"So, I think this is a test from President Pei—like a writing prompt."
"President Pei is a master of doing more with less, maximizing the effect with minimal resources."
"He did this with Lonely Desert Road, and again with Ghost General!"
"So we also need to try our best to achieve great results with the fewest resources!"
"I've roughly considered several aspects—characters, scenes, and story cutscenes. All these must be simplified wherever possible, or else the story mode would become meaningless. We must put our limited resources where they matter most!"
Bao Xu spoke confidently.
Huang Sibo kept nodding in agreement.
Bao Xu continued, "Once we've decided to economize our resources as much as possible, our options actually become pretty limited."
"First, regarding the characters. We can use a first-person perspective so we don't even have to create a character model for the protagonist—just arms and legs would be enough."
"For enemies, we can use a zombie theme. Enemies in the game could fall into two categories: zombies and mercenaries. We can reuse generic templates, simply adjusting them to keep variety without consuming too much effort."
Huang Sibo nodded, "Hmm, I see. That's actually a pretty good idea. But having only zombies and mercenaries might not be enough to convey a meaningful story. We'll need supporting characters as well."
"I've already thought about the supporting character. We just need one—a little girl."
Bao Xu glanced at the scribbled paper in his hands, "To conserve resources further, I intend to set the little girl as mute. That way, we won't have to write extensive dialogue or hire voice actors. All voice acting in the game could simply be limited to basic combat lines."
Huang Sibo was surprised, "Huh? Our only supporting character can't speak? How can we express a meaningful story then?"
From Huang Sibo's point of view, dialogue was crucial for expressing a story and the characters' personalities. With just one supporting character who couldn't speak… was the entire game going to become a silent drama?
Bao Xu pondered for a moment, "Hmm... that's a compromise we have to make. If we let the little girl speak, we'll have to hire a dedicated voice actor and animate lip-sync, which will greatly increase our workload."
"Besides, I don't think her muteness will negatively impact storytelling—we can still convey her emotions and story in other ways."
"For example, through her behaviors, her gaze, or subtle gestures."
"If we have to make a character mute, a little girl is probably the best choice."
"The presence of this little girl serves two purposes."
"First, she's a psychological comfort and a break from tension. Players will spend most of the game fighting zombies and mercenaries, and this little girl would be like a ray of hope in the darkness, balancing out the player's emotions and preventing the experience from becoming monotonous with constant combat."
"Second, she can be involved in puzzle-solving gameplay. Many overseas AAA single-player games do this by having players interact with an NPC to solve puzzles. We can design scenarios like the main door being locked, and there's a narrow ventilation duct nearby. The little girl could crawl through and help the player open the door."
"This way, both emotionally and practically, the girl would be extremely important to the player."
Huang Sibo nodded again, "Hmm, that sounds pretty good! But I have one question—what about the story's background? Is it going to be set in an apocalypse scenario? The world needs to seamlessly integrate zombies, mercenaries, and a little girl, and it must make logical sense without seeming forced."
Bao Xu made a mark on the paper full of scribbles. "That brings us to the second point: the setting."
"There's a crucial prerequisite here—our settings must be reusable. Suppose we aim for around three hours of narrative content. Typically, big-budget overseas games would create three or four entirely unique, distinct settings for this. That's too demanding for us."
"What I'm thinking is this: The story takes place in a massive offshore fortress. An evil multinational corporation is conducting virus experiments there, attempting to turn mercenaries into tireless, enhanced soldiers."
"This way, throughout the story mode, the player's primary goal is straightforward—to fight their way out of the massive fortress, moving from the bottom level up to the top, ultimately escaping. This means all the settings players encounter can uniformly follow a 'secret base' aesthetic."
"We have several ways to distinguish each level—varying enemy types, slight adjustments to scenery, and so forth. Even though they're all the 'secret base' style, we can easily create distinct variations by changing textures and details."
"For example, some scenes could show contamination from the virus, with walls and floors covered in rust and infected, fleshy growths. Others could retain the original fortress layout but appear heavily ransacked. Some scenes could illustrate intense battles where mercenaries have fought zombies, leaving heavy damage and ruins."
"Using just one base template, we can create three or four variants to satisfy all our setting requirements."
Huang Sibo rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, that's actually an excellent idea. But then, if this is an evil corporation's secret offshore base, how do we logically introduce the little girl?"
"That part's easy," Bao Xu replied. "The girl carries a special antibody, which led the corporation to kidnap her for experimentation. During these brutal experiments, she lost her ability to speak."
"Brilliant!"
Huang Sibo's eyes suddenly lit up. "And this idea could be expanded further! How about this: the girl's blood can help the protagonist resist infection. If the player gets bitten or scratched by a zombie, the girl voluntarily uses a syringe to draw her blood and heal him."
"Great idea!" Bao Xu nodded enthusiastically. "This makes the girl even more indispensable to players! Every time she draws blood, it strengthens the emotional bond between player and character. Additionally, if her blood is drawn too often, the girl will grow weaker and slower. To prevent her from suffering, the player must improve their skills and dispatch enemies more efficiently—this adds another layer of immersion!"
During their brainstorming, the game's core ideas rapidly solidified.
The story would unfold within a massive offshore fortress. The main character is an elite soldier from the East who infiltrates the base for investigation but unexpectedly arrives just as the virus outbreak occurs.
The protagonist must continuously scavenge weapons from defeated enemies, battling waves of zombies and mercenaries while ascending from the fortress's lowest level to its top to escape.
Along the way, the protagonist encounters a mute little girl, who becomes his reason to survive and escape.
The entire narrative revolves around the protagonist and this little girl.
The storyline might be simple, but it wouldn't feel monotonous at all!
Though there's only one supporting character—the little girl—if executed correctly, the impact she leaves on players would surpass ten minor characters combined.
Huang Sibo continuously typed notes on his computer.
Glancing back at the complete document, Huang Sibo felt astonished.
This was a perfect solution!
Was this what Bao Xu had conceived in just a few hours?
Not only had it perfectly solved the problem of limited resources, but it also ensured the story was logical, emotionally engaging, and memorable!
Huang Sibo couldn't help but raise his thumb. "Brother Bao, you're amazing!"
Bao Xu shook his head modestly. "No, I simply completed President Pei's writing prompt. He probably had this in mind from the very beginning. He merely gave us a small test to see if we could understand his intentions!"
- - - - - -
If you want to see more chapter of this fic for free, please go to my Scribblehub Account[1], I cross-poted this fic in there too.
Link: https://www.scribblehub.com/series/1589938/losing-money-to-become-a-tycoon-starting-with-games/[2]
[1] https://www.scribblehub.com/series/1589938/losing-money-to-become-a-tycoon-starting-with-games/
[2] https://www.scribblehub.com/series/1589938/losing-money-to-become-a-tycoon-starting-with-games/