Chapter 135: The Announcement
"Oh wow, there's even a tutorial for this thing?"
"Holy crap, it's so detailed!"
"According to this, it seems like we can make these four maps ourselves? Anyone can make them?"
"Whoa, that's just like Plants vs. Zombies! But it's way more feature-rich than Plants vs. Zombies—you can freely mix hero skills, create items, and design levels!"
"This is insane! It's basically like a Warcraft version of a game editor?"
"Yeah, even the designer's editor requires designer permissions, but this editor doesn't need any permissions at all. And it's super simple—as long as it's based on Warcraft's mechanics, you can make all kinds of fun game types!"
"I can't hold back anymore—I'm going to try it right now!"
"In Plants vs. Zombies, a lot of people made new modes, and the ones with high ratings were really fun. I'm looking forward to the pros using their brains to make maps like this in Warcraft!"
"I heard that in Plants vs. Zombies, there was a master player who was so good that Chen Mo recruited him as an assistant."
"Really?"
"I don't know, just heard it."
"Damn, I want to work at Thunderbolt Interactive too! The bonuses must be huge!"
...
After playing through these RPG maps, the players' interest was completely sparked. Whether they had talent or not, everyone went to learn how to use the World Editor and tried to make their own maps.
Of course, among them, the number of players who could actually produce a finished map was probably less than one percent, let alone a high-quality one. A truly excellent map required the author to have some knowledge of game design, inspiration, and the ability to gather player feedback and opinions, then revise and optimize day after day. The difficulty was no less than developing a simple game.
But it was enough that most players' enthusiasm was ignited. Chen Mo's goal was achieved.
Moreover, as RPG maps grew increasingly popular, Warcraft's sales saw a noticeable uptick.
Many players brought their friends in to play. These new players weren't interested in the traditional RTS combat mode, but with the addition of RPG maps, Warcraft became a way for friends to play together online, which in turn boosted sales.
Soon, just like Plants vs. Zombies back then, Warcraft began to see a flood of various RPG maps. Although these maps seemed very simple and primitive to Chen Mo, it was at least a good start.
Once players' enthusiasm was unleashed, their growth rate was fast.
Never doubt what players can do when given enough autonomy.
...
With that, Chen Mo's development of Warcraft came to a close.
For the players, the game was still in a booming phase.
The competitive mode was heating up.
Wave after wave of top players emerged in the ranked matches.
More and more players from other countries around the world were embracing Warcraft.
RPG maps attracted a large number of non-core RTS players, and many people were creating brand-new RPG maps on their own.
But for Chen Mo, the development process of this game was pretty much done. He had done everything he could, guiding the players onto the right track. Now it was time for them to fully enjoy the game.
RTS games, at this stage, would begin to slowly decline. That was an inevitable law, and Chen Mo couldn't reverse it.
From the start of developing Warcraft to now—through the game's launch, dominating the ladder, developing the overseas version, and creating RPG maps—Chen Mo had been working almost nonstop. He was a bit tired and planned to take a short break.
At this point, Thunderbolt Interactive, relying on Warcraft as a high-quality game and using the RTS field as a breakthrough, had successfully made a brilliant leap from mobile games to PC client games.
Of course, that didn't mean mobile game development was over. What game to develop next depended entirely on Chen Mo's own ideas.
What's the next step? Chen Mo hadn't quite figured it out yet.
...
Early one morning, Chen Mo received a call. It was Lin Mao.
"Hello?" Chen Mo was still half-asleep.
Lin Mao's voice came through the phone: "Hey, Chen Mo, I just made a little game using Warcraft's editor. Give me a recommendation in the game, will you?"
Chen Mo chuckled: "What the hell? You're playing Warcraft too?"
Lin Mao said, "Yeah. Well, I'm not really an RTS player. I bought Warcraft and just went through the story, then left it sitting there. But after your new update, I found the map editor pretty fun—I hadn't noticed it before. So I made a map to practice."
Chen Mo said, "I've been really busy lately, haven't had time to reach out to you guys."
Lin Mao: "Hey, don't be so formal. You're busy making such a big, high-quality game. Speaking of which, this game of yours is really amazing—it's even selling overseas. You're doing us domestic designers proud."
Chen Mo: "Ah, it's nothing. By the way, I haven't heard from Zhao Zihao in a while. What's he been up to?"
Lin Mao said, "Oh, he seems to have gone abroad for some personal stuff. I didn't ask what exactly. Rich second-generation, you know—goes out to have fun every now and then, it's normal. Speaking of which, we haven't seen each other in a while. How about we grab a meal sometime?"
Chen Mo sat up in bed: "Why wait? How about tonight? I don't have much going on lately anyway."
Lin Mao said, "Alright, tonight it is. I'll look into where to eat, you do the same. We'll decide later. Oh, by the way, have you seen the announcement on the editor?"
Chen Mo was a bit confused: "Announcement? What announcement? I haven't logged into the editor in days."
Lin Mao was a little speechless: "...Don't ignore something this important. I was actually going to talk to you about it. Anyway, go check it out yourself, and we'll discuss it in detail when we meet."
After hanging up, Chen Mo was still puzzled. What the hell? An announcement?
He got up, brushed his teeth, and washed his face, then opened the designer's editor. As soon as he logged in, he saw a prominent announcement on the homepage.
Chen Mo was a bit stunned, because he had never seen anything like this on the editor before.
The Huanshi Editor was a domestically developed tool. As an editor capable of creating VR games, many of its technologies were related to VR.
Clearly, the background of this editor was no simple matter. It was the only editor of its kind in the country, and it obviously couldn't have been made by an ordinary company—it had state support behind it.
It was precisely because countries placed great importance on VR technology that they invested heavily in developing game editors capable of building VR worlds, for designers to use free of charge.
The Huanshi Editor and the official app market were intricately linked to relevant state departments. Otherwise, it would have been impossible to build such a vast and complete system, allowing designers to freely start companies, start from the ground up, get green lights all the way, and grow step by step.
Chen Mo was also curious. What exactly was this announcement about?