At three o'clock in the afternoon,

The sun shines obliquely on the lawn,

The world is warmly dyed golden, as if draped in a light veil of brightness.

In the center of the field, the winner of the final table is about to be decided.

Surrounded by onlookers,

"I think we should mortgage the station and build a house."

"The station can't be sold, there is a way out."

"Two people have gone bankrupt, and there are a lot of borderlands vacated on the map, so it's inevitable that there will be many nights. Therefore, the side with the advantage must fight quickly and cannot rely on luck. ”

……

Lu Shi wanted to laugh when he heard it,

These Britons have no consciousness of "watching chess and not saying a true gentleman".

Margarita came up,

"Professor Lu, why don't you go into the palace? His Majesty the King in the study. ”

Lu Shi nodded,

"Okay."

Stephenson led the way, led him to the door of the study, and knocked softly.

From inside came the voice of Edward VII,

"Come in."

Lu Shi pushed the door and entered.

Compared with the Victorian era, the layout of the study has not changed much,

The bookshelves are lined with the fragrance of ink,

Elegant and dignified.

Portraits and medals of past monarchs hang on the walls, revealing the history and glory of the royal family.

In the center of the room is a mahogany desk,

At this time, Edward VII was sitting across the table from the Pike brothers, fiddling with the little people on the table.

He has a scruffy beard and blood-red eyes, how he looks like a primitive man.

Suddenly, he said, "Slash! Fast! I'm going to use a slash! Aha! I'm going to cut off your head! ”

"Forehead ......"

George Peck hesitated,

"Your Majesty, I must remind you that you are using ...... The role played is Gandalf. ”

Edward VII was stunned,

“Shiit！”

He cursed a dirty word very disregardively.

Edward Peck, who was next to him, couldn't help laughing, but thinking of the other party's identity, he quickly turned his head away and tried to hold his face.

His Majesty's face darkened,

"ED, you kid, you're laughing at me!?"

Edward waved his hand,

"I didn't ...... Well, I'm sorry, Your Majesty, I couldn't hold back. ”

After speaking, he quickly explained: "You know me. I'm trained so much that no matter how funny I am, I won't laugh...... Unless you can't help it. ”

Edward VII cracked open on the spot and spat out garbled words:

“！ @#*￥%……”

Lu Shi stepped forward,

"Your Majesty."

Edward VII glanced back at him and said, "Lu, you are finally ...... Come on, come on, you judge me! In it, Gandalf is obviously a melee mage, and he is so strong with sticks, how can he be so weak in the game? ”

As he said,

People who don't know still think that Gandalf is Lu Junyi's Western righteousness~

Lu Shi looked at the Pike brothers.

The two smiled wryly,

George said, "Your Majesty, this script is not something you can play alone." There is a need for a division of labor. ”

Edward VII was very dissatisfied,

"Why? Isn't my previous script a one-way one? I chopped melons and vegetables with a big stride. ”

The so-called "big stride" is the character Aragorn in "The Lord of the Rings".

Unexpectedly, Edward VII was also a book lover.

George explained: "Your Majesty, I have told you the reason before. It's a beginner's teaching script, which is used to familiarize game participants with the rules, so it can be used one-way. Moreover, you have to consider the difficulty of the first script to guard the boss. ”

Lu Shi was curious: "What is the boss?" ”

George said, "Wolves." ”

The wolf appeared in the Battle of the Valley of the Holy Helmet in "The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers",

During the retreat of the Rohan Kingdom, it was attacked by a wolf knight, and the wolf was the mount.

Its bite is strong, its charge is ferocious, but its combat power is average, and it is indeed suitable for being a guard boss in a novice script.

Lu Shi said: "It is very reasonable for Aragorn to single-handedly take on the wolf. ”

Edward VII was still upset,

"I've been up all night for three days, and I'm stunned that I haven't been able to figure out the Flame Demon ...... Forehead...... Not right either. ”

He glanced at George,

"You don't agree with the route I researched before."

"Ah......h

George was embarrassed.

Edward VII snorted, took the script to Lu Shi, and then said, "Read it for yourself." ”

Lu Shi glanced at it,

I saw that there were traces of alteration in the script,

The original typography reads:

"The smell of sulfur coming out of the caverns in the rocky walls makes you feel sick."

Now it becomes:

“

The sulfur-smelling gas seems to be poisonous!

The crowd could not come close.

