Creating a zombie in a mountain village terrifies players worldwide.

Chapter 20 Sanity Setting

Just as Yu Feng was planning to invite O5 to join the company, Lin Shu herself laughed out loud while looking at the crowdfunding amount in her rented apartment.

In just a few days, they've raised 100,000 yuan.

The players are really awesome, supporting him so much, they're practically his bread and butter.

Very well, now that you've taken the money, you have to do the job, and do it well.

Therefore, in order to improve the quality of the game, he worked tirelessly every day, putting in tremendous effort.

After a few days, with the help of the system's user-friendly operation, the haunted house from "Ju-on" that inspires fear has been completed.

With ray tracing applied, the dark tones of the house immediately came through.

Upon entering, the oppressive scene and eerie environment were even more suffocating than those in the movies.

Players will definitely love it.

But this is not enough.

During the modeling process, he planned to add some original scenes to increase the game's playability.

"The original house is too small. If it were actually built, players would run into a wall after just a few steps and finish exploring it in no time. That's not the effect I want."

"I've got it! How about adding some chase sequences or evasion battles to make the game more exciting!"

Without hesitation, Lin Shu began to expand the facility.

He cleverly utilized the structural features of the house to plan several new paths and areas.

Then, with the help of the system, we began to build a new scene.

A long, narrow, and dark corridor leads to the house, winding and turning until it ends at a newly added storage room filled with dilapidated furniture and clutter, making it an excellent setting for chases and hide-and-seek.

The attic space was expanded several times over, cluttered with various discarded items, and dimly lit.

Lin Shu has carefully designed several puzzle-solving elements here, hoping that players will concentrate on finding clues while facing Kayako.

"What's the difference between a horror game without chases and evasions and a walking simulator?"

"How can you feel Kayako's terror if you're not being chased by her?"

While adjusting the female ghost's behavior logic, Lin Shu tested the timing of triggering sound effects such as footsteps and door opening and closing, striving to make every detail just right to provoke the player's fear.

Even in his busy moments, he didn't forget to check the player forums on the SkyNet website to see what the opinions and comments were.

He discovered that these players were living too comfortably.

As the completion rate of "The Haunted Village" continues to rise, many players have started playing it a second or third time, and even some strange and unusual multi-playthrough challenges.

There are all sorts of ways to pass the level: blindfolded, walking backwards, or even screaming and biting a lighter to pass.

Of course, the streamer can't play the game with their eyes closed, otherwise how would the streamer watch it?
As these people played this game more and more often, their audacity naturally grew.

Coupled with the poorly made, scare-reliant indie horror games on the SkyNet New Games list, these people felt incredibly powerful and fearless.

The beauty of Chu people and the mass corpses of the Republic of China era are things they can easily dismiss as trivial matters.

Then these people left messages in the game's comment section or player community.

"Seriously? This is all Chu Renmei is like? I feel like the production team hasn't even put in their best effort yet. Can't Chu Renmei be a little more professional?"

"I strongly request an update! The difficulty level is maxed out! My kid is so bored! Even flirting with Chu Renmei every day is no longer fun!"

"Listen up, development team! If the next game is this difficult, I'm moving the female ghost you made to the 3D zone!"

Posts and comments like these began to appear more frequently, revealing an arrogant air of having just cleared the level.

It's as if the beauty of Chu has already been conquered.

They even demanded that the developers make the subsequent content even scarier, otherwise it wouldn't be interesting.

Honestly, there are quite a few requests like this on Earth.

But this was the first time Lin Shu had ever seen it on Earth.

Of course, it's possible that some armchair users are just stirring things up, but even armchair users need to experience the virtual world of SkyNet.

Regardless, this game has certainly raised players' "courage" to new heights, significantly increasing their fear threshold.

He was worried that players might not be able to handle the game too much, so he didn't dare to make it too scary. Therefore, when developing the Mountain Village Corpse chapter, he held back and only touched on the most dangerous parts.

Since these people have gotten bolder now, let's make it a little bit scary, just a tiny bit.

Lin Shu then smiled, revealing a kind and gentle expression.

According to Tianwang's comments, he then began to carefully consider how to make the game even scarier.

Soon, a few hours later, he designed several brand-new gameplay elements in 'Ju-on' that fit the original storyline.

