Chapter 151 demo

At the end of my second year of graduate school, I felt like I was playing a dual-threaded hellish game called "Graduation and Game Development". My teammates and I (mainly me and my hardcore gamer) were all frantically brushing the progress bar.

Graduation thesis? Finally finished it, and the plagiarism rate was touchingly low. My supervisor exclaimed after seeing it, "You are a teachable person" (his original words were "Well, it's okay this time, no major problems").

On the other hand, after the team members pulled out countless hairs and consumed tons of caffeine, the project of "The Dead Bell Scorched Moment" finally turned from a "cake" into a "bun" that can actually be chewed, and now has a preliminary playable demo version!

Looking at the protagonist in the game who originally only existed in my mind and didn't even have a portrait, now being able to run, jump, and chat with NPCs using the AI ​​plug-in I wrote (although it would occasionally get stuck with bugs and become a weird scene), the sense of relief I get from being an old father is simply amazing!

During a project progress meeting that was (not so) serious, I nibbled on a small, loving cake sent by Lin Yan (as a bribe to the entire team) and proposed a major resolution: "Comrades! It's time to let our child go out and see the world! Let's release a promotional video!"

The bottom instantly frys:

Programmer A (with dark circles under his eyes): "Post it! I have to post it! Let the whole world see why my increasingly thinning hair is the reason!"

Artist B (waving a digital pen): "Wait! Give me another day! I can refine the protagonist's hair even more!"

Copywriter C (holding a pile of setting collections): "Copywriting! I'll revise the copywriting again! It must reflect our grand worldview and profound connotations!"

(Actually, I ended up saying, 'Come and play! It's so fun!')"

The resolution was finally passed! The newly formed Propaganda Department (actually, it consisted of only three people, one of whom was borrowed from the Programming Department) immediately threw themselves into the fight like crazy.

During that time, strange noises kept coming from the corner of the publicity department: "This shot! Editor! Give me a cool transition! I want those 'duangduang' special effects!"

"Dubbing teacher! Make this part more emotional! Show the hope and struggle in the apocalypse!" (Dubbing teacher: Huh? Oh, just shout harder?)

"BGM! Where's the BGM? It has to be exciting! It has to be tragic! It has to give people goosebumps!"

After some "intense" creation, at the end of June, on a sunny day (but we didn't see it at all because we were indoors), the first concept promotional PV and actual gameplay demo of "The Moment of the Dead Bell" were tremblingly uploaded to the official account like new soldiers waiting to be inspected.

On the eve of the release, Lin Yan, I, and a few core members, like a group of internet-addicted teenagers waiting for the midnight rush to buy, stared intently at the computer screens and frantically pressed F5 to refresh the screen.

The tense atmosphere was comparable to checking college entrance exam scores. Programmer A even pulled out an electronic wooden fish he'd gotten from who knows where and started banging it, "Merit +1, Merit +1," claiming he was praying for the server.

Artist B clasped her hands together and muttered, "I'm willing to trade ten kilograms of my body weight for over ten thousand views..."

I was so nervous that my palms were sweating. I said to Lin Yan, "What should I do? What if no one watches it? What if it's called a rubbish game?"

Lin Yan was very calm. He hugged me and said, "What are you afraid of? At worst, I can hire some netizens to give you good reviews."

(Me: “…General Lin”)

The video was finally released! The group was silent for three seconds.

Then I was instantly flooded with emoticons of "It's sent!" "Go for it!!!" and "Buddha bless you! God bless you! Ultraman bless you!"

What follows is a wait that feels like an eternity.

Every ten seconds, someone reports the number:

“100 plays!”

"It's 500! There are comments! The first comment is 'No. 1!'"

"Over a thousand!!"

"Look at the comments section! Someone's praising our art! Aaaaaah!"

The data is growing faster and faster, like a rocket. The comment section has become a sea of ​​joy:

“Holy crap! This art style! This UI! I love it! Three in a row!” (UI designer throws keyboard in excitement)

“AI interaction? Sounds awesome! I hope it’s not just a gimmick!” (Me: Quickly write this down for future optimization!)

"The protagonist's tiny waist! That butt! Hahaha!" (Artist B: ??? I focused on the face!)

"When's it going live? Money's not a problem! My wallet's dying!" (Operations colleague: Quick! Take note! This is a potential big spender!)

"The production team, hurry up and release more content! Even the donkeys in the production team wouldn't dare take a break like this!" (Everyone looked at their dark circles under their eyes: ...We can't take a break anymore!)

In just a few days, the number of views broke through the one million mark like a wild horse running away from its reins!

Related topics even climbed to the bottom of the gaming community's hot search list! (Although the rankings fluctuate, our game has been on the hot search list!)

The office went completely crazy!

I don't know who blew a broken whistle first, and then the whole floor erupted in deafening cheers!

Programmer A threw the wooden fish-beating phone into the air (and almost didn't catch it)!

The art girl B started jumping around while holding the copywriter C next to her!

The operations guy excitedly started planning a raffle to give away game keys (but was ruthlessly suppressed by the finance lady: "Budget! Budget, big brother!")

I stared blankly at the numbers still jumping on the screen. My eyes felt a little sore, but the corners of my mouth couldn't help but rise wildly.

Lin Yan picked me up and spun me around, then shouted in my ear, "Honey! We did it! Awesome!"

I hugged his neck and babbled excitedly: "Yeah! Awesome! Everyone is awesome!"

Although we know that this is just the beginning and there are still countless tough battles to be fought in optimization, testing, and promotion, this sudden and huge success is like a shot of super powerful adrenaline, which makes all of us feel energetic and rosy-cheeked (although the dark circles are still there)!

Our "baby" is not only seen, but also liked and anticipated by so many people!