Almighty Video Game Designer #Chapter 31 - Read Almighty Video Game Designer Chapter 31 Online - All Page - Novel Next
Chapter 31: Chapter 30: Special Promotional Tactics
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by Coldtaco
Edited by Aelryinth
The experience store opened its doors early the next day.
Soon after the doors were opened, Jia Peng brought over some friends.
"Good morning, manager. Are you releasing your game today?" asked Jia Peng.
Chen Mo nodded, "Yeah, why did you guys come over so early?"
Jia Peng answered, "Isn't Plants vs Zombies being released? Since we don't have classes today, we're here to cheer you on."
Chen Mo said, "Sure! Welcome! Come in and take a seat. How many levels have you beaten in endless mode?"
Jia Peng quickly replied, "Eighty-four levels. Manager, is endless mode actually endless? Is there an upper limit?"
Chen Mo replied, "Only eighty-four? The real game starts beyond level one hundred, I'll tell you straight up."
Jia Peng was speechless, "What the-? Are you crazy? I'm feeling like I'm losing my footing at level eighty-four. It's a struggle just to get through another level.
The other guys also joined in nodding, "Yeah! It starts at level one hundred? Are you playing the same game as we are?"
Chen Mo smiled and said no more.
Four days had passed, and Jia Peng and his friends would be the first batch of players, completing all of adventure mode. The adventure mode wasn't meant to be hard, Chen Mo set it to be same as the original version. As long as you were of average IQ, you should be able to beat it, given some time.
Wen Lingwei and Jia Peng thought that the game ended after beating adventure mode, as if it was a puzzle game, finally managing to beat it after playing it obsessively for three or four days. The game content was already quite rich for a puzzle game.
In the end, they found out that the game had an endless mode!
After trying it out, it had opened them up to a whole new world. As the difficulty of the levels increased slowly but surely, they realized that what they thought was a good grasp of the game was completely naivete.
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So far, Wen Lingwei was at the top of the leaderboards with ninety-three levels. The others were around sixty to eighty, with a clear feeling of hopelessness.
These players thought that their strategy in adventure mode was strong, but as they entered endless mode, the same strategy would be blown to pieces. It was like playing a whole new game.
Therefore, they came to Chen Mo's experience store often to play the game and to share their experiences. They also wanted to get some tips from Chen Mo for the best, most advanced strategy, and to continue grinding their rankings on the leaderboards.
Jia Peng and his buddies turned on the computers that they were so familiar with and continued playing through endless mode after launching the game and logging in.
"Manager, when is your game going to go live?" Jia Peng asked.
Chen Mo replied, "Probably around twelve."
Jia Peng nodded and replied, "Alright, when the time comes we'll be the first to download and give you a five star rating."
The time the game was released didn't matter for new games, but the nearest hour was usually chosen to make the statistics easier to track.
Statistics during the twenty-four hours after the game went live were the most important, most notably the downloads and ratings as both of them directly influenced the rankings and promotions on the official app store.
Whenever Emperor Dynasty Entertainment or Zen Entertainment would release, they would hype up the game in advance to draw in large numbers of players on release, taking the top spot of the new recommended games with no problems.
Chen Mo didn't have that much money to promote his game, but he had other plans.
At 10 am, Chen Mo already released his game into the store, and the adspace in Flappybird contained an ad for Plants vs Zombies. Clicking on the ad would redirect the player to the app store download page for Plants vs Zombies.
How many players did Flappybird currently have? Chen Mo didn't know the number, but it wasn't small. Most of the players of Flappybird would be casual gamers, so using it to promote Plants vs Zombies was definitely a good idea.
Chen Mo didn't expect Flappybird to rake in any money for the moment, as it was free to download, instead expecting it put his name out to as many people as possible, and convert them into Plants vs Zombies players.
Other than that, Chen Mo also had the video game media in mind.
Theoretically, he was just a D-grade video game designer, nobody would care if he released a game.
The video game media had power, but who would give their time to a nobody D-grade video game designer?
However, Chen Mo wasn't a nobody, and already had his name out there.
He was the winner of the video game designing competition, who also happened to have a conflict with Shi Huazhe, both incidents known on video game media.
Chen Mo posted on Weibo:
Flappybird is now on the appstore for free (free forever!). My new game Plants vs Zombies will be out at 12pm, on both PC and mobile. Let's see if we can break a hundred thousand downloads in the first month.
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@Shihuazhe, @Videogame Info Network, , @Wechat Gaming Channel, @Hengyou Video Games Channel...
Chen Mo tagged dozens of video game media companies and included the loading screen of Plants vs Zombies (the one with plants on the left and zombies on the right) as a promotional poster.
——
Within ten minutes, the video game media was all over it!
The managers of the official Weibo accounts were all drawn out by the smell of a new tagline.
"Chen Mo? Wasn't that the champion of the video game designing competition? The creator of Flappybird?"
"He's about to release his new game? It's only been three or so months! Isn't that too fast? And he wants us to witness it together? Does he really think his game is gonna break a hundred thousand sales in the first month?"
"Three months in development is way too short. That time includes testing and adjusting the game! Could it be just another mini-game like Flappybird?"
"A game like Flappybird cannot be done again. If he makes something similar, he's just looking to fail."
"It's called Plants vs Zombies; it seems that the content of the game is quite rich, but it is still a casual game."
"Shi Huazhe previously stated that Chen Mo's first game would never surpass a hundred thousand downloads in the first month, and this guy wants us to witness it with him. He's not afraid at all, this guy's got guts!"
"Hurry up and repost! Track all the stats of Plants vs Zombies after it's released!"
—
The video game media got the smell of a new tagline and started reposting one after another.
Of course they knew what Chen Mo was trying to do. He was trying to make himself a focus and promote his new game for free!
However, the video game media was willing to be used, as they also needed a hot topic like this to operate!
Moreover, even if the video game media didn't take the bait, the slow expansion of information on Weibo would mean that the game would slowly pick up in popularity either way.
Following the reposts of the video game media, more and more gamers caught wind of this information.
Chen Mo's first proper game, Plants vs Zombies, was about to be released!
Many of them were just watching, but the post did attract the attention of the spectators.
The cartoony art style of the plants and zombies quickly made a deep impression in the minds of the gamers. Many of them were already looking forward to finding out how plants were supposed to battle zombies!
Moreover, the video game media paid attention to the numbers Plants vs Zombies would be cranking out, paying even closer attention to the number of sales in the first month.
If it did reach a hundred thousand, for ten RMB each, it meant one million gross and about five hundred thousand RMB net. That would be an incredible number!
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Chapter 32: Chapter 31: Explosive Release!
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by Coldtaco
Edited by Aelryinth
Shi Huazhe wasn't stupid and knew that Chen Mo had many weird and wonderful ideas up his sleeves. It was entirely possible that Chen Mo could make something that would attract the attention of many people, driving up the sales quickly. Therefore, in order to try and keep what remained of his dignity, Shi Huazhe didn't dare lowball his estimate.
But, what if he really made it to a hundred thousand?
There wasn't an inch of Shi Huazhe that wanted to believe that. In his view, the success of Flappybird was completely accidental, as all of Chen Mo's skills were utterly terrible. Surely he was not able to get lucky like that again and again in the future?
——
12 PM...
Plants vs Zombies was released into the market on time. The players that had been waiting for it were all racing to download the game.
PC players were few and far between in this world, making it an unexplored territory. Therefore, Chen Mo chose to focus on the mobile players.
Despite having the game on the PC market as well, Chen Mo didn't expect it to get close to the top there.
Chen Mo set the price at 10 RMB.
The app store had set the pricing on games, ranging from free, one RMB, ten RMB, twenty RMB, fifty RMB, or above fifty RMB.
As the official app store in this world mainly catered to users inside China, there wasn't a problem with currency exchange, so there was no need for 6 RMB or other odd numbers like that.
