Game Maker: Starting by Healing the Players Chapter 97: “Valiant Hearts: The Great War”

Lucas called Rachel into the office and first confird the art style for Dark Souls and the production of related assets.

Then Lucas brought up the upcoming Expedition event.

"Are we also going to develop a ga for the Expedition during this ti?" Rachel asked curiously.

"Basically, yes. Dark Souls just needs so ti to wrap up. I can handle the new ga myself, but I'll need two people from the art team to create so assets for . I'll take care of the rest," Lucas said.

"Alright," Rachel nodded.

.........

While Lucas was talking with Rachel, news of the Expedition event had already started spreading in the gaming community.

"Ga Division is holding another Expedition event!"

"Anti-war the? This won't be easy."

"In two months, it'll be World Peace Day. Plus, in recent years, there's been a lot of talk in society about war-thed gas promoting violence. Ga Division choosing an anti-war the this ti has a bit of a political edge to it."

"If you ask , that's nonsense. So clowns just don't have anything better to do."

"Forget that, they're all clowns. The ga industry pays so much in taxes every year. We have nothing to hide. Let's talk about the Expedition itself."

"Do you think NetDragon and SkyNova will join this year? Last year, NetDragon's Swordfire Thunder took part."

"Probably not, haven't heard any news from them. But speaking of last year, I'm more curious about whether Lucas will take part. Last year, his To the Moon really caught us off guard."

"I doubt it. Isn't he working on that big PC title, Dark Souls?"

"Yeah. For Nebula Gas, that ga is a huge deal. If it's a success, their platform has a good chance of becoming an exclusive hub. I don't think he'd want to split his focus."

"That's a relief. I just don't want to go head-to-head with Lucas again. The guy works fast, and this year's Expedition has a much shorter developnt window. If he joins, it'd be a huge advantage for him."

Many ga designers in the industry were discussing the Expedition.

Mainly because the developnt period this ti was much shorter.

And honestly, with war-thed gas, if you just want to show war, everyone knows how to do that.

It's basically about showing large-scale battle scenes. As for the player's actual experience, it's all about whether it feels thrilling.

But an anti-war the is much harder.

If it's not done well, instead of making players reflect on the horrors of war, it can just turn awkward.

Under those circumstances, making an outstanding anti-war ga is extrely difficult.

.........

In Nebula Gas' office, Lucas was tapping away at his keyboard.

On the computer screen was a design concept draft titled: "Valiant Hearts: The Great War."

In his previous life, there had been many anti-war gas.

But unlike most anti-war gas, Ubisoft's Valiant Hearts: The Great War was sothing very different.

In terms of scale, Valiant Hearts: The Great War was actually quite small.

It was a 2D, sketch-style cartoon adventure puzzle ga.

And the characters didn't even have much dialogue.

It didn't depict the brutal war scenes directly. Instead, it used a unique perspective and storytelling thod to let players understand the nature of war through a side story.

The ga offered no bayonet charges or blood-pumping action, yet it carried the sa emotional weight found in All Quiet on the Western Front and Schindler's List—an emotion that only erges from the most tragic and terrifying of disasters.

Of course, there was another reason for choosing this ga.

Its small scale, much like To the Moon, made it incredibly moving.

It could strike right at players' emotions.

After all, Dark Souls and the currently booming Legends of the Three Kingdoms and Fall Guys were not exactly the kind of gas that could make players cry.

Hmm... maybe when Dark Souls goes online, if players are carrying tens of thousands of souls without spending them and die once, then die again before getting them back, they might feel pretty heartbroken.

Lucas sat in front of his computer, writing the ga's story.

Three soldiers from different countries, a female nurse, and a dog.

The whole ga doesn't tell the story of war from a big-picture view.

Nor does it dive deep into the core of what war really is.

It simply picks a few ordinary people from within the war and tells their stories.

It paints a vivid picture of the horrors of war and the heavy suffering it brings to people.

......

As ti passed day by day, for Valiant Hearts: The Great War, Lucas had two of the art team mbers co help out.

The rest, he handled on his own. The progress wasn't fast or slow, but he wasn't in a hurry either.

After all, there was still quite a bit of ti left before the submission deadline for the competition.

Besides that, the battle system for Dark Souls was basically finalized.

What's left are just so small tweaks and polish—not a big problem.

But the difficulty level made Hector and the other designers handling ga balancing and boss levels feel a bit unsure.

At first, when they heard there would be no difficulty setting, no minimap, and high enemy stats…

Hector didn't have a strong sense of what that really ant.

But when they actually started designing the levels and mapping out the ga, things started to feel off.

First of all, the level designs really were very well done.

Even though the maps in Dark Souls 3 didn't have the sa artistic touch as in Dark Souls 1, the individual scenes in DS3 were still way better than a lot of other gas.

But aside from admiring the clever design…

The traps added later, and how monsters were placed across the map…

Hector only had one feeling: this ga is full of malice!

It's just not playing fair!

If he had to sum it up in one line, it'd be: this world is full of danger.

There are collectable items in the ga. These items sparkle, practically yelling at the player, "Co get ! I'm right here waiting for you!"

This isn't anything special—almost every RPG, or even non-RPG, has stuff like this.

But Dark Souls isn't like those flashy attention-seekers.

In the world of Dark Souls, there might be a hidden monster waiting right above the item, ready to surprise you just as you bend down to grab it.

Besides that, there are also monsters hiding in dark corners, behind cover, or even right around the corner waiting to jump you.

And don't forget about mimics—monsters disguised as treasure chests. You run over thinking you've found loot, only to get eaten alive.

As for those deadly traps scattered around the levels? Don't even get started on those.

In fact, even early in the ga, there are branching paths that lead to enemies far stronger than the regular ones—strong enough that if you haven't figured out the basics of the ga yet…

One hit, and you're dead!

And the ga has this chanic where the currency used to level up and buy stuff drops when you die.

If you die again before picking it back up, it disappears for good. Plus, enemies respawn too.

Even though it's still in the planning stage and hasn't been fully implented, just looking at it, Hector could already imagine how it'd all play out in the final ga.

(End of The Chapter)

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