Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Mirror can be considered a fairly unique mini-game.

It combines RPG and Gal game elements with character interactions and multiple endings.

Making the experience rather immersive.

As for the match-3 combat gameplay, it is simply a variation of connect-the-dots, which is a popular and familiar concept even in this world, so Chen Xu wasnt worried about it being implemented.

Besides, the selling point of Mirror is definitely not the match-3 portion.

The rest is the story and CG illustrations.

But Chen Xu didnt worry about this, because if his memories were to be trusted, Ruan Ningxue was the real deal. Besides, he wasnt too shabby himself. He could help out here.

Chen Xu quickly started work on another segment of the design document.

Match-3 gameplay

Different upgrade routes

After completing it, Chen Xu began to work on the storylines.

In the first story, the female character was a Dark Elf thief who went to steal a lords vault to help the poor, but didnt realise that the lords hidden identity was a devil, and then fell into his hands

The follow-up, then, is a choice of two directions for the player, the pleasure or pain routes.

The second story is about a female shogun who travelled from ancient times to modern times and encountered a geek in the modern world. At the same time, losing the authority and responsibility she was used to carrying.

As the story unfolds, there are two different endings, the pleasure route naturally grants a happy ending, and the other one is a bit dark but touching nonetheless.

In the modern world, the protagonist does something and both end up traveling back to ancient times, after a period of time together, the war is about to be lost, and the player is able to return to the modern world and bring her with him, but choses to face death by her side.

Afterwards, there are storylines about the reincarnation of zombies and dragon knights.

Chen Xu plans to produce these four stories as the first phase of development, because he simply doesnt have enough money.

After all, the implementation of the match-3 gameplay, the hiring of voice actors, and BGM copyrights will also require a tidy sum.

As for where the money came from, it wasnt a big problem.

The 10,000 yuan in his account obviously cannot be relied on for much, but at least it can be used to apply for loans, instalments and credit cards.

The next morning, inside Chen Xus flat.

Ruan Ningxue, who brought her own CNC board and laptop, sat next to Chen Xu and stared at the pieces of paper spread out on the table, with an odd look on her face. They contained the hand written plots and subplots of Mirror.

But as for illustration and dubbing, it was better not to be stingy with these.

After all, these two were the essentially the core points of Mirror.

Hmm, perfect! But something still feels off

Looking at Ruan Ningxues illustration that had just been coloured, Chen Xu could not help but be amazed.

In his previous life, he wasnt exactly a nobody in the gaming industry.

He had met and exchanged ideas with some of the industrys bigwigs at some summits and conventions.

Naturally, he has picked up a thing or two when it comes to appreciating concept art, having been impressed by some of the great artists of his former life.

Such as the fantastic Yang Qi, who worked on Black Myth Wukong,

Shigenori Soejima, known for the Persona series,

And Tetsuya Nomura, of the acclaimed Final Fantasy 7

These well-known people in the industry, Chen Xu has studied and come to understand the philosophy behind their designs.

But as for the character concept presented before him, Ruan Ningxue really gave Chen Xu a shock, her skills could not be understated.

Of course, it is not without some shortcomings, after all, the concept art used in the gaming industry is inherently different from those used by cartoonists or comic artists.

Even the illustrations used by a Gal game is not the same as those used by manga.

Thats right! Its indeed not quite the same as drawing a doujin. Listening to Chen Xus words, Ruan Ningxue thought for a moment.

Well, even if its a visual novel game, the illustrations used are completely different from a comic. Chen Xu gently nodded towards Ruan Ningxue.

Inside the rental house, they continued to discuss the key features of the game.

Currently, the game as a whole was basically finished.

The only thing left was the voice acting.

For this kind of game featuring beautiful girls, having voice acting would play a significant role.

Regarding the allocated funds for this part, it was one of the most expensive parts of the whole game.

Of course, due to budget concerns, Chen Xu was not going to dub the entire game, just the pivotal parts, which would be more than enough to serve its purpose.

As for the male protagonist in each story?

No way hes wasting money on that.