Chen Mo could've made it free or just one RMB, which would make it much easier to increase the number of downloads, but he felt that he was losing out on too much by doing that.
Plants vs Zombies wasn't suited for in-game ads, and Chen Mo didn't want it to affect the experience of the players, either.
If he sold it at one RMB, two hundred thousand copies would only result in a hundred thousand RMB net, which wasn't even enough for him to make ten draws!
Therefore, ten RMB was quite an approachable price. Of course, this didn't mean Chen Mo was running a charity, he was just going for low price at high volume.
Plants vs Zombies was expected to be popular among all ages. Primary or high school students with not much money, or even the older generation, were part of Chen Mo's target market. Making it cheap enough to fork out money without much hesitation was part of Chen Mo's plan.
——
Jia Peng and his friends inside the experience store had already downloaded it, and gave it a five star rating.
"Manager, we've downloaded the game and gave it a five star review!" said Jia Peng.
Chen Mo said, "Thanks! I'll give you all a free cup of milk tea for your trouble."
"Thanks, manager!" Jia Peng and his friends were very happy.
Jia Peng said, "Senior Wen and the others will come over during the afternoon, as they have class during the morning."
Another guy said, "That's great, we can watch the game completely destroy the new games list together."
Jia Peng said, "Of course! It will surely dominate the leaderboards, it's so fun! We'll be the witnesses here!"
——
Many others also had their eye on the sales of Plants vs Zombies.
On the official app store, the statistics for games were updated hourly, the games leaderboards were updated every three hours, and recommended spaces were updated every twenty-four hours.
Many gamers were downloading the game.
Some of them were brought over from the ads on Flappybird, others came from Chen Mo's Weibo, and some of them just liked the idea behind the game.
However, many players were still observing from the sidelines, waiting for the hour to pass and check the reviews before deciding if they should buy it.
——
At 1 PM, the statistics for Plants vs Zombies were finally updated!
Jia Peng rubbed his eyes. "Wow, did they misplace the decimal point and made it seem ten times more than it should be? That number's unreal!"
Plants vs Zombies had received 887 downloads, with a score of 9.7/10 after an hour.
Despite not being too familiar with the video game industry, the students knew the significance of those numbers.
Adventures of the Storm Rider was considered doing quite well with four hundred downloads in twenty-four hours, but Plants vs Zombies managed eight hundred and eight-seven in an hour!
Just looking at the twenty-four hour downloads, this wasn't just a popular game, but an extremely popular game, and made in only a few months at that!
Chen Mo was quite calm. Although these numbers were better than he had thought, it was still within the realms of his consideration.
Flappybird would be continually driving players to Plants vs Zombies, and the video game media had basically promoted Chen Mo's game for free, with more than a thousand reposts on Chen Mo's post. As a result, the people that had seen the game might be in the hundred thousands, all of which were potential players.
Plants vs Zombies wasn't on any leaderboards or promotional places, only because they hadn't been updated yet. With numbers like that, Plants vs Zombies would without a doubt kill the new games leaderboard.
——
As the topic gained traction, the downloads of Plants vs Zombies kept increasing.
1,333 downloads at 2 PM.
1,914 downloads at 3 PM.
It seemed like the downloads were increasing by five hundred every hour, with no sign of slowing down.
At a speed like that, including the late night slow down and the increased traffic from eight to ten PM, Plants vs Zombies might break ten thousand in twenty-four hours!
Ten thousand copies on the first day?
That was crazy!
Moreover, the ratings were ranging between 9.1 to 9.4, and never dipping below 9. This meant that the players rated the game very highly, and would more than likely maintain this in the future.
Jia Peng was shocked, and exclaimed, "Look at the new games leaderboard!"
First place on the new mobile games leaderboard was now Plants vs Zombies!
"Yeesh, isn't that too fast? Being on the leaderboard just after one cycle, that's insanely good!" Jia Peng couldn't believe it either.
The new games leaderboard wasn't impossible to climb. Companies like Emperor Dynasty Entertainment or Zen Entertainment could easily reach the top of the leaderboard right after release by advertising and hyping up the game.
However, Chen Mo hadn't spent a single cent on advertising Plants vs Zombies! Reaching the top of the new games leaderboards one hour after release, that was the stuff of fairy tales!
On the new games leaderboard, Adventures of the Storm Rider was in third place, while Plants vs Zombies was at the top in first place.
After receiving a recommended space, Adventures of the Storm Rider had been gaining momentum. But it stood no chance against Plants vs Zombies.
If Adventures of the Storm Rider had a standing start, Plants vs Zombies had a shooting start. How can you compare when the number of players are of different magnitudes?
The video games media was also shocked. They also thought that Plants vs Zombies had a high chance of going viral, and becoming the biggest dark horse of the month!
Although the statistics at the twenty-four hour mark were more significant for extrapolation, the three hour numbers for Plants vs Zombies were extremely good, even beating some works from large companies!
The explosiveness of Plants vs Zombies caused some minor panic within the video game media, but this was all within Chen Mo's calculations.
Climbing to the top of the new games leaderboard? That wasn't even a small goal for Chen Mo...
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Chapter 33: Chapter 32 – Small Tricks for Endless Mode
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by Coldtaco
Edited by Aelryinth
During the afternoon, Wen Lingwei and Chang Xiuya brought a few of their own friends to the store.
The store that was normally half-full was now quite lively. Some of them went to the computers while others sat on the massage chairs to play on their phone, but they all were playing Plants vs Zombies.
Wen Lingwei and Chang Xiuya came to the front of the bar and asked, "I heard the game went online today. How did it go?"
Jia Peng said, "Too well. Just take a look; it reached the top of the new games leaderboards in the first leaderboards update, completely destroying the other games!"
Chang Xiuya said, "Wow! The manager's so good!"
Wen Lingwei clicked her tongue, "Yo yo yo! That's good luck if I've ever seen it. So, is the game going viral?"
Chen Mo replied, "For now, not necessarily. It depends on the next round of recommendations, and there's also the statistics that happen after that..."
Wen Lingwei shot a glance at Chen Mo and said, "Can you speak like a normal person?"
Chen Mo replied, "Yup, it's going viral."
Jia Peng and Chang Xiuya both let out a snicker and barely held back their laughter.
Wen Lingwei said, "Alright, since it's going viral, there's no need to keep looking at the app store. It doesn't make you seem confident."
Chen Mo said, " I'll just check out the player discussions, I have nothing else to do for now anyways."
Wen Lingwei pointed at her screen and demanded, "Teach me how to go beyond level one hundred on endless mode."
Chen Mo was speechless.
Jia Peng cried out, "Senior, you can't do that, that's cheating!"
Chang Xiuya was also protesting, "Yeah, you're already in first place anyways!"
Wen Lingwei rolled her eyes and said, "You guys don't know jack. This game is about to get a bunch of players. It's just a matter of time! In two days, some genius-level player is going to surpass me in endless mode. I'm just preparing for the inevitable, understand?"
Another guy who stood beside Jia Peng poked him and whispered, "Are you stupid? Any secrets that the manager gives to Senior Wen will be passed down to us eventually."
Jia Peng and Chang Xiuya were stunned and realized, "Oh, yeah!"
"Manager, secret to beating the levels, please!"
The students in the experience store banded together soon after, urging Chen Mo to leak some tips for getting through Endless Mode.
Wen Lingwe waved her hand to present the crowd, "Do you see this, manager? This is what the people want."
Chen Mo was speechless. "If this is what the people want, you must be the dictator..."
Wen Lingwei said, "Hurry up! I came all the way here to support you today, can't you just give us a hint?"
Chen Mo said, "If I remember correctly, it takes less than ten minutes for you guys to get here from the University..."
Chang Xiuya said, "Yeah, manager. We are basically your most loyal fans, can't you give us a tiny edge over the others?"
Everyone started joining in...
