Chapter 97: Valiant Hearts: The Great War
Jane was summoned to the office to discuss the production of related art and resources for Dark Souls. Alex then mentioned the expedition.
"Are we also developing a participating game during this period?" Jane asked curiously.
"In short, it's me. The rest is just a matter of time for Dark Souls. I'll handle the new game myself, but the art team will assign two people to provide me with resources, and I'll handle the rest," Alex said.
"Understood," Jane nodded.
As Alex and Jane spoke, news of the expedition spread throughout the gaming community.
"The Game Department has a new expedition!"
"Anti-war theme, this is big news!"
World Peace Day is in two months, and in recent years there have been many complaints about war-themed games, claiming they promote violence. This time, the Game Department chose an anti-war theme, which also has a political nuance.
"You say all this is nonsense? What clowns are running around all day?"
"Stop talking about that, they're all clowns. The video game industry pays a lot of taxes every year. We players shouldn't be afraid of shadows. Let's talk about this expedition."
"I wonder if NetDragon and Aether Games will participate in this year's expedition. NetDragon's Firebird Studio participated last year."
"I shouldn't have found out, but speaking of last year, I'm more concerned about whether Alex will participate. Last year's To the Moon was a complete surprise."
"I don't think so. Isn't he developing that PC blockbuster, Dark Souls? Yes, this game should be very important for Nebula Games. If it's successful, his platform will most likely become exclusive. I don't think it's a distraction, is it?"
"Then I'm relieved. I'm very afraid of running into Alex again. Besides, he's a fast-paced developer. This expedition has a much shorter development cycle than previous ones. If he participates, it's a real bargain."
And, honestly, if a war-themed game simply wants to depict war, everyone knows how to do it. This is mainly because the deadline is relatively short. Many game designers in the industry are commenting on the news of this expedition. It's simply about showing the grand scale of war, and the subsequent player experience depends on whether it's enjoyable.
However, anti-war themes are much more complex. If not done well, players will not be inspired by the anti-war sentiment, but rather ashamed. Under these circumstances, creating a good anti-war game is an incredible challenge.
In Nebula Games' office, Alex typed. On the screen, a design concept titled "Valiant Hearts: The Great War" was visible.
There were many anti-war games in the past, but unlike most, Valiant Hearts: The Great War, developed by an indie studio, is a unique creation.
As for its scale, Valiant Hearts: The Great War is quite small. It's a 2D adventure and puzzle game, with a graffiti and cartoon style. Even the characters have few lines of dialogue. It doesn't depict brutal war scenes, but uses a unique perspective and narrative techniques to offer players a glimpse into the true nature of war through a story.
The game lacks the sensory stimulation of bloodshed, but it possesses the emotion present in films like All Quiet on the Western Front and Schindler's List, which can only arise amidst the most tragic and terrifying disasters.
Of course, there's another reason for choosing this game: its small size and, like To the Moon, its deeply touching story.
This was a perfect opportunity to appeal to the player's melancholy. After all, the upcoming Dark Souls, along with the currently popular Three Kingdoms Tactics and Fall Guys, were not games designed to make players cry and grieve.
Hmm... maybe by the time Dark Souls launches, players with tens of thousands of unspent souls at the beginning, dying again after the first, might experience a bit of anguish.
Sitting at his computer, Alex wrote the game's background. Soldiers from three different countries, a nurse, and a dog. The game doesn't explore the impact of war from a macro perspective, not even the core of the war itself.
It simply selects ordinary people caught in the crossfire and uses them to tell their own stories. It movingly depicts the horrific scenes of war and the profound suffering it brings.
As the days passed, Alex primarily brought in two staff members responsible for artistic resources to help with Valiant Hearts: The Great War. He completed the rest of the work himself. His progress was neither fast nor slow, but he wasn't in a hurry. After all, there was still quite a while until the expedition deadline.
Beyond that, Dark Souls' combat system is practically finished. The remaining elements are minor optimizations and adjustments, which are not a major problem.
It's the difficulty level that creates some uncertainty for Eric and other planners involved in the game's statistics and boss design.
At first, Eric didn't fully understand the lack of difficulty adjustments, minimaps, and high monster stats. But as he began to design the levels, things started to feel strange.
First, the map design is truly exquisite. While Dark Souls III's maps are not as artistically rich as Dark Souls I's, its single-scene maps are more than enough to surpass many other games.
In addition to admiring the exquisite map design, the subsequent traps and strategic distribution of monsters throughout the map left Eric with only one feeling: absolute malice! It's simply inhumane! In other words, this world is teeming with dangers.
The game includes glowing collectibles, practically inviting players to go collect them! It's nothing special; practically all RPGs, and not just RPGs, have this kind of tactic.
But Dark Souls is different. In the world of Dark Souls, there might be a hidden monster above the items you collect, waiting to surprise you when you crouch down to pick them up. Additionally, the game also features various monsters hidden in dark corners and behind hiding spots, or around the corner. There are also mimic treasure chests disguised as treasure chests, waiting for you to excitedly run up, believing you've found one, only to be devoured alive by them.
And that's not to mention the complex death traps on some stage maps. Even at the beginning, branching paths contain enemies much more powerful than the monsters, so powerful that if players don't master the game's fundamentals, encountering one means death!
Furthermore, the game also includes currency for upgrades and purchases that drops upon death. If you don't pick it up before dying again, it disappears. There's even a monster spawning system.
Although it was still just a conceptual design and not fully implemented, Eric could already imagine what the game would look like just by looking at it.
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