World Keeper

Chapter 964: The Price Is Right, Right?

“Are there any other systems that your people have come up with?” I asked in interest, looking over at Ashley. Whether it was the mod to the Digital Conversion system or the two agricultural systems, they could all benefit the world as a whole.

Ashley shook her head at that. “There aren’t any more completed systems at this time, no. However, there are some that are in the works, I just don’t believe that they will be ready to implement with this batch.”

I gave a small nod of my head. “After this update, I want to wait at least fifty years of world time before the next update is implemented. I mentioned before that updating too often will only cause the world to go into chaos, with nobody knowing if we will release some update that overturns the natural order of the world.”

In truth, the fifteen year gap between this last update and this one already felt too close, but it was enough to let the world begin to adjust. When Ashley heard that, a thoughtful look appeared on her face. “Are you planning to fast forward fifty years after we release the patch, then?”

Hearing that, I shook my head. “I’m not in a rush. Let’s see if anyone finds any flaws in these new updates that you need to fix first. A big update is one thing, but it’s fine to let time flow normally, or even stop entirely if you discover a world ending glitch.”

Ashley’s brows knit together, and she gave a firm nod at my words. “I understand.”

“Now… tell me a bit about the other new systems that your people are working on?” With the main topic out of the way, I was quite curious to hear what else was in the pipeline.

Ashley blinked for a moment, having to remember what we were talking about. “Ah, right. The most promising system is an expansion of the Kingdom system you purchased back before I was brought in. Currently, the Kingdom is limited to the range of a single world, due to how it defines the nation’s borders.”

“One of my programmers is working on an expansion that will allow for interplanetary kingdoms by having emissaries of the kingdom designate unclaimed land for their liege. This will be most useful for Udona, given her situation.”

“Aside from that, they are mostly just quality of life updates. For instance, allowing you to integrate your personal terminal as part of your system interface, browsing the internet directly through the system. Technically, it still requires you to be in a location where your terminal would have a connection, but it was considered more convenient to do it like this.”

Ashley shrugged her shoulders as she explained that system. At first, I thought that they had devised a way to integrate the system with the internet itself, which would have been a major breakthrough. If it was just using their system interface as an alternate display… that was still interesting, but far less overwhelming.

“There is one other thing that Jamira recommended before I came to meet you, however.” Ashley said, leaning back in her chair and thinking how she wanted to approach this topic. “Personally, I agree with her. However, you ultimately have the final say.”

“Go on?” I arched a brow, curious what had made her so serious.

“She suggested the creation and distribution of game worlds, similar to how EverLasting operates. Now that we know that entering the next tier will require us to have a much deeper understanding of the system’s code, this type of business would let us train ourselves in that direction.”

“If it were before, I wouldn’t have suggested something like this. However, I believe that we currently have the capital to execute such a plan. The only question is whether or not you want to proceed.”

I was honestly surprised at her words. I hadn’t really thought about making my own game worlds like that so much recently. The idea wasn’t really that bad, but I didn’t know where to begin. The first thing that I need to do is talk to Sarah. If anyone can guide me down that process, it would be her. But first… I turned my head, looking at Terra. “Risk assessment?”

Terra nodded her head, a calm smile on her face. “There are pros and cons. The disadvantage is that there is the possibility of information leaking to other Keepers if we aren’t careful. For instance, if any technologies or monsters that we put in are more unique to our world, they may get a clue for how to fight us. Also, as Ashley said, there will be a considerable investment.”

“For a new game being released… I believe you will likely suffer a loss in points. Unless enough Keepers find it interesting enough to purchase, the royalties won’t cover the cost. You might be able to get EverLasting to help you advertise for this, but she has almost cornered the market when it comes to releasing game worlds.”

“As for the advantages… if the game performs well, you will be able to receive a vast sum of points. You could also create connections with other Keepers, just as Sarah has done. And, as Ashley pointed out, it will help to train her team in regards to system programming. They may even be able to take aspects from systems that we put in this game world and use it to improve our main worlds.”

I thought about that briefly, before nodding my head. “Okay…” After saying that, I turned to face Ashley. “I’m giving you a budget of eight thousand points. That’s the same amount that Sarah gave me when we were getting our first game. Beyond that eight thousand points, everything in the game has to be provided by your team. Once you have a list of the systems you want me to get for you, let me know.”

Ashley blinked, furrowing her brows. “Eight thousand points… I can make it work.” Now that I was more familiar with how the system worked, I was able to infer some details of the production process. For instance, I knew that the majority of the systems weren’t purchased from the system, but rather had been saved and copied over from other games via this type of coding. Some of the points should have gone towards the special features of the game world, or perhaps converting the world spirit into a digital entity like Vivi and Fifi.

