Mirror could be described as a very unique mini-game.
It combined match-three mechanics with RPG elements, and threw in multiple endings like a galgame.
The overall gameplay actually looked pretty solid.
As for the match-three gameplay, it was basically an evolved form of tile-matching, which already existed in this world.
It was fairly popular too, so Lucas Hart wasn't too worried about whether players would accept it.
Besides, the main selling point of Mirror wasn't the match-three gameplay.
It was the story and CG illustrations.
And Lucas had no worries about those, because the Rachel Ruan in his memory was more than capable.
And so was he.
He quickly finished writing some of the GDD (Game Design Document) settings.
Match-three gameplay, different upgrade paths.
After that, Lucas Hart started writing the story.
The first story featured a female dark elf thief sneaking into a lord's vault to steal gold for the poor—only to discover the lord's secret identity was a demon, and she ended up in his clutches.
From there, players would have two choices: go the true love route or the netorare route.
The second story was about a female general who time-traveled from ancient times to the modern world. She ran into a modern-day otaku and, because of the time travel, had become physically weak and helpless.
The story branches into two different endings. One is a sweet, happy ending for the pure love warrior, which of course feels very natural. The other one is a bit darker, but the journey is touching.
In modern times, an otaku mistreats a female general. Then, the two of them end up traveling back to ancient times. After spending time together, just as the war is about to be lost, the otaku has the chance to return to the modern world—but chooses to stay and die with her instead.
As for what comes next, there are also stories involving zombies tied to reincarnation and fate, and a tale about a dragon knight.
At this point, Lucas only plans to develop these four stories.
The reason is simple—he's running out of money.
After all, making a match-3 game, hiring a voice actress later, and buying BGM licenses all cost money.
As for where the money will come from, it's not too big of a problem.
That bit of savings, just over ten thousand, is obviously not enough, but using credit cards, should get him through.
.........
The next morning, in Lucas Hart's apartment—
Ruan Ningxue sat beside him with her drawing tablet and laptop, staring at the rough story summary and storyboard he had sketched out, looking puzzled.
"I didn't expect this kind of game from you, Lucas Hart!"
"I knew it, I knew it! Being a manga artist or game designer isn't your true talent. Come draw doujin with me!"
"With your skills and my skills, I'm sure we can make it! Start as doujin artists, grow a fanbase, and then break into the mainstream. A lot of famous artists started this way."
Looking at the material Lucas had stayed up all night to prepare, Rachel eagerly laid out her strategic plan.
What a waste!
How could someone with this much talent be making games?
Her own biggest weakness was in storytelling.
That's why she decided to make doujin books to support herself while slowly getting better.
But now, after reading Lucas's short stories, she was blown away.
Pure love, NTR, reincarnation—it had everything.
Hearing her excitement, Lucas twitched slightly at the corner of his mouth.
"Thanks for the praise, but I'll pass," he said politely.
"Well then, for now, just start drawing the illustrations in order. Unlike manga, all of these need to be fully colored and more detailed."
"As for the story itself, there's no need to show it through the art. The plot will mainly be told through dialogue," Lucas Hart explained.
"I got it! So I just need to focus on making the art more polished and show off the charm of the female characters. Like making every piece look like the cover of a doujin book. I'm good at that, no worries!" Rachel replied enthusiastically.
"Yeah, that's a good way to look at it." Lucas Hart nodded, then took a deep breath. "If everything's ready, let's get started today."
Rachel smiled, gave a thumbs-up, and opened the necessary software.
The development of Mirror was going much smoother than Lucas Hart expected.
Most of the minor art assets were outsourced.
The four initial characters were set: a dark-skinned elf, a dragon girl, a female general, and a cute zombie girl.
As for music, Lucas Hart compose it himself, technically.
But it would take too much time and energy—and he didn't have the budget. Buying a license was quicker and easier.
That just left voice acting.
Music and BGM could be passable, even if not perfect.
But character art and voice acting—those were non-negotiable.
Those were the two key pillars of Mirror.
"Hmm… perfect! But it still needs a bit of touch-up."
Looking at the freshly colored illustration Ruan Ningxue had just finished, Lucas Hart couldn't help but be impressed.
In his past life, he wasn't exactly a nobody in the game industry.
He had even met and talked with some of the top people in the field at various summits.
When it came to art, he had some solid knowledge. In his past life, he had studied the work of top concept artists in the industry.
People like Yang Qi, who worked on Black Myth: Wukong , Shigenori Soejima from the Persona series, and Tetsuya Nomura
Lucas had done deep research on their design styles in his previous life.
But when it came to characters, Rachel Ruan really surprised him. She was way more talented than he expected!
Of course, she wasn't perfect—after all, game art and manga are two very different things.
Even when it's just an illustration for a visual novel, it's still quite different from drawing manga.
"I see! So it's not the same as drawing doujin books," Rachel Ruan said thoughtfully after listening to Lucas Hart.
"Yeah, even in visual novel games, the illustrations are nothing like manga," Lucas Hart nodded slightly and said to her.
Inside the rented apartment, Lucas Hart and Rachel Ruan chatted about some of the key points.
At this stage, the game was basically finished.
The only thing left now was the voice acting.
For a bishoujo game like this, voice acting is one of the most important parts.
In fact, it was one of the biggest parts of the budget.
But Lucas Hart didn't plan to go full voice acting. That would blow the budget. Just voicing the key lines would be enough.
What about the male lead in each story?
Should he get voice lines too? No way!
(End of Chapter)