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Rocket Fist Technology, I don't know if you still have an impression of this name? The team, which came out of Sony China Star, released their first work, "Hardcore Mecha", in 2019.

"Hardcore Mecha" was originally a domestic stand-alone game on PS4, and won the first place in the download list of the Japanese PS Store for two consecutive weeks, with Japan game media Famitsu giving a golden palace evaluation of 33/40 points, and IGN giving 8.8 points.

Now, five years after the team's first title, their latest title, Hardcore Mecha: Apocalypse, is finally online, but it's a free-to-play mobile game — which is not quite the same as the temperament and impression the team used to have.

The current user rating of the game is 7.8 points for TapTap, and 6.9 points for Haoyou Kuaibang.

Of course, it's not easy to make a commercial mobile game, especially for a small team that is new to this door. Grape Jun chatted with game producer Mu Fei a while ago, and he said: "So many brothers and sisters in the team have been with me for so many years, and I should also give them a good explanation, so that everyone can have a good way out." ”

The following is the content of the conversation:

01

No more hesitation

Grape: Why did you do it in the way it is?

Mu Fei: "Hardcore Mecha" was successfully launched after three years of development, but as a development team, it is really difficult to be "satisfied and satisfied", we still have too many ideas that we have not been able to achieve, and there are too many things we want to accomplish. So we summarized the ideas and brains that could not be realized, and made "Hardcore Mecha: Apocalypse" step by step in the process of gradual exploration.

Grape-kun: Haven't you struggled?

Mu Fei: At first, we wanted to port "Hardcore Mecha" directly to the mobile phone and make it a one-time buyout, but when the demo came out, it turned out that it was hell to operate the game on the mobile phone.

If you really want to change it, it's no different than remaking a new game. Since it took so much effort to redo it, if it's just a port, and let players buy it as if it were an old game, it would be a bit thankless, just make a new game.

Grape-kun: Now it seems that the response to the game is okay?

Mu Fei: The game's fixed PV has exceeded 1 million plays, and the likes and interaction rates have also remained in a good range. Our former players were so face-saving that they were busy answering questions in the comment area, introducing what kind of team Rocket Punch is and what kind of game Hardcore Mecha is.

At first, I was very scared, I felt that the game might sink with a high probability, and we couldn't rush up, and we didn't have the money to buy volume promotions. In fact, before the first exposure, I was worried about how much audience "Hardcore Mecha: Apocalypse" would have.

As a result, after the first exposure PV was released, everyone was still looking forward to it, and there were naturally more volumes, and the game quickly rushed to the third place on the TapTap reservation list, so I felt a lot more at ease. Of course, we certainly can't get as many appointments as the big ones, but for us we have exceeded expectations.

Grape King: Maybe the previous game has accumulated some influence for you.

Mu Fei: It can be regarded as the accumulation of good deeds every day before "Hardcore Mecha", and it is really a matter of accumulating virtue. "Hardcore Mecha" insisted on updating for a year after finishing it at that time, and did a lot of content. Although it hasn't been updated in the last two years, everyone has chosen to understand and support us, for which I am still very grateful, and even want to kneel for everyone.

In addition to the support of veteran players, I think the other thing is that the needs of mecha users have not been met. Because this theme is actually more difficult to do, the team must understand mechanical design, character design, and be able to do plots, performances, science fiction, military theory, and other things. But the magnitude of this category is not as big as that of pan-two-dimensional. Therefore, in this industry, it is not easy for a team that is willing to deepen the mecha category to make products.

02

Mobile games are new 

Grape: How do you feel after the past three years? Is it harder than when you were working on "Hardcore Mecha"?

Mu Fei: It's been a lot of hard work, and my gray hair has grown a lot. Because there are so many people and a lot of work, there are many things for me to manage. There are almost 30 people on the project team, and I have to wear a lot of responsibilities in addition to being a producer and a boss.

The biggest difficulty of "Hardcore Mecha: Apocalypse" is in the specific design, such as how to design the mecha more distinctively, how to have battlefield expressiveness, including card drawing, cultivation and other things that I was not familiar with before, and it took a long time to master.

