Episode 37: Development in Progress
The frenzy after the production announcement was greater than expected. The number of accesses was enough to crash the server, it trended on social media, and gameplay videos by streamers spread like wildfire.
Riri’s game, created with the aim of letting people enjoy and learn about the events that happened in the other world, was already a huge success even before its release.
Several weeks passed since then, and the development team, with Riri at its core, was steadily progressing towards the goal of completion.
In the living room of the apartment, Hayato listened to Riri while making coffee. She had apparently come straight from school, still in her uniform, and was sitting on the sofa, enthusiastically explaining the data displayed on her tablet.
“Production is progressing smoothly.”
Riri said, showing Hayato a photo on her smartphone of a meeting in progress.
“We’ve had several meetings with the producer, consulted with the viewers, and we’re also trying to gather opinions from the stream’s comment section and reflect them in the game.”
“You were streaming the other day, weren’t you? So that’s another way to do things.”
Hayato brought two coffee cups and sat down on the sofa. He offered one to Riri.
“Thank you very much.”
Riri accepted the coffee, took a sip, and continued.
“At first, we tried it out experimentally, but the response was better than expected. We received comments from viewers saying things like, ‘It feels like we’re participating in the development too.'”
Her eyes sparkled as she continued her explanation. She scrolled through the tablet screen with her fingertips, showing him comment logs from the stream and survey results one after another.
“For example, when we asked for opinions on the gimmicks for this dungeon, ideas we’d never imagined came up. It’s not a perfect recreation of the other world; we thought a lot about how to make it enjoyable as a game. It’s really fun how various ideas that I wouldn’t have thought of myself emerge.”
Hayato listened to her, smiling. Riri’s enthusiastic demeanor reminded him of Sage Lilia from the other world. Her personality, of becoming so absorbed in something that she loses sight of her surroundings, seemed unchanged even in this different world. The figure once surrounded by books and scrolls was now replaced by a tablet and programming code, it felt.
“I want to make it an interesting game.”
She said with a serious expression.
“So that many people can experience our adventures in that world and remember them as good memories.”
While Hayato admired her enthusiasm, he also felt a little worried.
“It’s great that you’re enjoying the production. But don’t push yourself too hard.”
“Yes, of course.”
Riri replied immediately.
“I’m making sure not to forget about my life in this world, my current life. I’m also careful not to let my school grades drop.”
“That’s good then.”
Hayato breathed a sigh of relief. She, who was a Sage in the other world, was now living as a modern high school girl. That’s precisely why he wanted her to cherish her studies. Since she seemed to understand properly, Hayato felt reassured that she would be fine.
“Besides, everyone else is supporting me in various ways.”
Riri continued happily.
“Josuke-san has been giving me advice from a marketing perspective, and he’s also come up with several concrete proposals for merchandise development.”
“Come to think of it, you did say you were going to release merchandise.”
“Yes. We plan to release the game for free, but they’re thinking of various ways to generate revenue in other areas.”
She wanted many people to play the game. With that feeling, making the game free was an absolutely non-negotiable condition. However, as a company, IVE wanted to generate revenue. The idea of selling merchandise came up as a compromise. It seemed there were also many requests from fans asking to be allowed to pay money.
“Tsuyoshi-san, of course, provides financial backing, and he also gives various opinions on the design of weapons appearing in the game.”
“Everyone’s really working hard on various things, huh.”
IVE VTuber Lilia’s Game Development Report Stream Discussion Thread
1 Name: Thread_Starter [ID:a7bX9c2d3e] 20xx/xx/xx (Sat) 23:15
Anyone who watched Lilia’s development report stream today, gather ’round!
Isn’t it amazing how she streams the development process?
Let’s share our thoughts!
2 Name: Anonymous-san [ID:df45gh78i] 20xx/xx/xx (Sat) 23:15
She was seriously writing code.
At first, I thought it was an act, but
That practiced speed and the content are the real deal.
3 Name: Anonymous-san [ID:j9k1lm2n3] 20xx/xx/xx (Sat) 23:16
It’s like, her ‘Female Sage’ title is no lie, right?
