I Just Want Players to Save Money, They Insist on Giving Me!
Chapter 274 - 112: Everything Can Be Spared, Except Elizabeth!_3

Chapter 274: Chapter 112: Everything Can Be Spared, Except Elizabeth!_3

Thirdly, the phonograph.

The setting of the phonograph can be said to be an important feature throughout the "BioShock" series.

These devices can record various NPCs’ inner monologues, representing their truest thoughts.

Players slowly unravel the world’s truth by collecting phonographs scattered everywhere.

It’s an essential item.

But the original game’s presentation was such that.

After picking up a phonograph, players needed to click into the menu interface to view it.

And viewing it did not bring any pleasant sensation.

To the point that checking the phonographs became quite a torturous task.

Change!

From players searching for phonographs, to Elizabeth actively picking up nearby ones and enriching the storytelling with impassioned reading, detailed facial expressions, and subtle movements.

Then adding her personal reflections or snarky comments afterwards to deepen the impression of the storyline presented to the player.

Having determined the details that needed change and after further reflection upon reviewing the plan,

Ke Jin added another note.

Change the route guidance UI in "Infinite," which was as shitty as ever, to be more noticeable.

And make it extend forward from a visible point to the player rather than starting at the character’s feet.

In his previous life, Ke Jin’s blood pressure exploded countless times because of that shit UI in this game.

"Last is the modeling part. We can certainly increase the precision of character modeling—after all, today’s technology is not the same as it was in 2013."

Some old games need to retain their classic flavor.

But for AAA narrative games, high-quality art is also a major selling point, so there’s no need to keep the original flavor.

Ke Jin summoned Gou Chehua with the revised proposal, handed it to him, and instructed him to inform the heads of each department to review the plan. They should estimate initial human and financial investments needed after that.

Previously, "Infinite" had burned through a whopping half a billion in funds, which could’ve financed five or six versions of Pubg instead.

But the reason for such an expenditure

was because "Infinite" had undergone a complete overhaul once and experienced a major company turnover in the process.

Normally, its capital investment would’ve been about one to two billion.

This was an amount Top Player Company could just about muster.

If push came to shove, they could let "Pubg" go out and "entertain" clients.

Bring some commercial contracts back home.

Being the big brother, earning some milk money for the soon-to-be-born little sister—what’s wrong with that!

Soon after, with the distribution of the proposal,

The department heads calculated and preliminarily estimated the development costs to be around 1.8 billion.

That was after they came together to review and cut a lot of the less important budget items mentioned in the plan, arriving at this final figure.

"Hiss... 1.8 billion?" Ke Jin was somewhat troubled.

1.8 billion was almost the sum of the entire company’s public funds and his current personal savings.

That included the company’s income for the next month.

After all, the company had already experienced two unprofitable projects. The earnings from "Hollow" had established a charitable fund, "Stardew Valley" was completely free, and "Dark Trickery" was too small to support alone.

Basically, the household was propped up by the big brother "Pubg" and second sister "Arknights."

If 1.8 billion were spent now, maintenance, operations, events, and updates for other games would nearly come to a halt.

It would take at least two months to recover.

"But even if we take on commercials, ’Pubg’ can’t round up that much advertising money so soon."

As Ke Jin discussed solutions with the department heads,

Many senior employees suggested chopping part of the ’excessively rich’ detail motions of Elizabeth from the proposal.

Some facial details are so subtle that players might not even notice them without close observation; considered icing on the cake, these details aren’t crucial.

With a few cuts,

the budget could instantly drop to 1.6 billion.

Ke Jin finally deeply understood what it meant to raise sons frugally and daughters lavishly.

The male protagonist Booker’s modeling and voice acting cost less than 500,000 in total to complete.

A few cuts for Elizabeth could immediately save 20 million...

OMG, a gold-eating monster!

However, Ke Jin still shook his head and rejected the suggestion.

"We can skimp on anything, but not on Elizabeth."

As the soul of the entire game and one of the most influential female protagonists in Earth’s gaming history, lauded as the best supporting character,

she almost single-handedly established the template for ’how female characters should perform when in support roles’ in subsequent games.

The money for Foolish Bai cannot be spared.

Worst case scenario, I’ll sell my blood!

Of course, it wouldn’t come to something as extreme as selling blood.

In the end, Ke Jin took Baby Yu’s little treasury and used it as public funds.

As one of only two shareholders with real authority in Top Player Company,

each game earned her a certain proportion of dividends.

This little rich girl silently amassed almost ten million over the past year on her own.

More importantly, there was almost no change in Baby Yu’s daily lifestyle.

She didn’t splurge, at most she would grit her teeth for some slightly extravagant clothing, but she hadn’t added more than a few new pieces over the whole year.

Thank you for saving money for your big bro, meow.

Let us all praise Baby Yu!

All right, praise is over.

Hand it over!