Restart life

Chapter 499 0489 [A single promotional video has attracted countless eyes]

Yang Jiawei is a recent high school graduate who is currently waiting at home for his college entrance examination results.

His studies are going well.

"Not bad" means he's not the best, but he's not the worst either. He can forget about getting into a 211/985 university, but he's pretty confident he can get into a regular first-tier university.

The main problem is that I have too many hobbies and interests, so I haven't been able to focus much on my studies.

Especially during this year's Spring Festival, he accidentally saw the Hanfu Spring Festival Gala online, and he immediately became interested in Hanfu.

Despite being a senior in high school, Yang Jiawei doesn't study hard. Instead, he spends his free time browsing posts on places like Hanfu forums and Tianhan.com.

Gradually, he developed an interest in ancient Chinese history, military affairs, and customs, and came to the official game community of "Wulin Gaiden" through the introduction of friends in the Hanfu Bar.

This community is particularly outrageous. Despite being the official website for a game, it frequently posts information about the Ming Dynasty's official system, maps, cities, clothing, music, architecture, customs, military affairs, and so on. This attracts a large number of related enthusiasts who spend all their time on it, posting and chatting.

Yang Jiawei doesn't like playing online games; he prefers various large-scale single-player games, but he's quite looking forward to the game "Wulin Gaiden".

"Jiawei, you can check your scores tonight. I've already set my alarm!" Mom reminded him before leaving for work.

Yang Jiawei sat in front of the computer, staring at the post, and said, "I understand."

The title of this post is particularly outrageous: Qu'a Xiaojiang and Pan Feng, who is the number one warrior in the Three Kingdoms?

Yang Jiawei read the replies with amusement and scrolled to the bottom to reply: "Of course it's me, the peerless general Pan Feng!"

He then left the trashy post and soon found a brand new post: Look at the female version of Chen Laozu that I made.

Yang Jiawei clicked in and almost burst out laughing.

The original poster somehow obtained photos of Chen Guiliang attending an event and photoshopped them with Hanfu women's clothing and hairpins. The photoshopping was extremely crude, giving it an indescribable plastic-like texture.

Yang Jiawei quickly replied: "You audacious madman, you're slandering my ancestor Chen again!"

He then refreshed the webpage, and sure enough, there was a series of replies.

"OP, you're dead meat. Old Master Chen is petty. Be careful he doesn't use his wits to find you through the internet."

"I'm going to report you on Chen Laozu's Weibo. Maybe I'll get a reward of 1 million U coins."

"Your technique is too poor; you need to practice more."

"That's hilarious!"

"Great, great, I'll use this picture as my Weibo profile picture."

"..."

Yang Jiawei spent more than ten minutes on this post before switching to another post to find other interesting content.

However, a new post appeared at the top of the forum: "The official trailer for 'My Own Swordsman' has been released. Please visit the official website homepage."

Promotional video?
Yang Jiawei, out of curiosity, went to the official website homepage and found a newly released video.

Five minutes and eight seconds later, the video ended, and Yang Jiawei was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth. He immediately ran back to the forum area.

Sure enough, the forum has exploded!
"Is 'My Own Swordsman' about to be released?!"

"My Bai Zhantang can't possibly be that awesome."

"Is this still that cowardly Lao Bai from Tongfu Inn?"

"Holy crap, that's incredibly handsome! This isn't Old Bai, this is definitely Xiang Shuai!"

"Damn, the part where Qi Jiguang turns around at the end of the video really got my blood pumping and gave me goosebumps!"

"How did 'My Own Swordsman' get involved with Qi Jiguang?"

"Wait, what exactly is the treasure that Bai Zhantang stole? The video didn't explain it clearly."

"It's mostly related to Qi Jiguang or Japanese pirates."

"The beta test questionnaire is out! Fill it out for a chance to get an invitation code. Only 800 spots available in the first round!!!"

"..."

Yang Jiawei quickly switched to the webpage and found the internal testing questionnaire page.

He carefully filled in his name, gender, place of residence, occupation and other information, and then encountered a bunch of random questions.

First, are you familiar with the history of the Ming Dynasty? (Please answer truthfully; we will also select some history novices to participate in the test.)
Second, what time of day do you usually play games?
Third, what games have you played before...?

After filling out the questionnaire, Yang Jiawei carefully checked it before submitting it; he wasn't even this serious about his college entrance exam answers.

……

Ning Caishen is writing a script, and it's a piece of crap.

Make money, not shabby.

After finishing a section of the story, he went back and read it, and felt disgusted with himself.

Damn it, I need to scroll through Weibo to clear my head.

As soon as he logged in, Ning Caishen found himself bombarded with @ mentions.

"What treasure did Lao Bai steal?"

"Your TV series has been drastically altered."

"Go watch the promotional video."

"Their few minutes of CG animation are much better than your 'My Own Swordsman' movie version."

"The most handsome Bai Zhantang in history!!!"

"..."

Ning Caishen almost forgot about the game and rushed to watch the promotional video. Before he even finished watching it, he kept exclaiming "Holy crap!"

He casually posted a Weibo message and tagged Chen Guiliang: "Mr. Chen is awesome, this game trailer is amazing. Can I get a beta test invitation code?" Then he checked Chen Guiliang's Weibo and found that he had already posted one.

Chen Guiliang: "We've been working on this game for several years, costing 3.2 million yuan, and we also spent over 600 million yuan on a promotional video. The visuals are so-so, but please bear with it."

