Game Developer in the World of Anime

Chapter 632 632: TGA Invitation and Nominations

As October arrived, the intense summer heat gradually faded. Utaha was already planning to go shopping in the next few days to check out the newly released early autumn clothing.

This time, she didn't plan to bring Ichin along. Instead, she intended to go on the weekend with Haruno and Yukino, and invite Eriri as well.

At the company, Ichin was currently at the Salt and Sanctuary development team. And it wasn't just him, Aoba and the others were there as well.

With everyone gathered, they were naturally testing the newly completed demo of Salt and Sanctuary.

After this period of development, the game's combat framework had already taken shape. Some early-stage maps and a number of monsters had also been completed, making it possible to conduct a basic test.

Holding a controller, Ichin watched the gameplay on the screen and said, "Mm, not bad. This is exactly the style I wanted."

After the initial planning phase, Ichin hadn't interfered much with the development process, since all the key points had already been clearly outlined. The team members were no longer beginners, so they didn't need him to guide them step by step.

And the results proved it. Although the monster AI was not yet fully polished, the character movements were already very smooth, and the combat felt satisfying.

After trying out jumping, rolling, attacking, and blocking, Ichin also checked the item system and the weight system.

Even though it was a side-scrolling action game, it still carried a strong Dark Souls flavor in many aspects.

Despite the different perspective and world setting, once players got their hands on it, they would definitely feel a sense of familiarity.

After defeating an elite enemy, the demo came to an end, lasting about ten minutes in total.

Putting down the controller, Ichin nodded in satisfaction. "Good. Just continue with this current combat feel. There's no need for major changes. However, the feedback when blocking can be adjusted a bit, and the values related to rolling and character weight should also be tweaked. These are simple fixes for you guys, just make the adjustments."

Hearing Ichin's evaluation, the entire development team visibly relaxed.

Clearly, even though they were confident in their work, being evaluated still made them feel like students waiting for exam results, filled with nervous anticipation.

Now that the initial development had received a positive assessment, they could move forward with even greater confidence.

After Ichin finished testing, Eriri and Aoba also tried the demo.

Eriri said with a bright smile, "It's really fun, just a bit short. At first, I thought a side-scrolling Dark Souls wouldn't work, but now it seems like each has its own strengths. The side view gives a completely different experience, but it's just as enjoyable!"

Aoba nodded as well. "Yes, it's very good. Just keep developing at this pace."

After the test, Hazuki quickly adjusted the development schedule and brought it to Ichin's office.

After taking a look, Ichin said in surprise, "This efficiency is impressive. So development can be completed by April next year, with a release in May?"

"That's right."

Hazuki took a sip of coffee and replied confidently, "This timeline is based on the current progress. Development is going even more smoothly than we initially expected. And now that we've recruited two additional writers, the efficiency of writing in-game text will increase. You can even spend less time on this project and focus more on Bloodborne."

The two newly hired writers had, after a short adjustment period, already been assigned to Salt and Sanctuary, handling parts of the game's narrative writing.

Although they were still somewhat inexperienced, their work generally met Ichin's standards. With a bit of guidance, they could quickly revise anything that didn't quite fit.

Internally, the company had already decided to continue nurturing them.

Once this month ended, they would officially pass their probation and become full-time employees.

After discussing the development progress of Salt and Sanctuary and the new writers, Hazuki was about to return to work.

But before she could leave, Ichin received an email on his computer and called her back.

"An email?"

Hearing this, Hazuki walked over curiously and looked at the sender's name.

"From TGA? Is this an invitation for this year's TGA?"

"Most likely."

Ichin nodded and opened the email, reading it together with her.

As expected, the email was indeed an official invitation from TGA, which had begun sending invitations to various developers. Two of their games had received nominations this year: the newly released Tales of Berseria and the steadily growing Apex.

Tales of Berseria had received multiple nominations, including Best Narrative, Best Action Game, Best Role-Playing Game, and Best Music.

Apex, on the other hand, was nominated for Best Ongoing Game.

These nominations were very fitting for both titles. After reading them, Ichin said, "If nothing unexpected happens, Tales of Berseria should win all of these categories. As for Apex, it's harder to say."

Hazuki nodded in agreement. "Among ARPGs this year, there really isn't anything that can rival Tales of Berseria. But for Apex, Final Fantasy XIV is still a huge competitor. We probably can't surpass it in the short term."

Final Fantasy XIV had been running for many years, and its popularity was unquestionable. Moreover, its recent updates had boosted its popularity even further.

Although Apex had been consistently updated with plenty of new content, competing against an MMORPG for this award was still quite difficult.

"Well, we'll leave it to luck. After all, Apex has only been running for a year. There's no need to rush, we have plenty of time ahead."

The news that the company would attend TGA in December, along with the nominations for their two games, quickly spread throughout the company.

After replying to the email and accepting the invitation, Ichin also announced on the company's official account that they would be attending TGA at the end of the year, and that a new game would be revealed there.

As for the nominations, there was no need for him to announce them. TGA would release that information officially at the appropriate time.

Even though Ichin hadn't said anything himself, it didn't stop players from speculating about this year's nominations.

There was no need to mention Tales of Berseria. This year, it had both popularity and sales. Among the many games released each year, very few could surpass five or six million copies sold. And with its outstanding quality, players were already guessing it would receive at least three nominations.

Looking at these comments, Ichin quietly gave them a like.

Their guesses were surprisingly accurate.

...

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