Chapter 107: Ten Years Making Games, Nine Years Making CG
The core players of domestic RTS games were also discussing this brand-new RTS title.
In a "Legion Conquest" player group chat:
"I heard a new domestic RTS just came out. It's been getting a lot of buzz lately, everyone's talking about it."
"I heard about it. It's called 'Warcraft,' a Western fantasy theme."
"...Seriously? Western fantasy and RTS aren't they like the two forbidden zones for domestic games? Even Emperor Dynasty and Zen Mind, those two big companies, ended up battered and bloody. Which designer with a death wish would dare touch them? And hitting both at once?"
"Thunderbolt Interactive, Chen Mo's company."
"Chen Mo? Never heard of him."
"You've at least heard of 'Plants vs. Zombies' and 'I Am MT,' right."
"Huh? Isn't that a mobile game company? They're switching to PC? And making an RTS?"
"Man, they really aren't afraid to die..."
"But I heard this guy is something else. He makes all kinds of games, and every one of them becomes a hit. I'm already downloading 'Warcraft.' I'll share my thoughts with everyone later!"
"Go for it, brave soldier! The village is waiting to hear back from you alive!"
...
This group chat was full of RTS enthusiasts, most of whom played "Legion Conquest."
A group admin with the nickname Kaiser asked in the chat: "Really? A new RTS game? Send me the link. I'll download it and take a look."
As soon as he spoke, it instantly drew out a lot of people.
"Wow, God K is personally testing the poison? Nice, us noobs are blessed."
"God K surfaced! Awesome, let's take a screenshot together."
"God K, you need to download 'Warcraft' from the Thunderbolt Game Platform. Just search for it."
This guy with the ID Kaiser was a well-known figure in the domestic RTS scene. "Legion Conquest" had several famous top players in the country, and Kaiser was one of them.
However, Kaiser wasn't the absolute best; he was just a high-level player. But he was very active in the community, often writing guides and sharing strategies. He had a good reputation and was well-liked.
Seeing Kaiser appear, many people chimed in.
"God K, I've already downloaded it. I'll give you a review after I play it."
"God K, I heard this game has a single-player campaign. You should try it out and see if it's any good."
"God K, I'm waiting for your review!"
Kaiser replied: "Alright, I'll go check it out first."
...
Kaiser's real name was Xue Kai. He was a veteran RTS player who had been playing "Legion Conquest" for years. He had a deep understanding of RTS games and could be considered a hardcore fan.
After downloading "Warcraft" from the Thunderbolt Game Platform, he clicked to start the game.
The first thing that caught his eye was the opening CG.
In the dim hall, the old king, King Llane, sat on his throne, listening to the prophet Medivh's warning.
"From the moment of your birth, the darkness has whispered to me. It has told me of the coming of a great evil..."
"The tides of darkness are rising. A terrible catastrophe is about to descend upon this world..."
The old king's expression was complex, and the atmosphere was heavy.
Xue Kai was stunned.
"Is this... a CG? It's so well done!"
Xue Kai had seen many CGs. In "Legion Conquest," there were also some CGs, but they were mostly just a few characters standing around, with some simple particle effects. The production quality was average.
But the CG in "Warcraft" was completely different. The character models were exquisite, the lighting effects were realistic, and the expressions were vivid. It was almost like watching a movie.
"Damn, this CG must have cost a lot of money, right?"
Xue Kai was shocked. He knew that making CGs was extremely expensive. In the previous world, the production cost of the "Warcraft" CG was 3 minutes for 5 million US dollars.
In the parallel world, animation and CG technology were more advanced, labor costs were reduced, and with more advanced real-time rendering technology, the price had dropped significantly.
Chen Mo didn't choose the highest level of CG. Instead, he chose a cheaper level that he could afford.
But even so, Chen Mo still spent over 37 million.
And that was after frantically cutting the story. Chen Mo had cut or deleted as many of the less classic storylines as possible, almost maniacally compressing the budget, finally getting it down to 37 million.
For example, the opening animation of "Warcraft" was directly replaced with this segment of Medivh warning the old king. All the previous CGs were cut.
