Game Director from Hell

Chapter 8: Release

Game development doesn't end with just completing the game.

In fact, there's something just as important as all the preceding stages: "promotion" and "evaluations."

A game is essentially a product.

Without promotion, even if you create a game, no one will know about it.

That's why proper promotion of the game is necessary around the time of beta testing.

Of course, large game companies heavily promote from the announcement stage, but that's a different story from my situation.

Next comes evaluation.

If you don't receive evaluations, even if people know the game is open, they won't be interested in it. Whether positive or negative, external evaluations are one of the important indicators that influence players to choose a game.

Both needed to start simultaneously, and conveniently, there were two of us.

"You handle the promotion part. I'll handle the testing."

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"Ask people around you."

"Do you have friends, senior?"

"What does that mean?"

"Oh, sorry. You're always in your own world, so I thought you didn't."

Although her face didn't look apologetic at all, anyway.

"That's correct. I don't have friends."

"?"

"I'll select a few people from our department to handle it. We need to be courteous."

Rather embarrassingly, I didn't enjoy my school days.

I didn't particularly enjoy talking with others in the first place.

So, I don't know many people right now.

That's why I picked people from our department.

Seorim looked at me pitifully.

"Ugh, I'll find people. Just make sure you're prepared."

"Huh?"

"I know some people who like games. No, I know someone who knows you."

We had someone in common, apparently.

As I was thinking, I suddenly remembered someone noisy.

"Ah, the people from your department? The day we first met."

"...What? You really don't remember?"

Seorim let out a dry laugh.

I wished she'd just tell me plainly, but it seemed like she wasn't planning to do that.

"Well, you'll find out when the time comes. But I didn't expect you to be so nonchalant. Anyway, the test is tomorrow. See you then."

And that's how Seorim left.

***

My curiosity was satisfied the next day.

"Senior, here's the juniors and seniors from the department."

"Oh! I've heard about you, Yeonho! She said you made a game, right?"

"Hello!"

"???"

Jinkyung, my hyung, burst into laughter.

I alternated my gaze between Seorim and my hyung.

Could people really be so different?

My brain momentarily stopped working.

A dumbfounded face with an open mouth.

It was rather charming.

"You seem really surprised."

Seorim had spent almost half a year with Yeonho, but this was the first time she had seen him show such a significant change in expression.

He usually maintained a mostly expressionless or slightly irritated demeanor, so this was a new sight.

It was somewhat impressive.

Of course, being so uninterested in herself did slightly hurt her pride, but that was the extent of it.

"Aren't you supposed to start the testing?"

"Uh, right."

Yeonho set up his computer with a rather flustered look.

Jinkyung was chuckling mischievously.

An expression of childish mischief flashed across his face.

"Yeonho, what have you been up to with my little sister for six months?"

"...Making a game."

"Is that all you've been doing?"

"What else was there to do?"

"You're right, what else is there?"

"Hey, you crazy bastard!"

Smack!

"Oof!"

Jinkyung was grabbed by the backside.

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Their classmates and seniors burst into laughter at the sight.

Realizing they were being watched, they finally stopped.

"Did I bring the wrong people?"

In any case, there was no normal person here.

Bringing these couple of humans who kind of like games feels regrettable.

In the midst of all that.

"We're all set."

Yeonho, done with the setup, pointed towards the computer.

The game's title on the logo screen caught Seorim's eye.

[Hellic]

A memory flashed through her mind.

The title had been Seorim's idea.

Right, senior. Did you decide on the game's name?

Hell I.C., meaning "Hell's Tollgate."

...Remove the spaces and the dot. Your naming sense is truly awful.

For a moment, an unpleasant memory surfaced, but anyhow.

"Oh, this is the game's title?"

When Jinkyung sat down, tension surged in Seorim's heart.

It wavered right after that.

[Screeeeeam!]

"Huh, this screaming sound seems familiar..."

"Just go ahead."

Why are you sitting there being all observant, annoying.

No, now's not the time for that.

Seorim steeled herself.

With her arms crossed, she clenched her fist, and her palms ended up sweaty for no reason.

Showing the result of half a year's hard work to others had an aspect of making one nervous.

What flickered past her mind were the struggles she had endured.

She had received compliments for the illustrations, but the prototype's execution had been a disaster.

Driven by the determination to make up for it somehow, she had put forth a painstaking effort, especially in certain steps of the process.

Let's redo these pixel arts.

Oh, the door, right?

Yeah, make it look even more butt-like.

...Okay.

