After leaving the office, Lucas headed to the lounge.
Quite a few people were playing Dark Souls in Death Mode.
But judging from their screens, each of them was dying pretty miserably.
"You're all still at it? But you two didn't even get past the first phase!" Lucas laughed as he cracked open a can of soda, standing next to Rachel and Anna.
"Lucas, this is way too hard! How about you give us a demo?" Rachel handed him the controller, suggesting.
"I could, but there's no need. This mode has a leaderboard. If the designer himself played, wouldn't players accuse me of cheating behind the scenes? I've got to protect my good reputation, so I can't do something like that." Lucas refused seriously.
"Lucas, you're overthinking it. Among players, your name is already enough to make kids cry at night!" Anna teased.
"By the way, Lucas, will our next game use the newest AI tech?" Anna asked.
"No. From what I've seen in Death Mode, it's still far from what we imagine. Players feel it's hard mostly because of the combat pacing and stat adjustments. The bosses really are stronger than the originals, but the parts that come from AI itself making them stronger are very limited. It still needs more research and tuning before we can really use it in a full game," Lucas shook his head.
After chatting with Rachel, Anna, and Hector who came over when he heard the voices, Lucas went back to his office. He leaned against his chair, spinning a ballpoint pen slowly in his hand.
For now, he wasn't rushing into a new game.
Because there were still two areas of work left.
One was the DLC content for Dark Souls.
In Dark Souls: Age of Fire, Lucas had already merged the original DLC content into the main game.
But for the earlier title, originally Dark Souls 3, because of the story progression and difficulty balance, he hadn't given players access to the Ringed City or the Painted World right away.
Now, those could be used for future updates to complete the full Dark Souls experience.
Back in the previous life, many players doubted the idea of "book-eating" in Anor Londo.
But in truth, whether it was Dark Souls 1 or the final Dark Souls 3, the whole story of linking the fire was always left vague.
Conspiracies, whether Gwyn was truly selfless, or what the Abyss and Dark Souls actually were—none of these were ever made clear.
And since Dark Souls 1 itself was a ten-year-old IP, the game never outright explained many things. Yet through endless debates by "Soul scholars" and players choosing sides, those theories slowly became what fans saw as "the truth."
But at the end of the day, they were still just guesses by players, never anything confirmed by the developers.
As for the two DLCs, there was no need to rush. They could be developed slowly and released later, even half as free content, simply to help complete the larger Dark Souls world.
As for the story, players would just keep guessing like always.
On the other hand, there was Galaxy Intelligent Technology's AI tech.
Right now, Death Mode was using their newest AI system, which gave players around the world a brutal experience.
But even so, the results were still far from what Lucas had hoped for.
Compared to the demo Lucas had seen earlier, the gap was clear—showing off AI in a presentation was one thing, but applying it in an actual game was another.
AI still needed long-term refining and development. Based on the "gold item" Lucas had drawn last year, and the fact that its loading time hadn't been fully shortened yet, he guessed the AI was still in its incubation stage.
In any case, its current performance wasn't nearly strong enough to become a main selling point.
Leaning back in his chair, Lucas closed his eyes slightly, thinking.
Next up was planning the new projects.
Looking back at the past two years, they had released two major Dark Souls games. And while It Takes Two barely counted, it could still be listed on the Nebula Games platform.
Together with various discount campaigns, plus the earlier success of Legends of the Three Kingdoms and Fall Guys, the Nebula Games platform now had a solid user base.
For active users, though, it was still mainly supported by those two titles.
They couldn't compare with the giant platforms yet, but among independent platforms, they were already near the top tier.
And the two Dark Souls games had also made Nebula Games a known name.
So for the rest of the year, Lucas wasn't planning any more big releases.
For one, there wasn't enough time. And since Dark Souls: Age of Fire had just come out, there was no need to rush into another large project.
Instead, Lucas already had a clear direction for the next games.
The focus would be on strengthening the Nebula Games platform itself and maintaining its player base.
From nothing to something, Nebula Games had already built a solid foundation.
Now it was time to slowly build upon it and start testing the waters outside.
As for the kind of games to make, Lucas already had a draft idea in mind.
...
Monday, inside the Nebula Games meeting room.
"Next, let's talk briefly about our direction. First, Edward, you'll form a team dedicated to Dark Souls DLC development. I'll provide the concept drafts later. There's no need to rush the timeline—worst case, we can even push the release to next year. That would line up nicely with Dark Souls' third anniversary," Lucas said with a laugh.
"After that, our next moves will mainly focus on the Nebula Games platform, making some small-scale games." Lucas continued.
"Small-scale games?" Hector and the others were a bit surprised, even a little disappointed.
"Don't underestimate small games. Big titles have their strengths, but small ones do too."
"Don't forget Fall Guys. In terms of sales, how many so-called blockbusters could really beat it?" Lucas said with a smile.
After hearing Lucas's words, everyone's expressions grew serious.
The ones who thought further ahead quickly understood his real meaning.
It was clear the next games would mainly serve to boost the growth of the Nebula Games platform.
And they all knew what it would mean if the Nebula Games store could truly establish itself.
"Alright, let's take a look at the next project." Lucas smiled and connected his laptop.
On the big screen in the meeting room, a design concept document appeared.
The title read: Don't Starve.
(End of The Chapter)
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