Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

Chapter 845: Chapter 804: Unexpected Trailer_1

“Hold on!”

“Isn’t it supposed to be the New Year’s Event? What does it mean taking out ‘Chang’an’? Has the game been completed?”

The players’ first reaction in seeing Cloud Dream’s new post was not joy, but confusion and bewilderment.

Super Tomato, especially, was even more perplexed than the other players.

Because he had predicted during his live stream catching spirit beasts yesterday, “The official release of ‘Chang’an’ will probably be after the New Year, so just stick to playing ‘Pokémon’ for now.”

So, was he about to get slapped in the face by the official announcement today?

He wasn’t making wild guesses.

Over the past week, ‘Chang’an’ wasn’t entirely stagnant, with Cloud Dream officially launching several game systems one after another.

For instance, the real [Secondary Profession System].

Neko Manju has successfully apprenticed under a blacksmith and successfully forged his first apprentice-level short sword. Recently, he has begun learning how to forge longswords.

Learning how to forge a sword in a few days time wasn’t considered fast in the game, but compared to real-life speed, it was incredibly shocking!

Neko Manju himself was very excited about this, and he stopped teasing “Little Junior Sister” in the last few days. As soon as he logged on, he got into a tussle with a few chunks of iron.

Other auxiliary professions that were slightly related to combat, like bow and arrow making, herbal medicine cultivation, leather crafting, horse taming, etc., attracted a large number of players into it.

But at the same time, players also discovered a lot of work that had no relation to fighting, such as silversmith, lacquerware, and many other life professions, which were surprisingly also included in the [Secondary Professional] bracket by Cloud Dream.

This undoubtedly added a lot of depth to the secondary profession gameplay.

Even though there aren’t many casual players in Chang’an City nowadays, many players still ran to try it. After trying it out, a lot of people became addicted to these trivial tasks, finding great enjoyment from them.

Later on, Cloud Dream unveiled the [Equestrian System].

For the players, it wasn’t surprising for ‘Chang’an’ to have this kind of gameplay.

— Horse racing and equestrian events formed during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods in Chinese history, having a history of over 3,000 years already. It was very normal for ‘Chang’an’ to have this content.

But the complexity of the gameplay was a bit outrageous:

The most recent update of the horse racing gameplay requires players to learn [Riding Skill] first as the basic requirement for riding a horse.

Then, players need to learn [Horse Appraisal].

Only by mastering this technique can players distinguish which horses are good and which ones look good but actually have hidden defects.

Next is [Horse Driving], “driving” is one of the Six Arts of a Gentleman, which is different from the mere [Riding Skill].

If a player just wants to gallop away, travel, or fight on horseback, they don’t need to learn this; [Riding Skill] is enough.

But if they want to learn to train and control a horse, to make the horse understand their command, to the point where they achieve a degree of “heart-to-heart communication, unity of man and horse”, and then to pursue the limit, they must learn [Horse Driving] which is an advanced skill.

Finally, players need to figure out how to buy their own horse to participate in the race.

Of course, if they can’t afford one that’s no problem, they can choose to “rent” a horse for the race – however, if the horse gets hurt during the race, regardless of the reasons, players need to compensate for it. If they can’t pay, into jail they go.

Every step within this requires money, and for most players who are currently apprentices, the price is not cheap.

If there’s truly no money but there’s a desire to race, trying to sign a contract with the racetrack to become a “professional jockey” can also be an option.

The winner of the horse racing competition, besides getting the prize money, also attracts the “fans” of the Tang Dynasty. Some people give money, some invite to meals.

— Of course, these are what the NPCs tell the players.

According to the NPCs, becoming a “top” jockey can even earn the highest honor –

Playing polo with the Tang Emperor!

Even though the customs of the Tang Dynasty were open and Emperor Xuan was fond of polo, this was quite exaggerated.

But in the game, it all makes sense.

Of course, as of now, the furthest any player has gotten is just being able to participate in horse races, and they’re still just small fry in the racing world.

More people don’t even have the chance to participate and can only join through peripheral means.

That is to say — [Horse Betting]!

Yes, in ‘Chang’an’, you can gamble on horse races.

