Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 498 - 481: A Lifelong Enemy, fake-AI

Chapter 498: Chapter 481: A Lifelong Enemy, fake-AI

"Co-op... strategy simulation game?"

Lilith’s face showed confusion, the buffs stacked too many, leaving her somewhat at a loss as to what kind of game this really was.

At least in her limited gaming experience, she had never encountered this special type of game.

"Why would you want to make this type of game?" Lilith asked with some curiosity.

Qin Fengliang thought and said, "This...if I have to say, it’s partly due to personal preference.

"I myself am a fan of strategy simulation games."

Lilith nodded slightly: "Oh."

This answer did not seem very convincing to her.

Everyone has their own preferred types of games, and Qin Fengliang obviously is not the kind of player with broad tastes who plays all types of games.

As a woman, she knew little about action games, preferring simulation management or cultivation games.

This could be seen from her previous designs for Blood of Lies.

Although Qin Fengliang proposed the Dynamic Difficulty Mechanism and other fundamental frameworks, she did little design on the details of this action game.

This was because she really didn’t know much about action games, considered an outsider.

Perhaps it was for this reason that Qin Fengliang now preferred to make a game of a genre she was familiar with.

But... could just this achieve the goal of collecting negative emotions?

Lilith was skeptical about this.

However, with the mindset of hearing out all sides, she still asked, "What else? Why do you think this genre is more likely to collect negative emotions?

"The failure of City Forsaken by Gods was quite a blow to me."

Qin Fengliang explained, "President Li, although I didn’t play City of the Abandoned Gods in-depth, I’ve heard you mention that a big reason for the game’s failure was the fake-AI technology, right?"

Lilith bristled at the mention of the term, saying fiercely, "That’s right!"

Fake-AI technology was like the bane of her life.

From Destiny of the Sleeping Dragon to City of the Abandoned Gods, this thing had made an appearance.

Qin Fengliang asked curiously, "Then why doesn’t President Li just ban this technology? If it’s blocked directly from the base code, wouldn’t that be better?"

Lilith sighed, "Don’t you think I’ve wanted to?

"The trouble is, this technology was heavily promoted by the officials, and after two successes, the officials were only too happy to deeply integrate it with the development engine.

"Now, whether it’s the Illusionary Editor or the Myriad Editor, there’s simply no way around it!

"Anything that involves AI uses fake-AI as the default underlying logic.

"Even if I have the programmers at Nitiandang block the related codes, I can’t predict when a bug might suddenly appear, bypassing these restrictions."

Clearly, Lilith felt somewhat helpless.

No matter where the game is made, there’s no getting past the issue with the editors, and the current official editors, whether the Illusionary Editor or Myriad Editor, have the fake-AI function built in.

It’s intricately linked to the base code.

Even the most diligent attempts to block it may not be completely successful.

Develop your own editor?

Perhaps that would solve the problem, but for one, it would be time-consuming and painstaking, seriously slowing down the development progress of the new game; secondly, who knows how many traps those people at Nitiandang will lay inside the editor.

Whether considering efficiency or security, it’s obviously less reliable than the official editor!

So, it’s not that Lilith doesn’t want to eradicate fake-AI; it’s that she’s truly out of her depth.

Although creating an action game also risks failure, at least it won’t be troubled by fake-AI.

Qin Fengliang said, "This is indeed a problem, and your concerns, President Li, are valid.

"However, I do have a way that might solve this problem.

"Why not limit the impact of fake-AI as much as possible directly in the game mechanics?"

Lilith was somewhat puzzled, "I understand your approach, but how exactly do you limit it? Does it have to do with the co-op game you mentioned?"

Qin Fengliang nodded: "That’s right, President Li, the solution I thought of is the co-op game.

"Have players fight against players, let negative emotions breed more negative emotions!

"However, before that, I would like to give you a brief introduction to how simulation games differ from real situations.

"Do you know what the biggest difference is between historical-themed simulation games and reality?"

Lilith looked puzzled: "Is it the quantification of various elements?"

Qin Fengliang shook his head slightly, "No, President Li, that’s just a superficial difference, not the fundamental one.

"In real-world simulation management, although the data obtained isn’t as intuitive or accurate as in games, the data do exist realistically.

"Even if we’re talking about historical themes."

Lilith nodded slightly.

Actually, this wasn’t hard to understand.

Take Destiny of the Sleeping Dragon compared to the real Three Kingdoms:

In the actual history of the Three Kingdoms, Sima Yi also had the concept of "loyalty," it just wasn’t quantified, and historical figures could not determine exactly what the value was.

In the game, this data also exists; it’s just digitized.

