My game, you have no right to award

Chapter 214 Collection
Zhou Kuang stood up with a smile on his face.

"What? Are you here for the new project?"

Ma Tu replied somewhat embarrassedly, "Brother Kuang, you understand me."

“I understand, I understand. You see that I’m not too busy now, so you’re asking me to give you some extra work.”

Zhou Kuang laughed and scolded.

Just as the matter with Heying Vision was coming to an end, before he even had a chance to drink some water, Ma Tu came knocking on his door.

They really can't stay idle.

When Zhou Kuang first transmigrated, he thought he had become a boss and that good days were finally coming!
After all, he never sees his boss in the company when he's working.

At most, you'll see each other around lunchtime.

His conversations with his colleagues about their boss mostly revolved around which remote corner of the world the boss had gone off to for fun!

Therefore, Zhou Kuang has always had a prejudice against the intensity of his boss's workload.

However, once he actually sat in that position, he found that it was not quite what he had imagined.

What remains the same is that the boss does not need to stay in the company all the time; it is even acceptable for them to arrive late or not at all.

The difference is that the extra things the boss needs to do, such as socializing, are no simpler than the regular job duties.

Even Zhou Kuang now misses the days when he was just an ordinary planner.

Of course, this is definitely an illusion.

After all, although Zhou Kuang's workload is not low, his working hours are relatively flexible, and he can earn far more money than ordinary employees.

that's enough.

"No, no, I'm here to continue contributing to the company."

Seeing Ma Tu spouting nonsense with a straight face, Zhou Kuang also laughed.

"Tell me what you want."

Ma Tu scratched the back of his head and said embarrassedly, "That must be the proposal for the next project."

“I definitely have it on hand, but let’s not talk about that now.” Zhou Kuang looked at the other person and asked, “The important thing is what you want to do?”

"Huh? Me?"

Ma Tu was taken aback by these words. Previously, Zhou Kuang had always directly assigned them the project direction and content without ever asking for his opinion.

He didn't think there was anything wrong with it, after all, his ideas weren't necessarily profitable, but Brother Kuang's ideas proved to be "gold mines" every time.

Therefore, he had long been accustomed to this format of Zhou Kuang directly giving him project proposals.

But why ask this again today?
Was it just because of Kuang Ge's curiosity? Or was it just aimless chatting?

Ma Tu immediately banished both thoughts from his mind.

Kuang Ge couldn't have said those words without a purpose; he was probably testing me.

After thinking it through, Ma Tu replied directly, "Then I'll do whatever the company needs me to do."

After saying that, he grinned, revealing a mouthful of big white teeth.

Zhou Kuang asked this question not because he had no ideas, quite the opposite!

It's because he has so many ideas that he simply can't decide which one Qingyan Studio should work on next.

Therefore, Zhou Kuang might as well ask Ma Tu for his opinion. If Ma Tu has a preferred direction and it is close to a game he knows, then Zhou Kuang can make up his mind.

"No, no, no, seriously, what do you want to do?"

Zhou Kuang reiterated it, and only then did Ma Tu begin to seriously consider it.

After thinking for a while, he cautiously asked in an uncertain tone, "I want to make a turn-based game?"

Turn-based, huh...?

Zhou Kuang pondered, while Ma Tu offered his explanation at the same time.

"I quite like turn-based games because I played a lot of them when I was a kid."

"Moreover, there are almost no companies in China making turn-based single-player games right now, so you could say it's a blue ocean market."

Turn-based games, as a genre that has been popular since the early days of gaming, have relatively low requirements for game systems.

Many of those types of small games use the RPG Maker game engine, which is actually similar to the early turn-based Final Fantasy games.

For many independent game developers or students, RPG Maker is the first game engine they use.

It's simply because his logic is too simplistic, so simplistic that he doesn't understand code or art at all. He can still make his own game just by relying on the resource packs or preset resources sold in the engine.

This may be why many people don't actually like turn-based games.

