My game, you have no right to award

Chapter 208 Initial Meeting
"Are you ready?"

Zhou Kuang patted Chu Hong on the shoulder.

"Ah."

Chu Hong nodded and looked up at the building in front of him.

The glass exterior reflects sunlight into the eyes, making it extremely glaring.

He took a deep breath.

Whether it works or not depends on today's negotiations.

Zhou Kuang had already made it clear to him that Heying Vision was very interested in the film adaptation rights to "The Netherworld Mountains and Seas".

With the revelations from Ge Ou, an insider, and other acquaintances he knew, Zhou Kuang gained a very clear understanding of Heying Vision's mindset.

It's as if he already knew most of the other party's cards before the negotiations even started.

As long as his asking price isn't too outrageous, Heying Vision is prepared to back down.

But the question now is whether making Chu Hong, a "non-professional," the director is an "excessive condition"?

That depends on Chu Hong himself.

Zhou Kuang would also negotiate with the other party on other conditions in order to reach a cooperation agreement.

However, he highly doubted whether these chips would still be useful given Chu Hong's poor performance.

In short, we'll just have to take it one step at a time.

This time, in addition to Zhou Kuang and the key member Chu Hong, the team included his assistant Wang Fu, lead artist Yang Ji, and more than a dozen people from the IP department, copyright department, legal department, business department, and marketing department.

It can be said that the preparations for this groundbreaking game were extremely thorough.

Unlike previous collaborations, this one is on a much larger scale, so they are taking this negotiation at the highest level ever.

As soon as the group from Kuangshi Games entered the lobby on the first floor of the office, a specialist responsible for making contact approached them.

"Mr. Zhou."

"Hello."

Zhou Kuang nodded neither humbly nor arrogantly.

He didn't ask the other person how they knew who he was, presumably because the other person had done some investigation.

As for my own pictures and videos, they should be readily available with a simple online search.

This level of respect is something the other party should definitely reciprocate.

"Please follow me."

The group took the elevator to the other party's office and were led directly into the conference room.

Sitting in the conference room, Zhou Kuang waited for the other team while also pondering the situation.

Over the past week, the two sides have exchanged some information.

Kuangshi Games provided some design documents related to "Youming Shan Hai". Providing these documents to the other side was naturally to give them a deeper understanding of the game's design philosophy, especially its art philosophy.

These documents contain nothing that needs to be kept secret, and even if they are leaked, Zhou Kuang is not afraid that others will use them for study.

After all, Yang Ji's style is so bad that even if you try to learn from it, you'll only end up imitating him poorly.

If the system settings document of "Youming Shan Hai" were leaked, it might be even more valuable for study.

However, since it's an adaptation for a movie, the focus is more on the script and art direction.

Meanwhile, Heying Vision has also provided an initial adaptation plan.

This includes some cinematic concept sketches and a script outline.

Zhou Kuang had seen both, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. After all, it was about movies, and judging it from a game design perspective would be like talking to a brick wall.

He only showed Yang Ji the content related to art.

The other party's exact words were, "Similar in form but not in spirit."

This statement is probably only convincing if Yang Ji himself said it.

Even within the art team at Kuangshi Games, not everyone could grasp the artistic conception Yang Ji wanted to convey.

The fact that Crane Shadow Visual was able to produce a "similar" concept image in such a short time already demonstrates the capabilities of their team.

Then, in the actual implementation, Yang Ji will supervise the construction, and the quality will definitely be closer to what he hopes to convey.

They also conveyed the condition that their people, namely Chu Hong, should lead the other party's animation team as the director.

However, Heying Vision's response was very ambiguous, neither saying yes nor no, only stating that they hoped both parties could meet as soon as possible to discuss the details.

Zhou Kuang understood that such a matter required seeing Chu Hong in person before the other party could make a judgment, so he naturally agreed.

Since the other party did not immediately refuse, it means that there is still some possibility that this matter will be resolved.

Just as Zhou Kuang was deep in thought, the door was suddenly pushed open.

A gust of air carrying the scent of cool air from outside wafted in, and the Crane Shadow Vision team filed in.