Taking turns to voice their support...
Pestering...
Chen Mo had nothing to say. He didn't want to give out any strategies, as a big part of puzzle games like these was finding out your own solution. He could spoil it, but wouldn't that ruin it? It would also inhibit the exploration processes of the others.
However, if he doesn't let out anything today, these people likely wouldn't give up.
"Alright, I'll demonstrate the hint. It'll depend on you guys as to how much you can get out of it,"
Chen Mo said as he turned on his laptop.
"Yay! It worked!" Chang Xiuya quickly moved closer to Chen Mo. The others dropped their games and surrounded the bar table, wanting to find out what Chen Mo was about to show.
Was there a strategy that was able to clear endless mode infinitely? Or as Chen Mo said, the real game started beyond level one hundred! What strategy would be used to get past the hundredth level?
Soon after, the bar table was completely surrounded.
Wen Lingwei let out a cough, and two of the guys gave her some space seemingly naturally.
"Alright, let's start," said Wen Lingwei.
Chen Mo rolled his eyes. Was it you or me who is the owner?
Ten or so people had their eyes wide, staring at Chen Mo's screen.
Chen Mo launched Plants vs Zombies and then launched another program window, typing in some code, and changed a number to 2012.
The audience were curious about what had happened.
"Manager, what are you doing right now?"
"Uhh... cheating?"
"Manager, you're the designer. Is that still cheating? That's just changing the game."
"Bullshit! You can't do that, manager!"...
A few of the guys protested.
Wen Lingwei snapped coldly, "Stop talking, the manager was just adjusting the level."
The audience looked closer. It appeared that Chen Mo had entered the two thousand and twelfth level in endless mode.
"What the? Two thousand and twelve? Are you crazy, manager? How difficult is that?"
"I was already struggling at eighty-something, and you're gonna start from two thousand and twelve?"
"If you beat this level is the record going to be two thousand and twelve?"
"I think your 'if' is a bit hard to achieve!"
"Is this actually playable? Are you sure you didn't make it too difficult?"
"Is the manager that guy? Sigh, it seems like he is that guy."
The corner of Chen Mo's mouth started twitching. After entering endless mode, he placed a bunch of plants using the game engine.
If it was a normal playthrough, this step would be done in the previous levels. However, Chen Mo didn't have the time, so he did it using the game engine.
Chen Mo was on the pool level, placing four Cob Cannons in the pool, four Twin Sunflowers, and six Gloom Shrooms.
From left to right, the first row had Winter-melon, Gloom Shroom, two Winter-melons, Cob Cannon, Spikeweed. The second row had an Umbrella Lead, Gloom Shroom, Winter-melon, Umbrella leaf, Cob Cannon, Spikeweed.
The top and bottom lanes of the pool were reflected, and any plants that could fit a Pumpkin had one.
The others whispered amongst themselves.
"This strategy by the manager seems quite comprehensive. It feels like something is about to go down."
"Indeed, the positioning of the Umbrella Leafs and Gloom Shroom seem quite intentional."
"However, aren't there too many Cob Cannons?" There's one, two, three, four... eight of them!"
"It is quite a lot. I don't think the Cob Cannon is that great. I think it's too squishy, and you can't put it in a Pumpkin; it's gone after a few nibbles from the zombies."
"But this layout that the manager has... there's no way the zombies can get to it, right?"
"Shhh... Stop talking, let's watch. It's about to start!"
Chen Mo gave himself three thousand suns and started picking his plants.
Ice-shroom, Cherry Bomb, Mimic Cherry Bomb, Doom-shroom, Chilly Pepper, Squash, Pumpkin, Puff-shroom, Sun-shroom, and Coffee Bean.
The others were trying hard to memorize it, and a few of the girls even brought out their notebooks.
"I think I understand what the manager is trying to do. Start with plants that do higher damage and keep them into the later levels, only bringing one-time use explosive-type plants.
"That's a plan alright."
"But... this feels extremely risky!"
Moreover, why would you mimic the Cherry Bomb, but not the Ice-shroom or Doom-shroom? As one reduces speed and the other does huge damage, those two should make better choices?"
"Don't know, let's see how the manager plays this."
Everyone in the store was holding their breath as they looked forward to seeing how Chen Mo would play it out.
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Chapter 34: Chapter 33: Level Beaten!
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by Coldtaco
Edited by Aelryinth
Chen Mo hit the Start button and planted an Ice-shroom in the second row.
Just a few seconds later, accompanied by the creepy sound effects, a huge wave of zombies appeared!
It was really a wave of zombies, there were so many of them it was impossible to count. It was difficult to tell what types of zombies were there, as the only thing identifiable was the red eyes of the Gargantuar, tightly stacked as it stomped forwards.
Dancing Zombies, Pole-vaulting Zombies, and Football Zombies could sometimes be identified between the Gargantuars. The Zombies with their vaulting poles in their hands looked like knights charging into battle, the people watching could barely contain their shock.
The red-eyed Gargantuars tossed their Imps one after another, and soon after eight Imps landed beside the Gloom-shrooms. That wasn't the end of it; the imps kept getting hurled towards the plants in a constant stream, all of them chewing away at the Winter-melon.
The Gloom-shrooms started shooting crazily, and the flurry of Winter-melon shots at the zombies never slowed down, either.
Chen Mo was quite calm, directing Cobs and other explosive plants towards the hoards of zombies, turning the waves of zombies into ash. Every so often, Chen Mo placed some Puff-shrooms and Sun-shroom down to slow down the zombies slightly .
Under the constant waves of explosives, the hoards of zombies fell. Before Wen Lingwei and the others could make out what the zombies looked like, they were turned into ashes and coins on the ground.
Moreover, Chen Mo had good control over the tempo of firing the Cob Cannons as he predicted the positions of the zombies and always provided support to wherever it was needed.
Jia Peng's eyes and mouth were wide open at this performance. Chang Xiuya had her hands over her mouth, and even Wen Lingwei was staring.
You can actually play like this?!
How could a puzzle game feel like it requires higher APM than your average strategy game?
Under the constant bombing by Chen Mo, it felt like the Zombies couldn't do anything in retaliation. Anything that walked onto the screen would die without resistance.
"I now know how insane the Cob Cannon is."
"I knew that it was strong, but how is he able to protect so many of them?"
"I think... that this strategy is amazing! Reacting to all different types of zombies perfectly, interesting!"
The audience were starting to get tense from the action.
As the game continued, the assault from the zombies never stopped, but their speed was slowed down significantly. Under Chen Mo's methodical bombings, they died quickly.
Even as a huge wave of zombies arrived, Chen Mo had managed to not lose any plants!
"It's coming, a huge wave of zombies are approaching! I think the manager will be able to hold!"
"Oh my, there's so many of them!"
After the warning from the game, a huge wave of zombies approached. Hordes of Imps flew towards the plants, and the Gargantuars moved forwards, withstanding the retaliating firepower.
It was all under Chen Mo's control, maintaining the tempo from Cob Cannons and Bombs; it was hard to take in, there was so much going on.
Jia Peng couldn't understand what was going on at all. He wanted to follow Chen Mo's cursor, but there was too much going on on the screen, so it was impossible for him to remember all the operations Chen Mo was executing.
The others all had their attention on the screen, too. They knew that Chen Mo being able to beat so many levels wasn't just because of the strategy, but execution and technique, too!
They basically had the statergy down, but there was still the technique that was lacking.
After a minute of exciting battle, the last red-eyed Gargantuar fell. Chen Mo's plants were basically at full health, his Bombs were essentially off cooldown, and he hadn't spent too many suns, either.
"Wow, he beat the level!"
"Two thousand and twelfth level, man! He actually beat it! Oh my heavens!"
Everyone there was shocked. How did he do it? Was beating level two thousand actually possible?
Moreover, it felt like Chen Mo had everything under control and didn't over exert himself. It was probable that he still had more in him to continue on.
