Almighty Video Game Designer

Chapter 9: Chapter 8 – Is This the Reason you Grind your High Score?

Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales

Translated by Coldtaco

Edited by Aelryinth

Lin Hai’s speech was much more thought out, not offending either side. In truth, he didn’t have a clear stance on the matter.

Whispers started coming from the audience.

Shi Huazhe’s speech still made an impact. A senior designer having such a strong opposing stance on a video game all the while providing valid arguments caused some of the audience to waver on their stance, wondering if a game like this was really worth recommending.

On the other hand, Lin Hai was just trying to be neutral. In reality, it made no difference, the words had left the audience as soon as he said them. In contrast, Shi Huazhe’s speech had made a deep impression.

Chen Mo still managed to heave a sigh of relief.

If Lin Hai turned out to be against FlappyBird, he would be stuck in an awkward situation. The attitudes of the two judges would affect a majority of the audience. While Lin Hai staying neutral wasn’t good, it wasn’t bad, either.

However, Chen Mo didn’t let his guard down.

The youngest judge, Qiu Hengyang, was up next. One of the two judges opposed strongly and another remained neutral, his thoughts on the game decided the fate of the game to a certain extent.

Qiu Hengyang turned on his mic, speaking after some thought, “About this game, I actually have a different view than Mr. Shi Huazhe.”

Chen Mo was shocked. –Why is this guy helping me? Could it be that his tastes were more unique than the previous two, and he could see the good sides of this game?-

Shi Huazhe also showed surprise, staring at Qiu Hengyang, wanting to see what Qiu Hengyang was going to say.

Qiu Hengyang said, ” This game... before I saw the numbers, I gave it an eight, but after I saw the statistics, I think it deserves a nine. Of course, this score is compared to the other nineteen games.

“That is to say, this game is truly deserving of its first place status.”

The audience let out a gasp.

What the? Nine? Maybe out of a hundred?

However, based on Qiu Hengyang’s tone and expression, it was obviously nine out of ten!

Many in the audience liked FlappyBird. Sure they might like it, but they knew that the game was rough around the edges. A seven out of ten would’ve been quite good, but nine out of ten was a bit too much?

Qiu Hengyang ignored the surprised audience and continued, “Please don’t think it’s weird. This is the difference in perspectives of a video game designer from normal players.

“You guys see a minigame with simple graphics and a monotonous playstyle, but in my eyes this was a carefully crafted, carefully thought out game made genuinely.

“Why do I say that? Let me explain.”

The audience was drawn in by Qiu Hengyang, many of them curious about the praises he was singing about the game. What was so good about it?

The competition was also being live-streamed and recorded. If Qiu Hengyang was talking rubbish, it would be detrimental to his image in video gaming circles!

Qiu Hengyang said, “Next up, I’ll ask you guys a few questions. Don’t worry about answering, just think about it.

“First question, you guys said that the game looks so simple it’s an eyesore. Let me ask, do you guys really think the bird is ugly? Or do you think that the bird looks kind of dumb, but the flying and dying animation is still quite amusing?

“Second question, did anyone attempt to calculate how fast the bird falls? Or how much it moves up when you tap?

“Third question, why does the game restart with one tap after gameover? Why does a simple minigame need a leaderboard and online functions?

“Fourth question, did you guys notice the ad space on the topside of the Game Over screen?

“Please think seriously about these questions.”

After Qiu Hengyang finished, he intentionally turned off the microphone to allow some time for the audience to think.

The audience immediately started discussing.

These were all gamers, so they were naturally interested in the video game meta and trying to dig into the reasoning behind it. Furthermore, most of the audience was addicted to FlappyBird, so the questions Qiu Hengyang asked raised plenty of discussions.

Chen Mo felt quite shocked, because the questions Qiu Hengyang asked were right on the key points of the game, leaving him quite surprised. After all, the video game design ideology in this world was lagging behind and filled with prejudice.

Qiu Hengyang was quite incredible. He could put aside his biases and dig deeper into the factors that make a game successful while completely disregarding the idea of blind luck... something Chen Mo valued highly in a video game designer.

Just from this quality alone, Chen Mo was confident that even in his previous world, Qiu Hengyang would have still been an extraordinary video game designer!

Once Qiu Hengyang decided that the audience had plenty of time to think about it, he continued, “Everyone should have some ideas now. Congratulations on taking the first step into the world of a video game designer’s thoughts.

“First question, were the graphics of this game really that bad?

“When you look at this bird, what was the first thought that went through your mind? Stupid? Immature? Silly? Make no mistake, this may seem like a graphically simple game; the bird was drawn using simple colors and lines, but the big eyes, sausage lips, and small wings immediately invoke an image of a stupid bird. It’s no simple task!

“Moreover, the looks of the bird match quite well with the contents of the game. The silly look of the bird takes the edge off the disappointment and the failure from the game. It even makes you feel that it’s the bird that’s stupid, not you, right?”

As Qiu Hengyang finished, laughter came from the audience.

Qiu Hengyang continued, “Second question! Why did I ask about the falling and flying speed? Simple, these were key factors of the code, directly impacting the difficulty of this game.

“If the falling speed was too high and the speed of flying back up was also too high, the game would be overly difficult. Most people wouldn’t reach two digits. This means that the game would be too punishing, and most wouldn’t play this game for longer than they have to.

“In the opposite case, the game would become too easy, most would be able to reach double digits. The player would then feel that the game was incredibly stale and boring; also ending in the player quitting.

“Therefore, in my view, the game’s design was carefully thought out. It was able to get the right balance of being difficult and torturous while giving you hope, constantly giving you wishful thinking, driving you to try again and again!

“Third question! The game intentionally made the game design simple, restarting on a tap. This was to reduce the number of unnecessary steps and allow you to start the next round quicker. During the numerous attempts, the player grows numb to the Game Over screen, even making the player lose their sense of time.

“As for leaderboard and online capabilities, I think it was the finishing touch. Without the online function, its results might be a third of what it is now, possibly even less.

“Why? Because in these types of games, it’s the climbing of ranks that makes your result meaningful. Otherwise what’s the point of trying to get 100 or 1000 points if you can’t brag about it?

“I say brag; not by showing others your phone, but you are able show other players how good you are through the leaderboards! It is like saying, Look, see how incredible I am! How many of you were grinding out your high score? I did!”

A large portion of the audience raised their hands.

Qiu Hengyang nodded, “That’s what I’m saying! The online connectivity and leaderboard were vital finishing touches to this game!”

A member of the audience in the front row shouted “Mr Qiu, is that why you ground out a score of 39 and signed your name?” Huge laughter came from the audience.