Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Chapter 1301: The Story Behind Tengda Games

Li Yada’s words made Yan Qi feel a little ashamed.

It might be a bucket of cold water over his head and was very hurtful but it also objectively sobered his brain up.

That was indeed the case.

He did not have a strong urge to create this game. He only felt that it was good enough to pass. How could he conquer players and make them feel like they could not stop?

However, on further thought, Yan Qi felt that Li Yada was being too blunt.

They could innovate just because they said so?

If innovation was like cabbage being sold on the streets, would there be so many rubbish games every year?

Did he really think that the producers of rubbish games were all evil?

Of course, some producers or investors might not understand, or they might really be hell-bent on making money. However, many of them were just not capable enough. What could they do if they could not make good games?

If I had the same brain as Boss Pei, I would also make different types of games. Then, gamers would rush to buy them all. How awesome would that be?

Who did not want to create a game that belonged exclusively to them? Who did not want to set up a sect? Who wanted to learn from others?

The key was that he did not have the ability.

After all, he was responsible for the livelihood of dozens of people in the entire workspace. The price of failure was too high. He could not afford it.

Yan Qi felt that Li Yada might be an insider in the gaming industry but she was after all a channel.

The channels and development were two completely different worlds.

According to their current relationship, the channel was equivalent to the client. They could pick and choose among a bunch of games and choose games that they were satisfied with. If they encountered areas that they were not satisfied with, they could ask the game developer to change them.

On the other hand, development was equivalent to freelancers. It was worse. Apart from a few companies that had especially strong research and development capabilities and had a say, most small companies did not allow themselves to have their own opinions. After all, they would only have recommendations and publicity resources if they changed according to the requirements of the channel.

Dawn Games platform was indeed a platform that stood to earn money. It was qualified to be tough. As a staff of the games platform, Li Yada’s character was understandable.

However, the key was that he had to consider Yan Qi’s objective situation. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ N(o)vel(F)ire

Otherwise, wouldn’t it be a mistake of “why not eat minced meat”?

Yan Qi cleared his throat. “Big Sister Li, I want to make epochal innovations as well, but I have to consider the objective conditions, right?”

“‘Blade of the Empire’ is just an ordinary mobile game. I intend to transit to an action standalone game. That’s already a huge risk. If I continue to be unstable and blindly pursue innovation and innovation, I’m afraid that I might take too big a step and end up dragging my feet.”

“How can you force an action game without any accumulation? Isn’t there a transition?”

Li Yada adjusted her spectacles and said, “Before we worked on Repent and be Saved, our team had no experience in action games at all.

“The previous game was Game Designer. It’s not close at all.”

Yan Qi was speechless. “This…”

“Big Sister Li, aren’t you thinking too highly of me by comparing me to Boss Pei?”

“If I had a brain like Boss Pei’s, I would dare to take the risk, but I don’t.”

After a moment of silence, Li Yada said, “Have you considered that you might have made a mistake in causation?”

“The Boss Pei you think had the courage to change only because he had ideas.”

“However, perhaps Boss Pei only had the courage to change his mindset?”

“Does ability determine one’s mentality or mentality determine one’s ability? Do you think a person must have the right mentality or mature ability?”

Li Yada’s words were obviously from the bottom of her heart after working in Tengda for so long and learning about game design from Boss Pei.

Was Boss Pei not a genius game designer?

Of course he was.

However, it was obviously not objective to say that Boss Pei’s success was entirely because of his ability.

In fact, what amazed Boss Pei the most was not his game design ability, but his determination and courage.

Take Repent and be Saved for example. Boss Pei had not interfered much with the game’s design details. He had only repeatedly emphasized that the game’s difficulty should be raised.

The reason was very simple: perfecting the game design details was a job that every chief designer, even the ordinary functional designers of the Development Team, could do. Raising the difficulty of the game and taking the risk that a large number of players would be dissuaded to persevere with this design concept was something only Boss Pei could do.

Boss Pei was the only one with such determination and a broader perspective. Only Boss Pei could take on such a responsibility.

It was not just Repent and be Saved. In fact, most games in Tengda were playing with fire. They would risk failure and repeatedly skip.

However, without such determination, these games would not have been created at all. There would not even be a design draft.

What’s more, Boss Pei encouraged his subordinates more than he guided them in daily work.

Boss Pei rarely taught his subordinates what to do, how to design, and how to think about problems. Instead, he encouraged his subordinates to think independently and solve this problem in their own way.

At most, he would give his subordinates some hints and let them figure it out on their own.

Boss Pei repeatedly told his less confident subordinates, “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine.”

The successive chief designers of Tengda Games had been growing under this encouragement.

Thus, these were Li Yada’s heartfelt thoughts. She felt that she had grown so much because she had gained the courage to change under Boss Pei’s leadership.

First, he would not be restrained by the rules and regulations that sought stability. Then, he would be qualified to talk about design and innovation.

Li Yada’s words stunned Yan Qi.

After careful thought, he realized that it made sense!

