Chapter 212: The Quintessential Sandbox Game (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Pass)
Chapter 212: The Quintessential Sandbox Game (Requesting Subscriptions, Monthly Pass)
Inside Nebula Games' project office.
Chen Xu was busy constructing game models.
Regarding promotion, the promotional video had already been released.
However, player feedback varied. After all, it was difficult to infer a game's gameplay from just a single video.
Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many misleading trailers.
Many games made promotional videos so exaggerated they were practically claiming to be the greatest masterpiece in history. But once players actually booted up the game, even instant noodle ads were more honest about their contents than these games.
Although Chen Xu was criticized by many players as a big fraud, and some who had been tormented to the point of numbness in Dark Souls furiously called him the Old Geezer, and his self-proclaimed title of Warrior of Love had become an unavoidable meme among his fans,
there was one thing everyone agreed on: Chen Xu generally didnât pull tricks or mislead people in his promotional trailers.
But this time, Minecraft truly left many players baffled.
A pixel gameâcould it really play any new tricks?
Chen Xu noticed the online speculation and the gaming industry's debates.
Yet he offered no explanations. Once the Early Access trial began and further promotions rolled out, players would naturally understand.
At this moment, saying anything wouldn't be as convincing or impactful as simply showing it directly to players.
In front of the project office computer, Chen Xu rapidly switched screens. Repetitive blocks were automatically constructed using building tools and AI.
Chen Xu himself focused on setting up more complex scenes. With his current abilities, building structures in the game was effortless.
Moreover, various templates had already been replicated in advance through Memory Capsules.
Now, it was essentially copy like tracing a gourd.
Soon, building after building began to appear within Minecraft.
"That's awesome, Mr. Chen!"
"It looks just like it!"
"My God!"
"Mr. Chen is just too strong!"
Qin Yi and Lin Tao, two men who had just finished their modeling tasks, stood behind Chen Xu, watching him construct various in-game buildings with astonishment.
Ruan Ningxue and Yang Xin, who were working on recreating 3D images Chen Xu provided into in-game structures, glanced disdainfully at the two.
Bootlickers!
So far, roughly one-third of the building complexes were complete.
According to Chen Xu's plan, aside from promotional use, a 'Nebula Games Museum' would be specially built within the game. The employee IDs of those who contributed would be included for players to visit.
Additionally, more unique content would be added in the late game.
Players would also be allowed to place these structures into their own worlds, though only in Single-Player Mode.
"Alright, Iâll give you two something to do. Go try something more complicated."
"Work on Redstone circuits and lay down a set of tracks across that hillside," Chen Xu said, helplessly looking at the two behind him.
Once the houses were built and there was nothing left to do, they could go build railways instead.
..................
Minecraft continued its steady promotional rollout. Meanwhile, TengHuaâs Voyage had also begun its marketing campaign.
During this period, Minecraftâs promotion mainly involved releasing simple creature concept art and announcing its testing mode.
Originally, Chen Xu planned a small-scale test.
His initial idea was to let pre-order players sign up, then select participants via lottery.
But Chen Xu quickly scrapped that plan.
It wasn't fair to players.
After all, while everyone was a player, some people were the kind who could pull an SSR or golden light from a single draw,
while others were the big chiefs who spent money on 100 pulls and still only got the guaranteed pull.
In the end, Chen Xu decided that players could pre-order and participate in a five-day Early Access trial.
Additionally, if pre-order players felt the game wasnât for them, they could request a refund within five days.
This attracted quite a few players, as it wouldnât be long before they could see the true nature of Minecraft.
However, something strange caught the attention of the gaming industry: Wasteland, which had previously been neck-and-neck with Voyage, had gone completely silent.
The reason was unclear to others, but Chen Xu knew.
Because at this very moment, Chen Xu was experiencing Meng Zuoâs development of Wasteland.
The game began with a simple tutorial. In short, after a nuclear war, the surface civilization was destroyed, and radiation gave rise to mutated creatures and plants.
The player assumed the role of a survivor from a shelter.
However, everyone else in the shelter had already died, leaving only the protagonist. Most of the shelterâs systems had failed, and staying any longer meant certain death.
