Chapter 96: The Perfect Game
Compared to its small initial team, Nebula Games' office is now a relatively large company. Alex leads the core development team, which includes Jane, Lisa, and Eric.
Additionally, operations teams have been formed for Overcooked, Three Kingdoms Tactics, and Fall Guys. These teams are responsible for the continuous operations and content updates of these games.
Likewise, the Nebula gaming platform has established a department dedicated to community maintenance and the Creative Workshop. Currently, the review of Creative Workshop mods is primarily done by internal staff and Nebula Games' customer service.
However, as the number of supported games increases, it will inevitably be necessary to outsource this task. Internal staff will handle the general direction, accumulating experience from the ground up.
With the establishment of the Dark Souls project, the entire team is moving forward with development in an orderly fashion.
Alex no longer has to worry too much about the production of artistic resources. Primarily, he lets Jane communicate with the outsourced teams and will handle the final review.
Lisa's story and world design were not particularly challenging; it simply came down to following the game's progress.
The essence of Dark Souls' development remained combat.
Under Alex's leadership, the team responsible for this area was making impressive progress. This was largely due to hiring after the winter holidays, as some of the employees who joined Nebula Games had extensive experience in action games.
They were able to quickly grasp Alex's viewpoint and adjust parameters based on the official game engine.
"Don't use tanks in boss battles. Only specific weapons and environments, like backstabs and shield parries, reward these types of mechanics."
"The entire Dark Souls combat system revolves around the stamina bar. The implicit resource allocation and combat fluidity take precedence over impact."
A boss battle was displayed on the big screen. The game map's artistic resources had not yet been published, so the background was a simple 3D line drawing.
However, a boss image had been published: the first boss players would face, "Ashes of Gundyr," affectionately known as the "Shield Parry Master."
Following Alex's instructions, the team responsible for the game's combat system gradually adjusted the parameters.
While the team worked on the adjustments, Eric took the opportunity to discuss some Dark Souls-related development issues with Alex.
"Alex, as for the data, should we also develop the formulas for easy and normal difficulty levels?" Eric asked Alex, holding a printed document.
It contained information about various Dark Souls bosses, monsters, and equipment.
"Easy and normal difficulty? I forgot to tell you that this game has no difficulty adjustment," Alex said with a smile.
"No... no difficulty option?" Eric asked, his eyes wide.
He silently observed the relevant data in the document he held and then the nearby battle test screen, his face completely bewildered.
"Alex... then, should we optimize and adjust these attributes later?" Eric asked Alex hesitantly.
"Why do we need to adjust it? In fact, the attributes are quite scientific now. Don't just look at the boss's attributes; you also need to consider the game's combat system design and the player's attributes we've designed."
"First, let's look at the combat system design. Most monsters can be backstabbed and deal a lot of damage. Additionally, there are shields and invincibility frames, making it easier for players to kill monsters."
"In this case, if we don't improve the monster's attributes to add challenge, won't the player be invincible? Then the game will completely lack challenge, and will it still be fun?" Alex explained to Eric seriously.
Eric felt a little dizzy upon hearing Alex's words.
It seemed... it seemed to make sense.
But then there was another problem: in theory, if the player didn't get hit, he would be invincible, capable of eliminating small monsters with just a few punches and kicks.
But what if a player gets hit?
While watching the battle screen being optimized nearby, Eric fell into deep thought.
After leaving the Dark Souls project team and returning to his office, Alex stretched.
Fall Guys has remained incredibly popular lately. The game has already been updated twice, with several new maps released for rotation.
Additionally, driven by the player base, the game has added single-player and team modes. The team mode offers significant improvements compared to its predecessor, allowing players to win the crown as a team, rather than relying on a single individual to triumph.
Fall Guys has also consistently set new sales records, having sold almost 4 million copies in just under a month, and its sales trend remains strong.
As for Three Kingdoms Tactics, while its statistics are not as impressive as Fall Guys', it boasts significantly higher player engagement.
Both daily active users and revenue are constantly increasing.
Opening the system interface, the golden item he drew earlier, with its four progress bars...
The progress bar representing happiness grew the most, almost two-thirds of its capacity.
Anger and resentment followed closely, with approximately one-sixth.
As for sadness, it remained completely unaltered.
Clearly, players would not cry playing Three Kingdoms Tactics or Fall Guys.
As Alex watched the emotional score increase, his phone on the table suddenly vibrated. He opened it and saw a message from his assistant, Lynn.
"Alex, there's new official news about the expedition."
'New news?'
Alex was stunned for a moment. Last year's official expedition focused on sci-fi games. He created a game called To the Moon for this purpose, which, despite winning an award, sparked considerable controversy.
'This year, the expedition was announced so soon?'
Upon opening the official game engine, Alex saw a drafted electronic document.
But what about this year's expedition?
"An anti-war game?" Alex asked, pinching his little finger out of habit.
Then, Alex glanced at the follow-up requirements. They were basically the same as last year's expedition.
If there's anything different from last year, it's that the theme this time is a bit more serious. After all, it's about anti-war.
Considering the relevant requirements, Alex is also considering what kind of game to develop.
Outlast and Overcooked before the end of the year, Three Kingdoms Tactics and Fall Guys afterwards.
Originally, he thought about applying for a senior professional title after developing Dark Souls. But now, if he ranks well in this expedition, he won't have to wait until then.
And during the development void of Dark Souls, the Nebula gaming platform also needs a game to maintain its visibility and popularity.
The rest depends on the game's direction.
As for anti-war, he has many options.
After careful thought, considering the conditions for opening the golden capsule he just received, Alex also has a more suitable game.
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