Losing Money to Become a Tycoon: Starting with Games
Chapter 480: Ruan Guangjian Tai Chi
If Pei Qian had known from the start that this artwork belonged to one of his own projects, he definitely would have forced some "guidance" onto it.
For example, he could have raised a variety of unreasonable demands regarding the art style, details, character expressions, and so on.
But he had just spent several minutes enthusiastically praising the portrait.
He couldn't very well hear that it belonged to his project and then immediately start nitpicking everything.
That would be far too obvious and completely unreasonable.
With no other choice, Pei Qian forced out a smile.
"Mm. Looks good."
Using his stylus, Ruan Guangjian tapped a few times on his drawing tablet and opened a folder.
"There are other sketches here as well. Take a look, President Pei. If you spot any issues, we can make adjustments early."
The folder was filled with thumbnail images of character sketches.
Each thumbnail was paired with a photograph.
Clearly, after finalizing the game's cast of characters, Hu Xianbin had gone out and found suitable motion-capture actors.
The actors' appearances didn't need to match the in-game character models perfectly, but they had to be broadly similar. After all, motion-capture data generated by two people with completely different facial structures would differ significantly. Simply forcing the data onto a mismatched model would inevitably produce awkward results.
To achieve the best motion-capture performance, actors had to be selected very carefully, and the game characters needed to correspond closely with their real-life counterparts.
It was obvious that while Pei Qian had been busy arranging things for Managed Fitness and other projects, Hu Xianbin had already pushed Struggle's preparations a long way forward.
Isn't he supposed to be a newcomer?
How the hell is his efficiency this ridiculous?
Could it be that I'm really this unlucky? Every random lead designer I promote turns out to be incredibly capable?
"Hm?"
After thinking about it for a moment, Pei Qian suddenly felt that something wasn't right.
Even if Hu Xianbin worked efficiently, there was no way he could have found this many foreign actors in such a short period of time.
Finding people wasn't the sort of problem that could simply be solved through higher efficiency.
Looking more closely at the photos—
The more he looked, the more familiar they seemed.
After pondering for two minutes, Pei Qian suddenly remembered where he had seen them before.
Damn it!
Weren't these all foreign extras from A Better Tomorrow?
When filming A Better Tomorrow, the three actors with the most screen time had all been Chinese. However, there had also been a large number of background extras of various ethnicities and nationalities.
Huang Sibo and his team had spent considerable effort finding all those foreign residents around Jingzhou.
But because these people had appeared so briefly, and because so much time had passed, Pei Qian's memory of the film had become somewhat blurry. That was why he hadn't recognized them immediately.
Now he was certain.
This wasn't because Hu Xianbin was highly efficient.
The guy had cheated!
He had obviously asked Huang Sibo for their contact information and copied the homework directly!
No wonder the photos looked so familiar.
Pei Qian was speechless.
Hu Xianbin, Hu Xianbin...
You thick-browed, honest-looking fellow. Who would've thought you'd be so skilled at copying other people's work?
Pei Qian carefully examined each photo and corresponding sketch.
There were people from different ethnic groups and skin tones.
The actors portraying poor families and wealthy families displayed obvious differences.
Which was perfectly normal.
After all, real life contained both rich and poor social classes. The temperament and bearing developed over many years were difficult to change.
Pei Qian tried desperately to find some angle from which he could offer "reverse guidance" to sabotage things a little.
Yet he simply couldn't find one.
Because everything was too reasonable.
Hu Xianbin had clearly cast the actors based on their actual economic circumstances and family backgrounds, making them highly compatible with their in-game roles.
When creating artistic interpretations based on those photographs, Ruan Guangjian had also shown excellent restraint. He merely amplified each person's distinctive traits without allowing the virtual character to drift too far from the real individual.
In his haste, Pei Qian couldn't find a single opening to exploit.
President Pei fell into deep contemplation.
Well... for a game, visuals are only one aspect.
