Chapter 1305 The Complex "Official Cheat" Mechanism

Li Yada's words greatly boosted Yan Qi's confidence.

Though second-hand information, and Yan Qi couldn't ascertain its truth, he had to admit it was inspiring.

It also provided a new game design idea.

He could try this approach first, and if it didn't work out, so be it. Trying and writing a design draft didn't cost anything.

Yan Qi carefully saved the document containing these ideas, afraid of losing it.

Then, he started thinking about how to make his new game based on these notes.

"First, find a suitable entry point."

"Hmm… it should be game difficulty."

"For action games, setting the right difficulty is key. And I can use Sister Li's 'spiral ascent' approach to consider it."

Yan Qi's brain raced, entering a state of deep thought.

He tried to put himself in President Pei's shoes, imagining how Pei would approach designing an action game.

One thing was certain: President Pei would make significant changes to *Turn Back is the Shore's* approach.

But this change wouldn't be a complete reversal or regression, but a spiral ascent.

Initial domestic action games were too easy, offering no challenge to players. Monster damage was too low, so players could take several hits without consequence, and there were almost no penalties for death.

President Pei addressed this with the design of *Turn Back is the Shore*.

Now, Yan Qi had to go against *Turn Back is the Shore* and innovate, certainly not by going backward.

How to differentiate himself from *Turn Back is the Shore* without regressing was the question.

"The difficulty definitely can't be lowered, at least not too much."

"Because maintaining a certain difficulty level forces players to delve into the game's combat system and level design. If players can simply hack and slash their way through, without needing to dodge skills or use items, just mashing the attack button to clear the game, they'll never appreciate a good combat system and level design."

"But while maintaining the difficulty, how do I differentiate myself from *Turn Back is the Shore*?"

"Hmm…"

"Cheating?"

"It seems like that's the only way."

"But it can't be just any kind of cheating; there needs to be some restriction."

"It doesn't have to be difficult all the time, getting harder and harder. The later stages can be simpler, of course, based on certain techniques and officially provided 'cheat mechanisms'."

"That's right, official cheats! Allowing players to experience the hardcore charm of action games while also exploring multiple ways to complete them."

"And in the later stages, this fun can become the fun of equipping gear and playing with strategies, offering players more diverse ways to beat the game and play!"

Yan Qi quickly thought of a solution.

Of course, it was mainly because other paths had already been taken. With *Turn Back is the Shore* ahead, he only had this path to differentiate himself.

Yan Qi's idea was official cheats.

This official cheat was different from Pudu (Salvation) in *Turn Back is the Shore*.

Pudu's cheat method still didn't escape *Turn Back is the Shore's* combat system; it was a pure stat-based cheat. This weapon had high damage and fast attack speed against specific enemies, so it could be used to cheat.

The significance of the Pudu weapon wasn't just to allow less skilled players to complete the game, but also to highlight the philosophical value of *Turn Back is the Shore*.

With advantages come corresponding flaws.

Game design isn't perfect; it inevitably caters to some players while sacrificing others.

*Turn Back is the Shore* is actually a game that doesn't allow cheating. You can cheat, but you have to make up for it later.

Using Pudu to cheat means you can't get the perfect ending.

But what if the designer added more complex systems to the game, allowing players to use magic, ranged attacks, or special gear combinations to complete it in a simple way?

The biggest problem with this was the loss of *Turn Back is the Shore's* philosophical meaning, but Yan Qi wasn't making *Turn Back is the Shore* in the first place. He couldn't inherit this philosophical meaning, much less reach *Turn Back is the Shore's* level of breaking the fourth wall.

But the benefit was a wider player base. For some players, the late-game fun was greatly enhanced.

*Turn Back is the Shore* emphasized the player's own growth process, while the in-game character's growth was very limited.

That's why some experienced players could use the starting weapon to defeat the final boss or complete the entire game without taking damage.

If the final boss's stats were tens or hundreds of thousands of times higher than the starting weapon's attack power, players couldn't possibly complete the game with the starting weapon.

*Turn Back is the Shore* deliberately compressed the in-game character's growth stats to allow players to better experience their own sense of growth.

In other words, leveling up can make you suffer less, but not prevent suffering; while if your own skills improve, you can complete the game without taking damage even with the starting weapon.

