Made by two people, delayed 4 times, yet it became the most praised domestic game this year?

Made by two people and delayed four times, it has become the most highly praised domestic game this year?

2024-08-18

A prose poem depicting a southern township in the 1990s.

By Liang Letian

Recently, I found a game called "Heroes of the World", which has a 96% favorable rating on Steam. In my opinion, this seems to be the domestic game with the highest favorable rating this year.

Scrolling to the comment section below, Grape Jun discovered that the players' messages can be divided into two categories: one is applauding the game's plot, believing that it is realistic and touching; the other is long "essays" sharing their memories of their childhood and hometown.

After experiencing this game, I realized that those comments were not exaggerated, because my tears really flowed uncontrollably.

But at the same time, I was also a little curious: Why did the plot of this game resonate with so many players? How did the developers create the script? Did they encounter any difficulties in the process? With these questions, Grape Jun found Zeng Luoke, the producer of "Heroes of the World", to have a chat.

He told me that in fact, during the entire development process, the game plot was rewritten three or four times. This is also the reason why the game has received attention since it was exposed in 2021, but it has been postponed four times and finally delayed for more than two years before its release.

Faced with the dilemma of whether to deliver a semi-finished product or continue to polish the script under pressure, Zeng Luoke chose the latter: "Although I feel guilty, it seems even more unfair to everyone if I release the game like this."

Four times of delay

On August 31, 2021, a game called "Heroes of the World" was tested for the first time on TapTap. In the more than 20-minute demo, the player will play the role of a father, spending parent-child time with his daughter in a southern town in the 1990s. After the test, the game scored 9.8 on TapTap and Haoyou Kuaibao, ranking in the top ten of the new product list.

Although the game has received such high praise, the size of its development team is not large. Zeng Luoke told Grape: "Our main creative team consists of two people, one is me and the other is Acheng. He is a programmer and I am a planner."

Zeng Luoke when creating the game

In 2014, Zeng Luoke, who had just graduated from university, found a job as a game planner and worked on online games, web games, and mobile games. It was not until 2018 that he came to OKJOY and began to get involved in the creation of independent games.

In the next two years, he worked on an exploratory project, but the project was eventually cut short because the results were difficult to implement.

In June 2020, due to the death of his grandmother, Zeng Luoke returned to his hometown in Guangxi.

"We live in the northern part of Guangxi, which is the area around Guilin and Liuzhou. My home is in Hechi City, which was formerly called the Hechi region," he said. "My grandmother is from Guangxi, and my father and mother are both from Guangxi. Although I came to live in Guangdong when I was very young, I still go back often and have deep feelings for that place." The death of his grandmother made the concept of "hometown" become more important in his mind.

The natural scenery of northern Guangxi shown in the game cutscenes

At this time, OKJOY's previous project was cancelled and the company urgently needed to launch a new project. So he came up with the idea of developing a game with his hometown as the background. After discussing with the company's head and obtaining his consent, "Heroes of the World" was officially launched, with a planned development time of 15 months.

As the first self-developed work, OKJOY does not have too many expectations for its profitability. The main purpose is to test the team's capabilities and explore the processes of each link from development to distribution.

After comprehensively considering aspects such as team capabilities, financial support, and technical and artistic investment, they finally decided on a story-based horizontal pixel RPG.

At the end of August 2021, after a year of formal development, the first test of "Heroes of the World" received numerous praises.

Players not only gave high praise to the character creation and music, and expressed their expectations for the official version of the game, but many also shared their own stories: diseases they suffered in their childhood, the sudden death of relatives and friends, and the appearance of their hometown in their memories...

Zeng Luoke was very moved by these comments: "Seeing that everyone seems to like this type of game, it has strengthened my idea of creating a game based on the 1990s, and I want to tell this story better."

At this point, there are still a few months left in the originally scheduled 15-month development cycle, and everything seems to be moving in a good direction: the game has been exhibited at multiple offline events such as the Cologne Game Show, Guangzhou Nuclear Fusion, and Taipei Game Show; the demo is available on Steam; Zeng Luoke said that the script outline and story have been completed.

However, shortly after the 2022 Spring Festival, Zeng Luoke, on behalf of the production team, announced the postponement of the game. The same scene will be staged many times in the next two years.

In February 2022, the game was announced to be postponed to the summer of 2022; in July 2022, a new PV was released, and it was announced that it would be launched within the year; in December 2022, it was announced to be postponed again, and this time there was no expected launch time.