”

Obviously, this is a bug that the brothers fixed on the spot.

Lu Shi laughed,

"Your Majesty, you're doing internal testing."

Edward VII looked puzzled,

"What is 'internal testing'?"

"Forehead ......"

Lu Shi paused slightly and replied to the other party: "A table game, it can't be completely reasonable just after it is made." In Monopoly as an example, how much money each player has to start with, and how much does it cost to build a house......"

All kinds of settings, he is like a treasure.

The Pike brothers next to him listened, and couldn't help but show a complicated look,

"Monopoly", they did test it internally, just on the cruise ship from London to the United States, the gentlemen of the club took turns,

But there are no problems like Lu Shi said.

Therefore, "a table game cannot be completely reasonable when it is just made" is a proper lie.

A certain pervert surnamed Lu can do it.

Edward VII did not know this,

He was a little proud,

"So, in a way, I'm also the designer of The Lord of the Rings?"

Lu Shi: "......"

After being silent for a while, he nodded again and again,

"Ah, yes, yes, yes!"

His Majesty was even more proud, and glanced at the Pike brothers, saying, "Big Joe, ED, you still have to pay my salary~"

George: "......"

Edward: "......"

The two were also silent for a while, and then said, "Ah, yes, yes! ”

Edward VII:

"Hahaha!"

Laughing like a 180-pound child.

Looking at that look, I was finally coaxed to be happy.

He stood up and stretched, bringing a gust of wind,

Then, as if he had smelled something, he sniffled and sniffed the red cashmere cloak he was carrying with his right index finger and thumb under his nose.

"Disgusting ......"

I almost threw up.

Probably because I study the script every day, I haven't taken a shower for a long time.

The atmosphere at the scene was a little awkward,

“……”

“……”

“……”

The four of them looked at each other, but no one spoke.

Half a minute later, Edward VII opened his mouth: "Lu, I've heard that this time you went to Stockholm, not only did you get Monson, but also wrote a science fiction?" ”

Talking seriously about business, like the embarrassment just now never happened.

Lu Shi nodded,

"It's called "Chaowen Dao". In fact, I wrote another novella in France – Animal Farm. ”

Edward VII sighed,

"I've found that you like to publish science fiction in France."

Lu Shi was a little surprised,

"Your Majesty, do you also read science fiction? You can read it...... I mean, you don't have to worry, I've commissioned the French publisher Mr. Alex Herzel, who will compile "Chaowen Dao" and "Animal Farm" into one book and translate them into various Chinese languages. ”

Edward VII nodded,

"Very good."

After that, there was another eerie silence.

Lu Shi coughed lightly,

"Your Majesty, the first day of the Monopoly Grand Prix is coming to an end. Why don't you go and show your face? ”

This is what Edward VII wanted,

"Okay, rejoice with the people, I'll go."

He walked briskly out of the study.

"Whew~"

The Pike brothers let out a sigh at the same time.

George poured bitter water,

"Professor Lu, His Majesty is too fun-loving! At first, he pestered us with "Monopoly", and then when he heard that there was "The Lord of the Rings", he tried it again and became addicted, and even summoned us to Buckingham Palace in the middle of the night to study how to read the script. ”

Lu Shi didn't expect Edward VII to be an otaku.

He waved his hand,

"Forget it, don't talk about this."

George said "um", handed over the game box, and said, "Professor Lu, can you help take a look?" ”

There are five scripts lying in the box, running through the plots of the two books "The Fellowship of the Ring" and "The Two Towers".

Highlight a large amount of tube full.

Lu Shi spreads his hands,

"Are we doing business so sincerely?"

Edward muttered: "I still don't think this is enough~"

Land Hours: ???

"Not enough? That's a lot of content. ”

Roughly estimated, the text of the script is 50,000 words less.

George hastened to explain: "Edward is not saying that there is not enough content, but that such a Lord of the Rings is not enough to occupy the living room at every family's Christmas party. ”

Edward chimed in: "We hope that the Pike brothers' table games are more popular than cards. ”

They are ambitious, and their ideals are as ambitious as Sony's launch of the PS console.

Lu Shi said: "It's very difficult. ”

George was helpless,

"yes, even Monopoly can't do it."

