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Influencer Incubator

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Influencer Incubator

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INFLUENCER INCUBATOR

By
Qiqi Zuo

A Thesis Presented to the

FACULTY OF THE USC SCHOOL OF CINEMATIC ARTS
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

In partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF FINE ARTS

INTERACTIVE MEDIA & GAMES DIVISION

May 2020

Copyright 2020 Qiqi Zuo

ii

Acknowledgements
At the beginning I want to thank all the people who have been devoting their precious
time and giving meaningful advice and feedback to the Influence Incubator project.
Professors: Carl Schnurr, Andreas Kratky, Archie Prakash, Jane Pinckard, Richard
Lemarchand, Samuel Roberts
Team: Qing Xiong, Jiaxin Xu, Yexuan Chen, Wenlong Xie And unforgettable USC
IMGD MFA Cohort Class of 2020

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................................... ii
List of Figures ...............................................................................................................................................................iv
Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................................... v
Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................................vi
Chapter 1 Inspirations, attempts and compromises Late execution of the initial direction ........................................... 1
Chapter 2 Design Challenges encountered during the Production ................................................................................. 6
Creation of an intelligent audience generation system ................................................................................ 7
Audience need system ............................................................................................................................ 7
Audience generator ................................................................................................................................. 8
Patience system ...................................................................................................................................... 9
Rich feedback system for the audience’s degree of satisfaction ........................................................... 10
Active rumors and real time comments send by viewers .......................................................................... 11
Keep an eye on the energy bar .................................................................................................................. 12
Mental Status are fundamentals of successful streaming .......................................................................... 13
Emergencies during the streaming examines streamers’ reflexes ............................................................. 13
Intensive Energy Manage Experience ....................................................................................................... 13
Free Combination of Card Combos .......................................................................................................... 13
Flexible ways of playing dual effects cards .............................................................................................. 14
Prior Art ....................................................................................................................................................................... 15
Slay the Spire ............................................................................................................................................ 15
Chinese Parents ......................................................................................................................................... 16
Persona 5 ................................................................................................................................................... 18
Chapter 3: Reflection ................................................................................................................................................... 20
Tools. ........................................................................................................................................................ 20
Learn from Usability tests and focus group tests ...................................................................................... 20
Summary of Participant Impression ..................................................................................................... 21
Player Backgrounds .............................................................................................................................. 22
Next Steps ................................................................................................................................................. 24
References ................................................................................................................................................................... 25

iv

List of Figures

1. Figure 1: Game Loop of Influencer Incubator, Qiqi Zuo, 2019 vii
2. Figure 2: Screenshots from Detention, RedCandleGames 1
3. Figure 3: Original art and screenshots from Unnatural Death vertical slice, Qiqi Zuo, 2019 2
4. Figure 4: Main menu Influencer Incubator 6
5. Figure 5: Streaming 7
6. Figure 6: Viewers just enter the channel 8
7. Figure 7: Audience Feedback System, Influencer Incubator, Qiqi Zuo, 2019 10
8. Figure 8: Audience real-time comments 11
9. Figure 9: Energy Bar of Streamer 12
10. Figure 10: Mental Status of Streamer 13
11. Figure 11: Slay the Spire deck. 15
12. Figure 12: Chinese Parents main page 16
13. Figure 13: Chinese Parents arrangement of time/Learning Experiences 17
14. Figure 14: Persona 4, Persona 5 In game UIs & Visuals 18
15. Figure 15: Persona 5 Doctor, character design 19
16. Figure 16: Card import excel, indicates attributes of each card 20
17. Figure 17: Focus Group tests footages 23

v

Abstract

Influencer Incubator is a casual yet realistic simulation game that explores the life of
being an influencer in China.
The Chinese streaming industry has exploded and brought a lot of chaos to society.
During peak times on any given day, more than 100 platforms are live-streaming across
China. Originally, steamers considered streaming platforms as channels for them to share their
lives with strangers. Subsequently, some streamers began to profit from streaming, and
streaming became more business-oriented. An interview with Chinese teenagers revealed that
many dream of becoming influencers in the future. However, becoming an influencer is never as
easy as one thinks.
In this game, players are going to explore what it takes to be an internet influencer within
the current cultural and social context. The game will reveal stress, fierce competition, long
working hours, and all parts of life behind the camera in a humorous way.
Players will live life as a Chinese influencer with various mini-games. They will face
challenges from mainstream society, stand out among peers, fight against internet trolls, deal
with unexpected incidents, and gain the love and support of their fans. Players will choose their
own path to success.
The initial intention of this game was to provide a window into society and touch on a
specific social phenomenon.