But simulating this isn’t difficult either, as one can simply block relevant data within the game.

Therefore, this cannot be considered a fundamental difference, or rather, it’s just a form of expression of a fundamental difference.

Qin Fengliang did not immediately reveal the answer but continued to guide gently, "President Li, do you know what the best form of government is in historical simulation games?"

Lilith fell silent, obviously, the question was a bit beyond her knowledge base.

"You humans’ political systems... what are they again?

"Er, constitutional? Multi-party? Republican? Oh! From your human perspective, the best should be a democratic system, right?"

Clearly, Lilith had only a cursory understanding of the topic, with a knowledge base probably no better than a high school student’s.

However, Qin Fengliang was not in a hurry because the problem she was addressing was not hard to grasp, even without an extensive knowledge base.

"No, President Li, in historical simulation games, the best form of government is not a democracy.

"Instead, it is an autocracy.

"Or, more accurately, it should be called ’enlightened absolute monarchy decided by the player’."

Lilith furrowed her brows, seemingly struggling to understand this.

Qin Fengliang smiled slightly, "No worries, President Li, I can explain it in detail for you.

"Why is this the optimal system in games?

"We know that both autocracy and democracy have their pros and cons.

"The advantage of a democratic system is its apparent fairness; under this system, a dictator is less likely to emerge.

"To put it simply, democracy may not always be the best system, but it is often the least bad system.

"You don’t have to worry about an elected leader suddenly making extreme decisions, because no matter what they do, they’re only in charge for four years, and at the end of their term, they’ll be voted out, or they might even be impeached midway.

"However, the downside of democracy is that it lends itself to infighting.

"The opposition can mindlessly contradict, attack with impunity, and the leader’s powers are limited, preventing the concentration of resources to accomplish tasks, so efficiency often suffers in the implementation and enforcement of many policies.

"On the other hand, if an autocratic leader has strong personal capabilities, compared to a democracy, they can better concentrate resources to get things done.

"In pushing forward many matters, they obviously have an advantage.

"This difference is clear, and at present, it poses a dilemma, making it hard to achieve both."

Lilith nodded slightly, finding the concept relatively easy to grasp.

But what did this have to do with games?

Qin Fengliang continued, "President Li, that’s why I say that ’enlightened absolute monarchy decided by the player’ is the optimal government type in games.

"In games, this is almost always the best choice; no other system can compare.

"Why?

"Because of the characteristics of the game, this system’s advantages are infinitely magnified, and its disadvantages are minimised."

Lilith seemed to half-understand.

Qin Fengliang kept explaining, "The advantage of this system is that it uses resources more efficiently, while its downside is a high dependence on the leader’s personal abilities.

"If the leader lacks the vision and execution beyond his times, or if the leader prioritises personal gains over the nation’s well-being, it could lead to severe disasters.

"Apart from that, an autocracy could suffer from the problem of deceit and misinformation.

"Due to the absence of bottom-up supervision, leaders could be misled by bureaucratic officials.

"The data they see may not be true, what they hear might be sugar-coated. Problems they deem serious may not be urgent, while issues they believe non-existent could already be affecting the nation’s normal operations.

"This is also a significant drawback of autocratic systems.

"Therefore, at the end of feudal dynasties, there would be major cyclical issues; the monarch appears mighty, but the whole empire is like a high-level paraplegic, with orders from the monarch failing to even reach the middle ranks, let alone the grassroots."

Lilith nodded vigorously, "Exactly!"

She could relate deeply to this.

At this moment, Lilith felt like she was indeed the last emperor of a feudal era, with none of her subordinates speaking the truth.

And trying to root out a traitor?

Everyone was demonstrating loyalty, crying poverty, making it impossible to distinguish who was sincere and who was not.

If she eliminated them all, she couldn’t find anyone else to do the work.

Qin Fengliang continued, "This form of government is invincible in games because its advantages get magnified indefinitely and its disadvantages shrink to nothing.

"In games, players often have foresight and no personal interest to speak of.

"Or rather, the player’s personal interest aligns absolutely with the nation’s interest, which is to win the game, to defeat other nations.

"Players hardly need to worry about being deposed in a coup or their personal interests being damaged.

"Furthermore, with transparent data in the game, players see real information, allowing them to make decisions based on actual situations.

"Instead of saying that players are taking on the role of an emperor, it’s more like they’re playing an all-knowing, selfless deity.

"And with the efficient pattern of an absolute monarchy, doesn’t that completely outperform a democratic system?"

Lilith began to understand, "I see, but... how does this help with the game we’re making?"

Qin Fengliang smiled slightly, "Well, President Li, it’s simple. We just do the opposite, right?"