Signing contracts wasn't sothing that could be done on the spot. Ichin hadn't prepared anything in advance, but he quickly stepped outside to make a phone call. He contacted his dad's friend, who helped arrange everything, and a lawyer would co by tomorrow to draft the contracts.
The company registration process was also proceeding smoothly. Ichin had provided all the necessary docunts, and with so connections, it would be completed by the afternoon.
Upon hearing that the contracts would be ready for signing the next day, everyone was visibly excited—they wouldn't be unemployed much longer.
Seeing their reactions, Ichin felt great as well. "Alright, now that we're all partners, let's move on to discussing the new ga. Miss Hazuki, does this place have a projector?"
"Yes, it does. I'll go get it for you."
"Thanks."
As Hazuki left to fetch the projector, Ichin opened his laptop bag and took out his PC along with a stack of docunts, distributing them to everyone.
"All the details are here. Please have a look. Each set contains information on two gas, but I'll start with the first one: Hollow Knight."
As they flipped through the docunts, everyone saw a unique cover design. It depicted a small figure with an odd white head adorned with two little horns, wearing a tattered cloak and holding a slender spear. The figure stood on a cliff, with blurry, insect-like carapace structures in the background.
At the top of the cover was the title: Hollow Knight.
"Hollow Knight? The character design is quite unique. It looks simple, but oddly cute," soone remarked.
Just then, Hazuki returned with a projector. After setting it up, she placed it on the table and said, "Okay, I'm not part of your studio yet, so I won't join your eting. I'll go chat with my friend."
With that, she left the room.
Watching Hazuki leave, Ichin didn't try to stop her. After all, she had ntioned wanting to rest for a while, and she would most likely join them later. When that ti ca, she could participate in the developnt as well.
Ichin connected his laptop to the projector and displayed his design docunts on the large screen.
"Hollow Knight is the na of my new ga. The synopsis of the ga's world is on the paper, and the character on the cover is the protagonist. This ga belongs to the troidvania genre of 2D action gas."
Hearing this, Kō Yagami looked up, intrigued. "troidvania? You're referencing Castlevania and troid, right? Hmm… A side-scrolling exploration action ga. It's been a while since soone tackled this genre. Interesting."
The group quickly went through the world-building and storyline summaries and beca quite intrigued by the ga concept.
Ichin then started explaining the ga chanics, character designs, and other essential aspects.
Despite Aoba Suzukaze only having worked for a year and still being relatively new, everyone else in the room was quite experienced.
Notably, Kō Yagami, Rin Toyama, Hifumi Takimoto, and Umiko Ahagon were all seasoned developers. It didn't take long for them to grasp the scale of Ichin's ambition with this ga.
Finally, Hifumi Takimoto, who had been quiet up until now, raised her hand and asked softly, "Um, in this type of ga, isn't the map really important?"
"Absolutely, the map is crucial to the ga," Ichin replied, pressing a key on his keyboard. The screen displayed an expansive, detailed map.
"That concludes the initial map design. Of course, this is just a rough draft with nothing inside yet. It still needs all of you on the art team to fill in, along with creating interesting enemies, puzzles, and chanics to enrich the gaplay. Naturally, I'll be involved in this process as well," Ichin explained.
He then showcased several concept sketches of monsters and bosses. After looking at them, Haji Shinoda, the short-haired girl, eagerly said, "These creatures look so unique! Completely different from our previous gas. What about their movents? How do you plan to design the monsters' actions?"
"With the aim of conveying the challenges of exploring an underground world, we must carefully design the monsters' movent modules," Ichin said, smiling kindly. "We'll give players a bit of space to dodge, but there will also be so traps to induce errors. Gas that are too simple and easy don't leave a lasting impression on players."
"I have a question," Umiko raised her hand, her expression calm. "For programming, is it just the two of us?"
"That's correct, for now, it's just the two of us," Ichin confird with a nod. "But don't worry. Once developnt begins, I'll focus primarily on programming. We have enough people on the art side, and with Yagami-senpai here, I'm confident."
"Oh-ho, trusting this much, huh? Guess I can't slack off!" Yagami clenched her fists, looking fired up.
For lunch, the group headed to a nearby restaurant, where Ichin treated everyone to a al. During this ti, he got to know his future studio teammates better.
Kō Yagami and Rin Toyama were not only colleagues but also the sa age and had joined the industry at the sa ti. They were clearly close friends, with Toyama constantly looking out for Yagami like she couldn't trust her to manage on her own.
Haji Shinoda was a short-haired, lively girl with a bright personality who loved collecting all kinds of figures and rchandise. Most of her previous monthly salary had gone towards her hobby.
Yun Iijima, a petite girl with short blond hair, looked quite young, but she was actually the sa age as Haji Shinoda, both being 21. She seed a bit tsundere, but unexpectedly loved drawing monsters.
Umiko Ahagon, from Okinawa, was a huge fan of survival and shooting gas. She often appeared indifferent, but it seed like she was easily flustered by Yagami's words.
Hifumi Takimoto was the most beautiful among them but was quite timid and seed socially anxious. She rarely spoke, and when she did, her voice was very soft. She was close to Aoba Suzukaze.
Lastly, there was Aoba Suzukaze. She joined Eagle Jump straight after high school and was only 19, making her two years older than Ichin and Utaha. Despite her young age, she was quite skilled in art and could even handle so 3D work, indicating a promising future. However, she did look very much like a middle school student.
Ichin hadn't expected that everyone would be female. He initially thought he'd have to recruit fresh graduates from universities and train them to fit in gradually.
But with how things were shaping up, the release of his new ga might co sooner than he anticipated.
While eating, Ichin addressed everyone, "By the way, I'll be checking out the office location this afternoon, and then we can start setting up the studio. I was thinking of leaving two of the bedrooms free to serve as resting rooms. How does that sound?"
"Oh, that's a great idea!" Yagami imdiately approved. "That way, if I have to work overti, I won't have to sleep on the floor!"
"Senpai, I never said you had to work overti," Ichin sighed internally. Don't be so eager about it, please.
…
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