Why the bug I wrote became a core gameplay mechanic?!
Chapter 96: Two Key Issues in Construction Games (Please Subscribe, Please Vote for Monthly Tickets!)

Chapter 96: Chapter 96: Two Key Issues in Construction Games (Please Subscribe, Please Vote for Monthly Tickets!)

Gu Fan actually took the whole blame, which was rather gallant of him. Strictly speaking, it should be half the responsibility of the design and half of the programming, after all, while Lilith did write in the design document that the Supervisor is very powerful, she didn’t explicitly write that it wouldn’t die!

Gu Fan concluded his remarks, "So, there are a total of eight critical BUGs, of which I have two pots. In these two pots, there is half a pot that I took on voluntarily out of a sense of duty."

"Actually, apart from these BUGs, there are other factors that lead to the creation of BUGs. For example, the high walls of the Divine Realm were lined with Heaven’s Guardians, but it was also because of these Guardians that the merging mechanism with the Lost Ones was triggered, allowing players to cross the last distance and successfully fly onto the city walls, achieving the first-ever successful prison break."

"These Heaven’s Guardians... were also placed there at your specific request."

Lilith was indignant, "But the whole purpose of putting these Heaven’s Guardians there was to prevent players from escaping!"

Gu Fan nodded, "Yes, I understand, but actually... the simplest solution would have been to just add some more air walls to the surrounding wall."

Lilith’s eyes widened in disbelief, "Then why didn’t you tell me!"

Gu Fan spread his hands, "But the method of adding air walls isn’t very elegant, it seems a bit too forced."

"Your design is more natural and better fits the game’s world view."

"And besides, I thought you wanted to use this method to further increase the players’ hatred for Heaven!"

Lilith deflated completely, lying on the massage chair as if she was about to slide off like a melted mud.

This game was different from the previous ones; there wasn’t a particularly prominent, clear BUG, but rather, it was like a myriad of harmless little BUGs coincidentally coming together to create some sort of miraculous chemical reaction.

So, even though Lilith was not convinced, she had to admit that it didn’t make sense to hold Gu Fan, the programmer, mainly responsible!

Looking at the "negative emotions reduced" message that kept popping up, Lilith felt like crying but had no tears.

"So, what is the root of the problem...", Lilith was at a loss.

Gu Fan cleared his throat twice, "This... in hindsight, I wonder if the game’s mechanics are too complicated?"

"You see, this game has adventure, survival, and building. The mechanics are so complex, which naturally greatly increases the likelihood of BUGs."

"With such complex systems, the only way to totally avoid BUGs is for God himself to personally take action."

"Maybe... next time President Li, you should go for a game with simpler mechanics?"

Lilith looked at him wearily, "Are you saying that choosing this topic from the beginning was wrong?"

Gu Fan coughed softly, "You can’t say that absolutely, but... this choice did indeed increase the probability of encountering BUGs..."

"What did you used to say? The more something has to do with luck, the easier it is for Angels to cheat, so, could it have been Michael..."

Lilith was speechless for a moment, "Then why didn’t you say so earlier!"

Gu Fan countered, "Would you have listened if I told you earlier?"

"Blast it! How could all this be my fault!"

"My designs are good. It’s the execution that’s gone awry!"

Lilith angrily tugged at her twin tails, entering a state of impotent rage.

Then, she glared at Gu Fan, "Tomorrow night, I’m going to inspect the company again!"

"Let all the employees work overtime, from 6 PM to 9 PM, I want to ask about the game development details one by one!"

Gu Fan was inwardly alarmed, but still responded with an unchanged expression, "No problem!"

Lilith said coldly, "Hmph, you better pray I don’t find any trace of issues, otherwise you’re dead!"

After saying this, she stormed off.

...

...

The next morning, Gu Fan arrived at the company on time.

Even though work didn’t start until 9 AM, many people arrived just after 8 AM. By the time Gu Fan showed up, the second floor of the coffee shop had become quite lively.

