Text/Lin Zhi

In recent years, women have developed rapidly to the market, initially occupied a large share of the market by a few head products, but since this year, new products have been emerging, and from time to time there are new products for best-selling lists.

However, "In the Name of Shining" (hereinafter referred to as "In the Name of Shining") has not been affected much, and it still has entered the top 10 of the best-selling list many times, showing a stable performance.

Grape Jun has also talked about "Yishan" a few times before, and this game attracted the attention of the industry because of its high technical strength when it was launched on the national server last year.

Generally speaking, even if there is no new product impact, many games are the best results when they are launched. But "Eshan" is not only not bothered by the curse of "online is the peak", but also can still maintain stability in the case of new popular competition, which is really rare.

This also raises a question: Strictly speaking, "Eshan" is no longer a new game, and it has been about a year and a half since it was launched, why can it still maintain such a strong momentum? Perhaps, we underestimated the true ambition of "Eshan" before.

Many people may have thought that "Eshan" could become popular only because of technical power, but now, it seems that technical power only paves the way for "Eshan".

01

More than just rolling clothes,

They want to be human fish

On August 7th, "Eshan" updated the version of the mermaid's fantasy song, bringing the six-star set of the Phantom Sea Star Dome.

If you want to do a good job in this theme, "Eshan" has two difficulties that need to be overcome.

On the one hand, the mermaid-themed costumes are gorgeous and dreamy, well-known but very unusual compared to other costumes, and are a difficult subject to grasp.

Because the image of the mermaid in "Daughter of the Sea" and "The Little Mermaid" has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, when designing, the project team must not only maintain consistency with the classic image to ensure recognition, but also add enough innovative elements to make players shine, which must be considered less.

On the other hand, the mermaid theme has been done before by other head dress-up games in China. Zhuyu is in front, and it is even more difficult for "Eflash" to make color. Because players will definitely compare, the project team has a lot of pressure.

And judging by the results, it was pinched by Flash, and its finished product even exceeded expectations.

In order to achieve a realistic and dreamy mermaid image, "Yishan" has put a lot of effort into it.

First of all, in order to make the characteristics of the "fish" more realistic, the project team made the fins and scales extremely fine.

The project team individually developed a unique reflective environment for the scales of the entire garment. As players zoom in and out, they will even notice that each slice of fish scales is even more colorful.

The shape design of the fins and tail is a reference to the illusion betta. The fin folds and the design of virtual and real changes, the streamer form and dissipation direction of the fins in different positions are different, and the transparency at the fish tail adds a dreamy temperament.

The fins and tails are also very elaborate in their underwater movements. In order to reflect the dynamic law and the floating sense of water wave feedback, in addition to the physical skeleton of the model itself, the project team added vertex animation, with UV and Normal to control the dynamic effect, so that the movement of the fins is more rich and realistic.

Those who have learned to swim can also see the attention to movement design.

In the end, the mermaid was presented with smooth and natural movements and in line with the logic of muscle movements, and was praised by many players in the community.

Secondly, in terms of jewelry decoration, "Eshan" did not slack off, and even said that the project team did a bit "excessive" in order to achieve the gorgeous sense of mermaid.

In the jewelry decoration at the junction of the fin and tail of the fish, E-flash simulates the different gem-cut shapes, and sets small diamonds with claw hooks on the gem base.

Although there is no need for such a realistic physical connection in the game, the design still references real-life haute couture jewelry, allowing players to see the real magnificence.

In community discussions, people often praise how detailed the modeling of "Eshan" is. Players who have learned modeling will enthusiastically popularize science to players who ask questions, saying that "E-Flash" is equivalent to "writing out why 1+1 equals 2 in the process of doing problems", "making organs for cotton dolls", and sighing "I really want to teach us how to make clothes".

Furthermore, tens of thousands of pearls are wrapped around the entire set, which further enhances the gorgeousness of the mermaid.

Each pearl is manually placed by the production team according to different sizes and densities, and each pearl is rendered in the most reasonable and optimized way, achieving an extreme roundness effect of nearly 1,000 faces with two faces.

The Conch Throne is no slouch as an accessory, with a subtle incorporating pearls, opals, corals and gemstones.

Third, this time "Eshan" has opened 17 dyeing areas, which is a somewhat exaggerated number compared to competing products on the market. Players have more freedom than ever to dye their clothes, and their creations become an extension of their designs.

Moreover, in addition to the appearance, "Eshan" also wants to tell a different story. In addition to the PV of the version update, the project team also released a mermaid plot handbook.

The Little Mermaid, who originally lost her singing voice, did not get the ideal love after coming ashore, but she was unwilling to hurt anyone, so she threw herself into the sea and turned into foam.

The project team improved this poignant story: "The ethereal love of human beings could not give her eternal soul, so she took back the song for the sake of her people and regained her fishtail." She's back underwater, and she has the power to protect her community.

The project team wanted to give a new meaning to the story, the story of the mermaid, not necessarily a sad love story, but the adventure of a precious brave.

It can be said that "Eshan" not only made the skin of the mermaid, but made the mermaid:

The mermaid's scales are lifelike, the mermaid's underwater movement is also in line with the laws of movement, the conch throne of the accessories is as real as haute couture jewelry, and the story of the mermaid is also buried in various details. For example, the pearl built into the shell in PV is a token and a symbol of the mermaid's power, and the existence of this prop can also be seen in the player's actual machine.

From this point of view, "E-Flash" is a dress-up game, but it may be more than just dress-up - around the theme of mermaids, it makes far more content than "change clothes".

02

 Understand technology, but also understand players

But why did "Eshan" go to such lengths to make a mermaid theme?

