Creating games in the future

I'm back, and this time I mean it. I wanted to have written and posted some chapters earlier, but I started physical therapy, and let me tell you something: It hurts a lot. 

I don't know if anyone still remembers the story, but I'll start posting again anyway. Now that I can hold my phone and write, I'm happy, hahaha. 

I noticed that several stories have been deleted lately. Does anyone know the reason? I think to ensure this story isn't randomly deleted, I'll post it on other sites as well.

.........… 

Fascination is the word to describe what Bruno was feeling. After starting to play *God of War*, he found himself diving deep into the story of this world. For a week, Bruno kept reading notes, looking at murals, and finding every possible clue about the history. 

While Alex was creating this game, he made sure to include a lot of information about the people who lived there—many murals, poems, scrolls, and more talking about the Spartans, the Athenians, the wars they fought in, and even legendary warriors from these cultures. 

A great mix of real history with the *God of War* universe. So, as he explored, Bruno came across many pieces of a grand puzzle. 

Even though he had been playing for almost a week, he still hadn't finished the game. Even though the world wasn't completely open, it was still large enough to make players spend a good amount of time exploring. 

At first, Bruno just wanted to explore calmly, but if he did that, he might miss the best moment to gain followers. So, from the beginning, he's been exploring the game on live stream. 

"Good morning, story explorers! Let's continue our game today." 

Without wasting much time, he quickly opened the game, and the chat immediately became active. 

"Finally, our favorite historian is back." 

"You're so late; all the other streamers have already finished the game." 

"Just got to the temple? It's been a week." 

"No rush, we're discovering this world." 

"I can't wait to see his reaction when he finds the Minotaur boss." 

"How is he so strong? When I was playing, I struggled so much to kill those monsters." 

"True, that Minotaur with Lamias is hell, but he was cutting through the monsters so easily." 

"The man has skills." 

"Suspect." 

Seeing the chat, Bruno couldn't help but laugh. 

"I just explored a lot, so I upgraded almost all my skills. That's exactly why I can do this…" 

Bruno quickly ran toward a group of monsters. As soon as he got close, he jumped on a Minotaur and swiftly cut off its arms with his blades. Then he grabbed a harpy by the neck and impaled it on the Minotaur's horn. 

"See?! So easy, hahaha… Now let's explore this temple. I bet we'll discover more about the world." 

While showing off his skills to the audience, he felt very satisfied. Being able to uncover the history while impressing people was incredibly rewarding. 

"I told you the man has skills." 

"I already finished this game and couldn't do that." 

"It's because you suck." 

"That's not what your mom says." 

"@#%%@$%" 

"Hahaha." 

Bruno frowned as he saw the chat arguing. He quickly banned a few people for an hour and continued playing. 

"I really don't know what this Titan did to deserve a punishment like this—spending eternity crawling through the desert, carrying a 'mountain' on his back. It's a very cruel punishment." 

Bruno has been trying to piece together all the parts of this grand puzzle, but it's been a really difficult task. Every time he thinks he's understood something, an incredible scene like this one with Cronos appears and shatters his theories. 

"After the mural 'The Beginning,' I thought the Titans had somehow sacrificed themselves for the birth of the Gods. But seeing this, it seems like it's not what I thought. What do you all think?" 

The people in the chat also started speculating. 

"I finished the game, and there's nothing about this in the main story." 

"The Gods are extremely merciful, so something really bad must have happened for the Titans to fall." 

"Merciful? I don't know where you got that from, but I always get the impression that the Gods are plotting something." 

"I feel that too, especially seeing how everything ended. There was simply no salvation." 

"Even with some manipulations, the Gods only did what was necessary for the greater good." 

Seeing the discussion, Bruno became even more intrigued. 

"Alright, everyone, let's keep going." 

After reaching the top of Cronos, Bruno began exploring everything around him. The more he observed the scenery, the more he understood the history of this place. 

He saw hundreds, if not thousands, of corpses. The harpies threw their bodies into the flames, where they would return as undead to protect the temple. The further he advanced, the more warriors he found who had likely also been sent by the Gods. Some were even still alive, fighting the monsters and dying. 

