Episode 39: The Birth of a Fighting Game (2)
After actually playing the prototype fighting game that Logic and Grok had made, I naturally had no choice but to recall a movie I’d seen in my previous life.
It was called Real Steel, and much like the armor used in this prototype, it was about directly controlling a robot synchronized with the operator’s movements and knocking down other robots that only had higher specs with one-two punches, that sort of thing.
‘Steel robots beating the crap out of each other was exhilarating, and there was also the romance of humans and robots combining their strength to win. I liked that movie quite a bit.’
And playing this prototype was so intense, so stylish, and so full of romance that it felt like I was actually recreating that movie myself.
An armored knight I was moving was fighting fiercely right before my eyes. If that wasn’t style and romance, then what was?
That was a fact no one could deny.
“But I don’t think we can sell it in this form.
We’ll have to overhaul it into something completely different.”
Despite that, however, I had no choice but to firmly draw the line and say that this prototype, overflowing with style and romance, could not be sold.
“There are more than just one or two problems that would get in the way of actual users playing it.”
There were far too many issues in the way of commercializing and selling this thing.
“First, the hygiene problem is a big one.
Here, you can see it, right? The connection equipment is completely soaked with my sweat.”
The first was the hygiene issue, like the massive amount of sweat produced while playing the game.
It would be a hassle to wash it every single time after use.
And if I were about to use it after someone else had played, only to find it soaked in another person’s sweat, how unpleasant would that be?
“On top of that, the fact that it consumes enough stamina to make you sweat like this is also a problem.”
And there was the stamina issue connected to that.
“I only played a few rounds, and I’m already drenched in sweat and exhausted enough to collapse.
How is anyone supposed to enjoy and practice this?”
Given the nature of the fighting game genre, a lot of practice was required to improve one’s skills.
But this consumed so much stamina that it was closer to training than practice, to the point that it went beyond something users could enjoy as a hobby.
“Ah... That’s true.”
“Urgh... I didn’t think that part through.”
Even at this point, Logic and Grok seemed to have already realized their mistake.
But there were still more problems left, so I continued speaking.
“There’s also the issue that it’s difficult to control.
Even I, who has learned swordsmanship to some extent, found the controls fairly difficult.
For people who have never learned martial arts, it’ll just turn into a wild brawl.”
The controls being too difficult was also a problem.
Since it was a method that required you to actually move your own body, wouldn’t proper combat be difficult unless you had received specialized training or had real combat experience?
In other words, that meant it lacked mass appeal.
You couldn’t tell people to train in swordsmanship just to play a game.
“Besides that, I’m also worried that the production costs for the game, as well as the armor’s expendability and repair costs, will be high.”
“Ugh... That certainly would be the case...”
“It also seems like it would take up quite a lot of space.
And it looks like it lacks sufficient safety measures to prevent the aftermath of play from harming the surroundings.
During an intense fight, broken swords or pieces of armor could fly off and injure someone.
Ah, there could even be cases where people use this to attack others outright.”
“S-stop... I get it, so stop already...
I understand very well that there are a lot of problems with practical use...”
Like stabbing the pirate uncle trapped in a barrel with swords, I mercilessly listed the problems and stabbed Grok and Logic with them.
And each time I brought up another problem, Grok and Logic’s shoulders drooped lower and lower in dejection.
Hmm. Did I stab them too much?
Maybe it was time to stop.
“Well, considering this is the very first prototype, it’s certainly attractive enough.
I enjoyed the act of playing it myself, after all.”
That wasn’t empty flattery.
If those problems really hadn’t existed, it had been fun enough that I would have thought it would be fine to release it as is.
It wasn’t suited for an actual release, but in terms of quality as a work, it wasn’t inferior even compared to games from my previous life.
That was why it was even more regrettable, but still, what needed to be let go had to be let go.
‘If I want more users to enjoy it and spread the culture of games, then first of all, it needs good mass appeal and accessibility.’
So the version to be officially released needed a drastic change from here.
In a way similar to the fighting games from my previous life that I knew.
In that sense, the first thing that had to be fixed was—
“When moving the avatar... that is, a familiar like that armor, rather than actually moving your body,
I’d like you to set it up so that pressing specific buttons triggers predetermined actions.
And by combining buttons, players should be able to use more complex techniques.”
First, we had to correct the operating method of the game, which these engineers seemed to have misunderstood.
“Would that be all right?
If we do that, I feel like the thrill of people actually dueling won’t come across well.”
“It’s fine.
Doing it this way will allow people who can’t use their bodies well to play easily too.”
If we didn’t change it, the range of users who could play would be far too limited.