After all, its creation was largely due to the limitations imposed on early game consoles and game engines, which imposed many restrictions on players.

Players who are passionate about developing their own worlds may not like this kind of game with too many rules and restrictions.

However, this type of game, with its many restrictions, is inherently more suitable for strategy games.

Strategy games require players to think for a longer time rather than making decisions in an instant.

It's not that decisions made in an instant are necessarily bad, but players can never experience the thrill of achieving their goals after careful consideration.

The inherent fun of strategy games lies in planning seven moves ahead for every one move you make, much like the strategic layout in chess.

If there are too few restrictions, the influence of strategic elements will be weakened.

Therefore, the number of fans of turn-based games is actually far greater than people estimated.

"Isn't the turn-based system too outdated? Will any players like it?"

Zhou Kuang deliberately uttered some outrageous remarks, then looked at Ma Tu's expression, wanting to see how he would refute them.

As expected, Ma Tu looked at Zhou Kuang with a slightly strange expression after hearing his statement.

Brother Kuang, he's getting old...

“There are so many turn-based game players!” Ma Tu thought about how to prove it. “The turn-based strategy game ‘Doomsday Outlaws’ made by the Swedish game company Ryan Games two years ago sold three million copies, which is definitely not a small number.”

"Many established turn-based online games in China still maintain considerable popularity. In fact, one of the top ten games in internet cafes is a turn-based game."

"To put it another way, the player base isn't too small."

"It's possible that the upper limit is not as high as other games, since turn-based games generally require players to use their brains."

"But the number of players with brains is not very large."

Zhou Kuang quickly stopped him, criticizing, "Nonsense!"

"How can you say that there aren't many players with brains?"

"You should say that players all have their own unique ways of expressing their intelligence."

"It's just that they demonstrate their intelligence in different ways across different game genres."

"Turn-based games are just more suitable for players who like to think long-term."

Upon hearing Zhou Kuang's words, Ma Tu nodded frantically and quickly agreed.

At the same time, I thought to myself: That's why Kuang Ge is Kuang Ge. The same words come out of his mouth so naturally and convincingly.

Saying it out loud would offend the players.

That's the charm of cursing in a roundabout way!
Zhou Kuang pondered, wondering which turn-based game they could develop.

Suddenly, a name appeared out of thin air in his mind, and a bold idea was born from it.

"Old Ma, think back, is there any game that combines monster battles, pet collection, and turn-based gameplay?" "This..."

Ma Tu thought about it carefully for a while before raising his head to answer.

"Yes, there are, but I don't recall any games that were very successful."

Hearing this, Zhou Kuang was overjoyed, while Ma Tu continued, "I remember, ten years ago, the Koreans made a similar online game, which was quite popular."

"Find it, let me see."

Zhou Kuang said directly.

If there really isn't a similar game, this opportunity might be right in front of us!

He was very excited.

Ma Tu nodded, walked over to his computer, sat down, and started looking up information on Zhou Kuang's computer.

"Brother Kuang, wait a moment. I can't remember the name and details either. It may take a while."

Zhou Kuang was perfectly accepting of it, standing behind him and looking at the screen.

[Korean, online game, old game, turn-based, pet battle, collection]

Zhou Kuang was speechless as he watched Ma Tu type each element of the game into the search box.

This level of search accuracy is practically nonexistent.

Any answer is possible.

Sure enough, after Ma Tu pressed Enter, a bunch of useless information popped up.

The only relevant forum post I found was deleted long ago, leaving only the title.

However, Ma Tu still gleaned a key term from it—black iron.

By adding this word to the search bar, he finally found the game he wanted!
Ma Tu excitedly turned around and said to Zhou Kuang, "Brother Kuang, this game is called Iron Age."

Upon hearing this name, Zhou Kuang's lips twitched. Why not just call it the Silver Age?
Ma Tu stood up and offered his seat to Zhou Kuang.

After searching, Zhou Kuang discovered that this was indeed a very old game.

