The next day, at the Nebula Games office, Lucas handed the finished concept draft—along with design notes for main characters like Johnny, River, Watts, and Neil—to Anna and Rachel.
Looking over the concept draft and script in their hands, both Anna and Rachel were clearly moved.
But this wasn't the time to get lost in the story. They quickly brought up what was on their minds.
"Wait, I thought this was a sci-fi game? Boss Lucas, this whole thing is about love!" Rachel asked, clearly confused—even her tone had changed.
"Yeah, where's the sci-fi?" Anna chimed in.
Yesterday in the meeting room, Lucas had told them about the game's background.
There was going to the moon, memory-altering tech...
The two of them had even talked privately about ideas like brain-in-a-vat theories, dystopias, cyberpunk stuff—they'd gone all in.
And now, with the actual concept draft in hand, they realized—
They'd been completely misled!
This was just a romance story dressed up as sci-fi!
"How is this not sci-fi? Look at the memory-modifying tech—isn't that sci-fi?"
"We'll just add more sci-fi flair to the background later. Like, for example, the car the two doctors use to get to Johnny's house—we'll make it look more futuristic."
"But that's not the point. What really matters is that the game touches players emotionally."
"Alright, alright, let's get into work mode. We don't have much time left!" Lucas said, clearing his throat.
......
Meanwhile, online discussion about the upcoming event was heating up.
After all, the event date was getting closer.
Since it was officially hosted, of course there was official promotion.
At the same time, some of the participating game developers were promoting it on their own social media accounts too.
But most of the games being submitted were either PC or mobile titles.
That was mainly because of the short development timeline.
Some well-known game companies like NetDragon, were also taking part.
Of course, it wasn't their core studios doing the work.
Big companies like these usually have a bunch of smaller studios under them.
Because of that, a lot of players started to catch wind of the event and began talking about it.
"Hey, isn't the [Sci-fi Game Contest] starting soon?"
"Sci-fi Game Contest? What the hell is that?"
"It's that contest organized by the game club a while ago."
"Oh, that one. I totally forgot. That contest is a joke—look at the crap games they picked."
"Right? I'm not saying they need to be like Undertale, but can we at least get something decent?"
"This time's a bit different though. Players can vote too. Before, it was all decided by the higher-ups in the game club, so the games that won were just the ones that pandered to them."
"So this time it's 'for the people'?"
"Yeah, that's basically the idea. It should lean more toward what players actually like."
"I'll believe it when I see it."
"But do you guys think we'll get a ton of META games this time? META stuff's been pretty hot lately."
"Probably not. When the contest opened, Undertale wasn't even out yet."
"You think Lucas will join?"
"Keep dreaming. Look at the timing—if Lucas joins, I'll cut off my johny!"
"Dude, that serious?"
"Come on, it's common sense. During the time this contest was open, Lucas made both Mirror and Undertale. Where would he even find the time to make a new game for this?"
"Holy crap, your johny's in danger. Check Lucas's official page—he did join!"
"What??? Are you kidding me!?"
"RIP to the guy's dick, for real."
"No freaking way—it's actually true!?"
......
Undertale, as an indie game, doesn't feel like one at all based on how popular it got.
The main reason is that it really shows what META elements are all about.
And with great sales numbers, it became a rare mix of both art and commercial success.
Naturally, it caught the attention of tons of game designers.
As for the media—well, that goes without saying.
An ordinary game designer made a game like this. What does that mean?
It means hype and traffic.
People are already speculating about what Nebula Games and Lucas will make next.
Gamers and industry folks pretty much agree:
It'll most likely be a sequel to Undertale, or at least another META game.
But no one expected Lucas to come out on his official page and announce that Nebula Games is making a special game for the contest.
As for what kind of "special" game it is, Lucas didn't say.
But honestly, players, designers, and the media didn't really care.
I mean, no matter how "special" it is—it's still just a game, right?
The real issue is time!
There's only half a month between the post and the contest deadline. Can Nebula Games really pull it off?
From what we know of their past schedules, it's clear this game wasn't something they had prepped beforehand.
After hearing the news, a lot of game designers in the industry thought Nebula Games was just messing around this time.
Bell, who'd been quiet ever since Undertale blew up, maybe because he was keeping tabs on Lucas,
jumped on the chance and reposted the news within four minutes.
"Just because you've had one success doesn't mean you'll always succeed. Too bad some designers don't get that. Treating an official game contest like a joke—I doubt a game like that would even pass the review phase."
Clearly, Bell was feeling pretty sour and jumped at the chance to shift attention away from himself.
And even though the comments were full of sarcastic jabs, this time he did get a bit of support.
I mean, making a sci-fi game for a contest in just a bit over ten days?
That's just not realistic.
As for Bell's response, Lucas kept it simple.
He posted a screenshot of Bell deleting his own account from before, added a picture showing the ratings and sales of Undertale, and topped it off with a meme.
The meme was of the popular bunny character looking disgusted at a clown. Next to it, Lucas wrote: "Don't talk to me. I don't talk to clowns."
The moment players saw Lucas's meme, tons of them cracked up.
Damn, that's a real burn.
No wonder Bell has such a bad reputation in the gaming world—both with players and industry people.
Underneath the meme, the comments were full of happy players.
(End of this chapter)
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