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Next to Wang Jian's desk was a thick stack of A4 papers, almost half the height of his computer, which were the concept drawings that Tong Ke and Ye Meng had delivered in the past few days.

He was currently reviewing the latest, seventh edition.

Speaking of concept drawings, many players might have a misunderstanding, thinking that concept drawings are the elaborately drawn beautiful pictures that the official uses to promote the game before its release. In fact, those pictures should be called promotional pictures.

Concept design is not a promotional product created after the art assets are produced, but a series of tedious work carried out in the early stage of art asset production in order to accurately determine the direction of art design.

Unless it is necessary to demonstrate to partners, designers will not invest too much energy in polishing the artistic effect of concept drawings. This stage pursues a balance between speed and quality.

A large number of different drafts are drawn, and in the end, only one is selected, and the rest are discarded.

In order to faithfully restore the highly recognizable cartoon style of "Kingdom Rush," Wang Jian had been giving Ye Meng and Tong Ke a hard time these days, constantly making requests for improvements.

Even with the assistance of the smart host, the two artists were physically and mentally exhausted, secretly crowning Wang Jian with the titles of "Tormentor King" and "Great Demon," and were now nervously staring at Wang Jian.

Wang Jian carefully looked through each page.

The dark green skin of the beast-like monsters was acceptable, much more pleasing to the eye than the previous bright green.

As the basic unit of the beast race, goblins have pointed ears like puppies, their heads and bodies look about the same size, and their short legs bounce around a bit cutely. They carry a small wooden stick, looking like they pose little threat.

Orcs are a size bigger than goblins, with slightly bulging bellies and fangs, and they carry a blood-stained machete in their hands. In order to achieve a fierce but not frightening effect, Ye Meng specifically looked for some wild boar pictures for reference, and rounded off the orcs' fists, making them look smoother.

The advanced monster, the ogre, is tall and strong, almost twice the height of an orc. It also inherits the short legs of the orc, but its legs are as thick as an elephant's, and it takes small steps. Its arms are thick and powerful, with some lines appearing on them, seemingly bulging veins, and it holds a large, thick wolf-tooth club with sharp protrusions.

Through the image of the monster, you can directly feel its attack power, health value, and movement speed.

"This version is almost there, basically achieving the effect I want, but there are still some areas that need improvement," Wang Jian said thoughtfully, pointing to one of the pages: "Ye Meng, the spider is a little too cartoonish. I think you can add some fluff to its back and legs, but not too obvious. And this rocket knight..."

After giving the two some suggestions for improvement, Wang Jian asked Tong Ke to stay: "Tong Ke, when you are making the map, besides what is stated in the requirements document, you can discuss any inspiration you have with me, and together we can make the map more interesting.

What I want is a map with rich details, interesting and fun. Players can see birds singing in the branches, deer bowing their heads to nibble on shrubs, rabbits cautiously poking their heads out from behind trees, hopping to another tree, and a red koi carp leaping out of the stream—wait, let me write it down, this can be made into an Easter egg."

Wang Jian opened a document while speaking and started typing on the keyboard.

Tong Ke looked eager to try: "Understood!"

"Kingdom Rush" has a lot of Easter eggs. However, in this world, many works related to Easter eggs no longer exist, and these Easter eggs naturally need to be redesigned.

For example, the Silveroak Forest level is based on the Mirkwood in "The Hobbit." This level has a scene building, a damaged elf hut. After repairing it, you can recruit elves to help players defend, corresponding to the Silvan Elves in Mirkwood. The giant spider in this level also corresponds to the giant spiders in Mirkwood.

If players are careful enough, they will notice that the elves recruited in the elf hut all have names, mostly from Tolkien's novels and elf characters in "Warcraft," but most of them have had one letter changed.

In the Glacier Highlands level, you can see a squirrel on the left side of the map staring at a pine cone frozen in ice. After clicking on the ice multiple times, you can help the squirrel get the pine cone and complete an achievement "Scrat's Lunch," which is playing on the gag from the movie "Ice Age."

Scrat is a squirrel in the movie who is extremely obsessed with pine cones, and because of the pine cones, he always gets himself into disaster. The Easter egg in the game also restores this point. After the squirrel gets the pine cone, it is buried by snow and ice.

In the Decayed Lamp Street level, there is an inconspicuous sewer manhole cover with a pizza next to it. Clicking on the manhole cover will cause a rat to take the pizza away and complete the achievement "Cowabunga," which is playing on the gag from "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles." This rat is Splinter, the teacher of the Ninja Turtles, pizza is the Ninja Turtles' favorite food, and "Cowabunga" is Michelangelo's catchphrase.

These are the Easter eggs on the map.

There are also many Easter eggs in the defense towers, such as the advanced Arcane Tower of the magic tower. The Arcane Mage in purple robes has a line: "You shall not pass!"

It comes from Gandalf's classic line when fighting the Balrog in "The Lord of the Rings."

Most players may never notice these details, but for players who like to find the stories behind the game, the process of discovering these Easter eggs will undoubtedly bring great surprises.

These Easter eggs are hidden in various places in the game, maps, lines, monster images... It is precisely because of these interesting Easter eggs that "Kingdom Rush" is more charming.

……

Wang Jian retained some of the Easter eggs from the original game, such as in the Twilight Swamps, there is a place where bubbles keep popping up, and clicking on it will reveal the Venice Water Monster.

There is also the level of the great battle against the dark wizard Vez'nan, where there is an inverted pentagram magic circle symbolizing black magic on the ground. When the magic circle lights up, demons will continue to walk out of it.

The meaning or story behind these Easter eggs is the same in both worlds.

Then he came up with some new Easter eggs.

For example, the red koi carp that occasionally leaps out of the stream that he mentioned to Tong Ke.

This Easter egg is hidden in the third level. If a player notices that a bright red fish occasionally jumps out of the stream, and patiently waits for it to leap out and clicks on it, they will get 10 gold coins and unlock the achievement "Koi."

Referring to a CG of a king's speech in "Kingdoms Arise II", he designed lines for a hero in the game, King Denas: "We must not be afraid of any difficulties we encounter, face them with a smile!" "The best way to eliminate fear is to face fear!"

In the seventeenth level, there is a magic door carved with incantations on the wall of the valley on the right side of the map, and a boy holding a staff is constantly gesticulating in front of the door.

If you upgrade an Arcane Tower next to it, the mage of the Arcane Tower will say something to the boy, the boy will recite the spell again, and the incantations on the magic door will light up, revealing a mysterious purple light, and then the boy disappears into the door, completing the achievement "Conan's Adventure."

This is an Easter egg designed by Wang Jian based on a passage from the famous Western fantasy novel "Dragon Blood". The protagonist Conan discovers an ancient secret mage's ruins, but does not know the meaning of the entrance spell, and consults a sage to enter.

These Easter eggs he designed shocked Bai Li'ao once again: "Boss, where did you learn so much obscure knowledge?"

Wang Jian said calmly: "Inspiration is not a source of no water. As a game producer, you usually pay attention to collecting information, so that you can have something to use at critical moments."