Chapter 29


    The next day, in the office of Neb Games, the team met up again to go over the materials. Chen Xu handed over his character concepts for the main cast: Johnny, River, Eva and Neil.


    Yang Xin and Ruan Ningxue both got stuffy chests and itchy tear ducts after reading the script, but they would save those questions forter, there were more important things to hash out.


    Ruan Ningxue spoke up first, feeling slightly confused, But isnt the theme science fiction? This reads more like a romance.


    Yea, wheres the sci-fi stuff? What about going to the moon? Will there be a moon base? Yang Xin added her two cents.


    Yesterday in the conference room, Chen Xu described the background of the game to them. Its about going to the moon and technology that can alter memories.


    So it was obviously going to be a dark game right? The two girls spoke to each other excitedlyst night, discussing dystopian futures and gritty cyberpunk settings. Yang Xin was particrly interested in having a brain-in-a-vat character.


    But after reading the design document, they felt misled! Its just a romance disguised as sci-fi. What a downer. Oh well


    Now, now, calm down. The setting can be as sci-fi as you want it to be, it doesnt have to sh with the plot. For example, in this part where the two doctors arrive at Johnnys house, we can have the car be extremely futuristic, giving it a more sci-fi feeling. Wouldnt that be fine?


    Besides, the main device used to push the plot forward is technology that can alter memories. Doesnt that count as sci-fi, we can make it look as cool as we want?


    The girls looked thoughtfully at the script once more.


    And remember, the most important thing is that the content of the game connects with the yer deeply. That it touches their hearts. Everything else is just a matter of presentation.


    Chen Xu saw that the fire in their eyes had been ignited at some point, they were in a good state.


    He pped his hands. Alright, you know what to do. Clocks ticking, lets go, go, go!


    .


    At the same time, news of thepetition was heating up on the inte.


    After all, the deadline was drawing near, and it got substantial publicity as a government sponsored event.


    At the same time, many of the designers participating were also promoting their entries on social media.


    Most of the entries were PC and mobile games, due to the rtively short development time. Surprisingly, some of the more well-known gamepanies were also involved, most notably Net Dragon.


    (TL: huh, talk about dejavu, Ive seen this name used in another novel too, viva Cloud Dream!)


    But of course, it wasnt their core studio. Largepanies like these will always have several development teams or studios running at the same time to space out releases.


    Perhaps their participation this time was for the sake of practice or promotion.


    Regardless, more and more yers took interest and started to discuss.<ul><li>[ By the way, are you rooting for anyone in the sci-fi contest? ]</li></ul><ul><li>[ ? Whats that ? ]</li></ul><ul><li>[ Havent you heard? It thetest event organized by the Game Department ]</li></ul><ul><li>[ Naw, first time Im hearing about it, its usually a crap shoot anyway, so is there anything good in the list? ]</li></ul><ul><li>[ Yea, well, it doesnt have to be as good as Undertale, but Im hoping for something decent ]</li></ul><ul><li>[ Oh shit, we get to vote on this? There was no yer votingst time right? ]</li></ul><ul><li>[ Yeah boiiiii, we can vote this time! It used to be just a panel of managers from the Game Department, so there were a lot of rumors about bribes n stuff ]</li></ul><ul><li>[ No wonder, I always thought the winners were crap, guess too many people started asking questions ]</li></ul><ul><li>[ Yaya, they announced that yer scores will have slightly more weight in the final judgement ]</li></ul><ul><li>[ Well Im gonna keep my skeptic sses on, thank you. No way those bigpanies will y fair ]</li></ul><ul><li>[ By the way, you think there will be a lot of meta-games? Seems like theres one popping up every so often now ]</li></ul><ul><li>[ Naw, Im looking up the dates. Undertale wasnt a thing yet when thispetition was first announced ]</li></ul><ul><li>[ You think Chen Xu will be in? ]</li></ul><ul><li>[ Naaaa fam, no way ]


    </li></ul><ul><li>[ Why not? ]</li></ul><ul><li>[ I meant just look at the dates, hes been working on Mirror and Undertale so theres absolutely no way he has time for this ]</li></ul><ul><li>[ Wait, wait, wait, check his blog. Hes goin in! ]</li></ul><ul><li>[ ?????? ]</li></ul><ul><li>[ Well, Hot Damn ]</li></ul>


    .


    Undertale is an indie game, but its poprity is far beyond that of the average indie title.


    With impressive innovations and staggering sales volume, this game has already be a role model in the ways ofbining artistry and business.


    Naturally, it has attracted the attention of countless game designers in the industry, as well as the media.


    There is a lot of spection going around about what lies in the future for Neb Games and Chen Xu.


    Manye to the same opinion. That the next step will likely be a sequel to Undertale or some other form of meta-game.


    But who could have seen iting when Chen Xu made a new public statement on his official blog. Announcing that Neb Games would now be making a very special game to participate in thepetition.


    As for what kind of game it would be, he did not borate.


    But that wasnt what people cared about.


    No, what people were focused on was Time.


    There is only half a month between Chen Xus announcement and the deadline. Can Neb Games make it in time?


    With their previous track record and release schedule, it was obvious that this game they announced was definitely not made in advance.


    And after hearing this news, many game designers shook their heads, thinking that Neb Games was about to get tripped by their own hubris this time.


    Did the sess of his two games go to Chen Xus head? What is this reckless management?


    Zhong Mei, who had been keeping quiet since his loss, posted a reply just 4 minutes after Chen Xu made his announcement. Who knows if he had been obsessively following news about Chen Xu all this time.


    [[ Sess in the moment does not mean sess in life. It is a pity that some game designers dont understand this and even treat state sponsored events as childs y. Can the work of such designers even pass the entry test? ]]


    Zhong Mei was obviously still holding a grudge from the Undertale incident, and quickly jumped out, adding fuel to the fire.


    And while his newly reopenedment section was still filled with all sorts of weird shit, his words seemed to have garnered some level of support this time.


    Not even 20 days to develop a sci-fi game for apetition? Unthinkable! Unrealistic!


    As for Chen Xus reply to Zhong Mei. It was somewhat nuclear.


    He included a screenshot of Zhong Meis previously deleted post, along with a screenshot of Undertales current ratings and sales. He also put in a silly little emoticon.


    It featured the popr image of a cute bunny, looking at a clown with disgust. Chen Xu ended the post with a line of words.


    [ Stop looking for me, I dont talk to clowns ]


    Seeing this reply, countless melon-eaters and tea-sippers were instantly happy.


    After all, Zhong Mei had always been a controversial personality among both yers and designers. It was somewhat cathartic seeing karma in action.


    Chen Xu went straight for the throat, we love to see it!


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