However, judging by Chen Mo's face, he didn't want to continue playing.
"Manager, do one more!"
"Yeah, manager, please explain the main points of the technique!"
"Manager, how did you decide on shooting the Cob Cannon, where do you shoot it?"
"When's the best time to use the Doom-shrooms and Ice-shrooms?"
Everyone surrounding Chen Mo was talking one after another, all with questions about his technique.
Chen Mo smiled, and closed his laptop.
"Like I said, I'm only doing that once. How much you guys get from it depends on you." Chen Mo didn't say anything else, but had a smile on his face, just like an otherworldly expert.
Jia Peng protested, "What? Manager, you can't just leave it at that. You're just cliffhanging!"
Chang Xiuya added, "Manager, just do it once more!"
Wen Lingwei said coldly, "Explain it properly, or I'll leave a bad review for this game on the app store!"
The others joined in, "Yeah, bad reviews!"
They were all trying to outshine each other.
Every single one around Chen Mo wanted him to explain the technique behind it, but Chen Mo wasn't going to give in, refusing to break.
Endless mode was probably enough to entertain these people for a few years. During this time, the most enjoyable process would be trying to find the best strategy. If Chen Mo gave away all his theories, it would undoubtedly shorten that searching process, which would end up cutting down on the fun they would have.
Therefore, he chose to do it once and only once, and not explain it any further.
A few of the students saw that Chen Mo was set on his decision and quietly left the bar table, heading back to their seats, ready to try out Chen Mo's strategy themselves.
Soon after, the others gave up one after another, leaving to try it out for themselves while it was still in memory.
Before Wen Lingwei left, she rolled her eyes at Chen Mo and said, "Hmph, stingy!"
The corner of Chen Mo's mouth was twitching, but he kept it under control. It was the game and the players. Yep!
Soon after, Wen Lingwei and the others were battling in Endless Mode trying out Chen Mo's strategy.
The strategy wasn't hard to memorize. As Wen Lingwei and Jia Peng were quite smart, they got it right after playing around with it a bit. They cross-verified and got most of the way there.
The first levels were needed to set up the strategy, putting down all the required plants before eventually swapping out for Bombs in the later levels.
However, that wasn't a challenge for Wen Lingwei and the others, and they got there very quickly.
The original Plants vs Zombies had basically been figured out by a few super fans. Chen Mo chose the more common 3C eight Cob Cannon[1] build with four sunflowers. It was a more balanced strategy, and didn't have a problem with level 4000, or beyond.
Normally the more Cob Cannons you had, the more firepower you had. However, Cob Cannons were very fragile, and if they were accidentally destroyed, they would leave an empty space behind for a long time. This could easily lead into a feedback loop, eventually costing the player the game!
=
T/L Note: [1] 3C is the author of the strategy.
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Chapter 35: Chapter 34: Recommended on the Front Page!
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by Coldtaco
Edited by Aelryinth
On the extreme end, it was possible to have twenty-two or more Cob Cannons. Chen Mo didn't want to show that one, as it was quite easy to fail. It wouldn't look good if he failed during the demonstration.
Moreover, every single one of the Cob Cannons needed to be managed properly, it wasn't as simple as firing it everywhere. It required a certain knowledge of how the zombies appeared and firing ahead of time.
Furthermore, it wasn't the only strategy. In reality, there was so much to learn in terms of strategy that you could have twenty to thirty pages posts on Baidu Sticky Notes, many of which were difficult to think up. For example, only using up half the map, or arranging the plants in the shape of an arrow, a heart shape or even strategies without using Cob Cannons. There were also extremely difficult-to-master strategies that used twenty-two or more Cob Cannons...
Chen Mo understood the theory behind them, but if he had to perform them himself, there was no way he could pull them off without some practice, especially since firing the Cob Cannons and placing bombs was extremely technical. Some players in his previous life even went as far as making up mnemonics to memorize the strategy.
Other than that, there were many other small tricks, such as freezing the water in the pool level during specific times to stop zombies from spawning from the pool.
There were many other small tricks like this, though Chen Mo didn't plan to reveal any of them, letting the players find out themselves.
The passion of Wen Lingwei and the others was reignited once again, trying to figure out Chen Mo's strategy.
"Hey, interesting. I finished placing down the plants!"
"How is it, is it good?"
"It's good! Feels much stronger than my previous strategy!"
"Be careful and protect the Cob Cannon."
Everyone had their heads deep in trying to figure out Endless Mode, and had tossed the game release to the back of their minds.
-I thought they said they were here to cheer me on?-
Chen Mo was speechless. He went back to the app store and focused on the statistics for Plants vs Zombies.
—
From the afternoon through the evening was the golden time for video game downloads. Every hour when the statistics were updated, the rate of increase for the downloads increased, from five hundred downloads per hour, to eight hundred downloads per hour!
While Plants vs Zombies convincingly held the first place on the new games leaderboards, it also started making progress on the other leaderboards.
Puzzle games, strategy games, casual games... Plants vs Zombies started to show itself in the other leaderboards, and even reached the top five hundred paid games!
It hadn't been twenty-four hours yet. It was crazy to be able to achieve results like this.
At the same time, the topic of Plants vs Zombies started gaining momentum, and Chen Mo's Weibo post was gaining more and more reposts.
All the large video game media were downloading Plants vs Zombies in order to introduce the game in their articles.
Some video game designers that had caught wind of the game were shocked, downloading the game in order to find out why the game was such a popular topic.
Right now, everyone was waiting for the statistics at the twenty four mark for Plants vs Zombies!
Currently Plants vs Zombies had a score of 9.2, maintaining its high rating. The vast majority of player discussions were positive.
=
"Very innovative puzzle game!"
"This game is very rich in content. There's still more to come after playing for a few hours, very much worth my money."
"Thumbs up for the music and graphics!"
"I initially thought that the theme of plants and zombies didn't match, but turned out to work quite well together."
"I downloaded the game during noon, and have been playing for a few hours. I just can't stop playing!"
"I thought a game made in three months would be quite crude, but this is the complete opposite. This game is highly refined, and the creativity is out of this world!"
"I'm a professional hater, but I can't find anything to complain about. Am I about to lose my job?"
"I'll tell you what to do, comment above: These zombies aren't scary at all! :P"
"Is there anyone else who came here from Weibo, and feels sorry for Mr. Shi Huazhe?"
"Hehe, who would feel sorry for that washed-up designer? Relying on his old fame every single day, criticizing everything that comes across him. Then what, do the games he makes even compare to Plants vs Zombies?"
=
Chen Mo was filled with pleasure after looking through the player discussions.
There were also some bad reviews or some opinions. However, when Chen Mo took a look, they were only empty arguments. Perhaps they were hired or just hating for the fun of it.
Chen Mo didn't mind, as this small minority didn't affect the rating for Plants vs Zombies. Before they could leave a bad review, they had to whip out money and buy the game anyways.
-After they pay, they can say whatever they want. If I get mad, I lose.-
Chen Mo had a great mentality, it was impossible for him to get mad over a few haters.
Chen Mo was also filled with hope. He wanted to see how Plants vs Zombies which was so popular in his previous world, would fare in the parallel world!
——
The next day, at 12 PM...
There was only Jia Peng and a few of his friends. Wen Lingwei and the others stayed in the store until 8 PM when it closed. They probably played a bunch more when they got back to the dorms on their phones and ended up not showing up today at noon.
Jia Peng yawned and said, "Manager, I tried out your strategy the whole night yesterday: it doesn't work! Why do I keep running out of Cob Cannons?!"
Chen Mo only replied with a smile.
Jia Peng said, "...Manager if you keep doing that, I'll hit someone. How come you can beat level 2000 easily, but I can only get up to 109?"
Chen Mo rolled his eyes and replied, "You beat twenty-odd levels in one night and you still aren't satisfied?"