"Kratos wasn't the first to be sent here. There were others who crossed the desert and also climbed Cronos. It seems the Gods are sending as many people as possible here, hoping someone will reach the end, and punishing those who fail. Just looking at this, I can say the Gods aren't kind at all." 

Hearing his analysis, the chat was also surprised. 

"When I played, I didn't pay attention to this, but thinking about it now, this is a hint of what the Gods are really like." 

"Hearing you talk, I realized there's a story behind the basic enemies in the game. They're the warriors who failed to fulfill the Gods' requests. That's pretty cool." 

"How is that 'cool'?" 

"Who was talking about the mercy of the Gods earlier?" 

"After entering the temple, the atmosphere of the game completely changed." 

"The more I discover about this world, the more I see how cruel it is. When I played, I just wanted to kill monsters, hahaha." 

Bruno continued exploring the entire temple. He found the Minotaur boss, but unlike what everyone expected, the boss just swung around without hitting him. Realizing this, Bruno went up to the beast and fired an arrow, impaling the Minotaur in one shot.

"What the @#$%#$%! When I played, I spent almost two hours fighting him just to break his armor." 

"Is this a bug?! He killed him with one attack. How is that possible? There wasn't even a fight." 

"Is this also because he upgraded his skills? If so, I played wrong." 

"At the start of the game, there's that difficulty selection. Which one did he choose?" 

Seeing this, Bruno felt a bit anxious. 

"Alright, enough, enough nonsense. Let's keep going." 

He quickly ignored the chat and started advancing. He continued passing through all the traps and tests, finding various notes and murals, but these were different from the ones outside the temple. 

These notes and murals didn't talk about how amazing the Gods were, but about their cruelty—the punishments they gave to those who defied them and those who failed in their "tasks." 

They told different stories, cruel and disgusting ones, to the point of making someone wonder if these beings were truly Gods. As he read and discovered more, he couldn't help but sigh at the fate of the temple's architect. 

Somehow, his story paralleled Kratos'. With each segment of the temple completed, you obtain the head of one of his children, which now serve only as keys to open doors. 

After being tasked by the Gods to build the temple, he was slowly consumed by madness, becoming more and more obsessed with completing this work. Along the way, he took the lives of his children and wife. And in the end, what did he gain from it? Nothing. 

He was abandoned by the Gods to die in this place, as he had already completed his mission and was no longer useful. 

*Sigh* 

"This is really cruel. The main story focuses on how Ares is a bastard who rebelled against his siblings, but when you delve deeper into this world, it's easy to see that with the Gods… there are no happy endings." 

Throughout the exploration, Bruno encountered all kinds of stories, legends, and myths, and not one of them had a happy ending. 

"I really couldn't fully understand what the designer of this game wanted to convey with all of this. I have some ideas, but I'll save them for when I finish the game." 

After making sure he had fully explored the temple, he started simply wiping out all the monsters and maxing out all his abilities. Meanwhile, everyone watching began to question if this was a bug or something. 

At this moment, Bruno was happily swinging his blades. With a single move, an armored Minotaur was split in half. With a step to the side, he grabbed a Lamia and easily ripped off its head with his hands. Using his lightning, he quickly destroyed a group of harpies that were approaching. 

"Hahahaha, I have to admit, this really makes me feel amazing." 

After going through the entire temple, Bruno finally reached Pandora's Box, and a cutscene began. 

Kratos slowly walked toward the great box, but just as he was about to touch it, he stopped. He turned and looked directly at Bruno with a look of disdain. 

"Enough. You're useless. I don't want a pathetic leech like you following me on my journey. I'll go alone now." 

A screen with a message appeared in front of Bruno. 

(o_O) ! 

[Kratos despises the weak and cowardly. If you wish to continue following the Spartan's journey, set the difficulty to 'Normal' or 'Hard.'] 

Seeing this, the chat immediately exploded. 

"I can't believe it, HAHAHAHA." 

"Weak and cowardly, HAHAHAHA." 

"I told you something was off." 

"That's so mean, hahahaha." 

"It's okay, you're a historian. It's normal to be a coward." 

"Hahahaha, my God, his expression of disgust is incredible, HAHAHA." 

Bruno, seeing this, was stunned, staring at the screen in front of him. 

"...." 

"Damn it." 

............….. 

