Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 501 - 484: Comet

Chapter 501: Chapter 484: Comet

Su Tong had voiced Lilith’s idea of the perfect answer.

Incorporating survival elements might not seem special at first glance, but when integrated with the previous game framework, it immediately became the highlight.

For simulation management or strategy games, you must address the question, "Who is the external threat?"

In some nation-building strategy games, the enemies are other countries.

These nations grow, build, and develop alongside the player, potentially leading to wars, ending with one country’s complete conquest of the world.

Although the forms of conquest could vary, such as military, cultural, or systemic conquest, in general, you need to surpass other countries in specific metrics.

In some strategy games, the enemies are specific external threats.

For example, in "City of the Abandoned Gods," the enemies are the ever-regenerating forces outside the city.

Of course, some strategy games lack external threats and have more peaceful goals, such as continuously building production lines to integrate resources across the map, ultimately constructing massive wonders.

Yet, some games choose the natural environment as the final adversary.

A classic design is extreme cold.

In a freezing environment, players must gather resources, build heating facilities, and increase the temperature as much as possible; otherwise, with the advent of a cold wave, a large workforce could freeze to death or suffer amputations, causing a shortage of labor, slowing production, and possibly causing the game to collapse.

The same goes for other natural disasters.

Whether it’s torrential rains, floods, scorching heat, or other disasters, they may not feature specific combat scenes like a military invasion, but they profoundly convey the survival threat ingrained in human instincts.

Therefore, this genre of games remains enduringly popular.

Su Tong’s suggestion encompassed not just one type of disaster but two, specifically extreme cold and scorching heat.

This added another dimension to the players’ strategies.

With only cold to contend with, players would only need to choose between "keeping warm" and "ensuring livelihoods."

Making laborers live with less, eat less, and work longer could trade for more shelters and coal, thus reducing deaths in the next severe cold wave.

Striking the right balance between the two is key.

However, with the addition of extreme heat, players have to make more complex decisions.

Simple heating and cooling facilities can’t be built in excess because resources are limited.

The construction of the two types of facilities must be balanced, or a facility that can handle both heating and cooling should be built.

Often, facilities that cater to both purposes consume more resources or demand higher technology tree levels.

Therefore, how to properly allocate resources to ensure the survival of the most people in both freezing and scorching conditions poses a more severe challenge to the player.

Overall, this game is destined to be hardcore and complex.

Even with efforts to simplify the technology tree, players will still need to manage every production line and make a series of decisions in response to complex situations.

And why is choosing your political system important?

It also signifies the players’ strategizing against each other.

This game is designed for two players, one playing as the leader and the other as the bureaucrat.

These two roles are inherently unequal.

If the leader can’t determine the political system or restrict the bureaucrat’s power, it wouldn’t be very realistic, nor would it help intensify the conflict between them.

Imagine a leader who doubts the loyalty and ability of the bureaucrats and thus pushes for political reform to limit their power.

Such actions would only increase the bureaucrats’ resentment toward the leader, pushing them further into deceit and secret sabotage.

It’s like the relationship between the emperor and ministers in the final days of a dynasty, quite thrilling to ponder.

By now, the game’s major framework had been set up; all that was left were some specific details.

But clearly, these details were not Su Tong’s forte.

Lilith, wanting to exhibit her magnanimity and fairness, turned to the other three, "You all share your thoughts as well, on some details of the game design.

"Of course, without violating the fundamental premise."

Zhou Yang thought for a moment, then said, "I think the game would be best set on an alien planet, and even the creatures within it should take the form of aliens."

Lilith nodded, "Hmm, and why is that?"

Zhou Yang explained, "President Li, I considered the ’extreme cold and scorching heat environments’ when I thought of this.

"It’s quite challenging to achieve such unique natural environments.

"If it’s a typical planet, it’s unlikely to have the extreme cold or heat you want. Usually, it’s either cold or hot.

"That’s because it depends on the distance between the planet and the sun.

"If it’s just like on Earth, where the difference is only between the sunlight hitting the Tropics of Cancer or Capricorn, it’s not enough to cause significant temperature differences.

"Therefore, if we assume this is a science fiction world, not an unscientific magic world, then it must follow natural laws.

"In other words, the planet where the game takes place has to be a comet."

