Chapter 141: A New Card Game and MUD Game
Chapter 141: A New Card Game and MUD Game
Since the network environment was too poor to transmit things like images, everything was made entirely in text. In the case of cards, it was easy enough to combine text symbols to create something that resembled images, and for chess they used symbols that looked as close as possible while attaching annotations explaining which piece each one represented.
A circle symbol was a pawn, and “<” was a knight, for example.
These were very simple games, but this was still the early age of the internet, when many people were happy just chatting online. Naturally, they quickly became popular.
Ras was currently trying out this chess game in the chairman’s office. He had only ever played chess casually before and did not have much interest in it, but since they had launched a new service, he wanted to check what it was like for himself.
It was not especially fun. That was unavoidable since he did not particularly like chess. Still, talking through the chat window on the right side while watching the opponent’s pieces move during their turn gave it a distinctly online feeling, which felt fresh.
Even so, since it carried the grand title of “online game,” he wished it were a little more entertaining.
Of course, there were already games being prepared for online play. A MUD game would be released soon, and the Professional Baseball Manager game currently deep in development was also putting considerable emphasis on online play.
But what Ras was thinking about now was a lighter kind of online game, like the poker game he had just launched after closing chess.
In truth, he already had a game in mind that he wanted to create.
A Trading Card Game. A TCG.
Originally, these were games played offline like chess or poker, but many attempts had been made to adapt them online, and some works in the genre had become very successful.
Representative examples included Hearthstone, Shadowverse, and Yu-Gi-Oh!.
(Translator’s Note: Hearthstone — Digital online trading card game developed by Blizzard Entertainment and released in 2014. Known for accessible mechanics, randomized card acquisition, and flashy visual effects.)
(Translator’s Note: Shadowverse (섀도우버스) — Japanese digital trading card game developed by Cygames and first released in 2016. Famous for anime-inspired art and evolved card mechanics.)
(Translator’s Note: Yu-Gi-Oh! (유희왕) — Japanese manga, anime, and trading card game franchise created by Kazuki Takahashi. The physical card game launched in 1999 and became one of the world’s best-selling TCGs.)
In fact, Ras himself had enjoyed Hearthstone quite a bit. Though later, he quit in frustration after getting angry over how rarely he drew good cards.
The more he thought about it, the better the idea sounded. Since it was fundamentally a card game, it had the huge advantage of not requiring amazing graphics or effects. Development time likely would not take very long either, and players would still be able to enjoy online play even with the current poor network environment.
Though Hearthstone did have rather flashy effects.
Even if he used Hearthstone as an example, the TCG implemented in Spirit Space would be visually very plain. For now, even the card illustrations would be represented with simple drawings made by combining text symbols.
That was something they planned to improve later through various methods.
Ras immediately became fired up with motivation. He started trying to draft the planning document, but there was one thing bothering him.
What kind of theme should he use?
Meta Soft already possessed many IPs. Using an existing, well-known IP to promote the game more easily and secure users was certainly an attractive strategy.
‘But is that really necessary?’
Something like a Spirit Stone TCG would not be bad, but Ras had confidence in the genre itself. Moreover, if Ras created a TCG, it would become the first one in this world. Since there were no powerful existing competitors, it seemed better to develop a completely new IP by utilizing the gameplay strengths of the genre rather than borrowing the power of an existing IP.
Magic: The Gathering, the very first TCG created on Earth, had used a fantasy setting, and it had become an IP perfectly suited for expansion into many genres.
(Translator’s Note: Magic: The Gathering (매직더게더링) — The world’s first modern trading card game, created by Richard Garfield and released by Wizards of the Coast in 1993. Introduced core TCG concepts such as mana resources, creature summoning, and collectible deck-building.)
RPGs, strategy games, adventure games, and more.
And compared to something like Pokémon TCG, Ras personally wanted a TCG involving monsters and magic creatures.
Ras began writing the proposal under the temporary project name “Magic War.” For now, he decided to take inspiration from Magic: The Gathering.
In detailed terms, the system was fairly complicated, but to explain it simply, there were resources called Lands that possessed attributes. Those resources could be used to cast magic or summon creatures. Each card also required different amounts and types of resources. This was where the various strategies and variables emerged.
“I-It’s ingenious!”
Giselle, the leader of the Spirit Space Team, exclaimed in admiration after reading Ras’s proposal. It was not empty flattery toward the chairman. She genuinely meant it.
‘As expected of the president of a game company.’
Spirit Space had already hired many developers and was producing all kinds of content. Among them were numerous games, including MUD games. Because of that, she had not thought game development was particularly difficult.
But seeing someone create a design with such deep gameplay while still working within the limitations of a terrible network environment made her realize once again that professionals truly were different.
“Please fill in the setting details yourselves. It’s fine to recruit novelists currently serializing works on Spirit Space like you did for the MUD game. However, you must consider expandability. I plan to make this an independent IP as well, so we can create sequels or even games in other genres later.”
“Ah, yes. Understood.”
Giselle nodded enthusiastically after hearing Ras’s instructions. The Spirit Space she managed had itself ultimately originated as a derivative of the Spirit Stone game IP.
Ras had begun all of this while envisioning the larger framework of the internet from the start, but the people of this world did not know that. From their perspective, this was the natural way to view things. Regardless, they had already realized just how powerful IPs could be.