Lu Shi fell into deep thought,

After a long time, he asked, "What do you think is the weakness of this set of "The Lord of the Rings"?" ”

Edward said: "Poor replayability. ”

He picked up the script and shook it,

"For example, King Edward just played the Fire Demon Book, the clearance conditions are fixed, and the roles that players can play are also fixed. In this way, once you have played it once, will you play it again? ”

Lu Shi nodded in agreement,

This is the nature of role-playing, like canned food, which can be eaten immediately and discarded after eating.

Of course, at the beginning of the 20th century, there must have been many people who liked to play over and over again, like Edward VII.

After all, there is very little entertainment these days.

But this group of diehards is not enough to support the Pike brothers' dream of "taking over the living room".

Lu Shi said: "Then this "Lord of the Rings" needs to have more changes than "Monopoly". ”

Edward said, "I thought about it with Big Joe. There are two main reasons why each game of "Monopoly" is different, one is the dice, that is, luck; Second, confrontation, that is, the participants in each game are different. ”

As he spoke, he looked at the script,

"But "The Lord of the Rings" has a hard time achieving both of these things. Let's talk about dice first, the script is fixed, how should luck affect the progress of the game? ”

Lu Shi picked up the newbie book,

In the final boss wolf, there are various clearance conditions written,

For example:

Aragorn uses three slashes.

In other words, the Pike brothers numerized the game, but not completely.

As counted.

Lu Shi nodded,

"You move on to the second point."

Edward continued: "Then there's the problem of the game's participants, the role swap doesn't make the game more interesting. In the case of me and George, for the first time, I played Aragon and he played Gandalf; The second time, he played Aragon and I played Gandalf, but because the script was fixed and our actions were basically predictable, it didn't make the game more enjoyable, and even reduced. ”

George took over the topic,

"Professor Lu, the cost of this game is very high, and the price is naturally high. If you can't provide players with more than fifteen hours of gameplay, then it is better for players to buy a copy of "The Mystery of Roger" to read. ”

When the land is full of black lines,

￣□￣｜｜

"'The Mystery of Roger' is inherently interesting."

George embarrassed,

"I'm sorry."

Lu Shi continued: "Moreover, you have a problem with this calculation. Playing board games is a multiplayer activity, but what about reading a book? Even if you go to the library, you're alone. ”

George was convinced,

"Professor Lu means that this Lord of the Rings can work?"

Lu Shi shrugged noncommittally,

"It's definitely no problem to make money. But if you want to spread it out on a large scale, you have to renovate it. ”

He picked up the novice book,

"Here."

The Pike brothers cast their eyes and found that Lu Shi was referring to the boss wolf,

Edward was puzzled,

"Any questions?"

Lu Shi said:

“

'Aragorn uses three slashes. ’

”

Edward let out an "ah" and said, "This is the condition for customs clearance. Is there something wrong with our formulation? ”

Lu Shi smiled,

"I'll give you a hint."

He looked around, looked at the quill in the inkwell, and knew that it was the one that Edward VII used to sign the documents, and he didn't dare to use it.

George groped on his body,

"Here! I've got a pen with me! ”

Lu Shi took it and wrote a formula directly on the script:

30=10×3。

George and Edward exchanged glances,

Vaguely, they felt like they had caught something.

Lu Shi said with a smile: "Actually, you have already used this idea in your own board game "Cuban War". You put different armor on the British and Spanish ships, right? ”

Edward suddenly realized,

"I ...... Got it! Blood volume...... You're talking about the amount of blood! For example, if the wolf has 30 health, then each attack of the slash is 10 health. ”

George added: "12 blood is fine, because 24 blood can't kill, 36 blood can overflow." This makes it possible to optimize the combat process, and avid game enthusiasts like King Edward will continue to study it. ”

Lu Shi stretched out his fingers,

“Bingo！ But that's not the most important thing. ”

He wrote another line on the paper:

6~12。

George's eyes lit up,

"This ...... It's the luck component! ”

Lu Shi said: "That's right, the value can fluctuate. If an Aragorn is unlucky, it may take five slashes to defeat the wolf. ”

George and Edward glanced at each other and admired Lu Shi in their hearts.

This man, God!

Edward asked, "What about the second point?" Questions about role-playing......"

Lu Shi pondered for a moment and said, "You can role-play, but don't play it so thoroughly." ”

Edward was stunned when he heard this,

"What...... What? ”

Examples of land time:

"For example, you play Aragon and Big Joe plays Gandalf, and that's complete roleplay. What if you played as a warrior and he played as a mage? ”

A word to wake up the dreamer,

Edward looked abruptly surprised.

