Chapter 67: The City of Fierce Battle

  How can a game magazine with no popularity at all be sold out?

  Jester really thought of a way.

  Because he knew who would buy game magazines, to sell a certain product, you only need to know the target audience for this product and then just cater to their tastes.

  So who would be willing to spend money on game magazines?

  It's simple logic, such a person is not just a gamer, but definitely a player who loves games very much. The most attractive thing to such people is nothing more than a good game.

  So, Jester was thinking if it's possible to bundle a trial version of the game with the first issue of the magazine, which is what game companies would later call a "demo", and then use the Mars Entertainment brand as a gimmick for promotion, at least fans of Mars Entertainment games would definitely be interested.

  After all, it's Huo Yan's first PC game.

  Moreover, the trial version of this game is not sold separately and can only be obtained by purchasing a magazine with it attached.

  As long as players are interested in this game and want to play it, they will definitely buy a copy of the magazine. If their own magazine is well-made, it will definitely retain a large number of players.

  Moreover, this trial version method can be done every few periods, and the price of this period can be set a little higher. After sales volume and influence expand, it's not limited to its own games, but also other companies' games. Of course, this is bound to not be free.

  Of course, the magazine may not make money at first, but it can quickly increase sales and gain a large number of fans. For a magazine, there is nothing more important than sales volume and market share.

  So, now the question comes.

  Which game should I choose? Jester twirled a pen with one hand, and the fingers of the other hand tapped lightly on the desktop, frowning in serious thought.

  Firstly, this is definitely a PC game, but not only because the main buyers of gaming magazines are still mainly PC gamers, but also because there isn't currently a more suitable platform than PC.

  Secondly, the production of this game cannot be too difficult, it should be something that two or three people can complete within a week or two weeks' time. Something like a scrolling game is out of the question, it can only be a static screen clearance game.

  This game must be fun at last.

  After some thought, Jester really did think of a suitable game, "Battle City", also known as "Tank War".

  This game was officially released next year, and the production company is the famous Namco. At that time, in addition to the FC version, it was also released on Fujitsu's FM-7 computer, but the FM-7 version did not become popular, while the FC version became an immortal classic.

  This is probably the game that domestic players have come into contact with the most. Basically, on those dozens-in-one, hundreds-in-one, and thousands-in-one cartridges, I dare not guarantee whether there's Super Mario or not, but "Ji Zhan Zhi Cheng" (Castle of Conflict) will definitely be there.

  As Jest has played countless card games, this game is basically the preserved classic of such scamming card games as Little Bee.

  Jie's first contact with a yellow card game was "激战之城", of course, at that time he and his little friends didn't know what the two English words that appeared at the beginning of each game were, they just called it "坦克大战" by hearsay.

  But since it's just a trial version, there's no need to include some unnecessary features.

  For example, the map editor didn't need to be added to the trial version. As for whether or not to add two-player mode, Jester thought about it for a while and decided to add it after all. This game was designed around two-player gameplay, which is also its selling point. Notably, this is also the first game on FC that allows two players to operate simultaneously. Previous games, such as Super Mario, only allowed player 2 to play after player 1 died.

  As for other things in the original version, Jester thinks there's nothing to cut, but it's not necessary to keep the 35 levels of the original version. Fifteen to twenty levels are enough. Firstly, making so many levels takes time. Secondly, as a demo version, it only needs to make players feel that this game is fun, and can't let them play more content.

  Otherwise, how does the official version make money?

  Of course, there will be a formal version after the trial version. The formal version of Jester is prepared and then modified according to this game in China to produce "Yan Shan Tank" as a blueprint for design.

  Because "Smoke Mountain Tank" was completely modified and produced based on the shortcomings of a player playing "Battle City", such modifications also made "Battle City" more fun and playable.

  Many players who have only played "Battle City" may have such thoughts or regrets when playing this game.

  For example, when one side's tanks are all dead, the other side's tanks are quite rich. Why can't we "borrow" a vehicle from our partner like in other games, such as Contra?

  Also, when the enemy tank enters the bushes and hides, then shoots us coldly, we would be furious and think, why can't we burn down the bushes that block our view?

  And what about the rivers in the game? Many times they become obstacles at critical moments. We have to take a detour and go back, but it's already too late. We watch helplessly as our base is destroyed by the enemy, then we complain, why can't tanks cross rivers?

  Also, why can only players use items in the game? Can't enemy tanks use them too? Wouldn't that be more fun?

  There are many more examples like these, too numerous to mention.

  At that time, the founder of Yanshan Software in China, also one of the earliest senior gamers and game developers in China, Fu Zong, was playing this classic game and found many shortcomings. Therefore, based on "Castle Battle", he modified and produced a game similar to the later "tank" type, which is "Yanshan Tank". Of course, this game was unauthorized.