The real core strength of this game's ability to drive players away lies in its content and gameplay.
Maybe relaxing a little on the art side wouldn't be such a big problem...
Then he immediately caught himself.
Wait.
I can't allow myself to have such dangerous thoughts!
That's exactly what I thought during Turn Back Before It's Too Late too!
Pei Qian had originally been prepared to let the matter slide, but when he recalled the cautionary tale of Turn Back Before It's Too Late, he suddenly came to his senses.
He absolutely could not make the same mistake twice!
Since he had already seen the weapon Ruan Guangjian was preparing to use to stab him in the back, he had to find a way to make that weapon malfunction.
Every bit of leniency he showed now would become blood lost to future backstabbings.
Think... How do I mislead him a little?
Hmm... This artwork is very restrained...
I've got it!
Pei Qian noticed that when creating these characters, Ruan Guangjian had deliberately held back. He was worried that excessive artistic embellishment would make the characters drift too far from the real people they were based on.
That reminded Pei Qian of Lu Zhiyao's acting.
Lu Zhiyao's biggest problem had been overacting.
Back then, Pei Qian had deliberately given reverse guidance, encouraging a more restrained performance—and the result had been universally praised.
A catastrophic mistake!
Ruan Guangjian's artistic skill was obviously on an entirely different level from Lu Zhiyao's acting. He understood perfectly well that excess could be just as harmful as deficiency, so he exercised great restraint in his work.
And that, Pei Qian realized, was the opening.
If he could just get Ruan Guangjian to overdo it, wouldn't that solve the problem?
Pei Qian cleared his throat.
"The drawings are quite good, but I do have one small suggestion."
Ruan Guangjian immediately became serious.
"Oh? Please elaborate, President Pei. I'll make the changes right away."
After all, President Pei was the chief designer of the game. When it came to the game's artistic requirements, he naturally had the final say.
With a solemn expression, Pei Qian said,
"These character designs haven't strayed very far from the motion-capture actors' real appearances. You seem to have been very restrained during the creative process, correct?"
Ruan Guangjian nodded.
"That's right. Too much artistic exaggeration would cause the characters to lose their sense of realism."
Pei Qian slapped his hand against the desk.
"Exactly! That's precisely what I want!"
Ruan Guangjian blinked.
"...Huh?"
"Ahem."
Realizing he had gotten a little too excited, Pei Qian quickly composed himself.
"What I want is for them to lose that realism."
"I want a more extreme, more artistic form of expression. Words like 'realistic' and 'subtle' should have absolutely nothing to do with this game."
"In short, make these characters as bizarre as possible. Aim for a result that feels completely over-the-top."
Ruan Guangjian frowned slightly and fell into thought.
When Hu Xianbin from Tengda Games had communicated with him, he hadn't mentioned anything remotely like this.
In fact, Hu Xianbin hadn't provided particularly detailed art requirements at all.
Of course, that wasn't because Hu Xianbin lacked professionalism. It was simply a tradition within Tengda Games.
Every previous head of the game department knew the story behind Ghost General. They knew that President Pei had completely delegated authority to Master Ruan, allowing him full creative freedom, which had resulted in that legendary set of concept art.
As a result, for later projects such as Game Producer and Turn Back Before It's Too Late, Ruan Guangjian had effectively maintained complete control over artistic direction.
When Hu Xianbin submitted the art requirements for Struggle, he naturally followed the same tradition and left the specific visual style up to Ruan Guangjian.
But now President Pei himself was making a request.
That changed things.
"Hmm..."
Ruan Guangjian's brows knitted together as he pondered deeply.
Pei Qian secretly rejoiced.
Excellent!
That expression looked exactly like a designer encountering an idiot client!
Pei Qian understood that feeling perfectly.
The character sketches were already complete. The overall designs had been established, and only refinement remained.
Then suddenly the client barges in and demands massive revisions.
What designer wouldn't be annoyed?
And that was exactly what President Pei wanted!