Zeng Luoke recalled, "In fact, the main problem of the several delays was my fault. It took too long to write the script. It was not until this year that I finally wrote a script that I was relatively satisfied with."

In fact, he had written one or two nearly complete scripts. However, when he was writing some details, he found that the story began to become boring and ultimately failed to present a satisfactory effect. Therefore, he had to give up and rewrite the entire story. This happened three or four times in total.

"The pressure is getting bigger and bigger. I have read some negative comments, but I don't dare to read them because the more I read, the more embarrassed I feel." While feeling guilty, Zeng Luoke is also somewhat helpless. He feels that if the script is not well written and the game is released like this, it will be even more unfair to everyone. Therefore, he can only keep polishing the script until he can hand in a satisfactory answer.

In January 2024, after nearly two years of waiting, the game was finally announced to be officially launched in May of this year. In May, the game was again announced to be postponed to June 14.

Perhaps it’s because of the sincerity of the official apology, or perhaps everyone has become accustomed to it. After all, they have waited for two years, and a few days won’t make a difference. Regarding the delay, most players said, "As long as it can be produced smoothly," "Come on," and some even exclaimed, "There has been no news for so long, and they haven’t run away yet."

On June 14, "Heroes of the World" was launched as scheduled, and received 96% positive reviews out of a total of 470 reviews.

In Zeng Luoke's opinion, if there is any regret or shortcoming, he feels that too much time was spent on the plot, resulting in some obvious shortcomings in gameplay and overall experience.

"As for the plot, I feel that I have done what I can with this final version," said Zeng Luoke. "If you let me revise it for a while longer, it may improve a little bit, but in the end it won't be much better than the current version."

"I know. You've arrived, but I haven't."

(This section contains spoilers, please read at your own discretion. Readers who mind spoilers can skip to Part 03 to continue reading.)

We have been praising the plot of "Heroes of the World" for so long, but what is so good about the plot of the game?

Overall, the most brilliant narrative part of "Heroes of the World" can be roughly divided into two main plots: one is the father-daughter relationship, and the other is the dragon boat race. The latter is introduced by the former, and the two plots run parallel and finally converge at the climax of the story. In addition, there is another hidden plot: the death of the wife.

The game begins with a cutscene. A truck driver named Tan Munan, who has not been home for a long time, returns to Zhibin Town on the way to deliver goods. The postman delivering newspapers, the bicycle tire repair shop on the street, and the Hainan gold rush mentioned by the customers of the barber shop... These bits and pieces suddenly bring the player back to 30 years ago. 1996, this is the year when the story of the game takes place.

It can be seen at the beginning of the story that whether it is character portrayal or background description, the game mostly uses scene narrative techniques. If the developer wants to tell the player something, it is more through the environment or objects rather than directly instilling a concept in you.

For example, when creating the image of "Uncle Liang" in the tire repair shop, the game used red brick walls, a tin roof, and a few bricks pressed on the roof of a three-color cloth to prevent rain, to create an environment of a dilapidated shed in the background of the shop; at the same time, the game used glasses and newspapers to construct the image of a middle-aged and elderly person who is literate and has craftsmanship from an appearance perspective, and deepened this impression through dialogues with his old man such as catching chickens and reading newspaper news.

Soon, the player will receive the first task: to pick up the daughter "Qin Zhuoli" from school. Through the teacher's complaints and the quarrels between the father and daughter, the player will gradually find that the relationship between the father and daughter seems to be a little bit strife. The father only makes tough demands, and the daughter is a little rebellious. Just like the traditional Chinese father image, he loves you, but he doesn't know how to express it.

This raises the question: Why is the mother character not included in the story?

The game does not give an answer, but tells the player the existence of the mother through some items and fragmentary memories. For example, the daughter got angry because she lost a wooden toy, and later we learned that the toy was actually something left to her by her mother.

The game introduces the dragon boat race in the middle of the game. One day when picking up his daughter from school, "Qin Munan" saw that his daughter was ill and could not go to see the purple flowers in Shaling Village with her friends, so he decided to take her there himself. On the way, they accidentally discovered a dragon boat placed in a house in the field. "Director Liu" of the cultural center told them that this was the first dragon boat in the town, and the dragon head was made by "A Feng", that is, "Qin Munan's" wife.

