Chapter 45

Chapter 45

On the 8th of October, just after the National Day vacation, the core members of the development team, including Yang Xin and Ruan Ningxue, were called into Chen Xus office.

Morning everyone, I trust you had a restful holiday. If you recall, I mentioned we will be busy when we get back, so Im going to lay out the plans for our next project.

It will have action elements. Qin Yi, please make arrangements with the motion capture studio in our contacts list as soon as possible. Were going to take the chance to establish a library of rig motions.

Chen Xu gave instructions to a young man in his twenties who looked to be developing a bald spot, how unfortunate.

Noted, Mr Chen. Qin Yi nodded.

The concept and usage of motion capture is similar to that of his previous life, it was not considered a high-end expenditure.

It is simply a convenient method to save time and money compared to animating manually. The movements will come out more naturally as well.

And here, with the saturated establishment of motion capture studios, the problem of high initial investment is eliminated.

Chen Xu plans to form good relations with a mature studio. After all, such materials will likely be used frequently in his future projects.

Alright, have a look at whats in store this time.

Chen Xu had his workstation connected to the projector, and with a tap of a button, the draft design concepts of Outlast, was displayed on the wall.

This was something he had been working on with the aid of a memory capsule for the past few days.

Its a horror game? Yang Xin looked at Chen Xu in surprise.

The people gathered in the room sat in stunned silence, unsure of how to respond. This kind of game was definitely not something they expected.

They came in expecting story-focused, plot driven experiences like To the Moon and Undertale, games that were fundamentally RPGs.

But to venture into the horror genre, and it wasnt even in an RPG style Its really unexpected.

And theres a very important point: didnt you say earlier, Mr Chen, that youre a warrior of love?

What has that got to do with horror games!?

Looking at the expressions on everyones faces, Chen Xu could more or less guess what they were thinking.

Because this kind of game is really difficult to make.

Chen Xu turned to regard the young man, who nodded and gave a curt reply, Understood.

With their current available funding, Nebula Games had no reason to skimp on marketing.

Moreover, horror games have inherently good synergy with live streaming. So leveraging streaming and video platforms will quickly spread hype and awareness, and if the game turns out to be worthwhile, word-of-mouth will quickly outpace any paid marketing campaigns.

Theres also a difference between playing a horror game and watching someone else do it.

After all, many players dont have the courage to play a horror game by themselves, but enjoy watching other people play it to see their reactions, living vicariously while being carried.

Some may even grow bolder after watching, and decide to try it out themselves. But they might still stop progressing after a particularly stressful scare.

While this might be a problem for some types of games, it is not so for a horror game. Instead, this will likely contribute to growing the popularity and prestige of the game.

In his past life, the Outlast series managed to achieve sales of over 15 million copies, largely thanks to the rise in popularity of the video content and live streaming industry.

Chen Xu continued his explanations. Narrowing down the core concepts of Outlast to his awaiting team.

First, the outline. Players take on the role of a non-combatant thrust into a threatening environment. And just like the name of the title, the only way to move forward is to Outlast the situation.

Second, the key feature, the camera. Unlike most other horror games in the market with their nuclear-powered flashlights that never run out of power, the player will be dependent on the night-vision mode of their equipped video camera for navigation.

The camera will use up battery power and the player will have to go out of their way to find more, so this becomes another driving point in the game.

Third, the plot and pacing. Chen Xu spent extra time going through this part, because the feel of the game would greatly hinge on this.

and Ruan Ningxue, regarding the video camera and atmosphere of the scenes, youll need to pay special attention to this part. The players have to be as immersed as possible.

When you get back home, wait until around 3am and turn off all the lights at home, I want you to really experience it and bring it to life.

This is the type of video camera the in-game version will be based on. Please take this home and experience it in the dark as well. We have to get this right.

While speaking, Chen Xu reached under his desk to retrieve a handheld video camera and placed it in front of Ruan Ningxue.

Ruan Ningxue: ??????

Staring at the camera in front of her, it felt more and more difficult to maintain her smile.

Boss, please have some humanity.