aircannonsinc Chapter 352 Building a World
Chapter 352 Building a World
Zhou Mingzhe stopped writing.
He looked up at Lu Ran, a hint of surprise in his eyes: "Now?"
"Not now. We're starting preparations. We're initiating the project, building the team, and doing preliminary planning. Large-scale development will only begin after the people at the Chengdu branch are in place."
Zhou Mingzhe put down his pen and thought for a moment: "Do you have a clear idea of what's going on?"
"Yes. I already have a complete plan in mind. But I won't bring it out now; the timing isn't right."
"When will it ripen?"
"We'll start once the people at the Chengdu branch have finished their training, once the new recruits are ready to get started, and once we have enough manpower."
Zhou Mingzhe jotted down a few notes in his notebook, then looked up and asked, "How large is this project?"
"It's bigger than League of Legends. Not just a little bigger, it's much bigger. The development cycle will be longer, more manpower will be needed, and the technical requirements will be higher. But if we do it well, the rewards will be even greater."
Zhou Mingzhe remained silent for a long time before saying, "Okay. I'll have Lao Wang start recruiting. You write up the plan first, and we'll discuss it internally."
"No rush," Lu Ran said. "You should focus on finishing what you're doing right now. Keep a close eye on EA's business and make sure nothing goes wrong."
Zhou Mingzhe stood up, walked to the door, then stopped, turned back, and said, "Lu Ran, do you think 'Wilderness Era' will steal all our users?"
Lu Ran thought for a moment and shook his head: "No. There will be a short-term impact, but not a long-term one. The user stickiness of League of Legends is stronger than you think. Those players who have played for hundreds or thousands of hours will not completely abandon League of Legends just because a new game is launched. They will try it out, they will play other games, but they will eventually come back. Because League of Legends has become a part of their lives, and it is not a game that can be easily replaced."
Zhou Mingzhe nodded, pushed open the door, and walked out.
Lu Ran sat alone in the office, leaning back in his chair, staring blankly out the window.
The quality of Wilderness Era was better than he had expected, and the impact it had was also greater than he had anticipated.
A 10% price drop is hard to resist.
Every user lost was someone that Tutu Technology painstakingly acquired.
But he remained calm.
Because he knew that this battle was not something that could be won in a day or two; it was a long-term process.
Whoever is still alive one year, two years, or three years later is the real winner.
EA has the technology, the money, and the experience that Tutu Technology can't match for now.
But Tutu Technology has something that EA doesn't: an understanding of the Chinese market, a grasp of the tastes of Chinese players, and a founder who knows the future direction.
Lu Ran picked up a pen and wrote a line in his notebook: Open-world game, project initiation preparation.
Then he wrote down a few keywords: large map, high degree of freedom, online, survival, building, continuous updates.
After he finished writing, he looked at the words and images of open-world games from his previous life began to appear in his mind.
He played those games for thousands of hours, and he remembers every system, every mechanism, and every detail clearly.
He no longer needs to design the entire game from start to finish; he only needs to build the framework and define the core gameplay, leaving the rest to the team to fill in.
He closed his laptop, picked up his phone, and sent a message to Lao Wang: "Lao Wang, are you free tonight? I'd like to invite you to dinner."
Old Wang replied instantly: "You're treating? Has the sun risen in the west?"
"Eat it or don't, it's up to you."
"Eat! Where?"
"The Sichuan restaurant downstairs from the office. 6:30."
"OK."
Lu Ran put down his phone, leaned back in his chair, and smiled slightly.
What he wanted to talk to Lao Wang about wasn't EA, but open-world games.
Old Wang is the best technical lead I know. To undertake such a large-scale project, we can't do without Old Wang's support.
But he doesn't plan to tell Lao Wang all his thoughts right now.
It's too early. The plan isn't mature enough, and the team isn't in place yet. It's pointless to talk about it now.
All he needed to do was let Lao Wang know that Rabbit Technology's next big project was on the way, so that he could be mentally prepared.
In the afternoon, Lu Ran opened "Wilderness Era" again and played for more than an hour.
This time, instead of building a house or fishing, he rode a horse around the map.
I ran from the grassland to the desert, from the desert to the snow-capped mountains, and from the snow-capped mountains to the coastline. It took me almost an hour to cover less than a third of the map.
The sheer size of the map truly surprised him.
In his previous life, he had played many open-world games, but few games could create such a large map.
EA's art and programming teams put in a lot of effort; each area of the map has unique terrain and ecology, and it's not just a simple copy-paste job.
He has always been very familiar with EA, and while he doesn't hold it in awe, he certainly doesn't look down on it.
In this world, EA's strength is similar to what he knew in his previous life: it has money, people, and technology.
