's release, "Bad Boy" was like most independent games produced by individuals. Sales increased slowly by dozens of copies per day. It was hardly influential. It was like a pebble dropped into water. There was a slight ripple, and it was about to disappear.
Then one day, developer Kong Lingshuang received a private message from a player, "I really like your game." The words were full of love for the game. He then recommended it to an anchor on a live broadcast platform, and the show was very effective. The audience was hit by the ubiquitous 90s elements, and some said they seemed to see themselves when they were children. The
game is full of elements from the 1990s. The
game was spread by word of mouth among players. One anchor recommended it to another anchor. The spread was like a whirlwind. The sales volume climbed from dozens to hundreds a day, and the reviews of Steam quickly surged. It got "rave reviews". Suddenly one day, Kong Lingshuang realized that "Bad Kids" seemed to be "popular."
Whether he is a 30-year-old "elderly developer" or a novice who has become a monk and taught himself programming, the game's popularity far exceeded Kong Lingshuang's expectations. Before launching on Steam, he secretly told himself that it would not matter even if the sales were not good. "Anything is fine, even two or three thousand copies." Unexpectedly, the final result "slapped him in the face". Not only was the sales volume impressive, but the feedback from players was also overwhelmingly positive.
Compared with joy, Kong Lingshuang felt more uneasy. He was afraid that the quality of the game was not worthy of the popularity. I congratulated him, and he hurriedly said: "I feel really guilty."
(This article contains a certain degree of "Bad Boy" Spoilers.)
was originally a horror game
10 months ago, Kong Lingshuang’s original idea was to make a horror game.
The reason is simple. He accidentally read a report that the best-selling game type on Steam is horror games. At that time, he had just resigned from his original employer, and making games was his only source of income. Thinking that "the games he made could sell more copies," he began to conceive of a script for a horror game.
Kong Lingshuang first thought of the horror stories told by the adults around him when he was a child, the haunted house in the next building, the noises made in the middle of the night, the experience of straying into a supernatural place... In his memory, there are always some adults who are not doing their jobs properly. , gathered together with three or five relatives, drinking tea and eating melon seeds, while chatting about the weird anecdotes around them. The most lingering memory of my childhood is the supernatural stories. The adults kept telling them as if they were just making them up, but they also seemed like they were really happening around me. The people around me were half-convinced, and the horrifying scenes emerged in my mind. Why? Can't forget it either.
In addition, Kong Lingshuang still remembers a lot of cult movies he watched as a child. Some movies that seem unimaginably large in scale now were frequent visitors to CCTV-6 in the 1990s. For example, in "The Kiss", the protagonist of the film is a baby whose body is poisonous. Both his parents died from the poison. Like Frankenstein, he is feared and hated by humans. In the original novel, the poisonous boy finally dismantled his internal organs and ate himself, leaving only his head and stomach pouch hanging in the sky like a human head balloon.
"Kiss", "Thunderbolt Babe", "The Flying Centipede" and other cult films that have been broadcast on TV have become the "childhood shadows" of many post-90s generations.
Such films are avant-garde and pioneering, and often contain elements of horror and violence. Kong Lingshuang loved watching TV when he was a child. Even if he couldn't understand the plot sometimes, he would be scared to death by the sudden shocking scenes. "Shadows of Childhood" left a deep impression in my heart. When I look back at these films when I grow up, Kong Lingshuang has a special feeling. He secretly determined to make a game with a similar style.
Following his childhood experiences, Kong Lingshuang conceived a story about a child's adventure in a haunted house. However, the outline was in place, but the content of the story was not written smoothly. Practical experience tells him that being impressed by a subject matter does not necessarily mean that he will be able to write the same story well. Halfway through writing the script, his mind got stuck and he couldn't squeeze out the rest of the script.
"Later I tried to make a simple demo, and I thought about how to make it scary," Kong Lingshuang recalled. "After much thought, I only thought of using Jump Scare. On the other hand, I felt that it was very vulgar."
