Chapter 43: Keyboard, Arcade Stick, and Gamepad

Chen Ba did not play dead.

Or rather, he wasn’t ready to bail yet. A real man should take responsibility for the mistakes he’s made.

The reason he hadn’t replied was mainly that he went online to check how real estate developers usually appease homeowners’ emotions before they run off with unfinished projects.

He actually found something!

Following a real-life real estate company’s apology statement, Chen Ba copied it like a parrot and wrote a heartfelt little essay.

[To all homeowners:

We greatly appreciate your concern and support for the progress of "Tianba Manor." As you are about to move into your new home, we would like to announce the delay in house handover, hoping for your understanding and forgiveness. We apologize deeply for any inconvenience caused...

—— Tianba Real Estate]

See, this is what’s called professional!

Whether or not this little essay can calm the players’ anger, just bow to the camera and shout "Even my mom says so," and that’s it.

Deeply understanding the spirit of craftsmanship, Chen Ba took the initiative to apologize to the players, swearing on his life’s happiness that he would never run away!

"Rest assured, the houses will definitely be delivered..."

Using the GameBugs administrator account, Chen Ba declared in the player community, "Once the new game is done, I’ll come back to work on the update for ’Living Under Someone’s Roof Simulator.’"

"Alright, alright, I took a screenshot."

"For the sake of the new game, I’ll trust you this once, Ba, don’t let me down!"

"When will the new game be released?"

"We’ve had middle school and high school protagonists, so is the protagonist of the new game a college student?"

The players were just making a fuss.

After Chen Ba apologized and swore, everyone’s focus shifted from the "unfinished building" to the "new game" he mentioned.

What kind of game is the new one?

Is it a university life simulator this time?

Many players are curious about Tianba Studio’s new game. Especially the core players who played the previous two games, they want to know if the new game is also a simulation?

"Nope!"

Chen Ba, who rarely bubbled up in the player community, picked a few questions to reply to: "The new game is called ’Star Emperor,’ and you can tell from the name that it’s different from the previous two games."

"It’s a 3D fighting competition game that supports multiplayer online action. More game details will be unveiled in a preview video released later, please stay tuned!"

Fighting? Multiplayer online?

Upon hearing these two words, many players were stunned.

First, there’s the fighting game. It’s nothing new. Since the early arcade game halls, everyone has come across many similar works.

But many people didn’t expect Tianba Studio, which built its reputation with simulation and management games, to choose to develop a fighting game.

Secondly, there’s multiplayer online!

If the news that Tianba Studio is launching a fighting game made everyone hesitate, the multiplayer online mode revealed by Ba earned unanimous praise.

They should have introduced multiplayer online long ago.

When "Cold Window Study Simulator" was gaining popularity, players had already proposed the idea of multiplayer online.

Yet, Tianba Studio remained unmoved.

While everyone thought that Tianba Studio might not be familiar with multiplayer mode or reluctant to venture into that field, only wanting to make single-player games, they now release a multiplayer online game?

Bravo!

Finally, you can play with your good friends! Although Tianba Studio hasn’t made a fighting game before, the final quality remains to be seen, but the multiplayer online mode alone makes it worth looking forward to.

Single-player games are fun, sure.

But many players have social needs. When they find a game they like that doesn’t support multiplayer online, they can’t battle it out with friends, which feels like a missed opportunity.

The new game supporting multiplayer online surprises the players.

However, some express concerns.

From Ba’s remarks, it’s not hard to see that Tianba Studio’s new game still focuses on the PC platform rather than the console, which is also their usual practice.

But fighting games...

Honestly, fighting games are obviously more popular on consoles. The number of PC mouse and keyboard players isn’t as large as imagined.

So, this time, will the fighting game developed by Tianba Studio have extra optimization and support for joysticks and controllers?

"Compatibility is paramount."

Even an average player can predict this problem, and Chen Ba, of course, considered it.

So they say, no joystick, no fighting!

In the fighting game arena, joysticks provide the best experience, controllers are second, and then keyboards.

The difference between controllers and keyboards isn’t as big as imagined. It’s just one can be played while lying on a couch, and the other requires sitting.

But joysticks are different. Among mainstream fighting games, top players mostly use joysticks. In many international fighting game competitions, the successful contestants are primarily joystick players, followed by controller players.

As for keyboard players?

There are some who have achieved fair results, but their numbers are far less compared to joystick and controller players.

Why is this?

Regarding hardware, Chen Ba doesn’t know much, he only knows that using a joystick that rivals the arcade experience to play fighting games feels fantastic.

No matter how good you are with controllers and keyboards, they rarely bring such joy.

Of course!

This is also related to the prevalence of arcade fighting games, the large console fanbase, and the fact that developers generally make varying degrees of optimization for joysticks and controllers.

What players worry about now is that for Tianba Studio’s first fighting game, with their focus evidently on the PC platform, they might not optimize for joysticks and controllers.

This could lead to a situation where joysticks or controllers, which should offer the top experience, don’t feel as satisfying as keyboard controls.

Your Majesty, such recklessness must be avoided!

Joysticks and controllers are the foundation of the Fighting Empire. Shaking this foundation in favor of keyboards will cause unrest and turmoil. Please, reconsider...

"Equal treatment should be given to all."

Lu expressed his opinion: "Whether it’s keyboard, controller, or joystick, we should provide equal treatment and give players the most freedom."

Use whatever you like.

The studio’s goal is merely to optimize based on different hardware configurations to ensure every player has a good gaming experience.

As for the platform’s advantages and which operation the game emphasizes more, that’s not within their consideration range.

Prioritizing joysticks and controllers while neglecting keyboard players?

Impossible!

The foundation of Tianba Studio is the PC platform, where there are many mouse and keyboard players. To abandon them would be suicide, wouldn’t it?

One has to know that Tianba Studio still has some loyal fans on PC. Moving to the console would indeed make them invisible.

If we have to rate the level of attention, keyboard definitely takes precedence over joystick or controller, at least that’s how Tianba Studio thinks.