To ascend, I had no choice but to create games

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.