Chapter 10 Thursday, November 10th
Thursday, November 10th.

The Imperial Capital.

Qiu Hong looked at the address on his phone, then looked up at the old residential area in front of him.

The residents coming and going in the area were mostly elderly people. Because the old residential area was quite old, the living conditions were worrying, and the apartments were very cramped. Young people probably wouldn't even want to live here, let alone work here.

But according to the address on his phone, there was an indie game developer here.

Qiu Hong also identified the building number and went up the stairwell plastered with various small ads, all the way up to the sixth floor.

After repeatedly distinguishing which was 601 and which was 602, Qiu Hong gently knocked on the door.

"Knock, knock, knock."

After a moment, there was a sound of footsteps from inside, and the old-fashioned security door opened.

A young man with messy hair and large dark circles under his eyes asked hesitantly, "Are you... President Qiu?"

Qiu Hong nodded: "Yes, are you Wu Zhicheng?"

Wu Zhicheng nodded: "Yes, President Qiu, you can just call me Xiao Wu. Please come in."

Wu Zhicheng stepped aside.

Qiu Hong stepped inside and closed the security door.

The heating in the Imperial Capital wasn't usually turned on until around mid-November, so it was still almost a week away, making it the coldest time.

After entering, Qiu Hong didn't feel much warmer. Instead, he felt like wind was constantly seeping in through the cracks in the window.

Wu Zhicheng seemed used to it, dragging over a chair: "Sorry, President Qiu, it's too messy here. Please make do with it."

Qiu Hong didn't mind and pulled over a chair to sit down.

Originally, Wu Zhicheng had hoped that the two of them could chat at a cafe, but Qiu Hong insisted on coming to Wu Zhicheng's workplace to talk, because he wanted to see the most authentic working environment and state.

Qiu Hong looked around.

It looked like this was a small one-bedroom apartment. The living room had been turned into Wu Zhicheng's studio. A computer desk, computer, a messy pile of books, game consoles, a small TV, a small dining table... There was hardly any room to put his feet down.

The other room was Wu Zhicheng's bedroom. Besides the bed and wardrobe, there wasn't much room for anything else. The bed was also piled with books, and the situation was equally worrying.

Wu Zhicheng was a little embarrassed and searched in the small refrigerator for a long time, but only found sugary soda. He didn't know if President Qiu was used to drinking that.

Qiu Hong quickly said: "Don't bother, let's get straight to the point."

Wu Zhicheng nodded: "Okay, then I'll briefly explain my situation."

Compared to Jiang Fan from Cherry Studio, Wu Zhicheng's experience was much simpler.

Jiang Fan originally worked in a law firm. After successfully making a game in his spare time, he decided to take the money and start Cherry Studio.

Wu Zhicheng, on the other hand, worked for a while after graduating from college, saved some money, and then, dissatisfied with his job, he resolutely resigned and started making games.

As for what to do if the game wasn't finished or didn't make money, Wu Zhicheng hadn't really considered it.

Anyway, if he couldn't make it, he would just find another job.

Qiu Hong asked: "What stage is the game development at? Can I try it out briefly?"

Wu Zhicheng nodded: "Yes, but... the completion is very low. President Qiu, you may have to use your imagination while playing."

As he spoke, Wu Zhicheng opened his computer and opened his game project in the official editor.

Qiu Hong sat down in front of Wu Zhicheng's computer, speechless at the dust on the keyboard and mouse, and the ashtray full of cigarette butts and empty cola bottles on the computer desk.

Wu Zhicheng quickly pulled out two tissues from the paper towel box next to him and carefully wiped the keyboard and mouse, then tidied up the computer desk.

"President Qiu, this is a mobile game, but currently it can only be played on the computer. You need to use the mouse to drag and operate, which is not very convenient, please bear with it."

Qiu Hong nodded and started to enter the game.

The name of the game is *Shui Mo Yun Yan* (Ink Wash Clouds and Mist), which is a 2D side-scrolling game with a high difficulty. The biggest difference between this game and ordinary side-scrolling games is that it has a relatively special gameplay, which is to interact with the scenes in the game through drawing.

Players can create or erase objects in the game scene by drawing. This interactive experience can bring a very novel experience to players in some special levels and boss battles.