Leading the way was a middle-aged man with slicked-back hair and gold-rimmed glasses.

Zhou Kuang had seen photos of the other party's senior management, so he recognized him at a glance as Lan Changping, the boss of Heying Vision.

The other person's gaze swept over the members of the Kuangshi Games team, finally landing on Zhou Kuang, and he revealed a standard smile.

"Mr. Zhou, it's an honor to have heard so much about you!"

Zhou Kuang smiled, stood up, and went over to greet him, shaking his hand.

"You're too kind, Mr. Lan."

After exchanging a few brief pleasantries, the two sides took their seats.

Zhou Kuang observed that the team at Heying Vision actually had more members than theirs.

Both sides sat down in the huge conference room, which surprisingly felt a bit crowded.

As the top leaders of their respective companies, Zhou Kuang and Lan Changping were not personally involved in the negotiations.

They have the highest decision-making power, and their sole purpose in coming to the negotiation site is to make the final decision, not to negotiate each and every specific clause.

Moreover, today's negotiations only established a preliminary framework for cooperation. The more crucial core terms will require several more rounds of discussion before an agreement can be reached.

The IP expert from Kuangshi Games stood up first to introduce the game "Youming Shanhai".

Crane Shadow Vision has certainly conducted a detailed investigation into the game, but as part of the negotiations, Kuangshi Games still has to boast about the value of this IP.

"The game 'Youming Shan Hai' has sold over 12 million copies, making it the best-selling single-player game in Chinese history!"

"No one."

"The total number of views for related videos on Bilibili alone has reached tens of billions!"

"The game boasts a 98% positive review rate, ranking among the top 20 most positive games on Steam's all-time positive review list!"

The IP expert spoke with great confidence, and used data from his prepared PowerPoint presentation to demonstrate the significance of the IP.

The people at Heying Vision, although they had already learned about the relevant information of "Youming Shanhai", were still stunned by the data presented by the unparalleled IP experts.

Such popularity and such achievements all speak to the value of this IP.

If we compare negotiation to a balance scale, in this game of life, simply placing one's most basic bargaining chip on the scale has already disrupted the balance.

Only by offering a stake of equal importance can Crane Shadow Vision possibly bring the balance back to equilibrium.

But do they have it? Zhou Kuang listened to his team's introduction while secretly observing the boss, Lan Changping, across from him.

Even upon hearing these figures, his most significant movement was merely a slight nod, his face remaining serious as he listened attentively.

According to Ge Ou, Lan Changping himself was a very talented artist, but as the company grew, he no longer participated in the specific painting matters.

He would only participate in the project and casually draw a few pictures when he suddenly felt like it.

However, the fact that the other party is not involved in the specific work does not mean that he has no say in which projects to choose.

Lan Changping's opinion has always been an important factor in Heying Vision's discussions on how to select projects.

According to Ge Ou, Lan Changping is very fond of cel-shaded 2D animation.

The term "celluloid" originally referred to a painting technique that uses transparent celluloid film to create layers of color.

This traditional animation production technique was more commonly seen in Japanese animation during the 1980s and 90s.

As painting techniques later became digitized, this skill naturally became obsolete.

However, the cel-shading-like drawing style was preserved, forming the "cel-shading style" of modern neon animation.

The most distinctive feature of this art style is its simple lines and the use of highly contrasting and clearly defined colors.

Almost all modern neon animations share similar characteristics.

Early Chinese animators had their own unique 2D animation style, but this style gradually declined with subsequent historical developments.

The new generation of animators grew up during the era of neon animation and were heavily influenced by the cel animation style.

As a middle-aged man, Lan Changping was born during the era when the country introduced neon animation, and naturally fell in love with this fashionable animation style at the time.

Even today, he still prefers the much more expensive 2D animation to 3D animation.

Even the cel animation style is becoming less and less valued under the influence of modern animation styles such as flat coloring, thick coloring, and 3D to 2D rendering.

As a 3D game, "The Netherworld Mountains and Seas" took into account the needs of modeling from the very beginning of its concept art, incorporating the characteristics of 3D modeling, so it naturally does not belong to any of these categories.

