WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Potter

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Game Director that Returned from Hell ◈

Chapter 19

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When I first came up with Hellic, I hadn't implemented character stats because of our immediate staffing shortage and the game's limited scope.

I'd worried that adding those would make the game harder for players to understand intuitively.

A technique that placed all the playable character's stats in their weapons, leaving the character's performance entirely up to the weapon's performance.

A technique that simplified the mechanics.

It was a method often used in Flash games and indie titles.

'I'll expand on that concept.'

As I'd said before, new genres could be born by twisting, expanding, and reassembling things that already existed.

The question was how to expand and reshape it.

My thoughts soon led me to an answer.

'I need to give it an identity.'

I'd go beyond the idea of a simple tool and pack it with worldbuilding, character, narrative, and systems.

The idea was inspired by the Souls series' “narrative tooltips.”

How to apply it was clear.

The stats of Hellic's protagonist, the Jailer, changed with each torture tool. Beyond the stats, the character's very identity changed.

The same would apply to Alice in the Hellic 2 we were about to make.

Alice was a girl who could do nothing on her own.

She had no special talents. As such, she had made her way through hell relying entirely on tools and little tricks.

All I had to do was express that story through the game's systems, using items.

Of course, I couldn't stop there.

If I simply followed the same formula, we'd end up with little more than a lesser copy of the Souls series.

'Put a little more focus on the items.'

The tools should shape the game's difficulty, worldbuilding, and identity, as well as the character's individuality and the distribution of resources. Ultimately, they needed to run through the entire system, encompassing all those elements.

In the process, I'd suppress the playable character's individuality as much as possible.

For this game, I'd limit Alice's individuality to her story alone.

'Show that she's nothing special.'

Show that no one could be special in hell, that only the things belonging to hell were special.

I'd carry that theme throughout the series.

I also selected elements from the previous game that we could bring over.

'The system for combining item Properties is too good to throw away. The unstoppable boss mechanic... Yeah, we should reuse that. Even if an early boss appearance doesn't define the game's identity, it'll add tension.'

That wasn't all.

We could also reuse the scream from the previous game's intro.

'Let's make it the studio's signature sound. Something that makes people feel they're playing Hellic the moment the game starts.'

I immediately began making notes on my computer.

I wrote down whatever came to mind as a random collection of keywords, then spent quite a while sorting them into categories.

Eventually, a rough framework emerged.

Of course, it still needed work.

'I need more ideas. There's still a lot to cut, too.'

I didn't yet know what the finished game would look like.

In other words, I was venturing down an unknown path.

The realization brought a smile to my face.

It felt wonderful to have my brain working like this.

'This is why I can't quit making games.'

This moment of creating something new from things I already knew was simply too much fun.

* * *

Writing the design document went fairly smoothly.

The concept was already clear, though twisting the genre meant revising the game flow and mechanics I'd already settled on.

Once I had a rough outline of the systems, I began working on other tasks alongside it.

A few things had been firmly decided.

“We're going with an over-the-shoulder view. The camera sits behind the character's head, sharing their field of view. Seorim, you've played Biohazard, right? That's one of the best-known examples of this perspective. There are plenty of others, but if there's anything you're unsure about, study that one some more.”

“Oh, okay. I know what you mean.”

One of the most important things in a game was its perspective.

The impression a game left could change completely depending on the perspective it showed.

The greatest strength of an over-the-shoulder view lay in its balance.

It offered some of the immersion that came from sharing the playable character's field of view, while easing the restricted vision of a first-person perspective. The camera alone provided quite a few advantages.

That was especially true for this game.

Players needed to share Alice's view while constantly remaining aware that Alice was the one they were controlling.

That was why I'd chosen an over-the-shoulder view.

“Next, let's move on to modeling Alice and the butterfly. Yumi, Hyeji, put everything else aside and focus on these two. The butterfly is especially important.”

“What do you want us to do?”

“Make Alice's movements as light and airy as possible, as if she's walking through a flower garden instead of hell. The butterfly should flutter around like a real butterfly, but there are a few extra animations we need.”

Beep!

The projector switched to the next slide.

There were two main points to the butterfly.

“First, navigation. The butterfly will show players the way as they progress through the game.”

The most important thing to consider in the opening section of a 3D game was giving players a sense of purpose.

Explaining the world without making it feel forced would establish a basic sense of immersion and curiosity.

“Implementing it is simple. Wherever the butterfly goes, it leaves a trail of teal light.”

In the story, the butterfly was Alice's guide, friend, and guardian.

This was the result of interpreting that role through the game's systems.

I continued.

“Next are the butterfly's transformations. It'll transform to serve as the player's items.”

This idea came from something I'd actually seen.

The butterfly guiding the girl had sometimes changed into tools or other weapons to save Alice from danger.

I'd recreate that through the game's systems.

For example... Yes, when the girl picked up an item, it would become one of the butterfly's transformations rather than going into an inventory.

“Give it separate transformation animations. Pay special attention to making everything look natural, from the moment the butterfly starts changing shape until Alice is holding it. Seorim, make sure you check the details on this.”

“Got it.”

That was that.

I'd handed out all the immediate work.

Taking a breather, I said, “Okay, last up is Seorim's concept art for Alice and the butterfly. I'll send you the files, but let's all take a look first. She must've worked hard, so at least give her a round of applause.”

Beep!

The projector switched slides, revealing the completed concept art. I was quite pleased with it.

“Oh...”

Clap, clap...!

Jo Ayun clapped shyly.

“Our Seorim's the best!”

“That's our Seorim! We knew you could do it!”

The excitable duo squealed and cheered in their own way.

Han Seorim gave a smug shrug.

Well, she had every right to.