Moreover, unlike what Ma Tu said about ten years ago, it is actually an old online game that is already fifteen years old.

This was an early online game developed by a game company in the southern part of the peninsula. It had been shut down for who knows how many years, and the game company itself had long since gone bankrupt and been lost to history.

This made Zhou Kuang feel inexplicably emotional.

Countless once-famous game companies have ultimately succumbed to the erosion of time.

A company is ultimately a collection of people, and as long as people are involved, nothing is permanent.

I wonder if, in the future, even the top management of Kuangshi Games will one day have their judgment decline.

But at least for now, they don't have to worry about that problem.

Zhou Kuang is still young, and as long as he is in the company, Kuangshi Games will never decline.

The game "Iron Age" is a 2D turn-based online game, and its graphics are simply appalling by today's standards.

However, Zhou Kuang was certain that, from the perspective of that time, the visual presentation was definitely not bad.

Technology has advanced so quickly that players in the past could never have imagined that players today would be eating so well.

Zhou Kuang's search for games isn't about looking at these external things, but rather at the internal game design itself.

After all, if he wanted to develop the game he envisioned, he would first need to know how far similar games had progressed in this world.

And "The Dark Ages" was just the beginning.

After searching for a long time, he finally found a game recording with a resolution of only 360p.

The blurry vision made Zhou Kuang feel as if he had astigmatism.

By fast-forwarding and skipping through the game, Zhou Kuang gained a basic understanding of its design principles.

In the game, players can send out their three pets to fight against opponents and use different skills.

However, these three pets are not considered collectibles, because players can only obtain other pets by selling the pets they already own.

In other words, a player can only have a maximum of three pets.

As a result, this game has virtually no "collectible elements," and the pets are more like temporary workers than emotionally connected companions.

From Zhou Kuang's perspective, this design approach can be described as highly contradictory.

They also want players to empathize with their pets and spend money to upgrade them.

Players are limited to having only three pets, and in order to acquire stronger pets, they have to sell their existing pets.

This practice is no less than parents turning their children's pets into food; it only leaves them with psychological trauma.

Knowing that players may have to abandon their pets in the future, it's predictable that they won't invest too much of their real emotions in them.

Zhou Kuang shook his head at the sight.

If we disregard all other factors and place this game in today's market, its design alone would be enough to make players abandon the entire game.

The fact that "The Dark Ages" was successful shows that this design was not considered outrageous at the time.

The so-called barbaric era of online games.

As a result, "Iron Age" completely failed to meet the standards of the game he envisioned, let alone pose a threat.

Zhou Kuang then searched for "games similar to Black Iron Age" and "monster battle games," and found that the designs of these games were basically in a very rudimentary and crude stage. Finally, he made up his mind.

"Old Ma, let's make this the theme for our next game."

Zhou Kuang turned around and said seriously.

"Okay, so it's turn-based pet battles?"

Ma Tu asked.

“Yes, but it’s not limited to that.” Zhou Kuang paused. “This game will also incorporate RPG elements, that is, role-playing.”

"And collecting elements."

Zhou Kuang emphasized.

"Players can freely explore the world, capture, hatch, or even raise any magical creatures that exist, and train them to battle against other players' pets."

Ma Tu pondered these words.

After a while, a look of surprise appeared in his eyes, and his expression became more and more excited. He had clearly also realized the brilliance of the idea.

Zhou Kuang was the same!

He suppressed his excitement!
He couldn't believe that no one in the world had ever done anything like it!
He couldn't believe that he had only just realized this today.

If Ma Tu hadn't suggested making a turn-based game, he wouldn't even have remembered the game's name.

The main reason was that the game's name was so famous that Zhou Kuang even subconsciously thought that the game belonged to the type that "couldn't be made".

"Brother Kuang, this idea... sounds really interesting." Ma Tu praised excitedly and without reservation, "Does it have a name?"

"Of course, it will be called..."

Zhou Kuang paused for a moment before finally uttering the name he had in mind.

Pokémon!

(End of this chapter)