God's imitator

Chapter 508 Glass Curtain Wall
Zheng Jie raised his hand and asked, "Wait a minute! Attorney Lin, you just said that what you ultimately decided on wasn't these things, but rather trivial details?"
"The game's scene setup?"

"What does this mean?"

Qin Yao tried hard to recall the scene: "I remember... At that time, Attorney Lin was studying the various facilities in the game and ignored my questions. Instead, it was Cai Zhiyuan who answered my questions."

"Attorney Lin, are you saying that Cai Zhiyuan is suspicious because he didn't study the specific usage of those devices?"

Lin Sizhi shook her head: "This is indeed a minor point of suspicion, but it's not unusual."

"The three of us were a team at the time. The rules of the game explained how to use these mechanisms. If you want to study these devices, you only need one person."

“When Tsai Chih-yuan explains these issues to you, it can also be understood as ‘helping the lagging members of the team to better understand the strategy’ and ‘completely entrusting me with the task of researching the equipment.’”

"What really caught my attention was that 'The King's Trial' and 'The Tycoon Kingdom' had clear similarities in their set design."

"Glass curtain wall and railings."

Everyone was puzzled: "Huh? What does this prove? It's not uncommon for copycats to plagiarize each other, and it's normal to use similar scenes, right?"

"Like several selection-type games, the layout of the lounge is pretty much the same."

Lin Sizhi shook her head: "This is a different situation."

"Of course, it's normal that you don't notice it, because this detail exists in the design documents that the copycat obtained."

Wei Yinzhang quickly understood the meaning behind Lin Sizhi's statement: "I should be able to explain this issue."

"In some 'modular' design parts, copycats can cut corners."

"For example, in the same 'selection game,' the copycat wanted to include a 'rest room' for the players in the game."

"The first copycat design requires more writing; you have to write down all the details of the lounge."

"But for the second copycat, you can simply write 'The lounge in XX game was decorated accordingly,' and then specify the main changes."

"That's why many copycats will slack off."

"However, this kind of laziness generally has two conditions:"

"The first is the modular design. If it's not a whole like a 'lounge,' then there's no need to use the previous solution at all."

"Secondly, we need to compare games from later stages. Because we have accumulated enough games from earlier stages, we have enough templates to draw upon."

"But the 'chaebol nation' does not fit either of these criteria."

"It's a relatively early game and didn't use the design of some previous games. And most importantly, the non-modular scenery like the 'glass curtain wall and railings' that doesn't affect the actual gameplay must have been added by the copyist himself."

Lin Sizhi nodded: "Yes, both 'King's Trial' and 'Corporate Kingdom' are very open scenes, with glass curtain walls and railings along the edges."

"The choice of scene setting by copycats is actually a subconscious behavior."

"Just like when I was designing the 'Redemption Roulette,' I subconsciously chose elements such as a CRT television, a mechanical iron chair, a rusty steel frame structure, and incandescent lamps."

"This atmosphere can influence the psychology of players in the game, inducing them to do behaviors that are more in line with the imitator's expectations; at the same time, it also aligns with the imitator's deep-seated aesthetic."

“Deliberately creating ugly, unrealistic scene designs is a confrontation with one’s own deep-seated aesthetic preferences, which makes the game look imperfect. Many copycats have an instinctive aversion to this behavior. When Tsai Chih-yuan wanted to ‘choose a certain entity to separate the edges of the game scene,’ he actually had many options.”

"It could be a cliff, a high wall, or anything else."

"But it is clear that the feeling of a 'caged bird' with glass curtain walls is more in line with his subconscious aesthetic preferences, so he subconsciously continued to use this style in the scene settings of 'The King's Trial' and 'The Kingdom of the Tycoons'."

Zheng Jie frowned: "But... it seems like this doesn't happen in 'Shelter Game', right?"

"The 'Shelter Game' is also a very open scene. In terms of feeling, it does have some similarities with 'King's Trial' and 'Corporate Kingdom', but the edges are not glass curtain walls."

Lin Sizhi nodded: "Because at that time he had already realized that such a design could easily expose him."

"In many games that followed, I deliberately abandoned some unimportant aesthetics and chose different scene settings, just like Cai Zhiyuan."

"This is a game of scheming against Officer Cao. He has to distance himself from the situation as much as possible, so he is being extra cautious."

"In summary, I concluded that Tsai Chih-yuan is a copycat of the 'chaebol nation' based on all these factors."

Wei Yinzhang lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then came to a new conclusion: "If you think about it this way, the two 'allocation games' actually stemmed from the same purpose."

“‘Chaebol Nation’ was designed by Tsai Chih-yuan, one of the purposes of which was to test your abilities.”

"And the 'Simple Q&A' was designed by you? Was one of its purposes to test Tsai Chih-yuan's abilities?"

“If either of you performs poorly in a similar game, then perhaps the ‘special game’ you’ve prepared for each other will no longer be a trial game, but rather a strategy game.”

Lin Sizhi nodded: "Yes."

"The timing of the emergence of the 'Simple Questions and Answers' game is rather unique."

“If this game had been released at another time, Cai Zhiyuan probably wouldn’t have entered it; he would most likely have given the opportunity to Wang Yongxin.”

Even if they get in, they might deliberately not show their true skill level.

"But at that time, the 'Shelter Game' had just ended, and the five-person team lost Officer Cao, the core of the game, and the power structure inevitably became unstable."

"Because this five-person team is not actually reliable, I am just an 'unofficial staff' who only obeys orders. After Officer Cao's death, one of the remaining three must be able to shoulder the burden of the game."

"Considering the skill levels of Fu Chen and Li Renshu, Cai Zhiyuan had no choice but to take on the task himself."

"He knew he had to demonstrate some ability in the game to stabilize the situation in the community, which was also a necessary way to finish off the killing of Officer Cao."

"So even if he guessed that this might be a test from me, he had no choice but to go in."

Lin Sizhi paused slightly before continuing:

"This game actually leaves a very high ceiling for players, and the level that Cai Zhiyuan has shown is that ceiling."

"However, not reaching this limit, or even not understanding 'Byzantine fault tolerance,' does not actually affect a player's ability to win; it mainly depends on the level of their opponent."

"Unfortunately, Cai Zhiyuan happened to run into Wang Weidong in this game. Continuing to hide his abilities would have very serious consequences, so he had no choice but to go all out."

(End of this chapter)