Chapter 274: Are You Making a CGI Animation, or a Game? (7th Update, Requesting Subscriptions and Monthly Passes)

Chapter 274: Are You Making a CGI Animation, or a Game? (7th Update, Requesting Subscriptions and Monthly Passes)

Chen Xu remained unaffected by outside developments, as he rarely paid attention to such criticisms anyway. Whether a game was good or not could only be judged once it was completed.

Development of Warcraft continued steadily, while Zhang Yida had already begun promotional warm-up activities.

After Chen Xu had posted on the official Weibo account announcing the trial release date, players and the gaming industry began actively discussing Warcraft.

However, there weren't many explosive updates. Chen Xu had handed over management of his personal official Weibo account to his assistant, Lin Rou, during this period, and the Nebula Games official Weibo account was also under her control.

Every day, these two accounts released one concept artwork at a time—like squeezing toothpaste—precisely on schedule.

Dwarves, Humans, Night Elves, Undead—one after another, the familiar races from Western fantasy settings were unveiled by Chen Xu.

As a result, player anticipation steadily grew.

Overseas, Target Software followed the same pattern, gradually ramping up their promotional warm-up.

Thanks to Dark Souls and Monster Hunter: World, Overseas Nebula Games already had a substantial base of loyal fans.

Regarding Warcraft, these overseas players also expressed strong anticipation.

If there was one thing players were truly dissatisfied about, it was the complete lack of information on Warcraft's development progress and current status.

And the trial release date was still nearly two months away!

How were they supposed to endure this wait?!

………………

Online, players felt like every day lasted a year.

Meanwhile, inside Nebula Games' project office, the atmosphere was lively.

"Damn it, Mr. Chen, you're way too strong! We demand you only have 50% health!"

"Yeah, and don't let him summon any heroes!"

"No Tier 2 tech upgrades!"

"Food/Supply can't exceed 60!"

"And we four must be on the same team!"

Sitting in front of the computer, Chen Xu listened to Qin Yi, Ruan Ningxue, Lin Tao, and Yang Xin arguing back and forth, leaving him utterly speechless.

"You might as well ban me from building structures altogether," Chen Xu grumbled.

By now, the overall versus system framework of Warcraft was essentially complete.

Only the campaign storyline remained unfinished, along with some additional race testing.

As for testers at this stage, naturally, it was themselves.

Although the four in front of him were clearly having a great time, in Chen Xu's eyes, they were nothing more than RTS novices. While Warcraft might seem simpler than other RTS titles on the market, mastering it was actually far more complex.

Chen Xu, already intimately familiar with the game's content from his previous life—having played it for years—and possessing relatively quick reflexes, might not compare to the pyramid's top-tier professional players, but he could easily dominate these four noobs.

After chatting a bit about gameplay, Chen Xu glanced over at Ruan Ningxue and Yang Xin.

Clearly, the two of them were more interested in the story, even though they had already contributed to its development.

Yet they were still excitedly experiencing the campaign together.

On the other side, Qin Yi and Lin Tao had teamed up to battle four "Insane AI" computers.

Of course, they had activated the cheat code 'greedisgood 99999'.

Regarding Warcraft's current balance, Chen Xu couldn't claim it was perfect.

That was simply impossible.

But at this stage, he believed it was already approaching balance.

Through his own practical testing, and by programming the AI with various tactics and playstyles, Chen Xu ran multiple rounds of 100 matches each.

Currently, the win rates of the four races were nearly identical, with the maximum difference no more than 3%.

This was already close to ideal.

After all, the variables in Warcraft were simply too numerous.

Each race had different tactics, each with its own counters.

On the stage of Warcraft tournaments, champions had been crowned from all four races.

At least for now, Chen Xu felt no immediate need for balance adjustments.

Of course, subsequent tweaks were inevitable for any RTS game.

Because in Warcraft, even the slightest adjustment could trigger earth-shattering changes in overall tactics.

For instance, in earlier versions, the Orcs' standard opening was the Blademaster. But after a major update years later, the experience gained from the Far Seer's Feral Spirits upon death was reduced.

This dramatically elevated the Far Seer's status. Similarly, the Undead's Roach also saw significant improvements.

There had also been periods of poor balance in Warcraft's history—such as when the Night Elves were overpowered early on, though few realized it at the time.

It wasn't until Moon, leveraging his deep understanding of the Night Elf race, achieved a 13 consecutive wins without a single defeat streak and claimed the championship, that players finally recognized the Night Elves' overwhelming strength.

