October 9th, Sunday, Adjusted workday...
Huang Sibo was baffled in Fei Huang Workspace.
Hu Xianbin was with him, just as baffled.
They could not find a reason!
Boss Pei left after giving them the task of the new game. The two of them had been thinking about it since yesterday, but nothing came out from it.
There were some ideas, but they were not sure if that was what Boss Pei always wanted.
It had to be said that the difficulty of the mission from Boss Pei was simply too high, higher than any previous ones. It was completely difficult to rely on the strength of one or two people.
The reason why Hu Xianbin was there was that the game had to be produced together with the movie plot even though they were to be completed separately.
If there was no good communication and they were to work on their tasks individually, it would definitely not be able to succeed.
Huang Sibo looked at his watch. "They should be here soon."
He heard many people laughing outside Fei Huang Workspace as soon as he ended his sentence.
Huang Sibo's eyes brightened up. Rescue was here!
The lineup this time was extremely luxurious.
In addition to the original group of Hu Xianbin, Huang Sibo, and Zhu Xiaoce; Bao Xu, Lu Mingliang, Li Yada, Lin Wan, and Ma Yiqun were here!
This lineup could be said to be the most luxurious lineup in the gaming department of Tengda.
They were not only the four chief planners in Tengda Games, there was also Zhu Xiaoce, Bao Xu, Lin Wan, Ma Yiqun—professionals in the fields of movies, games, and novels.
These eight people could be said to represent the highest level of the entire Tengda spirit cultural industry, and all of them were good support to answer Boss Pei's spirit.
If one could not win alone, one could only call for reinforcements!
Huang Sibo had already arranged the conference room, greeted everyone to enter, and then arranged for someone to pour drinks.
"Sit down, everyone. Time is tight, and the task is happy. We must finalize the general plan for the new game and movie in a day! Let's try to carry forward the Tengda spirit and complete the work without overtime."
Huang Sibo motioned everyone to sit down before being seated himself.
He was the person-in-charge of Fei Huang Workspace and the original master planner of Tengda Games. He was the most senior amongst them all and had crossed the game and film industries so it was most appropriate for him to take the lead in this project.
These people were very familiar with each other so there would be no formal situation, sitting around the conference tables and drinking tea with different expressions on their faces.
Lu Mingliang's expressions were the most inexplicable among all of them. He looked at today's lineup and was confused. "Brother Huang, today's matter seemed to have nothing to do with Upwind Logistics? Why do you want me here?"
"You were once Tengda Games' chief planner; of course, you have to come!" Huang Sibo replied.
"The game that Boss Pei wants to make this time has too little information. I really cannot understand what his real intention was so I can only ask everyone for help.
"Every one of us may only have been in charge of a part of Boss Pei's projects, be it in games or movies; but we have only grasped a part of Boss Pei's spirit and our knowledge is complementary.
"Therefore, the game this time has to be a team effort!
"I have sorted out Boss Pei's requirements. Let's take a closer look. We'll start brainstorming after 10 minutes."
Huang Sibo sent everyone a piece of paper that clearly stated Boss Pei's requirements for the game 'Mission and Choice'.
Everyone looked at Boss Pei's requests seriously and frowned.
Hard to understand!
All of these people have solved the puzzles set by Boss Pei previously, but it was undeniable that this puzzle was the most difficult.
Not only did Boss Pei not put forward a lot of seemingly unreasonable design requirements this time. However, these contents were still interlocked throughout the entire body.
It would be easy to answer if it was only one or two unreasonable requirements.
However, they must find a solution that meets all the requirements if there were seven or eight seemingly unreasonable requirements.
Everything might be lost if any one point was not done well!
Ten minutes later, Huang Sibo raised his head. "Alright, time is running out. Let's brainstorm for an hour, give each other some inspiration, and then continue thinking.
"I'll talk about my opinion first.
"According to the standard analysis, the first step would definitely be to find the unreasonable points in these requirements and analyze the basic design concepts behind them.
"Every irrationality might have multiple solutions. We need to integrate this information to find the only correct answer.
"First of all, I think this game definitely has to win with the plot. No one should object to it, right? Investment in movies is more than the investment in the game itself. The requirement is for it to be one and a half hours, which means that the importance of the plot is at least on par with the game.
"Therefore, I'm considering if there could be a breakthrough from the plot.
"Do you have any better ideas in terms of the plot?" Huang Sibo looked at Zhu Xiaoce and Ma Yiqun.
Ma Yiqun was also from the game industry so he knew about games and plots and also participated in this discussion.
He thought about it and said, "The plot really does have a lot of weight, but it must also serve the gameplay.
"It would be too broad if it only had the theme of 'resisting the Zerg and defending our homeland'. The true thoughts from Boss Pei would probably be zero in this case.
"We'll still have to find a breakthrough point from the gameplay.
"It can be seen from 'Struggle' that Boss Pei might have worked hard on the plot, but it was not a simple one. He's pursuing the unity of plot and gameplay, which is the approach of 'breaking the dimension wall'. Therefore, the plot was not just an extension of the gameplay but also integrated on a higher level."
Huang Sibo thought about it and said, "En, that's right!
"From the perspective of the players, I think Boss Pei's two requirements are very interesting: the game is very unbalanced, and some units will not obey the commands. This should be an entry point in the gameplay.
"Brother Bao, you are also a veteran RTS game player, what do you think?"
Bao Xu rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "These two points are obviously fatal flaws for conventional RTS games. Imbalance and too many uncertain factors have completely eliminated the competitive nature of the game.
"What is brought by the elimination of competition..."
Lin Wan: "...is better entertainment? ...it doesn't seem right because, for most players of RTS games, the competitive nature of RTS games equals entertainment."
Bao Xu thought about it seriously and said. "I think it should be authentic.
"Humans and Zergs were inherently unbalanced. In most films and televisions, Zergs had overwhelming advantages when facing humans.
"The Zergs multiply very quickly. They completely obey instructions. If you don't pay attention, they will resurrect. It's a huge nightmare for humans.
"Combining the point of view of 'soldiers have their own ideas'. Boss Pei obviously hopes that we will make the human race weaker and the Zergs stronger so that we can highlight a sense of authenticity!
"Players will feel unfair when using humans to fight against the Zergs. This is more authentic than that of an absolutely balanced RTS game.