Jia Peng gave it some thought, and it seemed like that was true, then he should continue to investigate...
—
Chen Mo went to the app store to check out the statistics for Plants vs Zombies.
So far, many companies had their articles done, the only thing missing were the statistics.
At 12 PM sharp, the statistics were updated!
Plants vs Zombies: 23,187 downloads, 9.1 rating!
It broke twenty thousand in twenty-four hours!
According to Chen Mo's estimates, it would break ten thousand in twenty-four hours, but Chen Mo wasn't too optimistic about it breaking twenty thousand. How when Chen Mo looked at it this morning, it had already surpassed twenty thousand, and at 12 PM, it was around twenty-three thousand.
This meant that Plants vs Zombies had received another wave of downloads during the night!
Furthermore, Plants vs Zombies had entered the top 10 for puzzle games, strategy games, casual games, and so on. It even managed to reach the top 100 paid games!
The promotional spaces were even crazier, as the official game store gave Plants vs Zombies a spot on the front page, under "Must Play Today!"
There were four main promotional spaces on the front page. The best was for classic games, which would be recommended on a rolling banner alongside five other games.
The next was the "Hot Today" recommendations. They would receive a larger icon, which featured ten games.
The one after that was the "Must Play Today", which also had the larger icons, but would be provided for ten to twenty games.
The worst of them was "Specials Today", with about thirty recommended games.
However, the worst front page recommendations were better than anything after the second page.
Being able to receive a "Must Play Today" recommendation meant that Plants vs Zombies was already doing quite well. It could be said that very few games are able to receive this recommendation only one day after its release. This meant that the score given by the system to Plants vs Zombies was very high!
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Chapter 36: Chapter 35: The Game's Gone Viral!
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by Coldtaco
Edited by Aelryinth
Even the video game media companies were shocked by the numberd. This included a lot of people who didn't get a good night's sleep.
Why? Trying to finish the script, of course!
The first day's sales went from a thousand, to five thousand, and ten thousand, then twenty thousand. The script couldn't be the same when the numbers were that different!
The media thought that the first day of sales would be around eight to ten thousand, as they thought Plants vs Zombies was a casual puzzle game, which always had a smaller audience. It would gain a lot of players in the first few hours from Weibo, and after the hype died down the sales would also follow.
In the end, the numbers completely surpassed their expectations!
Not only did it not slow down, but it kept increasing, and broke twenty thousand in twenty-four hours!
Some had known that they were going to witness this go down in history.
At noon, when the twenty-four hour statistics for Plants vs Zombies were released, the media started uploading their articles.
=
"The biggest underdog today: Plants vs Zombies!"
"Breaking twenty thousand downloads in the first day, destroying the new games leaderboard"
"Gamers say: I can't stop!"
"Industry professionals predict: Likely to enter the puzzle games leaderboard!"
"Game reviews: Rich content, new playstyle, otherworldly creativity!"
"Can you believe this? Flappybird and Plants vs Zombies had the same designer!"
"Breaking a hundred thousand in the first month? Shi Huazhe has no comment."
=
The consensus of the video game media was very positive. The numbers that Plants vs Zombies produced were too good overall, and there wasn't much to nitpick in the terms of quality either. Even the haters found it difficult to find things to hate on.
Under bombardment from the video game media, Plants vs Zombies was getting more and more well known. In addition to the promoted space on the official app store, it was likely that Plants vs Zombies would receive another wave of explosive growth!
Noticing the hype around Chen Mo's game, many "caring" players put down everything they had on hand to check out Shi Huazhe's Weibo, but it turned out that he had deleted his reply to Chen Mo.
Before today he liked criticizing everything, but ever since Plants vs Zombies became popular, he hadn't posted anything yet.
The 'caring' internet citizens weren't satisfied. He was the one to say confidently that Chen Mo's first game wouldn't be able to break a hundred thousand sales in the first month. Did he still think that now?
Forget about a hundred thousand; after breaking twenty thousand on the first day, this game would be heading for five hundred thousand in the first month!
=
"Mr Shi Huazhe, say something."
"It's fine, Plants vs Zombies only had twenty thousand downloads in the first day, it's possible that it won't hit a hundred thousand in the first month. You still have a chance, sir."
"Sir, don't give up your treatment!"
"I have to say, it was a smart move for him to not say anything when asked what he was going to eat. That was smart of him."
"So, you don't plan to show yourself anytime soon?"
=
The spectators around Plants vs Zombies were all commenting on Shi Huazhe's Weibo trying to start something. A few of the sarcastic comments were pushed to the top with hundreds of likes.
Shi Huazhe didn't post anything, because he knew what would happen if he did. The best thing he could do was to not do anything. However, this didn't mean he hadn't been looking at Weibo. With so many people making fun of him, sure he was angry, but there was nothing he could do since Plants vs Zombies had performed very well. Coming out and criticizing it wouldn't do much.
With these sales and popularity, going against the flow would surely bring many haters. While Shi Huazhe was mad, he wouldn't come out now to be murdered on the internet.
"How is this kid so lucky? How can everything he makes get so popular? Next time, there's no way he'll be able to maintain this next time!"
Shi Huazhe was set on not commenting. After others made fun of him and did not get any reactions, they decided to let this matter slide.
Things got popular quickly and died down quickly on social media. These users were just trying to band together, and when they saw that nothing could be started, they left it alone.
However, Plants vs Zombies was getting quite popular, and the sales kept increasing.
——
Zao Zihao and Lin Mao both congratulated Chen Mo over the phone.
"Not bad, I heard you murdered the new games leaderboard. I think you must've raked in quite a bit of money. Hurry up, I'm still waiting for my pay to win game," said Zao Zihao.
Chen Mo laughed and said, "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten."
Lin Mao called in to congratulate Shi Huazhe, "That's pretty good, Chen Mo. I thought that your game would get quite popular, with a chance of going viral. I didn't think it'd be this popular. That's amazing!"
Chen Mo said, "Your game is also doing pretty well, seeing as you're second on the new games leaderboard."
Lin Mao said, "Sigh, it doesn't even come close to your Plants vs Zombies. I've been playing it for the past two days. It's actually pretty well done in all aspects, in particular how much playtime there is! I think this game is going to start a puzzle game trend."
Chen Mo replied, "So be it, I'm not making a puzzle game for my next one."
Lin Mao was shocked, "Huh? What are you trying to do? This game is going to go viral, why not make a Plants vs Zombies 2 while it's still hot?"
Chen Mo said, "Nah, I'm fine. I'm not planning on making my next game a puzzle game."
Lin Mao didn't understand, "Why? It makes you money and fame! You're good at it too, why not do it?"
Chen Mo said, "It's hard to explain, but I just don't see too much potential in these types of games. Alright, I have to go. Let's meet up some time."
——
It wasn't just Lin Mao who thought that puzzle games were about to be popular. So did the video game media!
It was hard to say how popular Plants vs Zombies was, but from what was going on now, it was possible for it to top the puzzle games leaderboard, possibly making ripples in the paid games leaderboard too!
Moreover, the game had been able to maintain a score of around 9.3, and a portion of that must have come from downvotes by competitors. However, their efforts were proven useless, as the reviews had never fallen below nine. It was evident that this game was extremely popular!
The number of players who requested a refund were also few and far between.
As long as you had a short playtime and had a good reason for the refund, the app store would provide one.
However there were extremely few players who requested refunds, meaning that they recognized the game and planned to play it long into the future!
In the eyes of the video game media and video game designers, Chen Mo's first game was stable, well done, had gone far, was already quite popular, and was certainly quite influential.
Puzzle games were always quite popular, but there weren't many that could take it to the extreme. Puzzle games naturally had a large player base, as they catered to both the young and old. Therefore if it got popular, it would surely go viral.
Moreover the entry requirements for puzzle games weren't high, even a C or D-grade video game designer could make one. The only thing required was innovation!