Many players have shown disdain for Chang’an’s [Gambling House], but they’re still happy to participate in horse betting…

It was already outrageous at this stage, but Cloud Dream seemed unsatisfied and updated the horse system again the next day, adding new content:

Polo, hurdles, dressage, horse tug-of-war… and other horse-related events were all started, making the players’ heads spin.

…

The updates to the [Secondary Profession] and [Equestrian] systems greatly enriched the players’ gaming pleasure in Chang’an.

But at the same time, it made Super Tomato couldn’t help thinking: if even two “minor contents” are made to such terrifying depth, how huge and complex would the main [Combat] and [Task] systems, that Cloud Dream is working on, be?

He didn’t know that the first chapter of ‘Chang’an’ was designed mainly for players to play around, so his thinking was lead astray.

Particularly, he had even had a conversation with Wu Di before.

Before the closed beta test, Wu Di, of course, would not disclose anything about “Chang’an”.

But now that the closed beta test had begun, Wu Di’s experience was automatically decrypted and he no longer concealed it. He even had a chat with Super Tomato about his overall experience of that week.

Therefore, Super Tomato understood the complex combat training tasks, and skill effects that seemed inconspicuous but were actually within the realm of superpowers, such as “completely eliminating footstep noise” and “lowering self-presence”.

This made him more certain: the combat system of “Chang’an” must be extremely complex!

And complexity implies a longer development timeline.

—— Similarly, both he and Wu Di were not aware that most of the combat system had also been rebuilt.

Especially, the issue raised by Wu Di to Lincoln that “the training tasks were too tedious,” was unsurprisingly revised.

In conclusion, through rigorous deduction, Super Tomato drew the conclusion that “Chang’an” was still far from perfection. It was only brought out by Lincoln to tease the players due to their requests and votes. If they truly wanted to release the game, it was very likely that they would have to wait until after the New Year.

But now, are you planning to release it all of a sudden??

—— Every time Cloud Dream releases the final trailer, the game is released within a week.

Super Tomato found it hard to believe, but the facts were right before his eyes. Like other players, he could only open the trailer in a baffling manner.

*

The first thing that appeared on the screen was a door.

A grand and majestic door, lavish with vermilion lacquer and golden nails.

The next moment, the door was pushed open inward by a pair of hands, and the light began as a vertical line, quickly spreading across the entire screen.

The bustling street immediately appeared before everyone’s eyes.

This prosperous avenue, five kilometers long and 130 meters wide, was known as the Zhuque Avenue!

The lens followed the door-pusher moving quickly forward, bypassing the bustling street, leaping onto the outer wall of a roadside market, then sprang and ran across ancient buildings, until a watchtower appeared in front. By then, he skillfully performed several jumps relying on the walls of buildings, and climbed to the top of the watchtower.

Once he stood at the highest point of the watchtower, the lens angled down, providing a 360-degree panoramic view of the prosperous and lively Chang’an City.

The lens then detached and began to quickly shuttle through Chang’an City——

In the mansions of princes and nobles with intricately carved beams and painted rafters, maids and servants scurried about.

Rows of roadside shops in the market place, with colorful signs, were crowded with customers under the signs.

On the street vendors’ stalls, hawkers and customers haggled over prices.

Agile men on the street were tumbling and performing acrobatics.

By the lotus pond, scholars and beauties were appreciating tea and poetry, engaged in literary pursuits.

Dancers were swaying their lovely bodies to the music, surrounded by wealthy guests drinking and enjoying themselves.

Armed soldiers wielded their swords and spears and galloped in the training field.

…

The switching of the lens sped up.

Boisterous men drinking in the tavern, monks praying in the temple, swordsmen walking with rain hoods on, silent officials in the court, the Emperor waving red silk on a high platform, a woman suspended mid-air bound by spider-like thin lines…

Almost every second, two or three quick shots would flash by, making it hard to keep up.

Text also began to flash quickly in coordination with the images——

[Horse Racing]

[Martial Competitions]

[Treasure Hunting]

[Temple Fair]

[Dragon Boat]

[Flower Appreciation]

[Courtesan Selection]

[Vanqui Meeting]

…

One after another, lively events appeared and disappeared quickly.

Just as the players’ eyes were about to not keep up with the images, the screen suddenly stopped, and the game name finally appeared——

Chang’an

[Chapter One: Splendid Scenery]

[January 17th, don’t miss it!]