29 – Player Discussion
The next day, at the Nebula Games office, Lucas handed the finished concept draft—along with design notes for main characters like Johnny, River, Watts, and Neil—to Anna and Rachel.
Looking over the concept draft and script in their hands, both Anna and Rachel were clearly moved.
But this wasn't the time to get lost in the story. They quickly brought up what was on their minds.
"Wait, I thought this was a sci-fi game? Boss Lucas, this whole thing is about love!" Rachel asked, clearly confused—even her tone had changed.
"Yeah, where's the sci-fi?" Anna chimed in.
Yesterday in the meeting room, Lucas had told them about the game's background.
There was going to the moon, memory-altering tech...
The two of them had even talked privately about ideas like brain-in-a-vat theories, dystopias, cyberpunk stuff—they'd gone all in.
And now, with the actual concept draft in hand, they realized—
They'd been completely misled!
This was just a romance story dressed up as sci-fi!
"How is this not sci-fi? Look at the memory-modifying tech—isn't that sci-fi?"
"We'll just add more sci-fi flair to the background later. Like, for example, the car the two doctors use to get to Johnny's house—we'll make it look more futuristic."
"But that's not the point. What really matters is that the game touches players emotionally."
"Alright, alright, let's get into work mode. We don't have much time left!" Lucas said, clearing his throat.
...
Meanwhile, online discussion about the upcoming event was heating up.
After all, the event date was getting closer.
Since it was officially hosted, of course there was official promotion.
At the same time, some of the participating game developers were promoting it on their own social media accounts too.
But most of the games being submitted were either PC or mobile titles.
That was mainly because of the short development timeline.
Some well-known game companies like NetDragon, were also taking part.
Of course, it wasn't their core studios doing the work.
Big companies like these usually have a bunch of smaller studios under them.
Because of that, a lot of players started to catch wind of the event and began talking about it.
"Hey, isn't the [Sci-fi Game Contest] starting soon?"
"Sci-fi Game Contest? What the hell is that?"
"It's that contest organized by the game club a while ago."
"Oh, that one. I totally forgot. That contest is a joke—look at the crap games they picked."
"Right? I'm not saying they need to be like Undertale, but can we at least get something decent?"
"This time's a bit different though. Players can vote too. Before, it was all decided by the higher-ups in the game club, so the games that won were just the ones that pandered to them."
"So this time it's 'for the people'?"
"Yeah, that's basically the idea. It should lean more toward what players actually like."
"I'll believe it when I see it."
"But do you guys think we'll get a ton of META games this time? META stuff's been pretty hot lately."
"Probably not. When the contest opened, Undertale wasn't even out yet."
"You think Lucas will join?"
"Keep dreaming. Look at the timing—if Lucas joins, I'll cut off my johny!"
"Dude, that serious?"
"Come on, it's common sense. During the time this contest was open, Lucas made both Mirror and Undertale. Where would he even find the time to make a new game for this?"
"Holy crap, your johny's in danger. Check Lucas's official page—he did join!"
"What??? Are you kidding me!?"
"RIP to the guy's dick, for real."
"No freaking way—it's actually true!?"
...
Undertale, as an indie game, doesn't feel like one at all based on how popular it got.
The main reason is that it really shows what META elements are all about.
And with great sales numbers, it became a rare mix of both art and commercial success.
Naturally, it caught the attention of tons of game designers.
As for the media—well, that goes without saying.
An ordinary game designer made a game like this. What does that mean?
It means hype and traffic.
People are already speculating about what Nebula Games and Lucas will make next.
Gamers and industry folks pretty much agree:
It'll most likely be a sequel to Undertale, or at least another META game.
But no one expected Lucas to come out on his official page and announce that Nebula Games is making a special game for the contest.
As for what kind of "special" game it is, Lucas didn't say.
But honestly, players, designers, and the media didn't really care.
I mean, no matter how "special" it is—it's still just a game, right?
The real issue is time!
There's only half a month between the post and the contest deadline. Can Nebula Games really pull it off?
From what we know of their past schedules, it's clear this game wasn't something they had prepped beforehand.
After hearing the news, a lot of game designers in the industry thought Nebula Games was just messing around this time.
Bell, who'd been quiet ever since Undertale blew up, maybe because he was keeping tabs on Lucas,
jumped on the chance and reposted the news within four minutes.
"Just because you've had one success doesn't mean you'll always succeed. Too bad some designers don't get that. Treating an official game contest like a joke—I doubt a game like that would even pass the review phase."
Clearly, Bell was feeling pretty sour and jumped at the chance to shift attention away from himself.
And even though the comments were full of sarcastic jabs, this time he did get a bit of support.
I mean, making a sci-fi game for a contest in just a bit over ten days?
That's just not realistic.
As for Bell's response, Lucas kept it simple.
He posted a screenshot of Bell deleting his own account from before, added a picture showing the ratings and sales of Undertale, and topped it off with a meme.
The meme was of the popular bunny character looking disgusted at a clown. Next to it, Lucas wrote: "Don't talk to me. I don't talk to clowns."
The moment players saw Lucas's meme, tons of them cracked up.
Damn, that's a real burn.
No wonder Bell has such a bad reputation in the gaming world—both with players and industry people.
Underneath the meme, the comments were full of happy players.
--------------1----------------
30: What Did I Do to Deserve This?
"This is the worst roasting a clown has ever taken."
"Let's be real—a clown brings people joy. What about Mr. Bell?"
"Come on, hasn't Mr. Bell brought us enough joy?"
"LMAO, thanks to Lucas I found out about Mr. Bell. I was in a bad mood, but reading his old quotes cheered me up."
"But seriously, I'm still curious what Lucas's new game actually is. It just doesn't sound reliable."
"Has fame gone to his head?"