Shouyi Influenced by the original idea, "Bad Kid" also retained some horror elements.
The plan for a horror game was abandoned, but Kong Lingshuang could not let go of the idea of recreating his childhood memories. He thought about those bored adults. The society at that time seemed to be full of frustrated middle-aged people. Could their stories be turned into a game?
Days that should be remembered
There is a question on Zhihu "What kind of era was the 1990s in mainland China?" "Laid-off" and "re-employment" are the words that appear most frequently in the answer. Some people described it as a huge social change, some said it was a "life-threatening mass labor pain", and some recalled the scene where local TV stations broadcast job advertisements all day long - people around them borrowed a few hundred yuan and went to work. When working in other places, it seems that there are countless jobs waiting for people in the world.
Kong Lingshuang thought of his parents. The family lived in Xiangxi for many years. His mother first worked in a pharmaceutical factory, but later the pharmaceutical factory closed down and found a job in a local winery. His father was unlucky. After the factory closed down, he couldn't find a job and was idle at home for a long time.
In the game, Wang Han's father also lost his job.
"When I was a child, I was very curious about why my mother went to work every day, but my father slept in at home every day." Kong Lingshuang said. Although I heard adults always shouting about "layoff" and " buying out the seniority ", my young self didn't understand the meaning of these words. What I saw was simple: my mother went to work early, and my father got out of bed very late, wandered around the machine shop for two hours, and then ate downstairs.
In Kong Lingshuang’s experience, depression was the main tone of that era. I recall that when I was a child, I could always hear adults quarreling. My neighbors always quarreled over trivial matters, and the aunties around me talked about "divorce" all day long. One time he wanted a drink, and his family was debating whether he should buy it. He couldn't remember the details. The discussion slowly turned into a "big argument" and he didn't know what went wrong.
Although it is depressing, for children in their teenage years, it is actually the "most fun time". When the family quarrels, the child doesn't understand. He doesn't think about things he doesn't understand. He goes to the river to swim and catch fish every day, and goes to the arcade to play games. The poor-quality lights emitted by fruit machines, and slot machines make him unable to open his eyes. . Parents have no intention of disciplining their children, and the world becomes a colorful place for them.
Putting aside the worries, adults are in a similar state. They have nothing to do all day long. A group of men gathered in the factory, dismantled the broken tables and chairs into wooden strips, piled them together and made a fire to keep warm. The cruel adults caught the rabbits raised by the children and cooked them. To eat. My father would wander the streets with his arms folded in his hands. Sometimes he would kill a chicken from nowhere and bring it home for his mother to make for dinner. At that time, people seemed to be distracted, and there was also a hedonistic spirit that was not afraid of boiling water.
A group of idle middle-aged people caught pigeons and cooked them to eat.
"I can't think of anything else. I experienced that era personally, and I also feel it is necessary to talk about what happened at that time." Kong Lingshuang paused for a while. He added, "I think everyone should remember those days, a period of social transformation."
Tell a good story
After re-establishing the direction of the story, the progress became smoother. The idea of using the "laid-off tide" as the background of the story became clearer in Kong Lingshuang's mind. The environment of the small southwest machinery factory was quickly finalized, and the image of the protagonist Wang Han also emerged in his mind - a small-town boy, surrounded by Circumstances push you down a bad path, but in the end you pull back from the brink. With personal experience as the basis, the story flows naturally from his writing.
Compared to Wang Han, Kong Lingshuang is more like an unnamed supporting role in the game. He has never been a bad boy. On the contrary, when he was a child, street gangsters often bullied him because he was "white.""Wang Han is actually a collection of all the people who have bullied me," Kong Lingshuang said. The image of the protagonist refers to the bad boy who blocked him on the street, but deep down in his heart, Kong Lingshuang gave him a heart. kind hearted.
