Chapter 96: The Right Game

Nebula Games Office

Compared to its early days as a small team, Nebula Games had now grown into a company of considerable scale.

Chen Xu led the core development team, including Ruan Ningxue, Yang Xin, and Qin Yi.

In addition, separate operations teams were established for Overcooked, Sanguosha, and Fall Guys, responsible for the subsequent operation and content updates of these games.

Furthermore, a dedicated department was formed for the Nebula Games Platform, focusing specifically on maintaining the community and the Workshop (modding platform) features.

Currently, the review process for Workshop-related MODs was still being handled internally by Nebula Games employees and customer support staff.

However, as the number of supported games continued to grow, outsourcing this task would inevitably become necessary.

The in-house staff would eventually shift to overseeing the broader strategic direction, gaining valuable grassroots experience in the meantime.

With the official launch of the Dark Souls project, the entire team was making steady progress in development.

Chen Xu didn’t need to worry too much about art asset production.

He mainly coordinated between Ruan Ningxue and the outsourced team, only stepping in for final reviews.

As for Yang Xin’s work on the story and worldview design, there weren’t many difficulties—his task was simply to keep pace with the game’s overall development.

The core focus of Dark Souls development remained firmly on the Combat System.

Under Chen Xu’s leadership, progress in this area was highly encouraging.

This was largely due to the post-holiday recruitment drive, during which many new employees brought substantial experience in action games.

They quickly grasped Chen Xu’s vision and efficiently adjusted parameters using the Official Game Engine.

"Avoid hit-stun during BOSS battles. Only specific actions, such as backstabs, Perfect Guard counters, and executions, should trigger rewarding mechanics."

"The entire Dark Souls Combat System revolves around the stamina bar. Invisible resource management and fluid combat should take priority over sense of impact."

On the large screen was a BOSS battle scene.

Since the map’s art assets had not yet been produced, the background was still a simple 3D wireframe.

However, the BOSS model had already been created—this was the first BOSS players would face, affectionately nicknamed ‘Gundyr the Ash,’ the Shield-Parry Teacher.

Following Chen Xu’s instructions, the employee responsible for the Combat System gradually fine-tuned the parameters.

While the team continued refining the settings, Qin Yi took the opportunity to discuss certain development matters regarding Dark Souls with Chen Xu.

"Mr. Chen, regarding data, should we also finalize the formulas for Easy and Normal difficulties?" Qin Yi asked, holding a printed document.

The document listed various stats for BOSSes, monsters, and equipment in Dark Souls.

"Easy and Normal difficulties? I forgot to mention earlier—this game won’t have difficulty settings," Chen Xu replied with a smile.

"N-No difficulty options!?" Qin Yi’s eyes widened in shock.

He glanced down at the data in his hands, then at the ongoing combat test on the screen, looking utterly bewildered.

"Mr. Chen… should we still optimize and adjust these attributes later on?" Qin Yi asked tentatively.

"Why adjust them? The current attributes are actually quite scientific. Don’t just look at the BOSS stats—consider the game’s Combat System design and the player attributes we’ve designed."

"First, let’s examine the Combat System. Most monsters can be dealt massive damage via backstabs. There’s also the shield mechanic and invincible rolling—these allow players to defeat enemies quite easily."

"Given that, if we don’t increase monster attributes to add challenge, wouldn’t players become completely invincible? Wouldn’t the game lose all difficulty? Would players even find it fun then?"

Chen Xu explained solemnly.

Listening to Chen Xu, Qin Yi felt a bit dizzy.

Hmm… that actually made a certain amount of sense.

But then another question arose.

Theoretically, if players avoid getting hit, they’re practically invincible—able to defeat mobs in just a few hits.

But what if they do get hit?

Staring at the combat test still being optimized on screen, Qin Yi fell into deep thought.

………………

After leaving the Dark Souls project team and returning to his office, Chen Xu stretched lazily.

During this time, Fall Guys remained extremely popular.

The game had already received two major updates, introducing several new maps into the rotation.

Additionally, thanks to strong player support, new modes such as solo matchmaking and Team Up had been added.

The Team Up mode had been significantly improved compared to its previous life—now, entire teams could win the crown, rather than only a single winner emerging at the end.

In terms of sales, Fall Guys continued to break records. Nearly a month after launch, it had sold close to 4 million copies, with sales trends remaining impressively stable.

As for Sanguosha, while its data wasn’t as dazzling as Fall Guys, it excelled in player retention, with both Daily active users and Gross revenue steadily climbing.

Opening the system’s UI interface, Chen Xu checked the four progress bars linked to the golden item he had previously drawn.

The bar representing happiness had grown the most, already filling up about two-thirds.

Anger and resentment followed, each around one-sixth filled.

The sadness bar, however, hadn’t moved at all.

Clearly, no one was crying while playing Sanguosha or Fall Guys.

As he was observing the growth in emotional points, his phone suddenly vibrated on the desk. Chen Xu picked it up and saw a message from his assistant, Lin Rou.

"Mr. Chen, there’s a new Game Design Competition announcement from the official side."

A new Game Design Competition?

Chen Xu paused for a moment.

Last year’s competition had focused primarily on sci-fi games.

He had created To the Moon, which, despite winning an award, sparked considerable controversy.

This year, the Game Design Competition was being announced so early?

Opening the Official Game Engine’s backend, Chen Xu found an official electronic document.

However, the theme for this year’s competition?

"A game with an anti-war theme?" Chen Xu instinctively pinched his little finger.

He then glanced at the additional requirements.

They were largely similar to last year’s competition.

If anything was different, it was that this year’s theme was slightly more serious.

After all, it involved anti-war messaging.

As Chen Xu reviewed the requirements, he began contemplating what kind of game to create.

Earlier in the year, he had developed Outlast and Overcooked; later, Sanguosha and Fall Guys.

Originally, he had planned to apply for a higher Job Title only after completing Dark Souls.

But if he could secure a strong ranking in this competition, he wouldn’t need to wait that long.

Moreover, during this vacuum period while Dark Souls was in development, the Nebula Games Platform needed a new game to maintain visibility and热度.

Now, only the game’s direction remained to be decided.

An anti-war theme offered him quite a few options.

After some thought, and recalling the unlock condition for the golden gashapon he had recently obtained, Chen Xu had an idea for a suitable game.

(Daily request for recommendation votes and Monthly Pass~)

(End of Chapter) <>