Game Development: Starting by Healing the Players
Chapter 43: I Think I'm a "Warrior of Love"
The award ceremony for the Ministry of Games' Science Fiction Game Competition was held at the Ministry of Games in Shanghai.
More specifically, the ceremony took place in the conference hall of the Shanghai Ministry of Games building.
Calling it an "award ceremony" was honestly a bit of a stretch. It barely resembled a ceremony at all.
Even though it was during the National Day holiday, there were still quite a few staff members working at the Ministry of Games.
Whether they were permanent employees or ordinary contract workers, however, was something Chen Xu didn't know.
There were no elaborate decorations or glamorous arrangements. Even when the Ministry of Games staff took photos and recorded footage, they mostly just used their phones.
There were, however, quite a few gaming media outlets outside the Ministry of Games building, carrying signs and shoulder-mounted cameras.
But these gaming media reporters basically just took pictures from a distance. None of them came forward to conduct interviews.
After all, the event had only just begun. If they wanted to conduct interviews, they would naturally wait until the designers had finished attending the official event inside the Ministry of Games.
Despite how modest the whole affair was, Chen Xu, who was attending the event for the first time, found it rather interesting.
It was only 1:30 p.m. Before coming, he had been informed that the event wouldn't officially begin until two.
Following the staff, he arrived at the temporarily renovated conference hall.
The place was actually quite spacious.
The entire conference room was decorated in red-brown and white, with tiered seating.
The chairs were arranged into two main sections. At the front was a large horizontal table serving as the main podium. Bright red national flags stood on either side of the backdrop, with the national emblem positioned above the center.
At each seat in the conference room was a plastic nameplate bearing the name of a game designer.
Chen Xu soon found his own seat.
It was in the first row, against the wall.
Someone was already sitting beside it.
"You're Chen Xu, right? To the Moon taking first place was certainly well deserved."
The man moved aside to let Chen Xu take his seat. There was a faint smile on Meng Zuo's face, but his feelings were actually quite complicated.
To say that he wasn't disappointed would be a lie.
But to say that he harbored any hatred was even further from the truth.
In fact, he admired Chen Xu to some extent. After all, he had played To the Moon himself, and the game had moved him deeply as well.
"Teacher Meng? I've heard a lot about you. I really like Galaxy Heroes too, especially the level design in Chapter Three. It's exceptionally well done."
Hearing the man's words, Chen Xu glanced at the nameplate in front of him and extended his right hand with a smile.
"Not at all, not at all. It's the storytelling in To the Moon that's truly perfect. And your previous game, Undertale, was even more impressive."
Meng Zuo shook Chen Xu's hand and instinctively exchanged a few polite compliments.
But soon, he suddenly realized something.
Why did this scene feel so familiar?
It was almost exactly the same as the scene he had imagined in his head a month ago!
It was just that the protagonist and supporting character seemed to have been switched around.
Meng Zuo fell silent after releasing Chen Xu's hand.
At this moment, however, Chen Xu had no time to notice that he had inadvertently "damaged" another game designer's fragile heart.
Several designers who had noticed the commotion nearby came over to chat with Chen Xu.
What surprised Chen Xu was that several of them were extremely outgoing and familiar, showing an unusual amount of enthusiasm toward him.
After probing around a little, Chen Xu figured out why.
Although these people didn't know him personally, they all shared the same characteristic.
They had previously been publicly attacked by Zhong Mei online.
They simply hadn't fought back against Zhong Mei head-on like Chen Xu had.
Instead, they had been trampled on by him and had even inadvertently helped him generate publicity.
Chen Xu, on the other hand, had essentially gotten some revenge on their behalf.
And now that Chen Xu had won first place in the competition, quite a few designers naturally came over to introduce themselves.
After all, everyone was part of the same gaming industry. Having one more friend meant having one more path forward.
Before long, Chen Xu had a pile of game designers' phone numbers in his contacts, and he had also been added to several small group chats.
While everyone was chatting, the officials from the Ministry of Games soon arrived in the conference room.
Before coming, Chen Xu had done his homework.
He already knew the names and positions of the various Ministry of Games officials. After all, he would undoubtedly have plenty of opportunities to deal with them in the future.
The award ceremony officially began.
Yang Chen, the Shanghai Minister of the Ministry of Games, took the stage to deliver a speech.
He was a thin, tall man in his fifties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses. He had the appearance of a traditional intellectual.
The speech itself was extremely serious and formal.
After the speech concluded, it was time for the awards.
Yang Chen solemnly announced the results.
Amid a round of applause, Chen Xu smiled and walked toward the front.
As the applause gradually subsided, Chen Xu accepted from Yang Chen a small red booklet representing first prize, along with a small medal signifying his first-place award.
Next came the acceptance speech for winning the award.
Chen Xu had memorized it long ago. He had simply taken last year's winner's acceptance speech template and made a few modifications.
As for whether he happened to use the same phrases as someone else later, he wasn't going to worry about that. After all, he was the first one to go up and speak.
"Thank you to all the leaders. I am deeply honored to have won first place in this year's competition. At this moment, standing here, I am extremely excited—"
As Chen Xu delivered his speech, thunderous applause erupted from below the stage.
However, Meng Zuo, who had been sitting beside Chen Xu earlier, had a somewhat peculiar expression.
Why did this acceptance speech sound so similar to his?
Once all the game designers had finished their speeches, they each took their certificates and medals, posed for a photo in front of the Ministry of Games staff, and the event was essentially over.
But as soon as Chen Xu left the Ministry of Games building, the reporters who had been waiting outside immediately swarmed around him.
Most of the media outlets were primarily focused on Chen Xu, along with Meng Zuo from NetDragon's Swordfire Thunder Studio.
After all, those two were the only ones among the group who had much of a story surrounding them.
"Mr. Chen, what are your thoughts on winning first prize this time?"
"Mr. Chen, do you have any plans to develop a new game after To the Moon? Will it be another warm and heartwarming game like To the Moon?"
A whole crowd of reporters fired questions at him.
However, everyone was clearly being fairly restrained. This wasn't an exclusive interview, after all. If Chen Xu answered a question, every media outlet could publish the same response. It would simply come down to who managed to get their article out first.
"Winning first prize was both unexpected and a pleasant surprise. I never imagined that the higher up would have such high regard for To the Moon. At the same time, receiving first prize has also given me a greater sense of responsibility. In the future, I will continue contributing to the development of the domestic gaming industry—"
As they listened to Chen Xu's lengthy speech, the surrounding media outlets grew increasingly frustrated.
How could a designer this young speak so formally?
There wasn't even a single juicy headline in there!
But Chen Xu's next words made them even more exasperated.
"As for a new game, I don't have any plans yet. Whether it will be another warm and heartwarming game, I can't say at the moment either. But personally, I do enjoy developing this kind of game. After all, I've always felt that I should consider myself a 'Warrior of Love.'"