Sunlight streamed into the living room through the window, its warm glow seeming almost poetic.
Lin Feng sat on the sofa, reviewing the progress of his plans, when a maid entered with tea.
"Mr. Taylor, someone wishes to see you."
Lin Feng's eyes immediately lit up. He looked at the maid and asked,
"A Wallbreaker?"
The maid shook her head. "No, it's Knight William, the president of SG Company. He wishes to consult you about development recommendations for a space virtual game."
StarsGame, abbreviated as SG, was a virtual game development company established only in recent months. Thanks to the lavishly produced CG for its game, it currently topped the player anticipation rankings among virtual games.
The company seemed to have been established specifically in response to Lin Feng's call, focusing on space-themed virtual games, so Lin Feng had noticed it early on.
Listening to the maid's report, Lin Feng pondered for a moment.
"Development recommendations..."
"Fine, I'll meet him. Let him in."
After all, SG Company had responded to his plan. Lin Feng had no reason to turn them away.
The maid left the room. A short while later, SG's president, Knight William, hurried in.
"Hello, Mr. William. It's an honor to have you visit me."
"No, I should be the one thanking you for taking time out of your busy schedule."
As soon as they met, the two shook hands and exchanged pleasantries before sitting down to talk.
"So, Mr. William, could you explain your question in greater detail?" Lin Feng asked.
William replied, "It's like this. Some time ago, I read about your proposal to combine games with education. I found it very interesting and hope to incorporate your idea into game development."
"But we've run into difficulties with how exactly to do that, so we came to seek your advice."
Lin Feng nodded in understanding. The proposal he had announced some time ago was indeed difficult to accomplish.
Combining games with education so that students could learn knowledge while playing—that was Lin Feng's vision for education in a virtual world.
However, combining games and education was highly difficult, because knowledge was inherently dull. Some people got dizzy just looking at a simple linear equation in two variables.
"As long as you follow the framework of 'one core, two principles,'" Lin Feng said, "you'll naturally be able to apply my proposal to game development."
"A core? Principles? Please explain in detail," Knight William eagerly pressed.
His true purpose in coming here was not to ask about Lin Feng's proposal. As a company, how could they possibly lack their own think tank? His main purpose was to learn the framework for virtual games from Lin Feng.
Lin Feng was the rulemaker for future virtual games, and he was quite ruthless and arbitrary. If the game SG Company had painstakingly developed failed to satisfy him, there was a high chance he would crush it in one stroke.
If their game was crushed, they would never recover the costs, and all the money they had spent would go down the drain.
"You must understand that what you're developing is a game, not some learning program. It merely has the function of teaching players knowledge. Therefore, you must prioritize the game's entertainment value, with learning coming second. That is the core," Lin Feng said.
If a game focused primarily on teaching knowledge, its dullness would increase dramatically. Students would feel that it was not a game for entertainment, but an electronic version of homework.
Once that happened, the idea of combining games and learning would collapse.
Therefore, learning knowledge could not occupy the main body of the game. Entertainment had to come first.
"While playing the game, players will unconsciously absorb knowledge into their minds, turning it into common sense they can use flexibly," Lin Feng said.
"Much of the knowledge students learn in school is rarely useful beyond exams and homework. This leaves them feeling lost, not knowing how to use what they have learned."
"For example, in chemistry: 'Copper does not react with dinitrogen tetroxide at room temperature, but in the presence of nitromethane, acetonitrile, diethyl ether, or ethyl acetate, it forms copper nitrate.' Students may memorize that, but can they use it? Can they tell dinitrogen tetroxide, nitromethane, acetonitrile, and diethyl ether apart? Even copper comes in pure copper and compounds containing copper ions, with differences in appearance and color. Can students distinguish those?"
"If they learn something but cannot use it, they will feel it is useless. But if students were taught through hands-on experiments in reality, it would consume enormous resources every day. The cost of education would be too high, and experiments also carried risks, making it impossible to guarantee students' personal safety."
"Virtual games can solve these problems. Not only are they safe, they can also help students understand more concretely how to use the knowledge they learn."
Lin Feng recalled his own school days. It was precisely because he had thought about such questions that he had gradually relaxed his studies. If he learned something but could not use it, what was the point of learning it? Just to earn a certificate?
Virtual games could use this to hone students' knowledge, allowing them to truly put what they learned to use. That alone put them streets ahead of the dull homework found in reality.
"It was precisely because I agree with your views that I decided to incorporate this concept into our game. Your advice is very useful to us. We will place particular emphasis on ensuring the game is entertaining. Then what do the 'two principles' refer to?" Knight William asked.
At some point, Knight William had taken out the notebook he carried with him and begun recording Lin Feng's every word without missing a thing.
Lin Feng continued, "No matter when, the game's physics engine must be as close to reality as possible. That is the first principle. The game's content can be difficult, but its controls cannot become so difficult that players struggle to immerse themselves. That is the second principle."
The first principle was for education. A physics engine that did not conform to reality would confuse the understanding of students playing the game. The second principle was for entertainment. Real players were never afraid of difficult games; what they feared was difficult controls. Controls that were too complicated made it hard for players to immerse themselves in the game.
Of course, there were other, more complicated issues to resolve. For instance, some players only liked being lone wolves and playing solo, while others were accustomed to team play.
But those were not matters Lin Feng needed to consider. They were problems for game developers. He only needed to provide a framework and let the horse run the rest of the way.
Knight William thought for a moment, then asked, "Will players leave because the game is too difficult?"
Lin Feng smiled faintly. "No. As long as you ensure it is entertaining, that won't happen. The content needs to be sufficiently complex for players to immerse themselves in it and want to play it. If it can directly affect the prospects of their future careers, they will only be more eager to play. Playing a game that not only teaches knowledge but also earns money—who wouldn't want such a good thing?"
He paused, and his tone shifted, turning stern and serious.
"Let me make this clear first: I will absolutely not tolerate reskinned cash-grab games. No matter what company makes them or who stands behind them, if anyone dares create that kind of game, I'll crush every one I see."
Lin Feng's plan was to control and guide humanity's ideological currents. Adults' thinking had already solidified and was extremely difficult to change, but students' thinking had not yet solidified and could be reshaped easily. Once those students grew up and entered society, the ideological currents of human society would change.
That was why Lin Feng had begun with virtual education.
In Lin Feng's plan, those reskinned cash-grab games were nothing but obstacles that needed to be cleared away, because they would draw students' attention elsewhere.
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