Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

Not long after Wu Zhicheng received the milk tea, a young man with black-framed glasses and slightly curly hair came to him.

"Hello, my name is Xi Hao. I'm the person-in-charge of the administrative department here. I'll be helping designers with the development plan, budget, progress, etc. In short, you can treat me as your 'butler' at work. You can look for me if you need anything."

"I'll bring you to your workstation and familiarize you with the entire incubation base."

Wu Zhicheng quickly stood up and shook Xi Hao's hand. "Alright, nice to meet you. Please take care of me in the future."

Xi Hao patted him on the shoulder with a smile. "Don't be too formal. We'll be family from now on. I've only just joined the administrative department like the others. We're all newbies."

"What's more, the administrative department of the incubation base is not a management but a service provider. You are in charge of creativity, we are in charge of service, your work is much more important than ours."

The two chatted as they walked towards the office.

Apart from looking for office space, Qiu Hong had another important thing to do during this period of time for the entire incubation base to operate normally: recruitment.

It would be too inefficient if they sent their resumes to social recruitment. Therefore, Qiu Hong used his connections in the games industry in Beijing to select a group of people through internal selection.

Xi Hao had more than four years of game development experience and had been the chief planner of a small company. He was not the best in all aspects, but he was more than enough to satisfy ordinary projects.

What's more, even though Xi Hao lacked creativity in game design, he had a strong point: he was serious, meticulous, and very responsible towards his work.

Thus, after some consideration, Qiu Hong felt that Xi Hao was a good candidate and decided to let him be in charge of maintaining the normal operations of the entire incubation base.

The administrative department of the incubation base was not only in charge of administrative matters, but more like a Jack-of-all-trades.

There was a special finance, legal, and art requirement team here. At the same time, there were professionals in charge of development planning and project management.

In short, all the supporting departments that Qiu Hong had previously thought that independent game designers lacked had been included.

There were about 10 staff in the administrative department of the incubation base, while not too many, they had everything they needed. They were professionals with a certain amount of experience in the related fields.

Xi Hao brought Wu Zhicheng to a workstation near the window in the office. "This will be your workstation from now on. Your employment pass is still being processed and should be ready soon."

"This is an access card. If you come to work in the future, just swipe your card on the first floor. You don't have to register anymore."

"Our administrative department is near that window. If you encounter any problems at work, feel free to look for us."

"Transfer all the data and resources on your computer into the office computer here this morning. At the same time, follow the instructions on this piece of paper to access your internal communication account and project management rights."

"In the afternoon, we will have a small meeting to briefly talk about the game you are working on. That will make it easier for us to estimate the working period, develop a plan, and find suitable artists."

Xi Hao quickly explained everything he had to take note of in the incubation space.

It was similar to officially joining a company, but there was a difference between the work content and workflow.

After Xi Hao left, Wu Zhicheng turned on his office computer.

This batch of office computers had been provided by ROF Computer-Installation. They had been delivered directly from Jingzhou to Beijing. However, they were not using ROF's custom-made computers. There was no logo of ROF on the computers either.

Wu Zhicheng had never used ROF Computer-Installation before, so he did not think too much about it. He only thought that this was a high-end assembly machine that the incubation base had purchased on its own.

After turning it on, Wu Zhicheng copied the relevant data of "Black Ink and Clouds" onto the office computer, logged into the official development platform, and opened the internal communication account and project management rights according to Xi Hao's instructions.

Wu Zhicheng had never worked in a gaming company before. He did not know that this was the standard operating procedure of a gaming company. He found it very refreshing.

"Eh, the hardware is so high-end."

Wu Zhicheng was a little surprised. The computer configuration that he had used before was not bad. He had spent a lot of money on it. However, the budget was limited after all. He had to pay more attention to the cost-effectiveness ratio.

On the other hand, this computer was a perfect example of perfection. Wu Zhicheng was drooling with envy after looking at the configurations.

He was also very satisfied with the ergonomic office tables and chairs. There was also a bar counter that provided unlimited drinks and milk tea. The working environment was completely different.

In this relaxed working atmosphere, Wu Zhicheng began to sort out the contents of Black Ink and Clouds, including the expected number of stages, boss battle design, style, and so on. He did not want to be ignorant during the meeting in the afternoon and make a fool of himself in front of everyone.

…

Lunch was provided by Fish-Catching Take-Out.

Fish-Catching Take-Out had already left Handong Province and opened some shops in first-tier cities like Beijing and Shanghai.

There was a very important reason why Qiu Hong chose the incubation base here. It was because there was a Fish-Catching Take-Out shop nearby that could easily solve the problem of food.

After Wu Zhicheng had his fill, he burped and drank his milk tea. What kind of heavenly work environment was this?!

Before this, he had been hesitant about whether he should work here. On one hand, he felt that it was quite troublesome to take the subway for four stations a day. On the other hand, he was worried that he would not be able to do things in a carefree manner.

However, looking at the working environment now, Wu Zhicheng only had one thought: Was this heaven?

In the afternoon, Xi Hao, Wu Zhicheng, and three other employees from the administrative department had a meeting.

Xi Hao briefly introduced the roles of these three people: one was in charge of resources statistics, planning and development nodes of progress, one was in charge of the proposal and communication of art resources, one was in charge of financial reimbursement, collecting data and printing, and various other tasks.

This was the framework that Qiu Hong had prepared for the incubation base after careful consideration.

There were three groups like that in the entire incubation base. Each group could be responsible for four to six independent game projects.

In other words, the entire incubation base could incubate 12 to 18 independent game projects at the same time under the most efficient circumstances, ensuring that these game projects would obtain the most perfect support.

The three people in the group had a clear division of labor. Basically, they were responsible for everything apart from the game design and the specifics of the game.

As the person-in-charge, Xi Hao had to understand all the independent game projects. He also had to plan and supervise the work of all the teams.

Wu Zhicheng was still a little nervous.

That was because he had been cooped up at home ever since he started creating independent games. He had very little interaction with others, especially when it came to work.

Now, he felt a little nervous facing four people who were taking notes seriously with a pen and paper.

However, Wu Zhicheng quickly adjusted his mentality and began to introduce the basic situation of Black Ink and Clouds.

"Black Ink and Clouds" is a platform action-based game. I have planned a total of ten stages. Each stage has a unique boss and small monster…"

Wu Zhicheng gave them a general overview of the contents like what he did with Qiu Hong.

The four people on the opposite side nodded as they silently noted down.

It was better to hear it from the designer himself even if they might already have some basic information about Black Ink and Clouds.

Xi Hao did not interrupt Wu Zhicheng. Instead, he waited for him to finish speaking before asking his question.

"Do you have a plan for the gaming duration?" Xi Hao asked.

Wu Zhicheng was stunned. "Er… I haven't thought about this."

Xi Hao nodded and explained, "Ten stages in the game is a more general concept. Ten minutes can be one stage, and two hours can be one stage."

"In order to ensure the content of the game and take good care of the gamers' gaming experience, we have to plan the gaming time first. Then, we can adjust the specific plan for the stages through the game time."

"Generally speaking, for independent, platform games like this, the better one would be eight to twelve hours long. It would not be appropriate for it to be too long or too short."

"My suggestion is that the standard game flow can be set at around 10 hours. The checkpoints must follow the principle of going from easy to difficult. Therefore, the later stages should be slightly longer."