"For this kind of authenticity, Boss Pei would rather give up the competitive and balanced nature of RTS games. This should be a very critical point.
"I understand now! In other words, the game mechanism is to show the gap between the Human race and the Zergs more clearly. This should be related to the plot!" Lin Wan suddenly said.
Huang Sibo nodded. "Yes, this is a very key point. Then, Boss Pei specifically requested that this game must be simple to operate. Does it have anything to do with this?"
Bao Xu frowned. "It seems... to be unrelated. It doesn't matter if the game was simple or difficult. It can make both races unbalanced."
Everyone fell into a period of brief silence.
Just because it 'seems unrelated' often did not mean that it was 'really okay', because it was 'related but not seen'.
Lu Mingliang thought about it and said, "I think this should be related to the 'focus' that Boss Pei considered.
"I have such a feeling when working on 'Game Designer'.
"Boss Pei will be willing to spend a lot of money to express what he wants to express most exaggeratedly. It was just like the 'Game Designer' which could have been made into Interactive Fiction, but Boss Pei chose to make it into 3D scenes. Struggle was also made into an interactive movie game.
"The investment for these two games could be reduced by 10 times or more if they were made into Interactive Fiction. However, Boss Pei spared no expense to make the key contents that he wanted to express sufficiently prominent.
"And for some less important content, Boss Pei could always delete and simplify to avoid these factors from interfering with players.
"Since 'Mission and Choice' had decided not to be competitive but to reflect authenticity and highlight the plot, would the operation still be important? It would no longer be.
"Operation is for competition.
"The significance of simplifying operations and weakening in-battle strategies was that players could have more time to think and prepare for pre-battle strategies.
"This should be the point that Boss Pei wants to express."
Huang Sibo nodded down hurriedly. "Makes sense!
"Only a balanced RTS game has to have operations. Why do you need operations for an unbalanced RTS? The players would be able to take the time to do more preparation for strategy.
"However...
"In the traditional RTS games with their 'consolidation-build-combat' mode, battle accounts for at least 60% of the fun. If you are to take away the combat experience, I'm afraid it will be a huge weakening of the game experience."
Bao Xu thought for a while and said, "So the collection and construction system should be made more complex so that players can spend most of their time and energy on these two links.
"Especially the pre-war strategy, every player must think carefully before making every choice."
Li Yada agreed deeply. "Yes, it's like elimination games. The original elimination games were all about speed and time! However, later elimination games have become unlimited, which require elimination points.
"The latter required more thinking, which was more fun and more in-line with current game habits of players.
"Obviously, Boss Pei did not want to simply copy the success of 'Starcraft' but explore a new RTS game model!
"It is still a real-time strategy game, but players who do not operate well can also experience the fun of the game."
Chapter 676: The Script Has a Little Way to Go
Lin Wan raised her hand and said, "I have something to add. Every soldier of the human race has their own way of thinking. They might not fall apart or disobey orders, but they may take the initiative to send themselves on a death mission, fight the Zergs, and emerge victorious, right?
"As for how exactly those humans would act, it's obviously closely connected to their strategizing process before the battle.
"For example, the commander might take a certain course of action to affect the soldiers' boldness and way of thinking. Then, the soldiers' initial individualism might slowly dissipate and be replaced with unity."
Huang Sibo nodded. "Yes, that's definitely a good idea as well."
Everyone began to take their own notes. At this point in their discussion, everyone could see the silhouette of the new game.
This game would be completely different from traditional RTS games. The emphasis would be on the strategy before battle and not during battle, which would make the game more realistic.
What's more, additional focus would be placed on the storyline, so that the movie would have more weightage than the game.
Once Ma Yiqun finished taking notes, his eyes lit up. "I suddenly thought of a good idea for the storyline!
"Boss Pei really likes gameplay that breaks through the fourth wall. Wanting to make the game as realistic as possible would be directly in line with his goals.
"If we hint gamers that there's a real person behind every position through the game's storyline, and sacrificing one position would be akin to sacrificing a real person... wouldn't we successfully break through the fourth wall?"
Zhu Xiaoce hummed softly. "That's a good idea, but... it seems quite outdated.
"Someone wrote a sci-fi novel on this concept in 1985, and it won the Nebula and Hugo awards. On top of that, the story was also about a war between the human race and Zergs, and a child who mistakenly thought he was playing a game when he was actually leading an inter-planet war..."
Ma Yiqun looked unfazed. "Of course, I know that. How could I not have heard of it before?
"Still, in literature, one's not forbidden from writing about the same material just because someone else has done it before. Are you saying that people couldn't write Western fantasy once Lord of the Rings was released? Of course not.
"The question is whether one is plainly copying or coming up with a novel idea while standing on their shoulders.
"No matter whether one is developing a book or a game, a good idea would just be the first block of the foundation. Whether they made use of that good idea or not depends on how one expresses it.
"I think that this idea is suited to be expressed as a game, and it's perfectly in line with Boss Pei's game design concepts."
Zhu Xiaoce nodded. "Hmm... you're right, but that also means that we have to think about how to tell the same story in a novel way.
"If we don't, we'll be using someone else's manuscript. Then, both our game and movie would fail."
Everyone fell silent.
Obviously, if they really wanted to work on this idea, they had to express it better than the classics. Alternatively, they had to ensure that they did not turn out exactly the same. One could only imagine how difficult that would be.
Huang Sibo sounded sorrowful as he said, "Boss Pei has given us too little to work with this tine."
Lin Wan read through Boss Pei's requests once again and noticed a blindspot. "Boss Pei specified for us to only look for one actor who doesn't need to have expressions. Is he hinting at the storyline?"
Zhu Xiaoce answered, "I have already thought about this. There are only two possibilities.
"First, the protagonist could be wearing a helmet or a mask the entire time, so that no one can see his face. Then, he'll be an opera-like symbol. That's what happens in some movies.
"Second, the protagonist could be extremely ruthless and expressionless. That would emphasize the protagonist's character.
"However, either of those interpretations could work. That makes it harder for us to figure out which is the right one."
After some thought, Ma Yiqun said, "Both could work, but they're both different in terms of reasonableness.