Zhou Yang was standing on a chair, animatedly explaining the various hidden mechanisms of "Prometheus" to everyone, also known as... BUGs.

Like a storyteller on a teahouse deck.

Clearly, Feng Hui, Zhao Haiquan, Guo Hongyu, and others were still in a foggy state, knowing that "Prometheus" had its reputation suddenly reversed, but why did it reverse?

Many details were still completely beyond their comprehension.

Especially since they were personally involved in the game’s development and had a vague understanding of many features, they were even more aware of the insane restrictions imposed on players, hence their confusion was even greater.

So, they needed the game designer Zhou Yang to give them a detailed explanation.

Zhou Yang gestured animatedly, "So, this game has at least ten BUGs! Which one was I just talking about? Oh right, the seventh one, where players who choose the Mimic profession and retire will generate "Mimics with the imitating skill" in the Divine Realm, and these Lost Ones will imitate the behavior of Manual Laborer Lost Ones!

"After Instructor Ding and his colleagues raised this hypothesis yesterday, many players have verified it to be feasible!

"As a result, they created a large number of these skillful Lost Ones in the Divine Realm and then captured them, forming them into a transport assembly line, with Jester Lost Ones providing speed boosts!

"Look, just like this."

Zhou Yang jumped off his chair and played a video.

In the video, dozens of Lost Ones formed a long queue, spaced a few meters apart, all carrying various materials to their destination.

There, players could directly use these materials for construction.

They could build official structures, or freely create their own around the official ones.

Many veteran players who enjoy construction games were already rubbing their hands together, planning various projects!

Some wanted to build a Great Wall, connecting all the structures; some wanted to build a small town, stuffed with Huaxia style or Western Fantasy style buildings; some wanted to construct another high wall around the Divine Realm just for a spectacular creation; others intended to recreate classic architectures in the game.

Zhou Yang said excitedly, "Although our game has many BUGs, in my view, this Lost Ones BUG is an absolute stroke of genius!

"With this BUG, we instantly solved two major problems faced by other building games: one is the issue of vast worlds feeling underpopulated, and the other is the tedious amount of manual labor involved!

"Having addressed these two issues, even if we used the same construction game template as other games, it’s enough to stand out!

"What’s more, we’ve also incorporated adventure gameplay.

"Now, many players have realized the fun of adventuring in the Divine Realm, and the popularity of our game is climbing steadily!"

The two major issues Zhou Yang mentioned had always been pain points for survival building games.

One was the lack of people, the other was manual labor!

Survival building games are usually quite vacant, and even if players build beautiful villages, there are simply not enough NPCs to populate them, making them feel somewhat like ghost towns.

After all, in the later stages of these games, it’s the construction of houses that retains players, and villagers are an essential part of the houses.

But in "Prometheus," with the existence of Lost Ones, this means players can customize NPCs to their liking!

Create specific faces, then turn them into Lost Ones, and catch them out of the Divine Realm.

These Lost Ones can be used as Manual Laborers for brick moving, or placed within constructed villages to act as residents in rooms, guard specific areas, or patrol using the Mimic skill.

This is essentially providing players with an NPC customization system, so even if a player creates a grand town, it won’t feel empty!

Of course, Lost Ones themselves contain some distorted elements, such as their eyes being closed and traces of being scorched by Holy Light.

But players can improve this through facial customization, such as deliberately wearing an eye patch, or wearing a hat, helmet, or different clothes.

And if not looked at closely, these details are not noticeable.

Additionally, most survival building games intentionally control material outputs to prolong players’ game time.

Players who want to build sufficiently complex structures must collect a lot of materials and process them step by step. Especially for rare materials, which often take a lot of time.

But the material output in "Prometheus" comes from the Divine Realm, where a single adventure can yield a large amount of material. And transportation can be entirely left to the Lost Ones, freeing up the players.

That is to say, the Manual Laborers staying outside the Divine Realm can build freely to their heart’s content, without having to handle the boring repetitive work!

All these have unexpectedly become the unique advantages of "Prometheus"!