Making Game: CH 140 – Little Light Bringer (Patreon)

The release day for Sky: Children of the Light remained a monumental event for Round Table Studio. Even though it lacked the explosive, world-stopping hype of Assassin's Creed or Pokémon, the studio had already amassed a massive, dedicated fanbase. Still, jumping into the completely uncharted waters of the VR market was a daunting prospect.

This heavy pressure showed the most on Kasavin's face. The Lead Producer stood in the middle of the R&D room, staring blankly at a glowing monitor with deep lines of worry etched into his forehead.

Arthur saw his stressed friend and decided to intervene.

"Kas, look out!" Arthur shouted suddenly, pointing directly above Kasavin's head.

Kasavin violently flinched. He broke his worried trance, throwing his arms up to shield himself from the imaginary falling danger. He looked up, realized there was absolutely nothing there, and let out a massive, shaky breath.

"By the stars," Kasavin gasped, clutching his chest. "That scared the shit out of me."

Arthur burst into laughter. "Well, it broke your trance. You were thinking about Sky again."

Kasavin lowered his hands, a tired smile finally breaking through his stress. "Yeah. From the look of the early telemetry, it will fail to break any of our previous records."

Arthur laughed even harder, patting his friend on the shoulder. "Do you hear yourself right now? Are we supposed to break galactic records with every single release?"

Kasavin chuckled, adjusting his glasses. "I guess I am just getting entirely too used to it. We went from Hades breaking all-time download records, to crashing the Void and Heliostore platforms, to Pokémon growing exponentially from every single piece of merchandise we sell. I literally had a dream last night that we started selling toilets shaped like Pokémon, and they completely sold out."

Arthur nearly doubled over laughing at the absurd visual. Wiping a tear from his eye, he asked, "We have a lot more loaded in the chamber anyway, right?"

"We do," Kasavin nodded, pulling up his master schedule. "We have Monster Hunter ready to develop. Then there is Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, and Liseli's Pokémon Arena game is still in the active drafting phase."

"Oh, speaking of which," Arthur asked, leaning against a desk. "Are you sure you want to share the Lead Producer title with Liseli for the Pokémon Arena project?"

Kasavin nodded firmly. "Yes. The spin-off was entirely her idea to begin with. I am simply going to monitor the development and look after her to ensure she takes the right technical steps with the new engine."

"Alright then," Arthur smiled. "I will leave you to it."

Arthur walked out of the R&D room and headed down the quiet hallway. As he walked, he mentally opened his System interface. A glowing notification pinged, revealing the brand new Gacha banner for Sky: Children of the Light, alongside a brand new profile titled [Little Light Bringer].

He scrolled down to check the price of the banner, and a massive, ecstatic smile spread across his face.

[Sky: Children of the Light Banner]:1 Point for 1 Pull10 Points for 10 Pulls100 Points for 100 Pulls

It was another incredibly cheap banner, exactly the same as the old Stardew Valley rates.

"Let's go!" Arthur cheered quietly to himself in the empty hallway. With prices this low, he could easily max out the new profile. And with any luck, unlocking all the celestial nodes would finally give him the push he needed to level up his mysterious Cosmic Level.

…

Meanwhile, in a modest apartment located in the mid-levels of a bustling trade planet, Lockley was dragging a bulky VR rig into the center of his living room.

He tapped the side of a small, hovering cleaning compadre. "4O, clean this up for me please."

The rigging system had only been used once. For the last two years, it had simply been gathering dust in the corner of his storage closet. As Lockley tied his long hair back, his wife, Vesuvi, walked into the room.

"Honey, what is this?" Vesuvi asked, raising an eyebrow at the massive machine.

"Oh, it is the VR rig that has been gathering dust," Lockley replied, wiping down the sensor nodes.

Vesuvi crossed her arms. "Are we selling it?"

"Ah, no, no, of course not," Lockley smiled. "You know, RTS just released a new VR game."

Vesuvi's eyes lit up with recognition. "Oh, your favorite studio? The one that made Spirited Away, right?"

Lockley nodded enthusiastically.

Vesuvi stepped closer, inspecting the dusty metal frame. "You would think this old machine can still be used?"

"Well, it is just two or three years old. I am sure it can run it," Lockley reasoned.

Vesuvi narrowed her eyes playfully. "Isn't technology moving ten times faster these days?"

Lockley blinked. "Who said that?"

"You did," Vesuvi laughed.

"Then that was the old me," Lockley chuckled. "Come on, do you want to try it out?"

In truth, Lockley simply wanted to avoid spending money they could easily save. If the game failed to run on the old device, he could seamlessly transition to using his Heliopad or his standard computer. However, he deeply hoped it would run smoothly in VR. His wife had never been able to comfortably play games using a keyboard or a controller. VR was a highly intuitive technology, and he firmly believed it could finally bring her into the gaming world alongside him.