"Er Dan" is another impressive character. He is Wang Han's best friend. He stands firmly behind his friend no matter in peacetime or in critical moments. "Erdan" is a nickname given by Wang Han casually. His real name is Yang Ping, and his prototype is the Mito Yohei in " Slam Dunk ". In the comics, Mito Yohei is a strong, gentle and mature character who always supports him as a strong backing for Sakuragi Hanamichi . In Kong Lingshuang's heart, Mito Yohei is the "most ideal" in everyone's heart. "Friend", according to his image, Yang Ping also repeatedly lends a helping hand when players need help most, and is the most trustworthy friend.
Maybe everyone is looking forward to a friend like Mito Yohei
Not only Yang Ping, almost all the character names in the game pay tribute to Kong Lingshuang's favorite works: Wang Han's name comes from the film "" directed by Wang Xiaoshuai Me 11", "Xiao Yu" Yu Guowei is a character in the movie " The Blizzard is Coming " starring Duan Yihong , and the vendor "Ma Hou" is the nickname of Ma Xiaojun in "Sunny Days"...
is in the game In the middle period, Wang Han met a ferryman by the river. He had a sad face and slowly recounted his past experiences. "My eldest brother and I both liked Xiao Cui across the river from our hometown at the same time. We discussed going to the back hill of Xiao Cui's house to compete in singing in the middle of the night. Whoever Xiao Cui liked's song would marry her." "Later I won, and my eldest brother was too embarrassed to stay here. In the town, I went to a distant beach by boat, but unfortunately I fell into the water and drowned. After knowing that my eldest brother died, I was disheartened and left my hometown by boat." - Shen Congwen The story in "Border Town".
What happened to Nuo Song in the story "Border Town"?
Kong Lingshuang has buried countless Easter eggs in the game, each of which has the color of that era. “I didn’t think much about it, I just liked those works,” he explained. These details added without thinking will be recognized by the audience from time to time during the live broadcast, causing one or two exclamations in the barrage.
also put Kong Lingshuang's personal experience into the game without thinking. There is a plot in the game where Wang Han wants to be recognized by Li Qingquan, the big brother in society, but is considered by all his younger brothers to be just a kid. He was unconvinced and thought that if he smoked a cigarette, he could prove that he was an "adult".
For children, cigarettes are not cheap and difficult to obtain. Wang Han mustered up his courage, robbed the idiot Daqiang's liquor, got the barber on the street board inch drunk, and stole the money in his suitcase. He thought he was invisible and no one knew about the bad things he did, but he didn't expect that everyone saw it. Later, Li Qingquan's gang committed a crime, and the neighbors avoided Wang Han like a plague. When he walked into Da Qiang's restaurant, the boss angrily kicked him out. Wang Han said aggrievedly: "I'm here to eat!" The boss didn't listen at all and even waved his hand to tell him to go out.
Standing outside the shop, Ban Cun Zhang, who was cutting his hair, saw Wang Han, sighed, and softly uttered a few words: "Anyone who does unrighteousness will be killed." Wang Han realized for the first time that he seemed to be wrong.
The cigarettes that he got after a lot of effort were actually not easy to smoke.
Kong Lingshuang had witnessed a similar thing when he was a child. At that time, two groups of social youths were fighting on the street, holding red bricks and wooden sticks picked up from the construction site. Greet the other person directly. After fighting for a while, a man looked tired and walked into a rice noodle shop. He probably wanted to have a bowl of rice noodle and take a rest. But the store owner pushed him out of the door without saying a word, mouthing a few words, "Get out of here, don't leave things in my store."
Kong Lingshuang didn’t know who the young man was, but he clearly remembered his expressionless face when he was pushed out of the store. He was wearing white clothes and blue trousers, and his expression was dull.
