My game, you have no right to award

Chapter 203 Questions
"I'm home?"

"came back!"

Ma Tu replied, looking refreshed.

After the release of the Joker card, Qingyan Studio worked for two more weeks on emergency repairs before taking a three-week break.

Even including previous films like "Vampire Survivor" and "Potato Brothers," this is the longest vacation they've ever had.

This is true in the gaming industry and many internet companies; overtime is unavoidable.

Online games are necessary because there are many unpredictable emergencies that require employees to handle collectively.

For single-player game companies like Megvii Games, overtime is purely a matter of efficiency.

Yes, it's not about saving money, but about improving efficiency.

Even Rockstar Games can't avoid working overtime; in fact, they're among the hardest working.

If everyone were to get off work regular hours during project development, the time required for their projects could potentially double.

The current predicament Zhou Kuang is facing is that China doesn't have enough talent for him to recruit, especially outstanding management talent.

What Zhou Kuang can do is, while respecting the wishes of his employees, give them choices and provide them with appropriate benefits.

Some employees under Ma Tu and Feng Qi are unwilling to work overtime, so they can choose to leave work on time.

However, such people are few and far between. Most people choose single-player game companies like Megvii Games because they love games.

Zhou Kuang also needed higher efficiency, not to drive people away.

He suddenly remembered what Feng Qi had told him about his school before, perhaps...

Partnering with schools is also a good option?

By starting with universities, they might be able to forge a new path.

Coming to his senses, Zhou Kuang patted him on the shoulder.

"Okay, let's go fix the bug!"

Instantly, Ma Tu's face fell again.

He enjoys developing games, but dislikes optimizing them.

Developing a game is like drawing on a blank sheet of paper, while optimizing a game is like finding and correcting mistakes in your completed homework.

It's clearly not an enjoyable job for designers.

Cheer up! "The Joker" game is definitely going to be in the TGA this year!

Zhou Kuang encouraged him.

Game media around the world have given "Joker" extremely high praise. While it may not win a major award like Game of the Year, given that it is a small-scale indie game, it should be able to get a nomination.

Ma Tu remained noncommittal.

He had seen how "The Netherworld Mountains and Seas" was treated by various awards, so he didn't want to set his expectations too high, lest he be disappointed.

Zhou Kuang was about to leave when Ma Tu quickly stopped him.

"Brother Kuang, what are your plans for us in the future?"

Seeing the expectant look in his eyes, Zhou Kuang smiled.

"Fix the bug first. Once you've finished your work here, I'll definitely come back to you."

"OK!"

Ma Tu was relieved to hear him say that.

He had already developed a path dependency.

All three hit games were designed and conceived by Brother Kuang. If he were to do it himself, there would probably be quite a few problems.

As long as Brother Kuang provides the solution, it's like catching a turtle in a water tank—no doubt about it!
Zhou Kuang came to Qingyan Studio first thing before going to work because it was their first day back in the office.

He should at least come and check on them, to see how they are doing.

Then he went to Honglong Studio and met with Hong Nianlong.

The development of Left 4 Dead is now over 40% complete, with all core systems finished. The next step is to continue adding content, developing assets, and making adjustments to the final game experience.

At this rate, they might actually be able to develop the entire game in less than eight months!

Next, Zhou Kuang arrived at the headquarters of Megvii Games, where the preliminary research for "Code: Shadow" had restarted because of his sudden change in the setting.

These days, Zhou Kuang has visited the prop world several times.

Each time he left the prop world, he would immediately share the information he had come across with the copywriting team so they could make the necessary revisions.

Thinking about it this way, it seems that Zhou Kuang has become deeply involved in the world-building of "Code: Shadow", encroaching on some of the authority of Fu Anle, the head of the copywriting team.

However, it seems that the other party has no objections.

Or is it simply because he's the boss?

Zhou Kuang shrugged inwardly, thinking, "Maybe it's true."

It doesn't matter, completing the task is the priority.

And to be honest, with the Key to Talent, he's absolutely not afraid of copywriting work.

Another thing that caught his attention was that he seemed to be entering the world of props more and more frequently.

At first, I could only go in once a week, but then gradually I could go in once every three or four days.

Now, almost every night after falling asleep, I can enter the world of props in my dreams.

