Agreeing to Create Bad Games, What the Hell Is ‘Titanfall’? Chapter 25
“Bro! Did Little Nezha put some kind of spell on you?!”
Over here, Gu Sheng had just returned to his office when Lu Bian and Da Jiang followed right behind him.
As soon as they walked in, they started wailing and flailing like their world was ending.
“That game she mentioned—not to mention selling it—I don’t even know how to start making it!”
Lu Bian looked like he was on the verge of giving up on life.
What kind of bizarre requirements were those?
It was like a garbage bin, and not even the kind that separates wet and dry waste.
It pretty much checked off every niche and unappealing trait in the entire gaming industry!
Completely unworkable!
“I get that, as the Director, there are things you can’t say outright…”
“But you could’ve at least let me play the bad guy.”
“If I’d spoken up, we wouldn’t be stuck in this situation.”
He let out a deep sigh, clearly dejected.
Even Da Jiang, who was usually quiet and reserved, nodded in agreement and added,
“Yeah, Sheng-ge, right before the meeting you said we’re the Iron Triangle,”
“We can share the pressure with you too,”
“We can’t really make a game exactly how Director Shen wants it… That thing’s unwatchable.”
Looking at the worried expressions on both their faces, Gu Sheng paused, then couldn’t help but smile.
He’d picked the right guys.
Clearly, these two thought he’d been caught in a tough spot at the meeting and had no choice but to accept Little Nezha’s unreasonable proposal.
They wanted to stand up for him, help him push back, and protect his position.
Gu Sheng nodded. “Alright, I appreciate the thought. I didn’t put my trust in you for nothing.”
But then, his tone shifted:
“Thing is… you two got it wrong. I accepted that game proposal on my own.”
Huh?
Just that one sentence made both of their brains crash and reboot.
“You accepted it… voluntarily?”
Lu Bian gave Gu Sheng a suspicious look.
“Wait, hold up—Lao Gu, don’t tell me you’re actually an M or something. Was this... the President’s assignment? ‘Cause that would be one hell of an abstract task…”
“Are you f**ing* kidding me?! Can you go one day without talking nonsense?!”
Gu Sheng was completely speechless and chucked a crumpled ball of paper at Lu Bian.
“Task my a**! You’re the one who’s addicted to these damn missions!”
“No, seriously,”
Lu Bian caught the paper ball, then laughed at his own crazy idea.
“I just don’t get the logic here. You’re saying you want to make this garbage game?”
Hearing that, Gu Sheng raised an eyebrow and shot back, “The game’s not even made yet. How do you know it’s garbage?”
“Because it practically includes every trashy genre on the market!”
Da Jiang jumped in confidently.
“Top-down view, bullet hell shooter, pixel art, single-threaded, randomized gear, enemy stacking—it’s a Frankenstein’s monster of trash!”
Honestly, Da Jiang made a solid point.
With all those features, the game had zero market appeal.
And a game that no one wanted to play? That was basically a guaranteed flop.
But Gu Sheng didn’t see it that way.
He shook his head and said seriously:
“There’s no such thing as a garbage genre in gaming.
Whether it’s a shooter or a racing game, bad quality is what makes a game garbage—not the genre itself.
It’s like with League of Legends—there are only dumb summoners, not useless champions…”
Before he could finish, Lu Bian raised a hand and cut in:
“Excuse me, but a certain crystal vanguard with 33 Qs per second would like a word.”
“Crystal vanguard?”
Gu Sheng blinked.
“Is that a new champion?”
“D*mn!!!”
Lu Bian smacked his thigh.
“You’ve got no credibility, man! You forgot Skarner even exists!”
“C’mon, it’s the thought that counts, alright?”
Gu Sheng scratched his head awkwardly.
“What I meant is, if we have the right idea, even an unpopular genre could become a surprise hit.”
“Emmmm…”
Lu Bian got the gist, smacking his lips.
“But where exactly do we start with the ‘surprise hit’ part?”
“We start with randomized loot,” Gu Sheng said.
“Wha—?”
Lu Bian grimaced.
“Honestly, out of all those janky features, I think that one’s the worst.
I mean, imagine I bust my a** killing a boss, and it drops… a f***ing stick. How’s that not a mood killer?”
“But what if that stick happens to be the exact item you need the most right now?”
Gu Sheng smiled and went on:
“Or what if you’ve already farmed 99 of those sticks, and one more lets you craft the Holy Branch that makes you invincible?”
Hiss—
Gu Sheng’s words were like a spark that lit up a lighthouse in Lu Bian’s mind.
“You mean… we could totally use randomness as a mechanic where quantity leads to quality?”
“Bingo,”
Gu Sheng snapped his fingers.
“Randomness is a double-edged sword. You’ve only seen the bad side.
But it’s actually the randomness that creates endless possibilities.
It could be a buildup to transformation—or just straight-up lucky surprises.
Like you said, bosses might drop twigs.
But on the flip side, a random grunt might drop a legendary item too, right?”
Hly sht…
Lu Bian suddenly felt enlightened!
Right, why hadn’t they thought to build a game around the thrill of randomness?
It was just like buying lottery tickets!
People don’t buy lotto tickets thinking they’ll definitely win.
What draws them in is the uncertainty!
That thrilling sense of possibility before you scratch off the coating.
So why not do the same in games?
In fact, they could give players unlimited scratch-offs!
And all it would take is one win to unleash the satisfaction of breezing through a level and mowing down enemies like a god!
And once players experienced that kind of high, they’d be hooked!
Even if they failed a hundred times, they’d still keep chasing that one moment of victory!
With this realization, Lu Bian felt like his chakras had just been unlocked.
“Then we can design the gear to have levels that keep upgrading!”
“And! Once the gear hits max level, we can fuse it with another max-level item to create an even more powerful super weapon!”
“Of course, the super weapons have to be totally OP.
Like invincibility, life steal, insane damage…”
Lu Bian got so hyped that Da Jiang got inspired too:
“We could enhance the visuals too!
Start with simple effects and scale them up gradually,
Or just go nuts and make bullet hell that out-bullets the enemies!”
“As the game progresses, the visuals get flashier and flashier, more effects, more spectacle!”
“And the super weapon—make it rainbow-colored! Flood the whole screen with effects!”
As they talked, Lu Bian and Da Jiang got more and more excited, high-fiving each other:
“D*mn! Just imagining it feels amazing—!!!”
Off to the side, Gu Sheng looked on with a proud, fatherly smile.
At the same time, a thought popped into his mind.
With a crisp sound in his head—
Ding! You have consumed 7,899 emotional value!
Unlocked: Vampire Survivors!