Lin Wan raised her hand and said, “I have something to add. Every soldier of the human race has their own way of thinking. They might not fall apart or disobey orders, but they may take the initiative to send themselves on a death mission, fight the Zergs, and emerge victorious, right?
“As for how exactly those humans would act, it’s obviously closely connected to their strategizing process before the battle.
“For example, the commander might take a certain course of action to affect the soldiers’ boldness and way of thinking. Then, the soldiers’ initial individualism might slowly dissipate and be replaced with unity.”
Huang Sibo nodded. “Yes, that’s definitely a good idea as well.”
Everyone began to take their own notes. At this point in their discussion, everyone could see the silhouette of the new game.
This game would be completely different from traditional RTS games. The emphasis would be on the strategy before battle and not during battle, which would make the game more realistic.
What’s more, additional focus would be placed on the storyline, so that the movie would have more weightage than the game.
Once Ma Yiqun finished taking notes, his eyes lit up. “I suddenly thought of a good idea for the storyline!
“Boss Pei really likes gameplay that breaks through the fourth wall. Wanting to make the game as realistic as possible would be directly in line with his goals.
“If we hint gamers that there’s a real person behind every position through the game’s storyline, and sacrificing one position would be akin to sacrificing a real person… wouldn’t we successfully break through the fourth wall?”
Zhu Xiaoce hummed softly. “That’s a good idea, but… it seems quite outdated.
“Someone wrote a sci-fi novel on this concept in 1985, and it won the Nebula and Hugo awards. On top of that, the story was also about a war between the human race and Zergs, and a child who mistakenly thought he was playing a game when he was actually leading an inter-planet war…”
Ma Yiqun looked unfazed. “Of course, I know that. How could I not have heard of it before?
“Still, in literature, one’s not forbidden from writing about the same material just because someone else has done it before. Are you saying that people couldn’t write Western fantasy once Lord of the Rings was released? Of course not.
“The question is whether one is plainly copying or coming up with a novel idea while standing on their shoulders.
“No matter whether one is developing a book or a game, a good idea would just be the first block of the foundation. Whether they made use of that good idea or not depends on how one expresses it.
“I think that this idea is suited to be expressed as a game, and it’s perfectly in line with Boss Pei’s game design concepts.”
Zhu Xiaoce nodded. “Hmm… you’re right, but that also means that we have to think about how to tell the same story in a novel way.
“If we don’t, we’ll be using someone else’s manuscript. Then, both our game and movie would fail.”
Everyone fell silent.
Obviously, if they really wanted to work on this idea, they had to express it better than the classics. Alternatively, they had to ensure that they did not turn out exactly the same. One could only imagine how difficult that would be.
Huang Sibo sounded sorrowful as he said, “Boss Pei has given us too little to work with this tine.”
Lin Wan read through Boss Pei’s requests once again and noticed a blindspot. “Boss Pei specified for us to only look for one actor who doesn’t need to have expressions. Is he hinting at the storyline?”
Zhu Xiaoce answered, “I have already thought about this. There are only two possibilities.
“First, the protagonist could be wearing a helmet or a mask the entire time, so that no one can see his face. Then, he’ll be an opera-like symbol. That’s what happens in some movies.
“Second, the protagonist could be extremely ruthless and expressionless. That would emphasize the protagonist’s character.
“However, either of those interpretations could work. That makes it harder for us to figure out which is the right one.”
After some thought, Ma Yiqun said, “Both could work, but they’re both different in terms of reasonableness.
“If the protagonist becomes an opera-like symbol, the symbol must be a reference to something meaningful. Most superhero or sci-fi movies make use of this method to reveal problems and conflicts in society.
“However, our entire production would revolve around inter-planet wars. What could the opera-like symbol possibly refer to? I don’t think we would be able to find an appropriate reference.
“On the other hand, if we want to emphasize the protagonist’s character, the direction would be extremely clear.
“What kind of person wouldn’t have any expressions? Those who have a lot of mental strength and who are extremely ruthless.
“I remember reading a report on our country’s astronauts. They have so much mental strength that, even as the spaceship shoots towards the sky, their heart rate can remain under eighty. Even when they think that their lives are about to end, their heart rates would remain largely the same.
“People like that would not have many emotions. That’s how they remain expressionless. That suits Boss Pei’s requirements for the protagonist.”
Zhu Xiaoce pondered about it for a moment. “Is Boss Pei hinting that the protagonist would be an astronaut with extreme mental strength?
“What’s more, there would only be one main actor. The rest would be bit-role actors. That means that most scenes would only involve the protagonist. Would he be leading the war against the Zergs alone most of the time?
“If we tie this in with Boss Pei’s ‘breaking the fourth wall’ concepts, we would be able to see a rough picture of the storyline.
