[Neon Games Office]
Compared to the early days when we were a small team, Neon Games has now reached a notable scale.
The main development team has Ruan Ningxue, Yang Xin, Qin Yi, and myself. Along with Overcooked, Three Kingdoms, and JellyMan, we've also built an operations team responsible for maintaining and updating these games.
Additionally, we've established a separate department to manage the Neon Game Platform, focusing on community engagement and the creative workshop. Currently, our internal team and customer service handle the MOD review process. However, as we support more games in the future, outsourcing will be inevitable. At that point, our internal staff will step up as, guiding the direction after having gained experience from the ground up.
With the Dark Souls project now in motion, the entire team is developing and focusing on it. I don't need to worry too much about the creation of art assets since Ruan Ningxue is linking with the outsourcing team. I'll step in as the chief reviewer.
Yang Xin is progressing with the plot and world-building. She's primarily focused on following up on the overall game progress.
Our core focus for Dark Souls, however, remains the combat system.
Under my guidance, the team responsible for this area has made significant strides, largely thanks to our recruitment efforts earlier this year. Many new employees come with extensive experience in action games and can quickly understand my instructions. They're able to fine-tune the parameters using the official game engine.
"For BOSS battles, avoid using stagger mechanics here. Only specific weapons or environments, like backstabs or shield executions, will trigger this situation."
"The entire combat system in Dark Souls revolves around the energy bar. Smooth battles and implicit resource management are more important than delivering a hard-hitting sense of impact."
On the big screen, we're reviewing a BOSS battle. The map art isn't finished yet, so it's still displayed as a basic 3D gray background. However, the model for the BOSS is already complete—players will encounter the first BOSS, Ash Guda, affectionately referred to as Shield Parry Master.
As I give instructions, the team working on the combat system adjusts the parameters bit by bit. During a break, Qin Yi approached me to discuss some aspects of Dark Souls development.
"Mr. Chen, should we also include difficulty levels?" Qin Yi asks, holding a printed draft of the game's BOSS and monster data, along with equipment stats.
"Easy and normal difficulty? No that will be a mistake. I have forgotten to mention before—this game won't have difficulty settings."
"No... there's no difficulty option!?" Qin Yi widened his eyes in disbelief.
He lowered his head and silently looked at the data in the file in his hand. Then he glanced at the battle screen being tested next to him. Completely bewildered.
"Mr. Chen... Should we optimize and adjust these attributes later?" he asked Chen Xu tentatively.
"Why adjust it? Actually, the current attributes are quite scientific. Don't focus on the BOSS's attributes. You should also consider the game's combat system design and the character attributes we've developed."
"First, take a look at the combat system design. Most monsters can be heavily damaged by a backstab, and we have settings for shields and invincible rolls, making it easier for players to kill the monsters."
"In this case, if we don't boost the monster's attributes and add some challenges, wouldn't the players be running singing We are Invincible? Would the game still be fun to play without any difficulty?"
I explained seriously.
Listening to me, He added, "Boss is right".
It does... make sense.
But here's the issue again: in theory, players are invincible if they don't get hit, and they can take down mobs with a few punches and kicks.
But what if the player does get hit?
Looking at the battle screen still being optimized next to me, I fell into deep thought.
After leaving the Dark Souls project team. I returned to my office and stretched my back.
Recently, the popularity of JellyMan has remained high.
The game has been updated twice, introducing several new maps for rotation.
Additionally, thanks to strong player support, the game now features both single-player matchmaking and team modes.
In the team mode, compared to the previous version, there's been a significant improvement. Players can win the crown as a team rather than having one person win.
In terms of sales, JellyMan has been continuously breaking records, reaching nearly 4 million copies sold in the month since its release. Sales momentum remains stable.
As for Three Kingdoms, while its stats aren't as flashy as JellyMan, player retention is stronger.
Both daily activity and revenue are steadily climbing.
I opened the system's UI, checking the golden item I had previously extracted, along with the four progress bars.
The happiness progress bar had grown the most, already nearing two-thirds full.
Followed by anger and resentment, I could sense about one-sixth of that emotion.
As for sadness, I didn't react at all.
Obviously, it's impossible for anyone to cry while playing Three Kingdoms and JellyMan.
While watching the emotional score points increase, my phone vibrated. I picked it up and saw a message from my assistant, Lin Rou.
"Mr. Chen, there's new official competition news."
New competition news?
I was taken aback for a moment. Last year's official expedition mainly focused on science fiction games.
To address that, I created To the Moon. Although it won an award, it sparked a lot of controversy.
But this year, they're announcing the expedition news so early?
I opened the game engine's official background and saw an electronic red header file.
Hold on, what's the theme for this year's expedition again?
"An anti-war game?" I habitually pinched my little finger.
I skimmed through the follow-up requests.
There wasn't much difference from last year's expedition.
If there's anything different, it's the theme—this time, it's a bit more serious.
After all, it's about anti-war.
While reviewing the requirements, I started considering what kind of game I should create.
Escape and Overcooked from a year ago, followed by Three Kingdoms and JellyMan a year later.
Originally, I had planned to apply for a senior professional title after finishing the development of Dark Soul.
But now, with this expedition, if I can make a name for myself, I might not need to wait.
Additionally, during the development of Dark Souls, the Neon game platform required fresh content to sustain its visibility and popularity.
Now, the main decision is choosing the direction for the game.
With the anti-war theme, I actually have several options.
After some consideration, I started forming an idea for a game that would evoke emotions, helping to speed up the process of opening the egg.