It turns out that "Ah Feng" inherited his grandfather's carpentry skills. His grandfather's wish was to see the dragon head he made used in the dragon boat competition, but this wish was never fulfilled until his death. So "Ah Feng" made a similar dragon head, hoping to use it on future dragon boats. Although there are dragon boats now, people without rowers still cannot participate in the competition this year.

In order to fulfill his wife's wish, "Qin Munan" and his daughter looked for people to participate in the dragon boat race. These people are more or less related to "Ah Feng": "Lao Mo" from the photo studio admires her character, "Ah Feng" gave up the opportunity to go to the city with her parents to take care of her grandfather in the countryside; friends who are engaged in folk music think that he and "Ah Feng" who studies carpentry are comrades in inheriting traditional culture...

Things related to "Ah Feng" continue to be interspersed in the story. "Qin Munan" told his daughter that her mother made the dragon head not only to fulfill her grandfather's wish, but also to let her daughter add the finishing touches to the dragon head. It is said that whoever adds the finishing touches to the dragon's eyes will be the first person the dragon sees when it opens its eyes, and the dragon will bless her with good fortune.

Through this plot, the game naturally leads to the daughter's illness. "Qin Zhuoli" was born with a congenital disease that could not be cured by taking medicine, and the risk of surgery was too high. Even the doctor was not sure how it would develop. This laid the groundwork for the climax of the story.

The two main plots continue to develop. The father and daughter get along better and better, and the daughter makes a lot of good friends. The dragon boat team trains regularly, and the day of offering sacrifices to the dragon and launching the boat is approaching. The pixelated pictures in the form of PPT, accompanied by ethnic minority songs sung by children and men, usher in a brief climax in the development of the story.

One day, during dragon boat training, Tan Mu Nan suddenly received news that his daughter had fainted and her condition had worsened. It was raining heavily outside the window. In the room, the doctor told him that if Tan Zhuoli did not undergo surgery, she could only survive for half a year at most, and suggested that he take his daughter to a large hospital in Guangdong. Therefore, Tan Mu Nan had to apologize to his teammates and withdraw from the dragon boat race.

Sitting on a rock by the river, he looked at the water level that had risen recently due to heavy rains, and he kept sobbing. Suddenly, he stood up, rowed a small boat that was parked on the shore, and stopped in the middle of the river, shaking his head in regret, not knowing what he was thinking.

The story finally revealed the answer to the mystery. Many years ago, on a rainy day, when "Ah Feng" was carving ancestral hall decorations for other villages, "Qin Mu Nan" drove his wife to the mountains for a field investigation. On the suspension bridge at the entrance of the village, this bridge was originally only for people and bicycles to pass, but a driver who wanted to make things easier drove his car past and broke the bridge, causing "Ah Feng" to fall into the water. "Ah Feng" drowned on the spot, and "Qin Mu Nan" jumped into the river to save his wife, but he was still powerless.

On the train to Guangdong, the road ahead was flooded and the train stopped moving. At this time, his daughter had a high fever. In a hurry, "Qin Munan" had to carry his daughter to the local hospital in the city, but the road to the city had already been flooded. On the shore, he found a bathtub and a bamboo pole. The locals told him that this was used by children to play with during floods and used as a boat. Now, it seems that this is the only way left.

The sky is full of stars, and on the water, a father and his daughter are walking alone in the dark.

As the background sound of gongs and drums sounded, the two main lines finally intersected at this moment. There were no spectators, no opponents, and no referees, but this was a dragon boat race for a father. Rowing, rowing non-stop, this was the only thought in his mind. Until he ran out of energy and fell into the water.

"Qin Munan" seemed to have a dream. In the dream, he met "Ah Feng". He said a lot of things, but she didn't answer a word. He knew that she didn't want him to stay here. If it was in the past, she would definitely say, remember what the driver said when you first learned to drive? After driving, you promised others that you must drive to the destination even if the road is difficult. "Qin Munan" also stood up.

"I know. You've arrived, but I haven't."

The camera turns and it is 12 years later. The children back then have grown into adults, and the adults back then have gray hair.

This year, "Zhibin Town" won the second place in the dragon boat race. "Qin Zhuoli" walked along the path in the field and finally stopped in front of the house where the dragon boats were stored. She seemed to have returned to her childhood. She said, "Mom, I must move forward. This is the only way for everyone to grow up. I want to take your expectations and see the scenery I have never seen, until one day, I will become like you."

Some things should not disappear.

(Spoilers end)

Dragon Boat is the clue that runs through the whole story.

