Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 354 - 363 Love Terror?

Chapter 354: Chapter 363 Love Terror?

Wei Chengjie’s speculation was quite reasonable.

Because this is the standard answer for making similar games now.

Live-action role-playing, although it sounds like it might be more expensive due to having to pay actors, actually costs much less than proper modeling and animation.

After all, game developers don’t really need to look for A-list stars; they just need to find some actors from web dramas or those hovering around film cities, those who are somewhat handsome and attractive. With a bit more effort, they can shoot quite decent results.

And if you’re designing characters yourself, anime-style characters are obviously the most suitable.

It’s rare to hear of a game company making a romance game that models 3D characters to look exactly like real people. It would be better to just use real actors.

Moreover, from a game operation standpoint, since there are various characters, the main profit points of the game should be based on these characters.

Card drawing is the most direct way to increase game revenue, and without card drawing, Wei Chengjie found it hard to think of any other revenue model for this game.

It can’t possibly be pay-per-minute, right?

However, Lilith shook her head vigorously, "No!"

"First, this game will adopt a realistic art style, the more realistic, the better! Our goal is to make the characters in the game look as real as possible!"

"I believe with Nitiandang’s current capabilities, it is achievable."

"Secondly, this game will use a one-time purchase monetization model, and there will not be any collector’s edition or deluxe edition packages!"

"All characters in the game will be drawn using in-game currency."

"Players can pinpoint a character to increase the odds of drawing them, and if they don’t get them, the odds will continue to rise the next time they draw."

"Overall, the time and effort players spend to draw all characters is roughly the same; it’s just a matter of sequence."

Wei Chengjie looked again at Zhou Yang, their expressions of confusion deepening.

There’s a problem, definitely a big problem!

At this point, the game looked like the tip of an iceberg floating on the surface, but everyone guessed that President Li probably had a big move coming up.

Indeed, Lilith continued, "However... just like the name of the game, ’Heartbeat Dream,’ once players encounter these characters, they will enter different dream scenarios."

"In these dreams, players will face all sorts of monsters."

"There are zombies, there are fleshly tentacles, there are demons, there are ghouls."

"Moreover, the character they like will change into another form—either physically mutilated or completely twisted into a terrifying monster that relentlessly hunts the player."

"Different characters correspond to different game modes."

"The first mode is escape mode, where players are unable to obtain any combat items and can only try to escape by any means necessary."

"The second mode is combat mode, where players can get a few combat items and possess the ability to fight."

"But since the players are set to be just ordinary otaku men or women, not specially trained soldiers, their aim is poor, the crosshairs sway, their movement speed is slow, and their accuracy when moving and shooting will drop dramatically."

"In short, players have to go through numerous scares, barely surviving, before they can escape from the dream!"

Everyone was dumbfounded as they listened.

Well! Now hold on!

Are we sure this is a romance game? Not a horror game?

Won’t the angry players kill you on the spot for this?

Wei Chengjie timidly raised his hand and asked, "So... President Li, what happens after a player clears this level?"

Lilith gave a slight smile, "After clearing the level, the corresponding character will permanently disappear from the game, and it will be impossible to obtain them again, as if they never existed!"

The crowd didn’t fully understand but were immensely shocked.

A love simulation game combined with a horror game?

Could such a sinister idea really come from a normal human being?

The gap between these two types of games is so wide that most players wouldn’t even think to associate them with each other.

After all, the players who enjoy love simulation games are generally the timid type; they might just want to open the game to experience the feeling of being loved in a virtual anime world, then avoid reality as much as possible.

Imagine, if they were playing a love simulation game, getting all lovey-dovey with the 2D characters, and suddenly a ghastly face pops up on the screen...

They’d probably smash the monitor with a punch and then come to have a serious talk about life with the game developers.

Gu Fan was also left speechless.

Alright then, is this how we’re playing?

President Li truly has taken a significant step further in an inhuman direction.

Lilith’s method was simple, which was to intentionally create this information gap!

Let the players initially think it’s a love simulation game but after they played for a while, suddenly turn it into a horror game, to harvest a wave of negative emotions first.

And if a small number of players actually persisted, cleared the horror level?

Then they would simply make that character permanently disappear from the game, and that would harvest another wave of negative emotions.

All Gu Fan could say about this was: President Li seemed to have begun to lose her mind a little, who would come up with such outrageous ideas?

It then became clear why the game needed to adopt a realistic graphic style.

Because only realistic graphics could blend love and horror games well, making the switch between these two modes less abrupt, which helps to create a bigger shock for the players.

After all, if the love part used an anime style and the horror part used realistic graphics, players would instantly realize something was off the moment the transition happens, evoking a stress response, which is comparatively less smooth.

Lilith looked confident, "That’s roughly the kind of game it is! Do you have any good comments or suggestions?"

Everyone turned to look at Gu Fan in unison.

The message was clear: President Gu, you need to do something!

Gu Fan cleared his throat softly, "President Li, the idea itself is certainly good, but... I think there’s an important issue we need to address."

Lilith narrowed her eyes slightly, "Hmm, what issue?"

"The issue of how to possibly retain players!

"The current approach is fine, but it’s definitely a one-time deal. We’ve prepared so many characters, but after players experience the horror part with the first character, they will surely uninstall the game immediately, and inevitably they won’t play the other characters.

"Isn’t that a waste?

"If we could keep them to play other characters and then lead them into different horror sections, maybe we’d achieve a better effect."

Lilith nodded slightly, "Hmm... that sounds somewhat reasonable. But how would we accomplish that?"

Gu Fan thought for a moment, "President Li, what do you think if, every time players exit the game, they would default back to the love section, and the horror content would be triggered at a random time—would that work?"