It has been three months since I started working on Undertale, and I can only say that it is turning out beautifully. I'm not the least bit embarrassed to praise my own work, after all, I'm really putting in a lot of effort.
I always thought that games like Sea of Stars, Blasphemous, Graveyard Keeper, Fear & Hunger, and a few others had already reached the pinnacle of pixel art, but the technology here is simply incredible. Even I am surprised by the amount of detail I'm able to put into Undertale.
(Note: Just a side note, I followed Sea of Stars from the very first announcement. I was enchanted by the pixel art, and the developers even said they were inspired by Chrono Trigger. I had high expectations, but it was a disappointment. To this day, I don't understand how a game with so much potential and good mechanics simply wasn't fun.)
Working on Undertale has been very relaxing. Being able to see this game with such beautiful art makes me extremely happy. While I'm working on some details, I want to add a few extra things about W.D. Gaster. What made Undertale such a good game was not just the art or the satire of traditional RPGs, but also its story, world, characters, and mysteries—all the secrets that Sans hides and his connection to W.D. Gaster.
The entire world of Undertale is shrouded in mysteries and past events. It's a game with many questions, few answers, and countless theories. The genocidal ending is especially strange and unique because, as you progress, the characters slowly try to stop you. Some will become frightened, others will attack fiercely, and others will try to talk. Seeing Papyrus believe in you until the last moment makes anyone's heart ache.
But at the same time, it makes you question everything that's happening. Undertale constantly tests your determination. It wants to know what you're willing to do to get what you want. Determination is the essence of this game—determination to witness the genocide of an entire race just out of curiosity, just to see what happens; determination to save all the characters you've grown attached to throughout the journey.
This game is truly unique. Its characters are extremely charismatic. You can laugh, cry, and be scared while playing it; it all depends on how you play, on the path you choose. When Undertale was released, it became a reference point for other games. Many developers started drawing inspiration from it to create their own stories. Thinking about all this, I can't help but smile. I want the people in this universe to experience what I did when they play.
(I need to figure out how to launch this game; there are no gaming platforms on holographic wristbands. Maybe I should create one?)
I closed my eyes and started to think. Creating a platform for games would be great for me. Not only could I easily publish my games, but I could also profit if other designers put their games on the platform. I was already planning to do this in the future, but now that I'm making this game, I could create a "beta version."
This way, I could also gather data to expand the platform into virtual spaces in the future. Even though Eternal Dream is the largest platform in the universe right now, it doesn't mean they can't have competitors.
I opened a file where I had jotted down several ideas for the future. Initially, I didn't intend to create my own gaming platform. Besides being extremely expensive, it's also difficult to convince players to leave their original platform, but I'll still need to do it.
My goal is to create a shared universe with all the games I make. Each game will have its own world, universe, or dimension. When a player buys a game, they will receive a standard ship that will get upgrades as the player buys more games.
At that moment, a part of the universe will be unlocked for exploration. Various small rewards and mini-games would be scattered all over, as well as random events that could give unique rewards for the player's ship or discounts on game purchases, along with tons of Easter eggs.
I also intend to create a gigantic city in the middle of the universe that will be a meeting point for players. There would be all kinds of shops, from restaurants, bars, vehicle stores, malls, and much more. But that's not all—I also plan to add missions for the players.
In this city, players would act as mercenaries. They could take on rescue missions, eliminate space pirates, monsters, or find strange objects. I could release all the SCP objects into the universe and even create new ones, as well as cursed items. Each contained object would give different rewards, and depending on the difficulty, more players would need to participate to complete the mission.
I could create several mission lines for the more powerful objects, as well as create a storyline for the universe as a whole. If Luna has the right updates, she could help me with this. I could also create dimensional prisons where demons, monsters, and dangerous beings that could cause chaos in the universe would be kept, triggering group missions that can only be completed with fleets of hundreds of players.
It would also be possible to place ancient gods in the universe. They would appear every few years, becoming a universal event where thousands or millions of players need to fight together to win, and the rewards would be calculated based on achievements in the battle. The more you help in defeating the ancient god, the greater your reward.
And all of this would be extra content outside of the games. It would technically be "free," but the universe would be locked for beginner players. However, just buying the games wouldn't be enough to unlock more areas to explore; it would be necessary to have enough achievements to demonstrate your abilities, and only then would you gain access to more parts of the universe.
These achievements would be the medals earned in the games. It would be necessary to have a certain number of games purchased plus a number of medals to unlock a new area. The more difficult an area is, the more content it will have, and the more medals will be needed to unlock it.
