Chen Xu glanced at the virtual screen in front of him. The content displayed was very concise and clear.
An explanation button, a gashapon machine-like device filled with Gashapon, and next to it a reward list detailing the prizes: [Common Professional Skill Book], [Rare Professional Skill Book], [Special Item].
Below that, there was also a line of numbers: 473451.
After first clicking the explanation button, Chen Xu quickly got the information he wanted.
Clearly, this system was his Golden Finger, no doubt about it.
It was a very simple gacha system, but of course, it required points.
The source of these points was also very simple: when his works immersed players, viewers, readers, listeners, etc., and made them happy, joyful, excited, sad, angry, or fearful, he would gain corresponding Emotion Points.
These could be converted into points for Gashapon pulls, and the current 400,000+ Emotion Points.
Were accumulated by Chen Xu in his previous life.
Seeing this, Chen Xu somewhat regretted his past actions.
“If I had known this, why did I do level and plot design back then? It would’ve been much better to just do Event Planning,” Chen Xu said with a touch of regret.
Unlike in the Parallel World, where players would directly scold the Game Planner if they were unhappy.
In his previous life, the Planner was just a Scapegoat.
Favorite character's Numerical Design nerfed? Dog Planner!
Favorite character got written out of the story? Dog Planner!
Favorite game server crashed? Dog Planner!
Anyway, whether it was the Planner's fault or not, blaming them was always right.
“100,000 for one pull? A ten-pull costs 1,000,000 with no discount, and they don't even give a free pull? Even Pig Factory games aren't as exploitative as you!” Chen Xu had thought he had quite a lot of points, but when he saw the cost for a pull, he fell silent.
So, his 400,000+ points only allowed for four single pulls in total?
Despite his complaints, Chen Xu’s hands didn’t stop; he immediately started pulling.
He smoothly pulled the joystick four times, and Chen Xu watched as the Gashapon machine rattled and dropped out four Gashapon.
Then, a golden light erupted from the four eggs.
Chen Xu hadn't expected to get anything good, after all, he only had four chances.
And there were only three types of items that could be obtained from these Gashapon.
But now?
‘Wow! Golden Legendary!’
Chen Xu voiced it in his mind, his face full of anticipation.
And then...
Common Professional Skill Book 2, Rare Professional Skill Book 1, Memory Capsule *1
Looking at the four items in front of him, Chen Xu was utterly speechless.
This darn golden light was just a pure loot box... no, wait, a Gashapon opening effect?
System, you're really something else!
Chen Xu grumbled inwardly, but his hand still tapped the Common Professional Skill Book.
Then, Chen Xu saw the skill book transform into a cluster of purple, star-like light points that merged into his body, along with a prompt.
‘Plot Design +1’
As the purple light poured in, Chen Xu felt his mind become incredibly clear, and he suddenly understood some of the original arrangements for story pacing. This feeling was quite strange, like when he used to do math problems in school and racked his brains without success facing a particular problem. But then he saw a relevant math formula, and it all suddenly became clear.
Then Chen Xu clicked on the other two books.
‘Music +1, Painting Skill +5’
Music was a Common Professional Skill Book, while Painting Skill was a Rare Professional Skill Book.
The degree of increase was different. As for whether it was due to different classifications or just a simple numerical difference, he didn't know.
After all, he didn't have enough points for more experimentation and summary.
Finally, Chen Xu looked at the last item he had opened.
‘Memory Capsule: After use, allows access to deep-seated memories for 1 hour.’
Looking at the Memory Capsule, Chen Xu showed a surprised expression.
This was great!
It was equivalent to a temporary Photographic Memory.
As someone in the Gaming Industry in his previous life, Chen Xu had played countless games, and not just played, but studied them extensively.
Taking the renowned game The Last of Us as an example, an ordinary player would exclaim 'Wow, awesome!' 'Ah, scary!' 'No, I died!' while playing.
But for Gaming Industry professionals like Chen Xu, it required multi-faceted thought and research.
For instance, why was the story told in that particular way? Were the monster placements reasonable? Why were the map and related cover arranged as they were? How were hidden details hinted at for players to discover?
So, with this Memory Capsule, Chen Xu could now largely reconstruct some of those past games in his mind.
The Memory Capsule was temporarily placed in his item inventory; Chen Xu planned to save it for later.
Before starting his first game development, there was still some preparatory work to be done.
For example, the use of the Official Game Engine, market research on relevant games, the mainstream game genres currently, and on which platform the game should be released upon launch.
All these required advance preparation.
“Alright, let me take a look!” Closing the system, Chen Xu sat in front of his computer, typing on the keyboard and searching for the content he wanted.
First, he checked out the Parallel World's Game Engine tools.
Because he had previously helped game companies with outsourced Concept Art Production.
Chen Xu already had the Official Game Engine software on his computer and had registered the corresponding account long ago.
In the Parallel World, this area was quite mature.
For example, Concept Art, modeling, Music, and even Voice Actors could all be found through the platform within the Game Engine.
“Hmm, it's not very difficult, nor is it cumbersome. It's just that the resources are too scarce.”
Chen Xu quickly browsed through the introduction video in fast-forward mode and also searched online for relevant text descriptions.
He had a general understanding of the Game Engine; it wasn't hard to get started.
Next was the platform aspect. The thriving development of the Cultural Industry also brought about a crackdown on piracy, and games developed using Game Engines technically eliminated piracy completely.
Of course, while there was no piracy, the competition in the industry was still quite fierce.
As for game platforms, there wasn't much difference from his previous life, with both domestic and international options.
However, unlike his previous life where one foreign platform dominated, in the Parallel World, foreign platforms didn't have such a great influence; instead, domestic game platforms were mainstream.
This was mainly because, unlike in his previous life where game blood in China was green or gray and even skeletons had to grow flesh, Real-Name Authentication was fully popularized in the Parallel World, and cultural products also had a corresponding Rating System.
For example, games like The Witcher 3 and GTA from his previous life would have had virtually a 0% chance of passing censorship, but in the Parallel World, they could entirely pass, though they would definitely be rated 18R Rating.
(End of Chapter)
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