Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 505 - 488 Promotion CG

Chapter 505: Chapter 488 Promotion CG

The situation suddenly became critical; Shen Guang and Qiu Qinghong both scrambled, but in the end, they couldn’t escape their doomed fate.

As the comet rapidly approached the sun, temperatures continuously rose, and soon enough, these silicon-based people displayed obvious discomfort.

Their movements slowed down, and there even occurred instances of mass deaths.

Although Shen Guang had also been trying hard to build various shelters to cool down the environment and kept digging underground, hoping to find refuge from the external heat deeper in the earth, everything was already too late since they started the transformation too late.

To transform these silicon-based life forms into heat-resistant shapes, there simply wasn’t enough time.

Thus, the very first batch of comet life forms that had been meaningfully created since the "Star Plan" began met their end.

The mass deaths of the silicon-based people brought all production activities on the planet to a complete halt.

In the end, as the comet made its journey to the perihelion, there was no longer any life on it.

The already built production lines were left without maintenance, only to age, decay gradually in the fierce heat and prolonged cold, and eventually fade away completely, removing all traces of civilization that once existed on the comet.

Logically, after a game over, there should be an ending CG, but since it was still a demo, it had not been made yet.

There was only a simple prompt.

"After about 18,739 Comet Time, civilization number one on the comet was destroyed by high temperatures, having developed to the initial technological stage.

"In the long night, the seeds of life will continue to sprout..."

Though it was just a prompt, it was enough to make one feel dejected.

Shen Guang was quite helpless, "President Qiu, you’re the sovereign! You didn’t need to manage so much, so how could you make such a big mistake with the direction?

"You need to think more carefully!"

Qiu Qinghong felt he was innocent, but he could only nod, "Yes, Mr. Shen is right; it is my fault for not having experience the first time I played."

In reality, he was quite disgruntled.

Is this all my fault?

Who could’ve thought of such hidden game mechanics at the very beginning?

And not only did you not realize this at the beginning, even after someone hinted at it, you still didn’t recognize there was an issue with the temperature.

Would you not have made the same mistake if you were the sovereign?

Obviously, you’d have messed up even more than I did!

And the way you’ve arranged those production lines, scattered all over the place, many of the production lines aren’t even running at full capacity, leading to plenty of resources not being fully utilized.

If the efficiency of resource use had been a bit higher, perhaps we could have withstood this.

You know, in their hustle, they had actually seen a glimmer of hope.

Some underground shelters had been dug, some cooling devices had been built, and the genetic modification plan had already begun research.

Just hold on a little longer, and as long as a few silicon-based people capable of sustaining operations survived, civilization could have barely continued.

It wouldn’t be like now, completely extinguished.

So why have all the blames fallen on me, the sovereign?

Of course, even though he thought this way, Qiu Qinghong didn’t dare to voice it out; after all, Shen Guang was his boss.

He could only silently bear it.

But no matter what, both of them were somewhat unconvinced and begrudging; neither thought it was their fault but felt the other had been a drag.

"Mr. Shen, how about we swap roles? I’ll try being the executive officer, and you be the sovereign," Qiu Qinghong was clearly agitated.

Wei Chengjie hurriedly intervened, "Mr. Shen, President Qiu, let’s stop the trial play here for now. If both of you still want to play later, you can do so privately.

"After all, we’re still in a meeting right now, and time is limited; we need to move on to official business."

Everyone looked at the time and realized that indeed, over an hour had passed unnoticed.

This game really is time-consuming.

The others, although having only watched on the projection screen, were also unwittingly engrossed in it.

Of course, many people also thought about trying their hands at managing the messy production lines themselves.

"Alright then, as President Wei said, let’s focus on the pressing matters and determine the workload for each department," Qiu Qinghong led the way.

Under his direction, the various departments quickly claimed their tasks, clarifying the development process and regulations for the related functions.

Compared to "Blood of Lies," this time’s work was a bit more relaxed, and the cooperation among everyone was more practiced and smoother, which should result in a more successful development.

After the tasks were distributed, they again began discussing the game itself, openly expressing their thoughts.

"It kind of feels like the two-player mode actually causes some internal friction, doesn’t it? With the game’s content, couldn’t a single player make decisions and even play better?"

"Indeed, there isn’t much for the sovereign to do, and the player could perfectly play both the sovereign and the executive officer, making plans and executing them themselves."

"Plans don’t necessarily have to be made, right? At least half of the work of the sovereign can be cut, which doesn’t really affect the core gameplay."

"But I think this feeling of two players working together is pretty good, even though there may be conflicts, there’s also cooperation."

"The layout of the production lines is a bit tricky; maybe there can be a blueprint feature added, where you download specific template blueprints and, if you have enough resources, construct directly according to the blueprints?"

"That could be introduced later on, but for the early stages, let’s skip it; arranging production lines is one of the core pleasures of the game."