vi

Introduction

In 2019, a game called Chinese Parents was released on Steam and suddenly became a
hit. Although the mechanics weren’t groundbreaking, the game itself reflects many of the unique
attitudes, beliefs and real-life experiences that give a glimpse into the thoughts and feelings of
Chinese millennials. It sheds light on how young people in modern China have adapted to such a
high-pressure environment by looking at their hardships through a satirical lens with a touch of
modern Chinese humor.
Not many games released on Steam are set in contemporary China, so I was pleasantly
surprised to see parts of my own childhood unfold in this interactive format and being accepted
by so many foreign players. From that point on, I started to think about games as a medium for
reflecting the culture, society, and the feeling of a certain generation. This inspired me to create
Influencer Incubator.
Primary audience: Chinese players aged 20-35 who have some context of the streaming
culture. Secondary audience: people who are interested in contemporary China and would like to
learn about streaming culture.
Platform: PC.
Genre: Simulation, Strategy Card game.
Experience Goals: Tension, humor, different culture.

vii

Figure 1: Game Loop of Influencer Incubator

The core mechanic of the game is called Streaming and it is presented in the form of card
play. Each card serves as an abstraction of an action that players can take, such as telling a joke
to entertain audiences or performing a triple kill in a MOBA game to satisfy audiences who are
interested in professional gameplay.
The core gameplay is centered around card combinations. Players can choose how to
collect and upgrade their cards and build a deck to fit their personal playstyle. Players gain
subscribers by streaming, which unlocks new mini-games and mobile apps that provide them
access to new cards.
viii

Moreover, the learning center allows players to upgrade their skills and grow their
personal status. Increased personal status leads to benefits such as making a player’s cards more
effective and powerful. Players will also be rewarded with powerful cards for each skill they
master.
Besides streaming, the deck-building system also encourages players to explore their own
streaming strategies and develop their diverse personal skills. Additionally, there are special
events in the game that can hinder or benefit players immensely depending on how they react to
them.

1

Chapter 1 Inspirations, attempts and compromises Late execution of
the initial direction

Before moving forward with the simulation card game, we made many iterations of the
core mechanics and art styles. The first prototype of the game was a narrative-based detective
game called Unnatural Death that reveals the tragic story of an individual who blindly pursues
internet fame which ultimately leads to his demise. Inspired by the unique Oriental art style and
haunting narrative of the atmospheric horror game Detention, the first step we took was to create
a 2D side-scroller narrative experience.

2

Figure 2: Screenshots from Detention, RedCandleGames

Soon after, we completed several versions of the script, in-game chat system, character
animations, character voice acting, street whisper picker functions, and two explorable scenes.
However, we found the project was too ambitious and over-scoped as it required a tremendous
amount of art assets and complex intersecting plots to deliver the immersive narrative.
Additionally, it was also challenging for us to add in multiple storylines to increase the
replayability of the game. Taking the circumstances and production speed into consideration, we
estimated that the final deliverable would be around 10 to 15 minutes long. However, telling a
comprehensive and alternative tragic story in the fictitious world within that timeframe seemed
impossible. By the end of August 2019, we made the difficult decision to pivot the project in an
entirely new direction.

3

4

Figure 3: Original art and screenshots from Unnatural Death vertical slice
5

Due to the limited time and production resources we had left, we changed our core
mechanic to a turn-based simulation and deck-building experience and sought to create some
unique and fun gameplay.

6

Chapter 2 Design Challenges encountered during the Production

Figure 4: Main menu Influencer Incubator

One of the biggest design challenges we encountered was creating a meaningful solo card
play experience without having players play against opponents. As card play is often competitive
in nature, it’s hard to emphasize motivations and tensions without putting opponents in front of
players. As the theme of our game is to simulate online interactions between streamers and their
audiences, players are not required to defeat others but are rather encouraged to take others’
favorable actions and satisfy their needs.
We broke down this challenge into two questions:
1. How do we increase the intensity and immersiveness of the streaming experience?
2. How do we use restrictions to guide and encourage strategic play?
To find solutions to these design questions, I designed and conducted several usability
tests during the production process and received much valuable feedback. We also planned to
apply the RITE methodology to improve the usability and gameplay experience, however, the
7

outbreak of COVID-19, made in-person tests unviable. Eventually our team settled on a
guideline for our game mechanics:
Creation of an intelligent audience generation system
Audience need system

Figure 5: Streaming

Upon entering the channel, each viewer has their own content preferences related to five
attributes: Charm, Skill, Resilience, Eloquence, and Reflexes. Streamers can play relevant cards
to match their viewer’s preferences.
8

