C2: The System
I glanced at the virtual screen in front of me, and the content displayed was concise and clear.
There was an instruction button in the top right corner, an inventory button next to the instruction, and a gaming machine with some icon images, and a reward list next to it with some percentage numbers:
[Common Skill Book],
[Rare Skill Book],
[Special Items].
Below, I also saw a string of numbers at the bottom: 473451. ~
Curious, I clicked on the instructions and soon, I got the information I wanted.
It is a very simple lottery system, but of course, points were required to play it. I clicked on the cross button to close it and looked down again at the bottom ~ "I am not a Millionaire"
Phew ~ ~ ~
The source of my points was simple. Whenever my audience —whenever anyone immersed themselves in my creations and felt some emotions like joy, excitement, sadness, anger, resentment, or fear, I would receive corresponding emotion points.
These points could be converted into draws for the lottery. I had accumulated more than 400,000 emotional points, thanks to my work in my previous life.
Seeing this, I felt a twinge of regret.
"It would have been better if I had done some of the level and plot design work from the start in my previous life," I thought, feeling a little wistful.
Altogether, It was different from my previous life, where players and peoples would directly vent their frustrations on game designers whenever they are upset.
Planning was always the son to be blamed.
Favourite character stats get nerfed? Blame the designer.
Favourite character killed off? Blame the designer.
Server crash? Designer's fault!
It didn't matter whether it was the planner's fault or not; they were always the target.
"100,000 per draw? No discount for a ten-pull? A million for ten draws? Even the most ruthless System games weren't this bad!" I thought as I sighed, realizing that my 400,000 points would only get me four draws in total.
Even though I grumbled, I didn't hesitate. I went ahead and pulled the lever four times, and soon saw the gaming machine spinning before releasing four images of eggs.
Then, a golden light burst from the four eggs.
At first, I didn't expect anything special. After all, I only had four pulls, and there were only three types of items available.
But now?
Anticipation was building within my chest.
Then…
Common Occupation Skill Book*2,
Rare Occupation Skill Book*1,
Memory Capsule*1.
Looking at the four items in front of me, I was speechless. This golden light was nothing more than a fancy box-opening effect! It is true, though ~ fancy clothes get a high price.
The system had a sense of humour.
Despite my complaints, I still clicked on the common occupation skill book.
As the skill book turned into a purple star-like light and merged into my body, a message appeared before me on the screen:
Story design +1.
With the influx of purple light, my thoughts felt clearer, and some of my original story-pacing ideas seemed to make more sense.
It was like the feeling of being stumped on a problem, only to suddenly recall a related formula, or concept and have everything click into place.
Next, I clicked on the other two books.
Music +1,
Painting skills +5.
The music boost came from the common occupation skill book. While the painting skills were boosted by the rare occupation skill book.
Finally, I turned my attention to the last item: the memory capsule.
'Memory Capsules: You can mine deep memories within 1 hour after use.'
Seeing this, I was pleasantly surprised.
This was good!
It was a time-limited flashback.
As someone who had worked in the game industry in my past life, I had played countless games, not just for fun but for research purposes as well.
Take "The Last of Us," for example.
While regular players might react with "Wow!" "That was scary!" or "No, I died!", as someone in the game industry, I would focus on dissecting the narrative.
Why was the story told in this way?
Was the monster placement logical?
How did the map design guide players?
What were the hidden details that subtly hinted at certain revelations?
With the memory capsule, I could restore and relive those memories in my mind.
For now, I decided to save this memory capsule for later. Before developing my first game, I still had a few preparations to make.
For example, I needed to familiarize myself with the official game engine and investigate the current game market—what types of game genres were popular and which platform I should choose to launch my game.
"Alright, let's get to work," I muttered, shutting down the system. Then I sat at my desk, booted up my computer, and began tapping on my keyboard, searching for the information, I needed.
The first thing I did was check out the game engine tools in this parallel world.
Since I had experience outsourcing illustration for a game company, I already had the official game engine software installed on my computer, along with a registered account.
In this world, the game development ecosystem seemed fairly mature for indie and small studios. Side platforms and tabs for finding original art, 3D models, music, and even voice actors were integrated into the game engine shop itself. Making it a single place for most of the small-time developers.
"Well, it's not too difficult to navigate, but the resources are a bit lacking," I mused while fast-forwarding through an introduction video and skimming text explanations online.
I have a basic understanding of the game engine now. Getting started wouldn't be too hard.
Next on my list was to research the platform. While the cultural industry had successfully curbed piracy here, competition within the gaming industry was fierce.
As for game platforms, there were domestic and foreign ones, similar to my previous life. However, in this world, foreign platforms didn't have as much influence; domestic ones dominated the market.
Unlike my previous world, where censorship rules were often too strict, here, even games like "The Witcher 3" and "GTA" could pass through the reviews and rating system, though they would likely receive an 18R rating.