Horror Game Designer Chapter 18: So Damn Good

Gao Ming believed that the Nightlight Gaming Studio’s horror games would definitely be popular because the players wouldn’t take long to realise that they were not playing a game but a survival manual.

“If you’re really that worried, we can just work on Xuan Wen’s line and make it into a demo. We’ll use it to test the waters.” Gao Ming projected the latest proposal on the screen. “I have always believed that we’re the best team, but the clients don’t seem to think so. If we follow the client’s request blindly, it’ll destroy the uniqueness of our games. That’s why I suggest a demo.”

“If we restart everything now, we don’t have enough time. Why don’t we follow Gao Ming’s idea?” Wei Dayou removed his headphones and bounced Xia Yang with his shoulder. “Ol Xia, what do you think?”

“The clients are doing this for money. We only need to prove to them that our games can earn money.” Xia Yang looked at the big screen. He knew Gao Ming’s design style, but he still took a cold breath. Compared to before, Gao Ming added a lot of details like he had personally experienced it. “How did you come up with these designs?”

“I had three days of cakes with my parents.”

Manager Gou hesitated to say something, seeing so eager his people were. As an experienced member, he could see the draw of Gao Ming and Xuan Wen’s designs. He also knew that Nightlight was best at horror games. However, he had promised the client to do a dating sim to follow the market trend.

“Manager Gou, trust me. We’ll succeed this time.” Gao Ming stood at the front. Wei Dayou and Xuan Wen stood behind him. The three generations of designers stated, “We’ll only do Xuan Wen’s plot for the demo. If it doesn’t garner any attention, we’ll delete it and go back to a normal dating sim.”

Manager Gou eventually conceded. Nightlight Studio was like a well-oiled machine, but Manager Gou couldn’t get happy seeing this. Gao Ming printed more than ten copies of old cases. The crime scene pictures covered the gaming studio and almost covered up the slogan for the dating sim. The employees studied the cases from the perspective of the victims.

“Compared to other dating sims, our advantage is that our female character is very special.” Gao Ming sent his new design to others. “Now, I will make minor adjustments so that the main character will be more like a ghost! So that the players will feel like they’re encountering a real ghost!”

“Are you for real?” Manager Gou said helplessly.

“That’s the thing that makes us special!”

No one could remain calm after encountering a real supernatural event. Gao Ming poured all of his inspiration into the male character.

“If the main character chooses to run, he’ll be killed. If he doesn’t say anything, he’ll be killed! He can’t resist. If he doesn’t make a decision in a minute, he’ll also die! Raise the difficulty!”

“The ghost doesn’t look right. Her face is not pale white but blurry and bloody. The victim is hanged when he is dying. I need the visual impact! You wake up at midnight to a horrid face beside your table. She is only 30 cm from you. The blood is almost dripping into your eyes!”

Everyone was passionate. After a long ponder, Manager Gou took out his phone and called the investor. “CEO Zhao, don’t worry. The progress is going well. But after a careful investigation and market analysis, we plan to make a small change… Just a small innovation.”

Manager Gou closed the office door and tried to explain to the client what would happen. After 4 pm, the dating sim with the male character trying to escape was completed. Injected with Gao Ming’s real experience, even the other employees were scared, much less the players.

“The demo is practically complete. If we want word of mouth, we should find a group of familiar testers. If the situation is not right, we can explain it to the client.” After Leader Xia said that, Manager Gou immediately nodded.

“You are too unconfident.” Gao Ming stood beside the computer. “Don’t be limited by yourself! Don’t give the players any limitations. Use all resources for the promotion. Let everyone who is interested play this game! If necessary, we can give the players money for them to play the game!”

Compared to Manager Gou, Gao Ming was more like the leader. He treated the company less than a home and more like his life. If the company failed, he would die.

“There’s only one chance. We have to give it our all!” Gao Ming raised the file. He changed the game name from To Our Transient Love to, To Our Dying Love.

Nightlight Gaming Studio skipped over the clients and started a playtest. As Magic Map Tech’s last-place studio, they had very few resources, so they needed to rely on game quality.

…

At 4.30 pm, Manager Gou chatted for a long time with CEO Zhao. They were years of friends, but this involved money. He was worried about this investment and hoped Manager Gou would bring the game with him in person.

“Nightlight hasn’t had a good game in years. However, Gou Youzi and I are old friends. He wouldn’t scam me, right?”

He hung up the phone. CEO Zhao hopped onto the largest social media. He wanted to find the latest news on Nightlight Gaming Studio and found a few hot topics in the horror section.
“Their studio is small, and they’re making two games?!”

With curiosity, CEO Zhao clicked open a random post. Nightlight Gaming Studio had posted a new demo. The players were arguing madly. There were equal amounts of one-star and five-star reviews.

“This is interesting.” CEO Zhao downloaded the game and was silent as he stared at the name. “To our Dying Love? Why did they copy my idea?”

The otaku character appeared as the game started. He lived alone in a sweet house.

“A normal character. There’s nothing special.”

As the sun sunk, the rented home started to change. Before CEO Zhao could react, the main character he controlled died. Sitting before the monitor, CEO Zhao started the game as he watched the dead body of the male character being dragged away.

He’d die choked by something from the back if he sat on the couch; the killer would burst into the toilet if he hid there; the safe closets in other games became a man-eating monster; if he tried to hide under the bed, he’d come face-to-face with the killer; Even if he didn’t move, he’d receive endless death threats.

No one in the game could be trusted. Even the parents were played by ghosts. The whole world wanted to kill the main character.

“The fuck!” CEO Zhao played 20 minutes without realising it. The game was magical. It could make the players want to punch the screen. The demo was still available, and the players kept leaving comments.

“I’ve died 17 times in a dating sim!”

“This is too real! This game appears to have all the money to create the female characters! I wonder which investor drop money into this project.”

“Is there anyone that survived until the seventh day?”

The game was still going viral. The dating sim started on the horror board and it started to gain traction with attention from some small content creators.

At 5.40 pm, CEO Zhao who had died many times, finally reached the 11th night. When he was trying to figure out the killer, Manager Gou entered the office with an awkward smile.

“Ol Zhao, I brought two cans of tea leaves for you. You love them.” Manager Gou tried his best to avoid talking about the game but when he placed the leaves on the table, he saw CEO Zhao’s computer screen, the familiar game image froze the smile on Manager Gou’s face.

“Out of my trust in you, I leave the game to you. But which week is it already? Can you tell me where the money is spent? How is the dating sim coming along?” CEO Zhao didn’t raise his head. He focused on controlling the main character to avoid the ghost.

Manager Gou thought deeply and then said softly, “Aren’t you playing it?”

The sound of keyboard tapping stopped. CEO Zhao pointed at the screen and then at himself. “This?”

“Yea…”