Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

Chapter 282: 280: Boss Lin Makes Light of the Game?

The core gameplay mechanic of the building blocks, as well as the underlying systems that support it:

The local map random generation system under a fixed framework, the crucial crafting system, monster spawning method, BOSS finding method and combat mechanics, the day and night transformation mechanism…

Lincoln, together with the girls in the casual game team, returned to the fairly complete ancient city area, strolling and enjoying the surrounding scenery while explaining how to make the new game, sentence by sentence.

In this process, the overall framework and core gameplay of the new game, and even the gameplay that the players might potentially develop after the game is released, began to take shape in their minds.

During this process, many girls looked at Lincoln with admiration that almost overflown from their eyes.

This was the first time that they got to experience up close Lincoln’s astonishing talent in game development!

— Before, when Lincoln had meetings to outline development plans, he obviously had prepared beforehand. However, unlike now, he hadn’t dove into the specifics of the game details.

In fact, because Lincoln hadn’t prepared in advance, he spoke as the thoughts came to his mind, occasionally contradicting or revising previous statements.

This seemingly “unpreparedness”, in the eyes of the girls, became “the boss thinking on the fly, able to conceive an outstanding and even complete game concept effortlessly”.

Have they seen anything like this before?

Forget about newly graduated youngsters, but even those seasoned professionals who have been through the wringer for years in the industry haven’t seen such a sight!

Who else could speak casually and outline the overall game concept, what level of skill does that require?

In the past, there was Carlos who formed an excellent verse in seven steps, now we have Boss Lin who made a game out of casual conversation?!

It’s just absurd!

But this absurdity happened right before their eyes…

If Lincoln hadn’t been walking and talking ahead of them, they would have wanted to open their group chat and seriously discuss the question of “whether the boss is actually human”.

Lincoln has roughly relayed his ideas, after listening, Little Chun also had a rough plan in mind.

She realized that this new game would not be easy to develop, and that there are more than a few difficulties…

Firstly, on the artistic side:

The blocks in the building blocks game must not look cheap, thus requiring a variety of textures.

Diverse crafting formulas, as well as “weapons” and “armor” mentioned by Lincoln, all require separate designs.

Not to mention all kinds of monsters and BOSSes, as well as the special terrains where they appear.

Even due to the specialty of the development tools, the particle effects during combat also need to be designed by the art team.

Especially considering that combat in Lincoln’s words, also involves “magic”!

Then, there’s the exploration and combat design:

There’s not much to say about exploration, even in the most free and open games, guidance for the player is crucial.

Sometimes guidance is made explicit, and other times it is subtly carried out through distinctive terrains, rewards and the like.

If there is no guidance, players may not know what to do.

After wandering aimlessly in the map for a while, if they can’t find their target they lose the desire to explore, the subsequent content cannot unfold and it’s like wasted effort.

This really tests one’s production ability.

Lastly, there’s the combat related design.

The importance of the combat mechanics to the game goes without saying.

— For many types of games, whether the combat is fun or not is crucial to the success of the game.

Even though the new game already has the “building blocks” mechanic, in truth, only Lincoln has utmost confidence in this mechanic, believing that as long as it is launched, it will be a sure hit.

But this clearly was due to his experience from his past life, Little Chun and other employees, didn’t have this confidence.

One, because they’ve never seen it before, casual games on the market have always been unique types.

Two, just listening to the gameplay, it seems like there’s not much to impress…

What else could be created from building blocks?

Let’s face it, building with blocks requires a great deal of patience, the more ambitious the structure, the more time-consuming it is.

But gamers’ patience is often limited. What if they get bored in no time?

So, compared to the yet-unseen, uncertainty-filled ‘building block’ gameplay, Lincoln’s proposed ‘cold weapons and magic fighting fantasy monsters’ sounds a bit ridiculous, but it still falls within prior experience, which somehow gives a sense of reliability.

At least Little Chun is focusing more on the exploration and combat part than the “building block” part.

In the end, Lincoln instructed: “This is a totally new attempt, not only in creative concepts but also in numerous production techniques that require exploration, so don’t be too hasty. If you encounter difficulties, you can seek… assistance from other teams, or ask me for help.”

– Out of the eternal human pursuit of skiving, Lincoln subconsciously demoted his own appeal for help.

Little Chun nodded and temporarily dismissed the team members. She needed to thoroughly ponder over team member assignment.

Lincoln immediately noticed: the girls were completely obedient to his instructions and started to slack off on the spot. They scattered into groups of twos and threes and, while wandering aimlessly to see the ancient architecture, had heated discussions.

He chuckled in relief, opened the teleportation gate, and planned to go back to see Mavis.

Just as he was about to leave, he remembered something and looked around, remembering someone he seemed to have forgotten for a long time.

Lying sprawled out on the bed with lifeless eyes, Xu Chun rolled over in boredom.

In the previous week, he had seen quite some glitz and glamour. No matter which club he went into, he was treated like a VIP guest, welcomed by both the club managers and coaches, who were both polite and enthusiastic. But as the competition came to an end, their fervor began to rapidly fade.

Xu Chun was fully aware of all this.

At first, he didn’t mind, as his original intention was to join Cloud Dream, not to be a coach at some club.

But when he headed to Dream Cloud Studio with a load of “club investigation data”, Lincoln happened to be out – that day, Lincoln went to attend a press conference at Kyle’s invitation.

His carefully prepared information was handed over to Randall, who was in charge of the formal competition.

After that, he realized: after submitting the information, it seemed like he had nothing else to do.

As per Lincoln’s original arrangement, he was on paid leave.

But this state of undefined future and idleness made restless Xu Chun inevitably anxious.

He had made up his mind: he would go to the company tomorrow to find Lincoln and ask him for some work! Even being his bodyguard would do!

“Buzz – Buzz – Buzz –

The phone on his bedside table started to vibrate.

But Xu Chun remained motionless.

-In these past few days, he had received får too many harassing phone calls!

But the person on the other end was incredibly patient. After the automatic hang-up, the phone immediately started to ring again relentlessly. Impatient, Xu Chun picked up the phone, intending to hang up directly, when he saw the name on the screen:

[Lincoln]

Xu Chun immediately sat straight up.

“Hello?”

“Busy?” Lincoln seemed curious why the first call wasn’t answered.

“No!” Xu Chun immediately rebutted. I’m bored to death!

“Good, then quickly log into the virtual world. I’ve got a big job for you.” Lincoln, no-nonsense.

“I’m on it!” Xu Chun agreed immediately, filled with anticipation.

Finally, there was some action!