Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Battle Preparations
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After the Lunar New Year holiday, our team, 'Christian,' resumed our sprint toward the first build evaluation.
“For some reason, I’ve been able to focus really well on work lately. Maybe it’s because I got a good rest over the holiday.”
“Isn’t it because the project is fun? Lately, all I can think about before bed is what I’m going to work on tomorrow.”
“No matter how you look at it, this is still company work. How is that possible? AD Heo, are you feeling alright?”
“Of course I am!”
Thanks to the Korean beef I had treated them to before the holiday, the buff from God Game Maker and the team’s overall morale had skyrocketed. Both the work schedule and the quality were progressing smoothly, exceeding expectations without the need for overtime.
‘Right now, all I need to do is my part.’
While drafting the second storyboard to send to Seojong University's Industry-Academia Cooperation Foundation, I was also wracking my brain, trying to weave the inspiration I’d gotten from my sister during my trip home into the game's scenario.
‘I feel like it would be better to merge Theo’s story with another chapter and shift the main theme in that direction.’
Theo, Van Gogh’s younger brother and staunchest supporter—if I could successfully incorporate him into the story, I believed the game's thematic depth would be greatly enhanced.
About two weeks after the holiday ended.
[Jang Ho: Jo Hyunsoo, I just emailed you the draft of the design document. Please review it.]
[Me: Ah, okay. I’ll check it right away.]
I had received the promised balance design document from Jang Ho.
I took a deep breath and began to read it carefully.
‘This is on a completely different level from the documents I’ve seen from other balance designers at NB Soft.’
I had known Jang Ho was a smart guy since our school days, but the moment I started reading the document, I felt myself being literally pulled in.
Balance designers often come from a mathematics background.
Because of this, their documents are usually not very considerate of the reader, filled with complex numbers that give you a headache just from looking at them.
But Jang Ho’s document clearly laid out the standards he would establish and explained in simple terms how he would approach balancing ‘POD’.
[1. This game is not a trendy mobile gacha-style BM game. The total playtime for the initially planned 13 parts is estimated to be 15-20 hours.]
[2. In the early stages, the difficulty curve will increase gently to allow the user to acclimate to the game. At key turning points in the story, the difficulty will be intentionally raised to halt the player's progress, providing them with the enjoyment of strategizing and overcoming the challenge.]
[3. The 'Drinking' system, which can be called God Game Maker's core combat system, will be the focus of the balance. The combat difficulty will be designed to vary depending on how much this system is utilized. The balance itself will be structured to encourage maximum use of the Drinking system, and the in-game presentation resulting from this will be paced to properly convey the game's theme.]
[4. This introduction explains the overall difficulty concept. Pages 3-12 contain a rough balance plan up to the final chapter, while the detailed design document for the first two chapters, which will be included in this build, is described from page 13 onwards.]
First, he explained the rationale behind the game's overall balance design. Then, for the entire POD story I had written, he detailed his rough intentions for the balance of each part.
For example.
[Chapter 1 - Childhood]
- The experience of growing up under a handsome pastor father. The fact that he had a brother who died at birth, loved insects, and was a bookworm is frequently mentioned in the story.
- This chapter is essentially a tutorial where the core combat system, the Drinking system, is used only once for narrative purposes.
- This is the stage where the player learns that 'Combat'—the process of creating art by gaining 'Inspiration' through interaction with other objects—can be made easier.
- The balancing of the scene at the end of the chapter, where Gogh secretly drinks with his younger brother and paints with his sister Anna, is crucial. The objective is to incrementally teach the user the characteristics of the Drinking system (easily acquiring a large amount of Inspiration but receiving 'Addiction' as a penalty, which changes the character's stats; the ending can branch depending on the amount consumed).
- In Anna's case, since 'Drinking' has a negative impact, the combat balance will be designed to make the penalties more extreme.
It was a plan to balance the game in a way that fit the intentions of the story I had written.
In a way, it should have been obvious, but since nine out of ten people at the company couldn't manage this 'obvious' thing, a smile naturally spread across my face.
‘Amazing. Just reading this is a learning experience.’
Looking at this document made all the balance designers I had worked with until now seem like fools.
Most mobile-based game companies simply copy and paste the balance formulas from existing gacha games.
As a result, there’s no personal logic in their balance design; they soullessly import the balancing and hurdles of other successful games, leaving nothing enjoyable to be found.
In contrast, Jang Ho’s document strongly conveyed a high level of understanding of storytelling as a whole.
‘First, let’s give it a play.’
As if in a trance, I opened Unity, applied the numbers from Jang Ho's balance document to the prototype we had made, and played it.
‘It’s different. Definitely different.’
Amazingly, I could feel that the game had become subtly more fun.
While the previous prototype build only drew my attention to the game's graphical style, storytelling, and presentation, the combat implemented in this version had a precarious balance, teetering on the edge of failure. It required me to make good use of the 'potion (drinking) combat system' I had put in to clear it.
‘This is fun. Just by balancing it, the combat has become several times more engaging.’
I had only changed a few numbers, but seeing the magic of combat becoming fun right before my eyes sent a chill down my spine.