"Hard to say. But judging from Mirror and Undertale, I'll believe it when I see it."
"Doing all that in just ten days sounds super sketchy."
With Lucas's post, a lot of players who had followed him since Mirror and Undertale started talking again.
Most people were thinking the same thing—it just didn't look very promising.
The time frame was way too short.
...
Compared to the players, the industry, and the media buzzing with discussion,
in the Swordfire Studio under NetDragon, a game designer's hands were shaking as he read the news online.
Marcus, the lead designer at Swordfire, was working on a sci-fi game called Galaxy Heroes.
He was aiming for the sci-fi game competition with this project.
NetDragon sounds like a powerhouse on paper,
but in reality, it's just packed with tons of internal project teams.
Swordfire Studio, which Marcus leads, is just one of them.
Not every team gets millions or even tens of millions in funding.
At NetDragon, even a few million is already a mid-sized project.
Marcus's goal for joining this contest was to win first place,
hoping it would boost his status in the gaming world and inside the company, so he could get better resources and more funding for future projects.
Everything had been going smoothly—until Lucas suddenly announced he was making a sci-fi game and entering the same contest. That completely messed up Marcus's plans.
Not that he was overly worried about Lucas's actual game.
Like a lot of people, he didn't think anything good could come out of such a short development time.
But the real issue was this: with the massive success of Mirror and Undertale, Lucas was now a traffic magnet.
To gaming media, Lucas meant clicks and attention.
To players, Undertale was still riding high in popularity, and anything Lucas did would instantly catch their attention.
Even Bell's mocking comments were, in a way, just giving Lucas more publicity.
So that put Marcus in a tight spot.
He had set aside part of Galaxy Heroes' budget just for marketing
and had already started rolling out promotions.
But now?
All the attention got stolen!
There was nothing they could do. Even though NetDragon was one of the top publishers in the country and they were part of NetDragon's studios, the publishing team was run by the operations department, while they were just a separate development group.
The operations team wasn't about to sacrifice their own numbers just to help out someone else.
Want to use NetDragon's channels for marketing?
Sure, since we're technically coworkers, we'll give you a special discount—how about 10% off the usual price?
What? No budget?
Then why are you even here?
Get lost!
No money and you still want promo? You think our numbers don't matter?
Looking at all the trending articles online—"Lucas's New Game to Join Sci-Fi Game Awards," "Is Lucas Getting Arrogant After Making Undertale?"—Marcus felt his chest tighten.
They barely had any budget for promo to begin with, and now it's all wasted!
"What did I ever do to deserve this?" Marcus clutched his chest in pain.
Seeing all the back-and-forth between Lucas and Bell on their social media accounts, for a second Marcus really thought about tagging Lucas and throwing some shade, hoping to stir up some buzz for his own game.
But in the end, he stopped himself—not because he was scared of losing, but because he wasn't in the same position as Bell.
Bell might just run a small indie team, FlowArts Studio, but at least he was his own boss.
But Marcus? He was just a producer under NetDragon. If he went rogue, he'd be screwed.
Back in the day, even rebels had to make a speech about how the emperor was corrupt.
If he jumped out and started attacking people for no reason, it might feel good in the moment, but it would be a mess afterward.
A public apology would be the least of his worries. What if the players' anger at NetDragon ended up being directed at him personally? What if he also took the blame for problems in other departments?
Others would be raking in money while he got stuck with warnings and punishments. Just thinking about it made him sick.
Having the spotlight stolen was already bad enough. If he ended up taking the fall too, that would be a nightmare.
But even now…
He couldn't help but feel bitter.
What made it worse was that Lucas wasn't even trying to target him—he probably had no idea this was even happening.
That just made it feel even more unfair.
"Fine," Marcus thought, "revenge is a dish best served cold."
Even if it wasn't all Lucas's fault, he still had something to do with it.
So right then and there, Marcus started imagining how he'd get back at him.
"You stole my spotlight, huh? Then we'll settle this at the Game Awards. Let the games do the talking!"
"Honestly, I don't even think your game will pass the screening process. But if it does, I hope you at least win something like a bottom-rank prize. That way the game department will invite you to the awards ceremony."
"And when that day comes, in front of all the players, game department leaders, and reporters, I'll give you the coldest handshake of your life. I'll smile and say I've heard great things, and compliment your game like it's a masterpiece!"
Staring at the headlines about Lucas blowing up again, Marcus took a deep breath and closed the browser. In his head, he was already playing out the whole scene.
Red carpet. Cameras. Handshakes. A speech.
One month from now—that would be the day he got his sweet revenge.
...
Back at Nebula Games, Lucas had no idea someone out there was already planning to get back at him.
He'd been completely swamped lately. On one hand, he had to manage the development schedule for To the Moon. On the other, he was doing interviews and trying to hire new team members.
He had posted job openings on a bunch of game dev forums and communities.
Thanks to the success of Undertale, he definitely caught the attention of a lot of industry folks.
The problem was that barely anyone really impressed him.
After reviewing all the applications, Lucas sighed and said, "Man, it's so hard to find the right people."
He was hoping to hire an assistant art lead to help take some of the load off himself and Rachel.
At the same time, they were also planning to hire a systems designer and a level designer.
But so far, they still hadn't found any good candidates.
Just then, there were two knocks at the office door. Lucas responded, and the door opened. A man in his thirties walked in.
Ethan, the marketing manager at Nebula Games. He was in charge of promoting the games and handling business deals.
"Boss Lucas, have all the contacts for the team been confirmed?" Ethan asked with a bit of admiration and a hint of doubt on his face.
"Yeah, go ahead and get in touch with them," Lucas nodded with a smile.
After a few words with Ethan, he left the office.
Lucas turned his focus back to the computer to continue working on To the Moon.
(End of Chapter)