tkworld #507 - With a weird bug, Rural Werewolf is launched!
#507 - With a weird bug, Rural Werewolf is launched!
As the development of "Code: Village" fell into difficulties, Lu Yu decided to adopt more aggressive strategies to shift the attention of players and the industry.
First, Lu Yu proposed a "Virtual Village Chief Election" campaign. He posted an announcement on social media: "'Code: Village' sincerely invites players nationwide to participate in the virtual village chief election! The winner will become a special NPC in the game and receive lifetime free access!" As soon as this news came out, it sparked heated discussions.
However, the candidacy conditions set by Lu Yu were unusually bizarre. Candidates needed to demonstrate their "village chief skills" in videos, such as peeling a hundred eggs at the fastest speed, or being able to imitate the sounds of at least ten animals. These absurd requirements made many people laugh and cry, but they did attract a lot of attention.
Immediately afterward, Lu Yu launched the concept of "Code: Village Paradise." He claimed that the company would build a theme park in the real world, perfectly replicating the scenes in the game. However, when reporters pressed for specific details, Lu Yu was vague, only repeatedly emphasizing that it would be an "unprecedented immersive experience."
This crazy idea quickly became a hot topic. Some praised its creativity, while others questioned its feasibility. But in any case, people's attention was indeed successfully shifted to this illusory theme park.
Lu Yu's next strange move was to launch a "Villager Adoption Plan." He announced that players could "adopt" NPCs in the game by prepaying fees and could participate in designing some of the NPC's characteristics. This plan quickly sparked controversy. Some people thought it was an innovative way for players to participate, while others accused it of being a disguised way to grab money.
To further create topics, Lu Yu even began to post some inexplicable "previews" on major social platforms. For example, he posted a blurry picture with the caption "The day of chickens flying and dogs jumping is the time of earth-shattering events," triggering countless speculations and discussions.
This series of exaggerated promotional activities did achieve Lu Yu's expected results. People began to discuss these bizarre promotional methods more, rather than focusing on the game's development progress itself. Players who originally had expectations for "Code: Village" now began to doubt the game.
At the same time, Taoyuan Township's competitors were secretly delighted to see this scene.
Li Qiang, the new CEO of Longteng Games, said at an internal meeting: "It seems we don't need to worry too much about Taoyuan Township. They seem to have forgotten the original intention of making games and instead put their energy into these boring gimmicks."
Wang Li, the marketing director of another competing company, "Xingchen Interactive," also said: "Taoyuan Township's practices are simply self-destructive. The more they fool around like this, the more opportunities we have to seize the market."
However, not everyone sneered at Taoyuan Township's behavior. Some industry insiders began to suspect whether this was some kind of marketing strategy by Taoyuan Township. Zhang San, a famous game critic, wrote in his personal blog: "Taoyuan Township's behavior seems crazy, but we cannot rule out that this is a unique marketing technique. Maybe they are playing a very big game."
Despite this, most competitors still believed that Taoyuan Township had gone astray. They began to become more confident and increased their investment in their own game projects, hoping to seize market share if "Code: Village" failed.
However, just when everyone thought Taoyuan Township was beyond redemption, an unexpected message came. Julong Entertainment, the largest werewolf killing game publisher in China, suddenly announced that they intended to act as an agent for the "Code: Village" project. This news was like a blockbuster, shocking the entire game circle.
The original complacency of the competitors instantly vanished. Li Qiang, the CEO of Longteng Games, urgently called a meeting of senior executives and said anxiously: "What's going on? Did Julong Entertainment see something we didn't see?"
The team at Mileyou was also in a panic. Marketing Director Wang Li said: "Did we make a major misjudgment about Taoyuan Township?"
Just as the industry was in chaos, Lu Yu remained mysteriously silent. In his office, the corners of his mouth were slightly raised, and his eyes flashed with cunning.
With such a perfunctory publicity, this time it's stable!
……
Inside Taoyuan Township company, Lu Yu's series of outrageous behaviors caused confusion and dissatisfaction among many employees. However, Liu Mengyuan had a different understanding of these behaviors. She believed that Lu Yu might be using reverse thinking to stimulate the team's creativity, or using this method to test the team's cohesion and adaptability.
