OBS Chapter 4753 The Changes in the Battle Realm (Part 2)
Chapter 4753 The Changes in the Battle Realm (Part 2)
Chapter 4753 The Changes in the Battle Realm (Part 2)
When he explained his idea, Lucifer and Eternity were the first to frown. Both of them were universe administrators, essentially programmers. Their first thought was whether it was even feasible. After all, this was essentially granting players the power of creation, even in a virtual universe, it would still be difficult to implement.
“I’m afraid it will require the big bosses on both sides to intervene,” Lucifer said. “I’m not sure if they would be willing to grant such authority to players in the multiverse, even if it’s just in an independent virtual universe unrelated to the outside world. I’m not even sure if they can do it.”
“That is indeed a problem,” Schiller said. “You go ask first, and we’ll continue to discuss it. If it works out, we’d like to bring it up next season if possible; the players’ patience is running out.”
"It'll be available next season?" Irving said with a headache. "If it's really like you said, and we're going to completely transform into a gaming platform, with players developing, designing, and releasing their own games, then there will be a lot of changes to make. We only have a week left, I'm afraid it won't be enough time."
"No, we won't completely transform yet. We'll just change the season's gameplay to this and test it out. If the feedback is good, then we can make the full transformation later."
“That’s a good idea,” Walter said. “We can start with commissioned projects and limit the size of the episodes, like making a pilot episode for an animation. If the response is good, we can expand the scale.”
“I think it will be very popular.” Spider-Man also stood up. He was the Amazing Spider-Man from Old Earth 616, the merged Earth, recruited by Schiller to the Battleworld design team. Gwen Stacy was also recruited at the same time, for a simple reason: both of them were video game enthusiasts and very young, which could represent the tastes of young superheroes.
“I know what you’re up to,” Gwen said, sipping a straw. “You just want to make piss—or piss—, right? These platforms are doing pretty well, and the games on them are really fun. You guys can definitely do it.”
Schiller didn't censor her; the censorship was her own pronunciation. However, Schiller knew what she was saying. Game consoles are more popular in Europe and America, and there are only two truly popular consoles; Gwen was probably referring to their game store.
Although Schiller has no intention of selling consoles, since they have advanced to the point where they don't need to use hardware, the software ecosystem of game console manufacturers is still worth learning from.
For example, if you're making a console, you need to have exclusives, specifically first-party exclusives that can't be played on other platforms. This will encourage people to buy your console. It also shows your sincerity to players; you could offer free games to members through memberships to cater to casual gamers.
At the same time, you need to ensure a steady stream of game developers are willing to upload their games to your platform; a lack of such developers will definitely not work. Ideally, you should also have an active community, as well as systems that incentivize players to play, such as collections and achievements.
These are all easy to do, and the Battle Realm is basically a monopoly now, so there's not much to worry about in terms of competition. Nevertheless, Schiller still wants to do his best, because he can be a shrewd businessman, but he can't be a quack. The original purpose of establishing the Battle Realm was for the common progress of the multiverse, a goal worth his utmost effort to achieve.
“Let me create a front-end first,” Walter, as the art director, suggested. “Let’s start by making a style for the event page, and then add various functions to it. As for the theme… how about calling it ‘Co-creation’?”
Everyone agreed with the name, and Spider-Man volunteered, saying, "Gwen and I will make a few icons for the dungeons we want to create first, and you can put them up and see how they look."
“Then I’ll take charge of the economic system,” Schiller said. “We’ll definitely take a cut, but not too much. The issuance and withdrawal of money need to be balanced. If we’re going to do a complete overhaul, the economic system will have to be rebuilt.”
“Then I’ll do a survey,” Irving said. “I’ll start with our side, then go next door and ask them what they think of this model.”
Everyone was focused on their tasks, working diligently. The office quieted down; some were drawing, others were doing accounting. Walter was still using hand-drawn methods, and it must be said, his hand-drawing skills were truly impressive. The game had received all sorts of negative reviews, but the UI for each season had never received a bad review—each one was beautiful and perfectly matched the theme, all thanks to Walter, this veteran artist who insisted on hand-crafting.
The Amazing Spider-Man and Gwen Stacy were discussing in hushed tones. Having played many games, they knew how to draw game interfaces and icons. Gwen Stacy also had good comic book skills, and they planned to start by creating a comic book-themed platformer.
Schiller's calculations were relatively straightforward. After all, Battle Realm points weren't real-world currency; hoarding them wasn't linked to real-world assets, and at most, they could only be used within the Battle Realm. Schiller couldn't interfere if they used points to buy real-world assets from others. To him, buying a few planets from someone else wasn't a major transaction, so there wasn't a serious balance issue.
A short while later, Lucifer returned with good news: "My dad said it can be done. Although the OAA was a bit stingy and gave us fewer threads, it still passed. However, I still suggest you conduct small-scale trials first. I feel that if this operating system falls into their hands, it will cause chaos and destruction."