Lockley carefully strapped his wife into the rig. "Ready, hon?"

Vesuvi smiled softly. "Fine, I will try it."

Lockley smiled back and gave her a light kiss before gently placing the VR goggles over her eyes.

"Uuuhh, it says it is on calibration," Vesuvi mumbled, adjusting the headset.

Lockley looked at his secondary monitor to see what she was seeing. "Just do what it tells you to do. It is just calculating your physical movement and syncing the haptic feedback."

"Oh, okay," Vesuvi replied.

The VR device ran through several quick calibration tests, naturally introducing its features before even booting the game itself. After a short while, the setup was completely done. Lockley tapped his keyboard to launch the game for her.

The iconic Round Table Studio splash screen appeared, flawlessly integrated into the VR space. A glowing sword rested in a stone pedestal, prompting her to act. Vesuvi reached out and pulled the sword free. She gasped as the haptic sensors in her gloves perfectly replicated the texture and weight of the hilt.

Then, the true experience started.

A rush of simulated wind filled her ears. The physical rig gently pulled her up, suspending her slightly to mimic the sensation of weightlessness in the sky. Massive, beautifully rendered volumetric clouds parted before her eyes. The perspective smoothly transitioned into the player character.

It was then Vesuvi fully realized what was happening. She was genuinely flying in the sky. The VR suit flared up, sending tiny micro-vibrations across her skin to perfectly mimic the sense of wind and atmospheric pressure.

"Wow..." Vesuvi breathed out, entirely mesmerized by the digital sunset.

For Lockley, the real magic was happening on the performance monitor. He stared at the frame rate and resource graphs in pure shock. The visual smoothness was unbelievable. Even running on a dusty, outdated VR device, the Clarent Engine held a flawless, unwavering frame rate. What he could note down and post on the Avalon forums right now was a simple, undeniable fact. Round Table Studio had completely optimized their game from top to bottom. They were incredibly serious about conquering the VR market.

And so, the very first journey into Sky: Children of the Light had officially begun.

Vesuvi soared excitedly through the digital air. She quickly realized she was actually gliding rather than truly flying. She angled herself downward to brush against a passing cloud. The moment her hand made contact, a crisp, tingling sensation rushed through her VR suit, instantly boosting her momentum and launching her higher into the atmosphere.

She broke through the cloud cover. An opening in the sky revealed a breathtaking vista. Directly ahead stood a massive, looming mountain with a brilliant pillar of light shining from its peak. Hundreds of ethereal sky stingrays flocked around her, swimming effortlessly through the air. She reached out, trying to touch one. She missed several times before finally grazing the wing of a smaller ray, feeling a gentle vibration in her haptic gloves.

Suddenly, something massive pierced the sky. A giant, luminescent white stingray erupted from the clouds below.

"Whoa," Vesuvi gasped in awe. "It looks exactly like those massive monsters the Solars hunt on wild planets. Will there be a sky whale like the ones in those nature documentaries?"

One thing was absolutely certain. She wanted to chase it and touch it.

The atmospheric wind seemed to physically pick up as she trailed closely behind the colossal creature. Vesuvi excitedly chased the giant sky stingray through the clouds. The chase went on for several minutes until the creature suddenly angled its massive body and dove straight down. Vesuvi followed, flying directly above it.

As she looked down, the serene music faded. A low, terrifying rumble of a violent storm echoed in her headset. Jagged flashes of lightning illuminated thick, dark clouds below her.

Suddenly, she saw the warm light completely seep out of her character's body. The wind currents vanished. She began to fall.

Vesuvi plummeted past the flocks of sky stingrays. The wind roared in her ears as she accelerated, falling faster and faster into the pitch-black storm. She let out a genuine, terrified scream.

Thud.

Amidst the raging storm, she suddenly felt solid ground beneath her feet. Vesuvi slowly opened her eyes. She was standing completely unharmed in the center of an ancient stone circle.

A gentle, disembodied voice echoed in her mind.

Fear not, Child. You will defeat the darkness.

A single, soft note of a piano played in the background. The pure sound instantly calmed her racing heart. Vesuvi looked around the desolate, rainy area and spotted a weathered stone statue holding an unlit red candle.

She took a step toward it and immediately noticed the unique physics. Every movement felt incredibly light, almost as if she were walking on a low-gravity planet. She jumped off a small ledge and discovered that she could effortlessly slide across the wet grass as long as she maintained her forward speed. It was incredibly fun.

Vesuvi approached the statue and picked up the red candle.

The voice echoed once again.

A mighty flame burns within you.

She immediately felt it. The exact same tingling sensation from the clouds vibrated softly in her hands. Focusing entirely on the candle, a profound warmth blossomed in the center of her chest. She brought the candle closer to her heart. With a bright flash, the wick lit up with a brilliant orange flame.

