Chapter 16
In a conference room, Chen Xu was going over the schedules and checklists of upcoming projects with Yang Xin and Ruan Ningxue.
Handling Mirror would be easy. All they had to do was follow their previous working templates, create the appropriate illustrations, get the dialogue and dubbing in.
What they were really looking forward to was the developnt of Undertale.
In his previous life, Undertale was the work of an independent ga developer, one Toby Fox.
It touched the hearts of countless players across the globe and beca an instant classic. A good example of a ta-ga.
But unlike other ta-gas like Pony Island, ICEY and The Stanley Parable, Undertale was exceptional in how it combined ta elents with RPG elents, subverting the traditional ideas and understandings of what it ant to be an RPG.
The core ideas of the ga are relatively clear.
The heart and soul of Undertale is the story combined with the ta features. While the gaplay was there to add flavor to the story.
Of course, it was not a perfect ga, and there were features Chen Xu was looking forward to making improvents on.
The graphics, for instance, were the first thing that needed so improvents.
Undertale, in his previous life, made use of very simple pixel graphics and hand-drawn lines. Not because it was a great option, but because the creator simply didnt have the resources. It was an indie solo ga, after all.
Thankfully it all worked out well.
So experts and journalists infer that the ga was successful due to its unique art style. But Chen Xu does not agree.
While it is true that pixel art gas are not necessarily cheap, Chen Xu has witnessed the wonders of pixel art when it is pushed to the limit. Such as the beautiful Octopath Traveler or the smooth motions of arcade fighting gas.
As a ta-ga with its core focus on story, Chen Xu reckons that having improved graphics will only add to the ga, not detract from it.
Minecraft, for example, chooses a pixel style because the block-building gaplay lends itself well to the shape of pixels.
But Undertales art style is obviously not a product of compromise for the sake of gaplay.
Of course, aside from the visuals, the plot and music of the ga can be considered classics.
After all, Sanss galovania and Undines Battle against a true Hero cannot be denied.
After giving Yang Xi and Ruan Ningxue a brief overview of the core content of Undertale, Chen Xu also showed them the rough character designs.
The warm looking mother goat, the llow king who strikes a majestic figure with his trident in battle, two skeleton brothers, one short and one tall, with their goofy expressions
The main character concepts were sketched by Chen Xu himself. While the many ordinary monsters and NPCs could be outsourced. Once they et the requirents, they could be accepted.
Or Ningxue could work on them if they ended up ahead of schedule, which would be preferable.
As for the plot, there was the Neutral route, True Pacifist route, Genocide route, and a Hypocrite route which Chen Xu added himself.
If there was ever a good ga to spend the system mory bank on, it was this one. Chen Xu used it to refresh his understanding of the ga and spent the following day going through each of the routes in detail.
After that, it was up to Yang Xin to fill in the rest.
With the division of labor and responsibilities out of the way, Chen Xu returned to his station and booted up the official engine. It was ti to set the frawork for Undertale.
Ningxue, was it like this when you guys made Mirror?
Yang Xins eyes trembled as she went through the extrely detailed flowcharts and manuscripts in her hands.
Ruan Ningxue, who was already busy, looked up from her work. Yea, pretty much, why do you ask? Are we doing sothing wrong?
Of course theres sothing wrong! Its going too smoothly! Everything is laid out too clearly! Yang Xin silently scread.
At a glance, Undertale was a small ga.
But even so, the planning was airtight, the instructions too clear, she felt as if she had been given a cheat sheet, like Chen Xu was going to drag her lifeless body across the finish line even if she was deadweight.
Thinking back to the stress and chaos of developing gas in her own company, she felt as if her previous employees were toying with her on purpose.
Letting out a sigh, Yang Xin shook her head to clear her mind. It was a new beginning now, and she would take it seriously. She began reviewing her list of tasks and got to work.
On Chen Xus side, his mind was serene.
He was currently experinting with the official engine.
The available resources had increased by a factor of 20 compared to when he started work on Mirror.
It was completely sufficient for his current plans, but many options were still locked, and having more was always welco.
Unfortunately, he had to either upgrade the ranking of his professional ga designer title, or purchase them directly.
To upgrade his rank, he could choose to persevere slowly, accumulating experience over the years.
Or he could do so by winning valuable awards, or bringing about so positive changes to the gaming industry as a whole.
To a certain extent, Mirror could be viewed as a force of innovation to the stagnant erotic gas genre. So maybe he would be nominated for sothing in the future.
But he digressed, his full focus should be on Undertale.
On the software side, this indie ga would not be too difficult for Chen Xu, it did not present any huge technical challenges, especially with the more advanced technology of this world.
The true challenge was to nail the feeling of the plot, the dialogue, the atmosphere, and the music.
The music in Undertale was brilliant.
This is a key point shared in many excellent indie gas that left lasting impressions.
Story, music, and creative gaplay chanics have always been the three pillars by which an indie ga distinguishes itself.
So ti later
Sister Xin, look at this! Who is this person? Why is he attacking us!?
Yang Xin took a look and imdiately understood.
This person is an opportunistic dog, hes probably jealous of Mirrors sales, and if I rember correctly, his company is about to release a new ga, so hes trying to start drama around Mirror to promote his own ga. Hes done this sort of thing before.
Noticing the agitation of Yang Xin and Ruan Ningxue, Chen Xu ca over to see what the fuss was about, a hot cup of coffee in his hand.
Whats up?
Seeing him approach, Yang Xin held the phone above her head, This guy, hes trying to stir shit up.
It was a video released by a channel called Ga Space dia.
He took the phone and tapped the screen. In the video was a middle aged man sitting behind a microphone and a desk, the setup reminded him of podcasts or comntary channels.
Beside him was an image of a character from Mirror
(fully clothed, but thats not saying much (
))
It seed like the man was reviewing the ga.
Ga designers these days will do anything to get players attention!
This is vulgar, extrely vulgar!
Ladies and gentlen, you know , you know my stance on gas. I believe gas are a form of art. And to call this thing a ga, would be an insult to the gaming industry as a whole.
Can we allow such ga designers to bring their influence into the industry?
Of course we cant!
If content like this were to be included in Blooming, the upcoming ga developed by my company, I would be too ashad to have my na on it. I wouldnt even show my face!
So, for the sake of our industry, I sincerely hope that ga designers will stop trying to use cheap gimmicks, and instead do more research on how to make good gas. Stop using vulgar content to draw attention.
It was a two minute video filled with righteous indignation.
However, Chen Xu noticed sothing interesting in the comnts section.
While so people were actually applauding the video, there was also a large number of sarcastic comnts.
[Lmao, this guys running his mouth again][Other peoples gas = vulgar. My gas = art][Alright, alright, just tell us about your new ga already][Didnt you watch the video? Its called Blooming]
Chen Xu watched the whole video, skimd the comnts, and confird his thoughts with Yang Xin. He ca to an understanding.
This persons na is Zhong i, a ga designer under a company called Hepai Style. He also owns the company.
( = River Faction Writing Style = Hepai Style)
His reputation in the gaming world is a bit mixed.
In terms of positives, Zhong i has released so well-received gas in the past. And while none of his gas have been hugely popular in recent years, the quality has never been bad.
On the negative side, he has been known to look for gas that have gained so popularity and then try to tear them down and use them to promote his own gas.
Chen Xu is definitely not the first ga designer to receive this treatnt from Zhong i.
Ah, this arc brings back mories I watched so many playthroughs of Undertale Good tis, good tis
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