diskusbooks #432 - Mr. Lu: Don’t stop, keep having fun (2 in 1 order required)
#432 - Mr. Lu: Don’t stop, keep having fun (2 in 1 order required)
In the afternoon, Lu Yu was listlessly watching TV at his villa in Peach Blossom Village.
When the familiar Meow \u0026 Tea logo appeared on TV, Lu Yu's attention was inadvertently drawn to it. He had been boredly watching a talent show when he unexpectedly saw this news report.
“Greetings, viewers, we now bring you the latest entertainment news.”
A beautiful female anchor smiled at the camera,
“Recently, the highly anticipated Meow \u0026 Tea cat café, under the Peach Blossom Village banner, launched a brand-new 'Dream Customization' service, once again driving the city's young people into a frenzy of pursuit.”
The scene changed to show an excited young man's face.
“It's incredible! Meow \u0026 Tea's new service has truly opened my eyes.”
His eyes shone as he said, “In my dream, I actually experienced strolling through a garden in the clouds, surrounded by magnificent, colorful flowers, with a refreshing fragrance that felt like being in a celestial paradise!”
“Not only that,” the female anchor continued,
“According to our interviews, General Manager Liu and Ms. Lin Ming's Meow \u0026 Tea team from Peach Blossom Village Company claim to have mastered astonishing dream rendering technology, capable of perfectly presenting any dreamlike scenario that customers have long yearned for.”
The camera shifted to a scene of Zhang Fan, the client-side technology director, holding a peculiar device.
“We can not only render real-world scenery into our customers' dreams, but we can also restore any fantastical scene that has appeared in human literature and art to its original appearance.”
Beside him, the company's technical director, Chu Xiong, added:
“Whether you yearn for the magnificent palaces and cities of ancient India during the reign of Emperor Ashoka, or the magical forests in Western fantasy novels, or even more imaginative future worlds and outer space landscapes, as long as you make a reservation, we can recreate them in your dreams with 100% accuracy.”
“Amazing! Peach Blossom Village's technology is truly something to look forward to!” the female anchor exclaimed.
“With this, everyone's dream scenery can be personally experienced in their dreams with the help of their service! This new business is bound to cause a sensation.”
……
Lu Yu stared at the TV screen, his eyes widening.
As a colleague at Meow \u0026 Tea Company, and as Liu Mengyuan's boyfriend, he was incredibly shocked by this news.
The scene changed to show Liu Mengyuan and her team of dream control employees confidently demonstrating the magical technology of rendering dreams.
Chu Xiong, Zhang Fan…
Looking at the familiar faces, Lu Yu's eyes widened at first, then a helpless expression appeared on his face.
He didn't expect Liu Mengyuan to have achieved so much without him knowing, and that he had been kept in the dark.
“Damn, these guys have done something amazing!”
Lu Yu muttered to himself, his tone full of amusement and exasperation.
Why the hell do you guys always backstab me!
He shook his head helplessly, filled with emotion.
Of course, he knew how difficult dream rendering was.
Before, the company had barely mastered the technology of rendering real-world scenes into sensory pods, but now Chu Xiong and the others had achieved perfect recreation of any fictional dream.
This surprising leap forward was truly beyond his expectations.
It was as if they had a cheat code.
He stretched, leaned back on the sofa, and stared blankly at the chandelier on the ceiling.
He recalled his first encounter with Liu Mengyuan, and how that young and idealistic girl had gradually grown into the company's most promising leader with her extraordinary talent.
She used to be his most capable assistant, but now she had quietly surpassed her boss in some aspects.
“Heh, Yuanyuan, you can now stand on your own, I wonder if those old fogeys on your board of directors have already started to look at you in a new light.”
He looked at Liu Mengyuan's profile on TV, filled with relief and pride. That sensible girl had finally started the life she had dreamed of, achieving feats that even he couldn't have imagined.
Although he was always being backstabbed by his girlfriend, as her closest person, he felt incredibly honored to witness her growth and transformation.
……
Just as he was sighing, Mo Xiaoxuan, Hua Wu, and Wan Xiaotong, the producers of “Nightless,” found Lu Yu.
It turned out that the virtual reality open-world game “Nightless,” which was under development, had encountered difficulties.
