They’re all reborn, what’s wrong with being a little more almighty?

Chapter 245 Going to Germany to Make a Fortune

After entering May, the revenue of "Three Kingdoms Generals" has shown a significant decline, and the number of online players has also decreased significantly.

This is a crudely made web game with no game content. It relies entirely on being free and featuring large-scale illustrations of beautiful women to attract players. Once the players' passion is over, it becomes meaningless.

In addition, there are several imitators on the market. They obviously also realized the fat piece of meat in free web games, and they have launched games one after another. The gameplay mode is similar to "Three Kingdoms Generals", and they also use many beautiful illustrations to attract players.

Chinese people are not that good at making games in other aspects, but they are definitely the best in the world in following trends. Especially for games with simple designs, it is easy to follow trends, and many game companies that want to make quick money are happy to copy directly.

It is foreseeable that as time goes by, there will be more and more followers.

In addition to a large number of followers, a strong competitor has also emerged in the PC gaming field, namely Giant Network's "Zhengtu".

Although "Zhengtu" is free, everyone who has played it knows that this game is really expensive. Spending tens of thousands of dollars is nothing, and spending millions is only considered ordinary rich people. In "Zhengtu", there is no such thing as spending the most money, only spending more money. In the next few years, "Zhengtu" will be recognized as the most expensive game.

Even in 2006, Zhengtu's games lacked novelty, had simple and crude graphics, and used very backward 2D technology. At that time, many games' gameplay or graphics were much better than Zhengtu's.

The key is that "Zhengtu" does not charge game cards, which attracts many players. Free players are often bullied by RMB players in the game, and those free players who can't stand it will recharge to improve their attributes, and slowly small recharges become large recharges, and they spend more and more money.

In this respect, the player group of "Zhengtu" is highly similar to the player group of web games such as "Three Kingdoms Heroes". Everyone comes for the free game, can accept relatively poor graphics, and does not have high requirements for the playability of the game. Simple operations, plus mindless PK, can meet the needs of this type of players.

On the contrary, a large portion of the players of paid games cannot accept games like "Zhengtu".

For example, how could players who are used to "World of Warcraft" accept the horrific graphics of "Zhengtu"!
For example, if players of "Fantasy Westward Journey" go to play "Zhengtu", they don't know what to do when they go online.

The rapid popularity of "Zhengtu" also snatched a large number of players from "Three Kingdoms Generals". Both are free games, and PC games are still more attractive than web games.

Faced with the daily revenue that was like Wang Xiaoer's New Year's Day, Yao Xiaoguang didn't care. Anyway, before the Spring Festival, Zhang Wei had already given him a shot of prevention, telling him that "Three Kingdoms Generals" would not last more than half a year, and Yao Xiaoguang was already mentally prepared.

Moreover, in the past three months, "Three Kingdoms Heroes" has earned tens of millions, and will be able to earn at least tens of millions in the future. Yao Xiaoguang is already very satisfied with such an income. At least there is no shortage of funds for the development of DOTA2.

Yao Xiaoguang had never fought such a lucrative battle. When he was developing games in the past, the funding for each phase was only a few hundred thousand. For the entire game project, it was considered a lot to have two or three million in funding. Even when he was working with Shanda, he was still making 3D games, and the funding for game development did not exceed five million.

Now that he has tens of millions of development funds, Yao Xiaoguang has higher requirements for DOTA2. The game engine must be refined, the graphics must be detailed, and many functions and settings that he didn't dare to use before must be used as much as possible.

The most expensive aspects of game development are the game engine and art. For many console games, it is common for a CG clip to cost tens of millions, and for the art of the entire game to cost hundreds of millions. Moreover, even though the art cost so much, it is often criticized by players for being bad.

Fortunately, MOBA games such as DOTA2 do not have high requirements for art design. As long as the game engine is well done, the game does not lag, and players can play smoothly, the rest is a matter of balance.

Yao Xiaoguang has only one requirement for DOTA2's graphics, which is to surpass DOTA1, that is, the graphics of Warcraft 3.

Although Warcraft 3 was released in 2002, it was produced by Blizzard after all, and it was a product of Blizzard's peak era. The game graphics still do not feel outdated even after more than ten years.

