Game Development: Starting with Recreating the Anime Game Style

Chapter 101 Crayfish? Big Boar!
Chu Chen spoke while holding the storyboard he had drawn in advance.

The people in the conference room listened more and more intently, their eyes gradually shifting from bewilderment to disbelief.

Because Chu Chen was not only explaining the storyboard, but also why he drew the storyboard in that way.

At first, when Ishihara Mai watched Chu Chen explain his storyboarding approach, she thought it was nothing special. After all, the storyboards were already laid out there, so all she had to do was draw them.

But the more she listened, the more surprised she became.

This is because Chu Chen will not only explain why he draws it this way, but also the layout of the storyboard and some of his thoughts on the storyboard.

The so-called layman looks at the excitement and the insider looks at the doorway.

Why are most animation companies that outsource their work unable to produce animations independently?

It's because they only do what they do after they get the storyboard. Simply put, the creative parts have already been done by others; they just piece the idea together.

Although this part is the most important part of animation production, it is also obviously the most easily replaced part.

So, do they not want to draw their own storyboards? Haven't they ever thought about learning how to draw storyboards?

of course not
It's not because there's a place to learn, but because there's no one to teach.

The Japanese animation industry may seem large, but it is not.

But in essence, this is a typical "small workshop" industry, where it's very easy to be a laborer.

But if you want to climb any higher, then it basically depends entirely on talent.

Expecting someone else to teach you? There are very few supervisors in this industry who are willing to teach. If you find one, you can be considered very lucky.

So when Chu Chen explained his storyboarding approach and why he drew it that way, almost everyone in the conference room perked up, even though these things might not be of any use to them in their current work.

But this is the supervisor teaching you how to draw storyboards!!
This is the director who drew the opening animation of Terminal Battlefront, which is hailed as a "god-like scene" by Japanese players. He's personally teaching us how to do it!!
Some people at the scene might think that Chu Chen doesn't understand animation production, but absolutely no one would question Chu Chen's ability in storyboarding.

The opening animation for "Final Battlefront" was a difficult task for them to create, and they knew what the final result would be, plus it received almost unanimous praise from Japanese players.

Chu Chen's "talent" in storyboarding is generally undeniable.

Since Chu Chen is not a professionally trained actor, and since the parts of the game that require animation are often places with strong emotional tension, his storyboards emphasize the timing of movement.

The number of frames is increased in key places to highlight the visual effect of continuous movement. As a result, the pose of the whole frame is relatively weak and the movements are very smooth.

For example, before talking about the 95-year-old playing in the water, Chu Chen also described another storyboard.

The storyboard depicts three mechanical wolves darting around in a forest. Drawing these "mechanical animals" running around in the forest was done without any reference, relying purely on imagination. Storyboards are actually very difficult to draw.

Forget about "mechanical animals," just ask an ordinary person to describe the mantis stalking the cicada. How many people can come up with a complete picture of the sequence of events in their minds?

However, Chu Chen's storyboards are so smooth and fluid that they seem to leap off the page.

It was precisely because of this perception that everyone was so impressed when Chu Chen began to explain his storyboarding ideas at the meeting.

Not
Can these things really be said so casually?!

~~~
Chu Chen himself did not expect that his "lesson" would be so effective.

The entire Starry Sky Animation Studio visibly became much more proactive in their work attitude. The animator who "simplified" the storyboard even bowed to Chu Chen to apologize.

Chu Chen accepted the apology without hesitation.

He originally planned to "find a typical example" to establish his authority after finishing the storyboard presentation, but now it seems that as long as he comes to this "classroom" from time to time for the next two months, he will be able to achieve his goal.

That should solve the problem.

Although I don't understand why it works so well
However, it still saved a lot of time.

Before leaving, Chu Chen called over Mai Ishihara. She was the girl who asked the most questions when Chu Chen was "teaching" about storyboarding.

Therefore, Chu Chen put her in charge of liaising with him.

This detail was something Chu Chen discovered while interacting with Starry Sky's Japanese employees during his time in Japan.

Compared to the Chinese, Japanese people are less willing to communicate with their superiors at work.

Even when problems arise, they often keep quiet until they can no longer hide it, at which point they will communicate.

This applies to dealing with superiors, and even more so to dealing with the boss. Therefore, Chu Chen needs to designate someone to treat communication as a "job position" in order for the studio to operate smoothly.

Mai Ishihara, the girl who actively raised her hand during the "class" just now, was chosen.

"Oh right, there's a team building event tonight. Someone will tell you the details later, so remember to come along."

~~~
More than a month after the release of "Final Front".

The employees of Starry Sky Games finally, finally got their "team building" activity.

Chu Chen's promise of a big dragon a month ago is finally about to come true. At this time, the number of employees at Starry Sky Games has grown from less than 100 before the open beta.

The number of people has surged to nearly three hundred.

Of course, most of these people were not recruited, but acquired, such as Star Tap Studio, Star Animation Studio, and the staff of Blue War Studio who have been leaving Tencent one after another.

That afternoon, a pristine white luxury cruise ship was docked at the pier near Shanghai.

There were also some decorations on the dock.

On the cruise ship, there were also balloons and ribbons, but the only thing that didn't quite fit the atmosphere was the incredulous expression on the faces of almost all the Starry Night Games employees.

"Holy crap!! What is this?!"

"We're having our team building dinner here tonight!! Holy crap? That's outrageous!"

"This cruise ship... are you kidding me?"

"Are we setting sail soon!? Huh!?"

Everyone looked at each other, took out their phones, and checked the notification in the company's internal group chat again.

The meeting point, a certain port, was clearly written on it, and then we boarded the ship.

But no one expected that "boarding" would be such a behemoth.

This is not one of those small boats for short sightseeing trips; it is a fully equipped, small luxury cruise ship that looks expensive. Although it is called small, it is actually not small at all.

"I just checked, this ship costs over 300,000 per day to charter."

"Doesn't this mean an average reduction of 1000?"

"But you know what, damn it, I feel like spending that 1000 was actually pretty worthwhile..."

"Is it worth it? If you had to pay for it yourself, would you come?"

"Am I crazy? I spend 1000 yuan on a meal, do you think I'm some kind of Shanghai local?"

Chu Chen smiled as he watched the group of employees chattering excitedly and taking pictures everywhere.

He was also a corporate slave in his previous life.

Therefore, he also clearly understands what kind of team building activities his employees want.

For Chu Chen, his team building philosophy is...

Either don't do team building activities at all, or if you do, make sure they exceed the employees' expectations, and ideally, far exceed them. The money you spend on ten late-night snacks for your employees might be about the same as the money for one super luxurious dinner.

But the results are worlds apart.

After all, the principle for creating a sense of surprise is the same all over the world: it's about exceeding expectations.

This applies to dating, and it also applies to team building activities.
This one meal, even years later, might still be something the employees remember about all they enjoyed on the cruise ship, the sunset and the glow of the sunset over the sea.

Refreshing music played from the speakers on the deck, the champagne tower sparkled, the buffet table was laden with exquisite food, and a band was playing light jazz.

These images will not only appear in everyone's social media feeds, but will also be deeply etched in their minds.

Only in this way can team building be effective.

And more importantly.

It's precisely this kind of impact that allows employees to have a relatively clear understanding of this Starry Night game, while also establishing a sense of "realism" corresponding to "success."

(End of this chapter)