Chapter 49: Even Though I Made It
Chapter 49: Even Though I Made It
Fantasy elements such as demi-human races and magic were also heavily woven into the game, making it feel almost like reading a fantasy novel.
Except this time, you were not just some side character in the story. You were the noble lord yourself.
In any case, the conclusion was simple: it was an extremely fun game.
“This game truly lives up to expectations.”
“Ah! Thank you very much!”
Though calm, Robert’s words carried the weight of the highest praise. Hyein immediately responded with a bright expression, while Insu, who had been quietly listening from one side, unconsciously clenched his fist tightly.
Because TLF and Parallel Soft’s reputation in America had grown so enormous, Robert had not even considered trying to deliberately lower his evaluation of the game.
Insu himself already knew his game was popular through magazines and settlement payments, but since he had never personally observed the local situation overseas, he still had not fully felt it in reality.
However, acknowledging that the game was fun did not mean Robert intended to agree to every demand the other side made.
“Forty-five percent is impossible.”
The moment Hyein casually tested the waters, Robert rejected it cleanly without hesitation.
“Even developers who operate their own distribution companies usually only take around fifty percent. We fully recognize Parallel Soft’s reputation, and we also acknowledge that this game has more than enough potential to succeed, but we cannot distribute it at a loss.”
After speaking firmly up to that point, he shifted to a slightly troubled expression before continuing.
“There are localization costs, marketing costs, distribution costs, and the portions that must go to retailers as well. And because the previous title was such a massive success, we’re planning a large-scale marketing campaign that leverages that reputation. We would appreciate it if you considered those factors.”
From the beginning, Hyein’s plan had been to deliberately ask high first and then lower things after gauging the reaction, so she merely nodded without looking offended. In truth, if she had wanted to bluff properly, she should have shown at least a trace of displeasure here, but Hyein was not that skilled at negotiations yet.
Still, that did not mean the bluff gained her nothing. At the very least, she learned that fifty percent was probably close to the upper limit of a distributor’s margin. Of course, even that could still have been deliberate smoke on Robert’s part, but even if it was merely a psychological ceiling, it remained useful information.
“...Then let’s go with forty percent.”
And Hyein could not afford to remain endlessly hardline either.
America was currently the largest market in the world, and with so many games constantly pouring into it, she assumed distributors would always be able to find replacement titles no matter how successful a game was. Because of that, she believed they would not willingly cut too deeply into their own margins.
In reality, while Hyein’s reasoning was fairly rational, her judgment was also partially clouded by the overwhelming scale and prestige of the American market itself. If she had truly known just how popular TLF and Parallel Soft had become in America, she might have negotiated far more aggressively.
“...Very well.”
After running complicated calculations in his head and hesitating for quite a while, Robert finally accepted.
Even if Hyein had not conducted a perfect negotiation, this result was hardly disappointing. Forty percent was a figure that only an extremely tiny number of American developers could ever receive.
Considering that The Land Of Fantasy had originally received only twenty-five percent revenue sharing, this was practically a dramatic rise in status. And technically speaking, it was even a higher percentage than Japan’s contract.
Part of the reason was that Robert himself had become afraid of potentially losing Parallel Soft’s new title, preventing Velocity Entertainment from negotiating as aggressively as usual.
Thus, because both sides entered negotiations somewhat constrained, the final result could actually be viewed as a fairly even battle.
“We signed contracts with distributors in Korea, Japan, and America.”
“Ohhh!!!”
Insu informed his teammates that the contracts had been finalized. Even if they had completed the Gold Master version, development was not truly finished until the game was actually sold.
After all, if distributors reacted poorly during demonstrations, then unless they intended to abandon release entirely, they would have no choice but to revise the game again.
The team members looked as though they were melting from sheer relief. If they still had any strength remaining, they might have reacted even more dramatically, but everyone was already half-burned into ash, so this was probably the best they could manage.
“Now we’ll spend about a month on Gold Master testing while waiting. Of course! We won’t go as hard as before. That said, don’t slack off too much either... but instead, everyone leaves work at five o’clock.”
Gold Master testing had already been listed on the schedule chart. However, when Insu sensed something slightly terrifying in the way the team members stared at him, he immediately hurried to offer a carrot instead.
The chilling sensation at the back of his neck seemed to fade somewhat after that, but it still felt slightly insufficient. So with a bitter smile, Insu finally said the thing the team members most desperately wanted to hear.
“...And if there are no major problems after one month, we’ll give everyone three weeks of vacation in rotating two-person groups. There will also be additional consolation bonuses separate from the regular performance bonuses.”
“Ooooh...!”
Only then did Insu feel the lingering atmosphere of rebellion finally disappear completely.
Afterward, he naturally participated in testing himself while leisurely playing Medieval Fantasy Nobility.
Playing the game casually after development ended, free from all the obsessive pressure and simply enjoying it without thinking, felt incredible. Of course, technically this was still testing, but since the Gold Master had already passed through several RC phases, everyone was only checking things with a vague “just in case” mindset now, leaving almost no tension at all.
Wow. These computer bastards fight dirty as hell.
The AI nobles pretended to hold their breath and act loyally while Insu possessed overwhelming military forces and aggressively expanded through conquest wars. But the moment he overextended himself and downsized his army because his finances became too strained to even handle the interest payments on his deficits, they instantly rebelled.
