This was also a logical progression: after Arthur was changed into a female, the protagonist naturally had to become male.
"And if we make it a galgame, we need to set up more emotional lines, preferably with very distinctive female protagonists whose fates intertwine in a magnificent way."
This was also inevitable; if the protagonist was male, then indeed some characters would need to be changed.
The entire storyline naturally changed.
However, Nasu Kinoko hadn't quite figured out what kind of story this would be yet.
He couldn't believe it; what kind of thought process did President Aoki and Takeuchi Takashi have?
But since they all thought so, did that mean there was a certain logic to it?
Nasu Kinoko tried to hypnotize himself.
...
Several people began to discuss enthusiastically in the conference room.
After some Time, Nasu Kinoko and Takeuchi Takashi also relaxed, losing the restraint they had when they first entered President Aoki's office, and began to express their true inner thoughts more freely.
This also had a lot to do with President Aoki's communication style; President Aoki looked exceptionally young and handsome, and when he encountered something he liked, he would become extremely excited, his cheeks flushed, possessing a natural infectiousness.
Facing such a President Aoki, everyone was very willing to express themselves.
Aoki Haruhi would not simply negate their ideas; he would more often patiently guide them, remove some unreasonable elements, and then lead everyone to develop and conceive in a better direction.
The more Nasu Kinoko discussed, the more relaxed and pleasant he felt; he had never experienced such an atmosphere.
This was too different from the President Aoki described by Sakata and the other seniors, wasn't it?
According to the company seniors' descriptions, Nasu Kinoko had thought Aoki Haruhi was a particularly terrifying tyrant who would always force you to accept his views...
At least in his perception, the presidents he saw in TV dramas and movies were more in line with his imagination.
But he hadn't expected that after truly entering President Aoki's office and seriously discussing, Nasu Kinoko realized it wasn't like that at all.
President Aoki was simply too kind.
He was a really good senior, and sometimes Nasu Kinoko wouldn't even realize he was a senior or a President Aoki; instead, he would subconsciously treat Aoki Haruhi as a peer, a good friend...
Perhaps it was this kind of discussion atmosphere.
It was truly delightful.
...
The one who was truly delighted was Aoki Haruhi himself.
Through repeated discussions, Aoki Haruhi patiently guided them, removing some "unreasonable" and "unimpressive" elements, slowly unifying everyone's thoughts, and changing them into the form he wanted.
The clever part was that Nasu Kinoko and the others all believed that these ideas were their own.
This was enough to demonstrate Aoki Haruhi's brilliance.
After the clash of ideas, the game basically took on the prototype of FSN from his previous life.
The basic settings for several female protagonists, including Artoria, and important antagonists... these were more or less finalized.
All that remained was for Nasu Kinoko to describe them through text.
As for Takeuchi Takashi, Aoki Haruhi had considerable trust in his art style.
Later, Takeuchi Takashi would draw a version first, and then Aoki Haruhi would refine it; if it differed too much from his imagination, he would make further modifications.
Aoki Haruhi was a hidden art Master within the company, respected even by Art Director Sakata Taiji.
Since the general outline and character settings were mostly finalized, the rest was to deal with some game-related content.
"Oh, about this game, this is what I'm thinking."
Aoki Haruhi said, "Since it's a battle to obtain the Holy Grail, why not create a combat system for it and make the game a turn-based battle?"
Aoki Haruhi did not intend to make the Fate game a pure visual novel; instead, he wanted to make it a galgame with a combat system.
Although it was still a galgame, it would be a turn-based game that could be fought.
Just like the onmyoji series the company initially produced.
After all, making it only a visual novel would be a waste of its combat settings.
This thing was going to develop into a combat-oriented direction anyway, so why not make it a game with combat from the start?
"Hmm?"
"But I'm worried the content might not be enough to sustain it," Takeuchi Takashi said.
Fate was genuinely different from typical games with combat, as it lacked a "sense of growth."
Or rather, in the story, the number of enemies players faced was very limited—
It was the 7 Masters vying for the Holy Grail and their Servants. If any Masters died during this, the remaining number of combat enemies would become even fewer.
How to create more battles around a small number of enemies was a challenge.
No small monsters to fill it up, this was very troublesome.
"Let's write the script first, and then we'll discuss it again."
According to Aoki Haruhi's idea, this game might turn into a rather peculiar combat galgame.
How to create the game content was indeed a test for Nasu Kinoko and the others.
"Alright, President Aoki."
...
After the meeting, it was Time to wait for them to revise the proposal and then discuss it again.
For Aoki Haruhi, it was actually a good start.