"If the protagonist becomes an opera-like symbol, the symbol must be a reference to something meaningful. Most superhero or sci-fi movies make use of this method to reveal problems and conflicts in society.
"However, our entire production would revolve around inter-planet wars. What could the opera-like symbol possibly refer to? I don't think we would be able to find an appropriate reference.
"On the other hand, if we want to emphasize the protagonist's character, the direction would be extremely clear.
"What kind of person wouldn't have any expressions? Those who have a lot of mental strength and who are extremely ruthless.
"I remember reading a report on our country's astronauts. They have so much mental strength that, even as the spaceship shoots towards the sky, their heart rate can remain under eighty. Even when they think that their lives are about to end, their heart rates would remain largely the same.
"People like that would not have many emotions. That's how they remain expressionless. That suits Boss Pei's requirements for the protagonist."
Zhu Xiaoce pondered about it for a moment. "Is Boss Pei hinting that the protagonist would be an astronaut with extreme mental strength?
"What's more, there would only be one main actor. The rest would be bit-role actors. That means that most scenes would only involve the protagonist. Would he be leading the war against the Zergs alone most of the time?
"If we tie this in with Boss Pei's 'breaking the fourth wall' concepts, we would be able to see a rough picture of the storyline.
"The protagonist would be a well-trained space soldier and commander. Most of the airtime would be on the protagonist commanding the fleet and leading the war against the Zergs through a screen.
"However, would he be commanding real people? Should he know about it? Those are the key questions."
Everyone fell silent.
They had deciphered most of the clues that Boss Pei had left them with. However, they still didn't have a clear enough framework to work with.
The game's mechanisms would affect the movie's plot and vice versa. As long as one point remained unclear, it would be difficult for the team to work on the entire project.
After some consideration, Huang Sibo said, "Why don't we consult Boss Pei again?
"Let's report what we have so far to him and ask him for more clues?"
Zhu Xiaoce immediately shook his head and resolutely shouted, "No!
"Boss Pei has already decided to tell us this much. That means he's not willing to reveal any more information.
"We can't always rely on Boss Pei for everything either.
"Boss Pei was responsible for Game Designer, Tomorrow is Beautiful, and Struggle; but we can't always wait for Boss Pei to spoonfeed us.
"We have to work hard to write a good story. Boss Pei has already given us the framework. We should think about the other parts for ourselves now."
Everyone exchanged meaningful looks, thinking that what Zhu Xiaoce had just said made sense.
Indeed, they could not always depend on Boss Pei. They had to work hard on their own!
Boss Pei had only given them a general direction this time, without much detail.
Still, that meant that everyone was given a high level of freedom to decide on the gameplay and framework for the structure. They could grasp this opportunity to achieve a breakthrough in their learning.
After a couple of rounds of brainstorming, everyone's notes were filled with dense walls of words.
Although they had not finalized every detail, the general direction was clear.
Huang Sibo gently tapped the table. "Alright, I think we have enough for the day. We can't expect to finish everything that Boss Pei has left us within a single day.
"Let's go back, cool down, and quiet our minds. Then, we'll come back and review what we have.
"I'll create a group chat. If you have any good ideas, feel free to share them in that group.
"Let's not waste any more time now. We'll start preparing what we can while brainstorming.
"Xianbin, come up with a general framework first and set the requirements for art resources as soon as you can. That should include the human soldiers, warships, Zergs of various types, their concept art, and so on. Put it all together.
"Fei Huang Workspace should do the same as well. Once you confirm whatever you can confirm, start on your preparations.
"Brainstorm as you go along. For all we know, we might be able to come up with something good."
Everyone nodded one by one and then stood up.
Huang Sibo expressed his thanks to everyone once again. After all, Lu Mingliang, Lin Wan, Ma Yiqun, and the others had no relations to this project. They had come purely to help out.
Lu Mingliang and Lin Wan told Huang Sibo not to worry. Since it was Boss Pei's project, they all had to help one another out!
Soon, they left the room.
Zhu Xiaoce turned to Huang Sibo. "Brother Huang, I'm thinking about whether we should decide on the protagonist. Lu Zhiyao seems to be hot now."
Huang Sibo paused for a moment. "He's a good option, but his acting skills are really good. Would it be a waste to make him act as an expressionless character? What's more, the script isn't out yet, is it?"
Zhu Xiaoce answered, "I have an idea that I want Lu Zhiyao to test out."
Huang Sibo: "What idea?"
Zhu Xiaoce replied, "I want to lock him up and make him play the game for a few days to get into character. For all we know, he might get some inspiration in the process."
...
Zhu Xiaoce arrived at the conference room and called Lu Zhiyao.
"Hello, Director Zhu?"
Zhu Xiaoce cut straight to the chase. "Boss Pei intends to invest three hundred million in a new film. Are you interested?"
Lu Zhiyao sounded excited, and he said, "Yes, of course!"
Companies often boasted about investing a lot of money in their movies but ended up not investing much at all.
However, Boss Pei never played with semantics like that. If he said he would invest three hundred million yuan, he would only go upwards from there. That meant that the movie would be a huge production!
Boss Pei's projects would definitely be good. Even if Lu Zhiyao had to be paid less, he would still have to get involved.
Lu Zhiyao was looking forward to the project. "Do you have a script, Director Zhu? Can you send it to me?"
Zhu Xiaoce remained quiet for a moment and then said, "Er... the script has a little way to go. Why don't you come to Jingzhou and help us brainstorm a little?"
Lu Zhiyao: "A little way?"
Zhu Xiaoce sounded resolute. "Yes, just a little!"
After some consideration, Lu Zhiyao said, "Well, Director Zhu, will there be other actors in the film? Would Uncle Zhang and the rest be there?"
Zhu Xiaoce: "Er... it's just you for now. You're the protagonist. Other actors will be added in time.
For some reason, Lu Zhiyao had a funny feeling about the film.
However, on further thought, it was Boss Pei's project after all. There was no need to worry.
At once, he nodded. "Alright, I'll tidy up and be there in two days!"
Chapter 677: Play Rock, Paper, Scissors to Decide
October 10th, Monday...
Pei Qian was in his office, thinking about a plan for the physical industries in the future.
What made Pei Qian feel defeated during the previous cycle was not the five hundred million yuan earned from the shares in Finger Games... but the 'Tengda Life'.
Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, Fish-Catching Take-Out, Sloth Apartments, Deposit Fitness, the nameless restaurant, and Thriller Hostel all became popular. The businesses that had been incurring losses before started generating profit, and those that had been generating profit before started earning more. What's more, ever since the 'Top Student, Come Quick' app was turned into the Tengda Life app, all the businesses were linked together and gained a boost.
Pei Qian had been steadily incurring losses at first, but the chain effect had turned all of his losses into profits. How could he tolerate that?
Pei Qian had struggled a couple of times. Take Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, for example. It was already at version 3.0, but no matter what Pei Qian did with it, it continued to generate profits. It was unbearable.
Still, ever since he received the letter from a tenant of the Sloth Apartments, Pei Qian started viewing his physical businesses differently.
Before this, Pei Qian had not thought much about the influence that Tengda Corporation had. After all, it was a business that had been established two years ago, with all of its physical shops gathered in Jingzhou.
Just looking at Fish-Catching Internet Cafe... how much influence could a chain of internet cafes have?
Jingzhou had a population of over seven million people and a land area of about eleven thousand square kilometers. Even if Tengda opened tens or hundreds more of Fish-Catching Internet Cafes, how much influence could it have in such a huge city?
If one took the perspective of all of Handong Province or all of China, Tengda's few physical shops would seem even more negligible.
That was why Pei Qian had not thought much of Tengda's physical businesses before this.
However, after last week, Pei Qian realized something.
Tengda's physical businesses had more influence than Pei Qian could imagine.
Again, take the internet cafes for example. Although Fish-Catching Internet Cafe could not win Xing Le Cafe in terms of the number of physical stores, it dominated the latter in terms of reputation and fame.
Many foreigners knew that Fish-Catching Internet Cafe existed in Jingzhou, but they had not heard of Xing Le Internet Cafe before.
As for why such a huge gap existed... after much thought, Pei Qian could only think of two reasons.
First, the profit-generating model of Tengda's physical shops differed too greatly from its major competitors. Thus, it was more hotly discussed. In addition, Tengda's exemplary reputation earned it far more attention.
Second, just like what had happened with Sloth Apartments, players in certain industries were racing to the bottom. Any company with a bit of a conscience and sacrificed a little profit would already have defeated ninety percent of its competitors.
After reading the letter from the tenant of Sloth Apartments, Pei Qian felt mixed feelings. However, the most dominant was the realization that his physical stores had begun significantly affecting many people's lives.
There was a saying: with great power came great responsibility.
Far more consumers in the world, like that tenant, were probably being hurt by houses with formaldehyde and other rubbish products.
Pei Qian had always felt he had no power to solve certain problems, but all of a sudden, he could clearly see that he was capable of doing a lot of things. He could easily solve problems that others had no power to do so.
It was no longer impossible to set up stores all over Jingzhou, Handong Province, and even the world—to change more people's lives.
For Pei Qian, the setting up of more stores would result in the spending of much more money, which would get rid of all the money he had earned so far and a little more.
If he generated profit, he would continue to channel money into expanding. In any case, he was a long way from covering the entire nation.
If he could just change a few people's lives, Pei Qian didn't mind even if he ended up profiting and losing out.
After all, he did not have to worry about his necessities, and far more people in the world needed help.
In addition, Pei Qian realized that insisting on incurring losses had resulted in a huge advantage: it was precisely because he did not care about profits that he could channel all of his profits earned from the physical businesses into expanding and work hard to better customer experience in every way.
If he had made generating profits his goal, he would have had to think about how to control his capital and how to maximize profits.
Then, Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, Fish-Catching Take-Out, and Deposit Fitness would not have taken up their respective business models.
If he had linked the companies' profits to his own, Pei Qian did not know if he would still be able to willingly do what he was planning to do now.
What if he could save on a thousand yuan in renovations for each Sloth Apartment without affecting his tenants' health and earn an additional one million yuan? If his aim had been to generate profits, how would he choose?
Pei Qian did not know the answer, and he did not want to find out either. That was because people often failed when they were tested.
If one pitted his own interests against his customers, few people would probably be able to resist temptation.
Pei Qian did not see himself as a saint, and he did not want to put himself through such an examination. Thus, he decided not to dwell more on the issue.
His goal to incur losses would never change... because that was the only way he could spend without feeling a pinch, thus maintaining his current attitude.
On that foundation, he could freely expand all the physical businesses that contributed to the Tengda Life such as Fish-Catching Internet Cafes, Fish-Catching Take-Out, Sloth Apartments, Deposit Fitness, and the like.
He would get each person-in-charge to come up with an expansion plan. Each of them would be allowed to set up branches wherever they wanted.
There would only be two criteria: first, they had to stick to the current business model and be considerate of their customers; second, they could ask for more money but could not hand in profits that they had earned.
As for other matters, Pei Qian could not be bothered anymore. Now, he had to place all of his focus on businesses that could incur losses more easily.
On top of that, he had to come up with version 2.0 of the Sloth Apartments based on the current model.
This time, he had ten million yuan more in the System Funds' starting sum. That meant Pei Qian could spend fifty million yuan on another building.
Sloth Apartments 2.0 would take on another style and provide storage space for tenants. They could be seen as economical apartments.
In the future, Sloth Apartments 1.0 and 2.0 would be expanded together, with whichever was more needed taking the priority.
Would 2.0 definitely be more popular than 1.0? Not necessarily.
Pei Qian would leave that to the market to decide.
Of course, Sloth Apartments's ultimate mission would not change. A butler and cleaning services would be provided, and quality of life would be guaranteed. Renovation would be done well, and environmental health would be taken care of. Moreover, a simple, comfortable lifestyle that encourages focus and attention would be nurtured.
Once Pei Qian figured all these things out, he summoned Assistant Xin and asked her to notify the people-in-charge of various departments.
After that, Pei Qian continued to think about what to do with Shang Yang Games.
Last cycle, Shang Yang Games had put all of their resources into marketing IOI and GOG. Thus, it had not worked on any new game.
This time, Pei Qian wanted them to work on something else.
That was because GOG's foreign version had been doing extremely well, causing Pei Qian to feel unsure.
In fact, the ideal situation would be for GOG and IOI to continue fighting with each other for an extended of time. That way, Pei Qian would be able to continue pouring money into GOG and turn the foreign version into a valuable loss-incurring tree.