But... this is the ideal situation.

For many games, the gameplay is idealistically very fulfilling, but realistically very skinny.

To achieve the effect Wu Zhicheng expected, there must be two prerequisites: first, every level and every battle must be carefully crafted, and second, there must be very outstanding art effects.

The biggest difference between *Shui Mo Yun Yan* and other 2D side-scrolling games is this painting-style interactive experience, but if you just simply draw a little and erase a little, and keep doing this, the player's experience will be very boring, and this gameplay innovation will be meaningless.

The so-called gameplay innovation must not be a simple concept, but a whole set of rich gameplay and content.

Every level and every boss's method of play must be conceived and planned, and more tricks must be developed on the basis of this gameplay, then the game can be considered successful.

Moreover, since this game is a game with interactive pictures as its feature, the pictures must be outstanding, otherwise the fun of playing it will be greatly reduced.

Judging from the current completion of the game, it is really far from enough.

This is also normal. Wu Zhicheng was originally just a student who had not graduated for long. Making this game is purely a labor of love. Looking at the conditions, whether he has the ability to make the game play and levels well is not to be mentioned for the time being, but at least there is no solution to the art resources.

Wu Zhicheng is not good at art, and he can't afford the big shots on the official platform, so all the resources in the game are pieced together, which looks very unstylish.

Moreover, all operations are done with the mouse, which is not as smooth as playing on a mobile phone.

In short, Qiu Hong's enjoyment of this game all depends on his imagination.

Qiu Hong sighed softly with some melancholy.

Before, he thought that Cherry Studio, with its broken capital chain and salaries about to be unpaid, was very much in line with the rescue conditions of the "Desperate Project."

But today, after seeing Wu Zhicheng, he realized that "desperate" is only more desperate, not the most desperate.

So the question is, does this project meet the conditions?

President Pei said that neither too reliable nor too unreliable projects should be invested in.

According to general standards, this is definitely a particularly unreliable project. An ordinary person with absolutely no game development experience is working purely out of love, and there is absolutely no guarantee for either level design ability or art level.

But Qiu Hong instinctively hoped that Wu Zhicheng could get help, because there was a belief in Wu Zhicheng, and it was this belief that made this project reliable.

"President Pei said that if you are not sure whether it is reliable, I will decide for myself."

"Since that's the case..."

Qiu Hong considered for a long time and asked, "How much money do you think you need to complete this game?"

Wu Zhicheng was stumped by the question: "Uh... this..."

"To be honest, I can't say for sure either."

"If I had 200,000 yuan, I could use it to hire a good artist to help draw the game scenes."

"If I had another 50,000 yuan, I could use it to pay the rent first, which could last a long time..."

Qiu Hong also fell into deep thought.

For Cherry Studio, there are very clear plans for how much the project completion is, how much the employee salaries and daily expenses are.

But for Wu Zhicheng, he doesn't have a very clear concept of project planning, work period, and resource control, so naturally he can't give a specific number.

No matter how much money is given, it can only solve the urgent need first, and other things will be discussed later.

Qiu Hong wasn't worried that Wu Zhicheng would spend too much money. Given his conditions, he couldn't spend much.

The key is that without a clear plan, project management will fall into chaos. Qiu Hong is very clear that this is a fatal factor that may lead to the complete failure of the project.

For these indie game developers, what they lack is not just money, but also various other supporting facilities.

For example, how to plan the project development cycle, how to control costs, how to solve financial problems, etc., these are all difficult problems to solve.

But for a game volume like a game studio, it would be particularly wasteful to equip a complete set.

You can't just find three or four people, including finance and administration, to revolve around Wu Zhicheng alone, right? That's not appropriate either.

Qiu Hong thought for a while and said, "Wait a moment, I'll make a call."

Wu Zhicheng nodded and waited patiently.

Obviously, he also knew very well that with his conditions, it was indeed too far-fetched to want someone to invest.

Hopefully the big leader that President Qiu is asking for instructions from can show some kindness.

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The game details of *Shui Mo Yun Yan* (Ink Wash Clouds and Mist) can be found in chapter 194 of *Rebooting the Game Era*. If you are interested, you can take a look, it will not affect the plot of this book.