bestfiction Chapter 207 Game Demo
Chapter 207 Game Demo
Everyone else below was also staring at the catalog on the screen, their expressions shifting from shock to even greater shock.
But clearly, they also breathed a sigh of relief.
At least the parts that needed the most intensive work are no longer their responsibility.
A young man wearing black-rimmed glasses raised his hand uncertainly and asked, "Mr. Lu, do you mean we don't need to design the core gameplay?"
"No need," Lu Ran said. "You're in charge of the technical implementation."
"Then... what about art resources?"
"It's all ready. The character models are currently unavailable, but they will be added later. The special effects and UI are already in place."
"So... what do we need to do?"
Lu Ran smiled: "Good question."
He walked to the whiteboard and picked up a marker.
"What you need to do is optimize the background style of this single-player game, and at the same time transform it into an online game that can connect to the internet, matchmaking, ranked matches, and allow in-game purchases."
He wrote a few keywords on the whiteboard:
[Online Synchronization] [Matchmaking Algorithm] [Account System] [Ranked Matches] [Skin System]
"For online synchronization, we need to ensure smooth real-time battles and keep the latency below 50 milliseconds. This is the most difficult part, and also the core.
"The matchmaking algorithm needs to match players with opponents of similar skill levels based on their rank, win rate, and network latency. This requires repeated optimization."
"The account system needs to be integrated with TUTU accounts to allow users to log in with one click."
"Ranked matches need to have a reasonable tier system and season mechanism designed."
"The skin system... I don't need to explain that, right?"
The people below began to take notes seriously.
Lu Ran continued, "These tasks will be carried out in parallel by several groups. Brother Zhou will be in charge of the overall architecture and tackling core technologies, and you will be assigned to different groups according to your strengths."
He paused, then looked at everyone: "I know this project is very challenging for you. Action games with real-time combat require a level of skill that's an order of magnitude higher than farming games. But..."
He laughed: "It's precisely because it's challenging that it's worth doing. Don't you guys get bored maintaining the farm's code every day?"
Someone below chimed in, "It is indeed a bit boring..."
The person next to him nudged him: "Keep your voice down!"
Upon hearing this, Lu Ran laughed even harder: "So, this project is just to give you guys something to do. If you do it well, our Rabbit Technology will have a second blockbuster; if you don't do it well... that's okay, just consider it practice."
He glanced around: "Do you have confidence?"
There was no sound in the meeting room.
Lu Ran then asked in an even louder voice, "Do you have confidence?"
This time, the crowd below shouted in unison, "Yes!"
Lu Ran was very pleased to see the high morale of the people below.
"Focus on perfecting the single-player version over the next few days, and work on the online version gradually." Before leaving, Lu Ran gave the instructions.
Zhou Mingzhe muttered from the side, "With your persuasive skills, it's a shame you're not involved in pyramid schemes."
"That's called leadership," Lu Ran whispered back. "Learn from it."
...
After the project was launched, Tutu Technology entered a particularly busy state.
It's especially because this kind of busyness is different from before.
Previously, when maintaining Happy Farm, everyone's rhythm was "identify problems - solve problems", and the work content was relatively fixed.
But now, when working on new projects, there are new problems, new challenges, and new ideas every day.
Heated debates often erupted from the meeting room:
"Your matchmaking algorithm has a problem! What if a player intentionally lowers their rank to smurf or bully weaker players?"
"Then add a behavior detection system to identify players who intentionally lose points."
"How should the detection system be designed? What model should be used?"
"Use machine learning? We don't have any data..."
"Then let's use the rules first, and optimize them after we've accumulated enough data."
Similar debates happen every day.
Lu Ran would occasionally listen in, but he rarely interrupted.
The strategy has been provided; for the rest, he believes Zhou Mingzhe can lead the team well, and he also has faith in the abilities of these young people.
He was afraid that doing everything himself would prevent Zhou Mingzhe from fully utilizing his leadership skills. After all, many of the core members of the team were recruited by Zhou Mingzhe, and none of them were mediocre, so they needed his overall leadership.
At the same time, what Lu Ran cares about most right now is the gameplay experience itself.
A few days later, one afternoon, he sat at his workstation and opened the first playable version that the project team had just made.
Although the graphics are rudimentary and the characters are still gray models, the core gameplay is already available.
Because the main characters haven't been designed yet, the in-game characters don't have facial customization or skin smoothing features, but this doesn't affect the gameplay experience.
Lu Ran chose a dagger and entered the training ground.
The familiar feel of the controls is immediately apparent.
Left-click for a light attack, right-click for a heavy attack, spacebar for a jump, and shift for a dodge.
He tried to execute a combo: AA + forward A + backward A + up A.
Successful.
Although the feel is still a bit raw and needs some fine-tuning, the foundation is correct.
At the same time, because the source code he provided was very detailed, it didn't require much adjustment, and the skill release was very smooth.
Lu Ran then tried the longsword, broadsword, and double daggers; each weapon had a unique rhythm and feel.
"Not bad." He nodded. "The foundation is there; the rest is just a matter of polishing it."
While he was playing, Zhou Mingzhe came over and sat down next to him.
"How's it playing?"
"It's alright." Lu Ran put down the mouse. "The feel still needs some fine-tuning, but the framework is fine. How about the server?"
Zhou Mingzhe adjusted his glasses: "The online module is basically working. We did a test yesterday, with two computers playing against each other on the same local area network, and the latency was within 20 milliseconds. But we haven't done the cross-network test yet, and I expect there will be problems."
"Take your time," Lu Ran said. "You know more about the technical stuff than I do, so I won't give you any unsolicited advice."
Zhou Mingzhe nodded, then suddenly asked, "What are you planning to do about that character model?"
Lu Ran thought for a moment: "Wait until Xingyao finishes the design. He said a couple of days ago that the character designs for 'Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit' are almost finalized, so we can just use them directly."
"Is it too late?"
"It should be enough time," Lu Ran said. "The game development cycle is still long. We can release a gray model version for closed beta testing first, and then update it once the characters are finished."
Zhou Mingzhe nodded thoughtfully, then asked, "And what's the name? How about 'Seven Heroes of the Martial World'?"
"Let's use this for now, and decide before it goes live," Lu Ran said. "Maybe we'll have a better idea by then."
The original Meteor Butterfly Sword was a single-player game, but Lu Ran knew that an online mode was a must.
Now that the company is gradually getting back on track, there will be more places where we need money in the future. The earning power of single-player games is incomparable to that of online games.
Don't be fooled by the fact that it's free to play at first; the free version is often the most expensive.
As the two were chatting, Lu Ran's phone rang.
It was Zhou Xiaoou calling.
"Mr. Lu!" The voice on the other end of the phone was filled with barely suppressed excitement. "The character design is finalized! Do you have time to take a look?"
Lu Ran's eyes lit up, and after glancing at the time, he replied, "Okay, I'll head over now."
After hanging up the phone, he said to Zhou Mingzhe, "I'm going to Xingyao to check on the progress of 'Rainbow Cat and Blue Rabbit Seven Heroes'."
"Okay, I'll keep an eye on things here."
...