I Just Want Players to Save Money, They Insist on Giving Me!
Chapter 227 - 98: Translate Translate, What The Hell is Called a Surprise!_1

Chapter 227: Chapter 98: Translate Translate, What The Hell is Called a Surprise!_1

Nu Liu had intended to pull Zhuangzhuang straight into the mine.

However, having wandered around the town for the past two days, Zhuangzhuang had befriended quite a few NPCs and managed to gather some intel.

The Explorer’s Guild sold corresponding weapons and sets, albeit at slightly expensive prices.

The siblings had a total of almost 20,000 Gold Coins in their pockets.

They had originally planned to save it for building a chicken coop and a barn.

But Nu Liu thought it over.

Recalling her previous death in the mine and how the doctor’s rescue fee had cost a whopping 1000 Gold. (The fee deducted 10% of a player’s savings, up to a maximum of 1000 Gold Coins)

After consideration, she decided to painfully fork out the money.

Each person was equipped with a Wooden Sword with an attack power of 3 to 7 points, -500G

A pair of sneakers for each, adding 1 point of defensive power, costing another 1000G

And two citrine rings, increasing the weapon’s hit rate by 10%, -2000G

Having spent 3500 Gold without doing anything yet, Nu Liu couldn’t help but feel the pinch.

However, the thought that there might be good things inside the mine lifted her spirits again.

In Stardew Valley, the entrance to the mine was a deep hole that extended downwards with a ladder, suggesting players could climb down from there.

Beside the shaft, there was also an elevator mounted on the wall.

It was the ultimate combination of ancient methods and technology.

Upon pressing the elevator button, one would find that it stopped on particularly unique floors.

Starting from 0, it stopped every 5 floors, all the way down to the 120th floor underground.

Nu Liu guessed that the elevator hadn’t unlocked the floor because she hadn’t reached the fifth level last time, so players needed to descend manually.

Without further ado, they set off.

This trip into the mine was luckier than the last; there were torches stuck in the ground everywhere, illuminating the surrounding area.

Visibly scattered ordinary ores formed a narrow path that meandered like a maze within sight.

With the help of the torches, they could see a few squishy green Slimes wriggling not far away.

Without a second word, she drew her sword and started slashing.

After all, Stardew Valley was primarily a farming game, and it didn’t pay much attention to detail in combat.

It simply involved the player-controlled character swinging a sword, repelling monsters, dealing some damage, and after a few hits, killing some weaker monsters. They could also explode into materials and earn some experience in combat skills.

The style of the monsters was also chibi, aimed at a younger audience.

If taken on its own and rated on a percentage scale, the combat system, lacking in both feel and special effects, could probably only score 10 points.

Even recent graduates from game design could do better with their eyes closed.

But its cunning lied in how it was integrated into the overall Stardew Valley system, offering players a bit of combat fun as well as equipment upgrades, on top of farming, fishing, and mining.

Undoubtedly, it added another layer of rich content to the gameplay.

points might not seem valuable.

But when you add it to 90 points.

The significance it bears instantly changes.

They dispatched the Slimes in no time and threw the dropped slime into their backpack.

"Zhuangzhuang, you take the left and I’ll take the right. Let’s dig the passage to the next level," Nu Liu commanded.

"OK!" responded Zhuangzhuang.

The mining mechanics in Stardew Valley were also quite interesting.

The passage downwards wasn’t laid bare for the player to see.

Rather, it was hidden within ores or monsters.

Only after killing a certain monster or mining a certain ore would the entrance to the next level burst forth.

With the inclusion of this element of luck, even the tedious task of swinging a pickaxe to break rocks became fun.

The siblings even made a small bet.

They wagered on who could uncover the entrance to the next level most times, with the loser sending a 200 Gold Coin red packet to the winner.

In the first three levels, Zhuangzhuang was luckier; he found the entrance after mining only a few times.

Thanks to the weapons they were equipped with, their efficiency in killing monsters improved significantly.

Before long, they arrived at the fifth level and activated its elevator.

Next time they descended to the mine, they could start directly from level -5, sparing them the inconvenience of searching for the entrance from -1 every time.

Going below level 5, there was a noticeable increase in the rarity of the ores.

From time to time, they could pick up some scattered amethysts, citrines, quartzes, and geodes on the ground.

These items could be donated to the museum as collectibles, and some ores were also needed to complete community center quests.

Besides, there was the ore that Nu Liu needed the most on this trip.

Copper ore!

Each level had about 2 to 3 copper veins, which would explode into 3 to 5 pieces of copper ore, about the amount for one ingot.

"Didn’t expect the returns from this mining trip to be quite high. If we calculate it based on the purchase price of one piece of copper ore, after clearing a level, we should have at least two to three hundred Gold Coins," Nu Liu couldn’t help but marvel.

She had thought that mining would be a monotonous process.

What fun could there be in hammering away at rocks with a clang and a bang?

But the top player once again proved to the players with its excellent design.

There are no boring mechanics, only boring designs!

The principle is simple.

Being asked to shovel sand might be dull.

But if a set of Lego aircraft carrier models were buried underneath, ready to be dug up and taken.

Oh! That would be so cool, nobody loves digging sand more than I do!

Seeing Nu Liu enjoying the dig, combined with the steady uncovering of rare copper ore, knowing its value, the audience too felt content with each discovery.

"I feel like other studios should really learn from this top player, striving to make every detail as enjoyable and interesting as possible!"