I told you. The essence of this game is in this butt. The way this butt moves...

Do I have to call it a butt? It's so dirty, seriously...

She had to redo the pixel arts for the hole, which was crucial for moving on the map, many times, following their guidance.

For a while, she couldn't even eat properly due to how nauseating the process was.

The result of all that hard work was now before her.

This was the moment it received its first evaluation.

Seorim opened her eyes wide.

Jinkyung said,

"Okay, Yeonho, get ready to be amazed. I'll clear it quickly for you. I do have experience with games, you know."

"It won't be easy."

"People usually say that at the beginning."

"Seorim! Don't forget that if I clear this, you promised to go on a date with me!"

"I got it, so just play."

Only then did the three of them start the game.

The screen shifted along with the music.

In a landscape reminiscent of a chessboard, the playable character, Warden,' awakens.

As the game began, Seorim's entire focus was on the three people staring at the screen.

Eye movements, finger motions, the speed of breathing, and the nuances of posture.

Such information pressed down on her entire body.

"Why are you so tense?"

Thump—

Yeonho tapped her shoulder.

Hm, Seorim looked at him with surprise.

And then, she widened her eyes.

'He's smiling?'

Yeonho was smiling slightly as he looked at the three of them.

Like someone experiencing extreme satisfaction.

"Enjoy it, this is the most enjoyable time."

He didn't say how to enjoy it. He didn't ask if there was a way to relieve tension. He simply looked at the three of them with a strange feeling rising within him.

Only then did something become apparent.

The three players quickly grasped the game's rules and progressed to the next map.

That was the result of Yeonho's pathological obsession with 'intuitiveness'.

Blank faces zoning out, then suddenly tap-tap-tap! The fingers rapidly tapping the keyboard, and finally, the relief as tension eased, and a sigh escaped.

That was the result of the emphasized 'control' that had been mentioned multiple times.

Finally, the Canser Giant made its first appearance.

The three of them jumped in surprise.

"Ah! Startled me!"

"Hey! What's that! Why isn't there blood?!"

"Run! Run!"

"Hey! Cheon Yeonho! This is a bug, right? This is a crap game!"

"No, it's not."

"Ugh...!"

This was the result of Seorim redoing the design multiple times at Yeonho's request, and also of Yeonho staying up nights for several days to create it.

'Ah, I see.'

In that moment, Seorim understood what it meant to enjoy.

It was to enjoy watching how the users enjoyed it.

She hadn't even considered that people might not find the game fun in the first place.

Finally, she felt at ease.

With a light heart, she observed the reactions of the three players.

A stirring feeling surged within her.

Seeing others enjoy her creation right before her eyes was making her feel slightly better.

"So, is it satisfying?"

At Yeonho's question, Seorim tightly sealed her lips.

She simply concentrated on looking at the three players.

The test ended successfully.

Jinkyung's reaction was particularly positive.

"Wow, this is really fun, you know? You two made this together? This is on par with some major games. Especially the immersion, it's not a joke. I can't believe something like this could be achieved with pixel art."

"Of course, I made it."

Seorim was satisfied with that.

Since Jinkyung was already a big fan of games, he had played many different ones.

His evaluations of games were generally quite harsh.

And yet, Jinkyung praised it.

Of course, personal emotions might have been mixed in since her little sister had made the game, but praise was praise.

Jinkyung was someone with a clear sense of justice.

"When is this coming out? Oh, and where is it going to be released?"

"We're planning to release it on the PC platform. Steam."

"Steam? Oh, there."

"Yeah, there's not much else we can do."

"Well, that's true. Anyway, let me know when it's out. I'll buy it and play it to the end."

The conversation known only to the two continued for a while.

Amidst it, their junior and senior approached and said slyly,

"Seorim, we cleared Chapter 1. It's fun."

Their eyes sparkled.

Seorim couldn't help but let out a forced laugh.

Their heart was clearly on Cloud Nine.

'But still...'

During the game, she had been focused, so providing this kind of reward should be alright.

"I'll go."

"Yay!"

The two of them hugged each other.

After completing the test like that, the three of them left.

"Alright, then we're off!"

"I'm going too. My little brother is coming in early today!"

Thud.

As the door closed and only the two of them were left, Seorim felt awkward.

She tried to come up with something cool to say, and at the end of that thought, something crossed her mind.

"Oh, Senior."

"Hm?"

"How does it feel to receive such high praise?"

"I think it's a natural result."

"No, do you have any thoughts other than just the impressions?"

