More than 30 years ago, the post-80s generation played it in August

Zhang Shule is a columnist for People's Daily Online and People's Post and Telegraph

How to use a tank,

Win the post-1980s?

The success of "Egg Boy Party" has been greatly contributed by UGC, and it has also redefined the concept of national games.

Zhang Shule, More than 30 years ago, the post-80s generation played it in August

In the past, national-level games were generally games that all ages and children of all ages in a country would enjoy.

Such as Japan's "Dragon Quest" and United States' "Halo".

Zhang Shule, More than 30 years ago, the post-80s generation played it in August

But in fact, it's really a preference for all ages, it's hard to do, and the concept is quite vague, and then it's generally a game that has been in operation for a long time, a sequel is popular enough, and a game with more than 100 million players will boast of being a national game.

However, when "Egg Boy Party" exceeded 100 million players, it redefined the concept of national games, that is, not only everyone likes and loves to play, but also can be a game created by the whole people.

Players participate in the creation of the game, in fact, it is not the first time that "Egg Boy Party" is created.

Even in the 1980s, when most people had never used a computer, it was already beginning to take shape.

In 1985, Namco launched a flat shooter game called "Tank Wars" on Nintendo's red and white machine, which immediately became popular all over the world.

Zhang Shule, More than 30 years ago, the post-80s generation played it in August

This game is based on the theme of tank battles and defending the base, with a total of 35 levels, including 6 types of terrain, including brick walls, sea water, steel plates, forests, floors, and snow.

But what makes it insanely popular is another feature of the game: the map editor.

Users can create level maps to play by themselves, and with a graphical interface, they can design from scratch.

In that era of programmers being almost mythical and mysterious, it was almost the earliest source of "self-made" game fun for post-1980s players.

Zhang Shule, More than 30 years ago, the post-80s generation played it in August

All people can achieve miracles by doing their own work.

This also makes this uncomplicated "Tank Wars" a must-play game for many children during the holidays and accompanying them throughout their teenage years.

Zhang Shule, More than 30 years ago, the post-80s generation played it in August

Even later on consoles and games with a more powerful graphical interface and gameplay experience.

The earliest enlightener of Chinese game development may be the same game, but the skill tree at that time was crooked.

At that time, a domestic software company successfully cracked "Tank Wars", in other words, piracy, and began to launch a magic version of the "Smoky Mountain Tank" series in 1989.

Zhang Shule, More than 30 years ago, the post-80s generation played it in August

The company added a series of new levels by modifying the maps and parameters of the original version, forming the earliest "Smoky Mountain Version" of "Tank Wars" - "Tank 7".

Subsequently, versions such as "Tank 14", "Tank 28", "Tank 89" and "Tank 90" were successively produced, and functions such as enemy tanks eating treasures and borrowing tanks from each other during doubles were added.

In addition, there are treasures such as amphibious tanks (boats that can cross rivers) and flamethrowers (pistols that can remove weeds......

Interestingly, "Smoky Mountain Tank" may still have an inexplicable sense of copyright protection after piracy, and deliberately added its own LOGO to each version of the game:

The company name and company were left on the background map, and the built-in advertising and investment attraction were played in the game.

Zhang Shule, More than 30 years ago, the post-80s generation played it in August

However, in that era of rampant piracy games, the pirates themselves could not escape the fate of piracy.

The company's founder later estimated that if you count various reproductions at home and abroad, the sales of a single game of "90 Tank" alone have exceeded 30 million units, while the company itself has only sold tens of thousands of copies.

This embarrassment eventually made this reproduction, copycat software company gradually fade out of the game industry after 1993.

However, the curtain has begun on more map-editing-based game design, especially abroad.

Zhang Shule, More than 30 years ago, the post-80s generation played it in August

On the other hand, in China, after a lapse of 30 years, it is quite embarrassing to really reach the turning point of the era of all-made games through "Egg Boy Party".

How hard is it to make your own game?

For ordinary players who don't know how to program, can they really rely on the map editor to realize their dream of "game self-made"?

Published in the People's Post and Telegraph on March 22, 2024, Issue 396 of the column of "Le Youji".

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