After the release of *God of War*, it spread like a virus everywhere. Even those who don't like gaming heard about it. Many professionals in the field came forward to give their technical analyses of the game. 

And even though some flaws could be found, most had nothing but praise. But even with all this happening, Alex was lazily lying in bed. 

"Jade acted all weird after our date. Maybe I pushed too hard? No, I just teased her a little, and she ran off before I could kiss her." 

Alex couldn't help but laugh at the situation. As mature as Jade might be in some areas, she really gets nervous easily when teased. He couldn't stop laughing, remembering how she got all flustered when he complimented her while looking straight into her eyes. 

"Hehe, I think I'll ask her out again. Let's take it one step at a time." 

[N/A: Yes, I skipped the date. There's a lot going on at the same time, and I don't think you'd want a chapter just about the date. But after this arc, I'll probably add some moments between the two to develop their relationship better.] 

Since the game's release, Alex has spent some time fixing bugs. Even though he polished the game a lot to make it perfect, it's impossible to find all the flaws alone. Besides, you should never underestimate players' ability to mess things up—they're constantly testing the limits of the game. 

After the date with Jade, he spent all his time locked in his room solving the problems reported by players. Luna could handle the simpler ones, but he needed to tackle the bigger issues himself. 

Now, after a week, almost everything was resolved. So, as he was lazily rolling around in bed, Luna came to remind him about the meeting. 

"Alex, your meeting with Divina 3D starts in 30 minutes." 

"Divina 3D? Ah… yes, yes, the animation company, right? Wasn't that supposed to be next week?" 

"The meeting was scheduled last week." 

*Sigh* 

"Alright… I'll get ready, but… Divina 3D… that's a terrible name. Just from the name, I wouldn't think they made a successful animation." 

"I don't think you can criticize that." 

"... I chose a bad name, and I get criticized for it my whole life." 

Alex got up like a sloth from the bed and went to wash up while chatting with Luna. In no time, he was ready for the meeting. 

Entering his virtual space, Alex connected to a rented server for the meeting. Usually, when a business meeting between two companies takes place, a neutral government server is used to ensure neither side tries anything shady. After all, connecting to a private server of some random company might not be a good idea. 

As soon as he connected, the entire space transformed. In a few seconds, Alex found himself sitting in an extremely comfortable chair inside a large office. He looked around curiously and walked up to a huge glass wall. 

Looking outside, his eyes widened slightly. The place he was in was so high that he could see the curvature of the planet. All he could see was a massive city, full of lights, cars, ships, and all kinds of flying vehicles. He could see huge glowing advertisements that seemed to rise until they disappeared into the sky. 

"Luna, what city is this?" 

Looking at this, Alex was both impressed and excited. The city he was seeing was truly enormous. He immediately started wondering if this city was real, and if so, if it had been fully digitized. He had many ideas for games he could make in a city like this. 

"This is the capital planet, the human capital, Gwyddno City. This is the default view of the mid-tier server. If you want, you can change the background." 

"No, this view is good." 

(The capital city… even though I've seen some images before, this view from above is incredible. What would it be like to make a GTA in this city? Or maybe I should add it to *Fallout*.) 

"Luna, this city must have been fully digitized by now, right? How much would the rights cost to use it in a game?" 

"It depends. The prices vary a lot since the capital is constantly changing. Depending on the year or month you want, the price changes." 

Alex was full of ideas when a message appeared. 

[Daniel Ikari is entering the meeting.] 

He immediately saw a young man, dressed formally with a serious expression, materializing in front of the door. 

"Daniel, right? It's a pleasure to meet you." 

"The pleasure is mine, Mr. Alexandre. I've been looking forward to this meeting. I believe we can form a great partnership." 

Alex was a bit surprised by the man in front of him. He was the owner of a relatively well-known animation company but didn't seem to have much experience in situations like this. 

(Hehe, looks like I hit the jackpot.) 

The two exchanged some pleasantries before getting straight to the main topic. 

"Daniel, I'll be direct with you. Right now, DreamHeart is growing and expanding into different areas, and as you may know, my main focus lately has been on games."

"When I created DreamHeart, my goal was to completely innovate the entertainment market—a simple but extremely difficult objective." 

Daniel, looking at the young man in front of him, couldn't help but feel a bit of admiration. Alexandre wasn't even 60 yet, but he was determined to leave a mark on this universe. 

