Kapitel 12: Chapter 12 The Difficult Game of Love_1

At first glance, it was clear that the newcomer wasn't fond of talking.

The young man had a rather delicate appearance but was quite skinny, his clothes hanging loose as if he were a kite. If he jumped from the fifth floor, he surely wouldn't die and might even pull off a cobra turn in mid-air.

Having taken the notebook from the other person, Fang Cheng read for a while and then felt something was off.

There was nothing wrong with what the newcomer said, but it was different from what he had in mind.

For example, regarding Towards Death and Life, Fang Cheng hoped to see how the newcomer might uncover why the element of "horror" in the game was lacking, but the newcomer was instead asking for improved route fluidity.

It was the same for The Forest's Second Son. The newcomer didn't explain why it failed, only discussing various shortcomings, which differed from the effect Fang Cheng was looking for.

However, Fang Cheng still saw something in the newcomer's notes regardless: passion.

The newcomer was obviously a gamer with a fervent love for games, and having such a person by his side would be somewhat helpful for his own game research.

So, he nodded at the newcomer and then asked, "How may I address you?"

"Xiao Du, but you can call me Xiao Douzi," Xiao Du said.

Then, gathering his courage, he softly said, "Although I provided so many suggestions, Towards Death and Life is my favorite game. I really like all the details in it, especially the obsession with leaving something behind in the universe after a civilization's demise. I particularly love that. So, I wanted to ask, how did you come up with those concepts?"

"I don't know, it just grew on its own."

Fang Cheng was simply honest, but it made Xiao Du even more excited.

Looking at Fang Cheng with shining eyes and excitement, Xiao Du said, "I understand now! You mean that a game needs to listen to the voice inside, not just rigidly stick to certain meanings?"

"I think you're reading too much into it. Nevermind that, have you signed the contract? Have the wages been discussed?"

Although Xiao Du kept insisting he didn't need it, because he still had savings from previous part-time jobs, and his recent video earnings were quite good, enough for a while.

But Fang Cheng had already etched the concept of "no owing wages" deep into his heart, even believing that a good horse should be well fed. So, he decisively offered him a salary of 12,000 a month.

Having given Xiao Du the entry gifts, Fang Cheng took out a USB drive and said to Xiao Du, "This is the game I've been developing recently, I'm planning to call it Dungeon. Could you help me test it?"

Xiao Du quickly stood up, excused himself with a "sorry" before dashing to the bathroom. When he returned, both his hands were wet.

"I've washed my hands three times, I can start now."

"…"

Fang Cheng didn't say a word, as Xu Qingling patted his shoulder, proudly saying, "A talent, right? This Xiao Douzi is quite fun. You should praise me quickly."

"…Why?"

"For bringing you such an amusing employee."

"Oh, thanks."

This time, Fang Cheng spent a lot of time building the world, modifying items, fully displaying all he had learned, which made the game size reach an unprecedented level.

10MB.

In an era where games typically measure in several GBs, this size was truly refreshing, but the calculation method of Immortal Spell was just so crude and unreasonable. In order not to make this seem too odd, Fang Cheng even added quite a few extras, but it was still a bit small.

Xiao Douzi contemplated for a moment, then had a revelation, "Boss, are you planning to develop for mobile? Data interchange between PC and mobile is a good direction for development. Your optimization is really good."

"I hadn't thought that far ahead."

"You should consider it. Sole ownership is a path to death; many games claim exclusivity but are just putting up a facade. Okay, I'm going in now."

After entering the game and picking up the controller, Xiao Douzi's facial expression vanished instantly, only the reflection of the screen flickering in his glasses.

Since starting the game, he hadn't spoken a word, but continually maneuvered the character on the screen, beginning his exploration of the dungeon.

In this game, the main gameplay involved constantly eliminating monsters on the route, gaining stat boosts and better equipment, strengthening oneself to explore the dungeon's deeper levels.

Since the game's theme was romance, Fang Cheng didn't want to spend too much time on stat increases, so a simple mathematical model suffice.

This time, he adopted a top-down perspective to allow players to see their surroundings more easily.

From the moment he gripped the controller, it seemed to fuse with Xiao Douzi's hands, never once being set down.

And unlike his speedy playthroughs showcased in his videos, Xiao Douzi was now playing cautiously.

