Academic Book Garden, Building A, Room 302.
Zhang Xiaojun, carrying a bag of snacks and cola, pushed open the studio door.
As soon as she entered, she saw Chen Ba sitting in front of the computer screen, his eyes dull and lifeless.
"What's up with Ba?"
"That expression of utter despair... did he break up with someone?"
"You're overthinking it!"
Reaching into the bag Zhang Xiaojun was carrying, Yang Dong pulled out a bag of chips, denying her guess, "How can someone who doesn't have a partner be heartbroken?"
"Right!" Zhang Xiaojun nodded.
The room was only so big; even if the two of them intentionally lowered their voices, Chen Ba still heard them.
But he didn't care.
Because at this moment, he was gazing at the system panel in his mind, lost in thought.
[Game Title: Living Under Someone's Roof Simulator]
[Design: 88 (can be improved)]
[Programming: 91 (can be improved)]
[Art: 78 (can be improved)]
[... Overall Score: 72]
The art score was much higher than "Cold Window Study Simulator," which was expected by Chen Ba, considering he had spent money.
If spending money doesn't make you stronger, what's the point of spending money?
The programming score had also increased; only the design score stayed the same, with almost no improvement compared to the previous work.
This was also quite reasonable.
After all, the ideas for "Living Under Someone's Roof Simulator," including the core gameplay mechanics and even the value framework, were all just an upgraded version of the previous work "Cold Window Study Simulator."
But why...
When all the project's scores were going up, the overall score was going down instead?
Chen Ba couldn't understand it.
"Living Under Someone's Roof Simulator" clearly surpassed the previous work in all aspects, yet its overall score was so much lower. Which part of the process was problematic?
The higher the score, the lower the score?
Are you just pulling a time paradox here?
"Could it be that the overall score isn't better when it's higher, but rather when it's lower?"
Chen Ba thought of a possibility but then shook his head, dismissing this obviously unreasonable hypothesis.
If you can't figure it out, then just don't think about it.
Whether it's 91 or 72, to him, they're about the same. The key is still the core scores in design, programming, art, and music.
"The art score is slightly low, but to continue improving, I'll need to spend money. After all, the studio currently doesn't have the capacity for independent art design..."
Chen Ba scratched his head.
In the system toolbar, there are indeed auxiliary functions that can optimize art design and generate specific art resources, but they are in an "unlocked" state and can't be used.
The only way to improve is to spend money.
But after thinking about it, he felt that the cost-effectiveness of spending more on improving the art score wasn't high. After all, the higher you go with game artwork, the more expensive it becomes.
Let me give a simple example.
If game artwork is scored from 1 to 100, anything below 50 is worthless.
So, the market trend is that only works scoring 70-80 points barely reach the commercial standard.
Then above 80, 85 points is one price, and 90 points is another...
Once you hit 90 and above, the difference in price for each point could multiply several times, and a one-point difference could directly add a zero to the price, which isn't unimaginable.
So, spending money to improve the art score seems like a waste to Chen Ba, especially for Tianba Game Studio, which is just starting and has limited funds.
"Then let's improve the design score!"
"It's just right for me to see what areas of game design still have room for optimization..."
Besides automatically generating core code and reducing development pressure, Chen Ba thought that "identifying and filling gaps" was also a crucial benefit brought by the system.
Through the system, he can clearly see the shortcomings in the game, and then make targeted adjustments and debugging.
That is simply amazing!
You have to know, many game developers often fall into the trap of being "too close to the trees to see the forest."
Outsiders might point out the actual problem, but the developer may not always make the right judgment or perceive where the game's problems lie.
"This is like writing a novel and having a professional editor to ask for advice at any moment."
"If there's something written incorrectly, they'll point it out immediately and tell you how to modify it to make it appealing to readers..."
Chen Ba pulled up a secondary page.
Displayed on it, the freedom score of "Living Under Someone's Roof Simulator" was very high, reaching 94 points, making it an outstanding example of similar "story-driven" games.