Meanwhile, Daniel, at over 120 years old, was content with having an animation that achieved modest success. He was satisfied simply making mediocre animations as long as they kept bringing in money. He had even been complaining about the audience demanding better stories. 

(So this is how geniuses think?! I wonder how big his team must be.) 

"Divina 3D did an incredible job with *Divine Soldier*. Your modeling is truly impeccable. After a long evaluation, I believe a partnership between our companies could be really great for both sides." 

(It's also one of the few mid-tier companies on the verge of bankruptcy.) 

"It would be great to work with DreamHeart, but what kind of project are we talking about? My company has a good number of employees and several AIs specialized in various fields. I'm sure we can handle almost any type of project." 

Hearing this, Alex smiled slightly. Obviously, Daniel was eager to secure a partnership. This would make it easier to gain some advantages. 

"Obviously, the project will be a feature film. I have the script, character designs, and world-building all ready. Additionally, I'll also be responsible for the soundtrack, while Divina 3D would handle the modeling." 

After saying this, Alex was about to send a small confidentiality agreement and show him the concept art, but Daniel was quicker. 

"That's excellent. Our company specializes in that part. I'm sure we can do a great job." 

"..." 

(How did this guy manage to keep the company running for so long?! If they're as good as he says, I wouldn't mind "protecting" this company myself… once I have enough money.) 

The two talked for a few hours. Alex explained all the work he expected from Divina 3D. He also emphasized how seriously he takes the quality of the product. After agreeing to many of the conditions Alex imposed, they finally signed a partnership contract. 

Daniel disconnected from the server with a smile on his face. As soon as he left, Alex couldn't help but laugh out loud while looking at the impressive office view. 

"You're really evil." 

"Hahaha, how am I evil? This is a partnership… a partnership, you see? Nothing wrong is happening here." 

"A partnership where you kept all the copyrights to the story, characters, world, music, and universal distribution. This was basically hiring an outsourced company to do the work and not paying a single credit." 

"....." 

"Luna, when you say it like that, it makes me sound like a bad guy. This is just business. Besides, he's getting 10% of the profit share. I'm a very generous man. If he didn't try to negotiate the terms of the contract, how is that my fault?!" 

┐( ˘ ､ ˘ )┌ 

"Yes, yes, you're very kind." 

[N/A: If you want to see some movies, you can comment here. I'm thinking of *Transformers* or *Pacific Rim*.] 

Alex was in a great mood. He left the server and returned to his virtual space with a smile on his face. The original plan for this meeting was to secure a partnership and gain as many advantages as possible. Ideally, he wanted to secure all the copyrights for the films. 

But what Alex didn't expect was how bad Divina 3D's situation was. Even though he had researched them, many things remained hidden. 

But just from Daniel's attitude, it was obvious that this was his last attempt before closing the doors. So, he simply accepted the first contract Alex offered without a second thought. 

Alex looked at the four different contracts he had prepared to negotiate with Daniel. He had planned to present different contracts as the negotiations progressed, but in the end, it wasn't necessary. 

The reasons Alex wanted this partnership were obviously for manpower, reach, and money. Even though DreamHeart is succeeding, at this moment it's still considered a very small and not very reliable company. Despite having ventured into multiple areas of the industry, its successes have been for very specific audiences. 

His animations have hardly managed to capture older audiences, and the same goes for his games. Even though many scenes from the games and films have become memes, and many people recognize the characters, it's unlikely that these people will seek out the films or games. At most, they'll find it amusing and save the meme for later use. 

That's why Alex made a very simple decision. In the next few years, he will focus on learning programming, finding talent in various fields, and making money—lots of money. 

Alex left the virtual space, opened the windows of his room, and stretched, looking at the high sun with a slight smile. 

"As Luna said, the money I've made so far isn't enough. If I really want to create a shared universe with all the IPs I have, I'll need much more." 

Alex closed his eyes and began to think about what type of game could make the most money in the long term. The answer was obvious: live servers. 

He obviously knew many of them, like *Fortnite*, *PUBG: Battlegrounds*, *Genshin Impact*, *Call of Duty*, *League of Legends*, *World of Warcraft*, and many others. But there are some problems with making them. Shooters are extremely common, and it would be very difficult to compete with them. Additionally, shooters require a lot of work for better preparation and smooth gameplay. 