It is actually not an easy task to surpass Warcraft 3 in terms of graphics.

So this month, Yao Xiaoguang's main energy was focused on the development of DOTA2.

Zhang Wei thought that he should still devote some energy to continue making web games. Web games can still make money. In that era when online games were not regulated very much, even a crudely made web game could quickly make a fortune.

Even in the worst case scenario, you can still win by quantity. You can make a web game, operate it for more than half a year, and stop serving after making 18 million. If you make a web game every two months, you can make a lot of money in a year.

So Zhang Wei handed the planning proposal of "Hot-Blooded Three Kingdoms" to Yao Xiaoguang.

"Hot-blooded Three Kingdoms? Another Three Kingdoms web game?" Yao Xiaoguang read the plan carefully.

“To recruit generals, you need an inn and a talent recruitment hall. The generals in the inn are refreshed every once in a while. The higher the level of the inn, the higher the level of the generals that can be recruited.

If you want to recruit multiple generals, you need to upgrade the skills of the Recruiting Hall. Generals can also be upgraded through internal affairs and military affairs.

There are twelve types of soldiers, each with unique functions and roles, and they can also restrain each other.

There are five major categories of props in the game: equipment, treasures, acceleration, production and treasure chests. Props can be obtained through battle drops or purchased with ingots.

Equipment will increase various attributes of generals, can be crafted using raw materials, and has durability. It can be repaired, but repairs will reduce the upper limit of durability. Repairs using ingots will not reduce the upper limit of durability.

Equipment can be strengthened and inlaid. Strengthening can increase the level of equipment. The higher the level, the more attributes the equipment will have improved.

You can use a diamond drill to drill holes in props. The drilled equipment can be inlaid with gems, and the gems can also enhance the properties of the equipment.

Can gems be synthesized? If two gems of the same level are synthesized into a high-level gem, the higher the level of the synthesized gem, the greater the chance of failure?
There is also a task system. There are daily tasks, epic tasks, famous general tasks, weekend tasks. There are many types!
Daily tasks include paying tribute to the court, eliminating bandits, providing relief to disaster victims, and evaluating rebels. Epic tasks include conquering the Yellow Turban Army, leading troops to defend the emperor, and rescuing the emperor.

Famous generals' tasks, tasks that can only be taken by specific generals? Weekend tasks, expelling Wuhuan in the first week of each month, pacifying Xiqiang in the second week, conquering Nanman in the third week, and martial arts competition in the fourth week?
I thought it was another card-drawing game, but it's much more complicated, with rich settings. It looks like a serious online game. It should be considered a strategy game, right?"

Zhang Wei nodded: "Don't make it too simple, otherwise it will be too easy for others to copy it. But if the game becomes more complicated, your workload will also increase a lot."

"It's just a few lines of code, not much work." Yao Xiaoguang replied.

Zhang Wei continued: "For this game, we are going to add a new setting, the boss key."

"What is the boss button? With one click, you can top up and become the boss in the game, killing everyone?"

"What are you thinking? The so-called boss key is just a button. With just one press, the game interface will be hidden directly so that others can't see it." Zhang Wei explained.

"I understand now. This boss button is set to avoid the boss's inspection?" Yao Xiaoguang showed an expression of sudden enlightenment.

"Yes, I even thought of a slogan for this game. It's about playing games while working!"

"Uh...this..." Yao Xiaoguang didn't know what to say for a moment.

Playing games at work is definitely not a serious thing. Yao Xiaoguang himself is the boss, and he would definitely be against employees playing games at work.

But he himself is a game developer, so naturally he wants as many people as possible to play games.

Zhang Wei said to himself: "This kind of strategy management game is actually very suitable for office workers to play while slacking off. Unlike role-playing games, you don't have to stare at the game screen all the time. If you are distracted for a moment, you may die.

Therefore, our main target group is also the vast number of office workers, allowing them to fish for a while in their spare time, and complete the operation by simply clicking the mouse without being discovered by the boss.