Figure 6: Viewers just enter the channel

Audience generator
To enhance the immersiveness of the streaming experience, a new viewer will be
randomly assigned with a prefix and a suffix when they enter the channel.
• The prefix determines the viewer’s nature and affects their behavior. For example,
relaxed viewers may be more patient and be willing to wait longer for streamers to fulfill
their needs compared to rushed ones. Enthusiastic viewers may need more attention and
want more content from streamers compared to others, etc.
• The suffix determines the viewer’s preferences and is often related to their profession.
For example, if most viewers in a channel are teachers, they may enjoy listening to a
player’s speech. Therefore, action cards related to talking and performing may be more
effective for this particular audience.
9

Patience system
Each viewer has a countdown timer to indicate how long they are willing to stay in the
streamers’ channel and wait for their needs to be met before they leave. The length of the
countdown is determined by the viewer’s nature.
10

Rich feedback system for the audience’s degree of satisfaction

Figure 7: Audience Feedback System

Each viewer can produce two outcomes before exiting the stream, depending on if their
needs have been satisfied:
11

If their needs have been satisfied, we use the amount of patience remaining to determine
the quality of the reward a streamer gets. The higher the amount of patience remaining, the better
the reward.
If their needs have not been satisfied, we calculate a percentage using the viewer’s
remaining needs divided by their total needs to determine the streamer’s punishment:
• Less than 90%: unsatisfied viewers will increase other current viewers' needs by one.
• Less than 60%: unsatisfied viewers will send negative comments to damage the streamer’s mental
health.
• Less than 30%: unsatisfied viewers will have a chance of turning into an internet troll.
Active rumors and real time comments send by viewers

Figure 8: Audience real-time comments

12

We tagged each card by its respective comments to create a lively atmosphere in the
stream and to provide immediate audience feedback. Once the streamer plays a card, viewers
will send responses related to that card in the comments zone.
Keep an eye on the energy bar

Figure 9: Energy Bar of Streamer

Streamers have a limited amount of energy they can spend each turn and each card has an
energy cost to play, although some cards can also restore energy. Streamers also need to spend
energy to use their personal skills. A streamer’s energy points will restore at the beginning of
each turn. A streamer’s energy limitations can be lifted as their relative skills improve.
13

Mental Status are fundamentals of successful streaming

Figure 10: Mental Status of Streamer

When a streamer’s mental status drops to zero, they will not be able to continue
streaming and are forced to quit the platform. At the end of each turn, depending on how many
unfulfilled audience needs remain, streamers will receive damage to their mental status by
negative comments sent by unsatisfied viewers.
Emergencies during the streaming examines streamers’ reflexes
How the player reacts to the event will determine what their audience thinks of them and
eventually lead to different outcomes in the streaming session.
Intensive Energy Manage Experience
For streamers, playing action cards and using personal skills costs energy. It is difficult to
maximize the rewards for each turn and this challenges players to spend their energy
strategically.
Free Combination of Card Combos
Cards are classified into the following three categories:
14

● Instantly effective
● Continuously effective
● Chain effects
Playing cards in different orders will also change their effects.
Flexible ways of playing dual effects cards
For cards that have dual functions, streamers can right click to flip them over to choose
which function they want to apply before playing.
● The front face usually indicates what attribute of need it can fulfill if plays
● The back face usually indicates supportive/strategical effects that are related to
mental health restoration, increase the success possibility of the next card play etc.

15

Prior Art
To expand the prototype to a thesis, a wide range of prior artworks were reviewed as
references.
Slay the Spire

Figure 11: Slay the Spire deck

Slay the Spire is a typical game that successfully combines roguelike and card elements.
It has an intuitive and replayable card deck-building system that could be adopted into our game.
Slay the spire is a great reference since we wanted to create a new genre that combines both
simulation and card play. Additionally, StS has a very balanced numerical system, and we
wanted to look into the coin sink and ensure our system was balanced.
16

Chinese Parents

Figure 12: Chinese Parents main page

Chinese Parents is a simulation game that reflects Chinese social phenomena. Not only
does Chinese Parents incorporate many symbolic elements that create emotional connections
with players, the game also deeply examines the educational dilemma in China. The strategies
used by Chinese Parents inspired me, as we also wanted to build emotional connections with our
players while addressing a social phenomenon in our game.
17

Figure 13: Chinese Parents arrangement of time/Learning Experiences

18

Persona 5

Figure 14: Persona 4, Persona 5 In game UIs & Visuals

As a social simulation game, Persona 5 has an effective yet stunning interface design that
is not only functional but also conveys the emotions embedded in the story. The dedicated and
19

innovative visual design of Persona 5 inspired me to combine emotional expression with user
interface design in my game and to explore the limits of UI design.

Figure 15: Persona 5 Doctor, character design

20

Chapter 3: Reflection

Tools to improve efficiencies: Excel to quickly import events, emails, twitters, cards and
AIs.

