Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 190 Azazel’s Plan

Chapter 190: Chapter 190 Azazel’s Plan

Meanwhile, at Xingwang Garden Community.

Huang Wang, the sole programmer of Hell Frontline, was likewise yawning as he kept an eye on the Henggang Middle School Simulation.

Unlike during the launch of Hell Inferior Demon, this time, Azazel was also present!

Since it was already evening, these Hell Demons were now able to come out and stir.

For Huang Wang, working overtime at night was nothing new, but having to monitor a game that was destined to receive poor reviews, without being able to play other games or watch dramas in the meantime, was a bit torturous.

He didn’t even understand the point of keeping an eye on this thing.

The unexpected success of Hell Inferior Demon last time was a fluke— who knew that someone would actually initiate a dung pool butterfly stroke contest, and that so many speedrunners would eagerly join in?

This time, there was no way there would be a community of speedrunners to stir things up for Henggang Middle School Simulation.

As for the possibility of the game becoming a hit by some other means?

Give me a break, Huang Wang was the game’s developer himself— did he not know the true character of the game?

In two words: hopeless!

Thinking of this, Huang Wang sighed, "President Sa, should I say it or not, you really should have gone with my plan! First-person would have been so much better!"

After working together for a while, Huang Wang’s respect for Azazel had also diminished.

As a programmer with such a meager monthly salary, why the hell should he respect anyone?

An employee’s respect for their boss mainly depends on how much salary they receive. Make ten thousand a month, the company is mine; make three thousand, I’m your daddy!

And Huang Wang, who started with a mere salary of 3500, had actually been prepared to run away after the launch of Infernal Inferior Demon.

He didn’t expect that the game would take off.

Moreover, Azazel seemed to have realized that Huang Wang might bolt, so he slightly raised his salary to 5500 yuan.

This pay made Huang Wang waver and in the end, he stayed, deciding to help Azazel develop another game.

Was the money a lot? In Capital City, not really.

But after all, having no real skills of his own, the kinds of jobs he could find if he went job hunting would probably be around the 3000 mark. So, thinking of it that way, 5500 didn’t seem too shabby.

So he ended up staying and helped Azazel develop the game Henggang Middle School Simulation.

Even so, this amount of money still made it difficult to buy a programmer’s respect.

As time went on, Huang Wang began to frequently offer his own opinions about the game project.

Azazel, for his part, didn’t mind much. He didn’t care about dissenting voices within the company, as long as Huang Wang would just faithfully implement his designs in the end.

After all, to completely eliminate such dissent required either a lot of money or consecutive project successes, and Azazel could achieve neither.

All the profits from the last game had been turned over, and this time Huang Wang’s salary was still something Azazel had schemed to squeeze out from Lilith’s new funding.

For Azazel, the most important thing at the moment was for the game to incur losses and then to harvest a large amount of negative emotions!

It was only by acquiring these negative emotions that he could stand tall and proud before Lucifer, and once he got Lucifer’s attention, he could take the opportunity to ask for more financial support from the Human World. Then, everything would start looking up!

In response to Huang Wang’s dissatisfaction, Azazel smiled slightly, "Of course, the current approach is better; you have to trust my judgment as a professional designer!"

Huang Wang curled his lip, thinking to himself, "Yeah, right, like I believe that."

Unlike with "Hell Inferior Demon," Huang Wang was deeply involved from the start with the game "Henggang Middle School Simulation."

Back then, Azazel asked Huang Wang one question, "What do you think was the most unfree, most painful stage of your life?"

After thinking it over, Huang Wang finally answered, "Senior year of high school."

Azazel didn’t catch on at first, "As far as I know, high school only lasts for three years!"

Huang Wang nodded, "Yeah, that’s right, I was a repeat student."

Azazel listened to Huang Wang’s story about his repeat year at the county high school with a dumbfounded face, feeling deeply shocked, and thus, "Henggang Middle School Simulation" was born.

Because the county high school Huang Wang attended was an exact copy of Henggang Middle School’s model. Although only about 70% was replicated, it had already caused permanent psychological damage to Huang Wang.

But after the topic of the game was smoothly decided, a new problem arose.

When it came to what type of game should be made with this theme, the two had a huge disagreement.

Huang Wang strongly argued that they should make a first-person game, whether it was an interactive movie type or an indie game, the player should role-play as an ordinary student at Henggang Middle School.

However, Azazel dismissed this idea, believing that players should role-play as the principal of Henggang Middle School, making it a managerial simulation game.

Of course, the outcome was without question; Azazel was the boss after all, and the game was made according to his plan.

But at this point, Huang Wang still felt it was a pity, believing firmly that letting players play as students was a better choice!

Azazel just smiled without a word.

Clearly, both approaches had their pros and cons, but overall, Azazel believed that the latter was more likely to lose money and generate negative emotions.

He had done some research and knew that interactive movies that reveal reality also had the potential to provoke strong reactions and turn a profit!

Such as an interactive movie game about revealing internet addiction schools had been very popular before.

Letting players immerse themselves through the perspective of a student, although it could generate negative emotions more quickly in the beginning, excessive negative emotion might lead players to reflect and focus on real-world issues. Eventually, their negative emotions might turn into positive ones, and they were more likely to cause a stir online, leading to the game turning a profit.

If the game turned a profit, then three-quarters of the negative emotion would be snatched away by Lilith!

Therefore, ensuring the game didn’t make money was very important!

Compared to that, letting players role-play as the principal might generate less negative emotion initially, but the chance of the game making a profit was significantly reduced.

Because when the main character is a student, the players are playing a role-playing game; but when the main character is a principal, the players are playing a managerial simulation game.

Players have completely different tolerance levels for these two types of games.

During role-playing, players experience a deeper emotional connection to the characters, and even if the gameplay is monotonous, they can bear it since it reflects reality;

However, in managerial simulation games, if the gameplay is monotonous, then players find absolutely no enjoyment.

Azazel did exactly that; he used the template for managerial simulation games and, taking "Prison Tycoon" as a major reference, he cut out most of the managerial simulation gameplay, retaining only a small portion to just barely keep "Henggang Middle School Simulation" running!

In this way, players were bound to get bored within two hours, be discouraged from continuing, and contribute considerable negative emotion just before they quit!

Mission accomplished!