Chapter 808: Stir-Frying Leftovers with an Excavator
After finishing the design concept draft, it was time for the usual meeting session.
Most of the people present had already guessed roughly what was coming. Chen Mo had put so much effort into promoting the Matrix Glasses, so he would naturally continue developing better MR games for it. The only question was, what exactly constituted a "better MR game"?
Previously, many people's understanding of MR games was mainly focused on the aspect of "visual representation blending reality and virtuality." They were all guessing whether it would be an MR version of *PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds* or a building-and-battle type game.
However, Su Jinyu and Qian Kun had long dismissed such guesses. After all, those games weren't groundbreaking enough, and other designers could make them too. Chen Mo definitely wouldn't bother doing them himself.
After seeing the design concept draft for *Pokémon World*, everyone was stunned for a moment, then quickly realized the differences between this game and previous MR games.
"A game that requires players to walk around?"
"A game where you search for Pokémon in various real-world locations? After catching them, you can use them to battle?"
"That's pretty interesting. So it's a game about catching pets in the real world?"
"And there's a Gym setting! How are these Gyms determined?"
"Can our experience store be a Gym? It must be, right? It should be the biggest Gym, right?"
"If that's the case, shouldn't the area around the experience store be swarming with the most powerful Pokémon? After all, this should be considered the 'center of the world'!"
"We're using all of our IPs so far? The store owner is really going all out. This leftover rice stir-fry..."
"This is... like stir-frying leftover rice with an excavator!"
"What's wrong with stir-frying leftovers? I think players will love this kind of stir-fry. They'll definitely say, 'Mm, it smells good!'"
"But what are the specific settings? Most players are students or office workers who don't have that much time to run around everywhere. If a Pokémon only spawns in a certain city, does that mean I have to fly there to catch it?"
After seeing the design concept draft, everyone was quite excited. After all, this was a game genre that had never appeared before.
The gameplay was very novel. Although it was a bit risky, it was clearly worth a try. Most importantly, this game would string together all the IPs from Thunder Entertainment's previous games. For fans of Thunder games, even if it was stir-fried leftovers, it was a stir-fry bursting with sincerity.
Many people would probably involuntarily reminisce about the past when they saw game elements like *Plants vs. Zombies*, *Warcraft*, and *Diablo*, right?
In those imaginative game worlds, all those cool creatures were crossing over into reality. Everyone had a chance to find them, catch them, then fight side by side, competing for real-world dojos and battling players from the same city... Just thinking about it was thrilling!
Chen Mo lightly tapped the table. "Everyone, calm down first. Although this game looks simple, there are actually some troublesome aspects. One is the visual representation, another is the detailed rules, and finally, the battle system and numerical balance for the numerous Pokémon."
"In terms of visual representation, we need to provide players with cool battle scenes as much as possible. Different types of Pokémon should have special skills, unique attack animations, and visual effects. At the same time, the fights between Pokémon need to be dynamic; they can't just stand stupidly in place and throw skills at each other. For the fights, we need to develop a special algorithm for real-time calculations. Ideally, the fight animations should be different every time."
"Some flying Pokémon should even leverage their advantages, spending most of their time circling and attacking from the air. During battles, we also need to capture the surrounding obstacles so that the Pokémon can avoid them during fights, making the whole scene more realistic."
"As for the detailed rules, we also need to make many restrictive regulations based on current big data."
"For example, the vast majority of players definitely won't have the energy to travel the world catching pets. Their activity range will be concentrated in a single city. We need to consider making sure that each city or region has a relatively complete set of Pokémon. Otherwise, it would be really frustrating for players in some cities to never be able to catch certain powerful Pokémon in their lifetime."
"However, we should also give some special areas a certain rare spawn rate. For example, certain rare Pokémon should only spawn in crowded areas like squares or shopping malls. This encourages players to gather and generate social interactions offline through *Pokémon World*."
"We could even consider placing different Pokémon in different climate zones. For example, the northern region might have unique Charmanders, while the southern region has unique Squirtles. This way, when many people travel or go on business trips, they can conveniently catch the local special Pokémon as a kind of souvenir. Of course, these special Pokémon can't be too strong; they should be more for commemorative purposes. We need to maintain a good balance."
"Also, regarding the design of activity points, Pokémon spawn points, and dojos, they must be planned based on the global map and cannot be random. However, the good news is that we can set parameters to let the AI handle the main work. Dojos should be placed at some distinctive landmark buildings, located in populated areas. At the same time, the dojos in denser areas should be stronger and offer better rewards. Dojos should also be divided into levels. For example, in the capital, the dojo at Thunder Entertainment's new headquarters should be the strongest dojo in the world, only claimable by the top players in terms of combat power."
"Another thing is to ensure player safety and not disrupt normal social activities. Don't place any Pokémon or item points in places like police stations or hospitals. Don't randomly spawn Pokémon on main roads either. Always ensure that players operate within the scope we allow. I don't want to end up making a big news story that gets *Pokémon World* banned."
Chen Mo paused, then continued, "Finally, there's the battle system and numerical balance between Pokémon. Qian Kun, you'll be in charge of this. In short, there are a few principles:"
"First, the classification of Pokémon. By type, they can be divided into: small animals, beasts, dragons, elements, flying, undead, mechanical, and so on. By ability, they can be divided into: fire, water, ice, electric, poison, rock, psychic, and so on. There should be mutual counter relationships between different Pokémon. Each Pokémon will have unique skills and battle methods."
"Second, the Pokémon training system. Pokémon can be trained to evolve and improve. For example, a rare Black Dragon Whelp might eventually evolve into Deathwing, or a Magikarp might evolve into a Gyarados. Some Pokémon are very weak initially but become extremely strong after evolution."
"Also, I've assigned all Pokémon to their respective IPs. The main content of *Pokémon World* will be based on *Pokémon* and *Azeroth*, followed by other IP content. The combat power of Pokémon also needs to be considered. Ideally, it should be balanced across all games, without bias. The top-tier Pokémon should definitely come from different games."
Qian Kun looked completely dumbfounded. "Store owner, this is way too complicated, isn't it?"
Chen Mo smiled slightly. "It's fine. I believe in you."