Yang Ji's style is more like a fusion of traditional Chinese ink painting and meticulous brushwork. Even if we were to force an analogy, it would at most be a pseudo-thick paint style.

Compared to the celluloid style that Lan Changping himself prefers, it actually appears more modern.

The people from Heying Vision were also whispering amongst themselves while the IP expert from Kuangshi Games spoke, flipping through the documents in their hands.

Lan Changping maintained his composure, with occasional glimpses of contemplation in his eyes.

After the representatives from Kuangshi Games finished explaining all the advantages of the "Youming Shanhai" IP, the IP specialist took his materials and returned to his seat, and the meeting room fell silent for a moment.

After a while, one person from Heying Vision stood up.

Zhou Kuang's gaze was also drawn to it.

The other party walked to the front with materials in hand, showing no sign of panic. Instead, he calmly began to describe the strength of Heying Vision and their advantages in adaptation.

While Kuangshi Games is touting its own IPs, Heying Vision is naturally going to boast about how amazing its film production is.

I admit, your "Netherworld Mountains and Seas" is very strong!
However, even the best game is still just a game. If one wrong move is made, the movie adaptation might not be of the same quality.
But look at our portfolio, look at our team's capabilities!

If it were us, we could definitely recreate the quality of the game "Youming Shanhai"!

This is what Crane Shadow Vision wants to convey.

Although our status in the film industry may not match the status of the "Youming Shanhai" IP in the game industry.

But none of this matters!
Because as long as the quality of our adaptation can surpass that of all the film companies you can contact, that's enough!

As Zhou Kuang listened, he also weighed the options in his mind.

Crane Shadow Vision was certainly not the only option, but there were indeed reasons why Zhou Kuang still preferred it.

Because this is the only company whose requirements perfectly match the conditions offered by Megvii Games.

Other film and television companies either lack the team capabilities of Heying Vision, or they simply don't value this project as much as they do.

One was simply trying to make money, while the other was trying to advance their careers within the company.

The resulting driving forces are naturally worlds apart.

……

……

……

The morning was basically spent flexing each other's muscles and clarifying their vision for cooperation.

As both sides expected, no matter how much investigation and research one conducts, it is not as effective as the other party explaining it in person.

Zhou Kuang was very certain that he wanted Heying Vision to adapt "The Netherworld Mountains and Seas".

Although he couldn't possibly know what the people at Crane Shadow Vision were thinking, he was certain they shared similar thoughts.

Zhou Kuang did not believe that Crane Shadow Vision could have a better option.

If Heying Vision can find another IP like "Youming Shanhai" that can save tens or even hundreds of millions of yuan in marketing costs just by having a name, then Zhou Kuang will tear his own head off.

"Let's go eat first."

Lan Changping glanced at his watch, gently breaking the slightly serious atmosphere in the conference room.

"The company has prepared a buffet for everyone."

"That's great."

Zhou Kuang responded with a smile.

When both teams heard that their leaders had given affirmative answers, they all stood up, and the sound of chair legs scraping against the floor filled the room.

Yang Ji, who was standing to the side, also breathed a sigh of relief and complained in his ear.

"Brother Kuang, my cervical spondylosis is about to flare up from sitting so much."

Zhou Kuang responded with a smile, "You should participate in more negotiations like this. In the past, when I asked you to come, you always said you had something to do and couldn't come."

"They didn't escape this time, did they?"

"So boring..."

Yang Ji shrugged.

At this moment, Zhou Kuang saw Chu Hong sitting silently in the corner, seemingly lost in thought.

"It's alright, let's go eat first."

He turned around and said something to Yang Ji first, then walked towards Chu Hong.

"What? Are you nervous?"

Zhou Kuang walked up to him and asked.

Chu Hong, who was deep in thought, looked up and saw Zhou Kuang, and quickly stood up.

"Brother Kuang."

"Let's go eat first."

"Let's talk about it during dinner."

He patted Chu Hong on the shoulder.

(End of this chapter)