episode_0040

The digital inside was not burning… but there was a sense of tension.

Why?

[So what is Foxy doing now?]

Except for Rhythm Gangster, all KIN staff members are out of the house! They are literally missing!

The fact that Yoon Yi-seo wasn’t breaking any rhythm game records was a major issue.

[Is there something going on within the company?]

[If the company had grown that big, it would have been possible for things to go wrong]

From the speculation that something has come up at the company,

[Is it big? Is it big? Is it big?]

[They usually do that when they work hard to make a game]

The guesses of experts who have watched Yoon Yi-seo for a long time and even learned the routines when making games.

[I broke the previous day’s record!!!!!!]

[19991016 Nightmare 6-key MX Perfect]

Even rhythm game experts take advantage of Yoon Yi-seo’s hesitation to raid empty houses.

This is literally the calm before the storm…!

But inside KIN, there was a far cry from this tension.

“Geeek…”

“Hehe…heeheeheeheeheehe!!!!!!”

A mess that can be described in one word: ‘madness’. That was the current KIN.

“Mr. Newell. Look. This is the hell of royalty you’ve created.”

“Looking at the sound coming out of your mouth, I think you can roll it a little more?”

“…I think we can be good partners Newell.”

Alas! What else could these wicked men be but devils!

The evil plan of Yoon-seo and Newell, the only two who remained sane, was in progress!

Is it hard? Is that so?

In particular, Yoon Yi-seo had ‘extremely’ high expectations for this game, so she pushed people even harder.

“The engine is practically finished. Should we do a little more?”

The occasional Getdan issue has been resolved, and many (though not all) object-related bugs have been fixed.

“It’s hard to implement the story as it is. This stage in the alien zone called Xen needs to be reduced in size…”

“I’m going to scold you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

‘I’ve been waiting for a while to see the proper Zen level in the original world! But here, I’m making it perfect from the beginning!’

As Yoon Yi-seo, who knows the users’ regrets better than anyone else, this was something I absolutely could not tolerate.

As a result, Xen has become as large as the original world’s fan games.

“It’s a bit difficult to put the combat AI that Newell mentioned into each NPC. The development will be delayed by several months just because of one algorithm. ”

“I told you, we’re going to show you ‘everything’.”

“Save me…”

The combat algorithm lived up to its name as an artificial intelligence, including the use of cover and grenades, avoidance of hazards, and use of combat strategies.

“Why do you keep sitting down and standing up in front of cover?”

“The color algorithm is messed up. If you add this to the loop breakout condition…”

…

“This time, the soldier punks are eating the lab walls!”

“…..”

Naturally, this was the result of the developers leaving.

“I don’t think I’ll ever find my way back to this place.”

“Change the map. The level design is so bad.”

The level design was also carefully adjusted.

“It’s too easy to slip and get stuck while walking on the pipe in this section. It’s better to change this side to something else…”

“It’s a bit much to rip and change the map again. It would be better to make a platform on the pipes to maintain the tension while making the playing experience less unpleasant.”

Establishing an ‘invisible wall’

“If I just climb over the wall here, I’ll fall out of the map?”

“In linear design, you shouldn’t let the user leave the section. It’s easy for triggers and scripts to get tangled up, and it reduces immersion. It would be better to use the transparent wall I used last time to make it impossible to escape, like in The Truman Show.”

A law of avoidance was also created.

During the testing phase, we had the game tested by someone in charge of rhythm games…

“It’s a bit annoying that showing the player what to do with UI and telling them what to do with NPC dialogue seems like forcing the player to take action. It can’t be helped, but…”

“Then… let’s just cut out that part.”

“Yes? Then, like Barnacles, they are unreasonable enemies at first glance…”

“Just make sure it’s not the first time you’ve seen it.”

“…?”

“You can show the player what the enemy is doing and how to act effectively when dealing with them by using objects or something in a safe environment, such as a distance from the player. It’s like giving the player a kind of warning first, like how they guided the player in Undertale.”

I poured out all the knowledge I gained from studying the game that changed my life.

Development progressed fairly quickly, with work being completed in November.

“Now what we need is…”

“It’s dubbing.”

Actually, I don’t really think much about this. Even in the original world, ‘English’ dubbing wasn’t that bad.

Thanks to a gallery member who helped with dubbing dialogue when making Warcraft, I was able to connect with voice actors and dubbing went smoothly, with all work completed around mid-December.

Now that the original’s slightly lacking sound has been supplemented, nothing can stop me!

“Let’s hit the ads. Give gamers the best gift for the new year.”

“I have a good idea!”

“Newell, tell me.”

“How about trying out a New Year’s sale? If I were to look around and see a sale on my feed while buying a game that just came out, I’d probably be tempted to buy it, too.”

As expected, it’s a chain discount sale…! I’m scared!

***

Christmas of ’99.

It was a day when expectations for the end of the century and the birth of a new century piled up with snow.

On a day when everyone is full of romance and fantasy, some people’s fantasy has a slightly different direction.

Weird ads with only an orange λ (lambda) logo on a white background were being plastered all over the place, like when PayPal partnered with Amazon.