She didn't ask for him to boast or anything.

Yeonho gave her a glare, then after a brief pause, he answered.

"...The intention seemed to be well-received? I guess it can be taken that way."

"Intention?"

"The butt joke."

Why does that topic keep coming up?

"Relax your expression. There's a reason behind it."

Yeonho sat down at the computer that had finished the test and started the game.

Then, after the intro scene, he pointed at the screen.

"This is where the protagonist appears."

"Why are you telling me this?"

The protagonist entered through a long path resembling a straight line in a rectangular board of checkers.

As Yeonho said, the entrance and the loading screen were implemented as a sequence of moving through each room's rear end, which in Yeonho's words, were depicted as individual butts.

"When the player enters this butt, the game transitions to a loading screen. And we've implemented the transition from the loading interface to exiting the butt as well. So, entering, loading, and exiting all appear as one scene. It's one of the techniques."

"What technique?"

"Long take."

Seorim tilted her head.

Yeonho pointed at the monitor as he said, "It erases the moments when the game flow is interrupted."

"Ah...!"

So that's why he was so fixated on the butts.

It was only now that Seorim understood what Yeonho had meant when he said, "Make it feel like going from the scene where you enter the butt to the scene where you navigate through the office, and then back out is all one seamless scene."

With no loading, the time players spend returning to reality within the game is shortened.

Seeing her looking at him with newfound respect, he returned her gaze.

"Anyway, good job today. The second test will be online. Please handle the promotion beforehand."

"Oh, sure. Thank you for your hard work."

"Yeah, going now."

And so, Yeonho left the club room.

Seorim's gaze remained on the monitor for a long time, unable to leave the now dark screen.

Once back home, Seorim was lost in thought about the test, but suddenly remembered something she needed to do.

"Oh, right. Promotion..."

She had already received the guidelines.

All she needed to do was write posts on a few online game communities.

-Anyway, we can't really do serious promotion. We're not at that level yet.

Yeonho had requested a trailer video, a brief introduction to the game, and a highlight of the unique weapon system.

Seorim sat down in front of the computer.

She already had the necessary screenshots ready, and Yeonho had sent her the gameplay footage for the trailer.

Click, click.

All she had to do was create it.

Having written the promotional post, Seorim entered the game community Yeonho had told her about.

And then, it happened.

"Writing functions are for members only."

"Huh? What's this? Do I really have to go through the trouble of signing up?"

She frowned at the inconvenience, but she couldn't just abandon the task she was assigned due to laziness.

Seorim pursed her lips and slowly went through the process of signing up as a member.

"Nickname: SeorimSeorim

Profile Picture: (A selfie taken with the school background)

Introduction: Not accepting friend requests"

"What? They want so much information."

Originally, thinking of this as just a community she used, Seorim entered her real personal information as requested by the site.

She had no idea about the anonymity-centric nature of game communities.

"Alright, that should do it..."

Like that, Seorim immediately uploaded the promotional post.

"I've created a game!

Official release in 2 weeks!!!

Please look forward to it ^-^

(Main text)

I've worked hard on this game for half a year!

I'm sure you won't regret downloading it, so please give it a try!"

"Done. This looks decent enough."

With that, the task was finished!

Seorim turned off the computer and lay down on her bed.

Because of that, she didn't see the comments being posted on the community.

It was Seorim's oversight.

[Comment Section]

zZoneHanSu: Are you a girl?

┕TWithoutTears: Ugh, stupid newbies, all they see is gender?

┕SweetBellBoy37: Your profile picture is pretty. Is this a game made by a student? The quality is really good, ^^

ReinspectorGoppi: Why is this the main recommended post? Did you manipulate the upvotes?

┕S2PobbyS2: Agree with the above comment

┕ReinspectorGoppi: Ah... lol...

LordofBangbaedong: Oh, a horror-action game?

┕WaitingForZodiac3: When is Zodiac 3 coming out... Sigh, should I try this one in the meantime?

┕NationwidePaladinAssociation: Still waiting for that new Zodiac game

┕LoveSpaceWars: Oh~ Space Wars 2 should come first~

┕ChessLover: Instead of fighting, wanna play CaoCao?

2008, a male-dominated community from the wild days.

The female college student developer became the ultimate provocateur bait.

The news of the game's release spread more powerfully than Yeonho had initially expected.

Of course,

"Seorim..."

"Yes?"

"Change your community profile picture."

"?"

For the person in question, a single more embarrassing thing had been added to her history, but that was all.