November 30th, Wednesday.
At Shangyang Games, all employees were busy.
Wang Xiaobin took a sip of coffee, then sent a message on the company’s internal chat software: “Test the new DLCs some more, they’re about to go live. Take one final look for any bugs!”
Wang Xiaobin was mainly responsible for leading half of Shangyang Games’ staff to develop DLCs for older games, including “Lonely Desert Highway,” “Game Developer,” “Turn Back to Shore,” and “Sea Fortress.”
Among them, “Turn Back to Shore” and “Sea Fortress” required substantial changes, with too much DLC content to complete in a short time, so they would be delayed until the end of this month and the beginning of next month respectively.
However, the DLCs for “Lonely Desert Highway” and “Game Developer” were relatively easier to make. Their development had already been completed, and once the bugs were tested, they could officially update.
Although most bugs had already been fixed, Wang Xiaobin didn’t dare to be the least bit careless. He still had everyone play the games more and test more, fearing that various hidden problems might emerge after the games were released.
This was actually due to a rather mysterious issue.
Previously, when new Shangyang Games or new version demos were created and shown to Mr. Pei, they would test perfectly fine beforehand, but once in Mr. Pei’s hands, all sorts of inexplicable, mysterious bugs would appear.
To the extent that Wang Xiaobin wondered if Mr. Pei had some special method of finding bugs, or if Mr. Pei himself had a “bug-attracting constitution.”
So, for each subsequent game update version or DLC development, testing was always refined to perfection, repeatedly tested many times before they dared to launch, fearing they might miss some fatal bugs.
This time, the DLC updates for “Lonely Desert Highway” and “Game Developer” were priced at 5 yuan and 18 yuan, respectively.
For “Lonely Desert Highway,” the base game sold for 1 yuan, and the first DLC also sold for 1 yuan, though it was now free.
The new DLC priced at 5 yuan was set by Wang Xiaobin himself, a historic breakthrough.
Because this time, the content updated in “Lonely Desert Highway” DLC was already much richer than the base game.
On Wang Xiaobin’s computer, the DLC update announcements for both games had already been written.
“Lonely Desert Highway” DLC Update Announcement:
1. Added online mode, supporting: inviting friends to play together (up to 8 people), random player matching for co-op gameplay (starting from the beginning, up to 8 people), and random encounters (randomly meeting other players during the journey).
Online mode allows text or voice chat, with various detailed settings adjustable in the settings interface.
After enabling online mode, if a player’s vehicle breaks down on the road, they can hitchhike as a passenger to continue their journey. After riding for one hour, they can continue driving from their current position.
2. Added random scenery feature. Driving in the desert for extended periods may result in seeing mirages and various landscapes from around the world, including pyramids and other ruins in the desert.
When checking in at various scenic spots, there’s a certain probability of triggering the easter egg “Traveler Bao Xu”: a lonely traveler in the desert requesting a ride. After reaching the destination, players will receive a new vehicle appearance and new scenery.
“Game Developer” DLC Update Announcement:
1. Added new game feature: Message Board. Players can leave messages on the ground, by doorways, on walls, and in other places in each level. Messages will be generated using fixed vocabulary combinations to enhance the player interaction experience.
2. Added new gameplay: Contrarian Mode. Players will get a contrarian assistant, allowing the narrator to choose routes while players can mock the narrator through the contrarian assistant.
3. Added new gameplay: New Player Care Mode. Veterans who have completed the game can enter new players’ games through a random matching system and guide new players in making choices through free text chat.
Neither game had significant changes in art assets; they just added some interesting online gameplay features.
Moreover, Wang Xiaobin deliberately planted easter eggs in both games about “Sea Fortress” DLC and the new game “Mission and Choice,” for early promotion and warm-up.
Actually, at the beginning, Wang Xiaobin didn’t have much of a clue about what to do with the DLCs for these games; he just thought about implementing some conventional gameplay to complete the task.
But Huang Sibo approached him, asking him to cooperate with “Mission and Choice” by adding a prequel storyline for “Mission and Choice” in the “Sea Fortress” DLC for promotional purposes.
When Wang Xiaobin heard this, he naturally agreed readily.
He originally had no idea, but Huang Sibo directly delivered ready-made game storyline content to his doorstep—how could he not do it?
After planning the DLC content for “Sea Fortress,” Wang Xiaobin considered: since that was the case, why not align all the old game DLCs with the new game?
It would both update game content, giving old players something to do, while also serving a promotional purpose, potentially increasing pre-sales for “Sea Fortress” DLC and “Mission and Choice.” Why not?