“The protagonist would be a well-trained space soldier and commander. Most of the airtime would be on the protagonist commanding the fleet and leading the war against the Zergs through a screen.
“However, would he be commanding real people? Should he know about it? Those are the key questions.”
Everyone fell silent.
They had deciphered most of the clues that Boss Pei had left them with. However, they still didn’t have a clear enough framework to work with.
The game’s mechanisms would affect the movie’s plot and vice versa. As long as one point remained unclear, it would be difficult for the team to work on the entire project.
After some consideration, Huang Sibo said, “Why don’t we consult Boss Pei again?
“Let’s report what we have so far to him and ask him for more clues?”
Zhu Xiaoce immediately shook his head and resolutely shouted, “No!
“Boss Pei has already decided to tell us this much. That means he’s not willing to reveal any more information.
“We can’t always rely on Boss Pei for everything either.
“Boss Pei was responsible for Game Designer, Tomorrow is Beautiful, and Struggle; but we can’t always wait for Boss Pei to spoonfeed us.
“We have to work hard to write a good story. Boss Pei has already given us the framework. We should think about the other parts for ourselves now.”
Everyone exchanged meaningful looks, thinking that what Zhu Xiaoce had just said made sense.
Indeed, they could not always depend on Boss Pei. They had to work hard on their own!
Boss Pei had only given them a general direction this time, without much detail.
Still, that meant that everyone was given a high level of freedom to decide on the gameplay and framework for the structure. They could grasp this opportunity to achieve a breakthrough in their learning.
After a couple of rounds of brainstorming, everyone’s notes were filled with dense walls of words.
Although they had not finalized every detail, the general direction was clear.
Huang Sibo gently tapped the table. “Alright, I think we have enough for the day. We can’t expect to finish everything that Boss Pei has left us within a single day.
“Let’s go back, cool down, and quiet our minds. Then, we’ll come back and review what we have.
“I’ll create a group chat. If you have any good ideas, feel free to share them in that group.
“Let’s not waste any more time now. We’ll start preparing what we can while brainstorming.
“Xianbin, come up with a general framework first and set the requirements for art resources as soon as you can. That should include the human soldiers, warships, Zergs of various types, their concept art, and so on. Put it all together.
“Fei Huang Workspace should do the same as well. Once you confirm whatever you can confirm, start on your preparations.
“Brainstorm as you go along. For all we know, we might be able to come up with something good.”
Everyone nodded one by one and then stood up.
Huang Sibo expressed his thanks to everyone once again. After all, Lu Mingliang, Lin Wan, Ma Yiqun, and the others had no relations to this project. They had come purely to help out.
Lu Mingliang and Lin Wan told Huang Sibo not to worry. Since it was Boss Pei’s project, they all had to help one another out!
Soon, they left the room.
Zhu Xiaoce turned to Huang Sibo. “Brother Huang, I’m thinking about whether we should decide on the protagonist. Lu Zhiyao seems to be hot now.”
Huang Sibo paused for a moment. “He’s a good option, but his acting skills are really good. Would it be a waste to make him act as an expressionless character? What’s more, the script isn’t out yet, is it?”
Zhu Xiaoce answered, “I have an idea that I want Lu Zhiyao to test out.”
Huang Sibo: “What idea?”
Zhu Xiaoce replied, “I want to lock him up and make him play the game for a few days to get into character. For all we know, he might get some inspiration in the process.”
…
Zhu Xiaoce arrived at the conference room and called Lu Zhiyao.
“Hello, Director Zhu?”
Zhu Xiaoce cut straight to the chase. “Boss Pei intends to invest three hundred million in a new film. Are you interested?”
Lu Zhiyao sounded excited, and he said, “Yes, of course!”
Companies often boasted about investing a lot of money in their movies but ended up not investing much at all.
However, Boss Pei never played with semantics like that. If he said he would invest three hundred million yuan, he would only go upwards from there. That meant that the movie would be a huge production!
Boss Pei’s projects would definitely be good. Even if Lu Zhiyao had to be paid less, he would still have to get involved.
Lu Zhiyao was looking forward to the project. “Do you have a script, Director Zhu? Can you send it to me?”
Zhu Xiaoce remained quiet for a moment and then said, “Er… the script has a little way to go. Why don’t you come to Jingzhou and help us brainstorm a little?”
Lu Zhiyao: “A little way?”
Zhu Xiaoce sounded resolute. “Yes, just a little!”
After some consideration, Lu Zhiyao said, “Well, Director Zhu, will there be other actors in the film? Would Uncle Zhang and the rest be there?”
Zhu Xiaoce: “Er… it’s just you for now. You’re the protagonist. Other actors will be added in time.
For some reason, Lu Zhiyao had a funny feeling about the film.
However, on further thought, it was Boss Pei’s project after all. There was no need to worry.
At once, he nodded. “Alright, I’ll tidy up and be there in two days!”
