Chapter 40

**Alexandre Lockhart's POV**

Just like last time, the results of the second stage of the competition were announced during a broadcast. Once again, everything went really well. The host was incredibly charismatic, making jokes, commenting on the games, and even reading the audience's comments.

The five judges also participated. They analyzed several games and expressed how happy they were with the new designers emerging across the universe. After some conversations and a few annoying formalities, they finally revealed the ten finalists of the competition.

The most interesting thing was that each judge had their own list of games, but they didn't share them with one another—or so they said. Each judge's list was very similar, and they quickly reached a consensus on the games from 10th to 4th place. However, when it came to the top three, they struggled to choose the winner.

"Yes, I admit that *Journey* is phenomenal, but it doesn't have a story. Other than beautiful landscapes, there's not much to show."

"Here we go again. *Journey* has a very simple concept—it shows a character on a journey, literally as the name suggests. Plus, there's a lot of story being told through the setting. It's easy to understand that something happened in this world; every destroyed structure, every painted mural is a piece of a puzzle that the player puts together."

Soon, a friendly discussion started among the judges. They all had valid arguments, and it was interesting to see how the designers from this universe were truly analyzing the game and presenting their views and theories.

"Even though *Journey* is really good, I believe *Untold Stories* is even better. Despite having a basic and uninteresting premise, you can easily spend hours talking to the characters, uncovering mysteries, and laughing at funny little events. It's easy to get attached to the characters and even identify with their stories."

"Yes, that's true. This game is very well written, and the events are well developed. But it's still missing something that impacts the player. After talking to the characters and getting to know them, there's nothing left to do. It's hard to say when or if you've finished the game. There's no event that gives a sense of closure. Besides, after interacting with the characters and discovering the mysteries, you have to close the game because there's nothing left to do. I could understand not having a definitive ending if there was a mechanic that could keep the player engaged, but there isn't."

The judges began debating. I agreed with almost everything they said about the games. But unlike them, I wasn't disappointed with the game's ending. Quite the opposite—after uncovering the world's mysteries and meeting all the characters, there was no objective left. 

But it's also at these moments that the game becomes a slice of life. You can literally treat the characters as friends, inviting them to hang out and chat, or even go fishing. The AI in the game is highly advanced, allowing you to have long conversations with them. It's a shame that a game like this isn't very appealing to the public at the moment.

The broadcast went on for quite a while until the judges finally made a decision. *Journey* ended up in first place, but unlike last time, it wasn't a landslide victory. Some designers were really showing a lot of talent. I can't wait to see the games in the final stage of the competition.

At the end of the broadcast, it was announced that the games of the remaining competitors would be released in a week, and the final competition would take place in a month. I was very pleased with all of this—the designs are improving, I have more games to play, and life is good.

---

After leaving the broadcast, I went to clean up, found something to eat, and chatted a bit with Ed about some characters I wanted him to work on. Then I talked to Fred and sent him some concept art I made for *Fallout*. I want him to try to create something based on them. I also tried to reach Albert to talk about the music I'll need for *Fallout*, but he was too busy.

In the past two months, the orchestra has been getting a lot of attention, so they've been receiving a lot of new work. At first, I thought about making the orchestra something exclusive to DreamHeart, but there was no reason to do so.

The orchestra isn't just mine. Grandma Maria invested a lot of money into it, and Albert is practically dedicating all his time to it. So, the orchestra was divided into three equal parts, even though Grandma Maria didn't mind at all—money isn't a problem for her.

Anyway, after chatting for a bit, both Albert and Grandma said it wouldn't be a problem if the orchestra worked exclusively for the company. They were only doing it for the novelty and their love of music. But in the end, I decided that the orchestra could also accept work from other companies.

This would give me a great extra income, increase the musicians' and singers' experience, and help the entire entertainment industry evolve—a win-win situation.

After talking to everyone, I submitted *God of War* to the competition organizers. It would be released in a week. After that, I looked at my plans to start *Fallout*. There are many things I'll need to change and fix. You could say the *Fallout* universe is incredible, but it has never had a game that was perfect—or almost perfect.