Besides, office workers have salaries, so they will naturally top up their accounts when they have money. It’s not like poor students who don’t have much pocket money every month and have to budget carefully when they go to Internet cafes to surf the Internet.”

"Office workers can play games on computers at work without having to pay for internet access!" Yao Xiaoguang nodded in agreement.

Zhang Wei continued: "We will take advantage of this project to accumulate more experience. At least before DOTA2 is officially launched, we will strive to develop a web game every three months! They are all strategy games, and the target audience is mainly office workers!
In this way, we will at least have follow-up funds to support the development of DOTA2, and when DOTA2 is launched, we will also have funds for promotion.”

……

You can play games at work, which is obviously a crooked slogan. But in fact, this kind of strategy web game is indeed born for office workers to slack off.

There are two views in China's web game circle. One view is that web games should be strategy games. There is no need to emphasize technical and artistic performance. They only need to maintain light entertainment and be suitable for leisure.

Because web games are limited by hardware settings, they can never be comparable to PC games, so don't try to touch the strengths of PC games, such as gameplay, graphics, etc.

Another group of people believe that the advantage of PC games is that they do not need to be downloaded and can be played by simply clicking on them. This makes the gaming threshold of PC games very low and can reach users more quickly.

Therefore, web games need to make breakthroughs in technology and graphics. As long as they reach a certain technical level, they can replace 2D client games.

China's web games have also taken two different paths due to these two different development routes.

One is to develop strategy web games, which are developing towards leisure; the other is to develop 2D role-playing web games, which are replacing 2D terminal games. As a result, before the two have been decided, mobile games appear!
Compared with mobile games, web games have no advantages.

In terms of technology and graphics, web games are definitely not as good as mobile games. After all, mobile games are client games, and their technology and graphics are definitely better than web games.

Moreover, mobile games can be played anytime and anywhere, which makes them much more convenient than web games in terms of quick access to users. After all, playing web games requires a computer connected to the Internet, while mobile games only require a mobile phone.

The rise of mobile games also means that web games will inevitably decline.

……

After leaving Weiguang Technology, Zhang Wei came to Xiaonei.com.

Xiaonei.com has just undergone a major update, and users can now see information posted by their friends on their homepage.

Before this, a user’s own homepage could only display what he or she had posted and messages from friends. If you wanted to see photos and articles posted by a friend, you had to click on their homepage to see them.

After this update, new updates posted by friends will appear on their homepage. Users only need to go to their homepage to see the new content posted by their friends.

Facebook also launched this feature in early 2006. Xiaonei followed suit and also planned to launch this feature. However, because the feature had just been launched, it was not very stable yet. It was only after a period of testing that it was officially launched.

This function ensures that the user's new information can be seen by friends, which greatly enhances the social attributes of the campus network and encourages users to post more updates.

But the pressure on the server has obviously increased a lot.

The content that originally only needed to appear on one's own homepage needs to appear on the homepages of dozens or hundreds of friends, and the amount and difficulty of data processing increase significantly.

Zhang Wei tried the new function and found it very smooth.

Wang Xing next to him said, "Thanks to your one million dollar investment, Xiaonei.com was able to launch this new feature so quickly!"

"It feels much smoother than before. Brother, did you rent a new server?" Zhang Wei asked.

"In addition to renting new services, we have also made some optimizations, so the web page is much smoother than before." Wang Xing said.

"I don't believe you!" Zhang Wei sighed in his heart.

It really doesn’t hurt to spend the investors’ money!

Zhang Wei suddenly had a premonition that the one million US dollars he invested might not last more than half a year!
"It seems that Wang Xing is not that reliable! It may not be long before the one million dollars is all spent, and then he will ask me for money again. I have to get some money quickly, otherwise I will be caught off guard!"

After returning to Tsinghua University, Zhang Wei went online to check the increase in the value of the fund he had purchased.

After the Spring Festival, Zhang Wei invested all his spare money in the stock market.

Although 2006 was a bull market, Zhang Wei couldn't remember which stock had risen the most, so he simply bought a fund and let the fund manager take charge!

Anyway, in the bull market of 2006, you won’t lose money if you hire a dog to operate. What’s more, the fund manager of the fund Zhang Wei found is a star trader with an excellent record.

