Chapter 20: New Game Decided

In Alex Parker's plan, the focus was still on PC and mobile games, excluding browser games.

Browser games had their heyday in Alex's previous world, enjoying immense popularity for a brief period. However, their success was short-lived and difficult to replicate.

In his previous world, browser games were popular for only three to five years before rapidly declining and being overtaken by mobile games. Mobile games quickly transitioned from low-quality to high-quality productions at an accelerating pace.

Browser games had a high cost-performance ratio, but without a player base, it was pointless.

What kind of players were in this world?

Players here were familiar with high-quality VR games, with virtual game quality surpassing even the 3A masterpieces of Alex's previous world and offering them browser games?

Something like "Dragon Slayer Knife, Click to Get"?

That would be a considerable loss.

To Alex, mobile games were the evolved form of browser games, surpassing them in every aspect.

For convenience, mobile games were far superior. You could play them anywhere without the worry of closing a webpage if your boss walked in. Just flip your phone face down, and you're safe.

Graphically, browser games were limited by their production methods, often requiring continuous resource loading, leading to incomplete screen loads and poor gaming experiences.

In terms of gameplay, classic browser game mechanics were primarily carried over to mobile games, which also developed many new gameplay styles over time.

Hence, browser games were essentially replaced by mobile games, making it foolish for Alex to develop a browser game now.

After much thought, Alex decided that his first significant game would be the classic casual game from his previous world: "Plants vs. Zombies."

This choice wasn't the most profitable but was the safest and most enduring.

What did Alex need most now?

Money? He needed it, but not the most.

He needed fame.

Choosing "Plants vs. Zombies" for his first game was primarily based on three considerations.

First, the game's resource requirements were insignificant, with an installation package around 100 MB. The total resources could be kept within 300 MB. (Game installation packages are usually compressed and don't represent the actual resource size.)

Moreover, the game's various settings were relatively transparent, and the level design was straightforward. With Alex's current value and level of design capabilities, he could manage it.

In terms of art and music, the main challenge was design, but since Alex was essentially copying, it wasn't too difficult.

Thus, it was a manageable game for Alex.

Second, Alex needed fame and a good reputation. Pay-to-win games made money but rarely became hugely popular and often faced criticism.

For his first game, Alex wanted to create a national-level game that would allow as many players as possible to see the Thunder Games logo and recognize him as a designer.

Letting all players know him was a long-term goal, starting with the first game.

Third, "Plants vs. Zombies" seemed simple but was a very comprehensive game. Its strategy was outstanding, making it an enduring and highly playable game.

Since developing a game generally takes about three months, each game should entertain players for at least a month. From this perspective, "Plants vs. Zombies" outshone many casual single-player games.

Moreover, the game could be released simultaneously on PC and mobile, with no issues achieving cross-platform data synchronization.

In the end, Alex decided that Thunder Entertainment's first game would be "Plants vs. Zombies!"

Alex walked around the experience store to relax for ten minutes before officially starting development.

He didn't immediately use the Memory Replay Potion since its effect lasted only four hours. First, he needed to recall the game's framework, reserving the potion for the finer details.

First, he wrote the design document, then entered the basic rules into the fantasy editor to generate the game's foundational framework.

In his previous world, Alex wrote design documents quickly, about 1–2 times faster than other designers. Completing a 10,000-word system design draft, including conceptualizing, sketching prototypes, organizing logic, and finalizing, typically took 5–7 working days.

This included time for deliberation and revision.

The size of the design documents varied with the game's structure. Even mid-level mobile games require at least 20–30 design documents of different sizes, covering various systems.

Numerous data tables and resource requirement lists would also be needed, many of which wouldn't be visible in the game.

Writing design documents mainly involved a lot of thinking and weighing different design plans. However, since "Plants vs. Zombies" had well-established settings and Alex didn't plan any changes, the writing process was swift.

Interface layout, combat system, level design, plant types, zombie types, exceptional gameplay... soon, the framework for each design document was complete.

Then, Alex searched the editor for free resources, downloading them using his resource quota.

For art resources, Alex had to personally draw and oversee them to ensure the game closely resembled the original.

These free resources were temporary placeholders to maintain development progress. Once the game was complete primarily, Alex would replace all these art resources.

It took Alex three days to draft the design document framework and find art resources.

During this period, his company's registration was approved. "Thunder Entertainment" was officially established, and Alex's title on social media and the editor now included "Founder of Thunder Entertainment."

Currently, this title was nominal since the company was just an empty shell.

According to Alex's plan, Thunder Entertainment might have multiple branches in the future, like Thunder Games, Thunder Literature, Thunder Animation, and Thunder Films.

Of course, these were just strategic plans. If opportunities arose, he'd pursue them. If not, he wouldn't. Alex aimed to focus on the gaming field. Other areas like literature and animation could significantly benefit games, but they weren't his primary focus.

With the company name and logo set, Alex called the contest organizers to help create the experience store sign.

The organizers were efficient. The sign was ready in two days and installed at the store's entrance.

The sign read: "Thunder Game Experience Store," with the Thunder Entertainment logo beside it. Alex was quite satisfied with the outcome.

After handling these tasks, Alex locked himself in the workshop to finalize the design document framework and substitute art resources.

Another day passed, and the design document framework was completed. He found about 60–70% of the necessary art resources.