《黑神话:悟空》火出圈!西游背景难住的不仅有外国人…
Description
主播:Flora(中国)+Erin(美国)
歌曲:黄风起兮
关于《黑神话:悟空》我们已经谈了两期节目了,但是最近有一件事不知道大家有没有关注:Tesla(特斯拉)和SpaceX(太空探索技术公司)的CEO马斯克(Elon Reeve Musk)在X也就是原来的Twitter(推特)上发布了一条关于黑神话的内容。
他发了一张AI-generated image(AI合成的图片),把自己的脸P到了游戏中的悟空身上,还配文说“impressive 3A game from China(来自中国的让人印象深刻的3A游戏)”。We have to say that the influence of this game has spread all over the world.
今天我们就来谈一谈Black Myth: Wukong这款游戏为什么不只是在中国,而是在全球都making waves(掀起了波澜)!
01. A Fresh Mythological World 全新的神话体系
你敢相信吗?黑神话还没正式发行就已经在多个地区登顶pre-sale charts(预售排行榜)了。这简直是不可思议!So, what makes this game so special?
首先就是《黑神话:悟空》给世界带来的全新的游戏世界观,或者说a fresh mythological world(一个全新的神话体系)。Actually, 3A games are typically dominated by major western and Japanese studios (3A游戏常年由西方和日本的一些大型工作室主导).
As for China, the main focus of its gaming industry is often on mobile games (手机游戏).
其实在此之前,西方的一些3A games的世界观就来自它的神话体系。There are a lot of game canons out there that take cues in (汲取) their world-building (世界构建) from existing mythologies (现存的神话). Hades (《哈迪斯》), God Of War (《战神》), Valheim (《瓦尔海姆》), and Assassin's Creed (《刺客信条》) build around foundations that have existed for centuries.
canon /ˈkænən/ 规则,标准
说到西方神话体系,就不得不提到:Egyptian Mythology(埃及神话)、Greek Mythology(希腊神话)和 Norse Mythology(北欧神话)了。These are classic Western myths.
People are already familiar with these mythic systems, so it's very exciting when players are exposed to (接触到) a new kind of world-building.
有一个玩家是这么说的:对于3A游戏界而言,黑神话绝对是满满的异文化冲击,那是一种神秘、有历史感、高壁垒,又让人忍不住去探索的未知领域。It's a mysterious kind of culture shock (神奇的文化冲击).
But let’s not ignore the fact that this game could be a bit hard to get into for those not familiar with Chinese culture (对那些不了解中国文化的人来说会有些困难).
But it is normal that we always have to put in a lot of effort (花很多精力) when learning something new. Just as we have learned about Western culture before by looking up information (查阅信息), learning their language, etc.
Now is perhaps the best time for the world to learn about China.
It hasn’t stopped international players from wanting to dive deeper into (更深入地了解) the story and cultural background. For example, some players learn about the myth by reading Journey to the West and watching the Journey to the West TV series. Erin thinks it actually made the game more intriguing (有趣) since it is so different.
02. Hardcore Technology 硬核技术
接下来我们从technical aspects(技术方面)聊一聊这部游戏的影响力。
Game Science used a cutting-edge (尖端的) tool called Unreal Engine 5 (虚幻引擎5). 其实“虚幻5”是2020年才发布的一款软件,而在此之前《黑神话:悟空》已经启动了好几年了。所以它算是中途切换到了一个新的graphic engines(图形引擎),但是这一换可以说是让这个游戏的画面清晰度直接提了几个等级。
Unreal Engine 5 is the latest version of Unreal Engine (虚幻引擎的最新版本) developed by Epic Games. Nanite 虚拟几何体(virtual geometry)的出现意味着由billions of polygons(数以亿计的多边形)组成的影视级美术作品可以被直接导入虚幻引擎。这也就是为什么我们玩游戏能玩出影视大片的感觉了,每一帧都是高清壁纸。
From its humble beginnings using Unreal Engine 4 to upgrading (升级) to Unreal Engine 5, the shift is like going from 720p to 4K. 在这种极致的画面下所呈现出来的场景简直太美了!
Actually, a lot of the buildings and sculptures (雕塑) in the game are scanned from (扫描自) real life China. The developers traveled around China, scanning actual historical sites (历史遗址) to create aesthetically stunning setting (美轮美奂的场景).
No wonder it won the “Best Visual Effects” award (最佳视觉效果奖) at Gamescom 2023 (2023年科隆游戏展). It shows that Black Myth: Wukong is already being recognized on a global stage, not just as a game, but as a serious contender (竞争者) in the world of visual storytelling (视觉叙事).
What’s really fascinating is how this technology allows players to experience real Chinese environments, from ancient temples (古寺庙) to mystical (神秘的)