The products they make can indeed withstand scrutiny.
Lu Ran turned off the game, leaned back in his chair, and stared at the ceiling.
The emergence of Wilderness Era is a good thing for the Chinese game market.
It will spawn a wave of open-world game imitators in China and also generate greater interest in this type of game among players.
As the market grows, so do the opportunities.
Tutu Technology is not making open-world games now, not because it can't, but because it's not ready yet.
Once everything is ready, the product that comes out won't be a copycat of "Wilderness Era," but something completely different.
He picked up his pen and wrote another line in his notebook: We don't follow the trend, we lead it.
After writing it, he looked at the line and thought it was too arrogant, so he crossed it out and changed it to: "Do your own thing and let others follow our lead."
He still felt it was a bit arrogant, but this time he didn't cross it out.
For the evening dinner, Lu Ran, leaning on his crutches, arrived at a Sichuan restaurant.
He came by taxi, so he was alone. But his foot is almost healed now, and he should be able to drive by himself in less than a month.
Old Wang had already arrived. He was sitting alone in the private room, with a pot of tea in front of him, looking at his phone.
"You're here early." Lu Ran sat down opposite him and leaned his cane against the side.
"Since you said you'd treat, of course I'll come early. What if you change your mind?"
"When did I ever go back on my word?"
"Last time you said you'd treat us to hot pot, but you ended up treating us to mala tang (spicy hot pot) instead."
"Malatang is also a type of hot pot. It comes in a small pot, one pot per person."
Old Wang was speechless at his twisted logic, picked up his teacup and took a sip: "So, what's the matter that you invited me to dinner today?"
"Can't I treat you to a meal if there's nothing wrong?"
"You never invite people to dinner unless there's a reason. If you do invite someone to dinner, there must be something going on."
Lu Ran smiled, picked up the menu and flipped through a few pages: "Let's order first, then we can talk while we eat."
The two of them ordered six dishes and a soup, filling the table to the brim.
Old Wang looked at the table full of dishes, his expression somewhat complicated: "Do you have something you want from me today? Ordering so much food isn't like you."
"What's wrong with my style?"
"Your usual style is to be stingy. You only order enough food to eat, and you feel bad if you order anything extra."
Lu Ran felt a little embarrassed by his words: "Today is different. Something good is happening today."
"What good news?"
Lu Ran put down his chopsticks and looked at Lao Wang: "Lao Wang, I want to make an open-world game."
Old Wang paused for a moment while picking up food with his chopsticks, which hovered in mid-air before finally falling.
"Open world? Like EA's?"
"No. Completely different. Different gameplay, different style, different target audience. EA makes survival building games, I want to make something else entirely."
Old Wang put down his chopsticks, leaned back in his chair, and looked at Lu Ran: "Do you have a plan in mind?"
"Yes. The framework is in place, and the core gameplay has been decided. But the details haven't been finalized yet; the team needs to work together to refine them."
How many people are needed?
Lu Ran thought for a moment: "At least fifty people. We need people for each position: art, programming, planning, and testing. The development cycle won't be too long, but the initial maintenance cycle might be longer, at least a year."
After listening, Old Wang remained silent for a long time.
"Fifty people, a year's worth of work—that's a significant investment. Are you confident?"
"have."
Why are you so confident?
Lu Ran looked at Lao Wang but did not answer immediately.
He picked up his teacup, took a sip, thought for a moment, and said, "Because I know what the players want."
Old Wang stared at him for a few seconds, then laughed: "Okay. Since you've said that, I'll believe you. When do we start?"
"No rush. Focus on finishing what you're doing. The League of Legends ranked season is about to start, so you need to keep an eye on it. Once the ranked season has stabilized and the people from the Chengdu branch have arrived, then we can begin."
Old Wang nodded, picked up his chopsticks, and continued eating: "So, you invited me to dinner today just to tell me this?"
"Yes. Just so you can be mentally prepared, so you won't be caught off guard when you're suddenly given a task."
"When have I ever been caught off guard? Every time you assign a task, haven't I handled it flawlessly?"
Lu Ran thought about it and realized that Lao Wang was right.
Since TUTU was launched, Lao Wang has never let us down.
No matter how difficult the task or how tight the timeframe, he can complete it on time and with high quality.
Although I would curse, smash keyboards, and say "I quit this lousy company" during the process, I would still show up at my workstation on time the next day and do what I was supposed to do.
"Old Wang."
"Um?"
"Thanks."
Old Wang felt a little uncomfortable with the thank you and waved his hand, saying, "Don't bother with all that formality. Just give me less work, that's better than anything else."
"The workload won't decrease; it will only increase."
"Then don't thank me. Thanking me is just a formality; the real purpose is to give me more money."
