Chapter 210: How About We Change It Into a Pyramid? (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Pass)

Chapter 210: How About We Change It Into a Pyramid? (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Pass)

The various controversies surrounding sandbox games in the gaming industry didn't affect Chen Xu at all.

Because the promotional model for Minecraft, along with its timeline, had already been largely finalized.

After New Year's Day, on January 3rd—coincidentally the First Day of the Twelfth Lunar Month—Minecraft would begin its solo test.

The multiplayer mode wouldn't be enabled yet. Only Regular Friend Online Multiplayer and Single-Player Function would be available, lasting for five days.

Then, on February 1st—the First Day of the First Lunar Month—it would officially launch across the entire internet.

Even the promotional strategy had already been confirmed with Zhang Yida.

Besides standard advertising promotion, they would adopt a special approach this time: showcasing some jaw-dropping structures built within Minecraft, as well as some simple Redstone Applications.

To put it plainly—this was about Showing Off Skills.

It was meant to let players understand exactly what kind of game Minecraft was, and what kind of content they could experience.

Of course, this wasn't a particularly novel tactic.

After all, game promotion Adheres to Fundamental Principles.

Just like how some games immediately immerse players in a wave of nostalgia—a nostalgia where players start at max level, with all Skills unlocked and wearing Divine Gear.

Why?

Simply to instill a Sense of Anticipation, so players would look forward to the game's subsequent content, understanding that such thrilling gameplay awaited them later on.

The same logic applied to promotional videos for games or edited trailers for films—they all followed this route, building anticipation for what came next.

However, due to Minecraft's uniquely special Gameplay, all in-game content had to be created by Chen Xu and his team themselves.

The one piece of good news was that Zhong Yue and his team at Galaxy Smart Tech had made significant breakthroughs in Artificial Intelligence.

Chen Xu guessed this was likely due to the nearing end of the countdown progress bar—patent applications were flooding in, indicating that Galaxy Smart Tech was Going Wild (with success).

Compared to Cutting-Edge AI in the broader industry, Galaxy Smart Tech couldn't compete; their focus wasn't even on the same Conceptual Direction. Per Chen Xu's requirements, their research specifically targeted performance within games.

Compared to the Rigid Performance seen earlier in Dark Souls: Age of the First Flame, they'd now made Considerable Progress.

Using Zhong Yue's technology, Chen Xu had specifically developed a Rapid Construction Tool.

In his previous life, similar tools existed, saving considerable time.

But here, things could be even simpler—by leveraging Galaxy Smart Tech's AI, users could first design within the software, then let the AI recognize and further generate the structure through the Editor Backend.

Of course, overly complex creations still required manual work by Chen Xu and his team.

But it was already much more convenient, giving Chen Xu the confidence to promote the game using this method.

Later on, they could periodically release some officially crafted, memorable building complexes.

As for the tool itself, Chen Xu didn't plan to release it publicly—because even if he did, players wouldn't be able to use it. It relied heavily on AI's Computational Resources, and unless players were willing to pay, it wouldn't be feasible.

And aside from Wealthy Individuals, Chen Xu estimated that most players wouldn't afford it under the proposed pricing standard. So later, he'd still release simpler tools like the 'Creator God' Brush Tools.

After completing part of the building complex, Chen Xu stretched and prepared to go check on Qin Yi and the others' Progress/Results.

After all, Minecraft's core content was already complete. Though Dark Souls still had DLCs like The Ringed City and Painted World in development, those weren't urgent—they were already underway, and could just as well be released during the game's third anniversary.

So currently, all company employees were involved in the house-building process, and today was the first day.

Still, Chen Xu didn't expect much from them. His plan was to use his tools to create the main Models first, then hand over the finished product for them to make Minor Adjustments and fill in details following Templates.

When he arrived at the project office, he found everyone Sitting in Rows, their screens displaying Minecraft.

They appeared highly coordinated, exchanging ideas fluently.

"I've finished this section—Qin Yi, handle the interior construction."

"No problem!"

