Chapter 14: Questionnaire Survey

Before deciding to develop a new game, Chen Ba didn’t forget to conduct a round of "player questionnaire surveys."

This is actually a common strategy.

The main purpose is to use surveys to get a sense of market trends and player preferences, thus aiding game developers in making critical decisions.

The questionnaire was distributed through the game community of "Cold Window Study Simulator," mainly targeting core players.

Qian Xin received it as well.

As the biggest promoter of the explosive popularity of "Cold Window Study Simulator" and also the first player to discover the "Cattle Bug," the survey couldn’t afford to miss him.

Coincidentally, having just released his latest video and with nothing to do, Qian Xin decided to fill out the questionnaire to kill some time.

[What is your gender?]

[1. Male]

[2. Female]

[3. Other...]

The first few questions were easy to answer, nothing more than collecting basic information. Answering each question at a pace of one second per question, Qian Xin quickly reached the first question worth contemplating.

[When playing games, which aspect do you care about most? (Multiple choice allowed)]

[1. I am a story enthusiast]

[2. I care about gameplay]

[3. I am a scenic enthusiast...]

This was a multiple choice question. Following his inner feelings, Qian Xin chose gameplay and story.

Gameplay is certainly the most crucial aspect.

The key to determining a game’s playability lies in its gameplay mechanics; if the gameplay is lacking, no matter how beautiful the graphics are, it’s just an argument.

Of course, if the storyline is excellent, even if the gameplay mechanics are somewhat lacking, it’s still acceptable.

After all, for those outstanding "visual novel" games, otherwise known as Galgames or bishoujo games, their gameplay isn’t really that high; the main selling point is the story.

As for graphics...

Qian Xin scratched his head and thought about it; he’s not very concerned with the artistic style of a game. Even if the graphics are rough or garish, as long as it’s fun, everything is fine.

However, there are indeed some players in the gaming community who are obsessed with graphics and cannot accept garish styles — "scenic enthusiasts."

Everyone has their own preferences!

No need to comment on that, next question...

[If you were to rate the storyline of "Cold Window Study Simulator" from 1 to 10, what score would you give?]

"Eight point five!"

Honestly, the storyline of Cold Window Study Simulator is quite touching; at least Qian Xin was indeed moved by the protagonist the first time he played.

But as he played more, he also noticed certain flaws in the storyline, with many parts having a suspicion of "deliberately being sentimental."

However, the flaws don’t overshadow the merits.

Despite some flaws and certain events being arranged somewhat unreasonably, overall, the storyline of Cold Window Study Simulator is genuinely impressive and far exceeds his expectations, so he rates it an 8.5.

The deducted points primarily come from the feeling that there is room for improvement, especially the narration during the high school stage, which is too sloppy...

[If "Cold Window Study Simulator" were to have a sequel, what changes would you like to see?]

"Oh? Is there going to be a sequel?"

Upon seeing this question, Qian Xin immediately grasped the intention behind it; it’s hinting via the survey that Cold Window Study might have a sequel.

Will the sequel be at the high school stage?

Or... the university stage?

Having his interest piqued, Qian Xin focused his attention on this question; his expectations for the sequel should be regarding the visual style!

With the guarantee of the previous game’s storyline and gameplay, he believes the sequel won’t be lacking.

But the artistic style really needs to change; the characters, cutscenes, and UI of Cold Window Study Simulator... are just too abstract!

Qian Xin rarely criticizes independent games for a lack of artistic resources because he understands that it’s genuinely challenging for small teams or workshops to produce good game art designs.

But that’s no excuse for abstract art.

Look at the game’s protagonist: the face is so distorted, it looks like an alien pet!

And then there’s Old Huang...

As the creature players most frequently encounter in the game "Cold Window Study Simulator," the depiction of Old Huang can only be described in one phrase: Is your cow’s tail fan-shaped?

Leaving aside its ugliness for now, the person who drew this Old Huang is simply indulging in quirky aesthetics, only creating such abysmal pieces that leave people in a daze.

Since there is going to be a sequel, let’s change up the art style and avoid these abstract surrealist textures.

After spending about half an hour, Qian Xin seriously completed the questionnaire and left his contact information at the end.

He heard that players who seriously answered the questions might be randomly selected by the game officials to receive one of ten "Old Huang keychains" from "Cold Window Study Simulator?"

Alright!

Even though he dislikes Old Huang and feels that cattle herding delayed his studies, if there are prizes, he must participate to increase the odds.

Qian Xin isn’t the only player participating in the survey; besides him, about 150 people also answered the questions.

Chen Ba skimmed through the 150 questionnaires.

Excluding some insignificant questions, regarding the critical choices and answers, he noticed the distribution of player compositions.

For instance, female players are more easily touched during gameplay, especially by the storyline of "Cold Window Study Simulator," which profoundly moves them.

Male players are somewhat different.

Though they also empathize with the storyline, they rarely get teary-eyed; they are more moved by the protagonist and find him inspirational, and that’s it.

Another crucial point.

Regarding the game’s ending, most players expressed the hope for multiple different endings rather than a single linear narrative.

This gave Chen Ba great confidence.

Originally, he wanted to create multiple endings but hesitated, fearing opposition from players. After seeing the survey results, he immediately decided.

The ending of "Living Under Someone’s Roof Simulator" doesn’t need to be formulaic and can be more diverse than "Cold Window Study Simulator."

Simply put.

"Cold Window Study Simulator" conventionally only has two endings: getting into the desired high school or failing to do so.

Although there seem to be many minor endings, they mostly fall under these two main outcomes.

This time, with the new game, several entirely different routes may be created—not necessarily success or failure, but possibly a mix of both?

This is hard to understand.

To put it in layman’s terms: the solution to an issue can have many paths, all leading to either "success" or "failure."

But is there a possibility of neither success nor failure, where efforts make no difference?

The protagonist of "Living Under Someone’s Roof Simulator" tries his hardest to change the situation, eventually succeeding in leaving his aunt’s family, welcoming a new life.

Unfortunately, the new life isn’t as glamorous as he imagined; he continues living under someone’s roof, seemingly back to square one...

[New achievement "Hungry Sugar Mama" unlocked!]