Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

February 3rd, Friday, 10 AM.

Pei Qian arrived at Fish-Catching Internet Cafe's Handong University branch. After having an early lunch, he ordered a cup of coffee and asked the waiter to bring his laptop over. He then continued to consider the work arrangements of the various departments.

"Eh, Zhongdian Chinese Network's recent revenue figures are still rising steadily."

"Is this lousy website really getting better and better?"

"No, I can't let this go on. I have to make arrangements when I have time."

Pei Qian flipped through the revenue figures of a few departments and realized that while Zhongdian Chinese Network did not make the most money, its profits were the most stable and steadily increasing.

More and more authors joined Zhongdian Chinese Network from various statistics. The entire website's library was expanding.

Content was always the first priority for similar online literature websites. As long as Zhongdian Chinese Network could maintain its attraction to authors and provide competitive novels, its future development would definitely become smoother.

Pei Qian had been too worried about other matters previously and felt that no need to pay attention to Zhongdian Chinese Network since it previously did not make much money. However, it seemed like he had no choice but to pay attention to it now. If this went on, he would be raising a tiger.

However… How could he contain Zhongdian Chinese Network's development?

This was a technical task. He had to think about it carefully.

Pei Qian could not help but fall into deep thought.

As he was thinking, he suddenly saw a familiar figure push open the door and enter.

"Teacher He?" Pei Qian was a little surprised.

It was He An.

He An was a little surprised to see Pei Qian. Perhaps he did not expect to meet him by chance. Thus, he walked straight to the empty seat opposite Pei Qian and sat down.

"Teacher He, why are you in Jingzhou?" Pei Qian asked.

He An smiled. "I don't have much to do recently, so I came to Jingzhou to relax."

"That's right, Boss Pei, how… is your game going?"

Of course, this "game" referred to Mission and Choice. The birth of this game was closely related to He An.

He An had been feeling worried ever since he suggested to Boss Pei. He was afraid that he would lose five hundred million yuan. Wouldn't that be cheating Boss Pei?

Thus, He An came to Jingzhou to relax as it had been weighing on his mind. Of course, he had to ask since he met Boss Pei by coincidence.

Pei Qian remained silent for a moment. "Er… I'm not sure either."

He An: "?"

You are not sure about it?

This was a game project that cost five hundred million yuan!

The game had been developed for more than four months from the official start of production. It might have been almost completed by now if it had been a small project.

'Mission and Choice' was a huge production and the development period had to be extended. However, Tengda would have to produce a semi-finished product in four months with their efficiency, right?

Yet, Boss Pei himself was not sure?

He had already invested five hundred million yuan into a project, but the boss did not even check on it?

Could it be any more ridiculous?

Or…

Boss Pei had been joking before. He had thought that this project would definitely incur losses. That was why he had stopped the project after working on it for a while? He had stopped developing it?

He An looked at Pei Qian suspiciously. "Boss Pei, could it be that you think that this project would definitely incur losses and that's why you haven't developed it at all?"

Pei Qian immediately shook his head. "That's impossible!"

"We are developing it. It should be more than half done according to the progress, right? Just as well, why don't Teacher He join me to take a look?"

He An was even more confused. He had no idea what was going on.

Saying that Boss Pei did not put much significance to this project was not right since he had invested so much money and manpower into it; However, saying that Boss Pei placed much significance to this project was not right either since he did not even know its progress after developing it for four months.

He had to make guesses about the development progress?

It did not make sense no matter how he thought about it!

He An nodded. "Alright, I'm also very curious about the current situation of this game."

Pei Qian finished his coffee and walked with He An to the nearby Tengda Games headquarters.

This was the first time He An had come to Tengda's office. He was shocked by the spacious and luxurious office like everyone else.

He An could not help but feel emotional. "I've been working in the games industry for decades. This is the first time I've seen an office like this."

He noticed that not only was the office environment very good, the employees were also very enthusiastic about their work. Everyone was focused on their work. No one even stood up to greet Boss Pei when he arrived.

Only Hu Xianbin quickly stood up when he saw Boss Pei. "Boss Pei!" He addressed hurriedly.

Pei Qian smiled and said, "Nothing much, I'm just here to see the development of Mission and Choice."

"This is Boss He An from Mengguo Games."

Hu Xianbin looked delighted. "Boss He! I've heard so much about you. You're a veteran in the gaming circle! Hello, hello!"

Both parties exchanged a few pleasantries before Hu Xianbin began to introduce the development of Mission and Choice.

