Several people watched him operate on the sandbox behind him, half-understanding as they absorbed his knowledge.
Too bad this world didn't have a streaming industry, or this guy would definitely be a skilled guide maker.
This scene was just one snapshot among countless players.
Even more people were gradually becoming immersed in Plants vs Zombies' charm.
Regardless of the chaos outside...
Alto was already planning his second game.
He'd thought about it for a long time, finally locking onto Stardew Valley, considered one of the biggest sandbox games in his previous life.
Of course, there was plenty of debate about this.
Many felt that strictly speaking, Stardew Valley wasn't really a sandbox game.
Others believed the best sandbox titles to be Minecraft, Terraria, and ARK: Survival Evolved.
But regardless, this game's achievements in his previous life were undeniable.
Stardew Valley was an indie game developed solo by the American Eric Barone.
It integrated farm management, exploration and adventure, social interaction, and skill progression.
In this game there was no forced storyline and ultimate freedom with zero-pressure.
You could focus on farming, mining, fishing, or socializing and adventuring.
Each NPC villager had distinct personalities, with an affection system creating emotional bonds and connections.
In his previous life...
Stardew Valley topped Steam's most popular games list with a 98% approval rating.
Global sales exceeded 41 million copies.
In the 3D-heavy 21st century, with AAA titles constantly releasing...
For a pixel art game to achieve these results was a downright breakthrough.
Of course, he'd also considered Minecraft or Terraria, but his current design level was only Tier 1, his dream space couldn't yet support a game of that scale.
Stardew Valley's small scale and high freedom perfectly met his requirements.
However, stylistic modifications were needed.
He wanted to transform Stardew Valley into first-person 3D mode.
The visuals naturally couldn't remain pixel art.
So visual style, character design, backgrounds, all required careful consideration.
Taking the game's world background, for instance.
The original had a modern setting, you're a corporate wage slave who got fed up with the soul-crushing grind and chose to inherit your grandfather's legacy, heading to Pelican Town to become a farmer.
To fit this world's culture, he needed to make slight modifications to the background and characters.
Like replacing the world background with the Elven Empire, changing Pelican Town to a small town inside the Moon Elf Nation.
Preserving character styles, changing faces to elven appearances.
Anyway, Moon Elves, aside from ears and eyes being slightly different, were basically identical to humans otherwise. So just giving the 3D models a glow-up should do the trick.
Finalizing the framework and details took several days.
Next, he dove straight into production.
First, generating Stardew Valley's main world, Pelican Town.
Then forests, rivers, trees, the ocean.
Plus Pelican Town with elven architectural styling.
Houses, streets, lampposts, parks, sculptures.
Decorative styles on buildings, interior house designs, he conducted extensive research on these, ensuring no jarring inconsistencies.
Next came the desert map, plus the later Ginger Island map.
Then the mines..
Though mines had many levels, the actual assets used weren't extensive, mostly repetitive scenes with varied minerals and monsters.
Basic maps completed.
He directly embodied himself within to experience everything. Though just empty maps, there was a special tranquility.
Walking Pelican Town's empty streets...
He observed everything, optimizing inconspicuous details as much as possible.
Next came character and monster design.
For characters, he preserved each NPC's distinct personality from the original, transforming them from pixel art style into real-life beautiful elves.
Certain perverts (not just males) would probably drool seeing them.
And so, the the characters slowly took shape; Pelican Town's beauty queen Haley, the optimistically cheerful teacher Penny, the Introverted nature and art-loving Leah, the town carpenter Robin and the athletic Alex.
The Computer and gaming enthusiast Sebastian's background was changed to loving dream worlds and studying magical artifacts.
He meticulously modeled all the characters and monsters.
Simultaneously scripting extensive behavioral logic, this was extremely important. He needed to ensure these NPCs had more emotion and vitality, appearing as real as actual people.
Character dialogue no longer consisted of just rigid text boxes.
This step actually consumed massive amounts of time.
Though monster combat approached realism, he made certain modifications.
After all, Stardew Valley wasn't primarily an action combat game.
Combat scenes wouldn't be designed with excessive difficulty.
And as he continued working, Alto remained blissfully unaware of what was happening outside.
Heroes vs Dragons' reputation hit rock bottom!
As more and more players were tortured to death by later bugs...
The game's reviews plummeted.
"Is the designer's brain full of shit?!"
"I've been stuck on this level for two damn days!"
"The final level has skills flying everywhere, I can't even see the monsters!"
"I already finished it, but it's so boring afterward. Just collecting dust now. Currently playing Plants vs Zombies instead. Nothing more to say, Plants vs Zombies is the GOAT."
"Hadn't played it before, but after trying Plants vs Zombies, I realized Heroes vs Dragons is complete garbage!"
"Where'd you guys buy Plants vs Zombies?"
"Oh, that magic item shop near Echo Street has it."
Massive numbers of Heroes vs Dragons players had already switched to Plants vs Zombies.
Even at many shop entrances, crowds had gathered.
"I want my money back!!!!!"
"You really think you can scam us with this half finished trash?!"
Counter staff trembled at this scene.
Hastily reporting the situation to headquarters.
"Boss, we've got a major problem!"
Conference Room
Herman was eloquently discussing future business plans when the interruption instantly soured his mood.
"Boss, trouble! Many shops have crowds demanding refunds for Heroes vs Dragons!"
"What?!"
Herman jumped up in frustration.
The situation had taken a sharp downturn.
The Heroes vs Dragons refund incident rapidly fermented.
Though relative to purchase numbers, refund requests only represented a small fraction...
But many learning about it accelerated the reputation collapse.
Refunds were impossible, the warehouse still had a million Moonstones collecting dust. Not only unsold, but now returns were flowing in.
If this continued, who knew how much they'd lose.
Within days, Heroes vs Dragons sales plummeted.
Reggie Trading Company tried every method to no avail.
Multiple merchant companies even began terminating contracts, contacting Saint Oros Trading Company hoping to secure Plants vs Zombies distribution rights.