But as a game that focuses on story rather than operation, emphasizing immersion and integration, the plot score and value score, however, were somewhat lacking.
"Dong!"
After seeing this, Chen Ba immediately closed the system page and asked Yang Dong, who was munching on chips nearby, "Where is the plot text at now?"
"Let me see... In terms of plot text, according to the current development progress, it should be written up to the first semester of senior year in high school."
"You've written that much?"
Chen Ba furrowed his brows.
He thought not much had been written, which would make revisions easier. But now that it's already written up to the first semester of senior year, making changes would be more troublesome.
Opening up the plot text shared by Yang Dong, Chen Ba skimmed over the main storyline events:
The uncle, struggling at work, was dismissed, feeling despondent, drinking daily, becoming increasingly irritable, and often scolding and beating the protagonist.
The aunt, meanwhile, was the opposite. Her new lipstick marketing plan succeeded greatly, gaining recognition from the company's leadership, and she was promoted to marketing supervisor, spending less and less time at home...
The uncle suspected the aunt of having an affair with the handsome boss of the cosmetics company, and with the aunt coming home less and less, tensions between the couple began to show.
As the person brought in by the aunt, the protagonist was caught in the middle, basically serving as an emotional dumping ground for the uncle...
"Is the next part about the uncle and aunt's relationship breaking down, and the protagonist becoming homeless, not wanting to worry parents, so he ends up staying at the restaurant owner's place to work?"
"Yes! That's the outline."
Seeing Chen Ba's somewhat serious expression, Yang Dong put down his bag of chips and asked, "Do you think there's something wrong somewhere?"
"The conflict isn't intense enough, and the emotional setup isn't quite right..."
After pondering for a moment, Chen Ba, with his hand on his chin, said, "The part where the aunt and uncle fight and give each other the silent treatment, leaving the protagonist ignored, could be developed in more depth."
Yang Dong straightened his posture: "How would you develop it more deeply?"
"Create some special events, like the protagonist wandering the streets, seeing others return home while they themselves don't know where to go at night."
"Or classmates complaining about strict parental controls, with parents who micromanage every detail, feeling envious of the protagonist's freedom..."
In designing the plot, Chen Ba wasn't exactly a professional, but he knew how to evoke players' emotions.
Game plots that resonate with players' emotions are good plots!
"Living Under Someone's Roof Simulator" had multiple branching plots, and because of the many route options, it had overlooked the creation and portrayal of emotional resonance for the main storyline.
No wonder the score was low!
With so many route choices, if none of them resonate emotionally with the player, then what's the point of making so many routes?
"And then there's the values..."
Chen Ba hadn't forgotten, on the secondary system page, the value score also appeared very low.
This problem is very obvious—"self-esteem" is way too easy to boost!
There are lots of events and items that can increase self-esteem, and some items add way too much self-esteem.
After rummaging through trash bins for a semester, self-esteem had nearly hit rock bottom, but using money from selling recyclables to buy a pair of sneakers and suddenly having self-esteem skyrocket, is that reasonable?
"The self-esteem value of items needs to be toned down a bit; players shouldn't find the game too easy."
Chen Ba instructed, "Self-esteem is a core value of the game. If players think a slight drop is trivial and that they can easily buy some items to gain it back through work, then it becomes meaningless."
Yang Dong nodded.
Indeed, recovering self-esteem has become way too easy.
So many players, apart from being cautious with money at the start, became less concerned about "self-esteem" as the game progressed to the mid and late stages.
This is simply too lax!
In the early stages, players are anxious and nervous, fearing that one wrong choice might lead to a huge drop in self-esteem. This part doesn't need any changes.
But later in the game, when players become more financially stable through "self-reliance," self-esteem becomes way too cheap.
This needs adjustment!
There are two ways: the first is to adjust the "price" in the game, making self-esteem recovery items harder to obtain and more expensive.
The second is to directly adjust the value: items that used to restore 20 points of self-esteem should now restore only 10 or even 5 points...
This way, even in the late game, players still won't dare act too recklessly and will be more careful making key decisions.
Perfect value balance!