"I see that in this game, there’s also a way to decide the political system, it’s just that Mr. Shen and President Qiu haven’t tried this part. Although in the trial demo there are only two political systems to choose from, I’m quite curious to see how choosing the other would be different."

"Maybe there would be certain changes in the powers of the sovereign and the executive officer?"

"Could there emerge a regime where even ’the leader personally manages the production line’?"

"Good grief, are we talking about emperors toiling away in workshops? The Eastern Palace empress baking flatbread, the Western Palace empress tightening screws?"

"You know, if that actually happened, I’d be quite keen to play."

It had to be said that "Star Plan" had solid foundations, which is why it sparked such broad discussion among these people.

But they were also aware that as an outsourced team, it was highly unlikely their opinions would ever reach Nitiandang, let alone have the game modified based on their suggestions.

So this type of outspokenness was just for private conversations.

After all, even Wei Chengjie had no authority to meddle in the game’s production at present.

One could only hope that the producers at Nitiandang would continue their excellent performance!

"Alright, let’s take one last look at the ’Star Plan’ trailer then."

After some manipulations by Wei Chengjie, the trailer for "Star Plan" began to play on the projection screen.

"This time it won’t be like ’Blood of Lies’, will it? A deceptive trailer, right?"

Everyone watched the big screen with anticipation.

...

Stirring music started to play.

In the vastness of space, a star shined brightly, illuminating the cold night.

Surrounding this star, a number of planets of various sizes were scattered, each with a distinctly different surface appearance—some reddish-brown, others a vibrant blue.

These planets orbited around the star, everything looked as idyllic as a pastoral symphony in the universe.

As the CG played this far, many started to feel that something was off.

"Hey? What’s this about space scenes?"

"Didn’t President Wei say that the majority of the game content was supposed to be on that comet?"

"Yeah, that blue planet with the lush trees, that’s clearly modeled after Earth, right? Will we get to play on that in the game?"

Wei Chengjie cleared his throat, "Well... it is made in the game. After all, it’s such a big universe, and once players develop their technology to a certain level, they can send out spaceships or probes to the nearby planets.

"So, in reality, we still have to develop more than one star system."

Qiu Qinghong was surprised, "Oh? When can players go to these planets then?"

Wei Chengjie paused for a moment, "In the late game."

"Pff!"

Everyone had a hard time keeping a straight face—late game? How is that any different from it being inaccessible?

Isn’t this just like a carrot dangling in front of a donkey?

Keep in mind, "Star Plan" isn’t just a simple production line building game; it’s a survival game.

That means players can easily die off in the early stages.

Just like when Qiu Qinghong and Shen Guang tried the game before, a moment’s inattention and all silicon-based little ones were done, and they had to start all over.

In the late game, how many rounds would players have to play through to encounter it once?

So how much enjoyment would players get from that beautiful blue planet in their hundreds of hours of gameplay?

At this moment, Shen Guang stroked his chin and said, "So, this should be some kind of endgame reward, right, President Wei?

"Although it’s very difficult for players to escape the comet and find a new home, once they develop the technology to interstellar travel, they can break through these limitations and start a new life on these habitable planets.

"After that, the player’s save won’t have any more extreme cold and heat issues, and they can focus on developing technology.

"If it’s designed this way, I think it’s somewhat acceptable."

Wei Chengjie hesitated slightly but decided to reveal the truth, "Mr. Shen, your idea is good, but that’s not how ’Star Plan’ is designed.

"After escaping the comet and settling down on a planet, players will be forced into a save lock after two hours.

"That means they’ll be forced into the ending sequence, and they won’t be able to build further on that save; they can only use it for viewing."

Shen Guang was shocked, "What do you mean? After I’ve gone through all this trouble to finally escape from the comet, you just let me enjoy it for two hours?"

Wei Chengjie’s face carried a polite smile, "Actually, in this game, the process of struggling for survival on the comet is the most important part, the final outcome is less important.

"Besides, strictly speaking, it’s not even two hours, because you have to factor in the time for interstellar travel, as well as the time to set up basic production lines during the initial landing."

Shen Guang was at a loss for words.

Fraud, this is pure fraud!

Nitiandang’s deceptive marketing strikes again!

Clearly, this promotional CG for "Star Plan" was just like with "Blood of Lies".

"Blood of Lies" was presented with top-tier gameplay to demonstrate the actual game footage, leading players to believe it was a game with simple controls and low difficulty.

"Star Plan" went even further, deliberately starting with the starry sea and the blue planet to create a grand illusion, misleading players about where the game actually takes place.

Damn it!

On the big screen, the promotional CG continued.

Now the camera moved forward relentlessly until it arrived at the comet on the edge of the star system.

At this moment, the comet was traveling towards the perihelion of its elliptical orbit, dragging a long tail behind it, which looked quite beautiful from afar.