Not one of the designers in this world felt that they lacked creativity. Therefore, some designers and video game media were trying to figure out which direction this would end up in.
Would Plants vs Zombies be a fire starter, reigniting the entire puzzle game market? Would a golden age for puzzle games arrive soon?
It could only be judged by numbers in the future.
However, nobody knew that the creator of the game, Chen Mo, didn't plan to continue making puzzle games...
At least for now!
Chapter 37: Chapter 36 – Leading the Surge in Casual Games
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by Coldtaco
Edited by Aelryinth
Under the watching eyes of the entire gaming industry, the statistics of Plants vs Zombies continued to increase.
First twenty-four hours, 23,187! First three days, 77,409; first week, 122,375; first thirty days, 514,580!
Over that first month, the video game media and video game designers were shocked time and time again. Normally a game would grow in the first week and slowly decrease. Plants vs Zombies had a stable number of downloads even through the fourth week!
Five hundred thousand sales in the first month! What did that mean? Chen Mo had earned more than two million RMB from this game in just one month!
This number was insane for someone fresh to the industry, so much so that Plants vs Zombies had set off a craze in the video game industry!
The players were spreading like a virus, the sales numbers kept on increasing!
Many players formed their own communities to try and figure out strategies for Plants vs Zombies, in particular the endless mode, as the leaderboards shifted day to day.
The video game media had new articles every day, with different industry professionals analyzing the success of Plants vs Zombies.
Many game designers were discussioning the very same topic, even in major discussion forums and the Illusion Game Engine discussions.
How did Plants vs Zombies become so popular?
Can its success be replicated? Can it be used as a reference?
The level design, combat system, code, tutorial, art, music and some other details of Plants vs Zombies were studied again and again, becoming a benchmark for other puzzle games.
——
An A-grade Zen Entertainment designer released a long Weibo post, detailing what made Plants vs Zombies so successful. They also mentioned that the puzzle game industry was about to have its renaissance.
In his Weibo post, he said: To be honest, I quite admire Chen Mo, the creator of Plants vs Zombies. As a new video game designer, he has provided us video game designers who overlook casual games with an important lesson.
We always think that casual games are a small matter, and only C and D-grade video game designers use them to hone their skills. Because casual puzzle games like these were never able to have extended playtimes or strongly engage with the players, the players would grow tired of them, resulting in huge losses.
Many of these so-called puzzle games don't have many puzzling elements to them. They are usually child's play, and far off from the larger puzzle games.
However, Plants vs Zombies has overturned that traditional view. Who said puzzle games couldn't be complicated? Who said puzzle games couldn't have extended playtimes? Two of the biggest problems that were holding back puzzle games were solved by Plants vs Zombies!
Obviously, it wasn't the type of game that was the problem; it was our thinking that was limited!
Not only that, Plants vs Zombies showed us that there is a huge market for casual puzzle games. These games aren't niche, but can cover the entire market!
Moreover, Chen Mo has taught an important lesson to all C and D-grade video game designers: even if you have lower resource limits or worse skills, it doesn't matter. Doesn't everyone claim they are full of innovation? If you really are innovative, go ahead and make a casual game like Plants vs Zombies; it will allow you to reach the peak as a videogame designer!
As for Chen Mo, I think he has shown his prowess in puzzle games. As long as he can keep this going and make another two or three puzzle games at the same level as Plants vs Zombies, I can guarantee that he will become not just one of the best, but the best video game designer in China!
——
Industry professionals, video game media, player discussion... all of their evaluations were positive. There was nothing like what had happened with Flappybird last time, where a video game designer or game reviewer came out and pointed their finger at Plants vs Zombies and said it was bad.
Once in a while there would be a hate message, but they would be drowned out by the fans.
Chen Mo knew that he made the right choice, for both fame and fortune. After Plants vs Zombies topped the casual puzzle games chart, Chen Mo was now the word on the street.
——
In a month's time, Chen Mo had ninety thousand followers on Weibo, demonstrating the popularity of the game.
However, Chen Mo knew that Plants vs Zombies still had greater potential.
In his previous life, Plants vs Zombies had reached three hundred thousand sales in the first nine days, breaking several records, and had actually taken the world by storm.
Chen Mo had already managed to recreate at least ninety percent of Plants vs Zombies up, but had only received five hundred thousand sales. Evidently there was still a gap between it and the original.
Chen Mo gave the matter some thought.
First was advertising. Chen Mo hadn't done any advertising. The video game media reposts did give him some attention, but it was worlds away from the advertising the big companies were able to do. Plants vs Zombies basically started off on the wrong foot compared to them.
Second was the market problem. Plants vs Zombies was only released in China. If he was able to release it outside of China, the sales should be higher.
However, Chen Mo was satisfied with his performance so far. Although Plants vs Zombies did have the ability to enter the international market, Chen Mo didn't want to invest too much time and effort into it.
In Chen Mo's view, the overseas market was unexplored territory. Were the tastes of the overseas market the same in this parallel world? That required a lot of time and effort to experiment with.
Chen Mo didn't want to consider the overseas market for now, so he didn't put too much effort into it. Chen Mo was quite happy with the fact that Plants vs Zombies was able to achieve results like it had. He didn't expect the game to break the sky.
If just considering the starting steps, Chen Mo had forged a perfect start as a videogame designer. What he could achieve next depended on what he wanted to do!
——
10 AM...
Chen Mo sat at the bar table letting out yawns left and right.
He had been out drinking with Lin Mao and Zhao Zihao till 11 PM, and was suffering the effects of that.
Since Chen Mo and Lin Mao had great success with their games, a celebration was required. Therefore Chen Mo decided to let himself enjoy some alcohol this time.
Adventure of the Storm Rider received seventy thousand downloads in the first month. Although it didn't come close to Plants vs Zombies, it was top three on the new games leaderboards, raking in about eight hundred thousand RMB for Lin Mao.
Lin Mao was quite happy with that achievement, as most new video game designers couldn't even hope to achieve results like that.
Of course, Lin Mao was head over heels with results that Plants vs Zombies had achieved. Within his admiration was happiness for Chen Mo.
During the past few days, Wen Lingwei and Jia Peng didn't come to the experience store every day like they had before. After playing it for a month, their passion for Plants vs Zombies had slowly died down.
More and more strategies were being released to the public, and more and more were being discovered, but the passion for the game would die down over time.
Wen Lingwei and the others were urging Chen Mo to release a sequel, or even a new game.
Chen Mo knew in his heart that Plants vs Zombies had a really long lifetime. Some people might be able to play it for one or two years, but for the majority, they'd get sick of it after a month or two.
Of course, for a standalone game, it didn't matter that the gamers were sick of it. What was important was that the game was sold and money was earned. All that was left to do was to release the next game.
Chen Mo was ready to move his focus to his next game, but before that, he wanted to give Plants vs Zombies an update!
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Chapter 38: Chapter 37 – Visiting Neighbor
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by Coldtaco
Edited by Aelryinth
Chen Mo was looking through the player discussions and forum hot posts for Plants vs Zombies.
If a new version was released, it would depend on what the players wanted or liked. If he released a version that didn't cater to the players' desires, it would be meaningless.
Chen Mo then noticed a woman at the door. She had a ponytail, was wearing jeans, and was dressed pretty neatly overall.
"Zhuo Yao?" Chen Mo managed to recall her name. She was the owner of Fates Internet Cafe, who had come over just after Chen Mo had opened his experience store.
Zhuo Yao was shocked when she looked around the first floor of the experience store. "Wow, I haven't been around for a month, and your experience store is much livelier than when I was here last! I remember it was completely empty last time!"
Chen Mo replied stiffly, "Of course! It's not possible to have opened for a month and not have a single person in your internet cafe, right?"