He had already prepared himself.
As soon as Ruan Guangjian started arguing his case, Pei Qian planned to unleash the full power of an unreasonable client. He would transform into an overbearing CEO, dismiss every sensible suggestion, and insist on his absurd vision.
For the first time, Pei Qian seemed to glimpse the dawn of revenge.
Ruan Guangjian thought for a full five minutes.
His brow remained furrowed.
Clearly, he still had reservations about Pei Qian's proposal.
What puzzled Pei Qian was that after spending five full minutes wrestling with the idea, Ruan Guangjian still didn't raise a single objection.
He didn't even try to negotiate.
After a long silence, Ruan Guangjian finally seemed to reach a decision.
He took a deep breath and looked at Pei Qian.
Pei Qian instantly tensed up and prepared himself.
Here it comes!
Finally, we're going to battle!
Come on—I already have my most unreasonable client speeches prepared!
"Don't tell me what you think—I care about what I think! It doesn't matter if you think it's bad; I think it's good! Change everything! No matter what reasons you have, all of these illustrations must be redone!"
The words were already lodged in Pei Qian's throat, waiting to be fired like bullets at the number-one target in his little blacklist.
But then Ruan Guangjian clenched his teeth and said:
"Alright! No problem!"
"President Pei, although I haven't figured out the best approach yet, don't worry. Since it's a requirement you've proposed, I'll do my utmost to satisfy it."
Pei Qian: "??"
He was stunned.
What do you mean?
This isn't how the script is supposed to go!
Weren't you supposed to argue with me? Weren't we supposed to have a debate?
Then what was the point of all the lines I prepared?
Could it be that Ruan Guangjian, living under someone else's roof, didn't dare offend him?
Even if he strongly disagreed internally, would he still force himself to fulfill the demands of a brain-dead client?
That was just too tragic!
For a brief moment, Pei Qian felt like a genuine villain.
A tiny bit of guilt surfaced in his heart.
He quickly said,
"Uh... don't force yourself!"
Ruan Guangjian nodded.
"Don't worry, President Pei. I'm not forcing myself. I understand what you mean."
Pei Qian: "?"
Ruan Guangjian continued,
"In artistic creation, you have to find the right balance between the client's requirements and your own desire for expression. Only by finding that balance can you create the best possible work."
"I believe that since you've proposed this requirement, there must be some deeper reasoning behind it."
"Although I still haven't found the perfect solution, after thinking about it just now, I feel there may indeed be other ways to accomplish what you're asking for."
"Trying a different approach isn't necessarily a bad thing. It might even lead to some unexpected gains."
"In any case, President Pei, rest assured. I'll continue holding myself to the highest standards of quality. Whatever style we choose, I'll make sure you're satisfied."
Pei Qian: "..."
For some reason, interacting with Ruan Guangjian always felt like fighting a grandmaster of Tai Chi.
No matter what move he used, it accomplished absolutely nothing.
Instead, the force was somehow redirected and turned back against him.
It was as though Ruan Guangjian effortlessly deflected everything with minimal effort and used Pei Qian's own momentum against him.
A bad feeling suddenly arose in Pei Qian's heart.
He desperately wanted to say the classic client phrase:
"Let's just use the first version."
But after thinking about it, he realized that saying that now might make people suspect he suffered from intermittent mental illness.
The words had already been spoken.
There was no taking them back.
All Pei Qian could do was nod reluctantly.
"Alright then. I'll leave it to you."
"Let's hope the final product ends up matching my expectations..."
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Tn: I updated the story once a day, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
Latest Chapter: Chapter 536: Still Going with the "Bare Walls" Style[1]
Link: https://www.patreon.com/HannibalNotBarca/posts/losing-money-to-164800513?collection=1399284[2]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/HannibalNotBarca/posts/losing-money-to-164800513?collection=1399284
[2] https://www.patreon.com/HannibalNotBarca/posts/losing-money-to-164800513?collection=1399284