This led to the updated content for “Lonely Desert Highway” and “Game Developer.”
Wang Xiaobin checked everything one more time, then arranged for the scheduled release of the update announcements.
…
…
December 1st, Thursday.
Since moving to Jingzhou in mid-October, Qiao Liang had been living there for a month and a half.
During this time, he had completely adapted to life in Jingzhou, and his daily routine had undergone some changes.
First, his schedule became more regular, and his diet healthier. His original dark circles under the eyes and plumpness had improved considerably.
Fishy Takeout recently launched a “Monthly Subscription Package,” specifically targeting takeout regulars like Qiao Liang, as well as office workers.
When purchasing this “Monthly Subscription Package,” customers first select their takeout times. For instance, office workers might choose weekday lunches, while those working overtime might select weekday lunches and dinners or include Saturdays. Next, they preselect acceptable flavors and dishes.
After purchasing the package, money can be deposited into a personal account with automatic deductions, allowing a maximum credit of one meal. If customers have already owed one meal, they need to pay for the previous order at least 2 hours before the next meal delivery; otherwise, the order will be canceled.
When meal delivery time arrives, Fishy Takeout automatically deducts the fee and delivers the meal, arranging dishes based on the customer’s preselected flavors and recent dining records to ensure flavor variety and nutritional balance.
If customers temporarily don’t need delivery, they can simply cancel it in advance through the “Delivery Calendar” interface in the app.
This monthly package was practically a godsend for homebodies like Qiao Liang and some office workers.
Because ordering takeout, in a few cases, is a pleasure, but in most cases, it’s torture.
Qiao Liang often had such experiences: sometimes he’d get so busy he’d forget to order takeout, only to look up and realize it was already 1 PM; sometimes at 11 AM, he’d pick up his phone to order, browse more than a dozen restaurants without finding anything particularly appealing, waste fifteen minutes just to order, and still not find something especially satisfying; sometimes he’d accidentally order during peak hours, and due to delivery personnel being overwhelmed with orders, he’d wait over an hour for delivery, by which time the food would be cold.
Currently, the domestic takeout industry is still in a phase of savage growth, so unpleasant dining experiences frequently occur.
Fishy Takeout’s “Monthly Subscription Package” for long-term takeout eaters meant, on one hand, they no longer had to worry daily about what to eat. The randomly delivered meals gave them a sense of “someone is feeding me.” On the other hand, it also guaranteed delivery time and experience.
Because this “Monthly Subscription Package” was like another form of booking, Fishy Takeout’s stores could estimate order volume in advance, ensuring the cooking and delivery time for most meals, thus improving both flavor and dining experience.
Qiao Liang’s “Monthly Subscription Package” was set for lunch and dinner from Monday to Friday.
His current lifestyle involved getting up in the morning, taking a stroll downstairs, having breakfast at a nearby bun shop, wandering around a bit, then returning to edit videos or play games, with lunch and dinner delivered right on time.
On weekends, sometimes he would go out to meet fans or friends, sometimes he would order different takeout at home, such as fried chicken, bubble tea, or roast duck, to improve the variety.
Today at noon, Qiao Liang was, as usual, eating Fishy Takeout while browsing recent news.
Quite a few things had happened in the past month or so, and what Qiao Liang cared about most was, of course, the GPL league that would be held in Jingzhou.
He had even made a special trip to that familiar place, Mingcloud Villa, to familiarize himself with the gates of various e-sports clubs, and live-streamed it to his fans.
Recently, various streaming platforms have been on the rise, investing more and more money. Qiao Liang, as a content creator with his fan base, naturally wouldn’t miss this opportunity.
However, being a content creator was quite different from being a streamer. Qiao Liang’s streaming audience was mostly his die-hard fans, so it wasn’t particularly explosive.
But for Qiao Liang, being able to earn some gift money through streaming on top of making money from sponsored videos was already a very good life.
“Hmm? What’s this?”
“Update announcements for ‘Lonely Desert Highway’ and ‘Game Developer’?”
“These two games are still being updated???”
When Qiao Liang saw the discussion in his fan group, he initially thought everyone was joking.
Really? How old are these games, and are they still being updated?
Why not just let them rest in peace?
Qiao Liang couldn’t help but sigh. Among all the domestic and foreign game companies he had seen, Tenda was the most unconventional.
They already had GOG, a game that dominated the market, and new games were still in development. Surely these development tasks should have much higher priority than updating old games?
Yet Mr. Pei insisted on diverting manpower to maintain these old games that had almost no heat and few players. This was absurd!
Truly never abandoning, never giving up?