Chapter 1278: Not Working Overtime?
Everyone nodded after hearing Min Jingchao’s explanation.
Obviously, Min Jingchao sounded very convincing.
That was because Min Jingchao was GOG’s designer. He had been in charge of the balance of data and game mechanisms. His understanding in this aspect was definitely beyond that of ordinary people.
Many times, a person’s ability did not depend on their own talent or hard work. It also depended on the platform they were on.
When a person reached a suitable platform, his ability would skyrocket even if he did not have many talents.
On the other hand, if a person was very talented but did not have a suitable platform, it would be very difficult for his talent to be activated.
It was just like history. Why did all the celebrities in Hanchu appear in one small place?
It was not because this small place had outstanding talents and nurtured so many talents. It was because they followed Liu Bang and had a sufficiently high platform to constantly improve.
At the same time, they were famous generals in chaotic times because they grew faster in frequent wars.
GOG was an excellent platform. Min Jingchao had been here for so long. It could be said that he had witnessed the rise and flourish of this game. He had thought about it at different stages. As time went by, he had a deep understanding of this.
Of course, GOG’s balance was not without problems. It was often criticized by players.
That was very normal. After all, the strong heroes had to be cut. However, it would not hurt if they were cut too little. If they were cut too much, they might be crippled in one blow. On the other hand, the weak heroes would be strengthened so much that there would be no qualitative change. If they were strengthened too much, they might suddenly be so strong that it would not be able to be stopped.
On top of that, there were huge differences between different gamers to begin with. A hero might be completely different in Fish Pool Bureau, high-end games, and professional compet.i.tions. This made it even more difficult for the balance to be problematic.
However, on the whole, Min Jingchao had been doing quite well in terms of the balance of the game while he was in charge of GOG. On one hand, it was because he could obtain suggestions from DGE Club’s professional players and professional tactical a.n.a.lysts. He could also listen to opinions from the players.
Min Jingchao realized that it was best not to copy MOBA games or MMORPG games when he thought about the balance of the professional FPS games. That was why he made the current design plan.
At this point, the entire design plan for Bullet Hole 2 was explained.
There would definitely be a lot of work to follow. For example, what kind of layout would this map be, how the stronghold would be distributed, how many resources would be refreshed at each stronghold, and how many special ways players could use…
However, other designers would help to complete these. For example, the big map was the work of the stage designers.
As the chief designer, Min Jingchao only had to ensure that the general direction did not deviate.
The conference room fell into a short silence. After a while, Sun Xi said, “I have no problem here.”
The other designers did not say anything else.
Zhou Muyan took a look and nodded. “Alright, it’s settled then.”
If it was someone else’s design plan, the designers might have to raise more questions and discuss it.
However, there was nothing wrong with Min Jingchao’s plan, given his credentials.
There might be no precedent for some innovative gameplay but no one dared to guarantee whether it would succeed or fail.
Since that was the case, he might as well trust Min Jingchao and Boss Pei completely.
If he kept offering suggestions, who would be responsible if the game failed?
Min Jingchao looked at Sun Xi. “I’ll continue to work on the details then. Please distribute the design drafts that you want to make to the designers in the team. Keep an eye on the progress. We’ll start on Monday.”
Sun Xi nodded. “Alright, that’s my job.”
He paused, and then asked, “Monday? Er… What about Sat.u.r.day?”
According to Sun Strike Studios’ default process, the designers have silently agreed to the 996 working hour system when the game was first established.
Some designers were even in charge of more design plans. They had to work overnight to change the design ma.n.u.script the day before the meeting to ensure that it would be completed on time.
This situation could only mean that the workload was unreasonable but everyone had gone through this process after all. Thus, most of the designers were already used to it and had no complaints.
Thus, Sun Xi thought that he would definitely have to work overtime to write the design plan tomorrow Sat.u.r.day. However, Min Jingchao did not mention this at all.
Min Jingchao answered matter-of-factly. “Rest during the weekend.”
“This…” Sun Xi looked at Zhou Muyan instinctively.
Zhou Muyan cleared his throat. “Brother Min, I’ve heard about Tengda’s working model, but… every company has its own situation. We can’t blindly follow it, right?”
“The designers in our works.p.a.ce are not as capable as Tengda’s. They are also used to working slowly and producing fine work. Sometimes, they would spend more time polis.h.i.+ng it. The details of the plan would be better.”
“How about this, Brother Min, you continue to work and rest according to Tengda’s work. The other project team will follow the original process of our works.p.a.ce. What do you think?”
Zhou Muyan obviously did not want to do that.
On one hand, he was worried about the quality of the game.
After all, in his opinion, Tengda was only able to maximize their holidays because the employees were very efficient. However, Sun Strike Studios was not that efficient.
What if the development node could not be completed on a normal holiday?
On the other hand, he was afraid that it would affect others’ mentality.
Everyone had come to work overtime on Sat.u.r.day, but not a single person from the Bullet Hole 2 project team had come. Did that mean that everyone else felt it was unfair and did not want to work overtime?