However, at the rate things were going, it was not looking good.
GOG's foreign version was developing at a rapid pace and far quicker than Pei Qian had expected!
At first, Pei Qian thought about creating a foreign version of GOG to get rid of the five hundred million yuan as quickly as possible. That was why he rapidly bought advertising spaces, booked an entire street in Times Square, bought over the comic company, sponsored several veteran clubs, and organized the international invitational tournament for GOG.
He had managed to spend all the money, but it had proven to be too effective!
Now, GOG was becoming increasingly dominant in overseas markets. Pei Qian was probably feeling as panicked as Dayak.
GOG's mobile version, in particular, was doing exceedingly well in the overseas market because of the utter lack of competitors.
Pei Qian felt that he had to do something.
He had to give IOI a breather. If IOI collapsed because of Pei Qian, wouldn't Pei Qian's loss-incurring tree disappear?
After some consideration, Pei Qian decided to transfer half the people in Shang Yang Games over.
Half of them would be put in charge of GOG's international server while the other half would work on updating a few of Tengda's old games.
Dayak Corporation would do better if he gave them this handicap, wouldn't they?
Quickly, fight harder and retaliate. Take back a bit of the market share, so that I can continue to burn money with good reason.
As for Tengda's old games... they had not been updated for some time.
Pei Qian had originally thought about making a portion of the games free, but after reexamining them, he realized that it would not fit with the System's criteria.
The System required Pei Qian to put standalone games on sale for at least ten months. Moreover, the income of the latest month must have fallen to less than one-fifth of that of the previous month.
Time was almost up for Repent and be Saved, but sales were still going strong. What's more, Pei Qian had no idea who exactly were still buying the game to torture themselves.
Thus, he decided to develop more DLC.
The sales for the other games had more or less peaked. Creating more DLC after the peak period would probably not generate much sales.
Of course, it did not matter even if Pei Qian made a little profit. His main aim was to distract Shang Yang Games and cause them to take some resources away from GOG's international server. If he defeated IOI with a single blow, he would really lose out.
At that thought, Pei Qian dialed Lin Wan's number.
Soon, the call went through.
Pei Qian casually asked, "What plans do you have for work in the next few months?"
Lin Wan answered honestly, "Oh, Boss Pei, I was just about to report this to you.
"GOG's international server is doing quite well. Our publicity campaign proved quite effective earlier. After this, we plan to intensify efforts to market GOG overseas and then seize more of IOI's market share..."
Pei Qian listened quietly.
Indeed, the rapid success of GOG's international server had renewed all their fighting spirits. He had to give them some time to cool down.
If they made IOI collapse, wouldn't Pei Qian lack reason to continue pouring money into GOG?
He had to keep his source!
Pei Qian pondered for a moment and then said, "Don't hang up. Call Ye Zhizhou and Wang Xiaobin over."
"Huh? Oh." Lin Wan sounded surprised, but she still got up, interrupted Ye Zhizhou and Wang Xiaobin in their work, and called them over.
Through the phone, Pei Qian said, "Ask them to play rock, paper, scissors. Pass the phone to the one who wins two games out of three."
Lin Wan was even more confused now. It was a full two seconds later when she said to the two men, "Boss Pei told you to play rock, paper, scissors. I'll pass the phone to the one who wins two games out of three..."
Ye Zhizhou's and Wang Xiaobin's minds filled with question marks at the same time.
?
Did Boss Pei purposely call just to ask us to play rock, paper, scissors?
It seemed to be out of nowhere, but the two men followed instructions. At last, Wang Xiaobin won.
Lin Wan handed the phone to him.
"Er... Boss Pei, are you looking for me?" Wang Xiaobin sounded hesitant.
Pei Qian said, "Choose half of the employees from Shang Yang Games and put them in charge of coming up with an updating plan for Tengda's old games. Finish it before January 20th and come up with as high a budget as possible while making sure that you can finish the project on time."
Wang Xiaobin paused. "Huh?
"Wait, Boss Pei... Ye Zhizhou seems to be fitted better for this job.
"He's an expert at functions while I'm good at data. I should be in charge of operating GOG's international server while he thinks about updating the old games. That seems more—"
Pei Qian: "No, you'll do it. Alright, do what you have to."
"But Boss Pei—"
Wang Xiaobin was just about to say something more, but Boss Pei had already hung up.
Confused, he turned to Ye Zhizhou... and then to Lin Wan. He had no idea what was going on.
Chapter 678: Its Luck and Sadness
Lin Wan was a little curious. "What task did Boss Pei arrange for you?"
"Boss Pei asked me to take half of the manpower from Shang Yang Games to make new versions of old games," Wang Xiaobin said blankly.
"I don't understand. Wouldn't this task be more appropriately given to Ye Zhizhou? I'm just a systems designer. Development is not my strength!"
"Furthermore, it was decided by rock-scissors-paper, which is too..."
Lin Wan frowned and thought seriously for a short while.
"I think that this rock-scissors-paper game by Boss Pei has some profound meaning to it."
"Huh? Even that has profound meaning? Could you... be thinking too much?" Wang Xiaobin was stunned.
Lin Wan shook her head. "You are good at numerical planning while Ye Zhizhou is good at function design. Boss Pei knows it very well."
"Making you do the work you are not good at yet is obviously to further exercise your abilities."
Wang Xiaobin thought for a while. "But Boss Pei can always give the task to me directly if he wants to train me up, right? Why the rock-scissors-paper?"
Lin Wan considered a short while before replying. "I think it is to express a form of attitude.
"Boss Pei obviously feels that everyone from Tengda Games, no matter who it was, had to be polymaths. Anyone has to be able to take the task even if it was done by drawing lots.
"Moreover, we can also see Boss Pei's attitude towards Shang Yang Games through this incident.
"The outside world had always viewed Shang Yang Games as inferior to Tengda Games.
"But now, Boss Pei has given us the task of promoting GOG's international server and updating Tengda Games' downloadable content. That means to say that, in the eyes of Boss Pei, we and Tengda Games are treated equally.
"We therefore must not disappoint Boss Pei!"
Wang Xiaobin nodded. "Yes, I understand!"
Boss Pei's decision obviously had huge risks!
