In fact, Hao Yun could only guess half of the reason why he didn't sign the contract.
In addition to the haphazard updates, there is another reason that plays a big role.
At this moment, Liu Ye, sitting in front of the computer in the editorial department of Xiake.com, was very hesitant.
Sign or not
To be honest, he was a little undecided.
I can honestly say that the writing style of "The Legend of Shushan Swordsman" is indeed excellent, and the plot is also remarkable. The only shortcoming is probably that the writing is a bit retro and the subject matter doesn’t reveal much newness, which may be because the plot hasn’t been developed yet.
After thinking for a while, Liu Ye couldn't make up his mind. After some hesitation, Liu Ye decided to ask other editors in the same group for advice.
"Zongzi, I have a book here that I can't decide on. The article was sent to your email. Would you like to read it for me?"
"And the book you are undecided about?" The editor named Zongzi glanced at him in surprise, pushed up his glasses, and looked at the computer screen, "The Legend of Shushan Swordsman, I read this book the day before yesterday, and it feels like good."
"Yeah, I think it's okay," Liu Ye nodded and said, "This author doesn't look like a newcomer. Although the writing style is a bit older, it still seems to be quite interesting."
Zongzi touched his chin, thought for a while, and then spoke.
"This author is really good... But if you ask me, the new book issue is only updated every three days. It's useless to sign it. It's better not to waste the recommendation spot."
After hearing the conversation between the two, Lobster sitting next to him also chimed in.
"Yes, now we have a KPI system within the group. You don't know how valuable the recommended resources are, and I don't recommend signing it."
Huangdou: "My opinion is exactly the opposite of yours. There is still value in signing a contract at this time, but I still recommend asking the editor-in-chief for his idea first."
Huang Dou's suggestion was on point.
Xiake.com is different from other novel websites. The editor does not have the authority to sign contracts directly, but only has the right to propose contracts.
In other words, whether a novel can be signed must first be reported to the editor-in-chief by the editor-in-chief, and then signed by the chief editor.
In other words, it is useless for them to discuss it here. It is better to ask the editor directly.
After hearing Huang Dou's suggestion, Liu Ye felt that it did make some sense, so he took the book to the editor-in-chief's office and found Wang Ze, the editor-in-chief of their group.
After staring at the document on the screen for about ten minutes, Wang Ze took off the glasses on the bridge of his nose and gently placed them on the desk.
"Liu Ye, you have been an editor for more than ten years, right?"
Some people didn't quite understand why the editor-in-chief suddenly mentioned this matter. Liu Ye hesitated for a moment and said.
"Exactly ten years...what happened?"
"It has been ten years. In terms of seniority, you are also the veteran of our Xiake.com. Do you know why you have always been sitting in the position of editor?"
Hearing this heart-wrenching question, Liu Ye almost choked out a mouthful of blood, but he still bit the bullet and followed the editor's words.
"… Why?"
"Because editors and readers are different, you cannot judge whether a work is excellent based on personal preference alone. You must learn to use the market's perspective to analyze the potential of the work."
After a moment of pause, Wang Ze began to educate in a serious tone.
"The works that our Xiake.com is currently promoting are new martial arts. Even if the subject matter does not have to be new, it must have gimmicks and highlights. What do you think this work has?"
That’s true, but not all works use the subject matter as their selling point, right
Hearing that the editor-in-chief was not very optimistic about this book, Liu Ye felt a little regretful. After hesitating for a moment, he finally decided to fight for the newcomer named Huanzhu Louzhu.
"...But, I think the plot is quite attractive."
"Yes, the fascinating plot is a highlight, but only if you are involved. Do ordinary readers have the patience?" As he spoke, Editor Wang's tone gradually took on a hint of criticism, "It's still you Do you think that his own fan traffic can make readers patiently read more than ten chapters? Why do we emphasize the three golden chapters? You can tell whether a book is valuable by reading its beginning."
Liu Ye lowered his head slightly frustrated.
"...You said so."
When it comes to this, there is no room for maneuver.
No matter how optimistic he was about the book, if the editor-in-chief didn't like it, there was nothing he could do about it.
Seeing his subordinate who finally seemed sensible, Editor Wang nodded with satisfaction.
"Go back and think about what I said."
"I will still sign this book, but forget about recommending resources."
"It's pointless and not worth it!"
…
Hao Yun didn't have any clue about the Hope Cup competition. He wanted to ask Professor Wang, who taught the basic plan course, but the professor was not interested in his "topic" at all. He just asked him to think about it on his own and ignored him at all.