The best part is that after he got up, he didn't feel any extra fatigue at all.

It's just like when you enter deep sleep and get eight hours of quality sleep; there's no difference.

The only difference is that while he's resting, he can also play surreal open-world games!
It's a martial arts story! Set in the Ming Dynasty!

This is why Zhou Kuang has been in a good mood lately.

Upon arriving at the office area of ​​Kuangshi Games, Zhou Kuang went directly to the planning team's location, only to find that Feng Qi's usual seat was empty, and the swivel chair was facing outwards.

He then turned and went to the other person's office. Although Feng Qi usually preferred to work outside, it was possible that the other person had returned to his office.

He pushed open the door, but there was no one in the producer's office.

Did they go to another group?
Zhou Kuang looked around but didn't see Feng Qi, so he returned to the planning team.

Where is Feng Qi?

"Brother Kuang!" The other person turned around and saw the company boss behind him, and was startled. "Brother Feng went to find the copywriting team."

"Thank you."

Zhou Kuang thanked him and turned to leave.

Xiao Zhang breathed a sigh of relief, while his colleague leaned over and gloated.

"You almost got arrested, didn't you?"

"Don't talk nonsense, even the boss said I can do it!"

Xiao Zhang retorted, but he was also a little resentful.

For excellent game designers, playing games at work is an essential part of the job, but it can be quite embarrassing if the boss sees it.

On the other side, Zhou Kuang walked to the vicinity of the copywriting team, and before he saw anyone, he heard arguing.

Zhou Kuang followed the sound and saw a group of people gathered in the middle of the copywriting team, with Feng Qi's black open-collar shirt faintly visible in the center.

He quickened his pace, and the sounds of the argument grew clearer.

It's Feng Qi's voice!

"Didn't they say before that the Blood Cult used human blood to forge swords? How come they've changed it to using bloodstone to forge swords now?"

His voice was filled with impatience.

Why weren't the planning and art teams notified immediately after the changes were made?

"We've been revising the worldview, and the Blood Cult-related content was only recently revised; we didn't finalize the decision until almost the end of the workday the day before yesterday."

One of the copywriting team members was holding a document in his left hand, trying to explain.

"The Blood Cult and other related settings have undergone some changes."

Zhou Kuang approached and finally saw Feng Qi's facial expression clearly; he was obviously not satisfied with the explanation. Across from him, Fu Anle looked utterly embarrassed.

Feng Qi placed his hands on his chest.

"What about yesterday? Or at least let us know in the group chat, otherwise all their efforts would have been in vain."

"The schedule was already tight, and you still..."

"I'm sorry, it was my mistake," Fu Anle said apologetically. "I really forgot about it yesterday."

Zhou Kuang decided to step in.

"Cough cough!"

He coughed, instantly drawing the attention of the arguing group.

When they saw Zhou Kuang, they quickly greeted him.

"Brother Kuang!"

"Brother Kuang!"

Zhou Kuang walked over, patted Feng Qi on the shoulder, and said in a low voice.

"I asked him to change it."

"I forgot to tell you, it's my fault."

Feng Qi's throat bobbed, he nodded, and didn't say anything more.

"Old Fu, let's go, the three of us have a meeting."

Zhou Kuang greeted Fu Anle.

Fu Anle nodded and followed.

After hearing this, the other employees dispersed and returned to their respective positions after a while.

Feng Qi lost his composure slightly just now. Of course, he could reprimand anyone in the project, but criticizing Fu Anle without giving him any leeway in front of the copywriting team members...

On the one hand, it is not conducive to unity, and on the other hand, it is not conducive to Fu Anle's work.

Zhou Kuang certainly knew why Feng Qi was in such a hurry.

This is really mainly my own fault!
Each time he enters the world of props, he learns a lot of new information and system settings.

This is not only due to the "map opening" but also because, as the plot progresses, more content that was previously completely shrouded in mystery for him is gradually becoming clear.

Zhou Kuang would then relay all this information to Fu Anle after organizing it slightly.

When Fu Anle obtained this information, he didn't simply copy and paste it.

He had to revise the content to make it look appropriate and then incorporate it into the copy in a way that didn't feel out of place.