'A white girl who seems empty inside.' 'A dreamlike teal butterfly.'

I'd given her only those two descriptions, yet she'd captured the images without much trial and error. Her skill reassured me that choosing Han Seorim had been the right call.

Anyway, that was that.

Time to wrap things up.

“That's all for today's meeting. Everyone, get to work.”

“Yay!”

Kim Hyeji, the older of the two, answered enthusiastically.

It happened then.

“B-boss. What about me...?”

Jo Ayun asked hesitantly.

Did she feel left out?

“Ayun, there's nothing for you to do at this stage. We can handle the sound later. More importantly, you need to study right now, don't you? Oh, right. Was your first lesson today?”

“Y-yes...!”

“Give it your best. I'm counting on you.”

The music teacher I'd worked so hard to find was giving her their first lesson today.

I'd offered generous pay and promised a performance bonus, so unless something unusual happened, the teacher would be eager to teach.

The rest was up to Jo Ayun.

When I patted her shoulder, she straightened her back and sat up properly.

Then I noticed something.

'Hmm. Those dark circles are pretty bad.'

Was studying wearing her out?

Worried, I asked, “Are you having any trouble with anything?”

“N-no...! I'm fine...!”

Jo Ayun answered with a shy smile.

A thought crossed my mind.

'Still, I'm glad she's such a good kid.'

It must have been awkward for her, so I was grateful that she was taking everything in stride.

* * *

We started getting busy in earnest.

In other words, the office finally felt like it was running properly.

Han Seorim was struggling with the map concept art.

I helped with fine details and areas that needed gameplay mechanics, but the overall mood was entirely in her hands.

She seemed to have a lot on her mind.

Meanwhile, the excitable duo had finally gone quiet.

“...Unni, I'm done with this.”

“Mm...”

Han Seorim's rule was something to behold.

Even with all her own work to do, the moment either of them took a break or got distracted, she asked how their work was coming along.

If she found anything she didn't like, she stepped in and picked it apart herself. Once they finally produced something satisfactory, she immediately gave them their next task.

A thought came to me unbidden.

'She should never run a company.'

Wouldn't she create a horrible sweatshop?

No, rather than a sweatshop, it'd be a high-pressure workplace that squeezed every last drop out of people during working hours.

The one saving grace was that Han Seorim wasn't completely hopeless at handling people.

“You both did well. See? You can do it when you try. This part here is especially good. Even I hadn't thought of that.”

“S-Seorim...!”

“Let's go out for a meal afterward. My treat. I found a good place nearby.”

“I'm so touched I could die...!”

The excitable duo hugged Han Seorim and sobbed.

Han Seorim patted their backs.

There was something only I could see.

It was Han Seorim's expression as she coldly looked down at the tops of their heads.

“...”

Well, she seemed to have things under control. Maybe I should leave her to it.

'I've got something else to worry about anyway.'

It wasn't Jo Ayun.

Between lessons in composition and music theory and preparations for her high school equivalency exam, Jo Ayun rarely even showed her face at the office.

There was nothing there for me to worry about.

What was giving me a headache was my own work.

With the design more or less complete, we'd begun making the game.

My jobs were design and programming. The moment I finished the first, I moved on to the second and began building the foundation.

It wasn't easy.

'The game engine really is lacking.'

Compared to the engines I'd used before, the engines of this period had features that left much to be desired.

But what could I do? Complaining wouldn't change anything, and all of this had been my choice.

In the end, the only option was to tackle it head-on.

I made tools to implement the features I wanted, and doing that work left me short on sleep.

There was one other problem.

'Promotion.'

The biggest barrier to selling a game.

At least, it was for me and our current situation.

When it came to recovering development costs and turning a profit, marketing was just as important as the product itself.

Larger game companies spent a considerable part of their development budgets on promotion. Its importance hardly needed explaining.

But the resources available to me were limited.

A large-scale outside advertising campaign was out of the question. Our realistic options were promoting the game in online communities and making use of James Han, who was slowly building a small following through online streaming...

'There's no decisive move.'

The reach of those methods would clearly be limited.

'Wait until we've saved more money, then promote it?'

No, that would be a bad move.

Hellic had finished with excellent results, and interest in the studio was at its peak. We needed to announce the next game and set our promotional schedule now.

If we waited too long, people would forget us, barely remembering that a company like ours had ever existed.

That was how this industry worked, especially for indies.

With so many games pouring out, anyone who didn't keep promoting themselves would disappear without anyone noticing.

My impatience and frustration were mounting.

Rrrr.

I'd opened a web portal out of habit and was scrolling down with the mouse wheel when an article caught my eye.

No, “caught my eye” wasn't enough.

The headline alone made me straighten up from my slouch.

“Ah...!”

What an incredible coincidence.

It was an article that could neatly solve the very promotional problem that had been giving me such a headache.

The headline read:

『South Korea's Biggest Gaming Expo, G-STAR, Comes to Busan for the First Time!』

Suddenly, I felt like an idiot.

'Why didn't I think of this?'

This year, 2009, marked an enormous shift in the Korean game industry.

A change that began with that very festival.

'This is the year G-STAR really starts growing.'

I remembered it clearly because this was the first year I'd attended G-STAR.

The 2009 G-STAR, held in Busan for the first time, would end successfully after drawing around 240,000 visitors.

It would eventually establish itself as the largest gaming exhibition in the country.

As soon as all those facts came back to me, I reached a conclusion.

'...We might be able to promote the game.'

Perhaps on a much larger scale than I'd imagined.

I immediately moved the mouse.

Hell of Heretics (1)

Footnotes:

“Unni” is a familiar term used by a woman to address an older sister or an older woman she is close to.

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