All *Fallout* games have many flaws, especially those made by Bethesda. *Fallout 1, 2,* and *New Vegas* weren't made by Bethesda, and for most players, they're considered the best in the franchise.

**[Note: *Fallout 1* and *2* are almost unplayable nowadays. I only played them a few years ago because of a bet. To me, the freedom in *Fallout 2* is incredible, but I wouldn't play it again, even if you paid me.]**

Bethesda definitely knows how to make fun games, creating incredibly immersive world designs with thematic environments that amaze players. Walking through *Skyrim*, admiring the design, and encountering random events, strange quests, caves, bandit camps, and much more makes every player lose themselves in this world.

All Bethesda games have this ability to keep you wandering the map for hours without getting bored. There's always something happening, something to do or discover. All games in *The Elder Scrolls* series are like that, but they all have a problem: narrative.

*Skyrim* has a great main story, but many players never finish it, mainly because the world and most quests aren't tied into the main plot.

In Skyrim, the side quests often have their own stories, which sometimes pull the player away from the main narrative.

[Note: I have a friend who is a Skyrim fanatic. He has over 6,000 hours of gameplay, and his game is heavier than GTA 5 because of all the mods he uses. But he's never finished the main story. When I asked him about it, he just said, "Ah, someday I'll finish it. Every time I log in to complete the story, I end up doing something else, haha."]

Some might say this is a flaw in the game, but for Skyrim, this type of narrative works. This is mainly because the game's story begins with the return of the dragons. So, everyone is dealing with their own problems, and some people don't even know about the dragons' return or have only heard rumors. It makes sense that the side quests wouldn't involve the main narrative.

But the same doesn't apply to Fallout. Take Fallout: New Vegas, for example. In this game, you play as a courier who has their delivery stolen and gets shot. Your mission is simple: find out who robbed and tried to kill you, and why.

As you begin exploring the Mojave Desert, you discover a war between the NCR and the Legion. Almost every quest, character, and event in the game is tied to this war. The side quests are designed to immerse the player even deeper into the main story.

As you progress through the game, the protagonist discovers that the stolen package was part of a much larger plan, which, of course, involves the major forces in the desert. As you explore, you become more entangled in the narrative, constantly having to make decisions that involve one of the desert's factions.

Everything happening in the desert is somehow connected to the war between the NCR and the Legion. It's all very well-written, and the player is always making decisions. But those decisions are never completely satisfying.

For example, in a town called Primm, they were attacked, and the player can help find a new sheriff. You can choose to program a robot to act as the sheriff, but it's slow and might let criminals escape.

You can also ask the NCR for help, but if they take over, the town will no longer be free and will have to pay taxes, causing prices to rise. Additionally, the NCR is known for corruption and bureaucracy, so there's no guarantee they can protect the town effectively.

You could also rescue a sheriff from prison, but there was a revolt, and the prison is now controlled by criminals. Plus, the sheriff was imprisoned for taking justice into his own hands, following only his instincts. Choosing him might mean that innocent people could die in the future due to his abuse of power.

Of course, you can also ignore this and move on without getting involved in other people's problems. But no matter what you choose, the player rarely feels fully satisfied with their decisions. But that's a good thing—it's a post-war world, and nothing ever ends well for everyone.

However, Fallout: New Vegas isn't perfect. Despite having a great narrative, it has the worst level design in the series. The environments are repetitive and the least inspired of all the games.

Bethesda's Fallout games are the opposite. Their level design is simply amazing, with always something to see and explore. But the writing is weak, with a basic, uninspired story. The side quests follow the Skyrim model, which works there but doesn't work here.

In Fallout: New Vegas, you can literally kill every NPC in the game. It doesn't matter how important the character is to the story—you have the freedom to do whatever you want. In Fallout 2, you have the freedom to become the worst person alive. You can sell slaves, help a poor woman and demand payment, and if she has no money, you can 'gently' suggest she sleep with you to settle the debt.