As for the other games, they are too big and time-consuming, requiring a lot of time and effort to make. And right now, what Alex wants is to focus on learning programming and making money without too much effort. 

And for that, he had a very simple but potentially very profitable idea. Originally, he wanted to make a normal live server, but after seeing the gigantic capital, he had another idea. What if he created *The Sims* with the capital as the backdrop? It would be very easy to make. He would just need to create some "missions" and add some unique elements. 

The game would be similar to the original *The Sims*, where the Sims would have their own language and an exaggerated way of acting. Jobs could have hundreds or even thousands of variables. 

If you choose to be a police officer, you could be corrupt or work honestly and uncover a secret criminal organization. You could join them or try to arrest them—all in the best *Sims* style, of course. 

And then he could sell expansions, adding magic, monsters, secret organizations, and even other planets. The best part is that he wouldn't need to make constant updates, just release some DLCs occasionally. 

And being able to buy fully digitized cities was simply perfect. If the game becomes successful, he could add a small mod to let players add their own cities and play in them—for a small price, of course. 

(*The Sims* might not be the best option, but it's definitely very simple and easy to recreate. And even if it doesn't succeed, it won't be a loss. Besides, I don't want to bring back the evil mobile games and their cursed microtransactions to torment humanity… at least not now.) 

"Luna, buy the digitization of the capital planet." 

"... Aren't we saving money?" 

"....This is… inevitable!!!" 

.........….. 

POV: Catharina Lockhart 

.........….. 

"I'm taking Meli to the recording, and then I'm going straight to work. Don't forget that you have to take Alex to talk to the design teacher and let him skip class. Also, Mrs. West had some commitments and asked us to take Jade to the rehearsal for the show she's doing." 

"Yes, yes, leave it to me. Since I'm off today, I think I'll see how Meli is doing in the recordings." 

I can't help but roll my eyes hearing this. Ever since Melissa started doing some small jobs, she's been getting popular very quickly (obviously, she's my daughter—being beautiful is just normal). Mark and Alex have been getting jealous, especially after she mentioned that some boys have been trying to befriend her. 

"Mark, I don't want you bothering Melissa. She's having fun; there's no need to worry about her." 

"About her?! I'm worried about myself! Did you forget what happened last week?!" 

"....Hmm… Well… She overreacted by breaking that boy's arm, but it was just a reflex. It's not her fault." 

"It was a commercial for the Duel Club. He just held her shoulder from behind, and now I'm talking to lawyers and those bloodsuckers from the talent agency." 

"In her defense, you should never grab someone's shoulder from behind." 

Looking at his puppy-dog expression, I couldn't help but laugh. We trained our kids the best we could. 

So, they ended up with some instinctive self-defense reactions. Some problems can happen from time to time, and Mark always has to deal with them. 

"Pfft, hahaha… Okay, okay, no need to make that face. If everything goes well, you'll get a present tonight." 

I gave him a quick kiss before leaving. Today, I'm accompanying Emilia to an event—nothing major, just a party to integrate Exceeds with humanity, something that has been difficult.

[N/A: I doubt anyone remembers, but the protagonist's parents work as bodyguards. Emília is the Exceed they protect, and she's the same age as Melissa.] 

Quickly, I headed to one of the mega government buildings. I checked myself in the car mirror to make sure everything was in place, put on my professional expression, and went to the reception. I didn't talk to anyone, just passed through the scanners and went straight to the elevator. As soon as I reached the 187th floor, the elevator stopped, and I could already hear the voice of a little girl approaching. 

When the doors opened, I saw Emília smiling, wearing a beautiful blue dress. Unlike humans, Exceeds have golden skin, gray hair, and larger eyes with black sclera, purple irises, and red pupils. 

Her small golden lips were of normal size, but when she smiled, they stretched much more than a human's. Her arms and legs were slightly longer in proportion to her body—nothing too noticeable, but unfortunately, their appearance was one of the small reasons people refused to accept Exceeds. 

As soon as she saw me, Emília ran to hug me. She's such a lovely girl. 

"How was your weekend? Did you have fun?" 