I didn't know why people were playing with it or how they were playing with these things, and I thought there were some needs in it that I didn't know about. In fact, there is nothing special, everyone is similar in the core underlying demands.

Grape King: What pits have you stepped on?

Mu Fei: In the past, the main purpose of the original design was to control the mecha, shuttle through obstacles, and then play actions like in "Robot Wars". The focus of "Hardcore Mecha: Apocalypse" is on core combat and battlefield performance, allowing players to play refreshing and handsome combos.

But as our first attempt, this project did have a lot of pitfalls. For example, the combat perspective is much more complicated than I expected. At first, I thought it would be done in a week, but it took me dozens of results to screen experiments and permutations, and finally I got it for two months.

We also spent a lot of time rendering the body in order to have a 3D feel like it came out of the explosion. If you simply use two special effects films together, it will appear that the smoke is very thin, there is no sense of volume, and it will be seen that there are seams.

The core battle has been changed three times. The first version was particularly boring, it was a simple attribute restraint, it was tiring to play, and it was not much fun. Then the second version added some of the character's special moves and second status transformations, but it wasn't enough. Finally, in the third version, after having a full battle loop, I finally felt a little relieved.

Another challenge is art. Unlike ability battles, fights between mechs are more rational and logical. For example, if you want to shoot a wide bullet, you must have a large muzzle. Therefore, if the combat skills are to be modified, the shape of the mecha must also be changed, and the corresponding new equipment and weapons must be installed, which may be a flamethrower on the back or a large detonator.

03

Let's be honest

Grape: How are you now? Stressed?

Mu Fei: It's a lot of pressure, it's a lot of pressure. The difference between a mobile game and a stand-alone game is that it is a product with continuous operation and long-term service, which has high requirements for production capacity and scheduling, which is both a pressure and a challenge for a small team like ours.

At this stall that is about to be open beta, it is not so much pressure, but more nervousness and excitement, and everyone in the team is also holding back their energy.

Grape Jun: How does it feel for a small team to make a commercial mobile game for the first time?

Mu Fei: We can quickly produce some creative things, for example, our most basic level gameplay is different, including the material level experience. However, it is difficult to find investment in commercial mobile games made by independent teams. People don't believe we can make mobile games. In the end, we made the demo ourselves, and we made most of the game before we were able to raise the funds for further development.

There was a time when I was in a lot of pain for months trying to get money. Then when I returned to the company, I saw that there was still a bit of a problem with the core battle, so I said that I wouldn't run money for this time, and I had to arrest this thing. Then I went into retreat for a month and worked with the team on the specific gameplay design.

Grape: Have you ever suspected that this project may not be able to be done, or that it will not make money?

Mu Fei: There must have been, I'm just a novice in mobile games, and wherever I dare to say it, I will be scared. But even if I'm afraid, I have to do it, because it's not just me. Since I was afraid that I would not be able to do well, I looked for someone to help me refer to it everywhere and discussed it with the team repeatedly until I was reassured.

When I first did it, everyone wondered, is it okay to do this mobile game? However, as the completion of the project gets higher and higher, everyone thinks that this game is still very good to play, and can often play more handsome videos, and colleagues will compete with each other to play better, just like doing stand-alone games before.

We've spent several years developing this project, and we definitely hope it will work. The team can also accumulate more strength and provide more opportunities and possibilities for continuing to make mecha games and "Hardcore Mecha 2" in the future.

Grape-kun: What's holding you up?

Mu Fei: Rocket Fist was originally formed by a group of like-minded partners who like mechas. I have always hoped to make "Hardcore Mecha" an IP and bring it to more players. And in our fan base of players, everyone is also very happy that what they like can have greater development - when they saw that our game was ranked on TapTap, they quickly took screenshots and posted them in the group.

Everyone wants the game to be good, and I hope that more people will come in and play it together, and I'm really touched by that, and it's been sustaining us until now. So many brothers and sisters in the team have been with me for so many years, and I should also give them a good explanation, so that everyone can have a good way out.

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