For the average boss, letting each employee do what they do best would obviously be the most economical and affordable approach with risk being most controlled.
Who would do something like using projects to train their employees?
Some bosses ask their employees to hold certain positions concurrently, which might be called 'learning' by were—in fact—because they were reluctant to pay more to recruit professionals.
However, Boss Pei was completely different. He had been mobilizing employees to take charge of different projects even after paying high enough salaries and benefits.
Obviously, doing so would likely lead to the failure of the project, but Boss Pei did not care about it. That was to train all employees to become versatile and as a show of great trust in them!
Wang Xiaobin felt that he must not disappoint Boss Pei's trust and do a good job in this new version to prove himself!
...
...
October 11th, Tuesday...
Lu Zhiyao was fully armed with sunglasses, masks, and a baseball cap in the taxi for fear that his enthusiastic fans would be recognized and encountered unnecessary troubles.
He had just arrived in Jingzhou and rushed straight to Fei Huang Workspace without staying in a hotel.
Lu Zhiyao had completely wiped out his notoriety for being the toxicity in the box office since Tomorrow is Beautiful became popular. He had received many offers from other dramas; most of which came with good price tags.
However, Lu Zhiyao did not take them on.
Lu Zhiyao was not at ease if there were no scripts; those with scripts felt meaningless after he finished reading them.
None of them had the special feeling that Tomorrow is Beautiful had!
There was a script that Lu Zhiyao was quite satisfied with, but the character was similar to Tomorrow is Beautiful—which was a miserable brown-noser protagonist.
Obviously, this group invited Lu Zhiyao because they saw his performance in Tomorrow is Beautiful and felt that he was very suitable for the task.
Lu Zhiyao did not reject it. He was an actor after all; he had to be professional about it.
However, Lu Zhiyao felt that there was no meaning to it since he had already acted it once in Tomorrow is Beautiful.
There would be no breakthrough.
Lu Zhiyao felt that his acting skills took a leap when filming Tomorrow is Beautiful and had been highly involved in the creation of the filming process. This feeling never happened with other teams.
Therefore, Lu Zhiyao had been hesitating.
It was so hard to get rid of the infamy of 'box office toxicity'; wouldn't it be a waste of his efforts if he were to accidentally pick a bad film?
Lu Zhiyao asked himself introspectively. He was not very good at picking scripts as an actor.
Some scripts looked good but might not amount to anything good. He had to be cautious since he was currently on the rise.
Zhu Xiaoce's call came at a great time.
Boss Pei's project could never go wrong—that was it!
Of course, he had to look at the script before shooting. It was not that he did not trust Director Zhu, but he had to know what kind of story it was in advance to prepare his emotions.
"Director Zhu!"
Lu Zhiyao saw Director Zhu Xiaoce working hard at his station as soon as he walked in.
Zhu Xiaoce was deep in thought about the script; he was startled at the sound of Lu Zhiyao's voice and hid the document at the speed of light on the computer desktop.
Lu Zhiyao was stunned for a moment, but Zhu Xiaoce had greeted him with a smile on his face before he could react.
"Here so soon? I thought it would take another hour." Zhu Xiaoce smiled to cover up his embarrassment and got someone to get drinks for them.
Lu Zhiyao nodded. "En, I have not even gone to the hotel yet. I'm really looking forward to the new movie so I wanted to come over to talk to you, Director Zhu; read the script so that I can figure out the character; and recite the lines or something after I return to the hotel."
Zhu Xiaoce coughed lightly. "Erm... I thought I said that the script is not yet ready."
Lu Zhiyao didn't think much of it. "It's alright. I'll read whatever there is."
Zhu Xiaoce was a little embarrassed and quickly used his wits. "Actually... I can't show you the script yet."
Lu Zhiyao was taken aback. "Huh? Why?"
"Because this time, we are going to adopt a new shooting method. Each script will be given separately. That way you can avoid the interference caused by spoilers," Zhu Xiaoce replied.
Lu Zhiyao was a little surprised. "Really? That sounds pretty professional. It seems like the blockbusters in the United States are filmed this way.
"Not bad.
"Then, Director Zhu, can you show me the script for the first scene?"
Zhu Xiaoce was a little speechless.
He felt like a school kid who lied that he had yet to finish his homework, but the teacher pushed on to say: "It's okay if you have not finished it; show me whatever you have."
In fact, he had yet to write a single word!
Fortunately, Director Zhu was a person who had seen the world. He was able to hold this scene.
"The matter is like this... I've prepared another way for you to figure out the protagonist's psychology before reading the script," Zhu Xiaoce said solemnly after Lu Zhiyao took a sip of his tea.
"Come, bring this with you."
Zhu Xiaoce gave Lu Zhiyao a high-end Alienware gaming laptop.
Lu Zhiyao was lost. "?"
"There is Starcraft 2 in it. Your next task is to continue playing Starcraft 2 without going out of the hotel and with ordering takeaways for all your meals," Zhu Xiaoce explained.
"Just fight the battles. It doesn't matter if you win or lose, but there is a requirement. You have to work hard to imagine that every soldier in this game is a real, living person.
"Play for three days first and try to figure it out. Please write every realization you have down and share with me matter how reliable or unreliable."
Lu Zhiyao took the Alienware in confusion. "But... the script..."
Zhu Xiaoce looked serious. "You cannot read the script yet. Your experience would be different after reading the script, understand? Trust me, just do as I say."
Lu Zhiyao felt that this matter was a little strange, but he would try it out first since Director Zhu was so sure about it.
Perhaps the role this time was very demanding and could only better understand through this way?
Lu Zhiyao did not think much. He hugged the heavy Alienware gaming laptop and planned to go back to rest before following Director Zhu Xiaoce's instructions to figure out the role.
"By the way, Director Zhu, what is the role I'm supposed to play? Which direction should I work hard on?
"I have to know these to better figure out the character's psychology, right?"
Zhu Xiaoce thought for a while. It seemed to be right. "Well... what you are going to play this time is a space figure with a stern mentality.
"If possible, there should be no emotional fluctuations and no additional expressions.
"No matter what happens, your emotions should not fluctuate too much."
Lu Zhiyao was shocked.
"Huh?
"Emotions should not fluctuate too much?
