Pei Qian clicked on the promotional CG for Black Ink and Clouds after calming down.
The entire CG was traditional Chinese ink style.
A little ink stain spread on the pale yellow Xuan paper and turned into black clouds. As they gathered and dispersed, a ferocious-looking mutated beast was born. It circled in the sky, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws. Balls of dark clouds shrouded the ancient city in the distance…
At the same time, an old and low voice-over sounded.
“Legend has it that in ancient times, there was a kind of evil beast formed by resentment in China. It was called Nightmare. There were rumors that Nightmare Beasts could weave dreams. They fed on human fear, hatred, despair, resentment, and other negative emotions. They grew stronger day by day…”
The CG images in the game began to change continuously accompanied by the voice-over. Nightmare beasts were hidden behind dark clouds in the sky. Countless strange monsters were born, bringing disaster to the world.
A scholar realized that he was trapped in a dream. He held a painting in his left hand and a brush in his right. He began to use the power of his painting to defeat the monster in the dream. He wanted to find the nightmare beast hidden in the dream. The nightmare beast was also constantly producing evil demons to stop the scholar.
Countless sinister devils rushed towards the scholar. The scholar used his brush to paint a huge rock on the painting. Then, with a light wave of his brush, the huge rock immediately appeared above the monsters and smashed them into black smoke.
The monsters also raised the fallen rocks and huge trees on the cliff and threw them at the scholar. However, the scholar waved his brush and wiped the foreign objects out of thin air.
The brush and ink flew everywhere, and the black fog dispersed. The scholar and the monster began to fight intensely. The voice-over also narrated the background story of the entire game…
This publicity CG was actually not complicated. It was not a CG where every hair and pore could be seen clearly. It could not even be compared to the publicity video of the GPL’s Spring Competition.
However, the brilliance of this video was that it perfectly matched the game itself.
“Black Ink and Clouds” was a horizontal 2D game. It was not a hugely invested 3A game. What’s more, it was a Chinese-style game. It was related to calligraphy and painting elements. Thus, it could be said that using the CG of Black Ink and Clouds was just right.
Not only could it highlight the characteristics of the game itself, but it could also reduce the difficulty of making it.
On the other hand, even though there were only two small stages in the game and the game only lasted about ten minutes in the updated DEMO, the core gameplay was displayed.
Using the traditional 2D horizontal version of the game’s operating model as the foundation, there were movements, jumps, dual jumps, attack, defense, and other operations. There were also calligraphy and painting skills.
After clicking on the drawing skill, the game’s image entered a stagnant state. Time passed at an extremely slow speed. Gamers could choose to erase the scene elements in the game or create props by drawing a specific shape. For example, they could draw circles to create large rocks, and draw lines to create lightning.
However, this also meant that the game could not be played with a controller. It could only be played with a mouse or a touch screen.
The official platform obviously intended to use the computers and cell phones as the main battlefield. They promised that players would first be on the computer version and then the cell phone version.
Logically speaking, it would be more comfortable to operate the cell phone version. However, there were more independent gamers in the computer version after all, and it would be easier to develop it. Thus, they had to go to the computer version first.
…
After watching the promotional video and the game’s contents, Pei Qian’s expression turned serious as though he was facing a formidable enemy.
No wonder so many people were pre-ordering it. It looked very reliable!
The domestic independent gamers were one of the most supportive groups of domestically-produced games. Ink and Clouds was a Chinese-style game. It was obviously more likable to combine traditional cultural elements like calligraphy and games.
However… could this game’s DEMO achieve such a good publicity effect?
That didn’t make sense, right?
Pei Qian clicked on the promotional video on the game’s details page with some confusion.
…
The video started in a dark room.
A child in shorts and a white vest was hiding under the blanket, reading a game magazine under the dim light of the flashlight.
Suddenly, footsteps came from outside the door. The child quickly switched off his flashlight and lay down. He hid the magazine under his pillow and pretended to be asleep.
The camera changed to day time.
His parents were not at home. The child carefully switched on his computer. On the screen was a domestically-produced standalone game with a strong mosaic style.
The child placed the game magazine aside and began to play seriously with the guide.
All of a sudden, the clock on the wall started to chime. The child quickly switched off his phone, took a wet towel, and covered the big head of the computer monitor. Then, he quickly returned to his room, opened his bag, took out his homework, and finally put away the wet towel.
After a period of time, the anti-theft door opened. The child’s father came back and touched the computer monitor. Then, he looked at the child who was studying seriously and turned to busy himself.
