Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 201: Another Sage of Lilith

Chapter 201: Chapter 201: Another Sage of Lilith

February 10, Monday.

Last weekend, Nitiandang’s business transformation work had been smoothly arranged, and subsequent activities quickly got on the right track.

In the primary gaming business, Zhou Yang and Wei Chengjie took over President Gu’s banner and quickly completed the detailed design of the "Road Rage Simulator" following Lilith’s requirements, establishing a work plan with the aim to finish in about three months.

In terms of the new business area that would soon be developed, Gu Fan also started to get busy.

He first confirmed the location, choosing a three-story street-front shop between North Third Ring and North Fourth Ring in Capital City as Nitiandang’s first gaming experience store.

This place is close to the Line 10 subway station, and to the south is a heritage park, while to the north is a shopping park; walking to the National Olympic Sports Center, Ethnic Museum, malls, and hotels is also very convenient.

Further away, there are higher education institutions like the University of International Business and Economics, University of Chemistry, and United University.

The transportation is convenient, the nearby environment is decent, and there’s a high footfall - with plenty of residential areas and universities - making it quite an appropriate choice for the first experience store.

From Nitiandang’s current office location to this experience store, taking the subway from the West Suburb Line to Line 10, it roughly takes 50 minutes.

In other cities, this time might be quite unacceptable, but in Capital City, it can only be considered a normal commute time.

Looking at the map, the West Suburb Line and Line 10 form a straight line with basically no detours, and only one transfer is needed, so this location can just be considered "relatively close."

Lilith spoke of not wanting Gu Fan to suffer the tribulations of commuting, so she generously paid out of her own pocket to open a suite for him in a nearby five-star hotel for him to stay in.

But Gu Fan was all too clear on her actual motive.

Obviously, Lilith hoped that Gu Fan would stay away from Nitiandang’s current office location as much as possible to avoid interfering with the new game’s development!

Of course, Gu Fan naturally wouldn’t expose this.

After confirming the location, Gu Fan immediately arranged for the renovation. He created a renovation plan himself, which, upon completion, would undoubtedly bring a surprise to the players.

Additionally, for the "Road Rage Simulator" gaming peripherals, Gu Fan contacted domestic hardware manufacturers at the earliest.

There would be three types of co-branded peripherals: a standard controller, a standard keyboard, and an unconventional miniature steering wheel controller.

For the controller aspect, Gu Fan approached one of the currently more outstanding domestic controller manufacturers, Zhitong Controllers.

This manufacturer had already taken over 40% of the domestic market share, even surpassing The Big Three foreign controller giants. However, this isn’t to say that Zhitong Controllers’ quality alone was overwhelming the international giants; it mainly prevailed because its various models covered every price point, making them popular in the low-end market.

That said, in recent years, Zhitong Controllers also began to push towards the high end, with their flagship controller reaching around 550 yuan, essentially on par with the international giants’ pricing.

Even so, the sales of Zhitong’s flagship controller were still decent.

This was because Zhitong Controllers were able to adopt new technology earlier, such as Hall effect triggers, Hall effect joysticks, optical axis buttons, intelligent refresh rate adjustment, interchangeable button modules, 4 back buttons + 2 additional shoulder buttons, AI and macro command functions, etc.

These rich features provided Zhitong’s flagship controllers with a certain competitive edge against the controllers of The Big Three when priced at the same level.

Although there was still a gap in the finer details of the hand-feel in comparison to the international controller giants, it had become a significant new force in the domestic market that could not be ignored.

Gu Fan had already provided his requirements to the relevant personnel at Zhitong and set a time to meet in two days to discuss the specifics of the co-branded controller and the detailed plan for the miniature steering wheel controller.

The co-branded controller was easy to deal with; Gu Fan needed only to select a model from Zhitong’s current range and then change the pattern on the controller shell.

But the miniature steering wheel controller, a product that had never appeared in Zhitong’s lineup before, required in-depth communication and long-term deliberation.

As for the steering wheel, Gu Fan opted for Surao, one of the top direct-drive steering wheel brands in the country.

There were many different options for steering wheels, including gears, belts, and other designs which were originally considered due to cost. However, in recent years with the entry of local manufacturers, the direct-drive steering wheel market had become increasingly competitive and prices dropped.

Considering the significant lead in experience that direct-drive steering wheels had, there was no longer any point in considering other options.

Gu Fan also arranged to finalize the specific design for the co-branded steering wheel with the responsible person from Surao Steering Wheels.

