148: Chapter 148: The Hybrid Version Takes Over – Diver Dave is Coming Soon!

October 24th, Monday, one day before the plants vs. zombies hybrid edition launches.

Jiang Yuan was wearing a cream-colored soft knit short coat today, paired with a white T-shirt underneath, and smoke-gray casual pants on the bottom.

Her hair was left unstyled, long and raven-black, cascading over her shoulders. When she sat in her office chair, head bowed while flipping through documents, she was as quiet as an exquisite and beautiful porcelain doll.

When Chu Qing brought her coffee in the morning, she stared at her for three whole seconds before realizing she needed to set the cup down. On her way out, she nearly bumped into the doorframe, inwardly bowing down for the umpteenth time to her boss's stunning beauty and charm.

Jiang Yuan, however, didn't notice any of this.

On the table in front of her lay two items: one was the final test report for the plants vs. zombies hybrid edition submitted by Zhou Ming, and the other was the acceptance application for the full version of dave the diver sent by Lin Zhengtao late the night before.

There was no need to worry about the plants vs. zombies hybrid edition anymore.

Zhou Ming's final test report was very solid; the special effects for over twenty hybrid plants were all fully functional, and the frame rate of the new level maps on low-end machines was rock solid, perfectly meeting all of Jiang Yuan's requirements.

The real matter she needed to handle today was something else.

That was dave the diver, which was now largely completed!

Over at Star Studio, Lin Zhengtao hadn't rested the previous Sunday, having led the studio staff through a full day of process testing, and had sent the acceptance application to her email at 11:00 PM.

When she opened the email this morning, the first thing she saw in the attachment was the file labeled "Star Studio · dave the diver · V1.0 Acceptance Version."

To be honest.

Although Jiang Yuan, as the Producer, could be considered the person most familiar with the progress of both games.

Yet, when seeing this, she couldn't help but silently marvel at the astonishing production speed within Spark Games, and then sent a message to Lin Zhengtao, asking him to bring the full version to her office at 9:30 AM.

As the time reached 9:25.

Jiang Yuan closed Zhou Ming's test report and set it aside, picked up the Biluochun tea Chu Qing had just brewed, and took a sip.

The tea was still hot, and its clear fragrance spread between her lips and teeth, making her squint her eyes slightly in satisfaction.

Just as Jiang Yuan was immersed in the freshness brought by the new tea.

The office door was suddenly knocked on twice.

She set down the teacup and called out in a crisp voice:

"Come in!"

The moment her voice fell, Lin Zhengtao, wearing a white shirt and cargo pants, pushed the door open while clutching a gaming laptop, his expression solemn as he walked in, somewhere between excitement and nervousness.

Seeing him enter, Jiang Yuan tilted her chin toward the sofa, signaling him to sit.

She herself stood up and walked over with a light step.

Lin Zhengtao sat upright on the sofa and placed the gaming laptop on the coffee table. His hands seemed to tremble slightly as he turned it on. Noticing Jiang Yuan's gaze landing on his hands, he quickly smiled awkwardly:

"Sorry, President Jiang, I'm a bit nervous."

Jiang Yuan sat on the opposite sofa, blinked in confusion at his words, and said softly:

"Nervous about what? It's not your first time finishing a project, is it?"

As one of the founding members of Spark Games, Lin Zhengtao had experienced the completion of four projects: Slay the Spire, Plants vs. Zombies, Minecraft, and plants vs. zombies hybrid edition.

That was why Jiang Yuan found his demeanor a bit strange.

Hearing this, a complex expression that was hard to describe appeared on Lin Zhengtao's face. After a few seconds of silence, he said seriously:

"It's not the same. After all, dave the diver is the first project I've officially led and controlled, becoming the actual head of the studio."

"To tell you the truth, before joining Spark, I never imagined that one day I could become such a person!"

Amused by Lin Zhengtao's words.

Jiang Yuan shook her head with a chuckle:

"I thought it was something else. Old Lin, you're getting excited way too early! What's an indie game? In the future, you might have plenty of opportunities to lead large-scale single-player games yourself!"

A simple, honest smile appeared on his face, as if he thought Jiang Yuan was joking, or perhaps he simply didn't dare to imagine such a picture.

Lin Zhengtao quickly connected the HDMI cable to the large screen in the office, lighting up the screen, and the deep blue underwater world spread out across it.

Moonlight filtered down from the water surface, forming light blue beams of light, with tiny plankton drifting slowly within the beams. The chubby Dave stood on the beach with an oxygen tank on his back, and a bubble dialogue box appeared above his head:

"Boss, what do you want to eat today?"

Jiang Yuan didn't rush him to start the demonstration.

She leaned back against the sofa, tilted her head to look at the initial screen lingering on the beach for a while, then nodded slightly and commented in a crisp voice:

"Not bad, the color tone is better than last time."

A simple sentence, but the tension on Lin Zhengtao's shoulders visibly relaxed by half.

As Lin Zhengtao operated Dave to dive into the sea, he explained:

"It was adjusted according to what you said last time, President Jiang!"

