Game development begins with destroying Girls' Frontline.

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Players need to balance various needs of the city, such as residents' quality of life, economic development, cultural prosperity, and urban safety.

This strategic challenge adds depth and replayability to the game.

As the city gradually develops, players can see the results of their efforts.

From a barren land, it gradually transformed into a prosperous metropolis.

This process of creating something from scratch gives players a strong sense of accomplishment and growth. Every house upgrade, every population increase, and every cultural boom is a direct positive feedback for players.

Chapter 550 Expectations

To amplify this feeling of pleasure, you need to focus on the details.

Players of city-building simulation games are the most detail-oriented; the more types of buildings, the better; the more detailed the construction animations, the better; and the more realistic the building animations, the better.

Excellent city-building games often excel in their attention to detail.

The emergence of "Julius Caesar 5" was actually due to the game development team wanting to make some upgrades during the remake of "Julius Caesar 4", which is why it turned into a new game at the end of the remake.

After all, Spark was not the developer of the original work.

If you create a new system on a remake, it's easy to get caught up in criticism and people will say it doesn't have the classic feel or that it's a mess. On the other hand, it's better to just release a sequel, which avoids so many constraints.

Matteo, of course, knew nothing about these things.

All he knew was that this classic IP, which hadn't released a new game in over a decade, had finally released a new title.

I couldn't wait to start the new game, and without even doing the tutorial, I started randomly selecting a map.

In these remastered and new simulation games, Spark has made significant upgrades to the random map system, with dedicated systems for map customization, various random options, and resource distribution.

The reason for this is that randomized maps are very important for a simulation building game.

This is the same as the core of roguelike games.

One of the core joys of simulation building games is planning, and the core joy of planning lies in "solving problems" on a randomly generated map.

without any exaggeration.

To see if a simulation building game is fun, just look at how well it uses its random map system.

If you don't put your heart into this, then this game is unlikely to be very fun.

In Julius Caesar 5, the random system is done very well and is quite detailed, and Matteo, as a veteran player, naturally felt this as well.

However, he was too impatient at this point, so he chose a random map with a three-way river and started the game.

"Let's start with the residential areas."

Matteo muttered to himself. He planned a residential area, laid roads, built markets, and installed a water supply system.

As the first residents moved in, the city gradually came to life.

In Julius Caesar 5, the game offers three systems that can be managed.

One is the aqueduct system, which is also the most classic system in all the Caesar games and a symbol of the Roman Empire.

Many people probably did things like building dams to block water when they were young.

Water, due to its fluid properties, can be used in many ways in games. Xinghuo's version of "Caesar 5" has taken the water canal system to a whole new level.

Players need to build reservoirs and lay channels according to the terrain. The gameplay is somewhat similar to laying telephone poles in modern simulation games, but it is much more interesting to play.

The game also features many buildings that require water, such as water collection pools in residential areas, bathhouses, breweries, and stone washing plants. These buildings have their own small pools on the model to indicate to the player that these buildings need to be connected to water channels.

"This is interesting. This irrigation canal is starting to look interesting."

The first irrigation canal was built, and under the sunlight, with a slight movement of the camera, this small patch of land already began to take shape.

"Next is resource management."

Although Matteo didn't follow any tutorials, as a veteran player, he was quite familiar with the early stages of simulation games.

With the residential areas settled, the next step is naturally to start building mines and farmland to ensure the city has a sufficient supply of resources.

This is the second planned fun point in the game.

Julius Caesar 5 adds a logistics system and a factory upgrade system.

The logistics system is very simple. For example, in a logging camp, there is a complete animation to show the loggers felling and moving the logs for each piece of wood.

Once the wood arrives at the camp, players need to build warehouses to store and transport the supplies.

The factory upgrade system is not complicated. Taking the furniture factory as an example, after the player builds the furniture factory, the output of the factory is relatively fixed. If the supply chain of the furniture factory is sufficient and the demand of the residents is high.

Then the factory will automatically upgrade, expand its output, and improve its production efficiency.

These two things, when combined, form a new gameplay element, where players need to adjust the industry chain.

This gameplay is quite time-consuming; Ubisoft's Anno series and Settlers series both rely on this core gameplay.

Matteo spent about half an hour establishing a basic agricultural and industrial production system. During this time, he also built a temple and an opera house.

The models of these large buildings are very realistic. For example, the open-air circular opera house has performances at certain times, and almost the entire city's residents flock to it.

There were actual performances on the stage inside the building. Although they were quite rough, Matteo watched for a few minutes, and none of the performances were the same.

In addition to the detailed models, these buildings also trigger special events.

For example, outside the building, residents who were unable to enter the theater due to overcrowding would protest or even march, demanding the construction of more theaters.

As the city gradually developed, Matteo began to realize the depth of the game. The needs of the residents, the allocation of resources, and the promotion of culture—each aspect required careful planning.