Mo Xiaoxuan hesitated for a moment and said:
“President Lu, when designing this open-world Xianxia game, we have always been committed to giving players an unrestrained exploration experience.
A huge virtual world, a vast and boundless fairyland, we want to hide discoveries and surprises everywhere in the game.
Our original intention was to allow players to roam freely in this dreamlike realm, immersed in the surrounding wonders, just like being in a fairyland!
However, as development deepened, we faced a thorny dilemma!”
“Oh?”
Lu Yu perked up at the sound of this.
He really didn't want to hear any good news right now, this “bad news” was like a timely rain haha.
“How to reasonably lay out the map and arrange tasks in a huge open world has become a major problem. Too random an arrangement can easily make players get lost in the mountains and rivers that stretch for miles, at a loss. And if there is too much artificial guidance, it will break the fun of open exploration.
We have spent a lot of effort designing intricate mountain wildernesses, vast and boundless lakes and seas, flying cliffs and rocks, and magnificent palaces and pavilions in the boundless fairyland. For every scene, we have exhausted all our efforts to pursue the greatest possible detail restoration and high realism, striving to bring players an immersive impact.
But it is these carefully designed scenes that, if they lack reasonable player guidance, can easily make players get lost in them, wandering aimlessly in the void. Recently, our test specialists have also reported similar problems—in highly realistic maps, lacking sufficient hints and guidance, they often cannot find their next destination and can only wander around, which ultimately greatly reduces the game experience.
If the task layout is not designed reasonably, players will feel bored if they cannot find any clues during the exploration. However, if we add too many guiding elements, I am afraid it will destroy the fun of open exploration itself. How to grasp the degree between the two is really a tricky problem.”
You don't have a solution?
“We have tried various solutions, such as adding small flag indicators, adding NPC guides, setting up interactive map interfaces, etc., but we always feel that something is still not perfect. Sometimes there is too much guidance, giving people the feeling of “a mother caring too much”. Sometimes it is too obscure, so that players cannot find any clues. In several internal meetings, we have argued endlessly about this issue, but we have never been able to grasp the right balance.
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This situation has given me a lot of pressure. On the one hand, we have invested a lot of manpower and material resources to build this realistic open world, but once the map and tasks are not designed cleverly enough, all our efforts may be in vain. On the other hand, even if our guidance is thorough enough, if players never feel the freedom and fun of exploration, then this game also loses the meaning of an open world.
I once wondered if there was something wrong with our entire design concept? In the face of such a huge open environment, are traditional map and task design methods no longer feasible? I even started to worry that we would eventually have to make trade-offs on the open world, sacrificing some areas or tasks to ensure the overall smooth experience.”
……
Lu Yu couldn't help but find it amusing to see Mo Xiaoxuan's worried face. This kid was exaggerating this small map task design problem. He raised his hand and patted Mo Xiaoxuan's shoulder, his tone half teasing and half encouraging: “I didn't expect you, Xiaoxuan, to still be so entangled in such small things, it really opens my eyes.”
Mo Xiaoxuan frowned upon hearing this, and was about to open his mouth to retort, but Lu Yu took the lead and stopped him with his palm.
“I know you are working hard for the quality of “Nightless,” but sometimes you have to learn to think about problems from another perspective.” As Lu Yu spoke, he stood up from his desk, walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looked at the lights of thousands of homes in the city, and his tone became a little more relaxed, “Look at the lights and scenery outside the window, even the most ordinary street scenes, don't they have any fun worth experiencing?”
Mo Xiaoxuan looked at Lu Yu in confusion. He knew that this boss had always had unique ideas, but this time the implication was a little incomprehensible.
“Everyone's pursuit of fun is different, and our most important mission as game designers is to meet the needs and pursuits of different players.” Lu Yu said as he turned around, with a smile on his face and a gleam in his eyes, “Our world design is no matter how big or realistic, it is meaningless if players cannot find fun in it.”
Mo Xiaoxuan suddenly understood, and nodded to show that he understood. As a senior game producer, Lu Yu did get to the root of the problem. They were constantly thinking about how to make players have a good time, but often ignored the most basic and essential experience.