Zhuo Yao answered, "You can't really compare; is your experience store really the same as an internet cafe? Seems like you're doing quite well for yourself, there's so many players here."
Chen Mo poured her a glass of water while she sat down on the sofa.
"You said you'd be here some other day. Turns out that some other day was a month later!" Chen Mo jested.
"(Sigh) Stop mentioning it. There was so much to do at the internet cafe, so I couldn't leave," said Zhuo Yao. "Moreover, I've been addicted to this game as of late."
Chen Mo asked, "Addicted to a game?"
Zhuo Yao nodded, "Yeah, it's that Plants vs Zombies that became really popular recently. Haven't you played it? You're a videogame designer, there's no way you don't pay attention to the new games leaderboard."
Chen Mo said, "Uhh... I've played it."
Zhuo Yao said happily, "I knew it. So what level are you up to for endless mode? I'm up to 97, I'll pass 100 soon!"
Chen Mo didn't reply.
Zhuo Yao noticed that Chen Mo was being a bit weird, she assumed that he was embarrassed about his score and consoled him, "It's alright, I'll teach you. My strategy is great, guaranteed to cruise through the first fifty levels."
Chen Mo pointed at a far away computer at a girl playing the game, "She's already at level 174."
"Huh?!" Zhuo Yao was shocked. What was the meaning of that?
She stood up to get a better look of the girl. She seemed like a good kid, probably a student from the nearby university. How could she be better than herself, who's been playing throughout the nights?
-Hold on!-
When Zhuo Yao walked into the store, she hadn't paid any attention to what people were playing. But she noticed something when she looked at the screens.
Was everyone here playing Plants vs Zombies?
-This is an experience store, and experience stores usually only contain games that belong to the designer. Does that mean...-
Zhuo Yao looked at Chen Mo, "Could it be... you're the designer of Plants vs Zombies?"
Chen Mo nodded, "Yep, that's right."
Zhuo Yao stood there for three seconds and finally realized the implications. "I'm gonna faint! That game was your creation? I was wondering why the logo on the game's loading screen was so familiar? Turns out I saw it on the door of your store!"
Chen Mo was speechless. "I think there should be a limit of how forgetful someone can be. Your internet cafe is nearby, and you can't even remember my logo?"
Zhuo Yao was a bit embarrassed, and said after coughing, "About that... You know that we who open internet cafes rarely leave them... Yeah."
Chen Mo nodded, playing along, "Yep, true."
Zhuo Yao couldn't hold back her laughter, "What do you mean, true? Whatever, I won't argue with you. Teach me the secrets to Plants vs Zombies now!"
Chen Mo was speechless, "Why are you all like this, asking me for secret techniques every time you see me. There are many posts on the forums, go find one there!"
Zhuo Yao rolled her eyes, "Stingy."
Chen Mo was once again speechless.
-How can everything be tied back to me being stingy? This has nothing to do with me stingy, but you being lazy!-
Zhuo Yao said, "Sigh, but honestly, I didn't think a new video game designer like you could make a game like that. Unfortunately, mobile games don't do too much for my internet cafe."
Chen Mo said, "Don't worry, I'll make more standalone games in the future. Also, I forgot to ask, is your internet cafe mainly for PC or VR games?"
Zhuo Yao replied, "PC. I thought about changing to VR, but the capital is too big, and I don't have that much in terms of funds. Right now PC-centric internet cafes are in an awkward spot, I've been struggling for a while now about this matter."
Chen Mo said, "Yeah, I know. I think the main thing is that PC games are being pressured by VR games, putting them in a difficult situation."
"Exactly," Zhuo Yao felt helpless. "VR internet cafes will be the thing of the future, PC internet cafes will probably slowly fall out of favor."
Chen Mo shook his head, "That might not be the case."
Zhuo Yao was shocked. "Why?"
Chen Mo said, "It's simple! The reason PC internet cafes are struggling is because there haven't been any popular games on PC released recently. What if there was a super popular game that was able to put pressure on VR games?"
Zhuo Yao murmured, "That's... not likely..."
Chen Mo said, "There isn't one now doesn't mean that there won't be one in the future. Before Plants vs Zombies was released, who would've thought that the puzzle game market was so big?"
Zhuo Yao replied after three seconds of thought, "So, are you just praising yourself?"
Chen Mo nodded, "Yep!"
Zhuo Yao was speechless.
Chen Mo said, "That's the truth! I think you can continue your PC internet cafe. The future isn't as grim as you think..."
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Chapter 39: Chapter 38: Hiring
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by Coldtaco
Edited by Aelryinth
In his previous life, MOBA dominated the PC and mobile market; other genres didn't even come close. In Chen Mo's mind, MOBA's dominance would continue for at least five to ten years.
(Trans Note: MOBA = Multiplayer Online Battle Arena format, i.e. League of Legends, DotA, etc.)
As for what game would take the place of MOBA, and be the king for the next ten years? Nobody knew.
If someone did have the answer, he'd start making it now!
This was only true in the previous world, but what about in the parallel world, where gaming design concepts were undeveloped?
Although the parallel world had VR games, Chen Mo didn't think that the VR games had better playability than MOBAs.
On the PC front, the genres that were being pressured the most were adventure and FPS games, followed by strategy and management games. Genres like casual and mobile games weren't affected by VR games at all.
Chen Mo thought that MOBAs, as a genre that had never surfaced in the parallel world, had huge potential, not unlike his previous world.
That was why he hypothesized that PC games would never die off, and PC internet cafes would never go extinct.
Of course, he wouldn't go and try and explain this concept to others, much less reveal any game concepts.
Zuo Yao studied the arrangement in the experience store and asked, "I just thought of something. Are you the only one in the experience store?"
Chen Mo was shocked, "What do you mean, just me? Aren't there other players here?"
Zuo Yao explained, "I mean that in an internet cafe, there's someone responsible for technical issues, and one for the cashier. Is it just you here? Are you able to manage it?"
Chen Mo said, "Oh, that's what you meant. I'm able to manage. The checking in onto the machines is self service. The daily maintenance and cleaning are done by professionals. There really isn't much that I need to do."
Zuo Yao said, "But you still need to keep an eye on the first floor right? Isn't your office on the second floor?"
Chen Mo was shocked; he really had overlooked that problem.
Now that the experience store was open for business from ten to eight, Chen Mo had to stay on the first floor. However, his office was on the second floor.
That meant that Chen Mo had to be the receptionist!
Zuo Yao said, "I think that you should hire someone to work at the front. In the end, you're now a famous video game designer, surely you don't have to be so personal with the players?"
Chen Mo nodded, "Yeah, you do have a point..."
Zuo Yao stood up, "Alright, I need to head back. Come visit me next time. Since we are neighbors, let's visit one another more often."
"No problem!" Chen Mo stood up and showed her the door.
——
After sending Zuo Yao away, Chen Mo started to brainstorm about the receptionist problem.
Plants vs Zombies was now making stable income. And Chen Mo wasn't short on money like before either. It was entirely possible for him to pay for one other person.
However was concerned Chen Mo was other than the receptionist, was there anyone else that he needed to hire?
Many video game designers have an assistant. For example when A or S-grade designers are designing larger VR games, it's unreasonable to complete it with one or two people, a whole team would be required.
Chen Mo was now also decently well-known. If he wanted to hire an assistant, it was likely that many designers that hadn't entered the industry would be willing to work without pay.
However, Chen Mo was a bit hesitant.
This world wasn't the same as his previous one. The previous world relied on strength; the more talents the company had, the better the company would grow. Popular games required coordinating research, distribution, and marketing. Creativity wasn't the be-all and end-all for video games.
It wasn't the same in this parallel world, where creativity was everything. Chen Mo didn't doubt that, either. If a A-grade video game designer caught wind of the idea of a MOBA, they'd be able to create something with striking resemblance to a MOBA in a year's time.
