Why Can’t I Make Games C06
by MarineTLChapter 6: You Can Make Money Playing My Game!
“In a future world, the war between humanity and extraterrestrial beings has reached a fever pitch.”
“It is a long, grueling campaign that has driven many to despair.”
“In this war…”
“All of humanity’s modern infrastructure has been destroyed. Countless oases have been reclaimed by the swirling sands of the desert. Nuclear radiation and monsters are everywhere. Humans huddle in fear within designated safety zones. Among these regions, the most terrifying desert is known as the Sahara…”
“You wake up…”
“You find yourself lying in the middle of an endless expanse of yellow sand. In the distance is a vast, lonely highway. As you come to your senses, you realize you are a combat medic. You must deliver medical supplies to the main base within eight hours. If you fail, not only will everyone at the base die, but you will die as well!”
“This is destined to be a lonely eight-hour journey!”
“Players, are you ready?”
“…”
When Zhong Chongwen read the story background, he was actually quite excited deep down.
It was currently 2005.
In 2005, although many interstellar-themed films and games had already been released, most young men still harbored a deep sense of wonder for the vastness of space and the concept of humans battling aliens.
Ever since Dadi Network released a game called Interstellar Mission1 in March of this year, that sense of anticipation had been dialed even higher…
A future world!
Alien combat!
What were the things people looked forward to most in such a setting?
Bizarre alien designs, unheard-of modern weaponry, and massive starships…
As Zhong Chongwen thought about it, he felt an immediate surge of excitement.
Before even looking at the game framework, his mind was already racing with ideas on how to design interstellar weapons, how to fight monsters, and how to outline the level progression…
The more he thought about it…
The more excited he became!
Then, he looked at the game framework provided below.
Finally…
His eyes locked onto the few lines of text at the bottom…
He couldn’t believe it.
He felt like he had been cheated!
He stared at the paper so hard he felt he might burn a hole through it, but…
Those few lines of text remained exactly as they were. At the end, as if fearing he might not realize it was over, there was even a large “END” written there!
The massive gap between his expectations and reality made it very difficult for him to accept for a moment.
He turned his head to look at Zhao Hang beside him.
At that moment, Zhao Hang’s gaze was vacant as he repeatedly flipped through that simple, thin page.
Clearly…
He was also in a state of disbelief.
A game design document!
A total of one thousand words!
Five hundred words were used for the background introduction, one hundred for the character introduction, and then the actual game framework design, including textures and starting items, took up only another hundred words!
The rest?
There was no “rest.”
Starting Character: Edward!
Texture Assets: Desert, cactus, bicycle, simple medical kit, highway, storm system, and night system.
Gameplay: Ride a bicycle for eight hours to deliver goods to the destination. The time in-game matches real-world time. Includes a day and night cycle.
…
Zhao Hang and Zhong Chongwen were both completely stunned.
That was it?
That was really it?
Where were the modern weapons? Where were the strange and terrifying alien creatures? Where were the thrilling and dangerous levels?
None of that existed?
Before getting into the car!
Their hearts had been filled with excitement. They had accepted reality, feeling that since they were already on this ship, they had to do something big to prove themselves!
After getting into the car, they received their first game design.
They had been expectant and thrilled.
However, that feeling only lasted a few seconds before a bucket of cold water was dumped over their heads.
They stared at Zhang Yang.
They saw Zhang Yang sitting in the passenger seat with a wide grin, not looking at all like he thought his game design was terrible.
“Zhang… Brother Zhang… is the first game we’re developing really… this?” Zhong Chongwen finally couldn’t help but stammer.
“Yes! Everything is hard at the beginning. As long as we take this first step, the future won’t be difficult!”
“We…”
He looked at Zhang Yang’s expression, and just as he was about to stammer out something else, the taxi driver turned around with great interest. “Oh? You guys make games?”
“That’s right, we’re game developers. We’re currently working on an interstellar-themed game!”
“Whoa, an interstellar game? Is it like Interstellar Mission? I’m a huge fan of Interstellar Mission!”
“Strictly speaking, it’s different from Interstellar Mission. That game focuses primarily on combat. Personally, I think it’s mediocre. The textures are rough. Although it’s considered the newest interstellar competitive game in the industry right now, the gameplay is actually quite basic. The lag is severe enough to ruin the experience, the plot is a mess, the buildings don’t render completely, and the story is very one-dimensional. They won’t be able to come up with a follow-up plan…” From the passenger seat, Zhang Yang spoke incessantly about his critique of Interstellar Mission.
In the back seat, Zhao Hang and Zhong Chongwen listened with dropped jaws.
They had both played Interstellar Mission. Currently, about thirty percent of the players in internet cafes2 were playing that game.
Interstellar Mission was a trend. From the moment it appeared, they had been obsessed with it, unable to pull themselves away.
In this era, they felt they hadn’t encountered a more enjoyable game.
But…
After hearing Zhang Yang talk non-stop about the game’s bugs and its fatal flaws in gameplay, they suddenly realized that the game really did have that many problems.
If they didn’t know Zhang Yang better, they would have thought he was a veteran pro player of that game!
They had no idea that in Zhang Yang’s eyes, the version of Interstellar Mission in this world was just a low-spec version of Red Alert3.
And it was the kind of low-spec that was pushed to the extreme!
What they knew even less was…
In Zhang Yang’s mind, he had a hundred ways to fix those experiential flaws. He couldn’t help but look down on Interstellar Mission from the bottom of his heart.
Compared to the year 2005 in his original world, the gaming industry of 2005 in this world was truly a wasteland.
There was no “Dota4,” no “League5,” and not even “Plants vs. Zombies6.” Cheats for single-player games were rampant, and online games currently operated entirely on a time-card model7…
But…
To Zhang Yang, this was paradise!
“Good lord, man, are you really that incredible? Then this game you’re developing…”
“It features a completely new style of gameplay, something that has never appeared on the market before. Moreover, you can actually make money by playing this game!”
“What? You can make money? You can make money just by playing a game?”
“Exactly! Other people burn through money playing games because they have to buy time cards. But our game doesn’t just avoid burning money, it lets you earn it!”
“Heavens! What kind of game is this? Tell me, how much can someone earn in a day?”
“As long as you put your heart into it, making enough to cover what you’d earn driving for a day is no problem at all!”
“For real?”
“I, Zhang Yang, never lie to anyone! If you don’t believe me, I can even sign an agreement with you!”
“…”
When the driver heard those words, his eyes instantly lit up!
Yet, he still found it a bit hard to believe.
Making money by playing a game!
This kind of marketing strategy was simply unheard of.
In the back seat.
Hearing the conversation between Zhang Yang and the driver, Zhong Chongwen and Zhao Hang felt their scalps go numb.
It seemed that ever since they met Zhang Yang, their emotions had been on a constant roller coaster, surging up and down!
They felt like Zhang Yang was a madman!
Zhang Yang!
He didn’t have a cent to his name…
Even the rent for the place he was staying was about to expire!
And now, he actually had the audacity to claim that the game they were producing could make money, and even offered to sign agreements with players…
This!
If this wasn’t a madman, then what was?
Meanwhile…
Wu Zhuang, the new member who hadn’t said a word from start to finish, was currently looking at Zhang Yang as if he were looking at God.
His gaze was filled with an endless, burning fervor!
It was like a blazing fire!
“For real?”
“Of course. If you don’t believe me, I can sign a guarantee with you right now! I’ve already drafted the agreement!”
“What!”
“…”
The taxi pulled over to the side of the road.
Zhao Hang and Zhong Chongwen watched as Zhang Yang pulled a “Play-to-Earn Agreement” out of his briefcase!
They felt like they were suffocating!
Zhang Yang!
What on earth was he trying to do?
Where would he get any money!
How did he dare sign an agreement like that?
Where was his money going to come from?
(End of Chapter)
Translator’s Notes
- Interstellar Mission: A fictional game title. In the 2005 Chinese gaming market, the term ‘Interstellar’ was a popular branding choice that signaled high-tech sci-fi combat, heavily influenced by the popularity of titles like StarCraft. This explains why the characters expected an epic game based on the name alone. ↩
- internet cafes: In 2005 China, internet cafes (网吧, wǎngbā) were the primary social and gaming hubs for youth, as personal computers and high-speed home internet were not yet common. A game’s popularity was often measured by its ‘occupancy rate’ in these cafes, which served as the front line for gaming trends. ↩
- Red Alert: A reference to ‘Command & Conquer: Red Alert,’ a classic real-time strategy (RTS) game that was immensely popular in Chinese internet cafes during the late 90s and early 2000s. Zhang Yang uses it as a benchmark for quality to highlight how technically primitive the current world’s games are. ↩
- Dota: A reference to ‘Defense of the Ancients,’ the mod for ‘Warcraft III’ that pioneered the MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) genre. Its absence in this parallel 2005 timeline emphasizes Zhang Yang’s view of the industry as a ‘wasteland’ devoid of the major competitive genres that would later dominate the market. ↩
- League: A common shorthand for League of Legends (英雄联盟), a globally popular Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) game. In Chinese gaming culture, it is frequently referred to simply as “League” (联盟). Its mention here, alongside Dota, highlights the absence of major genre-defining titles in the story’s alternate version of 2005. ↩
- Plants vs. Zombies: A landmark tower defense game released in 2009 that became a massive cultural phenomenon in China. In Chinese ‘game development’ webnovels, it is frequently cited as a benchmark for the high-quality casual games that defined the modern era. ↩
- time-card model: Refers to the ‘pay-to-play’ monetization system dominant in early 2000s online gaming, particularly in China. Players purchased physical or digital cards (点卡, diǎnkǎ) that provided a specific amount of in-game play time. This contrasts with the modern ‘free-to-play’ model, making Zhang Yang’s ‘play-to-earn’ pitch revolutionary for the setting’s era. ↩
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