“So, what we have to do now is probably to re-examine the true meaning of the word 'fun'. Let us look at this world from a different perspective.” Lu Yu said, his expression suddenly changed, and his eyes radiated a fiery light, “Xiaoxuan, do you think we can change the environment and use a more friendly and interesting way to rethink this problem?”
Mo Xiaoxuan looked at Lu Yu in surprise, unable to understand for a while. Just then, Lu Yu suddenly snapped his fingers, then smiled and said: “I have an idea! Let's go out for a walk this time!”
“Go out? Where to?” Mo Xiaoxuan was stunned.
“Of course, to the most fun place!” Lu Yu looked relaxed, picked up the key from the desk, waved towards the door, “Come with me, I'll open your eyes!”
Other employees in the office who were working overtime heard the movement and looked over here curiously. They didn't expect President Lu, who was always serious, to be so excited today.
“We are going to Universal Amusement Park now to let you experience firsthand what the true meaning of the word 'fun' is!” Lu Yu said boldly, and took the lead to stride out of the office.
Mo Xiaoxuan and the others looked at each other, and before they could react, Lu Yu had already turned back, spreading his hands with a helpless expression: “What are you still doing? Hurry up and pack your things and follow, I'll pay for tonight's supper!
A group of people left the office building in the moonlight and headed to the famous amusement park. On the way, Lu Yu talked eloquently, telling his thoughts: “You see, take the amusement park as an example, it cleverly integrates exploration, challenge and happiness, allowing people to fully feel the meaning of fun while playing.”
“We can actually learn from this concept when designing the open map of “Nightless”. Let players experience unexpected surprises while traveling around the world. Every landscape is not just a realistic reproduction, but also contains a unique fun experience.”
“For example, an ordinary mountain, in addition to allowing players to wander and climb through it, we can also design it to hide rare treasures, or let the scenery at the top of the peak be fully visible, or let the mountain road be winding and full of various small surprises, and so on. Only in this way can players find a unique fun while experiencing the world.”
“Do you understand what I mean? The amusement park is to young people what that huge and colorful open world is to our game. They all gather the purest fun and fantasy of mankind. Only by grasping this concept can we design a masterpiece that makes people excited!”
Mo Xiaoxuan was enlightened and had a new understanding of the philosophy in Lu Yu's words. What he was pursuing was not only realism, but also the integration of elements of joy and fun, so that players could gain more meaningful and happy experiences while exploring.
There was an excited conversation in the car, and everyone talked freely about the design of the amusement park rides, the hidden surprises and fun. On the way, the confusion in their hearts was swept away, replaced by a full of energy and fighting spirit.
Before they knew it, the car had arrived at its destination. The dazzling neon lights of Universal Amusement Park shone brightly in the dark night. A group of people gathered at the entrance, and Lu Yu took a deep breath, revealing a childlike expression: “Okay, everyone! Let us now immediately immerse ourselves in this paradise and personally experience the true meaning of 'fun'!”
Everyone filed in, greeted by a scene of noisy and bustling jubilation. The amusement park was full of childish cheers and exaggerated mechanical sounds, and unique amusement facilities loomed between the flashing neon lights.
“Look over there! It's a roller coaster!” An employee pointed to the towering steel structure in the distance and couldn't help but exclaim. The dazzling roller coaster was like a crazy steel python, winding around thrilling arcs and vertical slopes, sometimes disappearing into dark tunnels, sometimes flying across the air, all the way soaring straight into the sky.
"Huh? What's that?" A female employee suddenly pointed to the side. A ride shaped like a space capsule was spinning rapidly in mid-air, and the crowd around it burst into exclamations. Lu Yu added at the right moment, "That's called the 'Centrifugal Rotation Capsule.' It's one of the most popular experiences among young people. It's incredibly fast and brings a strong sense of weightlessness and imbalance. It's truly 'thrilling'!"
Everyone smiled at each other, attracted by the creativity and novelty visible everywhere in this amusement park. A flash of inspiration suddenly struck Mo Xiaoxuan. If these interesting elements could be integrated into the map and quest design of 'Eternal Night,' it would definitely make the open world more vivid and interesting, giving players enough motivation to explore and experience pleasure.