Chapter 27: The Next Game

Game Development: Starting by Healing the Players 

Chapter 27: The Next Game

Yang Xin and Ruan Ningxue were both wearing puzzled expressions.

“We're not developing a sequel to Undertale, and we're not making a META game either?” Yang Xin couldn't quite understand why.

Ruan Ningxue felt the same way.

After all, game media outlets were currently filled with reviews and discussions of Undertale.

On the forums frequented by industry professionals, game designers and other developers were analyzing the characteristics of Undertale's approach from every possible angle.

After all, this was such a fresh concept that it genuinely seemed capable of becoming a new industry trend.

Some game companies and game designers had even publicly announced that they had already greenlit projects incorporating META elements.

And yet Chen Xu was saying they weren't going to make one?

It was easy to imagine how surprised such news would make everyone.

After all, before Undertale, the concept of META had received virtually no attention.

Under normal circumstances, with a game as popular as Undertale, the obvious move would have been to strike while the iron was hot and release a sequel, just as Mirror had received a DLC.

At the very least, they could have made an entirely new META game!

In fact, Yang Xin and Ruan Ningxue had privately discussed this before.

They had even thought that their next project might be a prequel to Undertale.

After all, the stories of the little goat and Chara in the game were only briefly summarized and had never been fully explored.

Yet now Chen Xu was telling them that they weren't going to make an Undertale sequel, and weren't even going to make a META game?

“It's not really suitable, and META elements have a fairly limited scope,” Chen Xu explained to the two of them. “Undertale certainly gave players a powerful shock, but the main reason was that players had no psychological preparation beforehand. They didn't even have an established concept of META elements.”

“If we release another META game now, the response definitely won't be as strong as it was for Undertale. In fact, because of the impression players already have from Undertale, they might instead feel that we're getting worse and worse.”

When it came to the META game genre, other people might not understand it very well, but Chen Xu certainly did.

Before he traveled to this world, META games were no longer anything particularly novel.

ICEY, The Stanley Parable, Pony Island, and the Undertale Chen Xu had chosen to develop were all outstanding examples.

Yet the highest-selling among them were Undertale and ICEY. The Stanley Parable, which had truly brought META into the players' field of vision in his previous life, actually sold less than these two later successes.

As for Pony Island, many players had never even heard of it.

The main reason was that META elements weren't particularly well suited to serving as a game's primary selling point.

A closer examination would reveal that ICEY incorporated action-game elements.

Although Undertale overturned many traditional RPG conventions, at its core, it was a combination of RPG mechanics and bullet-hell gameplay.

Both games used META elements as supporting features, whereas Pony Island and The Stanley Parable relied much more heavily on META elements as their primary focus, with other elements serving as support.

META elements could indeed be an extremely shocking concept for players.

But they weren't particularly well suited to being the central pillar of a game. They worked better as a kind of lubricant, allowing them to interact with the game's core content and produce a chemical reaction.

Many major games in his previous life had employed similar designs.

For example, there was Psycho Mantis in the Metal Gear series, a boss capable of reading the player's actions.

And then there was the ending of NieR:Automata, which used the player's save data as part of the mechanism for saving other players.

These were all examples of META elements being used, but they were primarily supporting mechanics rather than the core of the game.

And Undertale's success certainly wasn't solely due to its META elements.

After listening to Chen Xu's explanation, Ruan Ningxue and Yang Xin were still somewhat bewildered.

They understood it, but at the same time, they didn't completely understand it.

There was one thing they had clearly grasped, though.

Continuing to release META games might not make them much money, and the games might not necessarily receive good reviews.

On top of that, with a large number of game companies now incorporating META elements into their projects, players could easily develop META fatigue.

“Then what type of game should we choose for our next project?” Yang Xin asked Chen Xu.

“For now, we'll make a small-budget game as a transitional project. And we'll also need to expand the team,” Chen Xu said.

“As for the genre... take a look at this.”

As he spoke, Chen Xu opened the laptop beside him and logged onto a website: the official Ministry of Games website.

Then, under the slightly bewildered gazes of Ruan Ningxue and Yang Xin, he opened an announcement.

“Science is the source of human progress; the advancement and innovation of science are transforming our lives in profound ways. With the theme ‘Technology Changes Lives,’ the Ministry of Games is holding a Sci-Fi Game Design Competition.”

1, Eligibility: Game designers from across the country.

2, Requirements: There are no restrictions on the platform. Entries must have a healthy and uplifting theme.

3, Organization: This event is hosted by the national Ministry of Games. Entries will be selected through a dual evaluation system combining judges’ assessments and player voting to ensure fairness and impartiality.

4, Awards and Recognition: Based on the total number of entries submitted, one First Prize, three Second Prizes, six Third Prizes, and an unspecified number of Excellence Awards will be presented.

Outstanding works will be promoted and recommended on the homepage of the official platform after the event concludes.

Winning designers will also be awarded the title of Outstanding Designer as an encouragement.

(Registration will be open from September 1 to September 5, and the event will conclude at the end of September.)

“Are we going to participate?” Yang Xin asked, looking surprised.

She actually knew about this event.

Although it was advertised as a competition open to game designers nationwide, in practice, most of the participants were independent game designers or small and medium-sized game companies.

There were naturally plenty of benefits.

After all, the organizer was the Ministry of Games. Game certification and approval, designer title evaluations, the development of game-engine technology, and the introduction of relevant gaming policies were all basically under the Ministry of Games' jurisdiction.

Getting exposure in front of the authorities could certainly do them no harm.

And having an outstanding game promoted on the homepage of the official platform was an even more tangible benefit.

After all, the official gaming platform was also one of the largest distribution channels in the country.

As for why the major game companies didn't participate, the main reason was that competitions like this were of limited value to them.

Their games had high budgets and high production values, and they had absolutely no shortage of exposure.

Moreover, high-budget, high-production-value games were inevitably driven primarily by commercial considerations.

Commercially driven games naturally tended to contain elements specifically designed to attract players.

Even setting aside things like violence or fanservice, something as simple as having multiple female protagonists and a harem-style setup could look rather inappropriate in an official competition like this.

So naturally, there weren't many high-budget productions participating.

Most of the entries came from independent game designers and small or medium-sized game companies. Of course, studios that had been acquired by major companies also sometimes participated.

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

Tn: I updated the story once a day, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.

Latest Chapter In Patreon: Chapter 142: A New Game

Link to the Latest Chapter: https://www.patreon.com/HannibalNotBarca/posts/game-development-173378290?collection=2313636