He not only had to ensure the city's prosperity, but also deal with various emergencies.

Various systems were continuously presented to him as the game progressed.

Even the relatively weak military system of the Caesars series has been improved in this installment.

"This is the game of my dreams!"

Matteo muttered to himself as he played.

He was completely immersed in the game world, forgetting the passage of time.

A few hours later, Matteo's wife pushed open the door.

"Still playing games? Aren't you tired from work today?"

Matteo's wife knew that her husband was playing games at home under the pretense of working overtime, but usually Matteo would only play for an hour or two.

She would also use this time to watch TV series or movies.

Therefore, she wasn't very opposed to Matteo playing games.

However, it's rather rare for someone to spend four or five hours in their study like today, not coming out until almost midnight.

Matteo turned around, a smile of excitement on his face.

"Honey, you'll never guess! What new game came out today!!"

"It's Julius Caesar 5! This game is absolutely amazing! Absolutely amazing!!"

The wife smiled.

"Is it that game you played in college?"

She wasn't entirely unaware of her husband's hobbies.

"Seeing you so happy makes me happy for you too, but don't forget you have to get up early tomorrow to take the kids to school. Go to sleep now."

Matteo nodded.

Although he wanted to continue playing, he also knew that sometimes you can't be ungrateful.

"Spark, amazing!"

He said it softly, then turned off the computer.

But in his heart, he had already begun to look forward to tomorrow and the weekend.

He hadn't experienced this feeling of having games waiting for him to play in many years; all he could say was that it was fantastic.

~~~

A note from the author of "Salted Fish".

Happy New Year in advance to everyone!!!

May everything go smoothly, and may you receive your desired item on your first try in the Lunar New Year version of the game!

Wishing all our dear readers a happy new year filled with good fortune, abundant wealth, good health, and constant smiles!

May everything go smoothly for you, whether in your studies, work, or life, and may you rise to higher positions!

~~~

Finally, I'd like to add a note: during the Chinese New Year period, due to numerous household chores and the fact that I was writing two books at once, I could only guarantee two updates per day. After the New Year, I will resume my normal three updates per day. If you feel that's not enough, you can also check out my new book, which is now available and at a great price!

Animation Production: Dominating the Industry Despite Being Surrounded by Beautiful Girls

Finally, I wish everyone a Happy New Year again!! Thank you all for your company and for reading! Thank you!

Chapter 551 Rise of the Dragon 2

Some people are already asleep, but others are still partying.

Compared to Matteo.

Wu Xing is a lucky man. He is almost 40 years old this year, and his daughter is a day student in junior high school, so he has relatively free time at home.

Although he has freedom, at his age, he doesn't actually play games much anymore.

After getting off work, he would watch TV with his wife for a while, then scroll through Douyin (TikTok), read a novel, and go to sleep. This has become his habit.

But this time is different.

While browsing Douyin (TikTok), he saw promotional materials for "Rise of the Dragon 2".

His memory instantly transported him back to that summer 17 years ago, when he had just started working and computers were a rarity, if not for the school's computer lab.

He might not even get to play Rise of the Dragons.

Back then, in order to be able to play games in the computer lab after get off work, he would shamelessly coax the teacher in charge of the computer lab every day.

Unexpectedly, this incident not only allowed him to play games, but also gave him a wife.

Diablo, Three Kingdoms: Rise of the Dragon

These classic games accompanied him through a long and wonderful period of time.

Of all these, the one he played the longest was "Rise of the Dragons." In order to study how to place buildings to obtain the greatest benefits, he even drew many sketches himself.

It can be said that he was fascinated by every building, every street, and every resident's needs in the game.

He recalled staying up for several nights in a row to plan the perfect city.

"I never imagined that after all these years, I would still see a sequel to Rise of the Dragon..."

Wu Xing murmured to himself, a surge of indescribable excitement welling up inside him.

He immediately closed TikTok, opened his browser, and searched for "Spark Game Platform".

Although he doesn't play games much, he's a typical "armchair gamer"—he doesn't play games himself, but he loves watching others play.

He also frequently watches live streams on Douyin and videos on Bilibili, and has the Xinghuo platform app installed on his phone, although he only uses this app to watch videos...

But he was quite familiar with Xinghuo.

For veteran gamers of his generation, even though they no longer play games or play less often, their feelings for Xinghuo remain consistent; they all think the company is awesome and inspiring.

"The Rise of the Dragon, the Rise of the Dragon..."

The original company behind Rise of the Dragon, like the company behind Julius Caesar, went bankrupt long ago. However, unlike Julius Caesar, Rise of the Dragon is more well-known in China.

After all, the subject matter is domestic.

And you know what, this game from over a decade ago is actually quite meticulous in its attention to detail.

Even back then, there were full Chinese dubbing.

Even today, modders are still updating it with new maps, and people are adapting it for new systems, adjusting resolutions, and so on.

"There really is a sequel!?"