booktalesy Chapter 422 Crossfire
Chapter 422 Crossfire
Lu Ran took a walk around the technical department, chatted with a few colleagues who were working overtime, and learned about the progress of various projects.
Then I went to the operations department and talked with Xiao Yang about the operations plan for the New Year period.
Xiao Yang said she has already compiled the data for the check-in activity. The number of participants was 30% higher than expected, and the user retention rate was also several percentage points higher than usual.
After listening, Lu Ran nodded, said "Thank you for your hard work," and then returned to his office.
The office was the same as always, with files neatly piled on the desk, the computer off, and the curtains drawn.
He turned on the light, walked behind his desk and sat down. He picked up the water glass on the table and glanced at it. There was still half a glass of water in it; it had been poured before the Lunar New Year and was no longer drinkable.
These employees have absolutely no sense of propriety.
It seems like it's time to hire a female secretary as an assistant.
He went to the tea room to get a fresh cup of water, came back, sat down in his chair, and turned on his computer.
When the screen lit up, he habitually checked the data backend first.
The data for "League of Legends" has dropped slightly compared to the Chinese New Year period, but it is still at a high level.
The number of concurrent online players in URF mode remained around 1.8 million, which is significantly less than during the Lunar New Year period, but still higher than when ARAM was first launched.
This drop is normal, because many people have already started working and don't have as much time to play games.
He glanced at EA's Wildlands again.
The data is also declining, but the decline is greater than that of League of Legends.
They held so many activities during the Chinese New Year period, and the data increased slightly. Now that the activities are over, the data has dropped significantly.
This shows that EA's campaign did not truly retain users; it only temporarily attracted them.
Once the event ended, the people left.
Lu Ran closed the data backend, opened a new document, and typed a line in the document: "2025 Work Plan".
Then, Lu Ran began to write.
Article 1: Minecraft will be launched in the first half of the year.
Article 2: Organize a League of Legends internet cafe league.
Article 3: Make a new game.
He paused on the line "make a new game," and something started to run through his mind.
During the Chinese New Year, he kept thinking that Tutu Technology couldn't rely solely on League of Legends for its livelihood.
Even the best game has a lifespan.
League of Legends is currently enjoying great momentum, but it will eventually decline.
He had to prepare the product for the relay before that day arrived.
Although past experience suggests that League of Legends' popularity can last for more than a decade, it's still necessary to plan ahead.
His system library contains countless games, each of which was a market hit in his previous life.
But he couldn't just present it directly, because Liu's questioning reminded him that directly presenting the complete project package was too intimidating.
He needed a more discreet way, a way to make everyone think, "This game was developed normally, it didn't just fall from the sky."
He thought about it and came up with a solution.
Lu Ran picked up his phone, opened Chen Mo's WeChat, and typed: "Mr. Chen, Happy New Year. There's something I'd like to discuss with you. Is it a convenient time to call?"
Chen Mo replied instantly: "Sure. Call me back."
Lu Ran dialed Chen Mo's number, and the phone was answered after one ring.
Chen Mo sounded to be in a good mood, but the background noise was a bit loud, as if he were outside.
"Mr. Lu, Happy New Year. What's up?"
"Mr. Chen, I'd like to ask if Tencent is interested in FPS games?"
There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone. Chen Mo's voice became serious: "FPS? You mean first-person shooter games?"
"right."
"We have Half-Life. But that's an old game, and the user base keeps dropping. Why are you asking about that? Do you have any FPS projects in the works?"
Lu Ran leaned back in his chair, carefully considering his words.
He couldn't just say, "I have a complete FPS game to sell you," that would be too abrupt.
He needed to sound out Chen Mo's opinion first.
"Mr. Chen, I have a fairly complete FPS solution here. It includes everything from the underlying code to the upper-level logic to the art assets. I can't handle it all by myself, so I'd like to see if Tencent would be interested in working on it together."
Chen Mo remained silent for a few seconds on the other end of the phone.
Then he said something that made Lu Ran's heart sink: "Mr. Lu, you didn't write that proposal by yourself again, did you?"
Lu Ran took a deep breath.
He knew this question would come sooner or later, but he didn't expect it to come so soon.
"No," he said. "It was written by a team. They signed a confidentiality agreement, so I can't disclose it."
Chen Mo paused for two seconds, then smiled: "President Lu, I just have one question for you—is this game fun?"
Lu Ran's lips curled up: "It's fun. I wouldn't have contacted you if it wasn't fun."
"Okay. So tell me, what type of FPS? Competitive or cooperative? PVP or PVE?"
"PVP. Team battles. The number of people on a team is not fixed, but it is two teams fighting against each other. The map is not large, the pace is fast, and a game can be finished in a few minutes. The learning curve is low, anyone can play. But to play well, you need to practice."
Chen Mo hummed in response on the other end of the phone, as if he was processing the information.
After a while, he said, "Send me a demo. It doesn't need to be complete, just something that runs. I'll take a look first, and then we can talk."
"Okay. I'll have someone pack it up and send it to you today."
"Okay. Mr. Lu, is there anything else?"
"That's all. Happy New Year, Mr. Chen."
"Happy New Year."
After hanging up the phone, Lu Ran leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.
Chen Mo's reaction was calmer than he had expected.
Without questioning the source of the code or the authenticity of the solution, they simply asked, "Is it fun?"
This shows that Chen Mo values results more than the process. Working with him is worry-free.
Lu Ran sat up straight, his consciousness sinking into the system's light screen. He typed four words into the search bar—Crossfire.
The screen switched, and a complete project package appeared in front of him.
The game itself, source code, art assets, sound files, map designs, weapon parameters, and operational plans—everything is there, neatly categorized.
Lu Ran downloaded the project package to his local machine and took a look at it.
The map section lists dozens of maps, including basic tutorial maps and classic competitive maps.
He glanced at the Desert Dust and Transport Ship maps a couple more times, and a smile crept onto his lips.
These two maps were the most classic maps in the game "CrossFire" in its previous life. Anyone who has played the game can draw the maps with their eyes closed.
He reorganized the files in the project package, deleting some overly complete parts.
For example, only the framework of the operational plan was kept, while the specific execution details were deleted.
For example, only a few core maps were kept as art assets, while the others were reserved for later.
He wanted to create the feeling that "this project is still under development and is not a finished product".
Being too complete can arouse suspicion.
After finishing organizing, he logged into an anonymous email account, compressed the project package, attached a brief description, and sent it to Chen Mo's work email.
The sender was listed as "Gamedev" with no personal information.
Then he picked up his phone and sent Chen Mo a message: "Mr. Chen, the demo has been sent to your work email. I had the team send it anonymously. Don't ask who sent it, just take a look, okay?"
Chen Mo replied, "Why are you being so mysterious?"
"Confidentiality agreement. Don't ask."
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