Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Questionnaire Survey
Before deciding to develop a new ga, Chen Ba didn’t forget to conduct a round of "player questionnaire surveys."
This is actually a common strategy.
The main purpose is to use surveys to get a sense of market trends and player preferences, thus aiding ga developers in making critical decisions.
The questionnaire was distributed through the ga community of "Cold Window Study Simulator," mainly targeting core players.
Qian Xin received it as well.
As the biggest promoter of the explosive popularity of "Cold Window Study Simulator" and also the first player to discover the "Cattle Bug," the survey couldn’t afford to miss him.
Coincidentally, having just released his latest video and with nothing to do, Qian Xin decided to fill out the questionnaire to kill so ti.
[What is your gender?]
[1. Male]
[2. Female]
[3. Other...]
The first few questions were easy to answer, nothing more than collecting basic information. Answering each question at a pace of one second per question, Qian Xin quickly reached the first question worth contemplating.
[When playing gas, which aspect do you care about most? (Multiple choice allowed)]
[1. I am a story enthusiast]
[2. I care about gaplay]
[3. I am a scenic enthusiast...]
This was a multiple choice question. Following his inner feelings, Qian Xin chose gaplay and story.
Gaplay is certainly the most crucial aspect.
The key to determining a ga’s playability lies in its gaplay chanics; if the gaplay is lacking, no matter how beautiful the graphics are, it’s just an argunt.
Of course, if the storyline is excellent, even if the gaplay chanics are sowhat lacking, it’s still acceptable.
After all, for those outstanding "visual novel" gas, otherwise known as Galgas or bishoujo gas, their gaplay isn’t really that high; the main selling point is the story.
As for graphics...
Qian Xin scratched his head and thought about it; he’s not very concerned with the artistic style of a ga. Even if the graphics are rough or garish, as long as it’s fun, everything is fine.
However, there are indeed so players in the gaming community who are obsessed with graphics and cannot accept garish styles — "scenic enthusiasts."
Everyone has their own preferences!
No need to comnt on that, next question...
[If you were to rate the storyline of "Cold Window Study Simulator" from 1 to 10, what score would you give?]
"Eight point five!"
Honestly, the storyline of Cold Window Study Simulator is quite touching; at least Qian Xin was indeed moved by the protagonist the first ti he played.
But as he played more, he also noticed certain flaws in the storyline, with many parts having a suspicion of "deliberately being sentintal."
However, the flaws don’t overshadow the rits.
Despite so flaws and certain events being arranged sowhat unreasonably, overall, the storyline of Cold Window Study Simulator is genuinely impressive and far exceeds his expectations, so he rates it an 8.5.
The deducted points primarily co from the feeling that there is room for improvent, especially the narration during the high school stage, which is too sloppy...
[If "Cold Window Study Simulator" were to have a sequel, what changes would you like to see?]
"Oh? Is there going to be a sequel?"
Upon seeing this question, Qian Xin imdiately grasped the intention behind it; it’s hinting via the survey that Cold Window Study might have a sequel.
Will the sequel be at the high school stage?
Or... the university stage?
Having his interest piqued, Qian Xin focused his attention on this question; his expectations for the sequel should be regarding the visual style!
With the guarantee of the previous ga’s storyline and gaplay, he believes the sequel won’t be lacking.
But the artistic style really needs to change; the characters, cutscenes, and UI of Cold Window Study Simulator... are just too abstract!
Qian Xin rarely criticizes independent gas for a lack of artistic resources because he understands that it’s genuinely challenging for small teams or workshops to produce good ga art designs.
But that’s no excuse for abstract art.
Look at the ga’s protagonist: the face is so distorted, it looks like an alien pet!
And then there’s Old Huang...
As the creature players most frequently encounter in the ga "Cold Window Study Simulator," the depiction of Old Huang can only be described in one phrase: Is your cow’s tail fan-shaped?
Leaving aside its ugliness for now, the person who drew this Old Huang is simply indulging in quirky aesthetics, only creating such abysmal pieces that leave people in a daze.
Since there is going to be a sequel, let’s change up the art style and avoid these abstract surrealist textures.
After spending about half an hour, Qian Xin seriously completed the questionnaire and left his contact information at the end.
He heard that players who seriously answered the questions might be randomly selected by the ga officials to receive one of ten "Old Huang keychains" from "Cold Window Study Simulator?"
Alright!
Even though he dislikes Old Huang and feels that cattle herding delayed his studies, if there are prizes, he must participate to increase the odds.
Qian Xin isn’t the only player participating in the survey; besides him, about 150 people also answered the questions.
Chen Ba skimd through the 150 questionnaires.
Excluding so insignificant questions, regarding the critical choices and answers, he noticed the distribution of player compositions.
For instance, female players are more easily touched during gaplay, especially by the storyline of "Cold Window Study Simulator," which profoundly moves them.
Male players are sowhat different.
Though they also empathize with the storyline, they rarely get teary-eyed; they are more moved by the protagonist and find him inspirational, and that’s it.
Another crucial point.
Regarding the ga’s ending, most players expressed the hope for multiple different endings rather than a single linear narrative.
This gave Chen Ba great confidence.
Originally, he wanted to create multiple endings but hesitated, fearing opposition from players. After seeing the survey results, he imdiately decided.
The ending of "Living Under Soone’s Roof Simulator" doesn’t need to be formulaic and can be more diverse than "Cold Window Study Simulator."
Simply put.
"Cold Window Study Simulator" conventionally only has two endings: getting into the desired high school or failing to do so.
Although there seem to be many minor endings, they mostly fall under these two main outcos.
This ti, with the new ga, several entirely different routes may be created—not necessarily success or failure, but possibly a mix of both?
This is hard to understand.
To put it in layman’s terms: the solution to an issue can have many paths, all leading to either "success" or "failure."
But is there a possibility of neither success nor failure, where efforts make no difference?
The protagonist of "Living Under Soone’s Roof Simulator" tries his hardest to change the situation, eventually succeeding in leaving his aunt’s family, welcoming a new life.
Unfortunately, the new life isn’t as glamorous as he imagined; he continues living under soone’s roof, seemingly back to square one...
[New achievent "Hungry Sugar Mama" unlocked!]
Reviews
All reviews (0)