They originally intended to call Chief Engineer Ming, who was in the small dark room, but unexpectedly discovered that Ming Yan had just left.
The secretary smiled and said, "The boss is probably in another small, dark room."
The two men: "..." No way! Boss! How many dark rooms do you have?! Is it really necessary?? Are you going to lock us up in one room for a while, then release us and put us in another one for a while?
He's a master; I can't learn from him.
Yes, the other "little dark room" that Mingyan mentioned is, of course, the little dark room of the Dragon Slayer Sword Studio.
He had finished the final work on "Dragon Hunter" and thought he could finally take a break, until the Blue Star Carnival arrived...
Unfortunately, the large map for the new game "Iron Horse and Ice River" has been completed.
The size of this map is perhaps comparable to the vast world of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes," reaching a full ten million square kilometers.
Mingyan said he was there to check on the results of the past few days. It is said that half of his original design has been realized, and the studio has even conducted demo tests.
What about your partner?
Of course, it was Mingyan himself who completely changed it beyond recognition. After all, the process of making a game can never be completely carried out according to the original plan.
Mingyan doesn't come to the Dragon Slayer Studio very often. His work in the overall development, apart from being the initial guiding light, is more about controlling the direction of the game's development, so that it doesn't gradually deviate from the original intention and go too far astray.
To put it another way: a pillar of strength that can stabilize the world.
As mentioned earlier, a large portion of the maps and NPC extras in this era are generated by artificial intelligence.
Therefore, a map can be very expandable, allowing for the addition of new maps at any time, while providing players with additional game sections.
So why does "Iron Horse and Ice River" have such a large map, and still feel it's not enough?
Because this game aims to get players into endless wars over land.
In Mingyan's design draft, the protagonist of the game "Iron Horse and Ice River" is no longer a single player, but a city, or rather, the territory that a city can govern.
Players exist as the lords of a city. When a player creates an account, it is equivalent to building a city. They will receive their own territory on the initial large map—approximately 10,000 square kilometers, enough to accommodate infrastructure.
The so-called infrastructure includes:
The City Lord's Mansion is mainly used to record player data, store the treasures collected by players, and house female NPCs.
The City Hall, also known as the command center, is the most important building used to contact generals and NPCs, hold banquets, meet with envoys, and direct various affairs in the city. Other buildings require the City Hall to reach a certain level before they can be upgraded, and to manage larger tracts of land and expand the entire city.
Residential buildings are used to increase the city's population cap, and at the same time, they can pay a certain amount of tax per unit of time.
Quarries, logging sites, coal mines... are all used to collect basic resources.
Steel mills, blacksmith shops, tailor shops... these are all used to produce basic equipment, which is required for players to recruit corresponding troop types.
The barracks are used to research new units and equipment, and to recruit units that have already been researched using gold and resources.
Taverns are used to recruit generals who are heroes, and can also increase the happiness of residents.
In addition, there are other more unique buildings, such as large markets that generate additional tax revenue, ornamental buildings that increase resident satisfaction and attract more people, landmark buildings that can increase trade tax revenue and attract special people, and so on...
Once all these core designs are implemented, most people will have a general understanding of how the game works.
Yes, the core experience of the game consists of two parts:
The first part is about the player, as the lord of a city, constantly acquiring resources, developing city facilities, and strengthening their military power;
The second part, of course, is the process of players leading their armies to conquer, forming alliances with other players, attacking each other, and continuing to expand their own territory.
Both of these processes can simulate, to a considerable extent, the behavior of a high-level figure in managing, annexing, confronting, and cooperating, ensuring that while providing the novelty of a new background, they can also give their core players an extra sense of enjoyment.
Honestly, what man can resist the sense of accomplishment from conquering battlefields and establishing territories?
Even Xia Cheng was quite curious about this game.
So when Mingyan went to see the latest map of "Iron Horse and Ice River", he also went to visit the Dragon Slayer Sword Studio – as a "family member of the chief designer", and even wore a mask.
Because the Dragon Slayer Sword workshop is rarely open to the public, their offices appear more secluded.
Despite its closed-off nature, the interior remains a hidden gem, perfectly organized and well-maintained.
The responsibilities of each work area are clearly indicated by the signs above, and each area has its own infrastructure and meeting space.
On the gleaming floor, you can often see chibi-style characters from "Idle Heroes," while the walls on both sides are covered with the latest concept art and early posters for "Iron Horse and Ice River."
Compared to the simple, grand, and bright office decor, the fact that the staff have their own little space adds a touch of brightness.
Several clumps of orchids were hanging overhead, and a playful trail of greenery slid down from them.
A designer named Yu Bing, who was in charge of receiving Xia Cheng, knew that he was an important person, so he smiled and arranged for him to go to the conference room to listen to the deputy chief engineer speak.
The meeting room is now set up as a lecture hall, with a design draft by Chief Engineer Ming displayed on the projector at the front.
Many people below were listening quietly, taking notes.
Xia Cheng silently immersed himself in the conversation and listened along.
The deputy chief designer finished reading a prepared speech, then turned the page and introduced, "The concept of the new map is different from before. It's not about us meticulously designing the game's storyline, content, and dungeon experience, but rather leaving it to the players to create—to create their activities, history, and even their kingdoms."
He then showed a map.
Unlike the large finished map that Xia Cheng had seen before, this map was very small, with only five cities of varying sizes on it, and the middle of it looked riddled with holes, leaving behind several ruins.
"This is a demo map left over from our studio's internal testing. The final winner was the 'Coffee Alliance.' We can clearly see from the map that of the original eight cities, three were directly destroyed by the army, all using fire. Of the remaining five, one surrendered immediately, and one was abandoned, with all its residents and resources moved to the 'Coffee Alliance's' capital, 'Milk Tea Companion'..."