Chapter 63: Simple Game Development
The game's art style and character image requirements. The core gameplay and numerical control of player psychology. The design of different scene maps and the expanded gameplay of the creative workshop. This included the experimental nature of the game for platform promotion.
Alex did not explain all of this in detail, only offered an overview. After all, it was just a conceptual draft; more development was needed to delve into the specifics. Furthermore, everyone present was involved in music, levels, numerical values, art, marketing, and platform development, so going into too much detail would be inappropriate.
"Does anyone have any questions?" Alex asked, looking at the crowd.
Jane and Lisa shook their heads. They were responsible for the art design and story. Based on the conceptual draft, the story was basically a side show, with not much work to do. As for the art, the concept art was already ready, and the cartoon style was practically defined. Only the details needed to be finalized.
The others generally shook their heads, indicating they had nothing to say. In fact, everyone present was quite surprised. Because, although it was only a conceptual design, the basic outline of the entire game had already been established. All that remained was for development to follow this model.
As for effectiveness, they would have to wait for the demo to find out. After all, it's difficult to determine a game's quality based solely on a conceptual design. No matter how good it is, it's still just theory.
The development team had no problems, but John, responsible for operations, had something to say.
John asked: "Alex, are we planning to launch this game during the winter holidays?"
Alex replied: "Valentine's Day, to be precise."
John continued: "In that case, Alex, I suggest we offer coupons for players to get lower prices on the Nebula gaming platform."
"We can also use a couples game as an advertising strategy. According to market research, we believe we will be the first to do so, and the gameplay itself is clearly cooperative."
"Feel the sweetness of love in Overcooked! That could be the game's slogan."
Unlike the development team, John would not directly participate in development. As an industry veteran, John knew Alex very well. Game-related matters were a topic of discussion, but promotion and off-game operations would require everyone's collaboration.
The development cycle for Overcooked was just over two months. Finalizing promotional material was crucial, especially since Overcooked was conceived as an experimental game to promote the Nebula gaming platform. They couldn't quietly create it and then release it to the market. If they did, it wouldn't make a splash during the winter holidays, when so many games were on sale. So they had to finalize the promotional plan now.
For promotions, let's be more direct and offer buy-one-get-one-free deals. Overcooked is a multiplayer cooperative game. As for the promotional slogan, don't limit it to couples. Although they chose Valentine's Day as the release date, brotherhood, sisterhood, and even strong friendships can be used as marketing keywords. Alex nodded.
The conceptual draft of Overcooked was explained and the promotional direction was finalized. The entire team began to prepare for game development.
While others thoroughly studied the concept art and refined the art, plot, and related designs, Alex was not idle either. In his office, Alex used a [Memory Capsule] to jot down some of his excellent level designs.
The difficulty of developing Overcooked lies mainly in level design and numerical design. If it's too easy, the game loses much of its charm. Just like in Souls-like games, difficulty is not the only core element, but it is undoubtedly a key feature. If a Souls-like game were to become a musou game, many of the original designs would cease to be ingenious and become redundant.
Although Overcooked is a standard small-scale game, this same principle applies. If the difficulty curve is not well-defined, the essence of the game will be lost. For example, chopping vegetables, washing dishes, preparing food, and cooking (including the possibility of a kitchen fire requiring a fire extinguisher) are part of the gameplay, but even more important is the numerical arrangement.
If the time and score values are too high, it will seem like a challenge for the player. However, if the values are too flexible, the overall game settings will become irrelevant.
Therefore, Alex needed to carefully manage the difficulty level. As a casual game, it must be easy for players to complete. However, achieving a perfect three-star rating requires a certain level of coordination between two players.
Finally, there's the network system. Overcooked is Nebula Games' first online game. Servers must be configured correctly. After all, Overcooked is a game whose appeal is online play.
All game plans and schedules were finalized, and under Alex's leadership, the entire R&D department operated efficiently. As for the art, Alex explained the key points of Overcooked to Jane and the newly hired artists.
"The overall style of the game is warm, and even the zombies in the background should have a cute and adorable touch. It's a game for all ages, a casual simulation. We don't need it to be realistic or fit the environment, but it does need to be appealing to everyone, young and old."
"Understood," Jane nodded.
As artists, she and Alex had already participated in the development of four games. They understood everything, while the new artist beside her was bewildered.
Because she felt that her task was like an assembly line! The style, even the character sketches and requirements, were extremely detailed. She simply handed them over to the external company and they immediately provided the resources.
'Wasn't the position she applied for art design? Why did she feel that she only needed to verify the quality of the external company's resources and didn't need to design anything?'
The same thing happened to Eric and others. However, with the previous experience of Outlast, no one was surprised this time. There was only one feeling: it was easy. Although overtime is inevitable, the key is that there are very few useless designs. Where it is necessary to start from scratch, there are more problems with the details than with the general direction.
It's too easy!
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