George was puzzled,

"This ...... What do you mean? How do I feel no difference? Isn't Aragorn a warrior? ”

Lu Shi laughed,

"So, 'Gandalf is obviously a melee mage, and he is so strong with a stick, how can he be so weak in the game?' ”

These are the exact words of Edward VII,

Just now, George thought it was stupid,

But when Lu Shi said it, the taste was different, and it seemed to mean something.

Edward sighed,

"Brother, you're too stupid, aren't you? Professor Lu has already made it obvious. ”

He dragged the paper in front of Lu Shi and wrote three lines:

Slash: 6~12;

Shield Strike: 2~16;

Boost: Give all teammates +5 for their next two attacks.

Edward said, "Let's say we give a fighter three skills to choose from. If you like stability, you will choose to slash; If you like high risk and high return, you will choose shield strike; Those who like to assist will choose to inspire. ”

George also understood,

"So, although they are all Aragon, they are completely different Aragon."

Edward scratched his head and said, "That's a bit weird, in my opinion, it's just a different fighting style." ”

Lu Shi said: "This is just the profession and skills, and the settings can be varied. ”

Edward was shocked,

"And?"

Lu Shi said "um",

"Don't forget, there are many races in Middle-earth in The Lord of the Rings. Like Aragorn, the Terrans, the warriors, right? Is it possible to give the Terrans a trait? In this way, how many possibilities can be increased by the combination of occupation and race? ”

Edward: "......"

George: "......"

They were speechless.

The brothers are obviously veterans of board games for many years, but in front of Lu Shi, they are as immature as elementary school students.

Any idea from someone is comparable to a daughter.

As a result, Lu Shi didn't finish speaking,

He continued: "There's a lot more to be done than that. For example, battle rewards. Is there no reward for your character who defeated the wolf in the newbie? ”

Edward frowned, and gently stroked his fingers,

"Reward?"

Lu Shi said: "For example, equipment. It's also in "The Cuban War". ”

Edward:!!!

"You mean, you can enhance your character's combat capabilities by assigning equipment to them, just as you can give them armor-piercing capabilities by strengthening their guns?"

Lu Shi said: "Even if you don't have equipment, you can have combat experience." ”

Edward: "......"

He found that he could never keep up with the train of thought when he landed, and he was already desperate,

"Combat experience? So what? ”

Lu Shi inspired: "The simplest truth, on the battlefield, the more experienced the veteran knows how to kill, and the raw melon eggs go out to pee." Of course, the experienced escapes are also fast, which is not a kind of setting direction. ”

George and Edward automatically filtered out the second half of the sentence about the escape.

George said, "You mean that as the combat experience increases, the character's combat ability also increases?" ”

Lu Shi dialed the other party: "Or you can learn new skills~ For example, you can only slash at the beginning, but after leveling up, you can comprehend one from shield strikes and inspiration." ”

Upgrade......

It's a new concept again.

But literally it is not difficult to understand, somewhat similar to the rank of the army.

Edward looked down and wrote and drew frantically on the paper.

Lu Shi said: "ED, Da Qiao, you don't have much time, if you want to overhaul "The Lord of the Rings", you must do it as soon as possible." ”

George groaned,

"It's not hard to digitize the game. Set the amount of HP, damage, who wouldn't? It's all about making the numbers reasonable and making the game not too hard or too easy. Do you really want to test ...... internally?"

The words are not finished yet,

Squeak –

The door was suddenly opened.

Edward VII had apparently just taken a shower and walked in refreshed, even with a faint scent of perfume.

He said, "Well, did you have ...... when I was away?"

Edward stood up at once,

"Your Majesty!"

As he spoke, he grabbed His Majesty's right arm.

Edward VII: ???

"Dry ...... Why? ”

Edward said, "Your Majesty, get ready. For these three days, you don't have to think about sleeping. ”

His Majesty was stunned,

"Hey, hey, hey! You don't ...... Don't come here! ”

George on the side hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, don't you like to be an internal test player of "The Lord of the Rings"? Now, a great opportunity is right around the corner! ”

Hearing that it was a table game, Edward VII breathed a sigh of relief,

"Okay, it's a big deal not to wash it for three days...... Ahem......"

He straightened his hair,

"Let's get started."

You can't admit that you don't take a bath.

(End of chapter)