Starting as a Manga Chapter 156: Development Model

In ga developnt,most of the ti, you can’t give the production staff too much autonomy. Otherwise, the developnt process can easily spiral into chaos and beco uncontrollable.

Because every team mber will think their idea is the right one.

And not every company is Nintendo.Their EPD division can grant developers a high degree of autonomy with incredible implentation efficiency because most of their employees have worked together for over a decade.Even during the huge financial losses in the Wii U era, they never considered layoffs as a solution.

The work model for most studios is still to have everyone responsible for clearly defined content, and then assemble everything together to piece a ga.

As for the creative aspect, it’s generally handled by core mbers who collect input from others and then run brainstorming sessions.

If you let everyone go wild on a large-scale project, it quickly turns chaotic and ends in disaster, with the team falling apart.

Tang Yao hadn’t initially thought of this, but it was newly recruited staffer Lu Xuehai who brought it to her attention.

In the process of developing gas,Avalon needed a structured and feasible managent model.

That didn’t an she wouldn’t let other team mbers make suggestions or propose ideas.

That was necessary.

Tang Yao understood clearly that her mories from her past life could only make her work faster, not make her rest easy—Because even those world-renowned masterpieces from her past life had flaws.There’s no such thing as a perfect ga.

Many gas that scored a perfect 10 did so not because they were flawless,but because they were masterpieces, milestones in gaming history, standouts in their genre, able to satisfy a large portion of their target player base.

Take so well-known examples—Baldur’s Gate 3 from 2023, and Tears of the Kingdom.

Both of these gas, if you look closely, have their own sets of issues.

Let alone an online ga that requires continuous updates.

After Hearthstone’s Blackrock Mountain expansion ca the poorly reviewed The Grand Tournant, which introduced a jousting chanic.

But that chanic never beca a core feature.

That’s also why Tang Yao didn’t handle that expansion—Though she could spot the problem, she couldn’t change the version on her own and could only suggest a direction.

That’s when it takes everyone’s brainstorming.

But brainstorming... doesn’t an letting people toss out ideas at any ti without structure.

So she decided to adopt a skeletal developnt model. And the principle of this model is—Core loop first! Modular layered design! Toolchain support.

And this is the model that best leverages Tang Yao’s strengths.

Because under this model, the first priority is to implent the ga’s core gaplay loop and ensure the core experience.

And the gas Tang Yao proposes, at least in terms of core gaplay, hold up under scrutiny.

Her presence allows the team to test gaplay feasibility at extrely low cost.

Take Dou Pai, for instance... At the beginning, Tang Yao didn’t need other team mbers’ ideas.

What she needed was for them to build the core gaplay first.

So in the first prototyping phase, they strictly banned implentation of any content outside of the ga’s core chanics.Dou Pai already had existing assets that could be reused to make the prototype,saving ti and avoiding waste of developnt resources.

They had to lock in the core gaplay first,while leaving screen design and experintal cycles open for the designers,and also streamline workflows to prepare for mass production.

Next ca content filling, modular division of tasks, and optimization.

If you haven’t even finished the core gaplay,no matter how much you talk or plan, it’s all just wishful thinking.

...

“Skeletal developnt?”Si Jinliang looked at Tang Yao in front of him.

“Mm.”Tang Yao nodded. “From now on, we’ll develop using this model.In the early stages, the most important goal is to validate the core gaplay.For example, with Dou Pai, the first thing you guys need to do is build a prototype of the core gaplay loop using existing assets.Then move on to deep gaplay testing and validate how well the surrounding systems are coupled.

Like which cards are too strong, which need to be adjusted, any good ideas you have—Once the prototype is ready and the core gaplay is verified,you can bring those up in the weekly team etings.

If you can convince , you can even overturn the core gaplay ideas I proposed.

At the sa ti, we’ll do internal playtesting to validate gaplay sustainability and extensibility,eliminating diocre designs.

All of this I’ve ntioned in the materials I gave you.From now on, your team will develop Dou Pai based on this model and test its feasibility.If it works, the entire company will adopt this model for future ga developnt.”

“...”

Si Jinliang blanked for a second, then flipped through the material Tang Yao had just handed him.

... It was a complete ga developnt frawork.

Although not an industry-defining standard,it was very well suited to Dou Pai’s current situation and to Avalon’s developnt setup with Tang Yao at the core.

Extrely detailed.Very thorough.

It covered project phase definitions, control strategies, idea intake managent, tiered decision-making chanisms, cross-functional collaboration, and more...

And besides these standard sections, it also included so newer concepts,like how the producer should act as a gatekeeper of ideas to ensure design consistency,

and that the toolchain should ideally be highly customized.

If needed, they could even try building proprietary tools to boost content production efficiency.

Also, consider deeply integrating tools and gaplay systems.

After all, Tang Yao in her past life had at least dabbled in developnt—though she was an artist, she had proactively learned about these things.

Granted... most studios in her past life couldn’t do that.

Anyway.

After reading it, Si Jinliang’s overall impression was:

...You can do this too?

Seriously.

This frawork managed to preserve room for creative explorationwhile using a rigid structure to control risk—It used engineering logic to manage creativity rather than killing inspiration with an assembly line.

It was like putting a harness on a wild horse—not to restrict its gallop,but to let it run farther.

If soone at Mingyu Tech back thenhad proposed sothing like this...

Maybe Dou Pai wouldn’t have ended up where it did.

Thinking that,Si Jinliang looked at the girl in front of him... and felt completely convinced.

He closed the materials solemnly. “Got it.”

Tang Yao nodded slightly and said softly,“Then I’ll leave it to you. You all take a look first. Later I’ll have Miss Li help you reorganize your project team...

The core group for now will be , you, Chu Yuxin, and Kang Ming.Let the rest of the team know, and we’ll have a eting this afternoon.”

“Okay.”

After getting a clear reply, Tang Yao hurried back to her workstation.

She was very busy.

And once Si Jinliang watched her leave,he imdiately turned to tell the rest of the team.

Most people had no objections.

Only Lu Xuehai’s face looked a little awkward after hearing it.

Then,he specifically asked Si Jinliang for the materials Tang Yao gave,and when he saw the line: “Define core experience first,”

he realized... this might’ve been caused by him.

“Hmm? What’s wrong?”Si Jinliang noticed his strange expression and asked.

“Nothing.”Lu Xuehai shook his head, too embarrassed to admit that his dumb question had pushed the company boss to co up with a tailored developnt model.

But after reading Tang Yao’s proposed model that fit Avalon’s current state,

he beca completely convinced that this company’s true corewas that unbelievably young girl.

Truly amazing...So young, and already so talented.

Because a few dumb questions from her staff,she instantly identified a key problem in the developnt processand swiftly ca up with such an excellent solution.

Lu Xuehai suddenly had a feeling—If they followed this model going forward...the ga would take shape at an astonishing speed!

And if she could already do all this now,

then in the future...how far could this company really go?

Surely it wouldn’t... beco a top-tier ga studio, right?

Haha.

That... probably isn’t possible, right?