You can also find a group of kids playing, and they'll ask you for a gun. If you give it to them, when you return later, all of them will be dead. The game doesn't encourage players to do this, but it allows you to, if you want.

Bethesda's Fallout games, however, don't offer many dialogue or decision options. In the earlier Fallout games, players had a wide range of dialogue choices and decisions. In Fallout 4, you only have four dialogue options. In the earlier games, the protagonist's dialogues made sense in the context of the situation.

In New Vegas, depending on the skills the player chooses, they'll have different dialogue options in different situations. At the end of the game, when the player meets Lanius, the leader of the Legion, there are many ways to deal with him.

If you have enough points in negotiation, you can convince Lanius that it's economically impossible for the Legion to dominate the entire desert. If you have enough dialogue skill, you can persuade him that, with the current soldiers, the Legion won't have enough manpower.

The arguments presented by the protagonist make sense, and Lanius will counter-argue intelligently. A high-level debate unfolds between the two, and the player is fully engaged. Unfortunately, this type of dialogue is missing from the newer Fallout games.

In Fallout 4, the dialogues are simply sad. The

Fallout 4 is definitely a fun game, but it's the most limited of them all. The main story characters are immortal, the player doesn't have many karma choices, but now that I'm making these games, I can change that.

[Note: I don't recommend anyone play the original Fallout 1 and 2. They are VERY outdated. They were outdated even when they were released. But if you do want to play, try Fallout 2. It's the one that gave me the most freedom, plus there's the meme. If I remember, I'll leave a link to a short animation in the comments.]

I'll be able to integrate the stories and make Fallout's plot more coherent. This will be a great experience for me and the boys. I'm going to create some islands and ask them to build cities and a story around these islands.

This way, I can get them out of their comfort zone and start thinking beyond just their specialties. In the future, I'll be able to trust them with more important tasks, and they'll be able to have their own teams.

While I'm lost in thought, Meli enters my virtual space.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, I'm just bored."

"Go play with your friends, I'm busy."

"You're just standing there staring at nothing. Let's go out for a bit. Yesterday I saw…"

She started talking faster than a machine gun fires in a war, but while she was speaking, an idea came to mind. Melissa was becoming more and more popular. The fact that she was young, pretty, energetic, and, despite her cute face, liked somewhat questionable things made her especially popular among the boys.

(If I used her... asked her to promote Yu-Gi-Oh, wouldn't that be perfect?)

The biggest problem with Yu-Gi-Oh was how dark it was. The anime had been censored in many countries, and the cards were modified to be less "offensive." Many people didn't even know the whole story because of all the censorship. But here, I don't have to worry about that.

I can make it as dark and violent as I want, but that might scare away the war nerds who only love weapons. Plus, things like gods and cards don't exist here, so I can't guarantee it will be popular. But if I use a beautiful model, super popular among teenagers, that wouldn't be a problem.

"Hehe, this is a great plan, and I won't even need to spend a fortune hiring other models."

"... What are you whispering about? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Huh?! Nothing… my dear sister, I have ten episodes of a new animation here. How about watching them and giving me your opinion?"

"Hmm… okay, I've got nothing else to do."

After I sent her the episodes, Meli left my virtual space. I'm planning to release the Yu-Gi-Oh animation before the game launches. Obviously, I'm doing this slowly, as I don't have much time. Plus, I'm tweaking the narrative a bit, cutting out some of the childish stuff.

Sigh.

"I'm getting distracted again. Better finish the plan for Fallout."

Note: Haha, your favorite Potato is back and in full force! I was away for a few days, and now my mind is back to full power.

I'm posting this chapter today, another one tomorrow, and I'll try to post another on Tuesday to make up for the lost days. Yes, this is the power of a fully recovered Potato.

I saw someone comment about making a hater play the genocide route of Undertale. I really liked the idea, so I'll try to make a chapter like that. Who knows, it might turn out well. (Sorry, I forgot your name and I'm too lazy to look it up.)

Anyway, we're getting closer and closer to a big time skip, and DreamHeart having its own headquarters!