As for the outside world, Lucas wasn't affected at all. He basically didn't pay attention to those doubts. Whether the game is good or not, you'll only know after it's made.
"Warcraft" was still being made step by step. At the same time, Ethan's side also started the promotional warm-up.
After Lucas posted the trial play date on the official blog, players and the game industry were actively discussing "Warcraft."
But there were no bigger news. Lucas had handed over his official blog to his assistant Lisa to manage, and Lisa was also in charge of Nebula Games' official blog.
Every day, these two official blog accounts were like squeezing toothpaste, releasing a Zack concept art picture at the same time.
Dwarves, humans, night elves, the undead, one by one, races familiar to players in Western fantasy themes were released by Lucas.
Likewise, players' expectations were also rising day by day.
Overseas, Target Software also started the promotional warm-up slowly, just like before.
After "Dark Souls" and "Monster Hunter: World", Nebula Games overseas actually had quite a few loyal fans and players.
Regarding "Warcraft", most of these overseas players also expressed their anticipation.
The only dissatisfaction was that they had no idea about the development progress of "Warcraft" or what the situation was.
And the trial play date was still almost two months away!
How were they going to get through these days!
.........
Online, players felt like every day lasted a year.
Inside Nebula Games' project room, it was very lively.
"Damn it! Boss Lucas, you're too strong! We strongly demand you can only have 50% health!"
"Yeah, and we're not allowed to recruit heroes!"
"Not allowed to upgrade to tier 2 tech!"
"Population cannot exceed 60!"
"Also, the four of us have to be on a team!"
In the office, Hector, Rachel, Edward, and Anna were talking all at once, leaving Lucas, who was sitting in front of the computer, speechless.
"Why don't you just tell me I'm not allowed to build anything," Lucas said annoyedly.
So far, the overall battle framework of "Warcraft" was basically complete.
What remained was only the campaign story content that hadn't been fully completed, and some races that needed to be tested.
As for the current testers, it was naturally themselves.
Although the four people in front of him were having fun, in Lucas's eyes, they were just RTS noobs. And compared to other RTS games on the market, "Warcraft" seemed simple, but in reality, mastering it was very complex.
Lucas himself knew the game's content very well. He had played it for many years in his previous life. Plus, Lucas's reaction was relatively quick. He really couldn't compare to some professional players at the top, but he could easily beat the four noobs in front of him.
After chatting with them about the game, Lucas looked at Rachel and Anna on the side.
For the two of them, it was clear that they were more focused on the story, even though the story had also gone through their hands.
But the two were still very excited to experience the story together.
Hector and Edward on the other side were teaming up to play against four insane computers.
Of course, they had turned on 'greedisgood 99999'.
Regarding the current balance of "Warcraft," Lucas couldn't say it was perfectly balanced.
Because that was impossible.
But at least Lucas believed that it was already close to being balanced.
Through Lucas's actual testing, and by giving the AI various tactics and playstyles, he had tested it multiple times, with 100 times as a round.
Currently, the win rates of the four races were basically the same, with a maximum difference of no more than 3%.
This was already considered very good.
After all, there were too many variables in "Warcraft."
Each race had different tactics, and there were ways to counter them.
And on the stage of Warcraft tournaments, players of all four races had won the championship.
At least at the current stage, Lucas felt that there was no need to make changes to the numerical balance.
Of course, for an RTS game, there would definitely be changes later.
Because for the game "Warcraft," every slight adjustment represented a huge change in the game's tactics.
For example, the early orc strategy was usually Blademaster first, but after many years of major version changes, the experience given by the Feral Spirit after the Far Seer's death was reduced.
The Far Seer's status was greatly improved, and the same was true for the Undead's Crypt Lord.
Of course, there was also a period of balance weakness in "Warcraft," that was, the early Night Elves were very strong, but many people didn't realize it.
Until MOON dominated for a while with his understanding of the Night Elf race, taking the championship with a record of 13 consecutive wins, showing players the power of the Night Elves.
And then? Night Elves were nerfed many times.
For example, the building time of the Night Elf's Ancient of Life was increased by 10 seconds, and the armor of the building and the attack power of the trees were reduced.
