Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 529 - 512: What to Do When There Are Too Few Resources

Chapter 529: Chapter 512: What to Do When There Are Too Few Resources

On his way back to the dorm, Zhuge Jun still felt rather indignant.

"What the hell, for what reason!"

Just thinking about his gaming experience today made him feel enraged.

Of course, most of that anger stemmed from the ending. Even though resources were finally made freely available, the game arbitrarily ended without letting him play on. Who could stand such frustration!

However, upon reflection, the content earlier in the game also exacerbated the situation.

"I just don’t get why Nitiandang designed it that way. Most games of this kind offer an option to choose the abundance of resources at the beginning, right?

"Nitiandang, on the other hand, not only lacks this option but also ends the game abruptly later on. Does that mean the players can only play by scrimping and saving?

"How ridiculous!"

Zhuge Jun became increasingly angry as he thought more about it.

Because in other similar games, usually, you can adjust the richness of resources from the beginning.

If a pro wants to challenge themselves, they can set the resources to the minimum; if a newbie doesn’t want to bother with the calculations, they can go for infinite resources and just build to their heart’s content.

But "Star Plan" clearly didn’t offer this choice from the start. For all players, the initial resources were fixed.

Resources were randomly distributed across the map.

Zhuge Jun had wanted to bring up this issue from the very beginning, but then he thought that maybe like some high-difficulty action games with well-designed numerical systems, they wanted everyone to start on an equal footing?

Perhaps after clearing the game, there would be a mode to let players have a blast.

But now he was sure that there was none, absolutely none!

With that realization, Zhuge Jun surveyed the entire gaming process and suddenly found that this game really wasn’t that enjoyable.

In fact, it could be said to be quite torturous.

He hadn’t noticed it while playing, but now it dawned on him.

A large part of this torture came from the scarcity of resources, making building development restrictive. It was bearable in the beginning phases, but if one had to continue enduring after clearing the game and never seeing the light of Dawn, that felt unforgivable.

Surely, not everyone is expected to play with infinite resources cheats?

Although both official cheats and personal cheats are cheats, for most players, these two are fundamentally different.

"Let’s see what others have to say."

Zhuge Jun checked player reviews on his phone.

As expected, while the ratings on the platform were still generally good, "mostly positive," the reputation among the first batch of players was starting to crumble.

Obviously, those who had given positive ratings at the start hadn’t played for long. They had just entered the game and, drawn by the beautiful graphics and details, combined with their trust in Heavenly Games, had instantly left positive reviews.

But after playing for a day, many players had started to see the game differently.

And aside from discussions related to "Luoshui Oath," the most representative complaints in player reviews focused on the game’s unreasonable resource allocation.

"I think the resource settings in ’Star Plan’ are really not reasonable, to put it simply, they’re too few!

"The officials might be setting this up to artificially cap player level or to reflect the innate difficulty of the game, like ’Ascension’ and other action games that don’t set difficulty levels.

"But after all, this is a simulation management game; it’s different from action games!"

Many players agreed with this sentiment.

Action games don’t offer difficulty adjustment options, which, though not very user-friendly, most players will gradually get used to.

Because as the difficulty increases, the thrill of defeating bosses also increases dramatically and can even become a point of conversation.

But it’s different for simulation management games. Reducing resources does not enhance the joy of building a city; it diminishes it!

After all, nobody boasts about "I built my first factory in XX minutes" or "I set up a production line with the least resources."

The biggest thrill of simulation management games lies in constructing a magnificent city, akin to a marvel.

But this goal is profoundly at odds with the current state of resource scarcity.

Are we really expected to use an infinite resources cheat?

Or mod the game?

Or hope that the game releases some magical bug that unlocks an infinite resource mode?

None of these options sound very appealing.

Zhuge Jun returned to his dorm room, tidied up a bit, and prepared to go to sleep.

Before bed, he casually opened a live streaming website, looking for a "Star Plan" stream to lull him to sleep.

"Hmm? Chen Tingquan is still streaming, let’s see how he’s playing."

However, no sooner had Zhuge Jun clicked on Chen Tingquan’s stream than he heard a booming voice that almost scared his phone out of his hand.

Luckily, the lights in the dorm had just gone out and no one else was asleep yet, or else he would inevitably have faced a beating.

"Everyone’s saying ’Star Plan’ is difficult? Resources are scarce? Let’s see what’s up!"

Zhuge Jun quickly turned down the volume on his phone and took a closer look at the name of the stream.

