This Is Not a Bug but a Game Feature

Chapter 468 - 287: Physical Strength and Energy Value (2)

"For example, here’s a nine-to-five job, an eight-hour workday with a one and a half hour lunch break..."

"To be fit for this job, you must have a Physical Strength of over 2000 points! If your Physical Strength is subpar, you’ll quickly get fired!"

"That’s not right!"

Lu couldn’t help but retort, "Isn’t Physical Strength consumption calculated at 1 point/minute? How come an eight-hour job only requires 2000 points of Physical Strength?"

Who taught Ba math?

Such a basic mistake should never happen! Did Ba never go to math class as a kid, not even able to recite the basic multiplication tables?

"It’s different; the consumption of Physical Strength and Energy Value is calculated using a specific formula, and 1 point/minute is just a rough estimate."

Chen Ba waved his hand, saying, "Do you stay focused every single moment at work? There are surely times when you’re daydreaming, drinking water, or going to the bathroom, right? Those idle times are also calculated in the game."

That’s why, with different calculation formulas, an eight-hour job requires a minimum of 2000 points of Physical Strength.

And 2000 points is just the minimum! This means that, with this baseline, players won’t get fired, but if they don’t meet the requirement, they’ll get the boot!

"Different jobs require different minimum thresholds of Physical Strength and Energy Value."

"There’s a rough setting that jobs with high Physical Strength thresholds have low Energy Value requirements! Similarly, jobs needing high Energy Value will have greatly reduced Physical Strength thresholds..."

Chen Ba categorized them into "physical labor" and "mental labor."

The minimum requirements for Physical Strength and Energy Value are designed to let players leverage their strengths and avoid weaknesses, rather than getting stuck on shortcomings.

On another note, there’s a hidden meaning behind these value designs.

"Player Zhang San randomly rolled Down syndrome, with intellectual development on the level of a six or seven-year-old; Energy Value is low while Physical Strength is decent!"

Chen Ba raised an eyebrow, saying, "In-game, Zhang San can only find a job suitable for him, mainly physical labor, which means careers that consume a lot of Physical Strength."

"Jobs needing high Energy Value don’t meet his requirements; he’ll either be rejected when applying or fired after starting..."

"Oh, I see!"

Lu understood now; these two values, Physical Strength and Energy Value, in the game’s context, turn out to be such brutal aspects.

In "Abab’s True Story," the protagonist Abab has imbalanced Physical Strength and Energy Value; ordinary people might have slight differences like 95:100, but the gap isn’t very large.

For special Abab, the difference between his Physical Strength and Energy Values could be as wide as 5:100 or 95:5.

This shows that "Abab’s True Story" aims to convey to the players the concepts already showcased through the significant disparity between "Physical Strength" and "Energy Value."

In the game, Physical Strength and Energy Value are just cold numbers, seemingly insignificant but actually representing the varying difficulties that people with disabilities face compared to normal ones in integrating into society.

"In ’Abab’s True Story,’ the deviation between Physical Strength and Energy Value dictates the character’s fate!"

"A deviation under 100 points falls into the scope of ordinary people, a deviation under 500 points marks someone as a genius in some sense! And for a deviation over 500 points, the name is Abab..."

"OK!"

After noting down the description of Physical Strength and Energy Value on paper, Lu promptly asked again, "Do we need to individually design initial Physical Strength and Energy Value for different disabilities?"

"Yes!"

"But that’s not urgent; our current focus is to accurately represent the real-life situations of each special group in the game."

Chen Ba waved his hand, indicating Lu shouldn’t rush to explore the value system, as it can be gradually developed later.

The real core of "Abab’s True Story" is actually "simulating" the real-life situations of people with disabilities.

How is the simulation done?

How can different people with disabilities be authentically portrayed in the game?

Luo Ji thought for a moment: "For a blind Abab, we can lower the graphics quality and model render precision, along with adjusting the brightness and contrast of the visuals..."

"That works!"

Chen Ba nodded, then added, "For a deaf-mute Abab, we can develop a completely silent version without any dialogues or text!"

"I can understand silence, but isn’t it a bit excessive to have no dialogue or text?"

Yang Dong pondered, "Without any dialogue or text, players will have difficulty immersing themselves in the game, significantly reducing its playability and interactivity."

"Then how about this..."

"Separate deaf and mute versions; one for deafness, where the game is silent and no NPC dialogues can be seen or heard, only the player’s own lines."

Lu added, "And one for muteness, where the game has sound and dialogues, but Abab can’t speak, so his lines are all ellipses, relying entirely on gestures for communication."

"Feasible!"

Chen Ba approved this suggestion; splitting them does make it better, otherwise, just as Dong said, a game without sound or dialogue would be too much like a silent play, severely damaging the immersion and involvement of the game.

"Next is physical disabilities..."

In this aspect, Chen Ba already had a plan, which is limited mobility.

For instance, if the movement speed of other characters, including NPCs, is 100, then Abab’s speed would be 50 or even 20, far below that of normal people.

Of course, physical disabilities should also be divided between legs and hands, with different plans for different situations, not generalized.

For example, in the game, an Abab with visual impairment will also move very slowly, not because his legs have issues, but simply because he can’t see clearly, hence walking slowly.

"For other situations, I’ll consult an expert and recruit a consultant to make further decisions!"

"Ba, I have a question!"

"Spit it out then..."

"It’s like... didn’t you say ’Abab’s True Story’ will have an online multiplayer mode?" Lu asked.

"That’s right, so?"

"So I want to know if the same settings apply in the online multiplayer mode? Like if in the single-player mode the player is blind, can they see clearly in the online mode?"

"It’s not an inheritance!"

Chen Ba denied, "In the online mode, players will create a new character, separate from the single-player mode Abab."

In single-player mode, players can only choose gender, male Abab or female Abab, with no face-sculpting or custom nickname options.

Whereas in the online mode, creating a new character, you can sculpt the face and customize the nickname, which won’t be Abab, so the data between these two modes aren’t linked.

Here is an example.

When player Li Si is experiencing a blind Abab in single-player mode, in the online mode, they might become a deaf-mute Abab.

"OK, I got it."

Lu first nodded, then pursued further, "What’s the biggest difference between the online multiplayer mode and the single-player mode?"

"Missions!"

"In single-player mode, players can only complete missions by themselves. In online mode, players can form teams to complete a mission together."

Chen Ba didn’t deny he’s learning from the GTA series.

In the GTA series, playing the single-player story mode, executing heist missions typically involves NPCs as teammates, whereas in the online mode, you can invite your friends to undertake heist missions together.

The gameplay experience is undoubtedly different.

Of course!

If asked which is more fun, Chen Ba would unquestionably say the online mode is more fun, guessing that after the release of "Abab’s True Story," over 80% of players will be immersed in the online mode, with very few venturing into the single-player mode.

But fun as it may be, the online mode isn’t all of "Abab’s True Story."

The single-player story mode is where Tianba Studio and Chen Ba are focused on developing. After all, no matter how engaging the online mode is, it won’t sway the TGA judges.

If you want to win awards, it has to rely on the single-player mode’s plot and gameplay!