In fact, the mermaid theme has a special meaning for both the E-Shem project team and the players.

First of all, for "Eshan", its first appearance in the circle was indissoluble with the mermaid.

It all goes back to a drag video released in July last year, which was the first time that "Eshan" came out of the circle, and the video soundtrack was JJ Lin's "Mermaid".

This version update has obtained the original license of this song, and players can set it to play in BGM in the game.

Recently, a player went to the comment area to archaeology, saying "the purest year of love".

The official comment replied "I want every love to have an echo".

And for the players of "Eshan", this event is tantamount to a "dream come true".

The image of a mermaid has always been in high demand in the field of dress-up, and players have been hoping that "E-flash" will have a mermaid for a while.

Some players even pray to the game from the P-map, hoping to hear the mermaid's song in the game.

Many players also remember this second creation, and mentioned in the comment area of the first exposure PV of the mermaid fantasy song, "From last year's milk to this year's final!" "Someone on Weibo wanted a mermaid for a long time before, but I didn't expect you to really come out!"

The player makes a wish to the manufacturer, and the manufacturer responds to their expectations by making a mermaid.

Just like the lyrics of "The Mermaid", "Legend has it that you are willing to be stranded for love, and I can also dive into the sea for you", isn't it a beautiful two-way run?

However, the project team not only responded to the expectations of players, but also made various announcements outside the game around the theme of mermaids, and did more things than expected.

Through the publicity of the big row, the positive value of "Yishan" has also continued to go out of the circle.

For example, to help the Olympics, call around the Paris landmark; Another example is to go to the waters of Sanya, Hainan Province to carry out the "Clean Sea Operation"; The project team also joined hands with the Desert Post Office to start a desert oasis linkage plan to plant 100 sand date trees on the Tengger Desert in Alxa.

"E-Flash" also cooperated with Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park to hold a mermaid celebration, including flash mob activities such as underwater treasure hunts and float parades, so that the mermaids in the game can be brought to life.

"E-Flash" not only realizes two-way travel with players, but also allows the mermaid characters in the game to break through the dimensional wall and enter reality through a variety of publicity methods outside the game. And let this mermaid activity break the circle and enter the public eye.

Many people returned to the pit because of this, or pulled their friends to start playing this game.

03

epilogue

In the past, when we looked at the product "Ezama", we often focused on the use of the UE4 engine for the project, emphasizing its technical advantages that are much above average.

But looking back at the theme of the mermaid fantasy song this time, you will find that the advantages of "Eshan" are not just technical.

Judging from the community evaluation, in addition to praising the good-looking clothes, players are actually praising the mermaid form selection, home interaction, handwriting quality, and so on.

They praised "Eshan" for making three forms of mermaids this time: fish tail with gorgeous decoration, fish tail with simplified decoration, and legs with fish scales. Three forms, so that minimalist and extremely complex players can be satisfied.

They praised the merfolk for interacting with the pool in the home system and jumping into the water in a beautiful manner.

"Eshan" has entered the top 10 of the best-selling list ten times since its launch, and its long-term operation seems quite stable for the female-oriented track that has frequently exploded this year.

In the past, the more popular themes were just because of good technical ability, and the material of the clothes was realistic enough? Is this really the strongest longboard in "Eshan"? Probably not.

For example, the version of the Puppet Chapter they launched in June this year is not only a show of technical ability, but also a design creativity that cannot be ignored. The project team broke through the design logic of ordinary clothing, made a hollow on the belly of the puppet, and released a mechanical bird.

There is a player comment below this PV:

Judging from the official update of the game, "Eshan" is not just a volume technology, or even just a volume art. Since its launch, the project team has been exploring a variety of new ways to play.

The home system has been continuously improved according to the needs of players, and now there are players who can build warm and beautiful chestnut tree houses.

This time, the project team added the shape of the building block furniture, added the round chamfer and arc shape, and opened the three-axis custom adjustment of the building blocks; Doors and windows can be freely rotated and placed in the open space, and hundreds of pieces of furniture can be scaled up and down in equal proportions.

The cute pet system of "Eshan" is also gradually updated: from the first anniversary of the kitten and puppy, a bunny has been added, and there are more than 50 options for pinching the face.

At the beginning of August, "Eshan" announced the phased results of the open world.

In short, you can clearly feel that the focus of "Eshan" is not just "I want to make my clothes look better", but more like "I want to make a more fun (in terms of gameplay richness) and more social dress-up game".

To a certain extent, we may have misread "Eshan". It does have obvious advantages in terms of volume technology and volume art, but is this really the longest longboard in "Eshan"?

Thinking about it from another angle, if other big manufacturers want to spend money, reproduce or roll out the same level of technical power, I don't think it's impossible.

To put it bluntly, technical strength may not be the strongest and only longboard of "Eshan". Rather, technical power is only the basis for escorting it and raising the lower limit of content.

And on the basis of this relatively high technical strength, "Yishan" has been able to be online for more than a year and still remains in the top 10 of the best-selling list, in my opinion, the root cause is more likely to be its "discontentment" - although the results of the server have been quite impressive, the project team is still exploring new content. This year, "Eshan" can still exceed players' expectations for costume design again and again in new themed activities; New gameplay with R&D challenges, such as the open world, is also on the way.

As the development team of "Eshan" said to players on the TapTap community homepage, "Eshan" not only uses super-standard technology and art to make a beautiful image, but also "hopes that everyone's vision and ideals can be generated and completed here".

This kind of ambition is far greater than "making a dress-up game", and it may be the most unique longboard hidden behind the technical power of "E-Flash".

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