With this misunderstanding, Liu Mengyuan secretly contacted several senior developers who were personally brought out by Mo Xiaoxuan, Hua Wu, and Wan Xiaotong, including chief programmer Wang Lei, art director Zhao Xiaohong, and game planner Li Ming.
She said in a secret meeting: "I think President Lu may be using a special way to motivate us. Instead of complaining, we should turn these seemingly absurd ideas into highlights in the game."
At first, others were skeptical of Liu Mengyuan's idea. But under her enthusiastic influence, everyone gradually became attracted to this idea. Wang Lei said: "If we can really turn these crazy ideas into interesting game mechanics, that would be really cool."
Thus, a secret "underground development team" was formed. They decided to realize Lu Yu's seemingly impossible ideas in their spare time, in addition to their normal work.
First, they set about implementing the "random character development method."
Liu Mengyuan proposed incorporating this concept into the game's character creation system. Players could use a virtual "wheel of fortune" to randomly generate character traits, but they could also fine-tune these traits to better suit their expectations. This retained randomness while giving players some control.
For the "reverse development method," Li Ming came up with a brilliant idea.
He designed a series of seemingly impossible tasks and then added a "reverse thinking" mechanism to the game. Players needed to solve problems in an abnormal way, such as using fire spells to create ice or using healing skills to defeat enemies. This not only increased the game's fun but also exercised players' creative thinking.
Zhao Xiaohong applied the concept of "flexible working hours" to the game's day and night cycle system.
She designed a dynamic time-lapse mechanism where certain tasks and NPCs only appeared during specific time periods, and players needed to flexibly arrange their game time to complete different goals. This design increased the game world's vividness and realism.
As for the idea of a "virtual village chief election," the team developed it into an interesting in-game activity. Players could participate in the village chief election, which required completing a series of challenging but slightly funny tasks, such as peeling eggs quickly or imitating animal sounds. The winning player would become the server's temporary "village chief" and have some special permissions, such as setting up small events or giving other players buff bonuses.
The concept of "Code: Village Paradise" was transformed into a special area within the game. This was a theme park full of various bizarre mechanisms and puzzles, where players needed to explore, solve puzzles, and even design some amusement facilities themselves.
The "Villager Adoption Plan" evolved into a unique NPC interaction system. Players could "adopt" a certain NPC by completing specific tasks, gain an in-depth understanding of their background story, and influence their future development. This greatly increased the game's sense of immersion and repeatability.
With the gradual realization of these ideas, "Code: Village," a originally simple werewolf killing game, began to become rich and colorful. It was no longer just a role-playing and strategic confrontation game, but integrated puzzle-solving, simulation management, social interaction, and other elements, forming a unique comprehensive game world.
In this way, behind the surface chaos of the company, "Code: Village" was quietly taking shape in an unexpected way...
……
As Lu Yu's "lying flat strategy" continued, the company's normal work rhythm was completely disrupted. Every day, there were new bizarre ideas to deal with, and employees were running around, working around the clock to handle various absurd promotional activities. Liu Mengyuan and her secret team, although enthusiastic, could only develop secretly late at night, often working until dawn.
Under this state of high pressure and fatigue, a fatal BUG quietly crept into the game code. At first, no one noticed this small error. It was like a time bomb, quietly waiting for the moment to explode.
Finally, in an internal test, the BUG revealed its power. Tester Xiao Li was conducting an ordinary werewolf killing game when suddenly, he found that his character could see the identities of all other players. Not only that, but he could also change these identities at will! This discovery was like a thunderbolt, instantly exploding in the development team.
The news quickly reached Liu Mengyuan's ears. She immediately convened an emergency meeting of the secret team members. In the meeting room, the usually tidy whiteboard was now covered with densely packed code and flowcharts, and Wang Lei's glasses were even stained with coffee stains that he had hurriedly wiped off a few hours earlier.
"How did this BUG occur?" Liu Mengyuan asked anxiously, her voice filled with obvious fatigue and tension.
Li Ming rubbed his red eyes and said with a wry smile: "Maybe we accidentally affected the storage mechanism of character information when implementing the 'Wheel of Fortune' function."
Zhao Xiaohong added: "Moreover, because we have been developing secretly without going through a complete testing process, this kind of error is easily overlooked."
Just as they were discussing enthusiastically, the door was suddenly pushed open. Lu Yu walked in expressionlessly, and the room was instantly silent enough to hear a pin drop.