Figure 16: Card import excel, indicates attributes of each card

For our team, one of the most important learnings in making of Influencer Incubator is to
create the right tool to improve our production efficiency. As a system-heavy card game, it was
hard for us to manually adjust cards balances and make changes. Thanks to Archie and Carl’s
suggestions about using excel, we built a converter into the engine that can automatically
transcribe excel design files into Unity readable Jason files. Even the designers who were not
familiar with codes could easily make adjustments through excel. The list can seize card
elements easily and also help manage events, emails, twitters and AIs. Currently all of the
features were controlled under the tool.
Learn from Usability tests and focus group tests
I’ve conducted some focus group tests and applied some feedback to the later iterations.

Questionnaire

1. What is the theme of this game? (Spoken)

2. What do you think the game play resembles? (Spoken)

3. Do you think the card game reminds you of moments or experiences in your real
life? (Spoken)
4. What’s the goal of the card game? (Written)

5. What do you get for completing the card game? (Written)

21

6. Who are you interacting with? (Written)

7. How do you win? (Spoken)

8. How does the section end? (Spoken)

9. When you make decisions, what matters most for you? (Spoken)

10. What information does this card provide? What does this image represent?
(Spoken)

11. Does the card faces and description help you understand the cards better? Please
give me an example if you understand a card or don’t understand a card. (Spoken)
12. What does a card do? (Spoken)

13. How do you play a card? From point A to point B. (Spoken)

14. Do you feel comfortable with the controls? (Spoken)

15. How many rounds can you get at your first trial? (Spoken)

16. Which card do you prefer/what type of cards do you prefer? (Spoken)

17. Which card do you think is most useless? (Spoken)

18. Did you notice the order of cards makes different? Please elaborate.(Spoken)

19. Use three words to describe your feelings about the card game. (Written)

20. Do you think this game is for players like you or for different types of players?
(Written)

21. If you can change a thing in the game, what will you change? (Written)
Measurements:
● Complaints: What confuses players.

● Errors: players confused but continues.

● Failures: Players confused and could not progress, needed intervention.

Summary of Participant Impression

All the participants are all ideal primary demographics.

22

Overall, most of the participants showed a good understanding of the theme and the genre
and responded that the topic was interesting and gripping.
All participants would like to spend their leisure time playing it.
Although the card game is challenging, participants still had fun and they showed strong
interest in replaying. Most of them learned quickly and got higher scores in the second attempt.
However, the game is not intuitive enough without a tutorial at this stage. Depending on various
ways people were playing, participants had mixed feelings about the streaming (card game),
some of them felt tense, challenging and wanted to reach the score goal immediately. The others
felt cheerful.
Interestingly, participants’ goals vary during the game play. One of the participants
mentioned her intention shifted from survival to get a higher score as the game goes. “I paid a lot
of attention to my health bar at the beginning and wanted to maintain full health. As the game
went on for more than 5 turns, I wanted to get as high scores as possible before dying.” Players
would like to see more streaming related metaphors and most of them had fun with the
emergency events.
Player Backgrounds

The test group I invited on Nov.30th consisted of 4 players. They are all ideal
demographics for this game (Chinese players aged between 20-30 with some knowledge of game
streaming.) Meanwhile, they are mid-core to hard-core players while some of them play strategic
games and others playing casual games. When asked to define the game type, one of them
identified the game as survival and others identified it as a strategic card game.
Some Documentations of one focus group test.
23

Figure 17: Focus Group tests footages

24

Next Steps
Currently the game is still working in progress and we are looking to improve the art
appearances and adjust UIs. To provide players with a more user friendly and balanced
gameplay, we are tuning the difficulties.

25

References
1. Slay the Spire. Windows PC version, Mega Crit Games, 2019.
2. Chinese Parents. Windows PC version, 墨鱼玩游戏, 2018.
3. Persona4. For Playstation 2, Atlus, 2008.
4. Persona5. For Playstation 4, Atlus, 2017.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Zuo, Qiqi (author)

Core Title Influencer Incubator

School School of Cinematic Arts

Degree Master of Fine Arts

Degree Program Interactive Media

Publication Date 05/07/2020

Defense Date 05/15/2020

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Chinese internet culture,OAI-PMH Harvest,streaming

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Schnurr, Carl (committee chair), Kratky, Andreas (committee member), Prakash, Archie (committee member)

Creator Email qiqizuo@usc.edu,zuoqiqi1995@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-299503

Unique identifier UC11663402

Identifier etd-ZuoQiqi-8456.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-299503 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-ZuoQiqi-8456.pdf

Dmrecord 299503

Document Type Thesis

Rights Zuo, Qiqi

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA