As expected, the incredible success of the Cold Window Study Simulator really impressed Lu.
Things will be easier now.
Since he knows the studio is financially stable, not particularly rich but definitely sufficient for creating a new game, Lu quickly got into work mode and offered a suggestion in his role as game planner.
"Self-esteem?"
Everyone looked at each other puzzled.
"Yes, self-esteem!"
Seeing everyone was somewhat confused, Lu hurriedly added, "Chen has already roughly framed our new game."
"Players need to take on the role of a high school student who has to board at a relative's house due to studying away from home. So I think... maintaining your self-esteem as much as possible in the harsh environment of a mean relative's house is the core gameplay of this game."
"Brilliant!" Chen Ba praised.
Lu sure brought some valuable skills to the table, giving them a lesson right off the bat.
Exactly!
It's a new game, why still cling to that damned "Physical Strength" and "Learning Motivation"?
Quantifying "self-esteem" to reflect the core gameplay of the game is simply genius!
"Self-esteem can be understood as the character's health or satiety and must always be maintained at a high level to pass the game smoothly."
Lu continued to explain, "We can even expand it further. When the character's self-esteem is too low, it might trigger various BE (Bad End) outcomes, such as depression or even..."
Lu didn't finish the last sentence but instead mimed hanging.
"Wouldn't this be too depressing?" Yang Dong was surprised.
Although Chen Ba has already brought the Cold Window Study Simulator to its extremes, with many harsh and gut-wrenching BE outcomes, compared to the BE endings Lu proposed, it could be said that Chen Ba has been too conservative.
In the game [Cold Window Study Simulator], the worst possible ending is the protagonist falling ill and randomly getting an extremely rare terminal disease.
Next worst is trying hard but not changing your fate, forever stuck beside that old ox, living a life facing the soil back to the sky just like the previous generation.
Previously, while playing the Cold Window Study Simulator, Yang Dong already felt some endings were too cruel, making him feel blocked up inside.
But now, after hearing Lu's idea, he suddenly felt the BE endings of [Cold Window Study Simulator] didn't seem as suffocating.
The result of the complete breakdown of self-esteem made him uncomfortable just thinking about it.
Not to mention, the game plan mentioned that "the protagonist's parents love him very much," only choosing to leave home to earn his university tuition.
In the end, they got the tuition, but lost their son!
No way, can't think about it anymore...
Afraid he'd be upset all day if he kept thinking, Yang Dong shook his head to discard these thoughts, then pursued, "But relying solely on this value can't support a game's core gameplay, right?"
"Exactly!"
This time before Lu could speak, Chen Ba interjected, "Relying on one value might not be enough, so I came up with another value: pocket money!"
"Because you're living under someone else's roof, everything you want, want to eat, want to do, needs the temporary guardian's consent."
"I hadn't thought of this before, but now I believe this pocket money can be linked to self-esteem."
Being refused pocket money lowers self-esteem; hopes for getting new sneakers get dashed, wanting to eat dragon fruit also gets rejected, further lowering self-esteem...
Various scenarios flashed through Chen Ba's mind, and at that moment, he made a decision.
"The relatives where the protagonist stays can't all be mean people, otherwise, it wouldn't explain why they accepted the protagonist to board."
"Exactly!"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Logically it wouldn't make sense. If a whole family were mean, they wouldn't have accepted the protagonist's boarding in the first place; there must be a practical relative among them.
"Let's set it up that he's boarding at his aunt's house. The aunt treats the protagonist very well but is seldom home due to work."
"His uncle, uncle's parents, cousin, and others all show unwelcome attitudes towards this poor relative joining them, considering him a burden!"
After adding this setting, Lu smiled and continued, "Although it sounds abstract, out of face to the aunt, they can't directly kick him out, so they express their disdain indirectly. That should be reasonable, right?"
"Reasonable!"
Having been listening without speaking, Zhang Xiaojun vigorously nodded, "Some relatives are like that, always indirect taunts and derogation in conversations that are infuriating."
Oh! Someone has a story?
Chen Ba and the others simultaneously looked at Zhang Xiaojun.
"Why are you all looking at me? Don't you have any bizarre relatives in your family?" Zhang Xiaojun countered.
"Uh... yes, we do!"
After thinking it over, Chen Ba and the others agreed that while it might sound harsh, everyone should have one or two of such odd relatives.
They merely seldom interact, so didn't think of them immediately.
"Alright, let's not go off-topic."
Chen Ba coughed, quick to change the subject: "Back to the game itself, Zhang Xiaojun will be responsible for art, mainly relying on the outsourced team. Programming and story will be tackled by the three of us. Any issues?"
"No issues!"
Everyone shook their heads.
Being the boss of the studio, once Chen Ba had arranged the specifics, who would oppose?
Besides, this division is reasonable.
Except for music and testing which Chen Ba didn't assign specific personnel to, everything else mostly had dedicated people in charge.
As a small team with just four people, including the boss, why have detailed divisions?
If you get into specifics, dividing up tasks like numerical planning, battle planning, level planning, story planning... Tianba Game Studio with only four people would be inadequate!
Small teams shouldn't have high expectations.
The subdivided business and role distributions mostly belong to big teams or even large companies; for such small studios with less than ten people, meeting art, planning, and programming needs is generally enough.
Oh right...
Regarding game art, studios with scales of less than 30 people typically don't hold high expectations, usually relying heavily on outsourcing.
That's not news.
Rather, what's noteworthy is that the Tianba Game Studio, with just three or four people, handles programming in-house rather than outsourcing; that's actual news.
"Can we handle the workload?"
Yang Dong was somewhat skeptical, given that among the three of them, only Chen Ba was a programming expert, while the others were half-baked. Could this combo really complete a game's programming?
"No worries, I'm here!"
Can't speak for other things, but regarding programming, Chen Ba dared to face an entire team single-handedly.
Whether it's client development, server development, engine development, or tool development, none of these faze him.
Don't ask, the answer is, he's cheating!