I am not knowledgeable about actual game development, but I found this idea potentially interesting to write about. If you're reading with the expectation of learning actual game development knowledge, you are in for a rude awakening.
In any case, this is a very short prologue chapter to get things rolling. For most chapters, hopefully every chapter, I'll be aiming for around 2000-3000 words. For this prologue, it probably won't break 2000.
.
.
.
Penacony, otherwise known as the Planet of Festivities.
A paradise vacation spot in the cosmos where countless people from all walks of life and worlds gather for fun, relaxation, and more. However, such a place is naturally not accessible to all, only to those who can pay up.
Located within the Asdana galaxy, a star system with more than enough memoria to go around, it serves as the home to Penacony. As well as being the main reason why The Family, the administrators of the world, could develop Penacony's main attraction.
What attraction?
The Dreamscape of course!
People flock here in search of dreams they've longed for or have buried, seeking a realm of dreams where everything can be realised. That is what the Dreamscape is, a place of opportunity for countless souls.
At present, in one of The Reverie's countless luxurious rooms, a certain youth who appeared to be in his very early twenties was currently sitting down on the couches while operating what looked to be a computer made entirely out of holograms.
Be it three separate monitors he had hovering in front of him, or the keyboard that was hovering as stationary at the perfect height for him to use. Both were entirely holographic, yet seemed to be altogether tangible so that he could touch them.
From what could be seen, he was currently playing a game on the computer.
As for the person himself, aside from his age, he was relatively tall, with a lean, athletic physique and a fair complexion, if not slightly pale. He had a head of smooth, well-kept black hair with crimson strands on his bangs that swept to the right, and a pair of sharp eyes that matched the vibrancy of his crimson strands.
When it came to clothing, his outfit seemed rather simplistic, contrasting heavily with the surroundings of such a grandiose hotel room. His outfit overall could be described simply as modern casual, nothing fancy at all.
The clothing he wore consisted of a simple pair of sleek black long pants, a white compression shirt that naturally showed off his lean yet toned upper body, and a simple pair of black-and-white sports shoes. As for accessories, aside from the silver wristband and necklace, he had nothing else.
"..." Without saying a word, Kelvin, the name of this young man, stared with bored eyes as his fingers rapidly danced across the keyboard while his eyes remained locked on the screen. "Hmm, this doesn't seem so bad..."
From what could be seen, the game he was currently playing seemed to be a typical hack-and-slash fighting game. The player character that he was presently controlling could be seen dancing and attacking around the large enemy in front of him.
"The devs definitely put some work into this particular boss, that fire attack it did was pretty cool..." Were the words that could be heard being muttered under Kelvin's breath, but he soon stopped moving entirely before flopping back onto the couch. "Oh, what am I kidding? This sucks ass!"
Kelvin didn't even care that his character had died after he put down the controls, instead staring blankly up at the ceiling, though a look of frustration and boredom could be seen in his eyes. This feeling was further expressed by his audible sigh.
"Just how is it possible for an entire network spanning thousands of worlds to be filled with absolute garbage video games? No... it actually makes sense, maybe I'm just trying to cope."
As much as he didn't want to admit it, perhaps he really was trying to cope.
He felt his emotions were justified, you'd think a cosmic-level network would have incredible potential for creativity in video games. Which it should, but based on the games he's seen, be it popular titles or some random game he picked out at random, none of them could satisfy him.
All of them seemed to follow a typical linear path or influence, which in this world, the influence of Aeons was prevalent. Numerous games had Aeons or related aspects implemented, which made them feel very bland to him.
Of course, there were a few eggs that tried to break out of the shell, but they all seemed to be downright horrible. The ones he had tried were executed horrendously, and even then, their overall concepts were lacklustre at best.
None of the games he's tried so far had maintained his interest for any more than an hour, and most of those hours mainly were him pushing himself to play them to see if they'd get better over time, which they didn't.
With another sigh, Kelvin swiped his hand as the entire setup flashed away into nothingness. Swiping again, another holographic screen appeared in front of him, but this one seemed to be noticeably different to the previous one.
.
『Game Development System』
➣ Status
➣ Development Engine
➣ Game Store
➣ Missions
.
This was the system Kelvin was granted upon entering this world, you know, the typical kind of cheat most reincarnators like himself received.
