The Boss Behind The Game - Chapter 12

Chapter 12: NPC Settings
Translator: Larbre Studio Editor: Larbre Studio

“Cut!” Bei Li shouted with excitement.
Lu Wu emerged in the sky again, and descended hurriedly.
The props and backgrounds reverted to Yin energy and were blown away, returning to their original state.
The magnificent backdrops created using Yin energy were super realistic, but they were all empty shells. They weren’t real, but they were amazing props for the shoot. 1
Lu Wu walked to the side of Bei Li, who was still excited. He took the headset from her outstretched arms and put it on.
The CG trailer started playing, and the scene started to develop from Bei Li’s point of view.
Seeing the graphics, even Lu Wu, the lead actor, was shocked. The rendering and effects were way better than other animations out there.
Also, since it was shot in real-time, Bei Li was constantly running around in the battlefield. The viewers were given a first-person view to see the fight for themselves.
More importantly, Bei Li was always at the right spots, capturing the gallant warriors’ determination, and the King of Beiqi’s somber sacrifice at the end.
They planned to do a few takes and pick the best. But Lu Wu was completely satisfied after watching the product, and decided not to waste any more time.
So, he dragged Bei Li back to the world of the living.
After copying the trailer onto his computer, he opened an editing software to do some video cutting and post production. They were ultimately satisfied after watching the final version. 3
Wu Guoyi did ask Lu Wu to send himself a copy of the CG trailer when it’s done, as a reference.
After all, a good trailer could attract many players. As a professional game developer, Wu Guoyi could give some pointers on what’s lacking in a trailer.
Lu Wu attached the trailer and sent it to Wu Guoyi through email.
Then, Lu Wu took out the Default Soul he picked up from the Player’s Market. 2
It shone a neon green in his hand, and the soul within it was still dancing around. Lu Wu began to think about the first NPC’s settings.
NPCs are obviously important in a game. Other than affecting the players’ experience, an interesting NPC might even get a player fanbase.
This was a challenge to Lu Wu, who had been in this industry for a few years.
In order to design this NPC well, Lu Wu began to study about NPCs, and read about a few NPCs with good reception from gamers. Only after discussing with Bei Li did he start to set up this NPC.
As it was a Default Soul, it was a pure soul. Lu Wu used 100 soul coins to activate it and shaped it into a humanoid.
Instantly, a black-robed, white-haired handsome young man appeared before Lu Wu.
After observing his work carefully, Lu Wu nodded with satisfaction.
A body materialized purely from soul coins was clearly stronger than one from Yin energy. Even as a newborn, its stats were equal to a Level 10 player.
But there was a fly in the ointment. The man’s eyes were dull, seemingly soulless.
Thus, Lu Wu used his artifact to implant memories and his duties as an NPC into the depths of the man’s soul.
After studying about NPC settings extensively, Lu Wu finally completed the setting of his first NPC. He named him Lu Mo, literally Lu’s demon.
In the game’s lore, he is the King of Beiqi’s adopted son.
For the players, Lu Mo is like the chief of the beginner’s village in other games. His role is to enlighten the players on some basic knowledge regarding the Land of Beiqi. Other than that, once they reach Level 20, they can pay 50 soul coins to Lu Mo if they wished to form a guild. 2
Of course, since Lu Mo is an NPC with a real soul, he has his own independent consciousness. Other than the necessary settings of an NPC, he also has his own hobbies and thoughts. 4
This would create many uncertainties and thus, increase the playability of the game. 2
After being sent to the underworld, Lu Mo started wandering around the Mansion of the Dead. Whenever he turned to look at the ruins of the mansion, his face would reveal a sliver of sadness.
After finishing all these matters, Lu Wu opened his notebook filled with his ideas on the back stories.
For now, the gaming experience should be great. But there was a lot to improve on the game’s content, such as job skills and NPC development.
Lu Wu even planned that when the player count reached a certain amount, he would release some expansion packs, and several of them are battlefields that would make fighting more interesting.
But these were only ideas floating around in Lu Wu’s mind. He had yet to do any real planning.
At the same time, Wu Guoyi, who was having a meeting at Platform173’s headquarters, received the trailer sent by Lu Wu.
At first, Wu Guoyi wanted to wait until the meeting was over before he took a look. But when he saw that Lu Wu was the one who sent it, he paused the meeting, and played the video immediately.
When he saw the thousands of Yin soldiers battling the monsters from the skies, the Beiqi flag that stood tall and proud in the wind, and the final sacrifice of the king, he could not help slamming his hand onto the table.
“Excellent!”