. Therefore, it is normal for ordinary players to be incapable of seeing through or understanding it… because ordinary players lack sufficient theoretical reserves.”
“Next, I will analyze why this game from the perspective of a game maker to why this game could be regarded as teaching material for all game makers.
“First, let’s start with this official Weibo post.
“Officially, Struggle is a mirror without any clear thoughts. Many people think that Struggle really does not contain any personal opinions, and any analysis of its inner thoughts is an over-interpretation.
“That is obviously wrong!
“All literary and artistic works in this world are created by people, and they will always project their ideas—no matter whether it was little or a lot. Otherwise, these works could not have been formed.
“It is just like when you want to write a novel. You are writing as the protagonist to make certain choices. What is your basis? Simple emotional instinct? Readers’ demands? Or overall intention?
“Undoubtedly, you cannot create a work aimlessly. You will always subconsciously project your own thoughts onto it when you write a plot down.
“Therefore, the official sources might say that Struggle is a mirror, reflecting the state of life. Everyone can see different contents from it, and the official sources did not want to force you to accept a certain value.
“However, since it is a literary and artistic work, Struggle must contain some subconscious of the creator. The only question is… what is it?
“Moreover, this is the key to the game of Struggle, overturning traditional game design theory.
“This game overturned at least four basic theories of game design. Its publicity method is misaligned with the game content. They chose an unfamiliar, unpopular, and thankless game type. Its game content was beyond the ability of most players, making people feel uncomfortable instinctively.
“Its existence did not meet the needs of most players; neither did it serve the purpose of entertainment and relaxation.
“These contents involved some basic theories. Producers are welcome to explain them in detail. I won’t repeat them here.
“If a general game violated these four basic principles, then there would be a piece of trash which no one would like. However, many people, including me, would not think that Struggle is a failed game.
“Considering that these are all very basic theories, it is impossible for Boss Pei—as a successful game designer—not to know.”
“Therefore, I have reason to think that Boss Pei did this deliberately. He uses this dazzling method to subvert all basic theories and then realize that the integration and unity of all theories at a higher level!
“That is why I say that Struggle can be regarded as a textbook for all game designers because all game designers can learn from it.
“So how does Boss Pei realize the integration and unification of all theories at a higher level?
“This technique has already been used in Repent and be Saved. It is called a game that broke the fourth wall!
“It was just that, in Repent and be Saved, this technique was very obvious. The players with strong perception can experience it after careful considerations. This time, this technique is completely integrated into the game, into the underlying concept of game design, so only those who understand the basic design theory of games can understand it.
“This method of breaking the fourth wall is very progressive.
“First of all, the game’s publicity method is to break the fourth wall. Do you remember that the publicity of Struggle is obviously misleading?
“Actually, it is Boss Pei hinting at the truth through this propaganda case: sometimes, deceiving people does not necessarily need lies. Only telling a part of the truth can also deceive people with even better results!
“When Boss Pei was promoting Struggle, he told part truths. On the surface, every one of them seemed to be true, but when combined, they completely change.
“In the game, the protagonist of the rich version emphasized struggles but actually only told past truths. He himself did not clearly recognize this. His success is indeed related to his struggle. However, if he did not have his father’s education and abundant resources, could he have achieved such success? Obviously not.
“Therefore, players think that Boss Pei is a scammer; the poor person in the game who killed the rich also thinks that the rich man is a liar.
“If you understand this, then it is not difficult to understand why the poor man would mention ‘liar’ at the end. On the surface, it seemed that the rich man spoke about struggles and all he said were true because they were all his personal experience.
“However, it was only partially true so the misleading power it had on people was so terrifying. That was why the poor man who killed him was so angry.
“Secondly, the expression of the game also broke through the dimensional wall.
“The game is entirely based on the social reality of the United States. The details of the lives of rich and poor were shown exactly as they are in reality. The process of playing the game will naturally have a very close connection with reality.
“We would think that the protagonist of either the rich or the poor is like a living person who exists in reality. It is completely reasonable for such a story to happen.
“The large amount of details added to the game allows everyone to see the shadow of reality from the game and see what has happened to them so the content of the game is highly integrated with reality.
“A thousand Hamlets had been shaped in the hearts of a thousand readers.
“Finally, the content that the game market really wanted to express is also hidden in the game. If you can find it, you will understand. That also breaks the dimension wall!
“How many people have noticed that luxurious logo that appeared throughout?
“How many people have noticed the opportunity for the poor to change their destiny actually exists in reality, but in the game, they are completely derived from it?”