Right, it was Chen Tingquan’s stream?

But now someone else was streaming?

Upon closer inspection, I realized it was Chen Tingquan co-streaming with another broadcaster, hence the joint microphone session.

The other broadcaster’s name was "Park Director," who, judging by his self-introduction, seemed quite keen on managing simulation games.

Although his fan base was not that large yet, the loyalty of the fans seemed quite good, and they were very active in their comments.

"Once the Director arrives, justice will prevail!"

"A moment of silence for the silicon-based dwarves."

"Is the park expanding to Comet now? Can’t wait! Hurry up, I’m getting impatient!"

Zhuge Jun watched for a while and noticed that the broadcaster called Park Director had planned to start live broadcasting "Star Plan" during the day, but couldn’t due to other commitments.

It wasn’t until around 11 p.m. that the broadcast started, and to compensate the audience, he promised to stream a bit longer today.

It just so happened that Chen Tingquan was also not wrapping up, so the two decided to play together for a while.

Chen Tingquan already had some gaming experience and took on the role of the leader, while Park Director was playing for the first time, but as a veteran of similar games, he naturally played the Governor.

The audience was looking forward to it.

Zhuge Jun was somewhat skeptical, what new could a broadcaster possibly bring to the game?

"Star Plan" had all its resources set in stone; many experienced players had tried it on the first day but failed to solve the problem.

Zhuge Jun thought the Park Director probably couldn’t either.

...

"Brother Yuan, I’m telling you, this game is somewhat different from other simulation and management games; the initial resources are extremely limited!

"I’ve already played two rounds before, and they both ended because I ran out of resources, so you’ve got to be careful.

"My goal as a leader is to start with modest ambitions."

Chen Tingquan explained as he started to formulate a development plan.

Meanwhile, Park Director was learning the game’s basic operations and planning out construction.

"Okay, got it, I’ll go figure it out.

"The first industrial and residential zones... there we go, that’s how we’ll build them."

Park Director began his own operations.

Once Chen Tingquan was done with his own tasks and took another look, he was shocked.

"Hey! Brother Yuan, why did you build like that?"

Park Director was speechless: "What do you mean by ’why did I build so cheaply’? Brother Chen, are you starting to personally attack me?"

Chen Tingquan quickly explained: "No, no, I mean you can’t build like that!"

Park Director: "..."

Chen Tingquan realized he was digging himself into a deeper hole and continued to explain: "I mean, the positioning of these two buildings has major issues!

"Look, Brother Yuan, building the mining site here is fine, along with the smelter and the factory behind it; there’s not much issue there, after all, it’s an industrial area.

"But Brother Yuan, why did you rush to place a residential unit so early? And right beside the smelter?

"There’s no need to build that so soon; the silicon-based dwarves can completely rest in the Governance Hall earlier on."

After all, Chen Tingquan had already played two rounds of the game and was clear about some of the basic strategies for starting out.

Park Director made two mistakes in his opening, both of which could be attributed to the residential unit.

A residential unit understood as an apartment building was where the silicon-based dwarves lived.

In "Star Plan," there was no need to initially build residential units because the Governance Hall, a very large initial building, could accommodate a certain population.

There was no need to construct additional residential units until the Governance Hall reached its population limit.

Moreover, the Governance Hall had some attributes, one of which was to purify any pollution inside.

But the residential unit didn’t have this ability and required specialized purification equipment.

So, what use was pollution purification?

The silicon-based dwarves in this game also had lifespans, and the pollution from mining and processing would give them chronic illnesses, thus reducing their lifespans.

Hence, most players would do this:

At first, they wouldn’t build residential units and let these silicon-based dwarves live in the Governance Hall; when the population increased, they’d build a residential area far away from the industrial area and upwind, which meant a cluster of many residential units.

This way, even without constructing purification equipment, the health of the silicon-based dwarves could be roughly ensured.

However, if the residential area was built too close to the industrial area, purification equipment would be needed, an additional expense that was not cost-effective.

So, Park Director’s action was quite problematic in Chen Tingquan’s view.

But since the first residential unit had already been placed, dismantling it now would use some labor and waste some resources, a bit painful in the early game.

Yet Park Director didn’t care: "Brother Chen, are you the Executive or am I?

"Just listen to me, trust me, I did that on purpose."

Chen Tingquan was stunned: "You did that on purpose?"

It was indeed somewhat baffling.