Lilith was somewhat confused, "Why does it have to be a comet?"

Wei Chengjie cleared his throat and took over the conversation, "That’s because the orbit of planets around the sun is circular.

"Strictly speaking, it’s elliptical, but the elliptical shape is not very pronounced. You could even say that the elliptical orbit of a planet is more circular than most circles drawn with a compass.

"Therefore, in simple calculations in some schools, we tend to treat planetary orbits as perfect circles.

"Comets, however, are different; they have various kinds of orbits, and one of them is a very standard ellipse.

"An ellipse has two foci, and the sun is at one of them.

"In consequence, a comet will exhibit a special kind of trajectory: it slows down as it moves away from the sun, entering a long, cold state; and as it approaches the sun, it speeds up and its temperature rises sharply.

"Moreover, comets form tails under the influence of the sun, which look quite beautiful.

"But if you’re a creature living on a comet, it’s probably not so wonderful."

Zhou Yang nodded, "That’s right.

"If we consider scientifically that this game takes place on a comet, then the human body is clearly unsuitable.

"From the start, humans are not equipped to survive in such an environment.

"We can only envision a special kind of life form that can barely survive in these extreme conditions.

"And naturally, the ultimate goal of the game is to gather enough resources to leave the comet and head to a more habitable planet.

"Furthermore, using aliens as protagonists has another advantage, as players will be less burdened by moral considerations when playing.

"If the occupants of the planet were humans, players might hesitate to engage in certain brutal acts.

"But weird-looking aliens don’t matter."

Lilith was delighted and looked at Gu Fan again, "What do you think, President Gu?"

Gu Fan thought for a moment, "I agree as well.

"Another benefit of using a comet as the game setting is that comets are relatively short-lived celestial bodies.

"Because of their small size, comets are affected by the gravitational pull of larger planets and, in unlucky circumstances, can be directly captured.

"Many comets might be unlucky enough to get captured by a planet’s gravity the first time they enter a star system and then it’s the end for them.

"Of course, it’s not so bad for comets; taking the Solar System as an example, comets spend most of their time wandering in the outer edges of the Solar System. By the time they return, even if they enter the orbit of a giant planet, they are already accelerated by gravity to a higher speed, so the probability of being directly captured is not high.

"However, comets still could potentially face a cataclysmic disaster at any moment.

"This could also serve as some kind of special mechanism in the game to further enrich the content."

Lilith’s eyes lit up, "Eh? What a great idea!

"The player is playing, everything seems to be going well, but then upon entering the star system, they suddenly get caught by a big planet and crash!

"Just thinking about it is exciting!"

Gu Fan continued, "And we can reinforce that feeling of despair: at the beginning, don’t tell the players when they might crash.

"In the beginning, with undeveloped technology, players cannot perform accurate calculations, so they cannot predict when disaster will strike.

"But once the players have developed and the astronomical institutions can calculate the orbit of the planets, then give them a warning like ’XX years later, the comet will be captured by a big planet.’

"I think the expressions on players’ faces at that moment would be priceless."

Lilith revealed an indescribable smile; Gu Fan’s words really struck a chord with her.

Just imagining such a situation, how much negative emotion would the players experience?

The thought alone was thrilling.

Sure enough, bringing Gu Fan to this meeting was the right decision—he really had good ideas.

"So, should we give it a name?

"What should the leader and bureaucrats be called? And what should the game be called?" Lilith asked confidently, scanning the room.

Zhou Yang thought for a moment, "I think we should go for a more simplified naming convention.

"Let’s call the leader ’Emperor,’ and the bureaucrats ’First Governors.’

"As for other bureaucratic positions, just refer to them as Governors of their respective fields, like Technology Governor, Culture Governor, and so on."

Lilith approved, "That works, but what about the name of the game?"

Everyone fell silent; it was clear no one was good at coming up with names.

Lilith frowned, "Everyone, think of a name. Wei Chengjie, you go first."

Wei Chengjie looked troubled but still suggested after some thought, "Since the story takes place on a comet and it’s a production and construction game, how about we call it ’Comet Factory’?"

Lilith considered it, "A mediocre name. It gets the idea across, but it lacks a special spark.

"How about you, Zhou Yang?"

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