Then, while he gathered troops to suppress the rebellion, the neighboring count latched onto the situation and invaded his remaining vassals instead, making curses spill from Insu’s mouth.
In truth, this game did not contain any particularly advanced AI. However, the systems had been designed so that even simple decisions could create extremely high-impact outcomes, while countless smaller choices continuously introduced variables, making opponents feel difficult to predict and hard to deal with.
It was somewhat similar to how enemies in old games like Bubble Bobble or Pac-Man actually followed very simple patterns, yet still felt incredibly difficult for players to handle.
Especially for beginners, it often created the illusion that the monsters were genuinely thinking and reacting intelligently.
After playing for quite a while, Insu suddenly found the situation strangely fascinating.
Originally, this game had begun merely as an experimental project for implementing social systems in an MMORPG, yet somehow it had evolved into such a sophisticated and entertaining title.
Though honestly, for a mere “system experiment,” it’s become way too complicated.
When applying these mechanics to an MMORPG later, he felt they would probably need to be simplified considerably.
And the longer he played, the more certain shortcomings became apparent. There were several, but the largest by far was the lack of multiplayer support.
Of course, turn-based strategy games naturally involved extremely long play sessions, making them more suitable for single-player experiences than multiplayer.
Still, there were definitely people who enjoyed multiplayer even in genres like this. And once players became veterans, no matter how good the AI was, they would eventually start feeling dissatisfied and naturally want to compete against real humans instead.
This reminds me of playing Civilization V multiplayer back in the day.
His win rate had been terrible, and he had mostly been the one getting crushed, but it had definitely been fun. And he felt certain that his own game would also be incredibly enjoyable in multiplayer.
However, despite fully understanding the future potential of multiplayer systems, he still could not add them because of the era’s technological limitations.
Computer performance was still too weak, and internet distribution was practically nonexistent, so even if they spent enormous effort implementing multiplayer functionality, it would almost certainly become an unused feature.
PC communication networks did exist, but leaving aside the low speeds, their response times and stability were so terrible that actual gameplay would be nearly impossible. To support multiplayer over PC communication networks, the game would need to be far lighter and simpler.
Of course, if we implemented it now, people would probably be able to use it within a few years.
But there was no guarantee people would still be playing this game by then. Delaying the release date significantly for a feature that might or might not be used years later was simply not a realistic choice.
People would probably just criticize us for adding useless features nobody can even properly use yet.
At most, Insu only vaguely considered the possibility of adding network functionality later through additional patches if people still continued enjoying the game. Besides, right now they did not even have anyone capable of handling network systems in the first place.
While Gold Master testing continued, second-grade summer vacation finally began.
“It’s vacation!!!”
One of his classmates shouted excitedly at the top of his lungs. But since Insu felt similarly, he did not find it annoying at all.
For him, balancing the final sprint of game development with school life had been an exhausting ordeal, so having vacation arrive not long after development ended doubled his sense of liberation.
That was rough...
School life remained exhausting. From everyone else’s perspective, Insu looked exactly like an exemplary student who listened attentively in class, earned excellent grades, and maintained good relationships with friends.
But after leading the development team through this latest project, Insu had undergone substantial mental growth as a leader, becoming in some ways even more mature than he had been in his previous life. And now, in that state, sitting through lessons on “Good Life Habits” and elementary arithmetic filled him with a kind of self-loathing that felt almost like torture.
More importantly, it feels like such a waste of time!
He had squeezed both himself and the team desperately in order to meet deadlines, typing away at keyboards until his young body literally nodded off from exhaustion. Yet at the same time, he still had to spend half of every day attending school and listening to childish lessons so simple they felt as though they were actively purifying his brain into innocence. It was maddening.
Still, vacation’s finally here!
Although he suddenly had far more free time, the exhaustion from everything they had gone through prevented him from feeling bored for quite a while. Instead, he simply enjoyed games.
“It’s vacation!!!”
This shout came from Eunha. Even though she already attended school only loosely in practice, she still technically commuted and remained a student, so her sense of liberation seemed just as strong.
“Noona, you’re here?”
“Miss Eunha, you came?”
“Yes!!”
During the final development phase, she too had looked thoroughly exhausted. But perhaps thanks to the power of youth, or maybe simply the power of vacation, she had completely regained her energy.
After making eye contact with each member of the development room and smiling once at Insu, she walked over to her seat and launched Medieval Fantasy Nobility.
She seemed especially fond of this project.
Insu had once asked whether that meant she simply liked turn-based strategy simulations, but apparently that was not the reason.
“It’s because this game contains a lot of the designs and artwork I personally came up with. And I really like the medieval atmosphere too.”
“Ah. That’s why?”
Now that he thought about it, she really had said during early development that she loved medieval European-style settings. And unlike the previous title, this game contained many designs and concepts that she personally directed herself, so it was only natural that she would feel attached to it.
And surprisingly enough, her gaming skill also seemed fairly decent.
No, wait. Maybe I had unconscious prejudice too?
In truth, it was not that one gender was naturally better at games than another. Men simply tended to play games more often, so naturally more highly skilled players emerged among them. Realizing he had instinctively found her skill surprising made him quietly reflect on himself.
And once again, he felt disappointed. If multiplayer had existed, the members of the development team themselves could probably have enjoyed playing together.
Technically, even now, multiple people could still play by registering several characters on a single computer. But it was inconvenient, and because everyone could see exactly what the others were doing, it hardly qualified as proper multiplayer.