It was Dean Li Guoping's graduate student, that is, the senior brother Chen Wenchao. He occasionally came over to look after him, gave him some bad ideas, and asked him about programming knowledge.
But to be honest, this guy is pretty good at writing math problems, but he's really not a programming guy.
I taught him some knowledge points several times, but this guy still looked like he didn't understand.
Thinking of his talent in repairing computers, Hao Yun finally couldn't help himself one day and said something extra.
"Why don't you... consider changing your major?"
"Change your major?" Chen Wenchao, who came over to ask for advice with his draft book in hand, was stunned for a moment, "What major should I change?"
"Computer repair."
As soon as he heard the words "computer repair", the expression on Chen Wenchao's face froze for an instant, and then turned into full of grief and indignation, and he stared at Hao Yun and said.
"Junior Brother Hao, do you look down on me?"
Hao Yun was confused by this sentence.
"Ah, this... doesn't exist?"
It was just a friendly suggestion. Why did this guy react so loudly
However, Chen Wenchao didn't think so.
Perhaps it was because the successive blows had chipped his self-esteem into thin paper that he was about to explode now.
"If you look down on me, just say so! Why beat around the bush and ask me to learn how to repair computers!"
As he spoke, Chen Wenchao's expression suddenly changed from indignant to frustrated, and he sighed for a long time.
"Hey, I know, I'm really average at programming, and I can't do this thing well. Maybe you're right, I'm really not the type to learn programming."
Seeing that this guy seemed to have calmed down, Hao Yun said comfortingly.
"Be open-minded, there is still a long way to go in life. But I don't understand why you are so persistent in learning programming? Your undergraduate major is applied mathematics, right?"
Chen Wenchao was silent for a while.
"Yes... My undergraduate major was indeed applied mathematics, but in the end I found that this subject ultimately laid the foundation for other subjects. So I thought, if that's the case, why not find it myself and make it work? way? So..."
"So you're thinking of changing your career to learn programming?"
Chen Wenchao nodded.
"Yes."
But this...
Is the reason too far-fetched
But looking at the expression on this guy's face, whether he convinced others or not, he had already convinced himself.
After cheering up again, he looked at Hao Yun and said.
"Speaking of which, I was thinking just now... Since you are good at making games, why don't you consider making a game like 2048?"
"...a game like 2048?" Hao Yun was slightly stunned, frowning and asked, "How do you say this?"
"Nothing, I just think that 2048 is quite philosophical, and it can also be regarded as a program," Chen Wenchao scratched the back of his head, "Didn't the organizer of the competition say that there is no limit to the type of program, as long as the logic is self-consistent... You write one For similar games, as long as you can explain clearly how this thing makes people think about the philosophy of life, I think it should be okay, right?"
Hearing this nonsense way of reading the question, Hao Yun shook his head and wanted to complain about him.
But then I think about it, it seems...
Does it still make sense
His eyes suddenly lit up, and Hao Yun felt as if a bright light had lit up in his heart.
yes!
Why didn't he think of it before
Of course, games can also be regarded as a type of program. If there is any program that is most promising in leading people to doubt life—oh no, think about life—it must be a program that can establish interaction between AI and people.
Isn’t this just a game
At least, it can be used as a carrier!
With this in mind, Hao Yun ignored Chen Wenchao, but opened a blank document and typed a line of words on it.
[Outline: Design a game that makes people think about life]
What kind of scenes are most likely to make people think about life
The answer was ready to come out, and Hao Yun thought of the four keywords "mountain", "sheep", "bridge" and "ball" without any hesitation.
As for why he thought of these four keywords, he didn't know why. It was just a subconscious intuition.
Maybe…
Because he was a game designer in his previous life
However, considering the expressiveness of the game, these four keywords seemed not suitable for use, or the philosophy of life they contained was too obscure, so he expanded his horizons and typed two words on the document -
[cemetery]
That’s right, the cemetery!
Birth, old age, illness and death run through a person's life. Although the starting points are different, in the end they are all a mess of loess.
What else can be closer to the ultimate meaning of life philosophy than the end of life
The process of the game does not have to be long, or even interesting. After all, from the beginning, he did not intend it to be a commodity, but intended it to be an entry—or a pure work of art.
In this case, there is no need to consider the rhythm of the game. You might as well fast forward to the end point, let the player simply play the role of a dying old man, and then the end point of the game is set on the bench in the center of the cemetery.
Some inspiration came to mind, which was the confidence of being a game designer - or an abstract artist in the information age...
Hao Yun's lips curled up into a smile, and he added a few more lines of settings confidently.
It always felt like the answer to this test question was already in front of him the moment he typed these lines of text.
"Next—"
"It's just implemented programmatically!"