Game Development: Starting by Healing the Players
Chapter 55: Chain-Reaction Propagation
"Is it really that exaggerated? I want to see for myself just what kind of magic this Outlast has!"
Inside an apartment complex in Beijing, a burly man sat in front of his computer.
He was shirtless, with a buzz cut, standing at a towering one meter ninety-two and covered in muscle.
His name was Song Ren, and at this moment, he was looking suspiciously at the posts on a certain forum.
Every single one of them was talking about how terrifying Outlast was.
Song Ren had never been particularly interested in horror games.
However, he knew that this horror game had been made by the designer of To the Moon, which made him somewhat curious.
After all, appearances could be deceiving. As the saying went, even a fierce tiger could have a gentle side.
On the outside, he was the very definition of a macho man. But even macho men had moments when they shed tears. When he had played To the Moon before, he had cried buckets.
So he still paid a certain amount of attention to Nebula Games and its designer, Chen Xu.
Moreover, this game called Outlast had been quite popular recently, so he decided to give it a try.
It was just a horror game. How scary could it possibly be?
With that curiosity in mind, Song Ren purchased the game, installed it, and launched it.
"Hah… Trying to create an atmosphere, huh?"
Standing before Mount Massive Asylum, Song Ren was brimming with confidence.
"Hah… Is that all?!"
As he climbed up the scaffolding and entered a room where the lights suddenly went out, Song Ren wore a look of disdain.
"Ugh… Just a cheap jump scare when opening the door. Nothing to be afraid of."
A corpse suddenly lunged at him when he opened the door, giving Song Ren a tiny scare.
"Wait— Don't come any closer!!!"
When a patient in a wheelchair came barreling toward him in the lobby, looking as though he wanted a hug, Song Ren's face went deathly pale.
...
One hour later.
Song Ren leaned back in his chair, gasping for breath. At this moment, he could distinctly feel his heart pounding.
Thump. Thump.
Strong and powerful.
All thanks to the scenes he'd just experienced.
He glanced at the curtains beside him. Silently, he stood up and pulled them open, allowing the sunlight to flood into the room.
"Sunlight… How wonderful!"
Looking at the sunlight outside and at the monitor, which had already returned to the game's store page after he exited, Song Ren slowly let out a breath.
He had to admit one thing.
He had lost.
And he had lost utterly and completely.
Thinking back on everything that had just happened, Song Ren leaned against his chair and stared at the bright sunlight outside. Even now, his legs still felt slightly weak.
But after recovering somewhat from his fear, Song Ren suddenly thought of something.
He quietly picked up his phone, found one of his friends in his contacts, and sent him a message.
"Old Zhang, I found an absolutely awesome game. It's insanely fun! Playing it is such a rush. I strongly recommend you give it a try."
"It's the new game from the designer of To the Moon, Outlast. What kind of game is it? A parkour and puzzle-solving game. I've gotta say, it's unbelievably exciting!"
After sending the message, Song Ren took a deep breath and simply stared out the window.
Fortunately.
Fortunately, he'd played this game in broad daylight!
About half an hour later, the phone lying on his desk suddenly rang.
A person saved in his contacts as "Old Zhang" had sent him a message.
It was a simple sentence, accompanied by three exclamation marks expressing the full force of his emotions:
"FUCK YOU!!!"
Seeing those words, Song Ren burst out laughing from his chair.
All the fear he'd felt earlier had completely disappeared.
Because he could already imagine exactly what Old Zhang must have looked like when he got scared.
After laughing, he noticed that his monitor was still on, with his gaming platform still sitting on the Outlast launch screen.
He fell silent for a moment.
Then Song Ren silently closed the gaming platform.
...
There were countless other players just like Song Ren.
At first, these players had learned about Outlast because of their familiarity with To the Moon.
But even more players discovered the game through forums and communities dedicated to gaming.
Just like Song Ren, after seeing other players' comments, they were filled with both curiosity and an unwillingness to admit defeat.
It was just a horror game. How scary could it possibly be?
Was it really necessary for everyone to make such a big deal out of it?
Could they perhaps be paid shills advertising the game?
With these thoughts in mind, these players decided to personally give the game a try. After completing it, they planned to post screenshots in the forums and show off that they'd managed to beat it.
After all, when it came to courage, many players—especially those who were otherwise perfectly normal people—had an inexplicable and almost mysterious confidence in themselves.
It was only after entering the game that they quickly realized what kind of game it really was.
And that was without even getting to the later content. The early sections alone were enough to scare off a large number of players.
Some players entered the game full of confidence, only to be discouraged before they even made it past the entrance to Mount Massive Asylum.
Others were driven away by the very first door jump scare, or when they encountered the big, fat patient.
Of course, even more players gave up during the basement section, when they were faced with an environment so dark that they could barely see their own hands, all while being chased by a madman wielding a wooden plank with nails sticking out of it.
There were also some players who gritted their teeth and forced themselves to keep going.
However, after they repaired the generators, were injected by the priest, and entered the prison section, they finally realized—
The previous parts had only been an appetizer!
Of course, different players gave up at different stages of the game.
But after quitting, there was one thing they all had in common.
Their posts began appearing on the game forums, either recommending the game to other players or trying to warn them away from it.
It was almost like a series of nesting dolls, one inside another.
After all, if I'd already been scared half to death, then I might as well drag one more person down with me.
I have to make sure other people experience exactly what I went through!
As more and more of these posts appeared, later players became completely bewildered. They had no idea what kind of horror game Outlast actually was.
Some people even deliberately took screenshots of relatively harmless scenes to make their claims sound more convincing.
Others, however, described their experiences in great detail, insisting that Outlast was absolutely terrifying.
The increasingly varied accounts attracted even more players who subsequently heard about Outlast, drawing them into the game one after another.
It was like a relay race. The runner in front reached the finish line and then passed the baton to the next runner.
But the spread of Outlast among players was even broader than that.
The player base was constantly expanding, which meant that the information itself was also reaching an ever-growing audience.
At the beginning, Chen Xu still had to subtly guide the discussion and topics surrounding the game, occasionally helping players come up with jokes and memes.
But as more and more players were scared half to death inside Mount Massive Asylum, that was no longer necessary.
Nebula Games no longer needed to spend money or deliberately steer the conversation.
The players' spontaneous discussions were already enough to create a hot topic, spreading like sparks from a prairie fire, gradually building momentum and expanding its influence.
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
. . . .
Tn: I updated the story everyday, but if you want to see more chapter of this story ahead of time, please go to my Patreon.
Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 160: Really, I Believe You![1]
Link to the latest chapter: https://www.patreon.com/HannibalNotBarca/posts/game-development-175204258?collection=2313636[2]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/HannibalNotBarca/posts/game-development-175204258?collection=2313636
[2] https://www.patreon.com/HannibalNotBarca/posts/game-development-175204258?collection=2313636