August 18, Wednesday.

The demo for “No Return” was ready.

A demo, also known as a “demonstration,” “showcase,” or “sample,” in gaming terms could be considered an initial playable version.

For a game like “No Return,” once character models, actions, combat systems, and other content were roughly completed, coupled with a few scenes, an initial version could be created.

Generally speaking, optimization of the initial version and the development of subsequent scene resources were carried out simultaneously. While waiting for the art team to create new scenes and monsters, they would debug character movements, combat, and other details, thus accelerating the development process.

In Mr. Pei’s office.

Li Yada was debugging on Pei Qian’s computer, confirming whether certain values were correct. Once the debugging was complete, it would be handed over to Mr. Pei for testing.

Pei Qian stood nearby, watching her debug the game data.

The barrier to entry for creating action games was extremely, extremely high.

Why did some domestic action games have terrible hit feedback and feel uncomfortable to play, while some foreign AAA blockbusters felt exhilarating and extremely satisfying in combat?

It ultimately came down to two words: details.

For example, when a character wielded different weapons like daggers, straight swords, or hammers, the specific actions would definitely be different, and every frame of each action needed to be adjusted very carefully.

Of course, using motion capture would be better, but it would still require adjustments.

If any single frame of motion was off, skewed, too fast, or too slow, it would make the player feel that the game wasn’t fluid.

In addition, using different weapons to strike enemies would require different reactions from those enemies, and the surrounding environment should also convey an appropriate sense of destruction.

For instance, attacking an enemy with a dagger versus attacking with a hammer should create vastly different impact sensations and subtle changes in the enemy’s reaction.

If a hammer smashed into a monster but the monster showed no reaction, it would make players feel that the “hit feedback is poor or unrealistic.”

Therefore, adjusting hit feedback was both a technical and physical task.

However, these problems could all be solved with money.

“No Return” had purchased the best action templates and found the best 3D artists on resource platforms for fine-tuning, so the movements were fluid, noticeably different from ordinary domestic games.

Simply put, it was still about money.

Of course, adjusting movements was the art team’s job, and Li Yada couldn’t help with that, but adjusting values was something she had to do herself.

For example, when players struck a monster with different weapons, how much health should the monster lose? How many hits would it take to kill it? Different attack methods triggered different hit animations, which one caused more damage? How much more specifically?

These were all numerical issues.

Although immersive AAA titles would try to use health bars and other UI elements to display life values, they would still have specific numerical values, just hidden in the game.

Li Yada checked the completed values one last time and was about to stand up to let Mr. Pei experience the game.

Pei Qian stopped her: “Wait, adjust the data a bit more, increase the monster attributes a little.”

Li Yada was stunned: “Adjust more? They’re already very high.”

Pei Qian nodded: “Even higher. Double the attack power, no, make it triple.”

Li Yada: “?”

Previously, Mr. Pei had already mentioned that “No Return” must be a game of extremely high difficulty, and everyone on the project team must rack their brains and try everything possible to make players fail.

Deterring as many players as possible was the primary task for all members of the project team.

It had to be said that Lü Mingliang was indeed very obedient and had strictly followed Mr. Pei’s requirements. Bao Xu had also provided many constructive suggestions during this process.

As a result, Mr. Pei was stilln’t satisfied.

Pei Qian didn’t explain much. He was very clear that even if Lü Mingliang strictly followed his requirements, their imagination would still be insufficient.

Adding more attack power to monsters would not be wrong.

Li Yada adjusted her glasses and, as Pei Qian instructed, increased the monster’s attack power to triple its original value.

This way, the already low error tolerance instantly became even lower.

After making the changes, Li Yada stood up, handed the controller to Pei Qian, and then stood to the side.

She wanted to see how Mr. Pei would play this game!

Mr. Pei confidently asked her to increase the monster’s attack power to three times its original value. Was it because he felt this difficulty level posed no challenge for him?

Or was Mr. Pei a gaming master like Bao Xu, only finding enjoyment in games at higher difficulties?

Li Yada pushed her glasses up and watched with complete concentration.

Pei Qian took the controller, sat in his boss’s chair, and started the game.

The initial scene was in a small village. This was originally a peaceful, serene small village, but more and more people had lost their three souls and seven spirits, turning into wandering ghosts.

These people wore tattered clothes and had withered appearances. They all carried various strange weapons: cleavers, hoes, sickles, pitchforks, and other farm tools. Some were even empty-handed or carrying stones.

Monsters were scattered throughout the village, engaged in bewildered behaviors.

Some repeatedly chopped at wooden blocks with axes, but there was no firewood on the blocks. They just futilely raised and lowered their axes, repeating the motion endlessly;

Some crouched in corners, facing the walls, constantly muttering sentences with unclear meanings;

Some continuously walked toward the walls. They had completely lost their sanity but still unconsciously walked toward the path to the underworld, though they didn’t realize there was a wall in front of them.

Some wandered around the village, and when they saw someone with a clear mind, they would charge over, screaming and shouting like lunatics…

The protagonist was similar to them, also wearing tattered clothes and carrying a crude weapon.

In the courtyard where the player spawned, there were some basic weapons provided: cleavers, axes, clubs, pitchforks, and so on. During gameplay, players would also continuously acquire other weapons, all of which could be freely used, provided the player had sufficient attributes.

Pei Qian chose a cleaver, which was relatively easy for beginners to use, and charged toward the first minor enemy.

This minor enemy, armed with a pitchfork, immediately sensed Pei Qian’s approach. The long pitchfork thrust out before Pei Qian’s cleaver could even reach it!

With a “swish,” Pei Qian saw the health bar in the upper left corner drop by more than half.

Pei Qian frantically pressed the dodge button, but the small enemy with the pitchfork struck again right after Pei Qian’s dodge, another thrust that emptied the rest of Pei Qian’s health bar.

“Hehehehehe…”

The small enemy with the pitchfork let out a strange laugh, turned around, and walked away.

Leaving only a black screen.

Pei Qian: “…”

Li Yada: “…”

The scene was suddenly quite awkward.