16: Demo released, start the game
The Ancient Style Game Development Competition has been held for decades.
During this time, countless excellent games have been released, and numerous Genius designers have emerged.
But at the same time, new games have transformed from stunning in the first few years to mediocre.
Society stagnated, and the gaming industry could not escape unaffected; years of rapid development finally halted, and game production became increasingly conservative.
If a sequel could be made, a new title would not be; if a reskin could be done, innovation would be avoided.
Some major studios even rehashed old games for ten years: original, VR, remastered, deluxe remastered... players were truly miserable.
Against this backdrop, Illusion Dream Game Studio burst onto the scene.
An unprecedented Xuanhuan background.
A refreshing world view and new gameplay.
And... a plagiarism scandal.
Jiang Feng didn't even need to invest any money.
Various reporters, media, and numerous streamers and UP hosts gathered.
γ Xuanhuan World! A brand new world view, revolutionizing the gaming industry! γ
γ Forced to withdraw in silence after being plagiarized? I refuse! γ
γ A rising star, Genius game designer Jiang Feng! γ
γ Hype or innovation? Discussing Xuanhuan World again! γ
One sensational headline after another spread wildly online.
More and more people were drawn in, eager to know just how amazing this game truly was.
Midnight Gao Sou also sat in his gaming chair, with his VR pod ready beside him, prepared to start the game at any moment.
γ Pre-orders are live on the official website! γ
γ You can buy the game now! γ
γ Charge, Brothers! γ
Pre-orders have started?
Midnight Gao Sou quickly clicked in, and sure enough, all competing entries were open for pre-order.
γ "mystical world: the rise of the weak": 100 yuan γ
"Holy cow, it only costs 100 yuan?"
Midnight Gao Sou's eyes lit up.
If the CG and actual gameplay demo weren't just hype.
This 100 yuan price is genuinely low, a super bargain!
He paid directly and started the pre-download.
The internet speed in this era was incredibly fast; in just a few seconds, "mystical world: the rise of the weak" was installed in his VR pod.
It just wasn't time yet, so he couldn't launch it.
"Oh, right, Antarctic Studio..."
Midnight Gao Sou thought of something else and opened another interface.
γ "turbulent times warrior": 300 yuan γ
"Holy cow, 300 yuan? A plagiarized work dares to sell for an AAA price?"
Midnight Gao Sou laughed in anger, not intending to buy it at all.
The bullet comments were also full of ridicule.
At this moment, the Ancient Style Game Development Competition organizing committee, Qin Dahai and others, looked at the backend data, their eyes wide:
"Holy cow, Huan Meng is about to take off!"
"First-hour sales over a thousand, that's a good result!"
"Goodness, it's just a small studio, yet it can attract so many sales?"
"It's already half of Antarctic Studio's, that's Heaven-Defying!"
A thousand-plus sales might not seem like much.
But one must remember, this is Illusion Dream Game Studio's debut work!
And it's only the sales from the first hour!
Many small studios might only achieve this level of sales throughout the game's entire lifecycle.
What's more, the sales volume was still climbing!
More and more people learned about the start of pre-orders and flocked to the official website.
Furthermore, Midnight Gao Sou wasn't the only streamer paying attention to "mystical world: the rise of the weak".
A streamer specializing in strategy games, named "Old Potato".
He was wearing casual clothes, bragging in his live stream:
"Brothers, I'm not boasting, but as long as it's an ancient-style game, and as long as NPCs can interact, then I don't need any combat to clear it directly!"
"Eh, some new Brothers don't believe me? I suggest you go watch the videos I've posted. Remember last year's champion Wuxia game? I never leveled up from start to finish; I relied entirely on verbal persuasion, getting other NPCs to help, and I cleared it!"
"I can definitely clear this Xuanhuan World the same way!"
Old Potato looked confident.
Different streamers have different niches.
Midnight Gao Sou has good skills and has studied proper combat and Traditional Martial Arts.
He always relies on raw strength to clear games.
Old Potato is different.
He loves to find relationships between NPCs, constantly interact with them, and use verbal persuasion to clear levels, which is quite unique.
γ Streamer, streamer, Old Potato over there said he's going to clear it first! γ
γ We can't fall behind! γ
Midnight Gao Sou's live stream.
The bullet comments flooded the screen.
"Oh, he's playing this game too?
"Alright then, let's have a speed run and see who clears this demo first!"
Midnight Gao Sou looked confident.
He explained to his viewers:
"From the actual gameplay demo, the content of the demo shouldn't be too much. It's just meditation, practicing martial arts, then going to a small town to kill people, and finally finding a Sect to apprentice, and that's it."
"The subsequent content will have to wait for updates, and I don't know if Huan Meng's production capacity will be sufficient."
"Anyway, for this amount of content, it should still be somewhat similar to Wuxia."
"For someone like me who studies Traditional Martial Arts and combat, isn't this a piece of cake?"
Midnight Gao Sou chuckled.
γ That's right! The beginning actually doesn't have much NPC interaction, so Old Potato's approach definitely won't work. γ
γ Last year when he played, he shamelessly castrated himself to enter the palace, that's how he got by. I don't believe he can still rely on verbal persuasion this year. γ
γ Exactly, our Gao Sou will definitely be the first to clear it! γ
γ Hey, Brothers, Xiao Daidai is also streaming, and she's also playing Xuanhuan World! γ
Xiao Daidai is a female streamer, pretty to look at, but her reactions are slow, and she speaks a bit dully.
When she plays games, she usually causes a lot of laughs.
But sometimes, she can also trigger various hidden storylines.
So her live stream popularity remains high, and she's also a big streamer with several million followers.
Midnight Gao Sou felt that since he was waiting anyway, he might as well check in and connect with her.
"Hello, hello! Welcome, Gao Sou!"
"Xiao Daidai, are you playing Xuanhuan World too?"
"Yes, my viewers recommended it to me, so I'm trying it out. Oh, by the way, can this game be played in a team?"
"Huh? Team play?"
Midnight Gao Sou was momentarily stunned.
Most games in the Ancient Style Game Development Competition were single-player; few people made online games.
γ Streamer, streamer, I checked the Huan Meng official website, the demo doesn't have a team-up feature. γ
γ But that Jiang Feng promised that a team-up feature would be added in the next update. γ
Midnight Gao Sou nodded and continued chatting with Xiao Daidai:
"Then after the next update, let's team up and play together."
"Okay, okay! Let's bring Old Potato along too, the more people, the livelier!"
Midnight Gao Sou nodded.
Indeed, the more people, the livelier.
For ordinary players, there's a preference for both single-player and online games.
But for streamers like them, they definitely prefer online games.
Of course, the reactions of real people are much more varied and fun than those of NPCs.
Even if there's no fun, by helping each other, the speed of clearing should also be significantly faster.
The two chatted for a while longer.
Soon, the time arrived.
Midnight Gao Sou shouted, quickly lay down in the VR pod, adjusted his live stream interface, and locked onto the VR interface.
"Brothers, is Huan Meng just hyping things up, or have they really pulled off something big? I'm about to show you!"
Midnight Gao Sou howled, like a monkey.
He lay in the VR pod, registered an account, and logged in.
A patch of blackness.
Then, light emerged.
The start screen.
γ mystical world: the rise of the weak γ
π Text To Speech
Listen while reading