It’s unbelievable that someone with such a young voice has such high-level programming skills.
4 Name: Anonymous-san [ID:o4p5q6r7s] 20xx/xx/xx (Sat) 23:16
There are still people doubting, but you can tell just by looking at how she writes code.
She was explaining properly while writing it, she’s a real programmer.
5 Name: Anonymous-san [ID:t8u9v0w1x] 20xx/xx/xx (Sat) 23:17
Honestly, even watching the stream, there was so much jargon I couldn’t understand most of it lol
I enjoyed the game demo play, but the development process is too difficult.
6 Name: Anonymous-san [ID:y2z3a4b5c] 20xx/xx/xx (Sat) 23:17
5
Same here. But it’s amazing how it’s interesting even without specialized knowledge.
I don’t understand programming at all, but the 2 hours flew by.
7 Name: Anonymous-san [ID:d6e7f8g9h] 20xx/xx/xx (Sat) 23:18
I’m studying programming myself, but I could only understand about half of it.
8 Name: Anonymous-san [ID:i0j1k2l3m] 20xx/xx/xx (Sat) 23:19
Are there still people doubting?
9 Name: Anonymous-san [ID:n4o5p6q7r] 20xx/xx/xx (Sat) 23:20
Being able to write accurate code at that speed is too amazing.
The talk about algorithm optimization is seriously educational.
10 Name: Anonymous-san [ID:s8t9u0v1w] 20xx/xx/xx (Sat) 23:21
Did you see that programmer from a famous game company reacting on social media?
It was shocking that they said, ‘It’s instructive.’
11 Name: Anonymous-san [ID:x2y3z4a5b] 20xx/xx/xx (Sat) 23:22
The speed at which she incorporates viewer ideas is insane.
Seriously? You suggest something in the comments and 10 minutes later it’s already taking shape?
12 Name: Anonymous-san [ID:c6d7e8f9g] 20xx/xx/xx (Sat) 23:23
11
Right?! I was surprised too!
I commented, ‘How about a gimmick like this?’ and she replied, ‘That’s good, I’ll try it.’
→15 minutes later, a demo screen appeared with ‘How’s this?’ and I was blown away.
13 Name: Anonymous-san [ID:h0i1j2k3l] 20xx/xx/xx (Sat) 23:24
Isn’t her speed at sorting ideas also insane?
She distinguishes between usable and unusable ideas in an instant.
Her mind works too fast…
14 Name: Anonymous-san [ID:m4n5o6p7q] 20xx/xx/xx (Sat) 23:25
I suggested a crap idea and she indirectly said it was unusable with ‘That seems like it would take a lot of effort to implement,’ and I cried.
But then she said, ‘I’m grateful just for you giving your opinion,’ and I cried for a different reason.
Is she a real angel?
15 Name: Anonymous-san [ID:r8s9t0u1v] 20xx/xx/xx (Sat) 23:26
14
I get it. It’s nice how even if your idea isn’t adopted, you don’t get strongly rejected.
16 Name: Anonymous-san [ID:w2x3y4z5a] 20xx/xx/xx (Sat) 23:27
Honestly, I’m starting to find watching the development process more interesting than wanting the main game to be released quickly.
17 Name: Anonymous-san [ID:b6c7d8e9f] 20xx/xx/xx (Sat) 23:28
I was supposed to be looking forward to the game’s completion,
but now I’m starting to wish these development streams would continue forever.
18 Name: Anonymous-san [ID:g0h1i2j3k] 20xx/xx/xx (Sat) 23:29
It’s fun to see the other members playing.
The weapon design discussion when Garret was streaming last week was the best.
19 Name: Anonymous-san [ID:l4m5n6o7p] 20xx/xx/xx (Sat) 23:30
Releasing such a god-tier game for free is seriously insane.
I’d gladly pay around 6000 yen, so please release a full version.
20 Name: Anonymous-san [ID:q8r9s0t1u] 20xx/xx/xx (Sat) 23:31
When this game is completed, it’ll definitely go down in history.