This was the essence of *Turn Back is the Shore*.

Originally, Yan Qi wouldn't dare to deny it, but now he realized that he had to deny it, otherwise the game he made would be a clumsy imitation of *Turn Back is the Shore*, with no reason to exist.

Yan Qi's idea was to add the character's stat growth back in, giving players another way to complete the game.

It didn't matter if less skilled players cheated their way through the game; they could play however they wanted. Skilled players could still challenge themselves, achieve various no-damage records, and be admired. In the later stages, after players' skills reached a bottleneck, they could continue to play with character builds and explore game mechanics, extending the game's lifespan.

After confirming this, Yan Qi began to consider how to "officially cheat."

"The game's basic combat system can be regarded as martial arts: swords, spears, halberds… each weapon has different uses, just like each weapon in *Turn Back is the Shore* has different weapon skills."

"The combat systems beyond that can be regarded as official cheats, or ways to reduce difficulty and make it easier to complete the game."

"Actually, cheating is very simple. It's nothing more than magic, ranged attacks, and game mechanics with powerful effects such as resurrection and temporary invincibility."

"And the packaging of these elements, combined with the Chinese cultural background, can be made into different systems such as Daoist arts, Buddhist teachings, Confucian techniques, and military tactics."

"Daoist arts, the keywords are alchemy, talismans, channeling, and formations."

"Buddhist teachings, the keywords are body refinement, mind cultivation, precepts, and deliverance."

"Confucian techniques, the keywords are investigating things to gain knowledge, and self-discipline."

"Military tactics, the keywords are bows and arrows, formations, and efficient use of various weapons and armor."

"These four systems must be differentiated, each with its own characteristics, and players cannot focus on all of them. They must choose the appropriate system to match their weapons and play style."

"These four systems actually assist and enhance the character's strength, but the focus is different."

"Daoist arts, alchemy can provide buffs to the character, with excellent effects, but they have a limited duration and consume materials. Talismans can buff yourself, or restrict monsters and enemies. Channeling can summon ghosts and monsters, while formations gain specific effects within a certain range through the advance arrangement of talismans."

"Daoist arts are more suitable for players who like to prepare thoroughly before battle, seeking maximum enhancement."

"Buddhist teachings emphasize the cultivation of the character itself. Body refinement can increase attack power and damage reduction. The effects are more lasting, and they don't consume materials, but the stats are not as high as Daoist arts. Buddhist teachings may also have extra damage bonuses when attacking specific monster enemies."

"Buddhist teachings should be more suitable for lazy players, providing a permanent bonus effect, without the need for complicated pre-battle preparations, and without worrying about running out of materials halfway through the battle."

"Confucian techniques. By investigating things to gain knowledge, you can see through the boss's weaknesses and strengthen your attacks to target the boss's weaknesses. It won't improve the player's defense in any way, but for no-damage players, it's the best choice for quickly killing the boss."

"Confucian techniques are more suitable for expert players, because Daoist arts, Buddhist teachings, and military tactics all have certain means to enhance their own defense and survivability, but Confucian techniques don't. With expert players' exquisite operations, Confucian techniques can achieve the targeted speed kill of the boss more quickly."

"Military tactics allow players to better improve the lethality of bows and arrows, the defense of armor, and also improve the group bonus effects when joining online or summoning NPCs. It is also a permanent buff and has good versatility."

"Military tactics are more suitable for novice players. Although they also consume materials and require pre-battle preparation, the usage is relatively simple, the effect is especially significant in the early stages, and it also has good improvements in the later stages for some niche gameplay, such as the archery style."

"Players can freely choose from the four systems according to their preferences."

"However, there must be restrictions on point allocation, like allocating talent points. For example, a certain system must have 100 points to unlock the ultimate talent, while players can only obtain about 220 points in total."

"You can choose to unlock ultimate talents in two systems, or you can choose to abandon one of the ultimate talents and use the points on the middle-tier skills of other systems, or even allocate points evenly to all four systems without using the ultimate talents."

"There is no standard answer to point allocation; the key is to match your equipment and play style."

Yan Qi looked at the prototype of the core combat system he designed and nodded with satisfaction.

It felt quite interesting, at least it was very different from *Turn Back is the Shore*!