Chapter 233: Development Complete
VR games greatly expanded players' field of vision. When facing a sea of monsters, the first-person perspective in VR still allowed for a clear judgment of the monsters' positions and distances.
Various area-of-effect damage skills were released through mental commands rather than keyboard and mouse, which minimized errors to the greatest extent.
While the VR format greatly enhanced immersion, Yan Zhenyuan also adjusted some content from "Diablo" that wasn't well-suited for VR games, such as:
Slightly reducing the occult and cult-like atmosphere, designing monsters to avoid being too disgusting, and minimizing player discomfort.
In terms of level terrain construction and monster spawning, ensuring as much as possible that players wouldn't be attacked from front and back simultaneously, reducing the need to constantly look left and right to prevent player fatigue.
Appropriately reducing monster movement speed to make it much easier for players to "kite" monsters.
In short, the game "Thousand Hells" adjusted its difficulty in the early stages, allowing players to easily experience the thrill of "grinding and looting" without being overwhelmed or making themselves sick from the chaos.
Additionally, the game borrowed some successful elements from "Diablo," such as the skill system, equipment system, and endgame content.
It was easy to imagine that in the later stages of the game, the core fun would also revolve around building unique builds and grinding monsters for loot drops.
As a VR game, "Thousand Hells" had a relatively small resource footprint. The art assets for different layers of hell could be reused, and the maps were randomly generated, eliminating the need to store many complex levels.
At the same time, as a grinding and looting game, its story content and various derivative gameplay were relatively sparse compared to large MMORPGs, so the investment wasn't as massive.
(This felt a bit like "Diablo 1.")
Therefore, Chen Mo judged that the internal team at Dizhao Interactive Entertainment should be very satisfied with this game. Yan Zhenyuan had successfully completed the task Lin Chaoxu had given him.
Next up would be an overwhelming wave of promotion and marketing to build hype for "Thousand Hells," aiming to make it another flagship product for Dizhao Interactive Entertainment.
But Chen Mo was very clear: no matter how well "Thousand Hells" was made, it would always have one insurmountable flaw—the player count.
Grinding and looting in a VR game sounded great, but the VR platform's player base was inherently smaller than the PC platform's. Moreover, players who enjoyed this dark, gloomy style would definitely be a minority.
So, "Thousand Hells" would definitely make money, but it was impossible for it to become a massive hit.
Of course, Dizhao Interactive Entertainment hadn't expected this game to rake in huge profits anyway. VR games required massive investment. After a year of development, by the time it launched, as long as the revenue exceeded twice the cost, that would already be considered a very good profit.
If Chen Mo were developing any other VR game, he really couldn't be sure he'd win. After all, he had never made a VR game before, wasn't proficient in all aspects, and would inevitably step on some landmines. It was purely a matter of accumulating experience.
But, "Minecraft"?
Chen Mo was confident that the VR version of "Minecraft" he was developing would absolutely shock the entire gaming industry.
...
A week after the first test of "Thousand Hells," "Minecraft" was officially completed.
This version of "Minecraft" was the true VR version, the complete form. It not only encompassed the classic gameplay from the PC version in its previous life but also made many modifications tailored to the VR platform, with significant improvements across the board.
While retaining the pixel art style, the overall art quality was fully upgraded.
Perfectly adapted for the VR platform.
The four game modes, the building trading system, and the brand-new tech tree—all these special features were also fully implemented.
The studio was filled with celebration.
At the beginning, many people had doubts about this game, but after seeing the finished product, everyone was full of praise.
Especially after experiencing it in the game pod, everyone was shocked by how perfectly this game fit the VR platform!
Although many still had some doubts about whether this game could beat "Thousand Hells," there was one point that was basically everyone's consensus: this game would definitely make money.
As for how much, that was hard to say. It depended on many factors, such as promotion, player feedback, and... luck.
Chen Mo said, "Everyone has worked hard. For the next period, just focus on finishing up the follow-up work. Yunting, go through 'Plants vs. Zombies,' 'Warcraft,' and 'Don't Starve' and screen out a batch of seed players. They must be players with very strong creativity, like those who have made various popular mods. Make them our first users."
"Currently, the experience store doesn't have VR game pods, so we won't put the PC version of 'Minecraft' in the store for now. If players want to play, they can download the test version of 'Minecraft' on their home VR game pods."
Zhao Yunting nodded. "Okay, no problem."
Chen Mo continued, "Everyone, keep an eye on how these seed players react to the game. Compile the player feedback and give it to me. For any parts that are truly unreasonable, we'll need to make some more adjustments. Those with nothing else to do, help me build houses in the game."
"Don't slack off in this final stage. Stand firm at your posts until the end."
"Also, Lin Xiao, notify all the major gaming media outlets. I'm going to hold a new game press conference."
Lin Xiao quickly nodded. "Okay. Do I need to prepare the PPT for the press conference?"
Chen Mo said, "No need. I'll prepare it myself. You arrange the venue for the press conference. Find a nearby five-star hotel. Make it as grand as possible. This is our first VR game, so it has to be formal."
Lin Xiao nodded. "Okay, no problem!"
...
Both "Minecraft" and "Thousand Hells" had entered their final modification stages.
"Thousand Hells'" promotional campaign was also in full swing, truly overwhelming.
On various video sites, gaming websites, major forums, and the built-in ad slots of VR game pods... promotional materials for "Thousand Hells" could be seen everywhere.
Many gaming media outlets also published promotional articles immediately.
"Groundbreaking VR Masterpiece 'Thousand Hells' Set to Launch!"
"Dizhao Interactive Entertainment's Latest Masterpiece: A Stunning World of Immortals and Demons!"
"Latest Concept Art for 'Thousand Hells' Shocks the World!"
"Analysis of 'Thousand Hells'' Unique Skill System"
"A VR Game That's Extremely Satisfying to Play"
"Revealing the Classes of 'Thousand Hells,' Inspired by the Six Paths of Reincarnation"
In fact, even earlier, the general public had already gotten wind, more or less, that Dizhao Interactive Entertainment was developing a VR game similar to "Diablo."
Moreover, some players had already participated in the test and experienced "Thousand Hells," including the gameplay, class settings, and player feedback, all of which had already spread online.
Most players who had played "Thousand Hells" were full of praise for it. It was a highly polished VR game with no obvious flaws in any aspect. As the first grinding and looting game on the VR platform, it filled a market gap to a certain extent.
Many players were eagerly awaiting the official launch of "Thousand Hells."