Xiao Douzi spent nearly eight hours on the first dungeon, remaining focused throughout, not even going to the restroom once.

He ignored the takeout food brought by Xu Qingling, just staring fixedly at the screen.

Only after finishing the first dungeon, having searched every detail and rescued the first ghost form princess, did he set down the controller, remove his glasses, tears escaping his eyes in that moment.

"This game is beautiful, it really moved me."

"Really?" asked Fang Cheng eagerly, "What was fun about it?"

"The monster models and mechanics, all kinds of realistic feedback to reality, a highly random equipment system, and the unequalled feeling of mowing down enemies after the equipment set is complete. I dare say, this is the best pigeon-cutting game I've played this year."

Fang Cheng was happy with the first part, but the second part felt off.

Pointing to the character on the screen who was embracing the ghost princess, Fang Cheng couldn't help asking, "Why do you think I included this princess?"

With bright eyes, Xiao Douzi began talking nonstop, "The princess's existence is a positive feedback after clearing the game, and her characteristics could even change many mechanics of the game. The only downside so far is that it doesn't bring the crucial feeling of resource scarcity found in pigeon-type games. No worries, though, I'll make adjustments."

Interrupting, Fang Cheng asked, "What position did you come to apply for again?"

"Gameplay balancing! I'm a graduate student from Peking University Mathematics Department. Mathematics is as natural to me as breathing, and I will definitely adjust the numbers in this game to the best they can be. Believe in me."

"But, I wanted to make a romance game."

Xiao Douzi looked at Fang Cheng, sighing subtly.

Meanwhile, Xu Qingling took the opportunity to pull Fang Cheng aside and pointed at a certain Q&A on the screen, saying, "Boss, look at this question."

When Fang Cheng looked, he saw it was "How would you evaluate Fang Cheng's poor game genre classification?"

Answers were few, but everyone agreed that Fang Cheng's way of classifying games could only be described as tragic.

Suppressing the impulse to curse everyone with a voodoo doll, Fang Cheng had to sit aside and ponder why he had failed this time.

Love games, they're so hard to make.

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Kapitel 13: Chapter 13 Time-travel Simulator_1

```

Creating a numerical model is simple, but perfecting it is quite difficult.

In this process, numerical planners need to have a strong understanding of numbers, and some even require their disciples to manually fill in each one to achieve the smoothest and most ultimate gaming experience.

After starting work, Xiao Douzi's state became just like when he was playing games.

He sat upright like a pine tree, his hands flying over the keyboard, filling out most numbers with formulas and the few remaining by hand to reach perfection.

His proficient Excel skills allowed him to quickly complete various functions with tools like macros, making his numerical modification work fast and efficient, yet this also made him seem geek-like, taciturn, and relentless in finishing one worksheet after another.

While Xiao Douzi was working on the spreadsheets, Fang Cheng was reflecting on why his romance game had turned into a pigeon-slaying, grass-cutting game, and at which point his own ideas had gone awry.

Lovely female characters... there were plenty, with a ghost princess in each of the million dungeons.

These princesses were desperate for attention and completely submissive to players, not only pleasing to the eye but also transformable into weapons, with some even having the ability to merge and transform, definitely the kind of female character boys fancied most.

Attribute growth... though there were no levels, character attributes increased with various actions.

In addition, the game included a plethora of random events based on the scene, each potentially raising players' attributes at random, offering them the thrill of growth.

Affection levels... none!

With a sudden clap, Fang Cheng felt he had found the reason for his game's failure.

It seemed he had focused too much on the feeling of giving too readily, resulting in ghost princesses that were already at full affection when they appeared, depriving players of the time to cultivate a rapport with them.

However, this process was actually very important, but now it was too late to change anything, he could only try again next time.

Satisfied with noting down his insights, Fang Cheng felt he had learned something new.

Immortals do not never fail, but through constant failure and learning from experience, they eventually succeed.

Although he had previously produced a failed title, Fang Cheng still felt confident of success next time.

Three days later, Xiao Douzi completed the game's numerical adjustments.

Upon importing all the data, he immediately ran the game and, after silently completing a dungeon, he said contentedly, "Perfect, as expected of me. Boss, your tool is really good, the import speed is particularly fast. Boss, I've always wanted to ask, what engine do you use? The compatibility is so good? The visual effects are so amazing?"

"Immortal Spell 1.0."

"Never heard of it."

"I wrote it myself."

Xiao Douzi immediately showed his utmost respect, rushing to the washroom to wash his hands three times before coming back to say reverently, "Please accept my admiration."

Xu Qingling didn't understand, so she offered a cup of hot tea and asked while sitting on the side and sipping her tea, "Is that very impressive?"

"Well, think of a game engine as the engine of a game, driving everything from the game's graphics and music to the character's actions. The better the game engine, the better the game effects it can unleash."

"So the engine the boss wrote is powerful?" Xu Qingling continued to inquire.

Xiao Douzi nodded emphatically, "Extremely powerful, anyone who can write a game engine is a big shot. But I reckon the boss must have optimized and modified an existing game engine. Starting from scratch seems a bit unlikely."

"Hmm... you could say that."

Immortal Spell 1.0 was actually an integration of his own Immortal techniques to achieve a game engine-like effect.

But at its core, it was a modification of the laws of a certain world and involved invoking the Heavenly Dao Laws of that world, so to some extent, it truly was optimization and modification.

Xiao Douzi continued with a barrage of compliments and then asked a key question, "I have only completed some preliminary work, but this game is already at a level that can be sold on Steam. How much should we set the price at?"