As a result, his progress would inevitably fall behind Zhou Kuang's pace in advancing the plot, leaving him extremely busy every day.

The copywriting team has limited manpower and resources; the more effort they put into the work, the greater the possibility of making mistakes.

This time, it was clear that they forgot to communicate with the other groups, which led to a communication failure.

Feng Qi had every reason to be angry; the other groups had wasted their efforts because of their lack of timely communication.

This not only wastes time and slows down progress, but also affects the enthusiasm of other groups.

Nobody wants to redo their hard work just because the other party says, "Sorry, I forgot to tell you, the requirements have changed."
Unless it's an unscrupulous client.

Zhou Kuang led Feng Qi and Fu Anle into the small conference room.

After the three sat down, the chemistry between Fu Anle and Feng Qi became slightly awkward, after all, Feng Qi had just criticized the other party.

Zhou Kuang also felt a bit of a headache, but it was still up to him to break the ice.

"Old Fu, tell me the specifics of the changes in worldview."

Fu Anle nodded, placed his hands together on the table, and said.

"Last time you said that the Blood Cult probably didn't use human blood to forge swords, so I changed the setting to use bloodstone to forge swords."

"This concept was already present in our previous setup, so it's quite logical and consistent with our worldview."

"We were just in too much of a rush and didn't have time to synchronize with the art team."

"Wait a minute," Feng Qi said. "I understand why you want to change it, but what I want to ask is why the approval process wasn't followed?"

In theory, changes that involve other departments should definitely follow the appropriate procedures.

However, for products that iterate rapidly, it is often common practice to skip or omit certain procedures and then submit them all at once; this has become an unspoken rule.

Of course, this is on the premise that no problems are caused.

"The art team released three versions of concept art for forging swords with human blood yesterday."

Feng Qi added another sentence.

Fu Anle sighed.

"We've been dealing with a lot of changes to the worldview every day for the past two weeks. We've been so tired these past few days that we forgot to tell them."

"I only remembered this when the art team cornered me this morning."

Zhou Kuang understood; Feng Qi wasn't even in the first wave.

Just as I was heading to Qingyan Studio and Honglong Studio, the art team had already come over and complained.

Fu Anle was indeed very tired; his dark circles were even more pronounced than before.

The intensity of his work during this period has clearly taken a toll on his mental health.

Although Feng Qi spoke in a firm tone, he understood Fu Anle's predicament. However, he felt more anxious than understanding.

That feeling of anxiety when a project is not under your control.

Zhou Kuang knew that, to some extent, his experience in the prop world was the X factor that caused this anxiety.

Without further preparation, this has already had a negative impact on the project.

Zhou Kuang felt somewhat guilty; he should have thought of this sooner.

In his mind, he was just increasing the workload for the copywriting team, telling them not to rush and to take their time.

In reality, however, every sudden increase in copywriting content will cause a variety of situations.

But even if Zhou Kuang admits his mistake now, it won't make a difference.

After all, he's the boss, so even if he admits his mistake, no one will hold him accountable.

So what we need to do now is find a solution.

He already knew what was going on.

The items I obtained from the props world were related to two groups: the copywriting team and the planning team.

Only after that do the art team and other departments come into play.

However, this is not the order in the game development process.

So what he needs to do now is to increase the permissions of the copywriting team.

Let everyone wait until the copywriting team makes their decision before starting any further work.

Zhou Kuang thought it might slow down the progress, so they could put it on hold for now.

Because they felt that if they didn't take action, the copywriting team would eventually end up fighting with other departments.

“Alright…” Zhou Kuang interrupted the two of them, “From today onwards, the priority of work related to revising the world view and various settings will be raised to the highest level.”

"When Lao Fu starts modifying a module, he will tag the art team, planners, and others in the group in advance to inform them of the content that may be affected."

"No approval needed, rapid iteration possible!"

"Old Feng, you need to find someone to handle this, and they must provide feedback within 24 hours."

“I hold a short meeting for half an hour every day before I leave work to check the progress.”

"The copywriting team will be on rotating days off starting tomorrow; no overtime allowed!"

Feng Qi opened his mouth, wanting to say, "With such a tight schedule, why are you making them take turns resting?", but in the end, he didn't say it.

(End of this chapter)