If Nasu Kinoko also started to exert himself, then Pokeni could have another god-tier IP—
Fate.
The main reason was that the Servant summoning setting in Fate was simply too appealing; it could incorporate almost all mythological stories and heroic figures from around the world, even antagonists, tyrants...
As long as they were well-known, they could be included.
This way, there was simply too much content that could be created, and just the Fate card game alone could make a lot of money.
...
The next day, the demo version of "The Frontier," the new project led by Shinji Mikami and Urobuchi Gen, was completed.
Aoki Haruhi watched their simulated demonstration in the experience room.
This game was a strategic-level game for the company and needed to be released on PC, so Aoki Haruhi himself attached great importance to it.
With Nvidia's 3D graphics card support, developing 3D shooting games was no longer difficult.
The company had also accumulated about two years of experience in 3D technology, putting it at the forefront of the Time.
However, Nvidia needed it; it needed a shooting game powerful enough to explode the Europe and America market and subvert everyone's perception.
Therefore, it was a game that could not afford to fail or be handled carelessly.
The so-called demo version was roughly equivalent to extracting and developing the core experience content of the game, with the external story packaging, various peripheral systems, and so on, to be developed later in an initial version.
The main purpose was to quickly and efficiently extract and develop, perfecting the most core experience to allow for rapid adjustment and verification of whether the game's gameplay met expectations.
So, the current version of "The Frontier" available to play was a very simplified initial version, containing only combat.
It was more like CS but without the bomb defusal mode.
It basically revolved around terrain-based combat, and it didn't count kills, specifically testing vision, impact feel, and shooting experience.
...
Though the sparrow is small, it has all the vital organs. Even in such a simple game version, the character models, gun models, running, vision, bullet trajectories, and so on, were all very complete.
Urobuchi Gen and Shinji Mikami each sat at a computer, while a group of artists and programmers, along with Aoki Haruhi, stood by with their arms crossed, watching.
The sound of bullets being fired came from the screen.
Da da da...
Bullets whistled out, spent casings flew to the side, falling to the ground with a clatter.
From Shinji Mikami's perspective, Gen Urobuchi had just run out of the cave entrance, and with just his head exposed, he was shot dead.
"Damn it!"
Gen Urobuchi shouted angrily.
Several Times in a row, Urobuchi Gen was easily headshotted by Shinji Mikami during direct gunfights.
It was simply a terrible game experience.
This feeling was probably similar to a king playing against a bronze player in PUBG.
"Let me try."
Aoki Haruhi waved his hand, signaling Urobuchi Gen to stand up.
The latter reluctantly left his seat.
But as soon as he thought that President Aoki was about to step in, Gen Urobuchi smiled mischievously.
The colleagues behind probably had similar expressions, just wanting to see Shinji Mikami make a fool of himself.
Do you dare to hit President Aoki?
If you headshot President Aoki, do you think President Aoki will headshot you in real life?
...
"President Aoki, you..."
Shinji Mikami was very troubled, indicating that no one dared to hit him; wouldn't that make it impossible for them to act?
"You haven't even played this game. Why don't we find a planner to come over? At least they're more familiar with it."
"Don't worry, just go all out. I just want to experience the real game shooting sensation," Aoki Haruhi said.
Are you kidding? Back in middle school, I often skipped classes to play CS at internet cafes.
After PUBG came out, I was also a killing god who got 7 kills in one match.
People called me the "Gunfight Little Overlord."
What's more—
There was no truly meaningful shooting game in this world yet.
This game was what they were developing.
In terms of shooting game experience, Aoki Haruhi believed that if he claimed to be second among those present, no one would dare to claim to be first.
"In that case, I won't hold back," Shinji Mikami said, rubbing his fists.
The people standing behind him couldn't help but sweat for him.
Good heavens, Shinji Mikami, are you really going for it?
Be careful, if you make President Aoki depressed, the future workload might explode.
At that Time, it wouldn't just be you exploding, but the entire project team would have to be buried with you.
...
However, the actual experience was completely different.
As the saying goes, when rivals meet, the brave one wins. Shinji Mikami encountered Aoki Haruhi head-on, and Aoki Haruhi performed a snake-like maneuver, jumping and dodging Shinji Mikami's bullets.
After emptying his magazine, Shinji Mikami entered the awkward gun-reloading phase.
Meanwhile, Aoki Haruhi used a small pistol to shoot at his head, "biubiu."
Two shots later.
Shinji Mikami's camera dropped to the ground.
In the next round, both sides returned to their respective spawn points. Shinji Mikami seriously found a sniper position with an open view and didn't move, holding his breath, just waiting for Aoki Haruhi to appear.