<<Your understanding of balance design has increased by 2.>>
Just then, God Game Maker informed me that my understanding of balance design had risen.
This meant that reading Jang Ho’s document once was actually more educational than learning from most people.
‘The gods are helping me.’
To think that I was now receiving help from a friend who had become a game designer because of my influence—the connection felt strangely fascinating, and the thought that this project could truly succeed swirled in my mind.
[Me: Pateujangs, this is the build from the prototype phase, but I’ve made a few adjustments. I know you’re all busy, but if you have time, I’d appreciate it if you could play it and share your thoughts.]
[Heo Yuri AD: Okay, I will!]
[Jeong Yosep DD: Understood. Is it okay to proceed without hearing about what’s changed?]
[Me: Yes, I think it would be better if you go in not knowing.]
I immediately sent the build to Jeong Yosep and Heo Yuri and asked them to play it.
I needed to find out if this feeling I had was a simple illusion or if Jang Ho's skills were genuinely that brilliant.
And a few days later.
[Heo Yuri AD: I played the prototype build, PD-nim! The combat changed, right? The combat?! It was way more fun than before!]
[Me: Oh? What part made you feel that way?]
[Heo Yuri AD: Before, it felt like the difficulty was wa~y too easy, like it was just showing off what combat was. But now, there’s much more fun in strategizing! Did you rebalance this yourself, PD-nim?]
[Me: Ah, I didn’t do it myself. I got some help from an acquaintance. I don’t know much about balancing yet.]
[Heo Yuri AD: Aha! Anyway, this is much, much better!]
That was from Pateujang Heo Yuri.
[Jeong Yosep DD: The combat balance seems to have changed, and it’s much more fun. I liked that the combat strategy itself required good use of the Drinking system and Inspiration.]
[Jeong Yosep DD: The balance felt exquisite, requiring you to use your head a bit to clear it by a hair's breadth ㅎㅎ. I think it’s a really fun change.]
[Me: Ah, yes, thank you for the feedback!]
Pateujang Jeong Yosep also came back with a positive response.
‘Alright, for the first build, I’m trusting Jang Ho completely with the balance and sticking to this format.’
Afterward, I had several discussions with Jang Ho and continued to refine the balance for the first two chapters that would go into the first build.
Although his work was excellent overall, he didn't understand my vision 100%, so it was necessary to communicate as much as possible to get in sync.
Time flew by like an arrow.
By early March, the work on the first chapter, including both resources and programming, was complete. I applied the balance designed with Jang Ho and continued to playtest it, refining its polish.
At this rate, it seemed we would be able to complete up to the second chapter without any issues.
While the work was progressing.
I was able to get a sense of the current atmosphere at NB Soft through occasional updates from Daeri Son Seokjin and the company's Blind board.
[NB Soft Blind Anonymous Board]
- PPAP Anonymous: Wow. I got a sneak peek at the quality of the promotional cinematic the Gold Digger team is putting out, and it’s insane ㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴKOO123: ㅋㅋㅋㅋ That’s Lee Hyeonho PD for you. He’s not called the king of hits for nothing.
- OOQL: Ugh. I’m still hoping the Christian team does well. That guy’s games are too mass-produced with aggressive monetization, I don’t want to cheer for him.
ㄴDogPigOink: Says the guy who makes a living off those mass-produced gamesㅋㅋㅋ That’s just sour grapes. I can already picture your pathetic life. And honestly, you think the Christian team is gonna succeed? Their BM itself won’t be profitable. Pathetic, fawning over a one-man developer who got lucky once ㅋㅋ
For now, it seemed the talk on Blind about me and Lee Hyeonho was only intensifying.
One day, Daeri Son Seokjin cautiously brought it up with me.
[Daeri Son Seokjin: Um. I have a feeling that the people stirring up conflict on Blind might be from PD Lee Hyeonho’s side.]
[Me: You think so?]
[Daeri Son Seokjin: Yes. The fact that he deliberately scheduled his prototype review to overlap with your first build review, and that he pulled the cinematic team over to his side. In many ways, it feels like they’re targeting the Christian team, and it strongly seems like there are shills involved. I think you should be careful, PD Hyunsoo.]
[Me: Hmm. That makes sense. Thanks for the heads-up.]
If an outsider like Son Seokjin and I, the person directly involved, both felt this way, then it was highly probable that some underhanded scheme was afoot.
Therefore, I needed to keep the weapons I currently possessed hidden from the outside world as much as possible and land a proper counter-punch in one clean shot.
The indie anime-style cinematic using the Seojong University Industry-Academia Cooperation Foundation.
The new balance design I would establish through Jang Ho.
These two swords would be the keys to leading us to victory in the April battle.
‘Now, all that’s left is to properly complete the two cinematics for the first build. With those, I’ll show them. I’ll prove that a game made with soul can beat a game focused on a mass-produced business model.’
It might be too grand a goal, but I was hoping.
I hoped that the path I was taking now could create a small ripple in the stagnant waters of NB Soft—a company mired in inertia and complacency that had given up on progress—and, by extension, in the Korean gaming industry as a whole.