Chapter 17

Translate this chapter in the GPT chat, tell me which one you prefer, the GPT chat or the Deelp

........

After lunch, the girls went to the art area; they said they wanted to see something, but I didn't pay attention.

Fred and Ed went to research some battles that haven't been adapted; I can only wish them good luck.

I slowly walked through a square, lay under a tree; I'll take this time to nap a bit, but first, I'll take a look at the competition's website.

Upon entering the site, I realized this contest isn't as simple as I imagined. The prize of 500,000 credits isn't that impressive; what really caught my attention was a contract with Eternal Dream. It's the largest game distribution platform in the universe, basically a universal Steam. This platform is managed by the government's central AI.

It's currently the most advanced AI of humanity, responsible for handling most of the government's bureaucratic work. Its existence also makes corruption nearly impossible, whether in the government or the military. Almost impossible.

But the fact that this competition has a partnership with Eternal Dream raises some flags. As a government platform, it's nearly impossible to secure a partnership with it.

As far as I remember, the gaming market started growing 150 years ago. With the advent of Full Drive capability, games stood side by side with cinema and the music market.

But in the last 50 years, the gaming market has declined significantly, which is not surprising considering how stagnant the designs have become.

Thinking this way, it's obvious how desperate the gaming industry is for fresh blood. A market that once moved quadrillions of credits is now hanging by a thread.

Thinking about this, I can't help but smile; this is the perfect opportunity to make a name for myself in this industry, but there's a problem.

The rules state that participants must be between 15 and 100 years old, and during registration, they must submit 3 games with different themes, and they can't be online.

The first should be narrative-based, the second should have gameplay innovations, and the third should be original. Just these rules make it clear they want to push young designers to think outside the box, but I wonder if the young ones will understand that.

Smiling, I began to think about what kind of games I could create. As I pondered various possibilities, I started researching story-focused games.

I've done a lot of research on games, but I've never found anything on story-focused ones, but to my surprise, they exist.

Researching on some websites and reading some comments, I understood why I had never seen them. These games are made for a very specific audience; in fact, most don't even consider them games.

Looking at some videos, it's clear why this game style isn't successful; they're basically mildly interactive movies.

The most famous of them is 'Impossible Choice'; it tells the story of a battle from three thousand years ago.

The game showed that the Exceed suddenly attacked a small planet with a population of 5 billion people, and General Harper was the closest to the attack.

To this day, the general's decisions in that battle are debated by people, some condemning him, and others supporting him.

At the time, the general had to choose between withdrawing his fleet to join the nearest military outpost, thereby leaving the small planet to defend itself alone. By doing so, he could unite forces with the outpost and prevent the Exceed from reaching the next planet, one of humanity's largest food producers, but likely resulting in the destruction of all the people and the small planet itself.

Or he could send an alert to both the planet and the military outpost and then lead his fleet to confront the enemy. This way, he could delay the enemy's advance long enough for the small planet to be evacuated. However, in this case, the military outpost wouldn't have enough strength to fight the Exceed, thus being forced to abandon the outpost and evacuate the agricultural planet.

As a consequence, not a single civilian would die, but humanity would lose two perfect worlds to sustain human life. Moreover, the loss of a productive planet would cause a food shortage.

No one knows exactly how the discussions unfolded, but within just six hours of discovering the invasion, General Harper departed with 5,000 battle ships to stop the enemy invasion.

In a desperate battle, General Harper and his men used their lives to delay the enemy for a month. By the time reinforcements arrived, the general's entire fleet had been annihilated, and both planets were destroyed, yet not a single civilian was harmed.

The general's decision has been widely debated; some call him a hero, while others argue that his rash actions caused heavy losses for humanity.

After that battle, not only were two worlds destroyed, but over the next 200 years, humanity faced a major grain shortage, and many unique plants that could only grow on that planet went extinct.

This debate has lasted for thousands of years, but the game 'Impossible Choice' focuses entirely on the 6 hours when General Harper made the decision to fight instead of retreat.

(Seems interesting; I'll test it when I get home.) Yawning, I slowly drift off to sleep.