```

"It's hard to calculate..."

The game took the studio eighteen days to develop and the cost was roughly around ten thousand yuan.

But when you add in the effort of this Immortal, along with the cost of transforming a planet, then it's astronomical.

In the end, Fang Cheng made up his mind, "I'll ask Mr. Shen."

When Fang Cheng called, Mr. Shen was gazing into the mirror.

In the mirror, his head, once as smooth as an egg, was sprouting patches of fuzz, precious like crops on fertile ground, growing robustly on his scalp.

So precious were these tufts of hair that Mr. Shen didn't dare to touch them, delighting in their growth as a farmer anticipates his harvest.

Seeing it was Fang Cheng's call, Mr. Shen immediately answered and cheerfully asked, "Hey Fang, what's up?"

"Game pricing? There are many ways to calculate that. But generally speaking, a game is a product, and there is only one basic principle: whether it's fun or not. If it's fun, you can sell it for a high price. If it's not... a game that isn't fun has no value in existing!"

"Not sure if it's fun or not? Alright, send it over, I'll take a look."

After declining an afternoon class, Mr. Shen received the game from Fang Cheng and was confused once again to see its size was only 10MB.

How did this kid compress it?

The entire game was encapsulated within a single file, even its save files after the game had finished were packaged within, lending the game an air of elegant simplicity and adding a significant hurdle to cracking it.

After all, piracy has always been the bane of legitimate games; in the years when piracy was rampant, many standalone games met their demise at its hands.

Reflecting on that barbaric era, Mr. Shen opened the game and began playing.

There was no controller in the office, but the game supported keyboard and mouse just fine, and there were no issues in playing it.

The opening scene was striking—a gloomy sky, dark trees, and the faceless protagonist sitting before a bonfire, the entrance to a seemingly bottomless dungeon at his back.

Every time he saw a game screen designed by Fang Cheng, Mr. Shen felt an illusion, as if this were a real world—everything was too detailed.

Choosing to start the game, he saw the protagonist draw a weapon beside him and stride toward the dungeon's entrance.

There was no loading screen or progress bar—the scene shifted seamlessly from the dim outside to an even darker dungeon, beginning a legendary adventure.

"Nice opening, even without an animation. The atmosphere is on point. Fang has really gone big this time."

After his reflection, Mr. Shen glanced at the time and saw it was noon.

Having put off his afternoon tasks, he began to light torches, explore the dungeon, collect equipment, figure out the best way to combine attributes and gear, and after obtaining the first princess, he quickly got used to her mechanics and embarked on exploring the second dungeon.

The second dungeon was more difficult, with various changes in mechanics causing him to die over a dozen times, but death didn't mean the loss of items. He could reclaim them and grow further in his understanding of the dungeon.

After finally navigating the third dungeon, and with three princesses alongside, Mr. Shen nodded in satisfaction.

Looking at the time again, it was now only eleven in the morning.

"Not bad, I've only played for negative one hour... Wait, what the hell is negative one hour?"

After another look at the date, Mr. Shen fell silent.

That...

Have I been playing for almost a day?

What kind of Time-travel Simulator is this!

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