The only real difficulty might be that the game’s core "Merit" system needs to leverage the Iron Fool System to realize some of its functions.

No choice!

In simple terms, the Merit System is actually a hidden three-tier currency system.

The entire system seems uncomplicated and even quite straightforward and crude. However, during the actual development process, there is a rather tricky issue.

How to determine the acquisition of merit?

"In the game setting, players, as cultivators, can earn merit rewards from the Heavenly Dao by slaying demons or doing good deeds,"

Chen Ba explained, "The problem now is that the Heavenly Dao is a rather ambiguous concept without a clear standard for judging merit acquisition."

To put it bluntly, there is no specific quantitative standard for issuing and deducting merit, and the judging freedom is relatively high.

"Just create a set of values and apply them, right?"

Lu was puzzled, not understanding what was difficult about this. You set a fixed value framework for the merit system, and then calculate merit according to this framework.

How simple!

For instance, slaying demons...

In the game, you just need to fix a basic merit value according to the power level of the demons, then plug it into the formula to calculate the merit that players gain.

This is a common method used in other games, applying formulaic calculations.

"No!"

"I understand what you’re saying, but you’ve overlooked the interference of other factors on this calculation formula, and the fair impartiality of the Heavenly Dao in issuing merit."

Still talking about slaying demons, Chen Ba illustrated a situation that could occur in reality.

A Golden Core Stage demon causing trouble, harming 10 civilians, has a certain amount of karmic force.

And another Golden Core Stage demon also harms civilians, but it’s for protecting its lair, and humans voluntarily intruded into its territory to capture its body and offspring.

Would the Heavenly Dao issue the same amount of merit to players for killing these two demons?

"There’s another situation..."

Participant Liu Jinfu gave an example: "Even if they are both Golden Core Stage demons, their combat abilities might differ, and the difficulty for players to eliminate them is also different."

One demon might have powerful magical treasure, or extremely formidable secret immortal techniques, making it highly threatening!

But this demon’s cultivation realm remains unchanged, although its combat ability is a bit high, does the merit gained from vanquishing it change?

"Uh..."

Lu scratched his head and said, "Then just add a few new variables to encompass these situations!"

"After including them, although these situations are resolved, can you guarantee there won’t be new unexpected situations?"

Chen Ba questioned, "Does it mean that for every special situation in the game, we need to add a new calculation variable to this merit calculation formula?"

That’s too complicated.

Moreover, it only treats the symptoms rather than the cause; often in games, when one special situation arises, it requires updating to add a variable, changing the original merit calculation formula.

Chen Ba thought continually doing additions like this is less preferable to making the merit calculation system into a subtraction.

"Subtraction?"

"Exactly! It doesn’t need to be so complicated, nor does it need tedious calculations, even less any formula applications or so-called variables..."

Chen Ba explained, "We can completely remove these cumbersome trivialities and hand over the discretion of merit to the Heavenly Dao."

The game’s Heavenly Dao is essentially the core code of the merit system.

No formulas or calculations are needed; just grant the Heavenly Dao a certain amount of discretionary power to make reasonable judgments based on actual situations.

Lu’s plan is essentially using legal texts to stipulate how much merit should be gained by XX action, how XX situation should be judged, which is doing addition, making the legal text increasingly lengthy.

Whereas Chen Ba’s plan removes the thick and long legal text and instead establishes a special position of "Judge", letting the judge freely decide how much merit should be awarded based on the actual case.

Both schemes are usable.

However, in the specific execution process and actual gameplay experience, Lu’s plan seems cumbersome and tedious due to constant addition.

So, the most suitable plan for the game is to establish a "Heavenly Dao Judge" and let it have a certain amount of discretionary power.

Of course!

After all, the Heavenly Dao in the game is a "dead object", so it’s a certain discretion, not complete discretion.

Under the precedent of having examples to follow, the Heavenly Dao will calculate the amount of merit players obtain based on the basic formula.

And in some special or complex situations, the Heavenly Dao itself needs to judge whether to give 10 points of merit or 100 points of merit.

"This is very troublesome, isn’t it?"

After understanding Ba’s meaning, Lu frowned and said, "Though your plan has high feasibility, how to make this Heavenly Dao and merit judgement system?"

A thought is a thought.

While making a game, perhaps everyone has this or that creative idea; these ideas are interesting, but whether they can be turned into a finished product is another story.

Turning into a finished product, transforming into a practical idea, is what holds the significance of discussion.

Anyone can talk big, right?

If grandstanding could create a great game, there wouldn’t be such a saying as "Do it if you can".

Lu acknowledged Ba’s idea.

Subtraction indeed is more rational and has more practical significance than addition. However, the key to doing subtraction is ensuring the self-governance of the merit system.

It’s extremely difficult to achieve...

He thought a bit, at least he couldn’t make a "Heavenly Dao" capable of discretionary judgment of player actions’ alignment with merit award standards.

"Don’t worry, I’ll figure it out."

Since Chen Ba dared to propose this idea, it demonstrated he already had a corresponding solution.

He couldn’t, Lu couldn’t either...

Isn’t there the Iron Fool System! With the prowess of the Iron Fool System, simulating an "impartial and fair" Heavenly Dao in the game, is a piece of cake.

Honestly.

This Heavenly Dao is actually considered half an AI; it’s regarded as half mainly because the "Heavenly Dao" needs absolute fairness and selflessness.

Put bluntly, it’s a rigid program.

The Heavenly Dao in the game is a supreme, judgmental program monitoring the sins and merits of all beings. This program, theoretically, does not belong to the AI category, because it is more ruthless and inflexible than AI.

When players enter the game "Cultivation Fantasy," every move is monitored by the "Heavenly Dao."

A bit like an anti-cheat program?

Pretty much! Anyway, that’s the idea, by monitoring player behavior, then judging the merit system to award appropriate rewards.

This "Heavenly Dao" is incredible!

The "Heavenly Dao" devised by the Iron Fool System is literally omnipresent, in some sense even more exaggerated than game GMs.

The old saying goes: Three feet above your head is divinity!

Sorry, in the game "Cultivation Fantasy," the "Old Heaven" truly exists, with the Heavenly Dao serving as a monitoring program above all beings.

"Doesn’t that lack privacy?"

Lu mocked, "Being watched like this all the time, playing the game feels so pressuring!"

"Being watched?"

Hearing this, Chen Ba burst out laughing.

"For you to feel uncomfortable being watched, there must be a person! But is the Heavenly Dao a person? It isn’t, not even considered as AI, just a program!"

From this perspective, Lu’s concern about the lack of player privacy, feeling uneasy being watched, is unfounded.

Because this Heavenly Dao is theoretically just a small program running in the game’s background.

This is an inanimate object, a piece of code...

Players don’t need to understand the Heavenly Dao, just knowing it’s akin to when you run the League of Legends client and leave it running in the background like wegame is enough.