"Then, I won't need to use any acting skills?"
Zhu Xiaoce patted Lu Zhiyao's shoulder. "This is where you need your acting skills!
"Try to figure out the character and think about how you can show your superb acting skills without expressions!
"I believe you can definitely do it!"
Lu Zhiyao was speechless.
Lu Zhiyao looked at the serious Director Zhu and then at the heavy gaming laptop in his hand, suddenly feeling as though he was deceived.
...
Fish-Catching Internet Cafe, Handong University branch...
Pei Qian was browsing the web while drinking coffee.
The popularity of 'Struggle' had declined, but the sales volume did not follow that trend.
Pei Qian looked at the bootlicking of Struggle on the internet and sighed.
Originally, he wanted to see what the players liked about this game so that future games could avoid it, but it turned out that players seemed to like everything.
What a waste of time.
This was disastrous.
"Forget it, let's follow the guiding lantern, Teacher He. These players cannot be counted upon."
Pei Qian was about to close the webpage when his eyes lit up suddenly upon seeing a player's comment.
"Sigh, I don't know why I feel sad, seeing how Struggle is so successful.
"There are so many games companies in China. How many of them made online games, and how many of them made standalone games?
"How many companies could afford a small amount of money for a standalone computer; how many companies dare to and are willing to spend so much on a standalone game?
"How many companies could do a good job of standalone games?
"There are very few who have been down-to-earth, righteous, earnestly making standalone games, and investing good money in it after much deliberation."
"Struggle being successful might be a good thing, but we only have this seedling. So many people make standalone games and produce indie games. They don't make much news so no one would know.
"Tengda is the luck of domestically-produced games, but sadly, that there is only Tengda."
Pei Qian inexplicably remembered what Qiu Hong said before after seeing this comment.
Pei Qian felt that the environment for domestically-produced standalone games was pretty good already but was still filled with problems.
To the domestic producers, large-scale standalone games required more investments and had a higher failure rate than online games. That was an objective fact.
Therefore, the domestic producers were not willing to make standalone games since it was not worth the effort.
It would be impossible to accumulate this way, which would become a never-ending loop.
Standalone games made by Tengda were successful.
However, the failure rate of the other game companies making standalone games was very high!
Pei Qian suddenly thought of a good idea.
Since domestic standalone games failed so easily, wouldn't they become easy losses if I were to invest in these failed projects without interfering with their designs?
Chapter 679: Qiu Hong would be the Best Candidate
Pei Qian also carefully considered its feasibility after having such an idea.
There were three lessons that he learned over time.
First, it was the lesson from working with Ruan Guangjian.
The cooperation with Ruan Guangjian seemed to be quite a failure in retrospect. Ruan Guangjian had been working on piloting the quality of original concept art of Tengda Games since Ghost General.
One key reason why many games succeed was because of the high-quality concept art which attracted the players at first sight. The graphics that fitted the games perfectly had also become a key link towards the art of the game.
Pei Qian looked back at his cooperation with Ruan Guangjian and felt that it was mainly attributed to his confidence.
Reasonably, he was looking for a small-time artist. The probability of encountering a gem should be minimal, right?
He managed to meet one nonetheless!
Who could he blame?
Therefore, Pei Qian felt that he had to cast his net widely.
This time, if he only concentrated on investing in one or two companies, then it would probably be the same mistake. He must therefore invest widely.
The larger the sample size, the more accurate the probability and the more the effect of luck could be minimized.
Next was the lesson of acquiring Shang Yang Games.
Pei Qian recalled that everything went well when he first bought Shang Yang Games. Things went downhill because he could not hold himself back. He wanted Shang Yang Games to make more losses, which was why he changed their games-with-paywalls model.
As a result, 'Bloody Battle Song' became a game with conscience and established a good reputation. It suddenly became popular after the remake plus changing to a client-side mobile game.
Therefore, this time, Pei Qian felt that he must not change the original operation mode of these companies. He should not even look at it.
That was because things usually change because of Boss Pei.
The 'observer effect' might be widely present in all aspects of life, but Pei Qian found that it was particularly prominent in himself and must be avoided.
Finally, it was the lesson learned from Dream Realization Ventures.
Dream Realization Ventures had invested in IOI, Shared Top Student, Top Student, Come Quick, Fully-Automated Bickering Machine, etc.—all of which had been successful.
The reasons for the success of these projects were different, but Pei Qian thought for a while and found that a very important reason was 'attention'.
Pei Qian often chose the particularly outrageous projects because he wanted to lose money too much like the shared phone booth and fully-automated bickering machine.
However, this type of project was easy to generate talking points and obtain a lot of attention because it was too outrageous.
What was more, all industries connected with Tengda were not lacking in attention.
Coupled with Pei Qian's confidence, there would always be purchasers once it garnered attention.
Therefore, Pei Qian felt that he should choose some normal, not-so-outrageous projects to minimize the possibility of making huge profits.
These projects would only make small profits even if they were successful. The other failed projects could offset the profits if he cast his net wide enough, so that the profits would not be too ridiculous.
Pei Qian had to find a new way after combining so much experience at failing:
He had to cast the net widely. The more companies he invests in, the less would the influence of luck be able to affect him. The chances of losing money were greater under the premise that domestically-produced standalone games would fail.
He must not interfere with the operating model of these companies or even know what projects they were doing to minimize his 'observer effect'.
It was best to choose a project that was normal without many unique characteristics. This way, there would be no chemical reaction with Tengda's fame and make huge profits from nowhere.
Pei Qian considered for a long time and felt that the guidelines this time were very reliable.
He should be able to make losses successfully this time after accumulating so many failure experiences, right?
So, the next question was... who should be in charge of it this time?
He looked around and found that there was no one he could use.
There were many people in Tengda Games and Shang Yang Games who understood games, but Pei Qian did not feel safe with them.
They were far too poisoned in their minds!
The common feature of Tengda's employees was that they would misinterpret Boss Pei's intentions and find the most profitable methods. At the same time, their understanding of the game led to the successful experience with Tengda Games.
Pei Qian felt that it might lead to failure even if he were to grab a random person from the other departments to become in charge.
Pei Qian had been failing at trying to 'make his employees cross industries' after all.
It seemed like every employee managed to transit successfully.
Get Ma Yang?
