Losing Money to Be a Tycoon

In addition, He An also noticed there was a huge difference in size for buildings and units in Mission and Choice. A ground base was several times larger than a space starship. A space starship was tens of times larger than an ordinary spaceship. An ordinary spaceship was tens of times larger than "Skylark", the smallest individual combat unit.

Thus, the entire map of Mission and Choice would appear very huge. The perspective would change drastically at the highest and lowest point. At the lowest point, one would be able to see the details of the Skylark Warriors' armor, and at the highest point, one would be able to see the entirety of a large ground base.

The Skylark warriors on the ground were like ants after pulling the camera high up in the sky.

Different units were distributed on different levels. Space starships were at the highest level. Below them were ordinary spaceships. Below them were the Skylark team that descended from spaceships to the ground.

Thus, players had to adjust their perspective frequently in order to better observe the entire battlefield.

The problem was obvious: the machine had to be well-equipped and was difficult to operate.

For classic RTS games like "Fantasy Battle" and "Starcraft 2", the ratio of various units was unreal. Many units were tens of times smaller in the settings, but in the game, they were at most twice as big.

That was because RTS games required a lot of operations and a high balance.

What would the movement speed of a large mothership and a reconnaissance plane be if they were to move according to their actual size? Would they cover each other and cause players to be unaware? Would it be difficult to operate the smaller units? Would the damage caused by small units attacking large units be very limited? Would it be very unscientific for a team of soldiers to destroy the main base with machine guns?

RTS games were ultimately games, not war simulators. These problems were difficult and almost impossible to solve. Therefore, traditional RTS games greatly sacrificed their authenticity in order to balance and operate.

'Mission and Choice' did the opposite, maximizing its authenticity. However, this also meant that the balance and operation of the game were completely gone.

In traditional RTS games, 30 large soldiers could easily destroy a tank. However, in Mission and Choice, no matter how many machine gunners encountered large-scale ground heavy equipment, they could only be beaten.

In He An's opinion, this undoubtedly increased the chances of the game failing.

However, the game's difficulty level was indeed very low.

He An was old. His reaction speed and hand speed could not be compared to young people, but it was not too difficult for him to complete the operations in the game.

That was because the units in the game were basically moving in formation. For example, the most basic combat unit, the "Skylark Team", was made up of five Skylark Warriors. One level above would be a battleship. Another level above would be a small battleship formation. Yet another level above would be the battle group of the mothership…

Players could give orders to any level of formation, and the choice of the enemy was also based on formation.

For example, giving orders to attack the enemy's main force in the battle group of the entire space carriers was actually akin to 'F2A'.

However, the difference was that all units in Mission and Choice had a certain level of intelligence. They would not charge mindlessly. Instead, they would maintain a specific formation and not play too ugly.

Of course, players could also order a team or a battle ship to carry out other tasks.

However, such an operation with a high degree of freedom was actually not commonly used. Most of the time, one just had to reach the level of battle formation under the command. Even if one operated these spaceships or soldiers one by one, the final effect might not be better than direct attacks.

Therefore, even someone as old as He An did not find it difficult to operate the game.

However, that did not mean that the game's combat experience would be good. That was because all the units inside would run amok!

Some spaceships would run away from the battlefield as they fought. Players would not be able to pull them back even if instructions were given individually.

Some spaceships would even crash into cliffs or crash while flying in extreme panic, leaving He An dumbfounded.

DEMO started the game immediately since there was no plot.

The most important thing that He An had to do was to give orders to the team to attack the Zergs. He had to deal with the warning messages sent by AEEIS and respond accordingly.

There was a lot of information on the alarm, but it was not a big problem to ignore it. AEEIS would deal with it on its own after some time.

About twenty minutes later, the battle ended.

He might be clumsy doing most of the operations for the very first time and learnt many things on the spot, but He An still managed to get through this DEMO successfully.

Pei Qian asked expectantly, "Teacher He, what do you think?"

He An remained silent for a moment and decided to tell the truth.

"There's definitely no problem with the game's graphics. It's well-made and the scene during the war is very beautiful. It gives people the feeling that the battle is very intense."

"However…"

"These soldiers are often out of control. This is too uncomfortable! Many of the battles could have been won, but they were wiped out because they had their own ideas. This is too infuriating!"

"This is an RTS game. This kind of game experience is hard for me to accept."

Hu Xianbin quickly said, "Oh, Boss He, the AI of the small army is still being developed, so it's relatively simple and brainless. When the AI is done, the small army's choices will be more diverse and smarter. The experience should be better."

