Chapter 3: "Desert Bus"

As for the current gaming industry environment, it is quite similar to the situation in 2009 when Pei Qian was last around.

For example, the hottest online game has changed from "Shan Kou Shan" to "Fantasy World", "CS" has become "Counter-Terrorism Project", and "DOTA" has turned into "Divine Inspiration". Although the packaging is slightly different, the gameplay remains largely the same.

However, there is a noticeable improvement in mobile games, possibly due to faster hardware development compared to Pei Qian's previous world.

For instance, card-based mobile games in Pei Qian's original world benefited from the widespread adoption of smartphones and only emerged in 2012. In this parallel world, smartphones appeared earlier, so similar games surfaced around 2008, making them a well-established game genre by now.

With this information, the situation becomes clear.

All Pei Qian needs to do is spend money on purchasing templates and art resources from the resource site, exhausting his 50,000 RMB budget, then create a game that no one will play or buy. In two weeks, he'll essentially have lost everything.

"Perfect!"

Determined, Pei Qian begins searching for the templates he wants on the resource site.

"Driving Simulation Basic Template, 20,000 RMB, includes a set of vehicle interior and exterior textures."

"Scene Template, Desert Highway, 15,000 RMB. If dynamic environment changes are required, an additional 8,000 RMB is needed, totaling 23,000 RMB."

"A bit expensive, but that's what I want!"

"There's still some money left."

"Radio Music, choose 30 songs from a selection of 100, or let the system randomly play songs from the library for 6,000 RMB."

"Still have 1,000 RMB left... I'll buy a simple leaderboard feature since I can't afford anything else."

After some consideration, Pei Qian frantically places orders on the resource site, quickly spending his entire 50,000 RMB budget.

To be honest, these resources are not expensive.

For example, the Driving Simulation Basic Template can be easily implemented into a game editor, providing basic functionality for a driving simulation game.

Features like acceleration, braking, turning, and collision are all included.

The Desert Highway scene template allows users to adjust the length of the road freely in the editor, with random variations in the desert scenery.

With the addition of the environment simulation feature, the game will display sunrise, sunset, and sandstorms.

Since these are generic templates, many independent game developers will use them, resulting in 100% chances of similar-looking games.

Some developers customize art resources to avoid this, but that requires additional investment.

However, Pei Qian doesn't care about that.

Similar-looking games? So what! He's trying to lose money anyway. If players don't play his game because it looks too similar to others, that's even better!

Pei Qian begins making his game.

Although the goal is to lose money, the game must still pass ESRO's review and successfully launch.

If the game is a half-finished product with serious functionality issues, it will not pass ESRO's review, and the system might penalize Pei Qian for breaking the rules.

So, no matter how terrible the game is, its basic features must be complete.

Dragging the basic template into the editor, and then adding the scene template, sets up the game's framework. Players can now drive on the desert highway.

However, purchased resources shouldn't go to waste.

Pei Qian adds a radio feature to the vehicle, allowing players to listen to random music while driving.

The music included consists of niche or traditional classic songs. With such a limited budget, it is impossible to purchase popular songs.

Next, a critical question arises:

What exactly is the core gameplay of this game?

Pei Qian himself is unsure.

Racing?

That's not feasible due to the limited budget.

All he could afford was a basic template, one vehicle texture, and one scene.

Complex tracks, beautiful cars, and related racing gameplay programs are all unaffordable!

How can he develop gameplay without being able to afford these elements?

Pei Qian has an idea – the core gameplay is simple: just driving!

Players start at the beginning and drive to the end to complete the game!

However, this alone is not enough. The game is made up of generic resources, and there's no gameplay innovation. It may be difficult to pass the review.

Some modifications are necessary to ensure the game passes the review, but they can't be too good. The game must lose money and not attract players!

Pei Qian decides to infinitely extend the desert track, making the game last eight hours!

That's right – players must drive for eight hours on this road to reach the end. Additionally, the desert road will occasionally turn.

Players cannot simply press a key and complete the game.

In this way, the gameplay differs from typical driving simulation games on the market, and it should pass the review.

Moreover, with such a frustrating gameplay, players will definitely complain. There's no way this game could make money!

Pei Qian is excited and feels like a genius.

He creates a very rudimentary end-of-game interface with a single line of text: "Congratulations, you have successfully wasted eight precious hours of your life!"

Even if someone manages to complete the game, the goal is to make them so angry that they never play a game from his company again!

The purchased leaderboard feature must also be used, so he creates a "Time Wasting Leaderboard" to track players' "completion times" and "effective playtime."

The leaderboard is purely for incorporating the purchased feature.

In no time, it's all done.

These functions are all basic in the editor's supported features. Simple dragging and parameter adjustments are all that's needed – anyone with hands can do it.

It takes less than two hours to learn the editor, buy resources, and create the game.

"This stupid game is bound to lose money!" Pei Qian exclaims after testing the game on his computer for five minutes.

The game consists only of driving – it's incredibly boring!

Pei Qian is satisfied and immediately releases the game.

Game Title: "Desert Bus."

Game Description: Drive for hours on a desert highway and gain some insights about life.

Pei Qian is conflicted when writing the game description.

Praising himself? Not suitable – if it attracts players, it may cause fewer losses.

Critiquing himself? Also not suitable – it's too obvious. On one hand, he worries about being deemed in violation of the rules; on the other hand, he fears provoking players' rebellious instincts, making them want to play more.

So, he writes a genuine description that doesn't pique players' interest!

Next is pricing.

Pei Qian sets the price at $1.

He doesn't want to set it too high. If he does and a few impulsive people buy it, he will lose less money!

With a low enough price, even if a few dozen players buy it, the impact on Pei Qian's losses will be negligible.

Once everything is done, Pei Qian uploads the game and waits for the review process to be completed and the game to be automatically listed on the official platform.

This process usually takes anywhere from a few hours to two or three days.

The official platform operates on an automated recommendation system, promoting a batch of new games based on changing data. Unless there is malicious manipulation, the management team will not intervene.

Pei Qian is not worried at all.

With such a terrible game, it will definitely be ignored and quickly forgotten once it's listed. Once the two weeks are up, he will receive 50,000 – how delightful!

Pei Qian closes his laptop, feeling relaxed and a sense of happiness washing over him.