"I heard there's a problem?" Lu Yu said lightly, his eyes sweeping over everyone's tired faces.
Liu Mengyuan took a deep breath and plucked up the courage to explain: "Yes, President Lu. We encountered a serious BUG during development and are now working hard to solve it."
Lu Yu raised his eyebrows without showing any surprise or anger. He just said: "It seems we need more 'innovation' to solve this problem." After speaking, he turned and left the room, leaving a room full of dumbfounded employees.
The meeting room fell silent again. Liu Mengyuan looked at the tired colleagues in the room and thought of Lu Yu's unfathomable attitude, and didn't know what to do for a while. The shadow of the BUG shrouded everyone, and they knew that a difficult code battle was about to begin.
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Outside the window, the eastern sky was already showing a hint of dawn. A new day had begun, but for the employees of Taoyuan Township, this was destined to be a sleepless day. The BUG was like a mountain, lying in front of them, and time was passing by every minute and second.
……
Liu Mengyuan pondered for a moment, and her eyes suddenly lit up. She stood up and said excitedly: "Everyone, I have an idea. Instead of fixing this BUG, why don't we turn it into a feature of the game?"
Everyone looked at her in confusion. Wang Lei pushed his glasses and asked: "You mean, keep the problem of being able to see other people's identities?"
Liu Mengyuan nodded and smiled: "That's right, but we want to turn it into a special character ability."
She walked to the whiteboard and began to draw: "Everyone, think about it, in our village story stage, what character might be able to 'see through' others?"
Li Ming suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "Oh! I know, the old immortal!"
"That's right!" Liu Mengyuan said excitedly, "We can design an 'old immortal' character. He is usually drunk and looks confused, but occasionally there will be a 'divine light' flashing, briefly seeing the true identities of other villagers."
Zhao Xiaohong also became interested: "This idea is very interesting! We can design a drinking animation. Whenever the old immortal gets drunk, there is a chance to trigger this ability."
Wang Lei frowned and said: "But is this ability too strong? Will it break the game balance?"
Liu Mengyuan nodded: "You're right, so we need to add some restrictions. For example, the information the old immortal sees is not always accurate. He may see it wrong, or see a blurry image."
Li Ming added: "We can also set it so that if the old immortal says what he sees, others may think he is talking nonsense and instead suspect him. This increases the risk of using this ability."
As the discussion deepened, the atmosphere in the room gradually became active. Everyone spoke one after another, constantly improving this new concept.
Zhao Xiaohong picked up a pen and drew a sketch of the old immortal's image on the whiteboard: "We can design him as an old man with a long beard and wearing a tattered Taoist robe. He usually looks drunk, but when the 'divine light flashes,' his eyes will emit a strange light."
Wang Lei also had inspiration: "Now that we have the old immortal, can we add a 'barefoot doctor' character? He can choose to believe or question the old immortal's words, increasing the variables in the game."
Liu Mengyuan's eyes lit up: "Good idea! In this way, our game is not just a traditional werewolf killing game, but adds a strong rural flavor. This can make the game more unique."
As the discussion deepened, the originally headache-inducing BUG gradually evolved into a new character full of rural atmosphere. Everyone's fatigue was swept away, replaced by the passion and excitement of creation.
A few hours later, when the morning light shone into the meeting room through the curtains, a brand new version of "Code: Village" was already presented on the whiteboard. This version not only retained the original werewolf killing gameplay but also added new characters such as the old immortal and the barefoot doctor, as well as a series of new mechanisms full of rural characteristics.
Liu Mengyuan looked at the densely packed design drawings on the whiteboard, a proud smile radiating from her face. She turned around and said to the tired but excited team members, "Guys, I think we might have actually created a unique, rural version of Werewolf."
Just then, the door was pushed open again, and Lu Yu walked in. Seeing the room full of people still working enthusiastically, a subtle smile appeared on his face.
Liu Mengyuan took a deep breath and stepped forward: "Lu Yu, we have some new ideas and want to report them to you."
Lu Yu shook his head: "It's okay, I believe in you!"
He really didn't believe that he had already slacked off to this point, and the project team could still make waves.
......
Finally, the development of "Project: Village" was nearing completion and was about to be launched. Everyone was curious whether Peach Blossom Paradise could fill the gap in the Werewolf market!