He An was silent for a moment. "In other words, there will be more ways for them not to listen to me?"

Hu Xianbin: "Er… you can put it that way."

He An :"…"

After a moment of silence, he looked at Pei Qian. "Boss Pei, don't blame me for being straightforward. I'm mainly worried about wasting money. After all, five hundred million yuan is not a small sum. Buying luxury cars and mansions would be much better than wasting it."

"The game's AI might affect some gaming experience but I feel that with the current AI technology, the game's combat experience would not improve much even if the game's AI is done."

"At the moment, this DEMO is just a silver spear tip that looks good but is useless. There is absolutely no problem with the graphics, but the gameplay does not attract me at all."

"Good graphics also means high requirements for computer hardware. That would further reduce the number of gamers. That would be very disadvantageous for a game with such a huge investment."

"How much of that 500 million yuan do we have left? It's not too late to stop losses now. Change the gameplay, make use of the current art resources, and create a new game. We won't lose all the hard-earned 500 million yuan."

Pei Qian was elated.

Lose all the hard-earned money?

That's great!

Pei Qian had already explained the basic design concepts of the game to He An at the start of the project. He had received a 'definite loss' reply. However, Pei Qian still felt uneasy before the game was created.

He An still felt that the game would definitely lose money now that he had played the game's DEMO. What's more, he would lose all his hard-earned money. This undoubtedly gave Pei Qian a boost!

However, Hu Xianbin was unhappy.

He frowned, disagreeing with He An's decision in sentencing 'Mission and Choice' to death.

That was because this was just a DEMO. The plot had not been added and the content was missing. Wasn't it too early to say that it would fail?

Most importantly, this was Boss Pei's idea!

How could Boss Pei's creativity be wrong?

Thus, Hu Xianbin subconsciously wanted to retort.

He An might be a veteran, but different designers would have different views on the game. There would be differences in opinions and even arguments when it became intense.

As a designer, it was very normal for him to speak his mind confidently and raise his understanding and design standards while debating with other designers.

However, Pei Qian could tell that Hu Xianbin was not convinced. He immediately patted Hu Xianbin's shoulder without leaving a trace, forcing him to swallow his words.

Pei Qian did not want Hu Xianbin and He An to have a showdown. That would be meaningless.

He An had just said that the game would definitely incur losses. Pei Qian could not be happier.

He smiled and said, "Teacher He, you're right! I completely agree!"

"Alright, we're done watching the game. Let's go back to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe and have some coffee. My treat."

Hu Xianbin's tightly knitted brows relaxed, and he instantly felt relieved seeing Boss Pei's attitude.

I was the one getting worked up while Boss Pei was still confident and tolerant!

As a relatively young designer, it was indeed very easy to fly into a rage with others. One had to be extremely confident and defend their own views as a designer after all.

There would inevitably be a debate when both designers thought that they were right.

However, Boss Pei had obviously reached another level. He did not argue with others not because he was not confident in himself, but because he was too confident in himself. That was why he smiled and did not bother arguing with others.

He An was a veteran after all. It was normal for him to not be able to keep up with the latest game design trends and not be able to see the allure of Mission and Choice. Boss Pei did not explain much but followed the old man's thoughts. That was right.

Thus, Hu Xianbin smiled and said, "Alright, Boss Pei. I'll continue working."

Pei Qian smiled as he led He An out of Tengda Games. He was prepared to return to Fish-Catching Internet Cafe again.

He An followed behind Pei Qian but the more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was amiss.

"Boss Pei, you say that you completely agree with me, but you have no intention of changing it at all."

"Are you just agreeing with me on the surface to fool the elderly?"

"Do you think that I'm too old and I can't keep up with the understanding of games? I might not be able to understand even if you explain therefore, you might as well not explain and just agree with me?"

Pei Qian immediately denied this statement very sincerely. "How is that possible!"

"Teacher He, I mean what I said. I completely agree with you."

"However… This game is already at this stage. It's not appropriate to change it anymore. I might as well finish it."

"It doesn't matter if I make some losses."

He An was shocked, but he could not tell if Boss Pei was joking or not just by looking at his expression.

It did not matter if he made some losses?

That was 500 million yuan!

He An was silent for a moment. "Heh, I can tell that you're very confident, Boss Pei. You agree with my proposal but you don't change it. That means you have a better solution."

"Alright, I'll wait and see then!"

Pei Qian: "?"

Pei Qian felt helpless looking at the old man's confident expression.

He really could not explain it!

Since that was the case, there was no need to explain further. He would treat He An to a meal and thank him properly after 'Mission and Choice' was released.