Game Development: Starting by Healing the Players
Chapter 40: Heated Discussions
At the Ministry of Games in Shanghai.
Unlike in Chen Xu's previous life, this parallel world did not have a single overarching department responsible for the various entertainment industries.
Instead, different industries were divided among separate departments.
The Ministry of Games, naturally, was responsible for everything related to games.
This included domestic publishers' licensing of overseas games, the review and approval of domestic games, as well as games that had already passed domestic approval and were subsequently being exported overseas. All of these matters were subject to review by the Ministry of Games.
When it came to game approval, the system was also different from the blanket, one-size-fits-all approach of Chen Xu's previous life. This parallel world had a detailed age-rating system.
Of course, this was largely made possible by the parallel world's more advanced technology. At least when it came to games, its real-name registration system for online users could be said to be extremely well-developed.
Minors could forget about seeing any NSFW content. They simply wouldn't be able to find it.
And precisely because of this system, the approval regulations were considerably more lenient than in his previous life.
Of course, if someone deliberately tried to make outright pornographic content, that still wasn't allowed.
Just like Chen Xu's first game, Mirror, it could only be exported and then brought back into the domestic market.
It was essentially a gray area: not officially supported, but not directly suppressed either.
In addition, the Ministry of Games had opened up its independently developed game engine to the public.
It was roughly equivalent to Unreal Engine from Chen Xu's previous life.
The difference was that while Unreal Engine was commercial, this one was state-owned.
Moreover, its technology was on an entirely different level.
At this moment, inside the Ministry of Games in Shanghai, the officials and judges responsible for this year's Sci-Fi Game Design Competition were holding a meeting to discuss the situation.
Unlike ordinary players, these judges basically had to play every single entry. Therefore, their scores were based on a combination of summaries provided by the review staff below them, along with their own judgments regarding the games.
After all, it was completely unrealistic to start a game from the beginning and play through its entire story in such a short period of time, especially with so many entries.
At the same time, taking into consideration the considerable criticism from players regarding the games selected in previous years, this time they had decided to use a combined scoring system involving both players and the official judges.
After all, the purpose of the Ministry of Games' competition was to better guide the development of the domestic gaming market.
And when it came to the gaming market, the players were the ones who had the final say.
If the officials selected games they considered appropriate but the players didn't like them, how could those games possibly guide the market?
"Let's start by voting for the first-place prize. Everyone can explain their choice one by one," said the head judge sitting at the head of the table.
"NetDragon Games, designer Meng Zuo's Galaxy Heroes. There are some flaws in the story presentation and numerical balancing, but the pacing of its level design is exceptionally good," the first judge said.
"Nebula Games, designer Chen Xu's To the Moon. Although there isn't much worth mentioning in terms of gameplay, the entire game uses a flashback narrative structure, and its pacing can be described as nearly perfect."
"I agree. Although Chen Xu's game is different from his previous Undertale and doesn't showcase any particularly astonishing systems or mechanics, the story itself is already powerful enough to be deeply moving."
"Galaxy Heroes is indeed excellent, and To the Moon is also very good. But personally, I feel that compared with most ordinary game designers, it's probably difficult for them to have the resources needed to create a game like Galaxy Heroes. To the Moon, however, is different. From that perspective, I'm more inclined to choose To the Moon."
"Although I also acknowledge that this game is excellent, can To the Moon really be considered a science fiction game? At its core, isn't this essentially a story about love?"
"Strictly speaking, To the Moon naturally doesn't count as science fiction. But if we use that standard, more than forty percent of the entries in this competition wouldn't qualify as science fiction either."
"I have my doubts. I still favor Galaxy Heroes."
......
The judges in charge of the event had become embroiled in a heated debate over which game should win.
Meanwhile, online, countless players were also trying out and experiencing the various competition entries.
During the early stages of promotion, many of the participating games had received considerable publicity.
But if there was one developer who attracted the most attention, it was still Chen Xu.
After all, the popularity of Undertale had not completely died down yet. Then Zhong Mei, who had previously gone silent, suddenly reappeared, only to be utterly crushed by Chen Xu, who had psychologically destroyed him as well.
As a result, Chen Xu had completely seized the spotlight.
This also meant that many players immediately went to try out To the Moon.
Across various forums and player groups, they were already enthusiastically recommending it and discussing it.
"Strongly recommend that everyone go play Chen Xu's new entry, To the Moon. It moved me to tears!"
"Come on, dude. Isn't that a little exaggerated? He made this game in just over ten days!"
"So what if he made it in over ten days? It's awesome! And the story really is incredibly moving. Once you've played it, you'll understand what 'a grown man shedding tears' really looks like."
"Damn, seeing you guys talk about it is making my tears come out again!"
"Is it really that exaggerated?"
"Why don't you just play it yourself and find out? This game made me realize that apparently, my emotional weak point is way lower than I thought!"
"Is it really that good? I'm going to buy it and give it a try."
"Who are you guys voting for? I've already decided to vote for To the Moon. No one is changing my mind!"
"Same here. I'm voting for To the Moon too!"
"Although I was really moved by it, I don't think To the Moon can really be considered a science fiction game, can it?"
"Who cares whether it's a science fiction game or not? I'm voting for it anyway!"
The players who had been among the first to play To the Moon all cast their votes for the game without the slightest hesitation.
As for the argument that, strictly speaking, it couldn't be considered a science fiction game?
After experiencing that incredibly touching story, hardly any players cared about that anymore.
After all, whether it was a science fiction game or not—why should they care so much?
They thought the game was excellent. They thought it had moved them.
So they voted. Simple as that.
As for whether the game was actually qualified to participate, that was something for the officials to decide.
......
Before long, the three-day sales figures for the participating games were released.
Among them, To the Moon stood head and shoulders above the rest, selling 193,000 copies. Galaxy Heroes, which came in second, sold 87,000 copies.
Those numbers were already quite astonishing.
However, the reason To the Moon had such a large lead was mainly due to two factors.
First, To the Moon was a cross-platform game, available on both mobile and PC, giving it access to a much broader player base.
Second, To the Moon was priced at only 15 yuan.
Galaxy Heroes, on the other hand, cost 65 yuan.
Of course, the reason To the Moon had been priced so cheaply was also related to the game's length.
After all, from beginning to end, the entire game only took a little over four hours to complete.
Even so, its lower price still had a significant impact on its sales.