"Hey, let's hurry up."

"Huh, what? Meli, what are you doing? Get off me."

"Then wake up already, let's go to the store."

"The store? Which store?"

Jade, who was beside them, rolled her eyes.

"You promised to buy the new holographic bracelet for us. I want mine with a musical theme."

"Nonsense, when did I promise that?"

"These bracelets are ridiculously expensive. I'm not going to spend my credits on that."

"Don't try to deceive me, brother. I asked you during lunch, and you said you would buy it."

"That's right, Alex. We said we were going to the art area. Before we left, Meli asked for the bracelet, and I took the opportunity to ask for one too. You said, 'Okay, okay, you guys can decide.' Then you turned around and left."

(Damn, I wasn't paying attention.)

"It's okay; it's not too expensive, just about 200 credits."

(Darn it, that's almost all my savings. I swear I'll never get distracted again.)

......….

Mark Lockhart's POV

......….

Today has been exhausting. Prejudice against the Exceed is still high. I need to stay focused all the time to avoid 'accidents.'

But what's really annoying me are these damn calls. While Cath is happy that our son seems to be some kind of genius, I'm just suffering.

A few days after Alex made Totoro, I started getting strange calls and messages. At first, I thought they were pranks, people asking about some AI, saying they'd pay a good price for a trial version.

Initially, it wasn't a big deal, but over time, more and more people were messaging me. It was only after researching that I found out the problem.

That little brat posted the film online, and for some reason, these idiots believe the film was made by some AI. Since Alex used my ID to create an account on Vortex, these idiots found my contact and just won't stop bothering me.

After talking to Alex and Cath, Alex just laughed, telling me to ignore it and that he didn't want to work with animation, even though I think it's a waste. I respected his choice; maybe he'll reconsider in the future.

So I simply created an automatic response explaining the situation. But I was naive; I started getting more and more messages. I never imagined there were so many animation companies.

It's been five years, and these damn people still haven't tired of bothering me. I've tried everything to get rid of them, even paid a lot for a blocker, but nothing seems to work.

Sigh.

Sitting in my armchair, I try to relax a bit, but soon my bracelet vibrates. With a slight sigh, I look at the message, and the moment I see who sent it, my eyes nearly pop out of their sockets.

Elana Maxwell, the iron-blooded general.

......….

Alexandre Lockhart's POV

......….

As soon as Meli and I got home, I saw Dad rushing out; it seems something happened, but I didn't care. I went straight to the Full Drive and, using Dad's ID, bought 'Impossible Choice.'

(Hopefully, he won't find out I'm monetizing my films on Vortex; I'd rather spend his money.)

As soon as I started the game, an incredible scene appeared: a fleet with thousands of spaceships. The image slowly zoomed out, and then the scene appeared in a holographic projection. The camera panned to focus on the face of a middle-aged man with a severe and slightly scared expression.

I have to admit, the realism is frightening. A 20-minute cutscene began, General Harper discovering the Exceed invasion and quickly giving commands to his fleet.

Without even realizing it, I became engrossed in the general's discussion with one of his officers. The scene ends with the general calling for a meeting with all officers under his command.

Only then did I realize how immersed I was in the narrative when I assumed the role of the general.

"That was interesting; let's see how they integrate story and gameplay."

......….

"Damn it, what a disappointment!!!"

Even though the initial cutscene was a bit long, the tense situation and dialogue were so well done that I could overlook it.

But when I took control of the general, I simply walked silently to the meeting room, and another 30-minute cutscene started.

Then I assumed control of the general again, only to go to the command room and another cutscene began. Finally, I understood: this isn't a game. There are no choices, no gameplay; it's impossible to explore the ship or interact with anything.

It's basically a series, moments when you assume the role of the general, only saving progress and returning later. Even though the story is really good, this definitely isn't a game.

After finishing, I began to understand the competition organizers' thoughts a bit. It seems they really are looking for a change.

This is perfect. Several game ideas came to mind, but one fits perfectly.

Detroit: Become Human.