In his case, the one that he received seemed to be focused entirely on the idea of game development, a bit of a strange system to have in a world like Honkai Star Rail, but Kelvin wasn't going to complain, a system was a system.
Even with a bit of an unorthodox concept, the system wasn't weak.
.
『Status』
➣ Name: Kelvin
➣ Studio Name: Arrival Studios
➣ Coins: 100
➣ Abilities (Points: 0): [Aether Editing (Lvl 3 - 2/10)]
➣ Published Titles: [None]
.
Here on the Status screen, although mostly empty in terms of content, the most eyecatching thing was no doubt the single entry in the Abilities section. This was something he received at random as part of his... starter kit, for lack of better words, upon getting the system.
Aether Editing.
It was an immensely powerful form of technology used by Punklordians here in this universe, granting them the ability to manipulate reality like data. Of course, there were limits, and not all users could accomplish the same feats, talent and dedication were always a barrier.
Kelvin's form of Aether Editing seemed to be granted to him entirely by the system as an Ability, so he didn't possess physical technology like an aether cartridge, his hacking ability was entirely abstract.
Yes, Kelvin's current level for his aether editing capabilities was only three, which he could tell wasn't very high. However, it was still more than enough for him to accomplish some pretty cool things.
Abilities in themselves were also quite busted. As it levelled up within the system, it seemed to automatically grant him a more profound, unconscious understanding and mastery of it. He had realised this after using the starting points he was given to level it up initially.
This was something he regretted though, it was a rookie mistake to allocate all those points straight away. At this stage, the pace of levelling up his ability through continuous use was still within an acceptable range.
If he had been smarter, he would've saved them up until levelling it naturally was too much of a pain. Well, it was too late for lingering regrets now. What's done is done, and he couldn't do anything about it.
"Alright, the sooner I finish this game, the better..."
Cracking his neck, Kelvin muttered to himself casually as he opened up another menu.
With the system's primary purpose being game development, he would naturally use it for that exact purpose. Due to his current circumstances, his options for what he could make were limited; the system wasn't a messiah that would give him the completed game to publish.
Even so, using the coins as seen in the Status screen, he was able to purchase the main assets and files for an existing game from the system's Game Store. However, as said previously, the game wasn't complete.
Kelvin still had to put it all together himself using the system's Development Engine.
Fortunately, the system at least had the conscience to include an introductory tutorial that explained its operation and how he could put together a game, and even potentially make his own original game one day.
Whether it be through the use of blueprints or coding, Kelvin found everything easier to comprehend thanks to his Aether Editing ability. That unconscious mastery granted by the skill also helped him more easily understand coding and related topics.
Getting Aether Editing by complete chance really was a godsend for him.
If he didn't have that, Kelvin did not doubt in his mind that even putting together the simplest game, even with the already provided assets, would take more than five times longer than what'd he'd been taking so far.
Looking at the only game currently in development within the menu, Kelvin smiled at the progress level.
.
『Development Engine』
➣ Balatro - [Progress: 85%] [Status: In-Development] [Genre: Strategy] [Description: The highly addictive poker roguelike. Balatro serves as a hypnotically satisfying deckbuilder where you play illegal poker hands, discover game-changing jokers, and trigger adrenaline-pumping, outrageous combos]
.
Balatro, the addictive deck-building roguelike.
It was a game that exploded in popularity some time ago, and remained popular by the time he left his original world. The concept was simple, but its gameplay and replayability made it incredibly addictive for its players.
When Kelvin found it in the Game Store, it was labelled as a Tier-1 game, the lowest and at the cost of 400 Coins. Based on that alone, Kelvin was confident that the store's tiering system wasn't based on how good a game was, but on how harrowing its production was.
Balatro may not be the fanciest game in terms of graphics, but its addictive gameplay was what made it shine. A game could have incredible graphics on the level of something like Elden Ring, but if the gameplay was shit, then it was a shit game.
Although Balatro may not be the most fantastic game out there, given the 'budget' the system gave him to start, Kelvin found it a good kickstarter for his game development journey.
If Balatro could make itself even slightly known in this cosmic community, Kelvin would consider the ball officially rolling. Everyone starts somewhere, and maybe never in the same place, but they all, no doubt, have to take that first step one way or another.
For Kelvin, that first step was completing the game.