For advance 40+ chapters patreon.com/TranslationGod?
Finally, Evan, under the excited gaze of the sweet girl, elegantly signed the "Dream Maldives Trip" contract and left his phone number.
This was the best Maldives travel and wedding package the store could offer.
Standing at the entrance of the wedding shop, Evan looked at Emily beside him, who was gazing at the luxurious wedding dresses displayed in the window with a look of yearning, and couldn't help but tease her:
"I heard every girl has a wedding dress dream. You like it? I'll buy it for you! I wouldn't even mind if you wore it to work."
Emily's face had originally shown yearning, but after hearing Evan's words, that yearning instantly turned into disdain:
"Every girl does have a wedding dress dream, but what we anticipate more is the moment of putting on the wedding dress. One wedding dress is only worth about two months' salary."
With that, Emily glanced at Evan dismissively and walked straight away:
"If there's nothing else, I'll head back first."
"Emily!"
Evan called out to Emily's retreating back.
"?" Emily stopped, turned around in confusion, thinking Evan had something to say.
"Happy New Year!"
Emily paused, then nodded. "Happy New Year."
She then added: "See you next year."
Evan waved his hand, then watched Emily leave, but this time, he could tell her steps were much lighter.
Upon returning home, he was, as usual, met with teasing from his parents:
"Back from your date? How was it? Is she coming to our house for New Year's this year?"
"How was it? Nothing's set in stone yet. I was just checking in on an employee."
Before his mother could speak, his father was the first to state:
"Son, that's not right. Workplace superior-subordinate relationships are a taboo."
"But as long as you don't force her."
This instantly choked off Evan's attempted defense.
"Alright, I won't argue with you two. Anyway, your son here is still happily single, that's all."
With that, he directly pulled a pork hock from the plate in the living room.
"Mom made this, didn't she? It smells so good! Every year I look forward to this braised pork hock for New Year's."
Then Evan directly opened the door to his room, saying before entering:
"Dad, I'm coding something here. Just save me some food for dinner."
"Why are you still busy with company matters during New Year's?" Frank asked with concern.
"It's just a small thing. I'll just code it and see. If you have nothing to do, go to the kitchen and help Mom prepare New Year's food. You two can continue enjoying your time together, just pretend I'm not here, okay?"
"You brat." Frank cursed with a smile. "Set an alarm for yourself and come out for dinner. Otherwise, your mom will twist your ear, and I won't be able to stop her."
Thinking of his mother's strong grip, Evan said helplessly: "Alright~"
Closing the door, he turned on the computer and played music. Then, Evan, holding the Reaper Server, calmed his mind and entered the space of the Reaper Server.
The familiar open space and sky, the familiar various dim stars, but unlike a month ago, there was now a dazzling star in the sky of the internal space, shining brightly, illuminating a section of space, no longer dim.
Reaching out with an imaginary grasp, Evan first checked the status of Swallowing Heaven and Earth.
Player count grew steadily, retention rate steadily improved, daily revenue was as stable as clockwork, and activity was steadily lively.
Overall, Swallowing Heaven and Earth had successfully become a trump card in Evan's hand, just as he wished.
Shrinking the star of Swallowing Heaven and Earth, Evan noticed that three other stars in the starry sky also began to show a faint glow. Pulling them closer one by one, it was as Evan expected. The three stars represented three game drafts.
The smallest dim star: "Portal (To be named)," completion 7%.
The medium dim star: "Left 4 Dead (To be named)," completion 1.2%.
The largest dim star: "Assassin's Creed (To be named)," completion 0.1%.
After reviewing the information, Evan began to analyze.
According to the previously discovered pattern, the difficulty of game development is linked to the size of the corresponding star. This time was no different. If roughly categorized by how it was in his previous life, Portal belongs to a boutique game, theoretically a game that one person could develop. Left 4 Dead comes next, a boutique game that requires at least a complete small team to produce. The most difficult is undoubtedly Assassin's Creed, which is a standard AAA difficulty.
The parentheses with "To be named" after the name should refer to the fact that when he creates these games in this world, he doesn't need to completely follow the previous name. After all, games cannot be completely copied—new elements need to be added, and the game title is the same. For example, Portal could be named "Portal Gun," "Wormhole Puzzle," etc., and it would make perfect sense.
The final completion percentage goes without saying—it's a direct percentage of the game's production. Currently, Assassin's Creed is the lowest, indicating that for this standard AAA game, a draft doesn't even account for 1%. Left 4 Dead's 1.2% probably includes the parts where real-world material has already been prepared. Portal's 7% should refer to the importance of the draft script to this game. This game indeed has a low production difficulty, with its highlights entirely in its innovative concept.
Although he was pleasantly surprised by the new discoveries, Evan didn't come here today for these three games, but for a complete platform.
Let's return to Left 4 Dead, which Evan is preparing to make his next flagship game.
In Evan's previous life, this game became famous partly because it was genuinely fun, and partly because of its "unexpected" success.
The studio that developed this game was Turtle Rock Studios, a subsidiary of Valve. This studio originally partnered with Valve, and as early as 2006, they assisted Valve with various tasks for the Counter-Strike series, including parts of console porting and the development of certain maps. So, it's evident that Left 4 Dead later emerged as a spin-off of Counter-Strike, because the core gameplay of Counter-Strike also involves team cooperation. At that time, Turtle Rock wondered what would happen if they combined the core of CS with the globally popular "zombie craze." The result was this game.
However, this alone wasn't enough. There are many games that can be played online, so why did this one specifically succeed? Of course, it was because it had a good platform.
At that time, relying on the Steam Platform, this game quickly exploded in popularity. Exploring and surviving in an unknown world with three unfamiliar teammates—this was the charm of this game. So, since this game was decided upon, what Evan needed to focus on next was naturally to replicate the success factors of this game: a complete online platform.
However, speaking of Turtle Rock, the studio that developed this game, did you think they reached the pinnacle of their careers after this game became a hit?
In 2008, Valve acquired Turtle Rock Studios and then shut it down, announcing to Turtle Rock employees that they could choose whether to continue working in Seattle. Subsequently, some employees completed Left 4 Dead, and then Turtle Rock officially ceased to exist.
It wasn't until 2010 that some former employees registered the Turtle Rock domain name, announcing the studio's official revival. However, this newly revived studio soon fell into difficulties, forced to only develop mobile games, and experienced being re-acquired, merging, and partner bankruptcies, among other disasters. This studio later faded into obscurity, which is regrettable.