"Sister Xin, is the foundation ready?"

"You know my work—trust it!"

Listening to their conversations, Chen Xu was surprised—everything seemed professional.

Had he misjudged them?

But as he stepped closer, he fell silent.

"Are you guys building an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh's Pyramid?" Chen Xu finally couldn't help but ask, staring at the screen.

Hearing Chen Xu's words, everyone froze. Pharaoh's Pyramid?

That wasn't right—they had considered it earlier but ultimately Rejected the idea.

But then it dawned on them: what was a Pharaoh's Pyramid?

Wasn't it just the Tomb of an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh?

Was Chen Xu saying their house looked like a tomb?

Immediately, they were displeased: "Mr. Chen, this is a structure we pooled our intelligence and creativity to build. It's definitely not some ancient tomb!"

Yang Xin chimed in: "Exactly! Mr. Chen, you're underestimating us! Sure, we might not know much about Architecture, but it doesn't look good now because it's unfinished. Actually, we based it on the Musée d'Orsay in France. We initially thought about building the Forbidden City or the Mogao Grottoes, but those seemed too difficult. So we decided to start with something simpler."

Based on the Musée d'Orsay?

Chen Xu silently opened a Search Engine, pulled up a photo of the Musée d'Orsay, then looked back at the Lump in front of Yang Xin and the others.

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't connect the two.

Where did you get the courage to say that?

"Never mind, let me fix it up a bit."

Chen Xu sighed, walked over, and sat down at Yang Xin's seat.

First, he increased the in-game Movement Speed, then skillfully began using items to build.

The team gathered around him, watching intently.

His speed was much faster than theirs.

But what exactly was he building?

This didn't look like a house at all.

"What is Mr. Chen constructing?"

"Looks like a statue?"

"I get it!"

"Sister Xin, what do you get?"

"A statue! Remember, there are all kinds of sculptures around the Musée d'Orsay!"

"Has Mr. Chen been there? Doesn't he need to compare photos?"

They whispered curiously.

After about twenty minutes, Chen Xu placed the final brick, released the mouse, and clapped his hands. "Done!"

Staring at the structure before them, everyone fell silent.

"Well, Mr. Chen really did make a sculpture, just like Sister Xin said."

"Yeah, not just any sculpture—it's a famous Cultural Heritage of ancient Egyptian civilization."

"The iconic Sphinx!"

"So Mr. Chen, are you trying to imply something?"

Facing the lifelike Sphinx Chen Xu had just created, the team exchanged Glances.

This was clearly implying their house looked like a Small Burial Mound!

"Ahem, I didn't say that—it was all you guys!" Chen Xu coughed lightly.

Hearing this, the team was Speechless.

Did they really need to say it? This wasn't even a hint anymore—it was a Direct Statement!

But come to think of it, if they looked back carefully, it did kind of resemble one!

Square and rigid, made of dirt and Shelter Stone, fully enclosed since they planned to add windows later—completely airtight. All it needed was some torches for lighting, and it'd be identical to the Tomb appearance seen in Archaeological Documentaries!

Staring for a few seconds, especially with the Sphinx right there, Yang Xin hesitated.

Because she realized—looking at the Sphinx—

Slowly, the Musée d'Orsay prototype in her mind began to shift.

After a Moment of Thought, Yang Xin turned to her colleague: "Maybe... we should change it?"

"Change it?"

"How about we turn it into a pyramid? Seems easier to build too!" Yang Xin suggested.

"And remember, changing architectural plans is totally normal. Just like painting—maybe Qi Baishi didn't start with shrimp, or Xu Beihong with horses. But later, they discovered their Talent for painting shrimp or horses, and leaned into it," she explained.

"Sister Xin, please give it a rest!" Ruan Ningxue couldn't help but interject.

Qin Yi and the others sighed with emotion as well.

During the development of Minecraft, everyone had genuinely experienced the game's fun.

But when it came to building houses, the results always ended up different from what they imagined!

Two updates for now—more before 6 PM, then another at night.

(End of Chapter) <>