"We added 15% of the purple channel to the blue of the deep-sea night zone, and used slow-panning camera language for the appearance of large fish—it doesn't rush at the player's face, but just swims slowly from a distance!"

"When we were doing internal testing, we found a few people who weren't in the R&D group to play it, and they all said that when they reached this scene, they couldn't help but stop and watch."

The scene gradually transitioned from the shallow sea area to the deep-sea area.

The shallow sea area was full of bright blue; schools of small fish darted between coral reefs, and sunlight filtered through the water, casting dancing light spots on the sandy bottom. A clownfish entangled by an anemone was circling in place; Dave swam over to rescue it and happily gained some experience points.

The deep-sea area was much quieter, the light becoming dim and soft. In the distance, a huge shadow moved slowly—it was a whale shark.

It didn't attack Dave; it just panned from the left side of the screen to the right. The background music turned into minimalist piano single notes at this moment, matching the speed of the whale shark's movement, with a sense of oppression and magnificence surging up simultaneously.

Jiang Yuan watched the whale shark slowly swim out of the screen and said softly:

"Pretty good, you've managed to create the feeling I described."

Listening to Jiang Yuan's comments, although Lin Zhengtao was happy in his heart, he had no extra reaction, focusing entirely on operating Dave to complete a night fishing mission. Because he was a bit nervous, the sweat on his palms had even smudged the laptop's touchpad.

Next, he demonstrated the sushi restaurant management gameplay, the weapon upgrade system, and the newly added ecological encyclopedia one by one.

Every fish species would unlock a corresponding encyclopedia entry after being caught, accompanied by hand-drawn realistic illustrations by Su Meng.

When Jiang Yuan saw the game screen that she was very familiar with in her mind, the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up slightly, and a moving smile bloomed on her face.

After more than two hours, the demonstration was officially over.

Lin Zhengtao paused the game on a beach scene at sunset, with Dave sitting on a beach chair, next to a glass of juice with a small umbrella in it. The office instantly fell into silence.

Jiang Yuan didn't speak immediately.

She picked up the cup of tea that Chu Qing had just filled on the coffee table and took a sip, then put the cup back on the tray and smiled:

"The progress is nearly a month faster than I expected."

Lin Zhengtao's expression suddenly became tense, possibly judging whether this was an affirmation or a criticism.

Jiang Yuan didn't let him guess for too long, immediately following up with a sentence in a tone slightly tinged with praise:

"The completion of the final version is very high, far exceeding the acceptance standards we set for those independent game projects outside the company in the Spark Light Project. Old Lin, you did a great job as the head of the studio this time! You didn't disappoint my expectations!"

As soon as these words came out, Lin Zhengtao's eyes were already a bit red. His hands, which were clenched into fists on his knees, slowly relaxed. For a moment, he was even a bit dazed, as if he were doubting if he was dreaming.

One couldn't blame his reaction for being too exaggerated.

It was truly hard for people outside to imagine: Jiang Yuan, who was only in her twenties, led their group to continuously produce four hit games, never stingy about sharing money, provided top-tier treatment for all company employees, and even casually whipped up an Aurora Engine—a big killer weapon no less than any top engine in the world.

In the hearts of Lin Zhengtao and all members of Spark Games, she had reached such a great level that she was probably not far from becoming a deity in their hearts.

So, under these premises, receiving a compliment from the deity in their hearts.

Lin Zhengtao's reaction at this moment, no matter how exaggerated, seemed very reasonable.

Although she noticed Lin Zhengtao's abnormality, Jiang Yuan didn't think too much about it, only assuming he was too excited after the project he had worked hard on for several months was finally completed. She still pondered thoughtfully:

"As for the release date, when do you think is appropriate?"

Lin Zhengtao had obviously thought about this question in advance. After trying hard to control his surging emotions, he quickly replied:

"President Jiang, how about early December? The plants vs. zombies hybrid edition is about to be released, and star ocean drift and the records of monsters should also be released soon. Dave is a part of the bridge for our subsequent independent game plans at Spark. I want to give it a separate time window and not squeeze it in with other projects!"

Jiang Yuan thought for a moment and nodded gently.

Early December, one month and a little bit from now, not too long and not too short, just enough to polish the last few corners. Thinking of this, she affirmed calmly:

"Then let's tentatively set it for December 1st. During this time, take the studio and optimize the project well. We must ensure that we provide players with the best gaming experience when it is released!"

As Lin Zhengtao, with some surging excited emotions, left clutching the gaming laptop.

The office returned to a reassuring silence.

Jiang Yuan opened the folder Lin Zhengtao left behind and read it again. After thinking a little, she couldn't help but add one more item at the end of the last page:

"In the subsequent optimization, you can add an Easter egg in the game: hang the logo of Spark Games on the wall of Dave's sushi restaurant, made to look like a framed picture hanging on the wall. It doesn't need to be too big, just palm-sized is fine."

She closed the folder, called Chu Qing to have her send it to Lin Zhengtao, and then happily took out her phone, slacking off in a good mood.