And then? The Night Elves were nerfed heavily—multiple times.

For example, the Night Elves' Tree of Life construction time was extended by 10 seconds, and building armor and Greatwood attack power were reduced.

The Human race, popularized by TH000 and Sky, suffered similar treatment—Defense Towers were weakened from solid brick to tender tofu.

Yet such numerical nerfs, combined with buffs to other races, ironically fostered even more innovative tactics and playstyles.

This was the true charm of Warcraft: unit types, tech, heroes, and racial characteristics, all giving birth to endless possibilities.

………………

The time until the game's trial release to players was still a while away.

The overall structure of the game was complete, with only the campaign storyline remaining unfinished.

In terms of graphics, gameplay experience, and CGI quality, the current version of Warcraft was undoubtedly surpassing its previous life counterpart.

But that didn't mean there was no more work left.

Chen Xu wasn't rushing to launch the Map Editor.

Instead, he planned to let players first experience Warcraft's core content before releasing it.

Meanwhile, this period would allow further refinement of this 'legendary tool'.

The remaining major tasks focused on the versus system settings for Warcraft.

First, the matchmaking system, primarily based on RANK points.

Players started with an initial score of 500, matched according to their ranking and win rate.

Additionally, there were replay and in-game spectator systems. Ordinary players could watch live high-ranked matches through the spectator interface. To prevent peeking at expansion bases and starting heroes, however, there would be a 3-minute delay.

These features were designed to help players better observe veterans, learn from others' experiences and tactics, and further elevate the overall skill level within the game.

There would also be a more comprehensive Achievement system and Friend system.

………………

By mid-November, Warcraft's updates had remained a slow trickle, leaving players gnashing their teeth in frustration.

Normally, even if a developer stretched out information slowly and made grand promises, they'd at least release a trailer to show how delicious the pie was.

Now, not even a teaser?

Almost every day, players flooded Chen Xu's official Weibo account, passionately demanding more information and content.

Of course, this was merely an outlet for their frustration.

But to many players' surprise, on this particular day, Chen Xu actually responded—and gave them an enormous pie.

A trailer they had longed for.

Upon discovering this, many players eagerly clicked on the short video—just over a minute long—within seconds.

They were desperate to get a glimpse of Warcraft's grandeur.

As the video started, an intense BGM echoed through their headphones, like the beat of war drums.

Then, the Nebula Games logo flashed briefly across a black screen, followed by a subtitle: (The following video is in-game CGI).

Next, the drumbeats gradually faded, replaced by a howling wind. On screen appeared a tattered flag.

"We never heeded the ancient tongues."

As the narration concluded, a Human soldier clashed fiercely with an Orc soldier on a vast, stormy prairie.

Sword and axe crossed, sparks flying, endless clanging filling the air.

"Foolishly clinging to ancient hatreds."

The battle was evenly matched—the Human soldier clad in well-equipped armor, wielding a sword and shield, while the Orc warrior possessed naturally powerful strength.

"Generation after generation, war without end."

On the prairie, the Human and Orc soldiers faced off. Suddenly, lightning and thunder cracked the sky.

A meteor burning with green smoke and flames streaked across the heavens, catching both warriors' attention.

"Until that day, fire rained from the sky. A new enemy appeared."

Countless fireballs tore through the sky. One crashed near the Human and Orc soldiers.

Flames engulfed the prairie. From the enormous crater, a massive stone golem emerged, wreathed in green fire—like a demon from hell.

Now, the Human and Orc soldiers gripped their weapons, turning to face the colossal flaming stone golem.

The scene shifted. In a prairie puddle, time unknown.

Two scarred arms appeared on screen—one belonging to an Orc, the other to a Human.

"Now we stand on the verge of destruction. Reign of Chaos has finally arrived."

The video was short, yet it left every player utterly stunned.

After watching it, countless players were speechless.

This was in-game CGI?

It was just too incredible!

The quality was absolutely phenomenal!

Upon closer inspection, one could even discern the distinct texture details on the Human and Orc hands at the end.

This under-two-minute CGI animation had every single frame worthy of being a screenshot.

Are you making a CGI movie or a game?

Was Chen Xu's claim of a 700 million Yuan cost actually true?

If most of Warcraft's story segments were of this CG quality,

it didn't seem impossible!

But weren't most of those seven hundred million spent on CGI?!

Countless players and industry designers, after watching this CGI animation, were left not just shocked and bewildered, but utterly speechless.

<>