Chapter 34
Chapter 34
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 34
Chapter Title: An Extreme Strategy Proposal (1)
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*Hoo, I have to make this strategy proposal a success, no matter what.*
While Daeri Heo Yuri worked on the character concept images, I was pouring all my energy into writing the strategy proposal.
The first step was to create a table of contents.
Jotting down the document's structure in my notebook, I tried to craft a strategy proposal that could persuade anyone.
To be like a seasoned entrepreneur skilled at pitching, like Steve Jobs or Elon Musk, it couldn't be a simple list of documents. It needed its own narrative arc.
*The reason this document is so hard to sell is that there's no reference for the kind of emotional game I want to create.*
Usually, a strategy proposal persuades its audience by citing other successful titles, like existing games.
However, the work I was planning had few, if any, successful examples to draw from.
If I had to pick something, the closest would be indie games made by teams of five to ten people, but finding data on those in Korea was no easy task.
*I'm stuck here.*
Was it because I was trying to write a perfect document?
No matter how I wracked my brain, the empty coffee cups on my desk just kept piling up, and I couldn't come up with anything that felt right.
I wanted to use my 'Acceleration' skill to at least speed up the work, but since I lacked the fundamental idea to build upon, using the skill would be like pouring water into a bottomless pit.
*Should I try using my remaining points?*
Even after grinding away for nearly a full day without finding a path forward, I suddenly remembered I still had 20 unused points.
*First, let's check my stats.*
[Planning] A- (※ A planner specialized in story and directorial concepts.)
Story - 42(+1) / Direction - 33(+1) / Concept - 28(+1) / System - 17(+1) / Balance - 11(+1) / Level Design - 10(+1)
*...Concept might be somewhat helpful.*
The detailed planning stats displayed by God Game Maker mostly indicated abilities for sub-tasks within each planning role.
In this situation, it was hard to say what would be immediately useful.
After all, a strategy proposal requires a complex blend of abilities; in a way, you could say it needs all of them.
Besides, there was a critical problem with investing in stats right now.
<<You have raised too many stats in a short period. A penalty will be applied.>>
<<To raise the Concept stat by 1, 5 points are required. Alternatively, the penalty will be eased if you increase your understanding of the stat.>>
God Game Maker had imposed a penalty on stat investment.
*I see. It prevents you from mindlessly pumping points into stats.*
The reason I had been able to raise my Story and Direction stats so easily until now was that Hyunsoo's actual understanding of them had already reached a certain level.
If it allowed you to max out every ability, that alone would let you transcend all real-world limitations.
It strongly felt like the God Game Maker system itself was designed to suppress that to some extent.
Well, if it were allowed, investing everything in stats would be the best strategy.
Even now, I could permanently raise a few stats by investing all 20 points.
But—
*If I did that, I wouldn't be able to get the strategy proposal approved.*
Hyunsoo had no experience as a producer, no prestigious academic background, no connections, and on top of that, he had to make a console game.
With all these disadvantages, it was obvious what would happen if I made a clumsy move here.
It wasn't every day that a mere scenario planner gets to become a producer.
I had no intention of being foolish enough to waste this opportunity with a half-baked approach.
As I mulled it over, a thought suddenly struck me.
*Let's check the shop.*
If stats weren't going to give me an immediate boost, there was the <Developer Shop> where I could buy skills.
<<Displaying the Developer Shop!>>
[Developer Shop]
- Welcome! Welcome to the Developer Shop. The items in the Developer Shop are updated periodically, and the product lineup may change depending on the developer's level and situation!
(1). Boost your team's morale! ‘Passion, Passion, Passion!’ - 5 points
(2). Increase your team's T.O by one! ‘Supply’ - 15 points
(3). Allows you to check the quality of your project's documents! ‘Document Improvement Solution’ - 20 points
(4). Instant Shop Refresh - 1 point
*There's no point in boosting morale when the team isn't even fully assembled, and the T.O is something I need to decide after seeing how the company handles the increase...*
As I looked through the shop window, one item in particular caught my eye.
*Check the grade of my project's documents. That's the one.*
I immediately knew what that ability did just from the description.
It was because I had used something called the ‘Story Improvement Solution’ while working on ‘Forgotten Andersen's Story’.
If my guess was correct, that skill would have the incredible ability to tell me the document's grade and current status, and even suggest a solution.
20 points... It was an expensive skill that would require me to spend every last point I'd been saving, but one sure thing is better than a hundred uncertain ones.
*Purchase skill number 3.*
<<Spending 20 points to purchase the ‘Document Improvement Solution’ skill!>>
As I bought the skill, I felt a refreshing sensation run down my spine, and at the same time, it felt as if something was being sucked into my mind.
I lifted my head and stared intently at the strategy proposal document on my monitor.
And then...
[Strategy Proposal]
- A strategy proposal written by PD ‘Jo Hyunsoo’ to get his new project approved.
It's hard to say anything yet as the direction has not been established...
Grade: E+ (You need to establish a direction first.)
Solution: Recommending forums where you can obtain data on overseas indie games.
[Recommended Link 1] [Recommended Link 2] [Recommended Link 3]
*Yes!*
I cheered inwardly.
The Document Improvement Solution not only gave me an objective evaluation of my document's current content but also provided links to sites where I could get data on overseas indie game sales—the very thing I was struggling with the most.
This was the kind of invaluable information that would have taken me weeks of scouring the internet to find.
*This can work. I can write it like this.*
Only after seeing the data provided by God Game Maker did the flow and direction of the document begin to come into view.
It felt as if something that had been blocking my mind had been blown wide open.
I felt that my hands couldn't keep up with the torrent of thoughts flooding my mind.
In that case, I had the perfect tool for the job.