Zeng Luoke told Grape that the development team conducted a lot of research in terms of scene art. As for the dragon boat part, because he lives in Foshan, Guangdong, where there is a strong dragon boat cultural atmosphere, he went to some local villages for field research.

He was worried that the dragon boat culture in Guangdong was different from that in Guangxi, so in addition to searching for information online, he also called the heads of dragon boat associations across Guangxi to ask questions such as what the prizes for the Liuzhou Dragon Boat Race were.

One question left a deep impression on him: He asked whether everyone participated in the dragon boat race so actively because of the generous prize money. The other party replied that it was not the case, but out of a sense of honor. Then, he would enrich the content of the game based on this information.

Dragon Boat Races in Hong Kong

The same is true for music. Zeng Luoke found that in Liuzhou or Guilin, people would sing some specific ballads during the Dragon Boat Festival. These ballads do not have specific lyrics, but are sung with a few specific words and a melody.

So, they contacted a musician when they were making the music. Although the musician was not from Guangxi, the melody reminded him of the ballads in his hometown, which were similar to the songs of the Dong ethnic group in Hunan. These elements were combined together to produce a good effect, and the song was finally used in the part of the dragon boat launching ceremony to worship the dragon.

In addition, many people mentioned the eight characters on the dragon boat flag in the game: "True dragon under the tree, hero in the world". Some players thought that this was the developer's point, and I also asked Zeng Luoke about this in the interview.

Zeng Luoke told Grape that he did not have a preset time to mention the theme or explain the meaning of the title to the players when he was writing. It was only when the game plot was halfway developed and the scene, atmosphere and mood were just right that he suddenly thought of using "True Dragon Under the Tree, Hero in the World" to mention the theme, so he incorporated the title "Hero in the World" into the plot.

He said that due to his limited writing skills, he was not used to deliberately designing foreshadowing, but only had some general ideas in his mind. When the whole story took shape in his mind and the general framework was written, he would go back and deal with the foreshadowing, so as to avoid the misunderstanding of deliberately arranging the plot to complete a foreshadowing.

Whether it is the dragon boat or any other thing in the town, they together constitute everyone's memory of the 1990s. For Zeng Luoke, presenting these things to people again is not his ultimate goal. At a game project sharing meeting in 2022, he said: "Nostalgia for them is not a reproduction of the original objects, but a recollection and commemoration of the inner spirit."

Just like in the game, "Tan Mu-nan" invited his folk music friends to participate in the dragon boat race, and his friends told him the story:

"Just after the Chinese New Year, I went to the village and helped someone with a funeral. It was a happy funeral for a 95-year-old man. The family wanted music that was neither too cheerful nor too sad. They were not satisfied with several songs. Just as I was about to lose my temper, I remembered a song I had collected from folk songs before, and thought, let's give it a try. If it doesn't work, forget it. But before the music ended, they started crying loudly."

"It turns out that the old man loved to hum this tune when he was alive. But he only knew how to hum it and didn't know the name and meaning of the song. He heard it from fishermen on the river when he was a child working as a dike worker. He wanted to know what this song was all his life. Until that day, when he passed away, I told his family."

"At that moment, I felt that what I was doing was meaningful. Some things may not keep up with the trend, but they should not disappear."

I don't remember the original intention of making this game

At the end of the interview, I asked Zeng Luoke, two years have passed since that sharing session, do you have any new ideas about what this game wants to express?

He did not answer directly, but told a story.

There is an independent game in China called "A Perfect Day". Its deputy director Zhang Xingyu took the initiative to add Zeng Luoke as his QQ friend after experiencing "Heroes of the World". During a chat, Zhang Xingyu mentioned that the style of the comment section of "Heroes of the World" is very similar to that of "A Perfect Day". Many players will write "small essays" in the comment section to tell their own stories after experiencing the game.

In response to this, Zeng Luoke casually said that it might be because everyone likes nostalgia, but his personal original intention in making this game was not nostalgia.Zhang XingyuAlso told him that they didn't make "A Perfect Day" for nostalgia.

After Zhang Xingyu said this, he asked him again, what was your original intention in making "Heroes of the World"?

Zeng Luoke thought about it for a moment and replied:"I've forgotten. I've been doing this for too long. Sometimes I don't even know if it's what I wanted to do. I always feel like I'm working very hard, but if you ask me what my goal is, I've forgotten."

After hearing this, Zhang Xingyu said, "You are a good person."

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Made by two people and delayed four times, it has become the most highly praised domestic game this year?

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