On the surface, ability and mentality were equally important. Both were indispensable.

However, it was impossible for someone with a bad mentality to have the ability. That was because the ability was nurtured and trained, not produced out of thin air.

If a person had a bad mentality and could not even nurture the most basic abilities, how could they succeed?

Making up his mind to change might not succeed, but if he was cautious, the outcome would definitely fail.

Yan Qi was silent for a long time before he suddenly realized a problem. “Eh, Big Sister Li, why do you sound like you know Tengda’s situation very well?”

She might not have revealed Tengda’s internal situation but she sounded confident as if she knew the inside story very well.

Li Yada was stunned for a moment. “…I also have a friend working in Tengda. I heard him talk about some internal matters, especially the story of Repent and be Saved.”

“Oh! Really! Can you tell me about it? I want to hear it too!” Yan Qi perked up instantly.

He had worked in Shanghai before. After that, he had quit his job to start a studio and come to Jingzhou.

Based on what he knew, Li Yada had been working in Jingzhou. The gaming circle in Jingzhou was not big. It was not surprising that she knew friends who worked in Tengda.

The story of Repent and be Saved was too attractive.

Since Li Yada was the one who started the conversation, she could not turn him down. Thus, she nodded and said, “Alright, I’ll briefly explain one thing.”

“I heard that the designer made a demo when they developed Repent and be Saved. The designer then showed it to Boss Pei.”

“Boss Pei hasn’t even started playing yet. He wants her to triple the attacking strength of the monsters.”

“Then, Boss Pei got to work.

“Initially, the game’s positioning was already very difficult. When the initial village monsters attacked players, they had about 20% HP. Everyone thought that was already very high, but they did not expect Boss Pei to change it to 60%.”

Yan Qi was instantly interested. “I see. Is that how the high difficulty level of Repent and be Saved came about? Did Boss Pei only change it after seeing the demo?”

“That’s true. I remember that the initial monsters dealt 80% damage to players.”

“What about after that? Didn’t Boss Pei play the monsters in circles after a series of operations, and then increase the damage because he felt that the difficulty was still too low?”

Yan Qi had watched many videos of big shots clearing Repent and be Saved without being injured. As an old gamer, even though it was very difficult to clear the game without being injured, it was very easy to defeat the monsters in the newbie village.

After all, the movements of the monsters in the newbie village were slow and their moves were stiff. The damage was high but players who were slightly more experienced would not be touched.

As a designer, Boss Pei might not be able to play it easily, but he should at least be at the level of a veteran, right?

Li Yada shook her head. “Yes… the results are similar to what you imagined, but the process is different.”

“Once Boss Pei started, he was killed by the little monsters twice at the speed of light. Then, he multiplied the damage of the little monsters by 1.3.”

Yan Qi was stunned. “Huh?”

Was Boss Pei alright to be tortured by small monsters?

Why was Boss Pei so determined to increase the difficulty of the little monsters?

In other words, Boss Pei’s determination and courage were indeed admirable.

Yan Qi asked himself if he had created a game but was killed twice by the monsters of the newbie village once he left. He had to lower the difficulty level.

Not only did he not reduce the difficulty level, he even added damage to the small monsters. Ordinary people would not do such a thing.

Boss Pei was indeed a genius.

Li Yada’s story proved what she had said before.

It sounded a little strange but Yan Qi felt that Li Yada was quite reliable and would not lie to him.

“Alright, I agree with you. Courage is indeed more important than ability. Courage is the first step to change.”

“However, the problem is that courage alone is not enough. Even if I want to innovate, I don’t have a suitable direction.”

After a moment of silence, Li Yada said, “Well…”

“Actually, there is a certain pattern and trick.”

The rules and tricks that she spoke about were actually some game design concepts that she had learned from Boss Pei.

She had worked on many successful projects with a gaming master like Boss Pei. Naturally, she would gain something.

At first, Li Yada was a little hesitant. Would it not be good to reveal this concept to Yan Qi?

However, on further thought, Boss Pei had never been a closed-off person.

There was a saying in the old society that ‘masters starved to death after teaching their disciples’. Many craftsmen hid their skills. Some martial arts families also taught their skills and never taught it to outsiders. However, that was in the past after all.

In the game industry, Boss Pei had always had the attitude of ‘if you can achieve it, you should also help the world’.

For example, the Destitution Plan, Dawn Games platform, the deployment of Min Jingchao to develop games with Sun Strike Studios…

Boss Pei had been working hard to influence the domestic games industry. He had changed the entire environment on his own.

A more reliable producer like Yan Qi should receive some help.

If it was Boss Pei, he would definitely not be stingy with his guidance.

Now, he was imparting knowledge on Boss Pei’s behalf. It was equivalent to imparting knowledge to another disciple. It was all to practice the Tengda spirit and to improve the game environment.

What’s more, Boss Pei’s design concept was more advanced. It was just like internal energy.

Yan Qi would have to depend on his own ability to comprehend it.