“And even this way, the thrill of a duel will be conveyed more than enough.”
Even games from my previous life, which were only seen as graphics on a screen, could convey plenty of excitement through sound, effects, vibration, and the like.
If familiars with real physical bodies created by magic were dueling, the excitement would likely increase rather than decrease.
“Hmm. To be honest, I can’t quite picture it.
Still, I understand that we have to change the control method.”
“Well, we’ll know once we make it.
If we make it and it feels lacking, we can fix it again then.”
Even after my explanation, Grok and Logic still wore expressions of half belief and half doubt.
That was because they had the underlying mindset that if it was a duel, then of course you had to fight by moving your own body directly.
‘Well, there are no video games here, and these are people from a world more accustomed to fighting with their bodies, so I suppose it can’t be helped.’
Once we made it ourselves and compared them, they would understand what I meant, so I had no choice but to trust them and wait.
Besides that, I exchanged a few more pieces of feedback and discussion with the two of them.
Things like the avatar’s size being too large, making it difficult to secure space and safety, so I asked them to simplify it and make it smaller.
Or introducing the concept of HP, so that instead of actually taking damage and breaking apart, it could keep fighting as it was until the HP reached zero.
The realistic feeling of it actually being destroyed was nice, but then costs and control difficulty would skyrocket.
“Ah, as for character designs, settings, and techniques used, I’ll organize those separately and give them to you.
Please look them over and tell me if there’s anything that seems difficult to implement.”
“You mean you’ll design them separately instead of just having them fight in armor form?”
“Rather than simple suits of armor fighting crudely, wouldn’t it be cooler to have beautiful characters fighting with flashy techniques?”
For a fighting game to be popular, gameplay was important, but character appeal was also important.
If you could choose between a crude lump of armor and a cute, beautiful girl, wouldn’t anyone choose the beautiful girl?
In any case, after roughly finishing the feedback like that,
Logic and Grok, their initially confident expressions gone, looked at the prototype armor with slightly dispirited faces and muttered gloomily.
“Then this prototype will have to be scrapped.
What a shame. We put quite a lot of effort into it...”
“Urgh. I’m sorry. If only I had paid a little more attention to the problems when making you...
I hope you can be reborn next time as an even finer armament...”
The way he apologetically stroked the armor with gestures dripping with lingering attachment—
It felt as though they were abandoning a child they had painstakingly raised, which was extremely uncomfortable.
Was this the engineer’s sensibility? Not easy to deal with.
But scrapped?
What in the world were these people talking about?
“No, why would you scrap this? What a waste.”
You went to all the trouble of making something like a realistic VR game, so why throw it away?
“Pardon? But you said it was different from the method you had in mind, and that there were many problems...?”
“Of course, I said it was different from the method I had in mind and that an official release would be difficult under various circumstances.
But I also said this was excellent in its own way, didn’t I?”
Since resolving the problems I mentioned earlier would be extremely difficult, it would be impossible to present it to the general public.
But what about special customers who wouldn’t need to worry too much about those problems?
“What you mean by that is...?”
Nod.
I nodded in affirmation to Logic, whose expression had begun to bloom with hopeful expectation.
“We can take custom orders only and sell it to specific demand groups that meet the conditions.”
For example, wouldn’t it be quite good if we supplied it to places like knight orders or academies for use in mock training?
They could enjoy real combat like a game while training too!
And if it was an institution on that scale or a family with sufficient wealth, most of the aforementioned problems could be solved.
They could secure the space and safety.
Since it wasn’t meant to turn a profit, there would be no need to worry much about commercial viability.
As for hygiene and repair problems, they could just prepare several sets of equipment and use another one while one was being cleaned or repaired.
“So let’s not throw this away, and develop it separately whenever we have time!”
If improved appropriately, it would have much less mass appeal, but it seemed like it could do quite well as a special sale.
“Wait. That means... the workload has doubled, doesn’t it?”
“I suppose it does?”
“I’m not sure whether I should be happy about this or not...”
Grok and Logic had protected the existing project they treated like a child, but after realizing that their work had doubled instead, their expressions became half relief and half despair.
I hoped they wouldn’t worry too much.
After all, I wasn’t an incompetent villain who gave them a tight budget and a short deadline while demanding perfect results.
“Ah, I’ll make sure to provide plenty of budget and time for that, so don’t worry and focus hard on development!”
“...Thank you.”
“...Yeah, how very grateful I am.”
What do you think?
Aren’t I truly an understanding client?
Now then, work hard, you engineers!
Until the optimal game I want comes out!
And a few months later,
People received news that a special game, unlike anything that had existed until now, would be installed in the arcade.