[Game-Time special article, no reproduction without authorization]
Game-Time report/In August last year, NetEase announced the two-dimensional urban open world RPG “Project Mugen” for the first time, and quickly gained a lot of attention around the world. The game is jointly developed by NetEase Games and Naked Rain, a subsidiary of Leihuo Studios. Although the launch date has not yet been announced, it has been confirmed that it will be launched on PlayStation 4/5, PC, iOS and Android platforms.
In NetEase’s 2023Q2 conference call, NetEase stated that this game contains a lot of AI technology. “The game “Codename: Infinity” is NetEase’s hope to combine the current relevant game development technologies in the field of two-dimensional open worlds, including big world generation. , AI and other technologies, we are trying to conduct game development and upgrade. We hope that through this game we will continue to consolidate our strength in AI games and at the same time bring players a two-dimensional open world city gaming experience.”
In terms of gameplay, although the PV of the game was announced, not many details of the gameplay were released at that time. It was only confirmed that the game setting was urban, and it was likely to have driving, combat and other elements. At that time, some people speculated that this game might be a second-generation game. Dimension GTA has a Spider-Man MOD.
Regarding the game release plan, NetEase executives said at the time that it was in normal development progress and would soon submit the version number for review.
Over time, development studio Naked Rain has revealed more gameplay clips and other mechanics to highlight its uniqueness, with the game not only containing swinging elements but also other forms of environment traversal, setting it apart from other open worlds. The game looks different.
From what is known so far, the studio has a lot of ideas to implement in Codename: Infinite, which also increases the scale of the game. In an email interview with foreign media exputer, the developer of Naked Rain talked about the source of inspiration for the game, the scale of the project and future plans.
When talking about the update plan, the developer said that the team plans to build a city every year, which means that the game requires a large number of models, art assets, and a huge workload. However, unlike wild open worlds, cities often have a large number of scenes familiar to young players, with more buildings and scene density, giving players a stronger sense of immersion.
Judging from the response of overseas players to the game, the vast majority of users are looking forward to “Codename: Infinity”, and many people are asking in the community about the specific release time of the game. One player said, “There are more choices in a pool that currently only has “Genshin Impact” and “Collapse of Iron”. For me, I will try all the options, and I am also excited about “Codename: Infinity” .”
The following is the complete interview compiled by Gamelook:
We hope to exceed players’ expectations and plan to build a city every year.
Can you introduce yourselves and tell us a little bit about working on Codename: Infinite?
Naked Rain:I am a member of the R&D team, mainly responsible for the urban ecology module, and also participate in the planning of other modules. Our goal is to allow players to experience a modern city with anime-style aesthetics in the game, and to create an open world full of challenges and fun for players.
“Codename: Infinite” does a lot at once: various travel mechanisms, unique character abilities, the use of vehicles, etc. Are you worried that having so many features will lead to a degradation in quality?
Naked Rain：This will actually increase the difficulty of our research and development to some extent. However, our team has many excellent programmers and planners, each with deep expertise and rich experience in their respective fields. This allows us to innovate and use cutting-edge technologies and methods to solve the difficulties we encounter.
For example, when creating urban scenes, we used PCG (Procedural Content Generation) technology to create repetitive buildings in the city, which reduced the repetitive manual work for game planners and allowed them to focus more on creative work. We are committed to providing players with a sense of achievement that exceeds their expectations. At the same time, our team in Montreal has experienced AAA game development colleagues who will also provide technical support.
The game has a very interesting story that will be expanded with every major update. How long do you think it will take to release the complete story into the game?
Naked Rain：Our goal is to present a massive game world that can be explored. Therefore, after the game is released, we will continue to update and expand content, including city maps, characters and plots, to ensure that players continue to have new experiences. We will look at the update cycles of free RPG games on the market, but these have not yet been finalized.
Does the team have a post-launch roadmap, such as how often will a new city or character be released?
Naked Rain：As the main story progresses, new cities will slowly appear, and we plan to update at least one city every year. We have also made plans for new characters. Players will meet them in subsequent explorations and embark on a journey of investigation with them.
The business model has not yet been determined, the game itself is more important
The gacha community has changed a lot in recent years, both in the Western and Chinese player communities. There are many people who criticize some games for treating their user base with gacha elements, while other games, although in the same category, are more generous to players. Has this affected your gashapon strategy?
Naked Rain：Our commercial team is working hard to establish a new commercial method for content service games to ensure that more players can enjoy excellent content, and we will keep players informed of any new developments.
How much of a difference is the difficulty curve between players between pay-to-win and free-to-play styles?
Naked Rain：We believe that the most important and fundamental thing is the game itself. Our players don’t need Pay-to-win, and their gaming experience isn’t necessarily all about winning. We want them to be excited about the game and passionate about the content. We’re still exploring specific monetization models, so we can’t provide an exact answer at this time.
In other interviews, the team mentioned inspiration from Jackie Chan movies, which influenced certain aspects of the game’s combat. However, are there other characters or their gear inspired by other forms of media?
Naked Rain:In fact, our development team is widely influenced by various comics, animations and movies, which mainly shows in our world-building. However, each specific character has a unique personality and backstory, as well as matching skills. For example, the character Taffy’s weapon is a sledgehammer, but outside of combat, the sledgehammer can also be used as a motorcycle, a high-speed vehicle.
Fans have compared many specific elements of the game to specific games, and while some are looking forward to it, others are negative. Do you think these views will change before release? Are you worried about them affecting game sales?
Naked Rain：We don’t know the answer to this question either. But we will stick to making the game we want to make. We have a unique plot, a unique art style, an urban open world setting and characters. We hope that when the game is released, everyone can see our difference, and we hope that everyone will enjoy it.
There is a test plan and it will be released on multiple platforms simultaneously in the future.
Do you plan to conduct an open or closed beta to get player feedback before official release?
Naked Rain:We need feedback from players, and subsequent testing has been planned. Interested players can follow our official Discord community for more information.
Will the game be released later this year, or will it be pushed to 2025?
Naked Rain:Our game plans to be released globally across platforms at the same time. There are many uncontrollable factors in the planning. Any new progress will be communicated to the players.
Can you tell me what graphics modes are available on different platforms?
Naked Rain:Different devices have specific differences in experience, and our team is committed to providing better game quality for players with mid-range devices. In addition, we have also established a professional optimization team for mobile games, PC and PlayStation platforms. By drawing on our rich experience in previous projects such as “Everlasting”, we are working hard to improve players’ gaming experience.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers, something we haven’t mentioned yet?
Naked Rain：We will do our best to improve “Codename: Infinity” and thank all players for their support and love. We have prepared a lot of surprises for this game, and there are more easter eggs waiting for players to explore after the game is launched.