To make these CGs, Chen Mo basically poured all the money he had scammed in the previous period into it. In some places where the budget was insufficient, he had to make do with real-time rendering or replace it with black screen narration, saving wherever he could.
To be honest, if he didn't have money-sucking mobile games like "I Am MT" to support him, Chen Mo really wouldn't have the money to make such expensive stuff. At best, he could only make a stripped-down version.
In Chen Mo's own opinion, if he went all out on these CGs, the cost would easily exceed 100 million. He simply couldn't afford to play like that right now.
The cost of the game itself, including art resources, was nothing compared to the cost of making CGs. Now Chen Mo truly understood the saying: "Ten years making games, nine years making CG."
Su Jinyu and the others had no idea about this. Only Chen Mo and Guo Feng, the head of the XuanDong Aurora Studio, knew. If Su Jinyu and Qian Kun found out, they would definitely be shocked.
After all, this was too risky. What if no one bought "Warcraft"? Wouldn't that be tens of millions down the drain?
If all that money was used to make money-sucking mobile games like "I Am MT," how much profit would that be!
But Chen Mo himself knew, was it worth burning money on CGs?
Not for other CGs, but for Warcraft's CGs, it was absolutely worth it! You have to understand, every single CG here would become a classic in gaming history. Even if the cost doubled, it would still be worth it!
Chen Mo dared to burn all this money because he knew this was almost a sure-win deal. It would establish the golden brand of Warcraft, and there would be plenty of opportunities to make money later.
Besides, 37 million converted to US dollars was only a bit over 6 million. When you put it that way, it was pretty cheap!
...
Even at this level, it was already extremely impressive in Xue Kai's eyes. Few domestic game companies spent so much money on CGs. Even among foreign companies, very few were willing to go to such lengths.
What's more, this CG wasn't just about quality; it also had substance!
Xue Kai was instantly captivated. He clicked to start the story mode.
After a brief exchange between Prince Arthas and the Lightbringer Uther, the battle officially began.
There was a simple set of operation prompts, guiding Xue Kai to select units with the left mouse button and move them with the right.
"Huh? The control scheme is different from 'Legion Conquest'?"
Xue Kai was a bit surprised because "Legion Conquest" was the benchmark for RTS games. Few RTS games dared to change its basic control settings.
As a veteran RTS player, Xue Kai didn't jump straight into the campaign. Instead, he first studied the control scheme of "Warcraft."
Left-click to select, right-click to move. After selecting a unit, there were many command buttons in the lower right corner, including Move, Stop, Hold Position, Attack, Patrol, and Hero Skills.
Moreover, all these operations had hotkeys.
"Hold Position? Patrol?"
Xue Kai clicked the [Patrol] button and then selected a location on the map. Arthas immediately started moving back and forth between two points.
"So many types of commands. Much richer than 'Legion Conquest.'" Xue Kai was amazed.
Also, the hero skill system felt very unique. In "Legion Conquest," although there were some special units, there was no concept of a "hero."
In "Warcraft," heroes became one of the game's core mechanics. The hero's portrait was displayed in the upper left corner, and heroes had special skills that played a crucial role in battle.
Additionally, there was an item bar in the lower right corner. Although there were no items yet, it was clear that the game supported obtaining and using items.
"Interesting. So many innovations in so many areas."
Xue Kai controlled Arthas and began to take on the campaign missions.
As he progressed through the story, Arthas kept talking, responding to Xue Kai's commands.
"Of course."
"For the glory!"
"May the Light protect my people."
This was similar to "Legion Conquest," but the localization of "Legion Conquest" wasn't perfect, and many translations felt awkward.
The character dialogue in "Warcraft," however, was personally overseen by Chen Mo. Drawing on the translations from the previous world as a reference, the dialogue felt very natural to Xue Kai. It had the flavor of Western fantasy without the heavy translationese.
Xue Kai controlled Arthas and quickly cleared the first mission.
With his deep RTS foundation, these missions were a breeze for him. He easily passed them.
After finishing the first mission, Xue Kai didn't continue to the next one. Instead, he switched to the desktop and sent a message in the group chat.
Kaiser: "This game is absolutely freaking amazing. It blows 'Legion Conquest' out of the water!!!!!"
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