The stone statue began to crack. Brilliant light poured from the fissures until the stone completely shattered.

Shiingg.

Standing in the place of the statue was another player? She quickly corrected herself. It was another person entirely, or perhaps a soul, because the figure was beautifully translucent. The spirit gently gestured for Vesuvi to follow her.

The spirit led her to the ruins of a small village. Scattered across the area were dozens of identical stone statues. Vesuvi finally understood. These were all trapped souls. She was the only one in this desolate world who possessed the power to bring them light. Without hesitation, she ran forward and began to release the Fallen Spirits one by one.

And so, the journey of the Sky Children had truly begun. Skeptics across the galaxy could doubt it all they wanted. Those who actually stepped into its world were already falling deeply in love with the narrative and the breathtaking music that accompanied their journey.

…

Meanwhile, in a heavily modified streaming room on a wealthy Core World, Roric was currently strapped into the most state-of-the-art VR rig the commercial market had to offer.

His rather round figure, earned from years of sitting in a chair playing Round Table Studio games all day, had brought him a bit of trouble with the physical setup. So be it. The chat loved the physical comedy, he reminded himself.

Thanks to a seamless API integration, Roric could clearly see his live stream chat scrolling rapidly across a translucent digital screen hovering right over his VR avatar's forearm.

As Roric jumped to reach a ledge in-game, the heavy mechanical pistons of his expensive rigging system whined loudly under his weight.

[Chat_Demon]: yo dont jump, i feel a quake coming down here in the lower levels! [PlasmaMain]: did you hear it guys? the rigging is literally groaning from his weight lol. [Healer_Slut]: RIP to Roric's knees.

Roric landed heavily, breathless and panting as the suit applied the exact physical feedback of the drop. "You guys," he wheezed, waving a hand dismissively at his arm interface. "This game is soo immersive. I can literally feel the texture of the grass under my boots."

He quickly gathered his breath and leaped into the wind, gliding gracefully through the air until he reached the final bell tower. As he released the last Aviary bell, a massive, breathtaking cinematic triggered.

Both Roric and his thousands of viewers watched in absolute awe as the entire island was instantly released from its suffocating darkness. The gloomy sky became brilliantly bright, and the wind began to pick up, blowing away the thick fog. The warm light finally revealed the true beauty of the place.

[Cynic_Gamer]: Okay... wait. That lighting engine is actually insane. [LoreNerd99]: Look at the volumetric clouds! The shadows are rendering in real-time!

"It is called the Aviary Village, guys," Roric explained, looking around the lush, vibrant hub.

Suddenly, another spark of light called out to him. A fallen spirit materialized, gently guiding him toward a newly opened pathway. As Roric dragged his tired physical body toward the gate, he noticed something strange. A grey silhouette of another player was running around the courtyard.

Their movements were incredibly erratic, entirely lacking the smooth, pre-programmed pathing of an NPC. The grey figure stopped, turned toward Roric, and waved.

Roric excitedly waved back. The figure responded by rapidly nodding its head up and down.

"Yep, that is definitely a real player," Roric chuckled, his chat exploding with emotes and surprised comments about the seamless multiplayer integration.

Roric followed the spirit inside a large, cavernous room. He sat down on the cold stone floor right in front of an ancient altar surrounded by unlit white candles.

The moment he sat down, the massive stone wall in front of him began to brilliantly light up. Glowing glyphs etched themselves into the rock, beginning to tell the silent lore of the world. The carvings showed that the stars were once completely united, and their brilliant light was infinite.

Then, the glyphs shifted, showing the six main stars falling from the heavens. They fell past the clouds and landed in the kingdom in the sky. The first of them descended toward the kingdom in the clouds, yet they quickly took their boundless light for granted.

The orchestral music swelled violently, perfectly integrating the deep, terrifying rumble of a storm as the VR rig physically shook Roric's entire body. The glyphs showed the stars losing their glow, withering away in the creeping shadow.

The music softened into a mournful, delicate melody.

A glowing script appeared in his mind: After a long time passed, you gave them hope.

Then, the disembodied voice spoke to him for one last time. 'Go forth, child. Return your light into our fallen stars.'

The glowing glyphs on the stone wall suddenly expanded, revealing that the massive mural was actually a fully interactive world map.

Roric let out a breathless gasp, completely captivated by the swelling orchestral score. "Whoa... the music is so incredibly beautiful."

He looked down at his arm. The chat was scrolling at the speed of light.

[Action_Junkie]: I retract my previous hate. This looks amazing. [Sela_Native]: The music alone is worth the price of the VR headset. [Void_Watcher]: Arthur Pendragon literally cannot miss. I am buying this right now.

It seemed the skeptics were finally being silenced. Just by watching Roric's stream, the minds of the galaxy were already beginning to turn.