*I'll use Acceleration now.*
<<Activating Acceleration! Your work speed increases dramatically!>>
At that moment, my fingers began to dance across the keyboard as if playing a piano.
*In this section, I'll intentionally place data from successful indie games at the forefront, then use other indie games to create an illusion about the concept's viability...*
<<The grade of the Strategy Proposal has increased from E+ to D-!>>
*Clack! Clack!*
*This part would be good to use as an example of how indie games can have a profitable business model and also appeal to the masses.*
<<The grade of the Strategy Proposal has increased from D+ to C+!>>
*Clack!*
Every time I excitedly tapped the keyboard, God Game Maker periodically informed me that the quality of the document was improving.
Until the very last moment before meeting with Department Head Shin Chihwan, I pushed myself like mad to make it even more perfect.
"Gwajang, no, PD-nim, aren't you going home?"
"Ah, Daeri Yuri. Don't worry about me, you can go ahead. I still have some work to do."
"Hmm, I'll be leaving then. Don't overdo it."
Daeri Yuri, who was watching me from the side, must have felt sorry for me, as she would occasionally appear to give me energy drinks or coffee.
But right now, far from being tired, I was incredibly excited and thrilled.
More, more, if I could push my skills to their absolute limit, create this strategy proposal, and present it in front of everyone?
I was curious about what that would feel like.
And so, a few days passed—
<<The grade of the Strategy Proposal has increased from B+ to A!>>
<<This is the limit of advice the Document Improvement Solution can provide to raise the grade! If you wish to raise it further, you will need something else you have found yourself!>>
I had succeeded in raising the quality of the strategy proposal to the absolute limit of my current abilities.
It was a well-written planning document that I wasn't ashamed of even by my own standards.
*With this, it might just be possible.*
Of course, it seemed I could raise the grade even higher than A, but for now, I had reached my physical and mental limits.
I decided I needed to rest a bit for my meeting with Shin Chihwan tomorrow.
*Well, if there's any 'plus alpha' I can add, I can just find it before the actual presentation to the executives.*
I finished my overtime, having pushed myself to the brink for several days, and headed home.
I looked forward to the moment I would show this document to Shin Chihwan tomorrow.
****
The next day, in the department head's office.
"Ooh, Gwajang Jo Hyunsoo, no, PD Hyunsoo. I thought you were only good at writing stories and concepts, but you're quite skilled in this area too, huh?"
"Fundamentally, it's not that different from writing a story."
"I guess so. I did get that kind of feeling. I especially liked the sense of reversal when you mentioned Van Gogh's paintings, and then bam, an image of a character created in his style popped up. Good job, not bad."
After hearing my pitch, Department Head Shin Chihwan clapped his hands slowly and loudly with a satisfied expression, in a way that seemed almost arrogant.
To an outsider, it might have looked like he was being sarcastic, but that was Department Head Shin Chihwan's way of giving the highest praise.
"Well, who would've thought someone in Korea would try to make a game with a Van Gogh art style?"
"Do you think this will be a hurdle during the project review?"
"Of course it's gonna be a damn huge hurdle! You know how Korean game companies work, right? Cookie-cutter art, bam! Armor where the less you wear, the higher your defense! The same copy-pasted faces! Summer comes, bam, swimsuit packages! New semester, bam, school uniform packages!"
Department Head Shin Chihwan spat out the harsh words in a self-deprecating tone, then, as if snapping back to reality, waved his hands and said.
"Ah, I didn't mean that in a bad way. Our company also makes a living thanks to that style of art and games. Hooray for swimsuits! Hooray for school uniforms! PD Hyunsoo, you know what I mean, right?"
"Yes, I know very well."
I gave a slight smile and shrugged.
As he said, a company is not a place for art.
It has to generate revenue, and therefore, it must follow the users' needs.
Occasionally, an innovative developer emerges who makes the readers' needs follow them, but those are extremely rare.
A game company is a place that will even put a female knight who saved the empire in hot pants for the sake of sales.
Personally, I hated those elements to an extreme degree, and at times, found them repulsive.
However, I too made a living under the revenue of such games, so I have no intention of denying or criticizing them.
"Well, this kind of art style will obviously have a hard time getting approval from the business department, but... while watching this, a brilliant idea just popped into my head."
"An idea—what kind?"
"You remember how our company has been giving out exhibition tickets every now and then for the past few years, right?"
"Ah yes, I've been to one myself."
Each company's welfare system has its own unique characteristics.
One of our company's features was that it would sometimes distribute a large number of random exhibition tickets.
I recall they were mostly focused on exhibitions of Western painters from the post-modernism to modernism period.
"Those tickets weren't just given out for free. Our company donated a fair bit to those exhibitions. Do you know why?"
"I'm not sure."
Department Head Shin Chihwan made a money sign with his hand and continued.
"Basically, for a company of our size, a big part of it is for tax benefits, but fundamentally, our president's personal taste leans that way. You wouldn't think it to look at him, but he has a very deep appreciation for art."
This was the first I'd ever heard of it.
But thinking back, I recalled that the artworks hanging all over the company cafe and the concepts for internal events were strangely often related to the art of that era.
"The president is always going on about how we need to create value that leads the era, just like those paintings. You know, that kind of hard-to-understand talk."
"So you're saying I should reflect that message in my strategy proposal to catch the president's eye."
"Exactly! The truth is, if you convince the executive board, it's over, no matter how much the business department complains. It won't be easy for them to throw a tantrum and refuse a project that the president himself has handpicked, especially one that won't even use 10 people, citing money problems or whatever."
The moment I heard that, I realized something.
*I found it. The 'plus alpha' that can raise the grade of my strategy proposal even higher.*
Those words from Department Head Shin Chihwan were the magic spell that could elevate the strategy proposal I had written to an even higher level.