Unlike movies, which have things like Lunar New Year releases or summer blockbusters, games don't follow the same seasonal patterns.
That's mostly because for movies, people have to physically go to a theater.
But for games, whether it's a PC title or VR, as long as the player has the device, they're good to go.
The only thing to really pay attention to is VR, since the cost is still high.
And for good VR experiences—like game pods and such—there still aren't that many personal users.
Most are found in experience centers, which are kind of like internet cafés.
So in this regard, games are on a different schedule than the film industry.
That said, it doesn't mean the game market is less intense.
In fact, the competition is still pretty fierce.
Plenty of developers and studios still put a lot of focus on this time of year.
Aside from teachers or students who haven't entered the workforce yet, for the average gamer, this is the longest holiday break after National Day.
Also, during the New Year period, people usually have a little more money in their pockets.
Naturally, game studios see this as an opportunity, and the competition gets even hotter.
Platform-wide discounts, online multiplayer events, new releases from various devs—even some big VR titles show up.
As for Lucas, it was clear that making a large-scale game in just two months wasn't realistic.
But it's not like they can just sit around doing nothing.
Even though Outlast was finished, the team didn't have any new projects lined up.
Still, that didn't mean there was no work—each department was still pretty busy.
The platform side, for example, had to follow up on all kinds of things, gather outside information, and collect player feedback.
Even though the player base wasn't huge yet, the data they needed was still coming in.
Just because Outlast was done didn't mean the work was over.
After finishing the game, the team used the experience they gained from developing Outlast, like various action parameters, to tweak and test their official game engine.
Compared to the tools from the previous timeline, the official engine now had way better productivity—but it wasn't magic.
It's kind of like sculpting with clay: some people can make something really beautiful, others… not so much.
So next, Lucas decided to work on a short-term project—partly to help the team reflect and improve, and partly because there just wasn't enough time for something bigger.
Plus, judging from some online reviews, it seemed like people had some misunderstandings about him.
And since this year's Lunar New Year was happening a bit later than usual—and even overlapped with Valentine's Day—it gave him a perfect opportunity.
Looking at the current movie schedules in the entertainment world, there were quite a few romance films lined up.
But in gaming? Not a single one.
So he figured he'd fill in that gap.
Why not give couples something special to enjoy during the holidays?
"A couple game, and at the same time we can use some player discounts to promote our Nebula Games platform—kill two birds with one stone!"
After chatting with Anna and Rachel for a while, Lucas leaned back in his chair and stared at the keywords he had written earlier—an idea was starting to form in his head.
Luckily, he had just the right game in mind—a game that helps couples get along better. Perfect for this short-term project. Who knows, it might even connect with players emotionally.
He turned on his computer, created a new folder, then pulled a sketchpad and pencil from his drawer and started a rough drawing.
Soon, some simple character designs appeared on the paper.
Cartoon-style characters: the Onion King, a little crocodile chef, a dog chef, a bearded chef, and a dog named Kevin with a bell around his neck.
After roughly outlining the main characters, Lucas started writing the design concept for the new game.
Overcooked, was the next casual sim game he planned to develop.
For Lucas and the Nebula Games team, developing Overcooked wasn't going to be too difficult.
Compared to Outlast, it needed way fewer resources.
Of course, those resources still had to be made from scratch.
After all, Overcooked had a totally different art style from anything Lucas had made before.
It was a cartoon-style game.
And it was one of the best-known titles in the co-op genre.
It was basically one of the iconic games in that category.
Its cute and silly art style gave it wide appeal. Whether people liked it or not, it was hard to actually dislike it.
The game also had strong indie roots.
It was developed by just two people, and right before release, they only had enough money for a lunch.
But after launch, it sold nearly 2 million copies in a short time.
It even got nominated for Best Multiplayer Game at that year's TGA.
That success turned it into a unique game series.
In the parallel world, there were other co-op games, but none really stood out much.
Now that Lucas had chosen the genre, the next step was deciding which game in the series to do.
Overcooked 1 was the first entry, and it was a big hit. It helped set the tone for both the art and the gameplay style.
But it did have some flaws: no online play, not enough maps, and some clunky controls.
Overcooked 2 was a much more polished game. It fixed many of the earlier problems while keeping the fun and chaotic gameplay.
As for Overcooked: All You Can Eat, aside from the graphics, there wasn't much of a major upgrade. It just added some helpful tutorials and assist options for beginners. You could say it's more of a compilation, with content from both part 1 and 2.
After thinking it through, Lucas quickly made a decision.
He'd mainly use Overcooked 2 as the base, keeping its core gameplay and visual style.
He would make some adjustments to the UI and visual effects.
At the same time, he'd include some of the better-designed maps.
As for the story, that part really didn't matter much.
After all, the Overcooked series never really focused on story—it's just background fluff.
Just like how old Nintendo games used to be—whether it was Mario or Zelda, it was always about saving the princess and beating the big bad guy.
For games that aren't story-driven, the levels are the real heart of the experience.
But for now, the focus was still on building the overall structure of the game.
At the same time, compared to the original Overcooked from his past life, Lucas also planned to introduce some changes in the game's content.
It would also serve as a way to test the platform's features.
Undertale, Outlast, and To the Moon had all been added to their own Nebula Games platform.
But one feature still hadn't been used yet—
The platform's Workshop.
That was mostly because these three games weren't really a good fit for it.
But Overcooked, on the other hand, was the perfect testing ground.
Because it's a level-based game at its core.
If they could make good use of the Workshop, the content could easily surpass what was done in the previous timeline.
Of course, they'd still need to plan things out properly and stay organized.
(End of The Chapter)
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