Thus, the player must leave the shelter and emerge onto the surface.
The good news? Regardless of why, radiation after the nuclear war had mutated animals and plants, but by the time the protagonist emerged, radiation no longer posed a threat to the human body.
The main quest was simple: rebuild civilization.
As for gameplay, combat wasn't real-time. Instead, it resembled close-quarters turn-based combat from the previous lifeâs X-COM. The game also featured an evasion stat. During gameplay, Chen Xu even witnessed the infamous 'point-blank miss' scene. Sitting beside him, Meng Zuo awkwardly chuckled.
Fixing this wasnât as simple as it seemed. Adding a 'guaranteed hit at point-blank range' rule raised the questionâwhat exactly counted as point-blank?
Was it two body lengths away?
And removing evasion entirely might solve the issue, but it would heavily impact the entire Combat System.
Aside from combat, the core gameplay revolved around wasteland scavenging, collecting resources, and establishing their own camp.
Another distinctive feature was the Team (mode).
Throughout the game, players would encounter various NPCs across the wasteland, each with their own personalitiesârepresented in-game as characteristics.
These NPCs could serve as Doc (operator), combat personnel, weapon manufacturing specialists, etc. Essentially, it was a standard game building system, but presented in a different mode.
Overall, Chen Xu wasnât sure whether the subsequent work, Numerical Design, and gameplay would collapse.
But judging from what heâd seen so far, the quality was undeniably excellent.
Yet in Chen Xuâs eyes, the gameâs strategic attribute far outweighed its sandbox qualities.
Players had to make choices about which NPCs to recruit, as NPCs consumed player resources.
If resources were insufficient, NPCs couldnât be sustainedâeither resulting in mutiny, starvation, freezing to death, or NPCs leaving the camp.
Additionally, some NPCs came with negative characteristics, such as prone to unrest or betrayal, yet they might be incredibly useful.
In Chen Xuâs opinion, this was a survival strategy game that tested playersâ ability in resource allocation and trade-offs.
As for its connection to sandbox games? Well, it was certainly replayableâexactly the kind of game that would make players grind away multiple lifetimes.
"How is it, Mr. Chen?" Meng Zuo asked.
"Very interesting," Chen Xu nodded in approval.
"By the way, Mr. Chen, your new work Minecraftâis it really a pixel game?" Meng Zuo probed carefully.
"Indeed," Chen Xu confirmed.
"Then, Mr. Chen, what do you think are the differences and distinctions between Wasteland and Minecraft as sandbox games?" Meng Zuo half-lifted the cloth covering the topic.
"There's absolutely no basis for comparison," Chen Xu gently shook his head.
Meng Zuo was taken aback. Chen Xu continued, "Because the two games are completely different in genre. Comparing them would be like pitting Guan Yu against Qin Qiong. Moreover, strictly speaking, Wasteland isnât what I consider a sandbox game."
"Then, Mr. Chen, what do you think truly defines a sandbox game?" Meng Zuo asked.
"What is a sandbox game? Hmm⌠I think Minecraft should be the most representative example of a sandbox game currently. Next week, Teacher Meng, youâll understand," Chen Xu said with a smile.
Hearing Chen Xuâs words, Meng Zuo froze.
The most representative sandbox game? Thatâs too arrogant!
Is he bragging? Joking?
But Chen Xuâs tone didnât sound like it!
Filled with doubt, Meng Zuo didnât pursue the topic further.
After they parted, Meng Zuoâs mind kept replaying Chen Xuâs words.
Will Minecraft truly be the most representative sandbox game?
Is Wasteland not a sandbox game?
After mulling it over several times, Meng Zuo finally made a decision. He pulled out his phone and sent a message to his assistant:
Publicly announce game delays, at least to avoid overlapping with Minecraftâs release.
Meanwhile, Chen Xu sighed with emotion.
From Wasteland, and from some previously released games, Chen Xu had formed a general judgment.
These games might be excellent.
But none had truly grasped the essence of a sandbox game.
They had mastered game quality well, but couldnât be called sandbox games. At best, they borrowed some characteristics of sandbox games.
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