Chen Guiliang's Weibo comment section has exploded.

"You call this just so-so?"

"Old Master Chen, showing off will get you struck by lightning."

"Holy crap, 3.2 million to make a game? GamerSky is really rich."

"Just watching the promotional video made me wet."

"..."

Chen Guiliang's Weibo post received an extremely high number of reposts, including from many celebrities.

Firstly, Chen Guiliang and "My Own Swordsman" already had a large influence, and secondly, the CG animated promotional video was very stunning.

In just one day, the promotional video spread throughout the entire gaming community.

A large number of players flocked to the official website to fill out questionnaires and apply for beta test invitation codes, which crashed the game's website.

Even casual netizens who don't play games much received promotional videos from their friends.

Some people even played pranks, changing the video title to "The animated version of 'My Own Swordsman' is released." And quite a few people actually believed it, and after watching it, they remained convinced, selectively ignoring keywords like "game."

Youke also posted the promotional video on various video websites and bought traffic to get a good recommendation spot.

Even the streamers on the ACFun live streaming platform actively helped promote it: "Brothers, everyone, the trailer for the 'My Own Swordsman' movie is out! This game cost 3.2 million... really, I'm not kidding... let's go watch the trailer together..."

The live stream area is now flooded with promotional videos.

A wealthy second-generation heir surnamed Wang was watching his favorite player's live stream and couldn't help but send a comment: "Awesome."

He then posted another Weibo message: "A strong entry, integrating esports."

This Weibo post, which consists of only eight characters, has not yet attracted much attention.

……

Tencent Games.

President Ren Yuxin called Liu Dan over: "Youke first released a promotional video, and yesterday they released a gameplay video. Have you seen it?"

Liu Dan nodded: "I've seen it. It's awesome, but it's different from our 'Dou Zhan Shen' in style."

"Can you produce such high quality?" Ren Yuxin asked.

Liu Dan hesitated slightly, then nodded emphatically and said through gritted teeth, "Yes!"

Back in 2007, Tencent's Quantum Studio developed a game engine called AGE and created a game demo full of science fiction elements.

This game demo is the original prototype of "Dou Zhan Shen".

In 2008, a game project called "WGAME" was launched, with the theme of Journey to the West.

In December 2010, "Dou Zhan Shen" was officially launched with a 15-minute gameplay demo. The combat effects were great, and the dark-style dungeons were amazing, but it looked a lot like "Diablo: Journey to the West".

Therefore, netizens jokingly call it "QQ Destroyer God".

Faced with ridicule and doubt from players, Tencent decided to rework "Dou Zhan Shen" and vowed to create a flagship game that represents the company's image.

Two months ago, Jin Hezai, the author of "The Legend of Wukong," accepted an invitation to join "Dou Zhan Shen" as the game's world architect, thus giving "Dou Zhan Shen" a new soul.

Compared to the other timeline, the game's producer is still Liu Dan, the world-building planner is still Jin Hezai, and the other key members of the creative team are largely the same. However, the absence of lead planner Feng Ji has resulted in significant differences in the details of "Dou Zhan Shen".

This team is no joke; they've been developing the engine since 2007, continuing until 2011—a period no shorter than that of Youke's "Wulin Gaiden." They even chose to completely rework it.

Ren Yuxin said, "Do a good job. This project puts a lot of pressure on me, so don't let me down."

"We will do our best!" Liu Dan nodded solemnly.

He knew, of course, that Ren Yuxin was under a lot of pressure; the production cost of "Dou Zhan Shen" was too high. If Ren Yuxin hadn't been holding on so stubbornly, the project would have been abandoned halfway through long ago.

After thinking for a moment, Liu Dan added, "Although it's a rework, it's not a complete change, so it won't affect the schedule too much. Also, we're working on a completely new hero character with a new combat concept called Jade Fox. I'll go back and have everyone work overtime to try... no, I mean, definitely finish the new hero before this year's ChinaJoy expo."

Ren Yuxin said, "Youke's 'Wulin Gaiden' will definitely be showcased at this year's ChinaJoy expo. If your game isn't perfect, don't rush to release it. Otherwise, the one that's worse will be ridiculed in comparison."

"Definitely not!" Liu Dan was very confident in his game.

Ren Yuxin said, "Go ahead and get busy."

Liu Dan bowed and left.

Ren Yuxin moved the mouse to rewatch the gameplay video of "My Own Swordsman". The fighting effects were absolutely stunning!
Sigh, Youke has come up with something new again; it's sure to steal the show at this year's ChinaJoy expo.

Shanda finally declined, only to be overtaken by an even more formidable competitor, Youke, which caused Tencent to become the industry's second-largest player for two consecutive years.

……

NetEase.

Ding Sanshi stared at the practical video for a long time, his brows furrowed, without saying a word.

Fantasy Westward Journey held the top spot in peak concurrent users for many years, but was surpassed by Future Era last year and has yet to catch up.

Ding Sanshi was extremely envious of "Future Era", and he learned from the lessons of other companies, striving to create a competitor - the martial arts side-scrolling fighting online game "Zhanhun".

As a result, "Zhanhun" and "Wulin Gaiden" had the same closed beta test time and debut at ChinaJoy, and the related arrangements were exactly the same.

"Zhan Hun" will definitely be overshadowed by "Wulin Gaiden".

Ding Sanshi was extremely frustrated: Chen Guiliang is too damn weird, is he here specifically to bring me bad luck?

(End of this chapter)