So for a new IP that the chairman himself was expecting to emerge from the Spirit Space she managed, it naturally meant Giselle’s own influence would grow stronger as well. There was no way she would not welcome that.
She steeled her resolve to make this IP as successful as possible. And she was confident too. Spirit Space currently had an enormous number of novels being uploaded.
After instructing Spirit Space to begin game development, Ras summoned Georg, the leader of the IP Management Team, to the chairman’s office.
“How far along is the card pack production?”
“You mean the baseball cards?”
“Yes.”
Ras had no intention of keeping the TCG strictly online. These games had originally become massively popular offline and built powerful fandoms. There was no reason to abandon that just because they were adapting it online.
Though the order was somewhat reversed compared to Earth, Ras planned to service it through Spirit Space while simultaneously producing real card packs.
And he intended to link the two together. Like the Professional Baseball Manager project already in preparation, they would sell boosters offline. Players could enjoy the game physically with real cards, then register the cards online through codes included in the packs and enjoy battles there as well.
“We’ve already completed preparations for distribution, and we’re currently deep into card design work.”
“How far have the player illustrations progressed?”
“Yes. About one-third has already been completed.”
Though Georg did not understand Ras’s intentions and found it puzzling, he still explained the progress as best he could. Ras nodded at his answer.
What Ras really wanted to hear about was the illustrators. Of course, printing and distributing the cards was important for selling TCGs physically, but the biggest part of production was ultimately the illustrations.
“When do you think the illustration work will be completed?”
“We set a deadline of three months from now to coincide with the game’s release, but…”
‘There’s more time left than I expected…’
Ras felt slightly disappointed, but soon nodded.
Well, the game had not even been released yet. There would have been no reason to hire large numbers of illustrators early just to finish quickly. Actually, now that he thought about it, this might have worked out better.
TCGs required continuous card releases anyway, so there was a need to hire dedicated illustrators from the start.
Only then did Ras explain the TCG project to Georg.
Georg listened with great interest. He personally enjoyed gathering with friends on weekends to drink beer while playing card games or board games, so the concept of a TCG sounded extremely fun to him.
‘Games like that are best enjoyed offline.’
He did not deny the possibilities of online gaming, but there was something uniquely enjoyable about sitting face-to-face with people around a table and feeling the texture of the cards in your hands. That was why he approved of creating physical cards that could also be enjoyed offline.
“Understood. Then I’ll hire more artists.”
“Yes. Please do.”
Ras also had great expectations for this offline TCG. Although he was the president of a computer game company, computer distribution in this world was still quite low, and in places like the Orc Empire, computers themselves were still considered unfamiliar technology.
But if it were a paper card game, they could expand even into countries like those.
He had not considered it very seriously before, but as their games began exporting overseas, he had started recognizing the value of targeting international markets. The idea of creating a game enjoyed by people all over the world sounded rather wonderful.
Inside the chairman’s office, Ras continued wracking his memories from Earth, wondering if there was any further way to improve the concept.
While the new TCG entered development, the first MUD game was finally completed and launched.
‘Multi User Dungeon Game?’
Hisno was one of Spirit Space’s most devoted users. He was a twenty-eight-year-old Dwarf man working at a publishing company. After hearing news about the online contest, he had connected to Spirit Space out of curiosity and eventually became completely absorbed in it.
At first, he only read serialized online novels, but at some point it became as though he had developed an addiction to text itself. He ended up reading every single post uploaded there, and through that process, he gradually began playing games despite previously having little interest in them.
Recently, he had even started visiting Arcade Game Land from time to time.
Since he consumed every piece of content available on Spirit Space down to the last scrap, he immediately noticed the newly added content.
Hisno tilted his head at the unfamiliar game genre, but since he had only recently entered gaming in the first place, he simply assumed this kind of thing must have existed already and entered the menu.
‘A role-playing game played entirely through text?’
He knew what role-playing games were. He had even bought and played several popular titles. But even very old games still had graphics of some kind, so the idea of progressing entirely through text was difficult to imagine.
‘If you remove the visuals from a role-playing game, doesn’t it just become a novel?’
Still, he decided to try it once. Ever since encountering Spirit Space, anything new had begun feeling inherently interesting and entertaining to him. As a result, he did not hesitate much.
Entering the game list, he saw the title “Chronicles of the Fradia Continent.” It seemed that was the game’s name. He selected it immediately.
Then a large map made entirely from text symbols appeared on the screen. There were figures resembling people, monsters, and simple terrain scattered across it.
<Hello. Welcome to the Fradia Continent!!>
It was not difficult. He was already familiar with text, and at first all he had to do was follow the messages appearing on screen and respond. After deciding on a name and creating a password, he received explanations on how to play the game.
“Hoo…”
He took a sip of beer and let out a sound that was somewhere between admiration and a sigh.
‘It really is entirely text-based?’
Not only was all the information provided through text, but whenever he wanted to do something, he also had to type commands himself. To move, he entered directions. To look at something, he typed what he wanted to look at. Picking things up, attacking, slashing — everything was done through typing.
Having already become accustomed to graphical games and simple interfaces, he found it somewhat frustrating. But at the same time, it also felt strangely fascinating.
‘This really feels like writing a novel.’
In normal games, graphics made responses to commands very intuitive. But interacting entirely through text felt unusual. It made everything he did feel as though it were becoming part of a story.
And because there were no visuals at all, he could imagine everything however he wanted in his head, just like reading a novel.