At the moment, Tengda Games was basically divided into two projects. One of them was in charge of GOG's development and daily operations. The person in charge was Min Jingchao. He had just returned from Los Angeles a few days ago and was about to carry his luggage back to Los Angeles to play. The other was in charge of the development of Mission and Choice, and Hu Xianbin was in charge.

"Boss Pei, the game's completion rate is about sixty to seventy percent at the moment. The basic gameplay and framework of the game have been completed. The various game mechanisms have also been more or less completed. There are still various stages of design and some details of the game that need to be slowly adjusted…"

Pei Qian listened intently and nodded repeatedly.

He An was also listening intently, but his expression was unpredictable and interesting.

That was because he realized that it seemed as though Boss Pei had never asked about this project before.

He could tell that Hu Xianbin was reporting more basic things, including development progress, early preparation, gameplay settings, and so on. If Boss Pei already knew about it, there was no need for Hu Xianbin to introduce it again.

There was no reason for them to lie to him.

Could it be that… Boss Pei really did not bother about it after the project was made?

So confident?

Of course, He An did not think that Boss Pei was not paying attention because he felt that no one would not pay attention to a project that cost five hundred million yuan.

Then… the only explanation was that Boss Pei trusted his subordinates very much!

Boss Pei believed that once he gave a design plan, his subordinates would be able to understand the concept of the design very well even if he did not ask anymore. They would be able to complete the work perfectly and finally produce a finished product that matched his expectations.

However, this would raise a new problem.

Boss Pei was so confident because he had come up with a very detailed and perfect design plan that would solve the series of problems that existed before Mission and Choice.

However, the game 'Mission and Choice' was too strange. What kind of design concept was needed to make it successful?

This plan was created because Pei Qian and He An had discussed the 'a game plan that was most unlikely to become successful'.

Huge investment, RTS game, sci-fi genre, poor balance, simple operations… These were all 'fatal flaws' that He An had raised.

He An believed that the game would never succeed as long as Boss Pei did as he requested.

What's more, Boss Pei had used the game's name and background that was previously known as the 'disgrace of the domestic games industry'. There was no chance of success at all.

Now, seeing how confident Boss Pei was, He An became more interested in the game. However, he also became more confused.

After a brief introduction, Hu Xianbin said, "Boss Pei, Boss He, would you like to try out this game's DEMO?"

Pei Qian nodded immediately. "Of course."

Hu Xianbin immediately brought up the DEMO for Mission and Choice on his computer. Then, he said, "Boss Pei, the current DEMO's completion rate is still alright, but a lot of parts of the plot are missing. That's because the plot is expressed in movies. However, the movie is still filming, so we can only experience pure combat for now."

Pei Qian nodded. "Alright, I understand."

Then, he looked at He An. "Why don't you try it out and give me some suggestions."

He An did not decline much. He sat in front of his computer and began to experience the DEMO of Mission and Choice.

As a real-time strategy type of game, Mission and Choice was naturally divided into stages.

Different chapters and checkpoints had different plots. There were big and small maps. The deployment of both parties' forces had also changed. The overall difficulty went from easy to difficult.

The map of this stage was all on the surface of the planet. There were no battles in space, but the size of the map was not small. It would probably be a stage in the middle of the game.

'Mission and Choice' used a third-person perspective based on the standards of real-time strategy games. However, it was different from games like Starcraft. 'Mission and Choice' had a much higher freedom in terms of perspective.

Ordinary real-time strategy games could drag and zoom into perspective. However, these operations were strictly limited and could not be zoomed in endlessly without restrictions.

That was because most of the time, players would be very busy when playing such games. They had to pay attention to all units on the battlefield, be it operations or observation. They had to have the most zoomed out perspective.

What's more, the model of the game itself was not that precise. If the perspective was too close, the game's graphics would look very rough.

Considering the beauty and practicality of the game, it was normal for the view to be restricted.

However, Mission and Choice had a high degree of freedom of view. One could pull the image very close because the precision of soldiers and other combat units in the game was higher than all of the RTS games currently on the market.

He An sighed silently in his heart. He had indeed burned enough money. There was nothing to nitpick on.

Every soldier's model, movements, and details were done very well. The design was also very unique. The graphics could be said to be top-notch.

He had spent so much money after all. There had to be some effect.

The concept art of the game should have been produced by Ruan Guangjian's Halo Workspace. The game's modeling and movements were also handled by top-notch outsourcing companies in the industry. There was nothing to nitpick about the art.