Lu Ran laughed: "Okay, add it. Double the year-end bonus."
Old Wang's eyes lit up: "Are you serious?"
"Seriously. But you have to promise me one thing."
"What is it?"
"Don't say it at the company. If people find out, they'll all come asking me for more money, and I can't afford it."
Old Wang couldn't help but laugh: "Don't worry. I keep my mouth shut."
After the two finished their meal, Lu Ran left the restaurant, leaning on his crutches.
A night breeze blew by, carrying the chill of early winter. He hunched his shoulders and pulled his coat zipper up.
Old Wang walked beside him and glanced at his right leg: "How's your leg?"
"The cast has been removed, but I still walk with a slight limp. The doctor said I need to do rehabilitation training, and I should be able to walk normally in about a month."
"Then stop causing trouble. We'll take care of things at the company; you just focus on resting your leg."
"understood."
The two walked to the intersection. Old Wang's car was parked on the left, and Shen Yuege's car was parked on the right.
Old Wang waved to him, got into his car, started the engine, and drove into traffic.
Standing under the streetlight, Lu Ran watched as Old Wang's taillights gradually disappeared into the night, and suddenly felt a pang of emotion.
Old Wang is a man of few words, but he has a bad temper and is quick to curse.
He is the most reliable person in the company, without a doubt.
After dinner, Shen Yuege drove over and picked up Lu Ran.
"What did you talk about with Lao Wang?" she asked.
"Let's talk about the new project."
"What new project?"
"Open-world games".
Shen Yuege glanced at him sideways: "Are you going to cause trouble again?"
"It's not about making a fuss, it's about strategic planning. EA's Wildlands has launched, and it will have an impact on all games in the short term. League of Legends' data dropped by nearly 10%, that's a reality. But I can't panic just because the data dropped; the things that need to be done still need to be done."
Shen Yuege didn't reply and focused on driving.
Lu Ran leaned back in his seat, watching the city lights rushing past the window, and continued, "This EA game has high system requirements. I checked the minimum requirements; it needs a dedicated graphics card and at least 8GB of RAM. Many players' computers can't handle it, which is their weakness. The computer configurations of Chinese players vary greatly; many are still using computers from several years ago. No matter how good EA's game is, if they can't play it, then it's none of their business."
"League of Legends is different. It can run on integrated graphics, and only requires 4GB of RAM. Basically, any computer can run it. This is our advantage, and it's our moat. EA can't catch up in the short term because they can't lower their graphics standards for the Chinese market. If they lower them, they'll lose their core selling point. If they don't lower them, many players won't be able to play. It's a dilemma."
Shen Yuege thought for a moment: "What about the long term?"
"In the long run, we need to look at hardware development. Players' computers will upgrade, and the configuration requirements will become lower and lower. A computer that couldn't run Wild Age three years ago might be able to run it in three years. At that time, EA's user base will expand, and our advantage will shrink. So I can't wait, I need to start preparing now. By the time the hardware catches up, our game will also be ready."
Shen Yuege glanced at the rearview mirror, changed lanes, and drove onto the elevated road.
"You just said that EA's games will affect all games in the short term. What about 'Three Kingdoms Kill'? Will it be affected too?"
"Yes. All games will be affected, regardless of genre. Because users have limited time; if they spend an extra hour on an EA game, they'll spend an hour less on another. The open beta of 'Three Kingdoms Kill' will be postponed until this wave of hype from EA has died down. If we release it now, nobody will play it, and it'll be a waste of time."
Shen Yuege nodded and didn't ask any more questions.
The car drove into the underground parking garage of the residential area. Shen Yuege parked the car and helped Lu Ran take his crutches.
As the two walked towards the elevator, Lu Ran suddenly said, "Yue Ge."
"Um?"
Do you think EA is aware that their games have a system requirement?
"Of course they know. They make games, how could they not know?"
"Then why don't they lower the configuration requirements in the Chinese market?"
Shen Yuege thought for a moment: "Because they don't want to. Lowering the configuration requirements means lowering the picture quality, and lowering the picture quality means losing the core competitiveness. They would rather have fewer users than lose the product's tone. This is EA's choice; it's not that they made a mistake, it's that they chose a different path."
Lu Ran nodded: "You're right. EA takes the boutique route, while we take the mass-market route. There's no right or wrong, only what's suitable or unsuitable."
The elevator doors opened, and two people stepped inside.
As the elevator ascended, Shen Yuege suddenly asked, "Lu Ran, what kind of open-world game are you planning to make?"
“It’s different from EA,” Lu Ran said. “Isn’t their game all about open-world gameplay? So I’ll build on that foundation and make it even more free.”
"At that time, I want players to build a world in my game."
...