"Why? Is the developed system difficult to use?"
“It’s not a matter of whether it’s difficult to use or not, but rather that carbon-based life forms are inherently incapable of understanding these things.” Lucifer had a headache; he didn’t even know how to describe it. “Except for a very small number of geniuses, others can’t even properly observe the universe. It’s like an ordinary person without professional training who can’t understand program code at all, let alone operate it. The structure of the universe is hundreds of thousands of times more complex than code, and the creation system is hundreds of thousands of times more complex than the structure of the universe. If you’re born without it, then you’re basically unlikely to learn it.”
“Isn’t there a way to simplify it?” Schiller asked.
"That's the problem. I'm not the creator, how could I possibly touch the underlying code? If I did, I'd be the one getting all sorts of errors. There's not much room for improvement in this thing; it's just not a mass production tool."
“We didn’t originally intend for everyone to make games,” Schiller said. “That would have resulted in a lot of bad games. If it’s difficult to operate, it will actually filter out the bad ones, and those that stand out will at least have a minimum standard, right?”
"So who can operate this system?" Spider-Man asked. "Can I?"
"If you're talking about using it like an extension of your own arm, then no one can do it, not even me, otherwise this program wouldn't be throwing errors every day. But if you're just using the basic functions to build a place like an amusement park, then many people can actually do that. You can definitely do it too, you just need to learn."
"For example?"
"Batman and Iron Man are both fine, but I won't mention Mister Fantastic and Doctor Doom. There are also beings with different statuses and life forms, such as Doctor Manhattan. Apart from these super geniuses, it depends on whether they are willing to learn."
"Can it really be learned?" Walter asked with some curiosity.
“It’s possible, but it’s too complicated and too hypnotic,” Lucifer said, shaking his head. “When I taught at the magic academy before, very few people were willing to listen.”
“After all, they wouldn’t need it at that time,” Schiller said. “Passion is the best teacher. If they could make money from it, or if it could help them achieve some more practical needs, they would definitely be willing to learn it.”
“I hope so,” Lucifer said. “I’ll send you the system package later. Spider-Man, can you test it for me? If you don’t understand anything, just ask me.”
After saying that, Lucifer hurriedly left. The Amazing Spider-Man, watching his retreating figure, asked, "Why is he leaving in such a hurry?"
Spider-Man didn't know, but Schiller did; Lucifer had definitely gone to see Anatoly. They'd been busy dredging up old grievances these past few days, but getting the system package was already a pleasant surprise. Let him do whatever he wants.
They got back to work. Schiller was about to review the commission issue again when he noticed a message in his private chat—it was from Batman from Arkham.
"Are you free? Let's meet at the Presidential Palace."
Schiller was certain the message was sent to him, that is, to the greedy. Because if it had been sent to someone else, the president would likely have been more polite. The reason Arkham Batman was being rude to him was because Arkham Batman owed him money, and these days, the one who owes money is the boss.
Schiller still went to the presidential palace in Arkham Batman. Note that this palace was built later, and there is a huge bat symbol on the door, which can be considered as making up for his regret of not changing the stars on the flag to bats.
Schiller walked in, and Arkham Batman quickly greeted him, shaking his hand. The two then went inside without any formalities. Arkham Batman went straight to the point: "Have you heard about that Manhattan amusement park that's been all the rage lately?"
"What?" Schiller thought he had misheard. He thought it was Manhattan in New York, but Manhattan in New York doesn't have an amusement park. If you had to name one, there is an amusement park in Central Park, but that's for little kids and doesn't really count as an amusement park.
But then he suddenly realized that New York City is a small city, and it doesn't seem to have a Manhattan district. So this Manhattan could only refer to Dr. Manhattan.
“What is that?” Schiller asked.
Batman from Arkham turned and looked at him, somewhat surprised, and said, "You didn't get any ads?"
Where should I receive advertisements?
"Okay, you're not in the Batman multiverse community, so you probably didn't receive it."
"Wait, besides the Battle Realm, do you have other ways to communicate?"
"How could there not be? Don't you know Batman?"
"Based on what?"
"The power of the seven lamps." Arkham Batman gave the expected answer. "The first lamp also helped. Actually, it hasn't been long since it was set up, but people started advertising it shortly after it was completed. And it's not just us; many important universes have received focused advertising. There might be some in the next universe too; you can go ask them."
Schiller was genuinely surprised. The Central Universe hadn't received many advertisements, possibly because, despite its name, its actual geographical location was probably outside the Seventh Ring Road. The other party's advertisements were likely based in the main universe, meaning it would take a long time for the promotion to reach them.
Schiller immediately messaged Strange, asking if he had noticed anything unusual in the main universe. Strange replied quickly, saying, "The Avengers in the main universe are investigating this."