[Is it big? Is it big? Is it big? Is it big?]

[“Best Christmas Gift”]

[I clicked on the ad and it said something about some kind of experiment. What is this?]

Naturally, the community was on the verge of explosion.

The reason for KIN’s seclusion was finally revealed, and everyone was enjoying the calm before the storm.

***

And finally, December 31st.

Huge crowds gathered in New York.

Not just a new year, but the start of a new century.

A time when many things in the existing world are collapsing and calling for an end, while at the same time there is a glimmer of hope in the form of constantly developing technology.

Everyone gathered in Times Square, feeling both anxious and hopeful.

“The countdown begins!”

60, 59, 58, 57, 56…

The incredibly long 60-second countdown begins,

5…4…

Everyone shouted out numbers.

3!

2!

1!

The countdown is finally over.

Firecrackers explode everywhere, and colorful confetti flutters like snow.

The square was filled with the cheers and cheers of the people, and the shouts rang out through the speakers, making hearts vibrate.

Even in the dark of the night, the lights from the billboards illuminated the world.

The billboard in the middle of Times Square went out.

And then, out of nowhere, an orange lambda symbol on a white background flashed.

Yoon Yi-seo, who was at the scene, raised the corners of her mouth.

After a while, the words are engraved on the billboard.

[H λ LF – LIFE]

[PLAY NOW]

Gamers were even more excited.

No, to be exact, it was the gamers watching Times Square on TV in the corner of their room who went wild.

Times Square is so crowded that it’s hard to move.

Gamers on the scene who wanted to run home and play Half-Life right away couldn’t help but shed tears of sorrow.

It was a complete victory for the hikikomori and nerds in the corner of the room.

***

There’s a man who rushes home right after the Times Square event ends.

I went straight into my room, turned on my computer, logged into Pipe, and started playing the game without hesitation.

While I was at it, I also bought Warcraft, which was on sale. The idea was, ‘If I can buy a $15 game for $9, isn’t that a smart purchase?’

Anyway, the guy finished the slow download and started playing Half-Life.

The game begins with you waking up on the monorail.

I started working at the lab for the first time, and while I was learning how to operate it through a bit of ‘disaster preparedness training’ that seemed a bit excessive, I began to empathize with the main character, ‘Gordon Freeman’.

And, the long-awaited experiment.

The moment you push the crystal sample directly into the spectrometer with your body.

The man instinctively felt that something was wrong.

A shaking screen with a banging sound.

The screen went black for a moment, and when I came back, the lab was a mess, and all sorts of strange-looking guys were jumping out and trying to kill me.

A man who, for some reason, fights his way forward while holding a stick lying on the floor and joining the security guards.

Unlike Doom, there isn’t much music and the lab environment is mostly colorless, so the feeling of fear comes naturally.

The horror and tension, like those in an alien movie, such as the barnacles that drag people out and eat them, and the headcrabs that pop out at random to startle people, were enough to make sweat drip down a man’s forehead.

However, it was fun enough to overcome it.

The story was conveyed to the man through NPCs, effectively drawing him into the game’s world and motivating him to play through to the end.

[Die, you alien monster!]

[All those shooting range exercises will finally see the light of day]

Run, think, shoot, survive. By practicing the copy that came out at the beginning, he finally became the perfect Gordon Freeman.

The man who jumped into the portal and arrived in another dimension, Xen, fought through more alien monsters and finally reached the final boss, defeating him with sweaty palms.

I thought the game was going to end like that…

[Gordon Freeman, you’re back alive, in your suit. I disarmed you. Most of the weapons are government property. As for the suit… I’ll treat it as your personal property.]

[This border world, Zen, is now under our control, so I would like to take this opportunity to thank you. It was quite difficult, but you did it, and I am impressed by that.]

[That’s why I brought you here, Dr. Freeman. I recommended you to my employers, and they gave me the authority to offer you a job. They agreed that you were an important person with unlimited potential.]

[You have already proven that you are a decisive person, so I think you will have no trouble making a decision. If you like my proposal, please enter the portal and I will consider it as your consent.]

[Otherwise, well… you’ll have to fight a battle with a slim chance of winning. It won’t be a very good deal, compared to the battles you’ve survived before.]

[It’s time to choose…]

The man hesitated for a moment after seeing the offer made by the mysterious NPC who suddenly appeared, and then jumped into the portal.

[A wise choice, Mr. Freeman, and I’ll see you again soon.]

[Subject: Freeman]

[Status: Hiring]

[Mission Standby]

And finally the step roll started to come up.

Only then did the man come back to reality and realize.

He said that he had become a slave to KIN.

He had no choice but to go into Digital Inside and write.

[When will the sequel come out?When will the sequel come out?When will the sequel come out?When will the sequel come out?When will the sequel come out?]

[Ten dollars is Yoon Yi-seo’s generous mercy. I’m willing to do this even if it costs fifty dollars.]

[I also want to try making something this awesome]

The man now began to dream of becoming a game developer.

It was the moment when an engineering student degenerated into a coding slave.