The fund manager lived up to expectations. In the three months after the Spring Festival, the fund he managed rose by 23%, exceeding the vast majority of stock funds.

Zhang Wei was actually very satisfied with such a rate of return, but it was far from satisfying the money-eating beast that was Xiaonei.com.

"Weiguang Technology has to develop DOTA2 and also work on a new project called "Hot-Blooded Three Kingdoms". We can't withdraw funds from them for the time being. If we want to make money at this stage, we can only use that trick!"

Zhang Wei looked at the calendar, calculated the time of the final exam, and then nodded silently.

"In terms of time, we will definitely make it in time!"

……

In the evening, when Ye Haotian returned to the dormitory, he found Zhang Wei staring at the calendar in a daze.

"Zhang Wei, you shouldn't take the college entrance examination this year, right?" Ye Haotian asked.

"I haven't done anything wrong so far, so I probably won't be fired this year," Zhang Wei replied.

"That's good, congratulations, you can be promoted to sophomore!" Ye Haotian said with a smile.

Lu Yunxiang asked, "Brother, what are your plans for the summer? Do you want to go to the beach for a vacation? My family is in Sanya and we just bought a villa! If you want to go, I will borrow a yacht from my uncle and we can go out to sea!"

"No, it's too hot in San Francisco in the summer. I'd rather stay at home, enjoy the air conditioning and drink herbal tea!" Ye Haotian shook his head.

"You are the only Shanxi native in our dormitory who is interested in the sea!" Ye Haotian pointed at Zhang Wei and continued, "Brother Wei is from Qinhai, and I am from Guangzhou. We can see the sea every day. As for your brother, his mind is not only filled with the sea, but also the vast universe!"

"Wei Ge, why don't I go to your house to escape the heat! I heard that your place is a summer resort, and you have to sleep wrapped in quilts in the summer!" Lu Yunxiang continued.

"That will have to wait until mid-July. I plan to go to Germany in a few days," Zhang Wei said.

"What are you going to Germany for? Are there academic exchange activities? It's so hot in summer, don't Europeans have summer vacation?" Ye Haotian asked casually.

"I'm going to watch the World Cup!" Zhang Wei replied.

"Yes, Germany is hosting the World Cup this year!" Lu Yunxiang slapped his head and said excitedly: "Brother, take me with you! I also want to watch the World Cup!"

"You have to pay for it yourself." Zhang Wei said.

"No problem, I can pay for your expenses!" the pretentious guy said arrogantly.

"Xiao Lu is treating us, do you two want to go?" Zhang Wei looked at Ye Haotian and the autistic man again.

"Yes, let's go together from the dormitory, and I'll cover all the expenses!" The show-off finally found an opportunity to show off.

The autistic man was the first to shake his head: "I want to do the experiment. If the project succeeds, I will stay in school!"

"You can stay in school! This is a good opportunity! Chen Ming, then you should work hard!" Zhang Wei made a fist gesture.

For Chen Ming, an autistic person, being able to stay in school may be his best way out. Doing scientific research in Tsinghua University may not make him rich, but at least he can have a stable income.

Ye Haotian also refused: "Actually, I have plans for this summer vacation. I plan to go to the United States to attend summer camps at several universities. I will also visit the schools there to see where to apply for graduate school."

"If you want to go to Princeton, I have acquaintances there!" Zhang Wei said.

"My family still prefers Harvard and Yale. My father wants me to switch to business school and go into business or politics in the future." Ye Haotian said.

"Okay, let's go to Germany!" Zhang Wei continued; "Xiao Lu, remember to bring more Euros!"

"Wei Ge, don't worry, I have a Centurion Black Card. If you follow me when I travel, I guarantee you will have delicious food and drinks."

"I'm not talking about eating and drinking. I asked you to bring more money for other purposes!"

"Wei Ge, you are not going to trick us into Germany and kidnap me, are you?" Lu Yunxiang said in shock.

"Do you think I can't kidnap you in China?" Zhang Wei snorted coldly, and then said: "I asked you to bring some capital, and I will take you to Germany to make a fortune!"

(End of this chapter)