In that way, giving her a budget of eight thousand was more than enough, as I would need to spend up to another five thousand extra for the ‘processing’. With that in mind, I opened up a chat window and sent a message to Sarah.

EarthForceOne: Are you free? I need to talk for just a bit.

EverLasting: Of course! Is there anything I can help you with? Maybe a new game you’re looking into?

EarthForceOne: Not quite, but close… My people are suggesting that I make a game of my own.

EverLasting: Ohh? Have you decided on the genre yet?

EarthForceOne: Not yet. We just made the decision, and I was hoping to get some advice from you. I’m not looking to be a competitor or anything, but I’d like to do this properly.

EverLasting: Sure thing! Not to belittle your team’s work or anything, but I don’t think you’d be able to really compete with my business one way or the other. I’ve just been at it a lot longer, so you don’t have my connections and experience. But if it’s giving advice, I’d be more than happy to!

EarthForceOne: Thanks. First… how do you turn a world spirit like Fifi and Vivi into a digital entity capable of interacting with the Admin Room in the way they do?

EverLasting: Ah, that’s a tricky one. Actually, there are a lot of people interested in that. Once they learn the secret, though, their interest tends to drop a bit. They usually start out thinking that it is a way for mortals to bridge the gap with the Admin Room, but it’s not anything that complex.

EverLasting: There is a little gem of a system on the market for a thousand points. It is called Digital Nature. It’s one of the core components that I use whenever I make a game world. It grants the natural energy of the target world a digital nature, which indirectly affects the world spirit. After that, I buy the Admin Assistant program for another three thousand points. This system lets me designate one artificial intelligence to be able to connect to the Admin Room in a limited capacity.

EverLasting: It’s not like your Heaven’s Gate that lets people come and go at will. This system only allows the chosen AI to connect to electronic systems established in the Admin Room, and doesn’t let them change settings or anything, only communicate. But, with the Digital Nature system, the World Spirit is treated as an AI for the purposes of Admin Assistant. It does, however, allow them some measure of control over a digital world designated to them.

EarthForceOne: So… you use four thousand points just to set up Vivi?

EverLasting: That’s right! You might think that it’s a waste of points, but it is actually very important to do it this way. For instance, if they purchase the game world but don’t have the equipment necessary to run it. In cases like this, Vivi and the others are there to help guide the customer in the process of adapting their technology to the game format.

EarthForceOne: That’s… certainly useful. Okay, then how about the storage medium? For instance, when we got Vision Expanse, we had to manually install it on our servers to set the world up. However, that would involve taking something generated in the Admin Room to the physical world.

EverLasting: Ah, that one’s a lot easier to fix. There is a two hundred point add-on to the Game World’s Digital branch, known as Universal Storage. It allows you to create a physical embodiment of a digital world.

I let out a soft sigh as I heard that. With that, two of the main hurdles of the design process had been cleared. Now it was just a matter of the production itself.

EarthForceOne: Thanks. Do you have any other advice for me?

EverLasting: There are two more systems that you should look into. Admin Control and Code Scramble. Admin Control lets you set up admin accounts for a digital world, allowing specific people to control the world at a level that even gods can’t achieve. It works especially well when paired with the Admin Assistant system. You’ll need to design the specific controls yourself based on the game you make, but it is a powerful tool.

EarthForceOne: And Code Scramble?

EverLasting: Just as it says, it scrambles your code. Well, not entirely. It doesn’t change what your code does, but it rewrites how it does it. This means that if someone analyzes the code of a world that you release, they won’t gain any insight into your particular programming style, which would give them an advantage if they wanted to launch a system shock attack on you in the future.

EarthForceOne: …And the total price for these two?

EverLasting: Just five hundred points in total!

EarthForceOne: Right… so a total of 4,600 points in ‘post production’ before the game is released. Is there anything else I need to know? Like how you seem to be able to modify your product description in the market?

EverLasting: Oh, that? That’s the benefit of an achievement I got for selling enough game worlds, Advertising Agency. I can spend 500 points when releasing a game world to customize its description on the market.

I gave a slow nod as I read through the conversation. So, she managed to make Vision Expanse with just a budget of thirty-five hundred points before the ‘additional fees’? Remembering all of the different systems in the game, such as their lotteries and the structural magic system, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to release a game as good for anywhere near that price.

Maybe I should suggest that we use Aurivy’s Elemental Seed system as the magic for the game.

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