Starting as a Manga Editor

Chapter 156: Development Model

In game development,most of the time, you can’t give the production staff too much autonomy. Otherwise, the development process can easily spiral into chaos and become uncontrollable.

Because every team member 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 implementation 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 game.

As for the creative aspect, it’s generally handled by core members 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 games,Avalon needed a structured and feasible management model.

That didn’t mean she wouldn’t let other team members make suggestions or propose ideas.

That was necessary. Tang Yao understood clearly that her memories 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 game.

Many games 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 some well-known examples—Baldur’s Gate 3 from 2023, and Tears of the Kingdom.

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

Let alone an online game that requires continuous updates.

After Hearthstone’s Blackrock Mountain expansion came the poorly reviewed The Grand Tournament, which introduced a jousting mechanic.

But that mechanic never became 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 mean letting people toss out ideas at any time without structure.

So she decided to adopt a skeletal development 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 implement the game’s core gameplay loop and ensure the core experience.

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

Her presence allows the team to test gameplay feasibility at extremely low cost.

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

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

So in the first prototyping phase, they strictly banned implementation of any content outside of the game’s core mechanics.Dou Pai already had existing assets that could be reused to make the prototype,saving time and avoiding waste of development resources.

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

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

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

...

“Skeletal development?”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 gameplay.For example, with Dou Pai, the first thing you guys need to do is build a prototype of the core gameplay loop using existing assets.Then move on to deep gameplay 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 gameplay is verified,you can bring those up in the weekly team meetings.

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

At the same time, we’ll do internal playtesting to validate gameplay sustainability and extensibility,eliminating mediocre designs.

All of this I’ve mentioned 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 game development.”“...”

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

... It was a complete game development framework.

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

Extremely detailed.Very thorough.

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

And besides these standard sections, it also included some 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 gameplay systems.

After all, Tang Yao in her past life had at least dabbled in development—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 framework 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 someone at Mingyu Tech back thenhad proposed something 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 me, you, Chu Yuxin, and Kang Ming.Let the rest of the team know, and we’ll have a meeting 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 immediately 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 come up with a tailored development model.

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

he became 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 development processand swiftly came up with such an excellent solution.

Lu Xuehai suddenly had a feeling—If they followed this model going forward...the game 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... become a top-tier game studio, right?

Haha.

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