Game Making: Start By Healing the Player
Chapter 30

• [ I’ve never seen a clown be so brutally murdered before ]

• [ Hey now, clowns are respectable people who bring joy to others ]

• [ But doesn’t @ Teacher Zhong bring us much joy these days? ]

• [ Thank you, young master Chen, for exposing @ Teacher Zhong. I was unhappy after reading his post, but then I saw yours and was happy again ]

• [ But I’m still worried about Chen Xu’s game, I have a bad feeling about this ]

• [ I bet he’s all talk this time ]

• [ Hard to say, but after ‘Mirror’ and ‘Undertale’, I’ll trust him this once ]

• [ These last coming days feel so mysterious ]

After reading his official post, many players who had been following him since his previous games were busy discussing.

But the general sentiment was not optimistic.

There simply wasn’t enough time to have that much faith.

…………………..

While heated discussion was circulating the internet. A lanky man with a disheveled appearance was having a bad time.

Meng Zuo, lead game designer of Thundering Flame Studios, was holding his phone in trembling hands.

(TL: Actual studio name = 剑火雷 = Sword of Flame and Thunder. That’s cool, but also a mouthful, we’re just going to call it Thundering Flame)

Thundering Flame Studios is a subsidiary of Net Dragon, and they are currently developing a sci-fi game titled ‘Galactic Heroes’, aiming to win the grand prize in the upcoming event.

Being a part of Net Dragon sounds like a big deal, and it is. But it’s not all fun and games. There are simply too many internal project teams, and this studio he runs is just one of them.

The Net Dragon is a big business, they can shower a studio in resources just as easily as they can take it all away. Not every team gets to play around with tens or hundreds of millions of yuan to make a game. In fact, having a few million yuan is already considered a medium sized project here.

Which is why Meng Zuo convinced the higher-ups to let his studio enter the contest. By winning, he hopes to raise the prestige of his studio in the eyes of the gaming community as well as his evaluation within Net Dragon. Leading to all sorts of benefits like having more resources and more sway in decision making.

Everything was going well, at first. But with Chen Xu’s sudden announcement, his plans were disrupted.

It wasn’t that he was afraid of Chen Xu.

Quite the opposite, in fact. He did not think anything decent could be hammered out in such a short amount of time.

But what he was afraid of was the heat. The news! The discussions online!

With the success and popularity of ‘Mirror’ and ‘Undertale’, Chen Xu was still in the public spotlight, so his every action was bound to make waves.

For the gaming media, Chen Xu meant traffic! As long as you mentioned his name, traffic would be drawn like moths to a flame.

His reply to Zhong Mei caused even more drama, boosting interest and traffic to a certain extent. So overall, this was a very awkward situation for Meng Zuo.

A considerable amount of funds were allocated towards the promotion of ‘Galactic Heroes’, and the implementation had already begun.

But now?

The heat was all taken away! The attention of the masses were drawn towards Chen Xu! And there was nothing he could do.

Even though Thundering Flame was a part of Net Dragon, it was a small part. And the marketing department of Net Dragon was a separate entity. It was not so kind as to lend a helping hand to a non-priority studio.

If they wanted to leverage the might of Net Dragon’s marketing channels? No problem, seeing as they were part of the same company, they would offer him a generous internal discount of 9.9%

What? Not enough funds?

Then why are you bothering us? Don’t waste our time!

Such was life within a cutthroat conglomerate.

Meng Zuo felt his heart tremble as he scrolled through the news.

[ Chen Xu’s new work will be entering the sci-fi contest! ]

[ Games are not child’s play ]

[ Can he put his money where his mouth is? Producer of ‘Undertale’ ]

There wasn’t much money for publicity to begin with, and now it’s all for nothing.

“I’ve offended the heavens!” Meng Zuo sank into his desk, clutching his chest with a look of pain.

He looked back at Chen Xu’s official blog posts, feeling a sudden urge to slap him in the face and express his disdain. Hoping to ignite another stir in the community, taking the chance to announce the existence of his game to the world.

But he stopped himself.

He was different from Zhong Mei. Hepai Style is a medium sized indie studio, and Zhong Mei is the boss, he could post whatever he wanted.

But Meng Zuo? He was part of Net Dragon. His words would be interpreted as a statement from Net Dragon. And if he dared to cause trouble or make the company look bad, he would be doomed.

Apologizing would be a trivial matter, but Net Dragon would use him as a scapegoat and push him under the bus without a second thought. Other departments who were underperforming would definitely jump at the chance to push the blame on him as well.

Others would rake in the cash while he would be ruined and punished. So no, he would do no such thing.

But to be robbed of your popularity is a tragedy. When the time comes to file his report, this will surely be brought up. It feels so terrible.

Especially when Meng Zuo considered the situation. Chen Xu, this instigator, had no idea this was happening and probably didn’t even mean to do it. The very thought of this filled him with bitterness.

Mother! How wronged I am!

Nevermind! It was never too late for a gentleman to take his revenge. Even if Chen Xu didn’t mean to do it, he still caused this mess.

“Chen Xu! You’ve robbed me of my publicity, so let the game speak for itself during the contest!”

Meng Zuo paced around the office, muttering to himself.

“I don’t think you’ll be able to pass the entry test, but I still hope you’ll get a consolation prize or something. That way, you’ll have to show up at the ending ceremony to receive it.”

Thinking about this, Meng Zuo started to smile.

“And at that time, in front of all the players, game department managers, and gaming media, I’ll be able to stare you down, shake your hand coldly, and give you sarcastic praises!”

Scrolling enviously at the numerous headlines covering Chen Xu, Meng Zuo took a deep breath and put the phone down.

The red carpet, the media, the handshakes, the speeches. One month later, the day of his perfect vengeance!

…………………….

Back at the Nebula Games office, Chen Xu didn’t know that someone was already plotting vengeance upon him.

And if he did, he’d be surprised it wasn’t Zhong Mei.

It was a very busy time, as he was not only actively involved in the development of ‘To the Moon’, but he was also conducting interviews for new hires.

Chen Xu made some recruitment posts on various game industry forums and community sites. And with the popularity of ‘Undertale’, the posts drew a lot of attention.

But a majority of them were unable to meet Chen Xu’s high standards.

After going through piles of applications, he could only say, “It’s so hard to replace good people.”

The most pressing matter was to expand the art team. He planned to hire someone to share the workload with him and Ruan Ningxue.

Up next would be a “numbers” guy, someone to calculate and balance values such as attack, defense, experience gained and whatever else that involves math.

A level planner would be a fine addition as well. To free up Yang Xin so she could focus more on her narrative building strengths.

Unfortunately, no promising candidates were found yet.

At this time, the bell of the office door rang twice. Chen Xu answered and a middle-aged man with a slightly receding hairline walked in.

It was Zhang Yida, manager of Nebula Game’s marketing department.

“Mr Chen, have you decided on the relevant personnel? May I have their contact information?” Zhang Yida said with a hesitant smile. He has a lot of admiration for Chen Xu, and was also slightly intimidated.

Chen Xu nodded, sending the details from his phone, “Contact them directly”

After a few more words, Zhang Yida left the office once more, and Chen Xu returned to work on the game.