The first step is to add a SAN value system.

This thing is also called sanity, or mental health bar.

Players will encounter various supernatural events in the haunted house. Each time they encounter such an event, their sanity (sanity) will decrease.

He also specifically divided the sanity value into three levels: low, medium, and high, with each level having a different experience.

When the SAN value is high, it indicates some non-dangerous supernatural phenomena.

With a moderate sanity level, ghostly figures appear and disappear intermittently, but there are always some close calls. However, if the sanity level is low, Kayako and other ghosts will appear directly and begin chasing the player until they hide or take a sanity-restoring drug.

Of course, if the sanity value is completely zero, then you will see some things that are not visible in reality.

Therefore, the haunted house needs two models.

One is clean, the other is twisted and eerie.

However, Lin Shu felt that this was not enough, so she added a "dangerous environment" setting.

If a player stays in a dark place for a long time, their sanity will drop faster, ghosts will appear more frequently, and attacks will be more intense.

After all, some players just love to do reckless things, like to go to dark places, calling it seeking thrills. If that's the case, then don't blame me for doing the same thing.

In addition, to increase the fun, Lin Shu also designed a 'random scare trap'.

He placed some key items, such as tranquilizers that could restore sanity, or keys, directly next to these traps.

It might be a seemingly ordinary refrigerator, or a drawer, etc.

As long as the player comes to claim it, a surprise awaits him.

Of course, this random probability cannot be set too high. If players are startled by randomly opening a cabinet or door, it will greatly affect the game experience.

Therefore, the value should be lower, making it most suitable for use during chases.

In addition, Lin Shu added a "high-risk puzzle" gameplay mode.

Once the player triggers certain key clues or items, the ghosts will appear and start playing hide-and-seek with Kayako or other ghosts.

The experience of dodging and solving puzzles should be so exhilarating that it will bring tears to your eyes.

Next, there's the issue of resource control.

For example, there could be a limit to the amount of flashlight batteries or tranquilizers that players can carry, so that they can use them according to the situation, instead of immediately taking them as soon as their sanity drops.

Finally, in terms of plot, Lin Shu adopted a 'fragmented narrative'.

The story of Kayako's family is hidden in the setting, children's doodles, news clippings, and incomplete diaries.

Let players deduce for themselves what exactly happened in the haunted house.

Of course, he won't take the overly obscure approach of Souls-like games. After all, it's a horror game, and sometimes it has to be clear. A straightforward storyline is more relatable to the player base.

And so, Lin Shu began implementing these gameplay features.

At the same time, he won't just leave the crowdfunding money sitting there.

He plans to do two things first.

First, find a modeler to help design an underground research institute.

Second, find some medium-sized gaming platforms and pay them to promote your game.

Third, voice acting.

Now that we have some funds, we can make the NPCs in the game talk.

Therefore, he decided to contact a voice-over company.

Of course, he also had a goal.

A newly established dubbing studio – 'Chinese Language and Literature'

Several days ago, when the game became a hit, he saw their message in a private message. Their exact words were:

Hello, Mr. O5, the developer. We are a dubbing studio founded just two months ago by college students.

We noticed that your game does not have voice acting. Would you like to request a voice acting service?

Current market prices are very high with significant premiums, but as a newly established studio, our prices are affordable, with no middlemen taking a cut.

The team members are all students from the broadcasting and music departments of the same university, so you can rest assured about their professional level.

Besides voice acting, we can also provide sound effects and music services.

If needed, please contact us. Below is my SkyNet business card and contact information.

You can audition; I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

(Business card.jpg)

Previously, Lin Shu didn't have any money, so even though they said their prices were reasonable, she was too embarrassed to ask the price.

Now that I have 100,000 yuan in crowdfunding, I'll be careful with my spending, and with my current amount of script material, I don't know if I can get a chance to do it.

"If this were in the original world, charged per sentence, this amount of money would be enough."

"Not to mention that this is a globally standardized hourly rate, and it's a new voice-over team formed by college students. College students are cheap and easy to work with."

With this in mind, Lin Shu immediately contacted the studio and began making inquiries.

Meanwhile, in another city, on the second floor of a villager's house.

Inside the two-bedroom apartment, a girl exclaimed excitedly.

"Here it comes! A customer has contacted me!"

(End of this chapter)