Kong Lingshuang remembers that he was particularly shocked at the time. "When I conceived the game, I thought this must be included, and for Wang Han, this was a major turning point." He said.There is another story in the
game that is based on real life. When Kong Lingshuang was a child, he heard adults say that there was a man in the courtyard. Like Lao Chen in the game, he spent money lavishly and had a child outside. This soon became a well-known secret in the hospital, but no one was willing to put the rumor on the table. Until one day, a strange woman came to the courtyard with her child and asked the man if he wanted it. The man said, no. The conversation quickly escalated into an argument and then into a rant that could be heard throughout the hospital. Then the woman left the child and left. The man stared at the child. After a few days, he silently found a few people to go up the mountain and bury a box. In the game
, in order to see who was braver, Wang Han and the gangster Pockmarked ran to the mountain and dug out the box. The two were very nervous, thinking that they would definitely dig out the child, but when they threw away the soil, they only found a pile of pirated DVDs.
Fortunately it was just a pirated video
In reality, the incident turned out to be quite big and the police were alerted. They went up the mountain and opened the box - it was also empty. Later I found out that the man deliberately buried the empty box in the mountains in order to deceive the woman and the child died, and secretly gave the child to someone else behind his back. I heard it was at a relative's house in the next street.
The stories of "Bad Boys" are almost all like this. They are both fictional and have glimpses of real events. Fantasy and reality are intertwined to create an indescribable color, but it is this kind of story that resonates with players, and a story that resonates is always a good story.
Unexpected Resonance
html On July 15th, "Bad Kids" was released on Steam. It did not receive many reviews in the first few days, but the number is growing every day. Half a month has passed, and 97% of the 625 user reviews in the community have been positive, steadily earning "rave reviews". The most common thing said by players is "It seems like I have returned to that era."Kong Lingshuang took a picture of a woman washing clothes by the river, and later incorporated this plot into the game
The players of "Dream Back to the Past" are not only Kong Lingshuang's peers, but also many people born in the 2000s are also in the game Found a familiar shadow. Among the game’s player base, some post-00s players who had completed the game specifically left messages. They were also moved by Wang Han’s story.
Xiaoji, who is a junior this year, is one of them. He likes this game very much, and is especially impressed by the plot where the teacher urges him to pay the class fee. In the game, Wang Han lost money and couldn't pay his work fees. The teacher sneered at him. Xiao Ji believed that prejudice was the biggest reason why Wang Han was tired of studying. When
was in elementary school, Xiaoji's class teacher also made things difficult for students who didn't pay class fees. "Although it is euphemistically called 'voluntary', as long as one person refuses to submit, it will be said that he is holding everyone back and not contributing to the class." The class teacher said one thing on the surface, but actually did another. , Xiao Ji hates this kind of people. In the end, he didn’t know where the class fees were spent, and no one mentioned it again after graduation. Maybe just like the schools in the game that cleverly set up "computer maintenance fees" to charge fees, the "class fees" have also quietly slipped into the pocket of the class teacher.
For Xiaoji, gangsters are another remnant of that era. He has never forgotten the experience of being robbed of money by them. However, there are some differences between the gangsters and the gangsters in the game: the gangsters often rob children of money, while the gangsters Xiao Ji met were not so skilled. Every time he said He spit on the ground and tried to hide his inner panic by acting cruel, "You can tell he's a novice."
Kong Lingshuang created the story "Bad Boy" based on his childhood memories, but times may not change as quickly as people imagine, and the memories of the two generations overlap wonderfully in some places.
The guard room where the prototype of Old Tang once lived in the game
The 15-year-old Super may be the youngest player in the player group. When talking about his gaming experience, he was a little shy, saying that he bought the game following the trend and that he was "not of that era." ” doesn’t resonate with the best parts of the game. However, the story of a child named "Little Mouse" who bought a snack card still reminded him of his own experience.
"Magician" noodles were very popular when he was a child. He was keen on collecting the "One Piece" cards that came with the package. He almost had a complete set, except for one " Whitebeard " character card. One day, he heard that a classmate had two cards, so he pestered him for a whole afternoon, and finally exchanged five or six cards for one. He was very happy at the time. Later, a friend who really liked "One Piece" celebrated his birthday, so Super gritted his teeth and gave him a complete set of cards.