Time was money. It was the same for game development. It had not been easy for him to save up time, and yet he was returning it now. Zhou Muyan’s heart hurt.
Of course, he did not feel that he had treated these people badly. After all, he had always been generous compared to other old versions when games earned money.
Min Jingchao shook his head. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”
“I believe that Sun Strike Studios’ designers are also very competent. That includes art, programming, and other project staff. They are also the best in the industry.”
“The reason why progress is sometimes slow might be because frequent overtime caused your mental state to be low. Your body did not reach a perfect state, so it subconsciously delayed efficiency.”
“I hope that we can still follow Tengda’s development model and strictly prohibit overtime outside of normal working hours.”
“We’ll follow the normal workload when deciding on the work plan. If we can’t finish it, we’ll add more people. If we can’t finish it, we’ll postpone it.”
“Boss Pei once said that there are many ways to solve the problem, but it definitely does not include overtime. Overtime only solved temporary problems on the surface, but in the long term, it would cause many new problems.”
Zhou Muyan hesitated for a moment and finally nodded. “Alright, let’s do that.”
The game plan had already been finalized. There was no need to argue with Min Jingchao over such a small matter.
Even though not working overtime would definitely slow down the development progress, as long as the game was successfully created and could earn money, it would not be a problem.
Zhou Muyan looked at Sun Xi. “That’s all for today’s meeting then. Go back and choose a few designers that are most suitable for Bullet Hole 2. Bring the proposal to my office after you’ve chosen.”
Sun Xi nodded. “No problem, Boss Zhou.”
The meeting was considered over. Everyone left the conference room one by one.
At the moment, the position of the Bullet Hole 2 project team had been vacated. Min Jingchao also had his own work desk. His daily job was to organize the design draft and prepare for the early stages.
The selection for the lowest level members of the project team was almost complete, but there were still some gaps in the middle level.
The main reason was that the gameplay had not been finalized yet. He could not be sure which designer would be better at it, so he delayed for two days.
Zhou Muyan attached great importance to this project so he carefully selected the candidates.
Sun Xi had just sat down at his desk when he heard someone say, “Brother Sun, I want to take the initiative to apply to work on the system design for Bullet Hole 2. What do you think?”
Sun Xi looked up and quickly stood up. “Brother Han, that’s not very appropriate, right? You’re the chief planner now.”
This Brother Han had joined Sun Strike Studios earlier than Sun Xi and was now leading an independent project team. His game had been released a while ago and his results were not bad.
He had partic.i.p.ated in the two meetings as well. However, Zhou Muyan had considered that his own project was doing well and that he did not have a particular advantage in FPS games. Thus, he had not chosen him but Sun Xi.
Logically speaking, the name list that Sun Xi wanted to finalize this time was a mid-tier list. It was meant to be his a.s.sistant.
Brother Han was more experienced and in a higher position than Sun Xi. It was not appropriate for him to be Sun Xi’s a.s.sistant in Bullet Hole 2.
Brother Han shook his head. “What’s not appropriate? My project is on the right track. I can also give the position to young people and give them more opportunities to grow.”
“What’s more, my son has just been born recently. My time there is relatively tight as the person-in-charge. If I were to switch over here…”
“Hehe, of course, I’m definitely not trying to take advantage of this holiday! I just think that Brother Min’s plan is especially good. This project is very special. I should be able to gain some inspiration.”
At this point, Sun Xi naturally understood.
“Alright, Brother Han. I’ll put you on the list first, but whether this list will pa.s.s or not… depends on whether Boss Zhou agrees.”
Brother Han nodded. “Thank you, Brother Sun! I hope you can put in a few good words for me when Boss Zhou asks about the name list when you send it over. I really value this opportunity!”
Sun Xi: “Alright, Brother Han, I understand.”
According to Sun Strike Studios’ regulations, once they left the original project team, they would only get three more months of bonus at best and would not be ent.i.tled to anymore after that.
After all, he was no longer on this project. What reason was there to continue distributing bonuses?
A game’s lifespan was at least half a year to a year. As the chief designer, Brother Han gave up a lot of bonuses.
However, it was obvious that there were three factors that made him more interested in Bullet Hole 2: First, there was no need to work overtime. Second, working on this new project with Min Jingchao would give him some inspiration and growth. Third, once Bullet Hole 2 succeeded, wouldn’t there be a bonus as well?
If he stayed in the original project, even if Bullet Hole 2 succeeded, it would have nothing to do with him.
Thus, after some consideration, he decided to take the initiative to sign up for the Bullet Hole 2 project.
After sending Brother Han off, Sun Xi wrote his name on the system design column as a backup.
However, he saw several messages pop up on the company’s internal chat software after he finished writing.
“Brother Xi! I heard that the Bullet Hole 2 project team doesn’t work overtime? Is that true?”
“Brother, when will the name list be released?”
“You have to bring me along. I’m considered one of the top designers in the company’s stages. There’s no reason not to bring me along!”
“Brother Sun, can I join the project team for Bullet Hole 2?”
Sun Xi did not know to laugh or to cry as he read the series of messages from these people.
Good lord, everyone came when they heard that they did not need to work overtime!