Cannon Fodder Genius Game Producer - Chapter 30

Chapter 30: The 30th Day of a Blockbuster

Before clicking into the game, Chen Xiaopang set his livestream title to: Livestream Experience: Bu Shu Studio’s First Game Internal Beta.

The fans in Chen Xiaopang’s livestream were quite familiar with the name Teacher Bu Shu, so they naturally clicked in. However, once inside, the entire chat was bewildered—Eh? What’s going on? Where’s the footage?

For this stream, Chen Xiaopang was experiencing the game directly on his phone, mirroring the screen to the livestream.

For some unknown reason, everything had been fine during testing, but once the stream started, the audience found they couldn’t see his phone screen at all. They could only hear Chen Xiaopang’s voice coming from a pitch-black screen.

 What’s wrong? Fatty, wake up! Your screen mirror is black!

What’s the situation? Isn’t Fatty streaming Teacher Bu Shu’s game? How can we experience a black screen??

Chen Xiaopang hadn’t expected this either. After seeing the prompts in the bullet chat, he tried reconnecting the screen mirror several times to no avail. Finally, he received a notification from the software: Due to an unknown network frequency interference, some IP users currently cannot use the screen mirroring function. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Great!

A mirroring failure caused by network issues?

Chen Xiaopang felt like giving this glitch a standing ovation, but with the error confirmed, he could only grumpily give up his struggle with the software.

“Cough, sorry everyone. Network issues. The phone mirroring suddenly died, so I probably can’t stream the visuals today…”

Just as Chen Xiaopang was about to shut down the stream, some fans in the chat didn’t seem to mind.

Fatty, how about this: don’t stream the gameplay, just stream the commentary.

Exactly… I’ll just treat it like listening to your stand-up comedy. Fatty, do your best!

Huh?

Commentary?

Chen Xiaopang was stunned for a moment but didn’t mind. After thinking it over, he simply removed the mirror link and changed the stream title to Fatty’s Stand-up—Introducing Teacher Bu Shu’s New Game.

As he spoke, Chen Xiaopang had already wasted about ten minutes: “Alright then, today’s stream will be like this. Mirroring is broken, so you guys really can only watch Fatty play Teacher Bu Shu’s new game by myself.”

“The game doesn’t have a formal name yet; it’s still called Project: Immortal Fate. The icon is quite interesting—it’s an ink-wash style immortal, but there’s a pitch-black shadow behind him with a hint of bloodlight. He looks like a demonic cultivator…”

Chen Xiaopang was curious looking at the icon. It’s called Immortal Fate, so why does it look half-immortal, half-demon?

“I wonder if this icon is hinting at something? Let me guess: does it mean the body hosts both immortal and demon, or that the path is decided in a single thought?”

Since there was no screen mirroring, Chen Xiaopang simply turned his phone screen toward the camera. The viewers couldn’t see much, only able to imagine based on his descriptions.

Chen Xiaopang didn’t dwell on this part for long—it was just an icon, after all. He soon clicked the icon to enter the game. Generally, modern games like to have a grand opening CG; the more magnificent it is, the richer the game is.

Of course, this was only version 1.0 of Project: Immortal Fate, so Chen Xiaopang didn’t expect much. In fact, in many 1.0 versions, the UI and game assets are temporary placeholders; the main point is to experience the core mechanics—the combat system, the gacha experience, card cultivation, team synergy, etc.

However, as the game opened, Chen Xiaopang burst out laughing.

“Incredible, bosses. Teacher Bu Shu’s 1.0 version of Project: Immortal Fate actually has an opening CG.”

However, if the character CG for the new version of Super God was worth 7.5 million, the CG for Project: Immortal Fate was probably worth about 750 bucks.

Mists drawn with slightly rough brushstrokes dispersed layer by layer, and then… then there was nothing. The world background, which should have been conveyed by animation, turned into blunt, direct text:

Legend has it, beyond the mortal realm, there lies a vast and boundless world of Gods and Immortals.

In that world, Immortals fly on swords, accompanied by white cranes, possessing eternal youth and longevity.

Mortals live aimless lives,

The poor bend their backs for a handful of food,

The rich dream of a thousand years of life,

Everyone wishes to become an Immortal, but where is the Immortal Fate?

As the text ended, the simple mist animation gathered again, finally displaying the title: Immortal Fate.