The result was...
Without even seeing a shadow of him, he was headshotted by Aoki Haruhi with a sniper rifle.
After that, Shinji Mikami was tortured in various ways.
The most humiliating Time was during close-quarters combat; Shinji Mikami emptied his magazine but couldn't kill Aoki Haruhi. Instead, Aoki Haruhi got behind him and repeatedly stabbed him with a small knife...
Shinji Mikami's camera once again dropped to the ground.
Black blood drew a circle on the ground.
"He died too miserably."
The art students expressed that they couldn't bear to watch.
However, the death animation had some details that needed adjustment; they also discovered this issue during their observation.
Especially when the camera dropped to the ground, it was prone to clipping.
Sometimes, when it got stuck in a wall crack, it could even see through objects.
These issues were noted down by the art and programmer students in their notebooks, to be fixed later.
However, seeing Shinji Mikami being repeatedly tortured to death by President Aoki, everyone's faces showed great sympathy.
"Shinji Mikami, that's too tragic. Is your skill really that bad?"
"That's too embarrassing, Shinji Mikami, hahaha, is it because of President Aoki that you can't move your legs anymore?"
"Shinji Mikami, this kid is too humble, isn't he? How can he let it go to such an extreme?"
...
"Ah~ President Aoki, you're too strong!" Shinji Mikami gritted his teeth and exclaimed.
"That's enough, don't hold back anymore."
Gen Urobuchi gently nudged Shinji Mikami with his elbow from behind.
Losing so badly made him seem so incompetent.
A Shinji Mikami who was being tortured to death by President Aoki had actually tortured him to death. Did Urobuchi Gen still want to save face?
"You're completely useless."
I...
Shinji Mikami looked up, his eyes bloodshot from being killed so many Times, glaring fiercely at Gen Urobuchi.
I'm not acting.
Do I look like I'm faking it?
Then my acting must be terrible; I just keep dying, giving President Aoki no experience at all.
Aoki Haruhi expressed that his experience was great, with the pleasure of "fishing in a pond."
However...
...
"This game is completely unacceptable," Aoki Haruhi said, frowning.
Huh?!
Shinji Mikami and Gen Urobuchi were both startled.
Why wasn't it acceptable?
They had been developing it for so long and were hoping to release it this year.
"Look,"
Aoki Haruhi picked up an "AK." He called this gun an AK simply because it was designed to imitate an AK, without incorporating any real-world countries into the game's worldview.
It was a fictional world.
In this world, the weapons people used could only be said to borrow from reality, but their models and appearances were different.
This was actually done to mitigate risks.
However, in terms of the shooting feel of certain firearms, they were to be developed and designed to mimic reality; Aoki Haruhi had established this basic principle with them from the beginning.
So, when he demonstrated with this imitation AK, he was also aiming for an AK-like feel, or a similar feel.
"Look, the recoil of this gun is completely wrong. When firing bullets, it should be 'da da da, da da da,' and if you hold it down, it should be 'da da da da da da da...'
The bullets should jump higher and higher."
Aoki Haruhi performed a shooting demonstration against the wall, allowing everyone to clearly see the bullet trajectory marks.
As expected, the bullet trajectory of this gun was too different from what Aoki Haruhi had imagined.
It was too dense, too accurate, and thus lost the realistic feel.
"It's like a laser gun. You can't feel the recoil at all."
Aoki Haruhi put down the mouse, took his hands off the keyboard, and stood up, somewhat dispirited.
He turned to Shinji Mikami and said, "Now do you understand why I beat you so easily?"
"I understand."
Shinji Mikami nodded.
"But there's no good way to fix it."
Shinji Mikami frowned, "None of us have ever touched a real gun. Adjusting the gun feel and bullet trajectory is all done by feel. At most, we find some data for comparison and adjust based on shooting situations in TV shows and videotapes.
It's really hard to create a shooting game that fully conforms to reality this way."
"Hmm... that is indeed a problem."
Aoki Haruhi crossed his arms, deeply understanding the problem Shinji Mikami described.
Europe and America, like China, was a country with strict gun control, so ordinary people had no chance to touch a gun.
Let alone feel the subtle differences.
...
...
A week later, everyone boarded a plane bound for Vladivostok.
Heavy snow, February weather, minus 20 degrees Celsius.
Shinji Mikami and Gen Urobuchi sat in their chairs, exchanging glances, their faces filled with immense shock.
It was terrifying!
How did we end up in a place like this?
Completely incomprehensible.
Please Support me by becoming my Patreon member and get 20+ chapters.
[email protected]/Ajal69
change @ with a
Thank You to Those who joined my Patreon