No, he could not trust Old Ma in this area with IOI as the precedent.
Lu Mingliang?
That would be worse. Lu Mingliang himself was a chief planner and had a good understanding of the game industry. Besides, he was doing well in Upwind Logistics; what if Upwind Logistics suddenly became profitable if he transferred him?
That would be a total loss.
After thinking about it, Pei Qian felt that he had to find someone with nothing to do with Tengda Corporation to carry this out.
It would be best if he knew a little about standalone games but not too much.
People who did not understand at all would get a professional consultant. That would become a hidden danger. People who knew too well would be too accurate.
Suddenly, Pei Qian thought of a good candidate.
Qiu Hong!
Pei Qian had a general understanding of Qiu Hong previously during class. He had just failed in a mobile game with paywalls himself, which was why he came to Jingzhou to give lectures and relax.
It was not easy for a successful producer to find investment, let alone a producer who had just failed.
Moreover, Qiu Hong had already started his own business. He would definitely not lower his head to apply for a job in a general company in the short term since he had no financial pressure.
That meant that Qiu Hong probably did not manage to find anything to do during the past six months.
Qiu Hong might have successful experiences, but it was limited to games with paywalls. He originally made standalone games, but that was when he first joined the industry. That standalone game failed.
Pei Qian felt that while Qiu Hong might be very accurate when it came to Krypton Gold Online Games, it might not be the case with standalone games.
As for Qiu Hong saying that he would never touch standalone games...
First, Qiu Hong actually did not reject standalone games. It was just that he was burned by it when he first entered the industry. That was why he was against it now.
Secondly, Pei Qian did not plan to talk about dreams or reason. It was just a very realistic issue of interest.
The reason why Qiu Hong gave up standalone games was to make more money and lead a better life.
Therefore, the key was not in the mode of games, but how much benefit Qiu Hong would get from this job.
Producers of Krypton Gold Online Games were very realistic people. They do it because the market told them that this was the most profitable.
In that case, Pei Qian would definitely be able to poach Qiu Hong over with more money.
The more Pei Qian thought about it, the more he felt that Qiu Hong was the best candidate.
Here came the problem... how was he to talk to him about it...?
Qiu Hong still thought that he was Ma Yang even until now.
Continue to engage him as Ma Yang? Give Qiu Hong the mission as the person-in-charge of Dream Realization Ventures?
That would work, but it was never good to cheat others.
What was more, Qiu Hong would come into contact with Tengda's employees in the future. This matter would be revealed sooner or later so it was impossible to keep it a secret forever.
Therefore, he had to show his hand.
How then... could he do it so that Qiu Hong could better accept it?
It was certainly impossible to announce honestly. Pei Qian wanted to tell him the truth, but Qiu Hong would not believe it even if he risked being warned by the system.
Qiu Hong might even think he was being arrogant and leave on the spot.
Therefore, Pei Qian could only use another white lie.
Tell Qiu Hong that he used Ma Yang's identity to ask him about his failure experience was, in fact, for friendly exchanges between designers and to get to know each other better. They could now cooperate since they had a better understanding. It was now logical to throw an olive branch[1].
Pei Qian dialed Qiu Hong's number after thinking about his reasons. He invited him to make a trip to Jingzhou these few days for important matters to be discussed.
...
...
October 12th, Wednesday...
Wang Xiaobin was racking his brains out planning for the update of these downloadable contents of the old games.
There were too many old games. It was obviously unrealistic to update all the downloadable contents in four months which meant he could only choose which to do.
Moreover, he must also consider the price-quality ratio of the update content.
Some producers regard the downloadable contents as an independent game with large capacity and high prices. They also had a long development time.
Boss Pei gave them four months; it was impossible to achieve this effect.
Boss Pei might not be stingy with money, but money could not buy time.
Therefore, the difficulty was still very high. Wang Xiaobin did not have much experience in such jobs so he felt a huge pressure.
"Make 'The Lonely Desert Road' into an interactive mode? Drive with other players so that the desert road becomes no more lonely?
"Add a 'do it if you can' mode in Game Designer? Get the voice-over to choose his own route and get the players to mock the voice-overs?
"Add something to the plot of 'Ocean Stronghold'? It doesn't seem necessary... what if I were to add an epic weapon? Boss Pei will probably prefer the former.
"In the case of 'Repent and be Saved', it seemed like many players find it a bit boring to take so many weeks to clear one level. There might be new players entering, but the stickiness with the old players was basically gone. Should we make a challenge mode from scratch for the old players to find something to do?
"Hm...
"The content seems too simple; will the players buy it?"
Wang Xiaobin had some ideas but had no confidence in himself.
There were some regular updates such as giving a few new generals to 'Ghost General' and continuing producing some epic weapons for 'Ocean Stronghold' that seemed boring. However, these ideas were too small. He was afraid that the downloadable content prices would not be high. They might even make losses.
"The former is safe but not interesting; the latter is interesting but a bit risky...
"What would Boss Pei choose?
"Boss Pei will definitely choose the latter.
"I have to think of something creative since Boss Pei gave this important mission to me. I will be fully responsible for it!"
Wang Xiaobin continued to think about the plan.
...
...
October 13th, Thursday...
Zhu Xiaoce came to the hotel where Lu Zhiyao was putting up.
Three days had passed since Lu Zhiyao had arrived in Jingzhou. He had 'experienced the script' with the gaming laptop.
Zhu Xiaoce felt that it was time for him to take a look.
It was not for any other reason but mainly because the script had to be published within two days so it could not be delayed any longer.
Zhu Xiaoce had no clue so he could only find a way to see if Lu Zhiyao had any good ideas.
Zhu Xiaoce nodded gently at the door of Lu Zhiyao's room.
The door opened after two minutes.
Zhu Xiaoce could not help but be shocked at Lu Zhiyao's appearance.
The radiant, handsome movie king that arrived three days ago had become disheveled. He had short stubble growing on his chin, with eyes lacking focus.
Zhu Xiaoce was a little baffled. "What happened? Why did you become depressed over playing a game?"
"Director Zhu, your idea doesn't work at all!" Lu Zhiyao exploded helplessly.
"I have been gaming like a madman these few days and did my best, but I feel nothing.
"I've given up."
[1] This means showing the intention of ending a disagreement.