  Jester's memory of Fu Cao didn't stop there, the first strategy book about video games he read was written by Fu Cao. He also learned from this strategy book how to select 30 people in Contra and 99 lives in Salamander for the first time. At that time, these were Jester's proud secret techniques. Every time he played with his friends, he would hide the controller and secretly press it, fearing that others would learn from him.

  The strategy guide for this video game, called "TV Game One Point Through", was released in 1991 and had extremely high content and quality. As soon as it was released, it caused a sensation, affecting an entire generation of people. It was reprinted five times within a year, with total sales approaching 240,000 copies, not to mention countless pirated copies. This was truly a miracle at the time.

  There is another point worth mentioning, Fu Zong also made the first multi-game cartridge. In 1984, he pirated the famous game "River Raid" on Atari 2600, extracted the program with his own tools, rewrote the flight path of the plane and re-burned it, opened a mold to make a cartridge case, printed stickers himself, named it "New River Raid", and then burned other games from Atari together to create the first multi-game cartridge.

  Jie Xi returned to China this time also with a plan, to see if he could find Fu Cai in the country. He was willing to invest and help Fu Cai establish a game studio or game company domestically. He didn't expect to produce very good games, as long as they could cultivate a batch of real game designers for the future. After all, in this era, it's extremely rare to have a talented game designer on the mainland. He couldn't bear to see Fu Cai, the only legendary figure in Chinese electronic game history, end his life in regret amidst the future wave of piracy.

  "If there's a chance, Yanshan Software will definitely do original work." Now recalling the words spoken by Fu Cai, who is already old, Jester also feels deeply moved. As a designer who has infinite love for electronic games, who doesn't want to do original work?

  Jester thought as he wrote down the settings for this game on paper.

  Of course, the settings are divided into two versions. One is the trial version, which basically has the same settings as the original Namco game, with 20 enemy tanks per level, divided into four different types, and then there are five-star, iron shovel, clock, bomb, and other props that were originally available. The enemy AI is upgraded as the levels progress. To add a plot to the game, an addictive character named Jester was added. In order to increase the sense of immersion in the game, the logo of the player's headquarters was changed to the American flag. The original "Battle City" which had no plot was also modified by him into a Soviet armored force launching a surprise attack on the United States. The player controls the only two tanks left in the city to turn the tide and engage in an exciting battle with the evil Soviet armored forces.

  And the full version is similar to "Smoke Mountain Tank" with additions, such as adding a flamethrower, which is an icon of a small handgun, eating one is equivalent to eating five five-star, can shoot away concrete, eating two can burn away lawn, added new props warship, players eat after can cross river terrain, increased the function of borrowing life, when one side's tank number is exhausted, you can continue playing by borrowing the remaining tank number from your companion.

  And most importantly, Jester underwent his further enhancement, adding an optional difficulty system.

  The game is divided into three optional difficulties by Jest.

  Normal difficulty, only player-controlled tanks can eat power-ups.

  Nightmare difficulty, both sides' tanks can eat props. If the enemy eats a iron shovel, the player's base defense level decreases by one level. For example, if it was originally a red brick wall, the brick wall disappears and becomes a non-defensive base. If the enemy tank eats a bomb, all of the player's tanks are destroyed.

  Hell difficulty, only enemies can eat props.

  After finishing this, Jester started drawing the maps he remembered from "Battle City" or "Smoke Mountain Tank", a game he played a lot when he was young. He still had some impression of several classic maps, and based on his own memory, plus some of his own understanding, soon Jester drew out seven or eight levels of maps on paper.

  The system in Jester's brain no longer has the purchase points, so it is impossible to play this game directly in his mind and then copy the levels. However, this doesn't matter, as the level design of "Castle of Fury" was never particularly difficult anyway. Back then, Fu Cuo and his three-person team at Yan Shan Software were able to create fifteen subsequent levels that were not inferior to Namco's, so their own designers would naturally be able to do the same.

  So, Jester set the total number of levels for the official version of this game to fifty, just like "Smoke Mountain Tank". Of course, since this is a story-driven game, after players finish the 50th level, they won't be able to start again from the first level like in the original. Instead, Jester added a rough CG ending similar to that of the FC version of "Ninja Ryukenden", to show that the player has emerged victorious, defeating the evil Soviet Axis group and saving America.

  This setting also makes players feel more accomplished.

  Jiest still remembers the shock he felt when he first saw the CG of Ninja Ryukenden, and he believes that today's players will be no exception.

  So, Jester basically completed the framework design of this game, and as for the specific numbers, level parameter settings, it's natural to have his hands to complete modeling. Moreover, since the interface is simple and there are no complex judgments, according to Jester's estimate, it can be completed in at most two weeks, and even a trial version doesn't need one week.

  Just in time for him to set up a game magazine company and publish the first issue of the magazine.