Game development begins with destroying Girls' Frontline.

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"The feeling of pressure from the crashing waves is too strong."

Players must find a safe path through the chaos, avoiding collapsing buildings and raging water as the city's power system begins to collapse and lights flicker.

Of course, although the scene is impressive, it is still a beginner mission and is not very difficult. As long as players follow the designated route, there will be no major problems.

However, even so, Yun Ya still had a difficult time.

~~~

Just as Yunya was stumbling through the beginner quests.

Lin Li had already arrived at the reception room, as had Xiong Rui, along with a man and a woman.

"Mr. Lin, your lounge is getting more and more luxurious..."

This was the first thing Xiong Rui said after Lin Li entered the lounge, and it wasn't wrong.

After last year's renovation.

The reception room at Xinghuo has also been renovated, with a simple yet elegant design.

Floor-to-ceiling windows occupy an entire wall, offering a panoramic view of the bustling city. The distant skyline meets the blue sky, and several potted plants are placed by the window.

To facilitate conversation, there is a round solid wood coffee table in the center of the room, surrounded by several comfortable leather sofas.

It can be used by a small number of people or by a large number of people.

Xiong Rui sat on the sofa, wearing a dark suit. When he saw Lin Li come in, he smiled and teased him while holding a document in his hand, which he was carefully reading.

"Brother Xiong, what's wrong? Hearing you say 'President Lin' sounds so awkward..."

The two of them spoke in unison.

They then smiled at each other.

The two of them didn't think anything of it, but the other person who came with Xiong Rui found a lot of things to say.

"Come on! Let me introduce you. These two are comrades from the Publicity Department, Ding Hong and Yao Xue."

Following Xiong Rui's introduction, Lin Li turned his gaze to the two people standing to the side.

At first, Lin Li thought the two people following Xiong Rui were Xiong Rui's subordinates, but now it seems they are not.

Ding Hong looked to be in his early thirties, of medium build, wearing a light gray casual suit, with a humble smile on his face, and holding a document in his hand, clearly having come prepared.

Standing next to him, Yao Xue was not dressed so formally. She wore a light gray long dress and flesh-colored stockings. She looked quite young and was also quite pretty.

"Old Ding, Xiao Xue, this is General Manager Lin of Xinghuo, Lin Li."

Xiong Rui continued his introduction.

"Mr. Lin, hello, I've heard so much about you."

Ding Hong stepped forward, bowed slightly, and shook hands with Lin Li. If he had just arrived, he was still thinking about how to chat with Lin Li.

So, the conversation between Lin Li and Xiong Rui just now has already set the tone for this.

Lin Li smiled and shook Ding Hong's hand.

"Just call me Lin Li, no need to be so formal. Everyone, please sit down."

After greeting Ding Hong, Yao Xue also stepped forward and shook hands with him.

Afterwards, the three took their seats as host and guest.

Xiong Rui placed the documents in his hand on the coffee table and got straight to the point.

"I've actually mentioned today's events before... Recently, our senior leaders have been paying close attention to the dissemination of mainstream culture, especially through methods that young people like."

The reason Xiong Rui is sitting here is actually not that complicated.

Last year, Xinghuo's "Changing the World" received unanimous praise at home and abroad. Both its publicity and influence far exceeded the expectations of the State Administration of Press and Publication.

It has received rave reviews both domestically and internationally.

Especially in border cultural tourism, which has now entered this year, this game is still mentioned from time to time in any report related to tourism work.

More importantly, the game is indeed helpful.

According to calculations by the Frontier Culture and Tourism Bureau, overall tourism increased by 4 percentage points after last year's National Day holiday, but this increase came to an abrupt halt this year due to the mask mandate.

However, in addition to tourism, "Changing the World" has also helped to promote the export of agricultural products from the border regions and create a brand effect.

These days, a quick search on Taobao or Pinduoduo reveals countless agricultural products advertised with food posters inspired by the TV series "Changing the World".

Following the success of last October.

Originally, the publicity department did not intend to continue this project. As everyone knows, this was just a 70th anniversary celebration. However, they couldn't resist the applications and inquiries from tourism bureaus all over the country being sent to the publicity department one after another.

Strangely enough, they didn't even look for Xinghuo.

Because they knew it would be pointless to search.

We live in a market economy now, so you have to pay Xinghuo (the government) to help, but it's different with the propaganda department. Take this "Changing the World" for example, the border region government didn't spend a single penny.

The budget was provided by the propaganda department, but what was the result? The ultimate benefit was decline.

Which route offers better value for money is obvious at a glance.

The Publicity Department was asked too many questions, and with the recent mask shortage, they finally got the idea and went to the Press and Publication Administration. Xiong Rui then went to Lin Li.

Chapter 608 Main Theme Game

The publicity department's idea was to refer to last year's National Day celebration approach and have Xinghuo create another game with a patriotic theme.

The two had discussed this matter last month, and at that time Lin Li neither agreed nor disagreed.

"If you, Brother Xiong, tell us to do it, we'll definitely do it. But the problem is we can't just do it blindly. I have no objection to the main theme, but how exactly do we do it in a way that both conforms to the main theme and doesn't lose its fun? After all, the core of a game is to be fun."

"If it's not fun, no one will play it. If no one plays it, it loses its propaganda value, right?"

Lin Li's tongue twister looks very convoluted.

It's actually quite simple: it's about having autonomy in game development. I can make mainstream games, and you can set the direction, but how exactly to do it is up to Xinghuo.

This matter needs to be clarified.

After all, dealing with officials is different from dealing with other people. If things aren't made clear beforehand, things will be awkward during the process, and afterwards it will basically turn into a mess.

Xiong Rui had worked his way up from the bottom, so he naturally understood this principle. He then used Lin Li's answer to communicate with his superiors.

This communication lasted for two months.

Today, all my ideas have naturally been finalized, otherwise I wouldn't have brought people from the publicity department to discuss things.

