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PixelPioneers: The Birth of a Gaming Empire

Follows the journey of a man who start a small indie game development. Facing numerous challenges, from financial struggles to fierce industry competition, he leverage his creativity and resilience to create groundbreaking games. As his company, PixelPioneers, rises to prominence, he navigate the complexities of success, and innovation in the ever-evolving world of game development. _____ This is a translation. The Original Title is: 游戏娱乐帝国

Sokdavid · Video Games
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102 Chs

Chapter : 101 : DEMO Version

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While John was still working on the GDD document design for Resident Evil Resistance, the popularity of Resident Evil, with the launch of several major works in the industry, had finally begun to decline.

After all, this is just a stand-alone game. With the clearance by the players who started early and the video walkthroughs from numerous streamers and content creators, the game's main flow of popularity began to wane.

This decline isn't very uncommon. A stand-alone game in the gaming world that maintains high popularity over time is rare, without a multiplayer mode, achieving this is almost impossible. The quality of Resident Evil is excellent, but reaching a sustained level of success is nearly unattainable.

Set aside the subsequent discount promotions, the lifespan of a single-player game is mainly within two months after its release and these two months typically account for 80% or more of the game's overall revenue. Without new content or a multiplayer mode, a decline after two months is inevitable.

Especially in such a time of frequent major releases, you can see a game launch almost every two months, not to mention countless indie and small-scale productions. Competition here is even more intense than in the film industry.

However, while the popularity of Resident Evil has fallen sharply compared to its initial release, plenty of "players" are still publishing various videos on major video platforms and gaming communities. These include original graphics, short stories, and even creative edits.

Some players turn in-game cutscenes into movie-like videos, showcasing iconic moments of Leon, Claire, and Ada as they face off against monsters.

Others have created videos about "100 death methods" for Claire and Leon, though the most popular ones delve into the in-game menus and analyses of the world's lore.

Even the official post includes some of these videos, as part of a strategy by Armani to maintain the game's momentum.

Armani's promotional team was set up to release edited video clips, news updates, and short stories aimed at sustaining Resident Evil's popularity. This approach was taken after Armani received confirmation from John that Resident Evil would become a series.

Meanwhile, in the local gaming industry, some dark horses have emerged. For example, Martel, who previously invested in Gemtechs to enter the AAA field, officially released a game trailer.

The trailer is for a game with a magical theme, inspired by the European medieval world of swords and sorcery, and features ARPG gameplay that Martel specializes in. However, based on the information released so far, there doesn't seem to be anything particularly innovative in terms of gameplay.

Similarly, Moondustries and Essence have developed several major titles of their own. John reviewed them, trying to find inspiration, but nothing groundbreaking stood out. This outcome was expected.

Everyone in the industry understands the core development processes. These games typically rely on big data analysis rather than creativity. By analyzing the preferences of millions of players, developers identify the most popular elements and incorporate them into their games. For instance, if 70% of players enjoy a particular feature, it will likely be included. These games guarantee sales in the millions but often fall short of becoming timeless classics.

The most innovative works often come from second and third-tier studios or independent developers. Due to intense competition, the larger studios struggle to produce truly groundbreaking games. Some recently launched titles caught John's attention, and while a couple seemed mildly interesting, most felt formulaic.

"Mr. John, the A1 version has been produced and uploaded to the server," a message popped up on his work software.

"Okay," John replied as he rubbed his temple, then downloaded a compressed file labeled A1 from the server.

This was the first test demo version of Resident Evil Resistance, a very basic build. Normally, the environment would be made of colored squares, and the character model would be a transparent placeholder. However, since assets from Resident Evil and Outlast were modified and introduced, this demo version was richer.

The scene was set in the Resident Evil police station lobby, with some tweaks, such as enabling players to jump onto the statue by repeatedly pressing the jump button. Of course, placeholder red blocks were used for objects rather than proper models.

Zombies and character animations were also repurposed from Resident Evil and Outlast. Shooting mechanics were basic, using simple XY-axis logic for feedback.

Despite its simplicity, the basic functions were in place. Zombies could spawn via background code, and John tested shooting them from the stairs with a pistol. However, the zombie movement speeds hadn't been adjusted yet, nor had the physics or numerical balance been finalized. Everything still relied on Resident Evil's existing mechanics.

After a half-hour test, John identified several issues with the demo.

"Finish the ongoing tasks by this afternoon. Koch, Evelien, and Malcolm meet me in the conference room at 2:30," John typed in the team chat, tagging the relevant program, art, and level design leads.

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