The scene changed again. The primary school student became a high school student. They might have changed to a different actor, but they could still recognize him as the same person through his clothing.
In the smoke-filled internet cafe, some of his peers were playing various online games. He was the only one still playing domestically-produced standalone games. However, it was the same game that he played in elementary school. There were no changes.
Some people mocked him for playing such an old game. He just smiled and did not say anything.
The camera changed again, and the high school student became an adult. It was already late at night. In the dilapidated and messy rental apartment, he faced the computer screen and seriously used the game editor to create the game.
The messy room and the piles of miscellaneous items were all hinting at his poverty-stricken state. However, he continued to work enthusiastically in front of his computer.
However, during the day, a loud knock woke him up.
He was silent for a long time after he returned to his room with the receipt for rent and utilities.
In the end, he reluctantly glanced at the computer screen, closed the unfinished game project in the game editor, and opened his resume.
He habitually moved his mouse to the game editor after sending his resume to several companies. However, he could not click on it after much hesitation.
The camera panned around. He opened the closet and flipped through to the suit he hadn’t worn in a while. Then he stood in front of the dressing mirror and studied himself.
In front of the camera, he was dressed in a neat suit and had a proper hairstyle. However, his eyes looked listless as he stared blankly at the image in the mirror.
In the mirror, he was still wearing a white vest, shorts, and flip-flops. His hair was messy, but his face was full of smiles and his eyes were filled with hope.
The two images formed a sharp contrast, hinting that he still wanted to be an independent game designer.
Finally, he sighed softly, picked up the printed resume on the table, and prepared to leave for work.
However, at that moment, he realized that there was a golden invitation letter in the mailbox at the door. On it were the words “Destitution Plan”.
A hopeful smile finally appeared on his face.
…
The promotional video ended there. There was no detailed introduction of the Destitution Plan but it had already pointed out it’s meaning.
As for the plot at the end of the video, most people could imagine it: this independent game designer had obtained the money and could continue to persevere in his dreams, complete the unfinished game project, and add to the development of domestically-produced independent games.
The video was filmed and edited in a very short time.
There were many old buildings in Beijing that were filled with the style of the previous century. Many arcade games shops also had game consoles and big-headed computers. It directly evoked many childhood memories when coupled with the vintage filter.
The content of the video was filled with details.
Domestic standalone games were also developing rapidly in the era when home computers were first popularized.
The newsstand next to the school would sell many game magazines. At that time, many students who did not have much time to play games would buy a game magazine and read it repeatedly. Even if they had not played it before or could not buy the game inside, they would still enjoy it.
He secretly turned on his computer to play games while his parents were not home from work. However, he had to remember to use a wet towel to cool down in advance. Otherwise, his parents would be exposed the moment he touched them. He would then have to welcome a storm.
With the rise of internet cafes, online games also developed rapidly. However, domestic standalone games were going downhill.
The protagonist in the video loved domestically-produced standalone games. However, there was a gap between domestically-produced standalone games. When other students played online games, he still stubbornly played domestically-produced standalone games from a few years ago.
In the end, he became an independent game designer who wanted to fulfill his dreams. However, he had no choice but to make difficult choices in his dreams and reality due to his tight living conditions…
All of this content resonated strongly with those who watched the video!
After searching the internet for a while, Pei Qian immediately understood why Black Ink and Clouds had garnered so much attention in such a short time.
Its DEMO was very fun and likable was only one of the reasons. The more important reason was that the promotional videos of Black Ink and Clouds and the Destitution Plan had already been uploaded to Aili Island’s website, causing a warm response!
On Aili Island’s website and several other video platforms, the promotional video for the Destitution Plan had been pushed to the forefront of the gaming area. Moreover, its popularity was still rising.
In the bullet screen comments and comments section, many independent gamers who had been under the radar were being bombarded.
“This video is making me tear up! Isn’t this child me? It’s just that I’ve already given up on creating games…”
“Dad and Mom touched their computers the moment they got home from work. This is too realistic! They’re actually unified in the entire country?”
“Sigh, the scene at the internet cafe is really sad. People like us who like standalone games have become anomalies. When we were young, domestically-produced standalone games were still in full bloom. In the end, only online games were left on the market. Sigh.”
“Actually, it’s alright. It has now recovered a little, there are more independent games now.”
“It’s still far from being comparable to overseas!”
“Is this ‘Destitution Plan’ specially meant to sponsor domestically-produced independent games? That’s really a lot of merit! I have to support it well on account of this!”