"No, the funding was insufficient last year, and it's still insufficient this year?"

When it comes to all projects, the first thing to talk about is money. Before today, Xiong Rui told Lin Li that the publicity department was planning something big. So Lin Li thought about it and figured that since it was going to be big, the development costs would have to be doubled from what they were before.

However, the final budget for this draft was still less than ten million, and the money was not paid out directly, but rather through tax subsidies.

Xiong Rui smiled, his tone slightly teasing.

"Hey kid, this money is different from before. This time it's a subsidy from the propaganda department. We're not letting you get it for free, but the price can't exceed 68."

To be fair, Lin Li was fortunate to have caught a good time.

By this point in time, the Publicity Department had developed a relatively mature approach to publicity and distribution, as exemplified by the film "My People, My Country" released last year.

The general idea is that the publicity department provides subsidies and publicity resources to create targeted cultural products.

This approach was previously used only in movies.

This is my first time working with games.

"The publicity department leaders have also spoken up. As long as the small-scale pilot project goes well, they guarantee at least one CCTV channel, and maybe even a spot on the evening news. At least the publicity costs will be saved, right?"

After Xiong Rui said that...

Lin Li, of course, also had to make a statement.

"Brother Xiong, it's not that I don't care about the money, it's just that making a game that can both conform to the mainstream ideology and attract players is quite a challenge. As you know, players these days have very discerning tastes. Just relying on the mainstream ideology isn't enough; it also needs to be innovative and fun."

Is a subsidy of ten million a small amount? Actually, in terms of publicity, this amount is not small, and even for game development, ten million is not a small amount.

Only people with exceptional abilities can get money from the government.

Moreover, it's unnecessary to expect much money from such projects; almost everyone is there for the national-level propaganda power.

Including the cast of "My People, My Country" and "The Founding of a Republic".

Moreover, from a practical standpoint, after last year's "Changing the World," Xinghuo has basically secured its position as the top platform in China. Incidentally, the huge success of "Changing the World" also helped Xinghuo clean up some shady characters.

“I know that. The cooperation between the propaganda department and the film industry has been in a similar pattern recently. The comrades from the propaganda department didn’t just come with a budget this time. They also have a few ideas and would like to hear your opinion as an expert.”

As he spoke, Xiong Rui gave him a wink.

Ding Hong, who had been watching from the sidelines for a while, quickly took out a document from his bag and handed it to Lin Li.

"President Lin, these are some preliminary directions we've drafted based on last year's National Day celebrations and this year's theme. Do you have any ideas?"

At this stage of the conversation, Lin Li had essentially agreed to the matter.

Therefore, his expression became much more serious when he received the documents.

The document provided by Ding Hong lists several major directions, such as "Red History Themes", "Achievements in New Era Construction", and "Revival of Traditional Culture". Each direction is accompanied by specific cases and references.

These cases largely use successful patriotic films as a reference.

For example, Lin Li saw films like "Wolf Warrior 2," "Operation Red Sea," "Operation Mekong," and last year's National Day anthology film "My People, My Country" in it.

This can be seen from the documents.

The propaganda department also suffers from path dependence. The success of patriotic films in recent years has clearly influenced their approach to this collaboration with Spark Games.

Although Ding Hong didn't explicitly say so in the document he gave, it was probably meant to guide Lin Li in that direction.

"I heard that a movie project called 'The Battle at Lake Changjin' was approved recently?"

Lin Li glanced at the document, flipped through it for a long time, but couldn't find the name "Changjin Lake," so he asked.

Ding Hong was taken aback; he hadn't expected Lin Li to be so well-informed.

So he nodded.

"Yes, after the anthology film commemorating the 70th anniversary was released last year, we all thought it was good, so we've been promoting this new project recently."

Lin Li put down the documents in his hand.

"Have you ever thought about making a movie or game series with the same name?"

Since Xiong Rui brought this up two months ago, Lin Li has occasionally thought about how to make a game with a mainstream theme.

Should we create a domestic version of Call of Duty, like in the US market? Or should we continue with the "New Sky" approach and focus on regions in China that have undergone significant changes?

After much deliberation, Lin Li decided to do something that no one had ever done before.

Lin Li initially wanted to make a game about killing Japanese devils, but when he was planning the project, he was still a bit lost on the specific topic.

After all, the subject of the War of Resistance Against Japan is too broad.

In addition, Xiong Rui had not given any definite answer at the time, so it was temporarily put aside.

This time, the publicity department had a clearer logic and mentioned wanting to refer to a movie. As a result, the name "Changjin Lake" involuntarily came to Lin Li's mind.

Although the film "The Battle at Lake Changjin" received mixed reviews after its release, it is undeniable that this film, which will be released next year, is a very successful commercial film.

It strikes a good balance between the main theme and the proportion of the film.

Chapter 609 Changjin Lake

Many people always say that "The Battle at Lake Changjin" would have been better if it had been done this or that.

"The Battle at Lake Changjin" is too commercial.

The characters in "The Battle at Lake Changjin" are not believable in terms of dialogue, and some people even say that "The Battle at Lake Changjin" is a fabrication and a mess.

Objectively speaking, some of these criticisms are valid.

In order to present a cinematic version, the battle scenes in "The Battle at Lake Changjin" have been optimized. However, the depiction of the real battlefield, the ferocity of the actual historical battle, and the harshness of the battlefield environment still differ from the historical reality.

Including costumes, props, and the presentation of various combat details, it falls short from the perspective of a military enthusiast.

These negative reviews are not wrong. If "The Battle at Lake Changjin" were a documentary, these issues would indeed be major problems, but this is a theatrical film.