Chen Xiaopang mused: “Aiya, although it’s the first test version and the CG is simple, it actually has quite a nice flavor to it.”

This was expected. Both Teacher Bu Shu and Jiang Ziye have outstanding writing skills. Especially Teacher Bu Shu; his old puzzle games loved clever wordplay. A narration introducing the world background was easy as pie for him.

After the CG, Chen Xiaopang entered his internal test account and logged in. Clicking forward, there was nothing else for now; it led straight to the conventional character creation.

“A name? No need to ask. I, Fatty, never change my name—it’s Chen Xiaopang!”

While speaking, he tapped away at the nickname input while browsing the available characters on the interface.

“Eh? Little Beggar, Second-Generation Cultivator, Hero, Scholar, Performer… Version 1.0 currently only opens five ‘Immortal Fate’ routes. Please cast your ‘Immortal Fate’ dice.”

Chen Xiaopang: ?

“Crap!”

Chen Xiaopang was about to pick a character, only to find that while he could swipe to view the backgrounds, the only choice he actually had was gender. Aside from that, there was only a single die on the screen.

Specifically, the die was named “Immortal Fate.”

“Good lord, so before the game even starts, I have to rely on luck to decide the results of my reincarnation?” Chen Xiaopang took a sharp breath at the setup.

But Chen Xiaopang claimed he wasn’t afraid: “Fine, I’ll roll. Even if Fatty has bad luck, it’s just building an account! If this life is a waste, I’ll try harder in the next one.”

The fans in the chat originally intended just to listen casually, but after listening to Chen Xiaopang’s chatter, they felt that while they couldn’t see the rest of the game yet, at least some of the designs were genuinely interesting.

In the stream, Chen Xiaopang continued muttering to his fans while playing.

At the same time, most other internal test players for Project: Immortal Fate had progressed further than him.

Lin Shujun, whose online name is “Young Master Only Has Money,” had remembered Teacher Bu Shu from his previous livestream. After that stream, Lin Shujun felt this Teacher Bu Shu was too cool! So he followed the account, only to wait and wait until this game test invitation arrived.

Lin Shujun was a game lover. Having nothing better to do recently and no interest in throwing money around in livestreams, he applied for a beta key, intending to see what Teacher Bu Shu’s team could produce.

By now, he had finished his “reincarnation.” As a super “rich second-generation” in reality, his luck seemed mediocre. When he rolled the dice, it landed on the “Little Beggar” option.

All beings suffer, but the beggar suffers most. Half a life of drifting, like a floating leaf.

You have tied your Immortal Fate. Will you embark on your path to seek immortality?

“Crap, a beggar?”

Lin Shujun scratched his green-dyed hair, feeling his luck was truly poor. But whatever, he usually calls himself “Young Master Only Has Money.” This was just a beggar character in a game—it couldn’t possibly affect his reality, right?

“Fine, beggar it is.”

With that thought, Lin Shujun clicked “Yes.”

Generally, to facilitate testing, internal beta accounts are given a certain amount of game currency so players can freely experience functions. Since it’s a data-wipe beta, top-ups usually aren’t enabled. But if top-ups aren’t tested, how can developers test the numerical and experiential changes after a player spends money?

Of course, they can’t!

So, game developers giving players free currency is standard procedure.

But Project: Immortal Fate didn’t do that.

Lin Shujun looked at the prompt that popped up:

Behold, 100,000 Spirit Jade sits before you. One reach is all it takes to obtain it. But—a Cultivator must have a tenacious will. Only by discarding worldly temptations can one achieve the Great Way Cultivator “Young Master Only Has Money,” will you take these 100,000 Spirit Jade?

Crap!

Is this a test?

Lin Shujun stared at the 100,000 Spirit Jade for a while, then chose (No).

Cultivator “Young Master Only Has Money,” are you sure you want to give up these 100,000 Spirit Jade? On your path of cultivation, it could buy you pills, artifacts, spirit pets, and abodes…

Lin Shujun expressionlessly clicked (No) again.

He didn’t believe it!

In usual games, he spent as much money as he wanted. In this game… he remembered Teacher Bu Shu advising him to “Krypton rationally.” Since it was a beta version where he couldn’t spend real money anyway, he would just be “rational” to the extreme and see what happens!