It’s probably a card like this
Kong Lingshuang originally just wanted to tell a nostalgic story, but he didn’t expect it to resonate with those born in the 2000s. A 14-year-old player shared his thoughts after playing the game with him. When he received the news, he was "shocked." The child didn't like studying and kept complaining to Kong Lingshuang about trivial things in school. He didn't know what to say. He knew something was wrong, but he was unwilling to persuade others like an elder.
"If I had known that there were 14-year-old players, I wouldn't have done anything like smoking or swearing. I regret it. If I had known, I wouldn't have done these things." Kong Lingshuang said. The sales volume of the
game exceeded 10,000 copies, which greatly exceeded Kong Lingshuang's expectations. His original thought was "I can sell three or four thousand copies, and I am already very excited about it." The result turned out to be even higher than expected. He was happy, but he couldn't help but think about the imperfections in the game. "This game doesn't deserve (such a review). I'm scared. I don't know what to do."
However, most players don't think so. In post bars, live broadcast rooms, and game groups... people enjoy it endlessly. When talking about "Bad Kids", the most frequently mentioned words are "nostalgia" and "domestic games". They are keen to see one game after another with a strong local flavor appearing in the Steam store, and then selling better and better. New players join the official group every day. Occasionally they are welcomed, but most of the time they just blend in quietly and then say something like "Is this place a tribute to that movie?" in the group.
Next step, the next one
Faced with the enthusiasm of players, Kong Lingshuang seemed uncomfortable. Players in the
group call him "Brother Kong". I don't know which playful player came up with it first, but it is somewhat respectful. In fact, as a 30-year-old who is still developing games alone , whether it is resigning or switching to a completely new field, it is a matter of great courage.
In July last year, Kong Lingshuang heartlessly resigned from his media operations job after seven consecutive years. His undergraduate degree was in electronic information. After graduation, when the Internet was booming, he came to Shenzhen on the wave and found an operation position by accident. He didn't expect that he would stay there for so long. Last year, the epidemic made people feel bad. Kong Lingshuang stayed at home, and the pace of remote work made him feel depressed. The company replaced the original simple formula with a complex performance calculation method. The purpose behind it was to deduct employees' wages. Staring at the extremely cumbersome formula, Kong Lingshuang resigned in anger.
In the eyes of people around me, at the age of 30, being willing to give up a comfortable and stable life and step into an unfamiliar field is a bold decision no matter how you look at it. Before resigning, Kong Lingshuang had no experience in game development. Even the development engine Unity was self-taught later. Friends described his approach as "all-or-nothing" and "do it or die." However, contrary to their expectations, Kong Lingshuang showed almost no emotion when talking about this topic.
"Because at the age of 30, I can't get jobs up or down, and my salary has always been the same." Kong Lingshuang's voice suddenly became very soft, as calm as if he was talking about something that had nothing to do with him, "I think You have to do something by yourself while you still have some energy, otherwise you will really become a slut in the future. "
quitting his job to make games is not a last-ditch effort. Kong Lingshuang saved some money in advance, "It's not much, it's enough for me anyway. Two years". He left his job in July last year and started making games at the end of the year, but at the beginning of the year he was already "concentrating on playing games" and watching Unity's instructional videos. Looking back, the idea of making games has always been there, but I just kept it in my heart and didn't say it out loud.
Kong Lingshuang named himself "Kong Xiaocai" in the player group. Compared with the "big brother" in the eyes of players, this is more like a supporting role in a third-rate film and television drama. Kong Xiaocai doesn't seem to be used to receiving praise from others. Occasionally, if someone expresses liking or praise for a certain detail of the game, he will always say "thank you" sheepishly, and then add that he didn't do a good enough job. The place seems to be maintaining a delicate balance.