Smaller areas would only require bronze medals, but the more difficult and content-rich an area is, the more medals it will require. The medals would also be different, being bronze, silver, gold, and platinum.
The player could fly to the game world or start the game directly. I literally have thousands of ideas about what to do, but after researching, I realized it's impossible to do this on Eternal Dream. Not only would they not allow it, but they also don't have the capacity to maintain something of this magnitude. After all, they just sell games and don't have the infrastructure for it, so I would have to create my own platform.
With that decided, I'll need to learn how to program. Doing something like this is not something I can leave in the hands of others. I don't want to create another Mark Zuckerberg.
(Note: Just kidding, don't sue me.)
I'll need to buy a lot of upgrades for Luna. AIs are extremely useful for this kind of thing, but knowing a bit of programming will help me not feel lost, so I won't have to depend entirely on Luna or other programmers.
Okay, I admit it, I'm an old man who doesn't like to rely completely on technology and likes to do things on his own.
Sighing, I look up and see Ed and Fred working. They are my first step toward creating a dream team. As things progress, I'll need more and more help to keep everything in order, which means I'll need a group of people who understand my plans and have the skills to help me.
The competition won't just help me gain fame; it will also help me scout talent. Ed is good at creating characters, Fred is good at creating environments and level design. Now, I need someone who can help me develop stories, and it would also be good to have a lead programmer.
I still have a lot to do if I want to complete my plans. Thinking about this, I can't help but smile and look at my two hardworking ants.
"Huh? Why am I getting goosebumps? Is it getting cold?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. Just finish this up so you can rest while I evaluate your work. I'll warn you now, if it's bad, you'll have to start from scratch."
"…"
"Damn."
"He's the devil."
…
**POV: Edward Hopper**
…
It's been three months since Fred and I started helping Alex with this project. Honestly, I only agreed to help because Alex was very persistent. After the gigantic failure of our last game, I was unsure if I should continue studying to be a game designer.
I mean, I knew the game wouldn't be a success, but ranking among the last million really surprised me. This is a competition with over 5 billion participants, and our game ended up among the last? Disappointment doesn't even begin to express it.
Alex might joke about a lot of things, but the care he shows for games— I knew his opinion wouldn't be sugarcoated like our professors'.
At first, I simply didn't understand how our ranking was so low. Our game, even if simple, was still acceptable. We chose a famous general from one of the most well-known and studied battles; everyone loves works about this war, so there was no reason for the game to rank so low.
We used several popular ships and many events that are super popular. Fred and I studied a lot to make this, but when I asked Alex why it didn't work out, he just looked deep into my eyes and said:
"Because you're idiots."
"…"
"…"
"There's something that's popular, so why not put it in my game? Everyone will love it! A famous general who has been portrayed by millions of media outlets and everyone is already tired of him, why not make another game about him? Yes, what a wonderful idea.
Wow, look at these new ships that all designers use; I'll use them too, it'll work out.
What? One of the most studied and popular events in history? Obviously, I'll put it in my game.
Look at this…"
"Okay, okay, I get it, you can stop now."
He didn't stop. In fact, he went on for twenty minutes. That bastard knows how to make you feel like an idiot, but I have to admit, these last few months working with him have helped me understand a lot of things.
The three of us have been friends for over eight years, and I always knew Alex was a game lover, but now working with him, I feel a bit embarrassed. Not only does he work twice as hard as I do, but he also has many amazing ideas.
When I decided to become a designer, it was just an impulse. I wanted to keep studying with my friends, but now I think, for the first time, I'm really enjoying what I'm doing.
But for some reason, he keeps hiding the story of the game. I don't mind that, since I think this idea of a game on a holographic wristband won't work, but I still find it really fun to make these characters, so it's fine.
I think I'm learning more working on this project with Alex than I did with the professor in design classes. I don't know what to think about that. Many of the things we added to the game were the professor's advice, but the result was the worst possible.
But I definitely won't tell Alex that, or he'll never stop talking about it.
…
**Note:** A slightly shorter chapter, I've been very busy lately. In this chapter, I laid out the protagonist's goals more clearly. Nothing here is set in stone, as he said, these are plans for the future, and plans can change.
I enjoyed writing this chapter. Before I started writing it, I went back to look at my chapter zero. This is a chapter I made before I started writing this story, where I outlined all the story arcs and how many chapters each should last.
I wanted to finish this story in under a hundred chapters, but I don't think I'll be able to, hahaha.