Chen Mo's Thunderbolt entertainment wasn't as big and mighty as something like Emperor Dynasty Entertainment or Zen Entertainment, so creativity was all he had, and something he could not afford to lose.
He now had a Pandora's Box in his hand. Once the box was opened, it would drastically change the video game industry. When that happened, the other companies would surely do something in retaliation.
What if the change came early? That wouldn't be good news for him!
Therefore, there was a certain risk to hiring an assistant. Chen Mo's way of thinking would surely affect the assistant's after working for him long-term. Once the assistant figured something out and started their own company, it would be the same as Chen Mo raising his own competitor.
Chen Mo was quite conflicted!
However, he decided on hiring an assistant in the end.
He would be making larger games in the future, and there was no way he could do that alone. This step would have to be taken sooner or later.
Of course, this assistant must be chosen to his requirements. He'd rather not hire one than hire the wrong one.
—
After getting something in mind, Chen Mo went to his computer and put in a long Weibo post.
=
Hiring: Video game experience store receptionist, female, good-looking, good working attitude, with basic knowledge of the video game industry.
Hiring: Video game designer assistant, male or female, must have sufficient knowledge of the video game industry, professional, good working attitude.
Applicants must provide the following: 1. Resume, 2. Thoughts on Plants vs Zombies 3. Thoughts on any other mobile game on the market, 4. Thoughts on the future of the video game industry.
Please send the above details to my inbox, successful applicants are required to go through an interview.
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After proof-reading the post, he sent it out.
Chen Mo now had around a hundred thousand fans on Weibo. Most of them were fans of Plants vs Zombies, or industry professionals who liked the game. Most of them were shocked after seeing the post, and reposted it.
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This is a good opportunity, reposted.
I'd love to go, but I'm still in school, reposted.
Surely there's something to gather from the designer of Plants vs Zombies! reposted.
I wanna join! I'll be writing my thoughts on the games then.
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Soon after, Chen Mo received plenty of interest after his Weibo post was reposted countless times.
Of course, many of them wanted to be his assistant, and there were barely any receptionist applicants.
It was difficult to enter the industry, even in the parallel world. Many wanted to join the industry, but couldn't make it themselves or didn't have enough talent; this was their only choice.
As Chen Mo was now decently popular, the people who wanted to work under him were plentiful.
In the eyes of many, Chen Mo was an extremely talented video game designer whose first game had gone viral. They would surely learn a lot if they had a chance to work under him!
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Chapter 40: Chapter 39: Plants vs Zombies Version Plans
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
Translated by Coldtaco
Edited by Aelryinth
Chen Mo decided to wait until night time before checking the applications. He decided to focus on planning the next update for Plants vs Zombies.
In his previous life, Plants vs Zombies had a sequel. Although it made a decent amount of money, the player reviews left a lot to be desired compared to the first game.
That was why Chen Mo didn't want to make Plants vs Zombies 2. If he wanted to make money and get hated on by fans, why not make some Pay to Win game? Just so the name of Plants vs Zombies wouldn't be tarnished.
This upcoming update will probably be the first and last update for the game, therefore Chen Mo wanted to please the fans, allowing the players to invent their own playstyles, which would allow fans to play the game well into the future.
As Chen Mo was about to start developing a new game, he didn't have the time or energy to maintain the game in the future.
After giving it some thought, Chen Mo narrowed it down to a couple features.
First, in terms of content, add developer tools. Anyone could use the developer tools to test out anything in the game.
They could make adjustments to the plants, zombies, the environment, and the maps. They could also upload resources to make new types of plants and zombies, and they could use the existing artwork to make new maps, levels, and playstyles.
These mods could be released, browsed, and installed by players. The players could rate and review the mods. There would be an algorithm to rank the mods according to downloads, rating and playtime, recommending mods to players periodically.
Second, add networking and social capabilities to allow players to communicate better within the game.
Plants vs Zombies had simple connectivity and leaderboard functions when it was released, but this was only enough to satisfy the bragging needs of the players, leaving behind the deeper social interactions.
Through the new social capabilities, players could add each other as friends or join communities. Friends or players belonging to the same community could watch other players, upload their own playthroughs, and recommend mods.
Third, make a multiplayer mode.
In theory, with the developer tools, multiplayer was only a matter of time. Chen Mo was just trying to accelerate it.
Chen Mo only had two simple game modes in his plan for now.
First was multiplayer co-op, each player controlling three to five lanes, supporting two to five players at a time. This meant that there would be twenty-five lanes, and the player would be able to scroll up and check the status of other players.
Every player would have their individual suns, and they could help other players plant and defend against zombies together.
Under multiplayer mode, when a player died they could be revived by other players using a special plant, and players could coordinate and plant some special plants together.
The second mode would be versus mode, it could be 1v1, 2v2, or 3v3. Every player could get suns or moons; suns for plants, moons for zombies.
Zombies had to be generated slightly faster than plants.
Players would have to defend their own lawns or use zombies to attack the other play's lawn. Whenever a player lost, they wouldn't be able to revive.
The reason for having two different resources, suns and moons, was to prevent certain players from dragging the game out by only making plants.
If one controlled plants and the other controlled zombies, it would be very difficult to balance, which is why Chen Mo didn't do so.
Chen Mo wasn't sure if multiplayer modes like these would be successful, but he was optimistic. Because the game followed the original playstyle, any changes he made would be beneficial, so it wouldn't be detrimental to the main game.
Of course, it wouldn't matter if it didn't work out, as there would be mods made by the community.
Chen Mo estimated it would take two weeks. This was a generous estimate, as the main game only took one month.
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By the time night fell, Chen Mo had basically finished the design document.
After closing the doors, Chen Mo went back to the second floor, checked his inbox, and went through the applications.
Most of the applications were for the assistant position, only four were for the front desk.
Chen Mo wasn't too happy when he looked through the applications for the front desk. One of them had barely any knowledge of games, another had no experience with Plants vs Zombies, and the other two didn't put much effort into the thoughts on the game.
Of course, the main issue was their looks, which Chen Mo didn't find too attractive.
Chen Mo wasn't part of the good looks club, nor did he have any ulterior motives when hiring for the front desk. But after all, it was a well-paid job, so Chen Mo had many choices and didn't need to compromise.
He was only thinking about the players. A sweet receptionist would improve the mood of the players who came to the store, so it would be better if he chose someone good looking.
Or at least someone cute...
Chen Mo continued looking through the applications for the assistant role.
There were many resumes, and Chen Mo only needed one assistant at this point. Therefore whenever he found someone that didn't match his requirements, he would delete them.
He wasn't considering older people at this moment.
Older people tended to be more conservative, weren't active enough, weren't as creative, and didn't have as much potential. Moreover, it would be awkward if his assistant was older than he was.
He wasn't considering employment experience, either.
The ones that had worked at other companies would have had certain ideas imprinted into their design process and thinking. As Chen Mo's ideas were completely different from other companies, trying to convert them to the same wavelength would take time and effort.
He didn't consider those who played games all day and had nothing better to do, either.
Playing and designing games were completely different things. Playing games required reaction time, controls, and game knowledge, whereas designing games required logical thinking, attention to detail, a solid working ethic, and some inspiration.
It was difficult for someone who was just a gamer to get a job in game design.
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After that, he started looking at the thoughts on games that had been submitted.
The thoughts reflected the knowledge one had of games. Chen Mo couldn't hire someone who contradicted his philosophy on games.
For the thoughts on Plants vs Zombies, Chen Mo just wanted to know how much the applicant understood about the game. As long as they mentioned two to three points about creativity, playstyle, system, levels, or code, they would be considered passing.
As for the thoughts on other games, Chen Mo wanted to see what types of games they liked. They'd be considered to pass if they picked a game that was relatively successful and went over why the game was good.
The thoughts on the future of video games was a supplementary question. He wasn't going to consider them if their judgement was too far off, as those people would be too dense to absorb anything.
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