He, Lin Shujun, had decided—he would walk the path of a f2p (free-to-play) player, leaving other f2p players with no path to walk!

Look at that: Little Beggar origin, penniless, even rejected the 100,000 Spirit Jade from the system!

Among these 1,000 test players, could there be anyone more f2p than him?

Thinking of this, Lin Shujun raised his little green-haired head with inexplicable pride.

Inside Bu Shu Studio, Pei Shu and the other two members watching the player data all smiled.

The game Immortal Fate certainly wouldn’t stop players from spending money, but if one wanted to walk the “Immortal Path,” there was a hidden iron law—the less you spend, the smoother the path of cultivation.

In Wang Fei’s words, this setting was “asking for a beating” what kind of game pits its whales like this?

However, according to Pei Shu’s design, Immortal Fate wasn’t just about seeking immortality, as the temporary name implied. Its formal name should be One Thought: Immortal or Demon.

Whales might be frustrated on the Immortal Path, but on the Demonic Path… no one asks you not to rely on external objects.

Once the whales discover their true home, they can probably achieve “mental clarity,” right? (Of course, the sound of them cursing the “dog developers” likely won’t get any quieter because of it.)

Wang Fei marveled: “Someone actually randomized a Little Beggar and still rejected the 100,000 Spirit Jade. Now it’ll all come down to his luck…”

Although the Little Beggar character looks pitiful, other characters have their own advantages. Those characters have many things to rely on to embark on the immortal path. But what can a Little Beggar rely on? It can’t be his “Eighteen Styles of Begging,” can it?

It was, of course, because the Little Beggar possessed outstanding innate talent.

For the Little Beggar character, given the same amount of cultivation time, the content they can comprehend and the results of spiritual energy conversion are higher than other characters. This means better talent, better comprehension, faster progress, and a much higher chance of breaking through realms to become a master.

Though the early stage might be difficult, in the mid-to-late stage, many of the Little Beggar’s attribute checks have an advantage.

If a player can stick with the Little Beggar without spending money, combined with some luck… the future for this character is, one could say, bright!

Lin Shujun didn’t know anything about a “bright future.”

He currently wanted to time-travel back ten minutes and beat up the version of himself that rejected the 100,000 Spirit Jade. Why act so tough! What “f2p path leaving others with no path”?

This game was a complete trap. After he rejected the jade, it was as if he triggered some passive debuff. The beginner quests the system arranged along the way were like hell-mode, and they didn’t even give rewards.

Oh.

It’s not that they didn’t give rewards.

They just didn’t give Spirit Jade rewards.

The chat system was a standard feature, and Version 1.0 of Project: Immortal Fate naturally had it, available even at Level 0.

Thus, Lin Shujun saw the internal test players communicating on the world channel.

Chen Xiaopang: How much Spirit Jade did everyone get? This is the system’s gift currency, right?

I’m Here to Find Immortals: Got about 120,000. Looked at the in-game prices; 120,000 is plenty. Plus, the quest rewards during the beta are quite generous. One set of beginner quests gave me several thousand more bound Spirit Jade.

Just Playing Around: My quests also gave quite a lot of bound Spirit Jade.

Happy Cultivation: Wutian Sect Hahahaha, to be honest, I got 200,000 Spirit Jade. I also rolled a ‘Second-Generation Cultivator’ and was born in the Wutian Sect. I already have a Master. The Sect has all sorts of cultivation manuals and elixirs. One set of beginner quests later, I have another 20,000 bound Spirit Jade. Friends, I’m heading out first!

Players: ???

Is there such “reincarnation discrimination”?

At this moment, someone spoke up gloomily on the world channel.

I Am Very Rich: …Alright, stop envying the Second-Gen. You guys have it good, okay? I only have 100,000 Spirit Jade! The character I rolled is a Little Beggar. After a hard set of beginner quests, I have almost zero jade. I’m currently unconscious, thinking about whether to just reincarnate again. Sigh, thank god for the 100,000 Spirit Jade from the system, otherwise I wouldn’t even know how to play this Little Beggar!

Lin Shujun: …

He had not only rejected the 100,000 Spirit Jade, but he also had exactly zero bound Spirit Jade from his quests.

Lin Shujun, whose nickname was still Young Master Only Has Money, looked at the world channel dialogue and just wanted to lie down and die.

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