After "Bad Boy" was released on Steam, Kong Lingshuang heard that a host was broadcasting his own game. He turned on his computer to watch it and saw a barrage that impressed him deeply. This player said that the game reminded him of "Kill That Shijiazhuang Man", which is a rock song by the Universal Youth Hotel band. The theme is the layoff wave. There is a lyric in it, "Live like this for 30 years until the building collapses." ". When
saw this sentence, Kong Lingshuang "slammed the table with excitement." When playing games, this song repeatedly rang in his ears. The barrage touched his heart, "Suddenly there was a feeling that he was understood. a feeling of".
Kong Lingshuang's original intention of making "Bad Boy" was to "record that era." In his eyes, society was facing a huge shock at that time, and the lives of everyone around him were changing. Even as a young man, he could feel it , people around me are always talking about the same thing, people are depressed, and even the air is filled with a depressive atmosphere.
Even so, everyone is still struggling to live. The factory is closed, so we start a small business. Next door, Aunt Xiang honed her skills and opened a rice noodle stall; Aunt Chen and her husband were laid off from work, so the couple set up a stall on the street with a pot, a stool, and a few teacups covered with glass pieces. A simple herbal tea shop, selling a cup for one penny.
Although the economic situation is not good, everyone's attitude towards life has not changed. Occasionally, Kong Lingshuang goes to "grab" food, such as a cup of tea, a piece of bread, and a few eggs, and everyone happily gives them to him. In such a difficult environment, the small citizens seemed to burst out with endless vitality. Kong Lingshuang was moved by the spirit they showed.
Xiang Qun plans to open a rice noodle shop, and she has no intention of being idle after the factory closes.
On the other hand, Kong Lingshuang just turned 30 last year and has reached an age that is neither above nor below. After quitting your job, where should your life go next? Is it stable? He didn't know what to do, the road ahead seemed to be a fog, and there was no solid floor under his feet, so he could only walk on intuitively.
He thought of his parents. Back then, his parents were the same age. Faced with a similar situation, they already had children and were even old enough to remember. Now, he has also reached the age of his parents - they were also How did a young man or a little girl become the father and mother he is today?
At two special nodes, the experiences of the two generations seemed to overlap. The 20 years of changes in the times have sublimated into something more profound and touching. He has been home for nearly half a year, and eats with him every day. My parents chatted and talked about the past. They seemed very happy and spoke much faster. They were not willing to stop when they got excited. Looking at such a scene, he suddenly felt that he truly understood them now.
For Kong Lingshuang, the work on "Bad Boy" is not over yet - there are bugs to be fixed, and he will also consider adding suggestions from some players. However, Kong Lingshuang already has a rough outline in mind for his next work. He wanted to make a game based on Alzheimer's disease . His grandfather had suffered from " Alzheimer's disease " and could no longer recognize the people in his family two months before he passed away. This disease may be hereditary, and he is afraid that one day his father and himself will start forgetting important things.
"Use a new form to tell a brand new story," he wrote in a letter to players.
Kong Lingshuang’s working environment, a game laptop bought in 2016, and a Xiaomi mobile phone
When the game reached “rave reviews”, Kong Lingshuang posted a Weibo post to thank players for their support, and As usual, he said very modestly, "Thank you for your tolerance for the childish and rough aspects of the game", and he would "relearn and accumulate, and strive to make a work that lives up to everyone's expectations." When
wrote to the end, he couldn't help but attach a screenshot from the movie "Ready Player One". That was what the producer of "Oasis" and the greatest game developer in history said to the players at the end of the movie. The last Easter egg left by this legend.
"Thank you for playing my game!"
![The Battle at Lake Changjin [长津湖] Complete Trailers China’s Blockbuster. - DayDayNews](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yMFKF60jOXM/hq720.jpg?sqp=-oaymwE2CNAFEJQDSFXyq4qpAygIARUAAIhCGAFwAcABBvABAfgB1AaAAuADigIMCAAQARhWIF8oZTAP&rs=AOn4CLAi35xpPPuB-6jYrhoX0xjPNrxcEw)