"Yes, I spent the whole time playing *Undertale*. I wanted to start my third run, but I found some people talking nonsense online, so I had to take some time to create an account and destroy their arguments." 

"..." 

"Oh… Aunt Cath, your son made this game, right? Could you ask him to make a character with my name?" 

(✧ω✧) 

"..... I… will talk to him." 

"YESS, you're the best!" 

Seeing her hugging me so happily, I could only sigh. She's usually a very sweet girl, but when she finds something she likes, she can get a little… intense. 

While we were talking, Aloke, Emília's father, approached. The two looked very similar, but unlike her, he had a serious face with an unfriendly expression. 

"Good morning, Catharina. We can go now." 

"Good morning. Yes, everything is ready." 

I didn't say much. Aloke was the representative of the Exceeds here. He and Emília had been living in human society for several years, but even now, it was obvious that he was just following orders rather than genuinely making an effort to ease tensions between the races. 

I sighed internally. The hatred between the two sides wouldn't disappear easily. It's been over 200 years, and things are still far from over. Maybe in another 7 or 8 generations, things might change. 

I took them to the car, and we went straight to the party. All this pompous stuff really bothered me—red carpets, spotlights, all kinds of guests, photographers on one side, protesters, racists, and pro-war activists on the other. I kept my professional expression and opened the door for them to get out, making sure to stay close to Emília the whole time to ensure nothing unexpected happened. 

After entering the grand ballroom, I stepped back and kept my eyes on the two. I thought this would just be another one of those boring events that happen every week, but suddenly, I noticed a group of children gathering around Emília in the middle of the hall. 

(Trouble?) 

I approached slowly, not drawing anyone's attention. As I got closer, I could hear what they were saying. Emília's voice sounded slightly altered. 

"You must have played with the bracelet off. There's plenty of evidence that Sans worked with W.D. Gaster." 

"It's obvious he didn't. W.D. Gaster was the royal scientist before Alphys, so the accident must have happened a long time ago. That's why it doesn't make sense for Sans to have been his assistant. It's more likely they were related or something." 

The boy spoke with conviction, seeming sure of what he was saying. 

"How could they be related? Sans and Papyrus are skeletons, but W.D. Gaster is a ghost." 

Emília looked at him indignantly, as if she were talking to an idiot. 

"And you're an expert in ghost biology now?! What's wrong with a ghost being related to two skeletons?! It makes perfect sense." 

The boy responded just as indignantly, but soon a girl nearby joined the discussion. 

"They might be related, or not, but that doesn't matter. The fact that Sans was working with him is a FACT." 

Then another replied. 

"There's no fact or concrete evidence of that." 

Soon, a big argument broke out, with everyone talking at the same time. At that moment, there was no difference between Humans and Exceeds. Everyone there just wanted to prove their point. I didn't know whether to be happy seeing the kids like this or confused because I had no idea what they were talking about. 

(It must be a good thing. Since there's no problem, it's better not to interfere.) 

As soon as I took a step back, I heard Emília's voice behind me. 

"Oh, Aunt Cath… Great, you can tell them I'm right?!" 

"Huh… What?" (Why is this girl calling me?) 

"Who's this?" 

"What does she know?" 

"If you don't have any more arguments, just admit you're wrong." 

"Stop talking nonsense… This is Aunt Cath. She's Alex's mom, the designer of *Undertale*. She'll tell you I'm right!!!" 

"What???" 

"Is that true?" 

"Don't lie." 

Before I could react, I found myself surrounded by children, all talking nonsense I didn't understand—royal scientist, skeletons, ghosts, time accidents? Time travel? Outside of time? 

"What the hell are you guys talking about??????" 

.........….. 

N/A: I hope this chapter wasn't too boring or dense. I'll start preparing to wrap up the competition and do a time skip. This time, it'll be a big jump—probably 20 to 25 years. 

The protagonist's next game will be released alongside the universe he's been planning. 

I hope you remember the chapter where he talks about the universe he's going to create. Obviously, it won't be massive at launch, but he'll keep adding more things as the company grows. 

Enough spoilers. I'll try to release a chapter every Sunday, and maybe some during the week, but I can't guarantee anything, hahaha.

I used DeepSeek to translate this chapter. Let me know if it turned out well!