Regarding the basic functions, Gu Fan didn’t have too many demands, only hoping to additionally release a small control panel.

This panel needs to be roughly the size of a one-handed keyboard, with various buttons on it to simulate the multitude of function buttons on a vehicle’s dashboard.

After all, in "Road Rage Simulator," players need to perform all sorts of operations inside the vehicle, including getting out of the car to rescue people, and these actions all require specific keys to execute.

Of course, players can also choose to use their own keyboard and mouse, but since a full keyboard is somewhat inconvenient, and players have to search for various functions while referring to key prompts, Gu Fan also hoped to introduce such an operation panel. The buttons on it would clearly indicate each action, allowing players to understand at a glance.

And so, all tasks were smoothly arranged, and Nitiandang quickly moved on to the next phase.

...

At 7 p.m., near a large amusement park on the East Fourth Ring.

Lilith arrived at the entrance to a haunted house called "Hell’s Demon Cave" and entered with ease.

The woman at the reception was the owner, named Qin Fengliang, who appeared to be in her twenties. She had long, straight black hair and the demeanor of a mature lady.

However, the haunted house was clearly devoid of guests at the moment, and she was listlessly eating sunflower seeds and watching a drama series, which significantly undermined the terrifying atmosphere of the haunted house.

Upon hearing someone enter, Qin Fengliang spoke without raising her head, "Tickets are 30, please scan to pay and retrieve your ticket."

After waiting a moment and seeing no response from the other party, Qin Fengliang finally looked up and then exclaimed in surprise, "Hmm? President Li! What brings you here? I’m sorry, it’s Monday and there aren’t many guests, so I..."

Lilith waved her hand generously, "It’s fine. I’ve said before that you can watch dramas during work hours. This is all trivial. As my trusted lieutenant, you have that privilege!"

Clearly moved, Qin Fengliang urged, "President Li, please take a seat. Do you have any instructions for me this time?"

Lilith sat down on the sofa beside her and shook her head slightly, "The haunted house is doing well, keep it up. I have no instructions! However... I have something I would like to discuss with you and get some advice."

Qin Fengliang quickly nodded, "No problem, just speak your mind, President Li!"

The "Purgatory Demon Cave" haunted house was a successful investment project of Hell’s Negative Emotion Collection Office, and Lilith had always considered Qin Fengliang as one of her key supporters.

In hindsight, the "Purgatory Demon Cave" haunted house seemed to possess all the elements of success.

Firstly, it was located near Capital City’s largest amusement park, which had a huge volume of visitors; even a small overflow from the amusement park was enough to keep the "Purgatory Demon Cave" thriving.

The interior decoration of the "Purgatory Demon Cave" was also a product of Lilith’s creativity. However, the haunted house was not particularly terrifying; it was average at best.

In this regard, there was indeed some disagreement between Lilith and Qin Fengliang at the time.

Lilith’s idea was to maximize the haunted house’s fear factor.

However, Qin Fengliang disagreed with this perspective. She believed that doing so would actually lead to the opposite effect, with less negative emotion being collected.

She argued that if the haunted house was too terrifying, it would deter regular visitors and instead attract die-hard horror enthusiasts. While these individuals might get frightened, they would also burst with positive emotions after the scare, resulting in a loss rather than a gain.

Qin Fengliang’s plan was to build a very ordinary haunted house, with neither expansive nor complicated settings and no particularly terrifying sections; the only highlight was the purgatorial themed decor.

Lilith was initially puzzled; with no scares, how would they collect negative emotions?

But soon after the haunted house began operating, it did indeed provide a steady supply of negative emotion.

A retrospective analysis revealed that Qin Fengliang’s strategy was spot on.

For those die-hard horror fans, this haunted house was not scary at all, and they felt bored after their experience; the average visitors, having read reviews that it wasn’t frightening, were dragged in by friends, only to end up crying from fear.

Both groups contributed a considerable amount of negative emotion!

Although this caused the reputation of the haunted house to plummet, and its revenues to decline year after year, given its location by the amusement park and the sheer volume of visitors, it could sustain its business even as a one-hit wonder.

It was for this reason that Qin Fengliang quickly became one of Lilith’s most trusted aides!

Considering the stable day-to-day operation of the haunted house, and not wanting to waste Qin Fengliang’s talents, Lilith came to her again, hoping she could serve as her strategic adviser and continue to provide counsel!