The same treatment was also given to the humans of TH000 and SKY, which made the defense tower turn from brick to soft tofu.
But this numerical weakening and the strengthening of other races, in turn, promoted more new tactics and playstyles.
This was also the charm of the game "Warcraft." Units, tech, heroes, and racial characteristics created too many variables.
.........
There was still some time before the game was open to players for a trial experience.
The overall framework of the game had been completed, and only the campaign story hadn't been perfected.
In terms of visual performance, operation experience, and CG performance, the current "Warcraft" was definitely better than the one in his past life.
But it wasn't like there was no other work to do.
Lucas wasn't in a hurry to release the map editor.
Instead, he planned to let players experience the content of "Warcraft" itself first, and then release it.
At the same time, this time could also be used to better refine this 'artifact'.
The main work left was the setting of the "Warcraft" battle system.
First of all, the matching system would be based on RANK points.
Players would start with 500 points, and matching would be based on score ranking and win rate.
In addition, there would be a replay and in-game viewing system. For example, ordinary players could watch real-time high-score player battles in the viewing interface. Of course, to prevent screen peeking to see the opponent's expansion and first hero, there would be a 3-minute delay.
These were all to make it easier for players to watch the masters, learn from other people's experiences and tactics, and further promote the overall level of players in the game.
There would also be a more complete achievement system and friend system.
.........
In mid-October, during this period, the news about "Warcraft" had been squeezed out bit by bit, which made players hate it.
After all, even if they were just squeezing toothpaste and drawing big cakes in the past, at least there was a trailer to let them know how delicious the cake was.
Now, there wasn't even a trailer?
Almost every day, players were strongly demanding more information and content on Lucas's official blog.
Of course, this was just a way to vent their feelings.
But what surprised many players was that Lucas actually responded that day, and he also drew them a very big cake.
A trailer they had always wanted.
Many players, after discovering it, couldn't wait to click on this short, only one-minute video for the first time.
Wanting to see the charm of the game "Warcraft."
After clicking on the video, an exciting BGM echoed in the headphones, like a war drum.
Then, the Nebula Games logo flashed in the black transition, and a line of subtitles appeared (the following video is game CG).
After that, the sound of the war drums slowly weakened, and the sound of a whistling wind replaced the war drums. The first thing to appear on the screen was a broken flag.
'We never heeded the ancient languages.'
As the narration fell, a human soldier was engaged in a fierce battle with an orc soldier on a cloudy prairie.
Swords and axes crossed, sparks flew, and clanging sounds never stopped.
'Foolishly clinging to old hatreds'
It was difficult to determine the winner. The human soldier was well-equipped, wearing armor and holding a sword and shield, but the orc warrior was naturally powerful.
'Generations of endless war'
On the prairie, human soldiers and orc soldiers faced each other, suddenly there was lightning and thunder.
A meteor burning with green smoke and fire streaked across the sky, attracting the attention of the two.
'Until that day, fire rained down from the sky, and new enemies appeared'
Countless fireballs streaked across the sky, one of which fell near the human soldier and the orc soldier.
Flames swept across the prairie, and in the huge pit, with green flames, a huge stone figure crawled out, like a demon from hell.
At this time, the human soldier and the orc soldier held their weapons, and turned to face the huge flame stone figure.
Then the camera shifted, a puddle on the prairie, not knowing how much time had passed.
Two scarred arms appeared in the lens, one was an orc's hand and the other was a human's hand.
'Now we are on the brink of destruction, and the Reign of Chaos has finally arrived.'
The video wasn't long, but it made all the players feel an explosion.
After watching this video, countless players were shocked.
This was game CG?
This was really too strong!
The quality was completely explosive!
You can even see the different textures of the human and orc hands in the final shot if you look closely.
The entire game CG animation, less than two minutes long, can be used as a screenshot for every frame.
Are you making a CG movie or a game?
Was the 700 million cost that Lucas said before true?
If most of the "Warcraft" story is CG of this quality.
It doesn't feel impossible!
But wasn't most of your 700 million spent on CG!
Countless players, including industry designers, were shocked and confused after watching this CG animation.
(End of The Chapter)
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