Game Making: Start By Healing the Player

“But it’s only half a month away! Can we finish it in time? Does this mean more overtime?” Yang Xin felt a chill run down her spine, her eyes glazed over, perhaps thinking back to some terribly stressful event. 

The registration period is set at the beginning of September. But this announcement was made all the way back in June. 

In other words, anybody interested would have already been working on their projects for two or three months. 

“Yeah, and for a sci-fi game, I don’t think we can handle something like that. At least, not with just 3 people, right?” Ruan Ningxue interjected. 

After taking part in the development of two games, Ruan Ningxue has gained further insight into the industry, becoming more aware of the limits and capabilities of a solid team. 

Although the game didn’t have to be big, time was tight, and even with 3 people going full steam ahead, it was still not guaranteed to be finished on time. 

“We have more than enough time. This game will be smaller than ‘Undertale’.” Chen Xu replied with a smile. 

The girls looked at him in disbelief. 

Huh?? 

Was it a big game? Absolutely not. 

But now, this new game is going to be even smaller? What even is this thing? Can this thing even compete in the event?

Ruan Ningxue said nothing, but looked at Chen Xu and waited for him to explain.

“The size of the game isn’t going to matter much in this case. What matters is participating and impressing the players and judges.” Chen Xu said, using all his willpower to stop himself from making an inappropriate joke. 

Hearing his words, the girls seemed to settle down, readying their phones and notebooks like a couple of obedient students. 

Yang Xin was the first to raise her hand, “Question. Is it going to be similar to ‘Undertale’, just without meta-elements?”

She didn’t ask for no reason. After all, the development team for this game would likely still be just the three of them. Even if they managed to hire a suitable candidate, it was unrealistic to expect a newbie to contribute on such short notice. 

So logically speaking, they could work a lot faster by using ‘Undertale’ as a working template or format. Since they were so familiar with it by now. 

“Yes and No, but you’ll see what I mean later.” Chen Xu gave them a light nod. 

When it comes to ideas for new games, there are actually a lot of options.

But taking into account the upcoming event, as well as the team’s available resources and manpower, one particular title stood out to Chen Xu. A title that brought back warm and sour feelings of nostalgia. 

He turned off the projector and began to speak while scribbling on a whiteboard.

“In a not too distant future, in a world not unlike our own, there exists a company that provides a very special kind of service.”

“They have created a special device that allows them to create artificial memories in the minds of people.”

“But these artificial memories are not temporary or reversible, and thus will conflict with the person’s real memories. The procedure can only be legally carried out on comatose patients who are beyond saving. Thus, offering a chance to fulfill the wishes of those on their deathbeds, letting them pass on without regrets.”

“The story revolves around two employees of the company, Dr Eva and Dr Neil, as they are contracted to provide this service to a patient named Johnny, whose lifelong dream is to go to the moon.”

After giving his summary, Chen Xu wrote the name of the game in large letters: ‘To the Moon’. 

On the surface, it fits into the sci-fi genre. But in reality, it is the story of two lovers. 

In his previous life, it was a very small indie game, made in a simple engine called RPG Maker. It had no combat, focusing instead on puzzle solving and storytelling.  

But this unassuming little game has moved the hearts of countless players, making even the most macho of men misty eyed and tearful. 

Not to mention, ‘To the Moon’ received numerous awards and accolades for its storytelling. 

Such as the 2011 Game of the Year Awards, where it beat out several other heavy-weight contenders for the crown of “Best Story”.

Or the Steam Awards 2017, where it was among the top nominees for the category called “I’m not crying, there’s something in my eye”

The developer, Gao Kan, even made an appearance on national television, on a CCTV programme called “The world Listens to Me”.

Chen Xu made this choice for several reasons. Firstly, it fit the theme; secondly, it was small and simple; and thirdly, he wanted to take advantage of the situation to gain more emo points.

As for the matter of winning the grand prize? He could only leave that up to fate. After all, the actual sci-fi portions were very limited. Its simple nature and ability to squeeze tears out of players were the highlights. 

Speaking of squeezing out tears, before coming to know of this event, Chen Xu was actually considering some rage-inducing games such as ‘Jump King’ or ‘Getting over it’. 

With some clever marketing and a bit of luck, these games had the potential to become video and live-streaming phenomena, feeding off the frustration of the content creators and giving the watchers some fun content. Just like in his previous world. 

But after some thought, Chen Xu decided to put this on the backburner. 

Most of the hype comes from seeing other people suffer, not from playing it yourself. So it might not be worth taking the reputation impact of making these types of games where the actual player base is likely to be small. 

So Chen Xu decisively selected ‘To the Moon’, his previous two games were already known for their storytelling, so this one would fit right in. 

………………..

The development team at Nebula Games continued their meeting, hammering out key details and directions. 

After that, Chen Xu returned to his station to work on the design concept drafts. 

Chen Xu sat down, and used a memory bank to recall the game in vivid detail. Which reminded him, ‘To the Moon’ had some fantastic music.

With the newfound memories fresh in his mind, he quickly hummed the tune and recorded it on his phone. He also wrote down the musical notes as best he could. The system lottery capsules included some boosts to his music composition stats, so his skills would suffice for now. 

He wrote down the plot in its entirety, planning to bring it to its full potential by massively improving the visuals and general game feel. 

After all, the original was a pixel game made with an old RPG engine, with its biggest flaws being poor visual performance and clumsy controls. 

As far as the performance of the team and the technology available, finishing the game in half a month is doable. 

With some overtime… 

He’ll have to get a list of compensatory snacks ready. 

(TL: its a real show, 世界听我说. Here’s the episode on bilibili https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1A54y1d7r4/?t=1&spm_id_from=333.1007.seo_video.first)

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