Chapter 190: Trial Play
Just like when Chen Mo made *Wulin Heroes* and Zen Interactive made *Sword of Love*, those single-player games had first-month sales of only around four hundred thousand copies, which was completely trivial.
Many people felt that Chen Mo making a game like this was more conservative than aggressive. Even if he relied on his strong storytelling skills and reputation to keep the game’s sales at a decent level, it absolutely wouldn’t become a massive hit.
What’s more, judging from the concept art Chen Mo had released, this game seemed suspiciously too unconventional. With such a heavy, eerie, and cult-like art style, how many players would actually like it?
If he couldn’t pull it off, this game would essentially drive away the vast majority of mainstream players.
Some were looking forward to it.
Some were skeptical.
Some were sneering and mocking.
……
Chen Mo, however, wasn’t affected at all. He basically never paid attention to these criticisms anyway. Whether a game was good or not, you only knew once it was made.
Making forced predictions beforehand would likely end up with egg on your face.
The development progress of *Diablo* was steadily advancing.
After expanding the team, the development speed had greatly accelerated.
In Chen Mo’s previous life, the development of *Diablo III* took a very long time. If you counted from *Diablo II* to *Diablo III*, it was delayed for a full twelve years.
Of course, there were many twists and turns along the way. Most of the time wasn’t spent on actual game development but on scrapping and redoing everything.
Due to corporate mergers and acquisitions, the core team of Blizzard North that created *Diablo II* left en masse, and the development of *Diablo III* was shelved for a long time.
Moreover, the initial version that had already been developed didn’t win favor with upper management. The final result was a complete overhaul, so *Diablo III* didn’t perfectly carry forward the spiritual essence of *Diablo II*.
For Chen Mo, he could completely avoid these detours. With a very mature perspective on the game, he could greatly speed up the development process.
Large batches of monster and character concept art were completed by Zhou Hanyu after Chen Mo provided the line drafts, then handed over to outsourcing companies to create models and animations in bulk, with batch after batch being approved.
Several assistants used the Fantasy World Editor to handle various scenes and levels, adjusting the entire combat flow of the game.
CG cutscenes of a higher quality than those in *Warcraft* were also being produced intensively.
There were also numerical balancing, item design, and fine-tuning details related to player experience. The entire studio was running at full capacity. Driven by Chen Mo, these people were united like a single rope, greatly accelerating development.
*Diablo* was more difficult to develop than *Warcraft*, but after expanding the team, its development progress was actually faster than *Warcraft*. After about four months, the initial game version was basically complete.
The CG wasn’t fully finished, the numerical balance wasn’t particularly refined, and there were no rifts, ladders, or expert modes, but it was already playable.
……
Chen Mo arrived at the experience store and found an empty massage chair to lie down on.
He had been busy approving various art resources, skills, level designs, and other settings for the past few days, which had given him a headache. Finally having some free time, he rested for a while in the massage chair.
Zou Zhuo was playing *Warcraft* on the computer next to him.
“Boss, you’ve worked hard. How’s the new game coming along?” Zou Zhuo said as he handed Chen Mo a can of drink. “Ever since I heard it was an RPG, I’ve been itching to try it. Too bad Goldfish and Money Kun have all moved over there, so I can’t see the game’s progress.”
Chen Mo said, “It’s already playable. Wait a moment, I’ll go get a portable hard drive and copy a trial version.”
Zou Zhuo exclaimed in surprise, “Really? It’s already playable? Awesome, Boss, your efficiency is terrifying!”
Chen Mo went back to the adjacent studio, copied the unfinished version of *Diablo* onto a portable hard drive, and installed it on Zou Zhuo’s computer.
According to Chen Mo’s estimate, it should be ready for release in about half a month. Letting Zou Zhuo play now and experience the entire game flow would also help gather player feedback.
The installation finished quickly. Zou Zhuo could barely contain his excitement. After all, he was the first player to try this game, and he felt quite proud.
The other players nearby also gathered around.
“Holy crap, *Diablo* is playable?”
“Boss is as prolific as a sow! Hurry up, hurry up, let’s get into the game!”
“Awesome, let’s watch!”
“Boss, I want to play too!”
Chen Mo smiled. “Don’t rush. This is just a trial version with many issues. Be patient for a bit longer. Next week, I’ll put it on the computers in the experience store for everyone to play freely, and the week after that, it’ll officially launch.”
Zou Zhuo double-clicked the icon on the desktop. “I don’t care; I have to experience it first!”
Everyone else crowded around to watch Zou Zhuo’s trial play.
As expected, before entering the game, there was a CG cutscene.
First, a red ink stamp with the Thunder Games logo appeared on screen.
The camera slowly panned upward. Beneath the stamp was a finely textured parchment scroll, covered in meaningless script.
Accompanied by a somewhat oppressive melody, an aged voice whispered.
“When the end times come, strange fire will streak across the sky.”
“Justice will fall in the mortal world, and the flames of war between light and darkness will spread to the eternal kingdom…”
As these prophetic whispers continued, scenes appeared on the parchment scroll.
Crows appeared on a battlefield bristling with spears. A bolt of lightning exploded in the sky, light cascading down like a waterfall. A vast army of angels descended from above, charging toward the demon legions on the ground.
Scenes of war unfolded: angels and demons engaged in brutal combat on the battlefield. Finally, the earth cracked open, and a massive demon lord appeared in the scroll, lunging forward with its gaping maw!
Leah jolted awake, her eyes filled with extreme terror.
In the gloomy cathedral, the aged Deckard Cain was still hunched over a desk, examining ancient records.
“According to these records, the demons of Hell may have already taken action. We must warn the world as soon as possible!”
“You believe me, don’t you, Leah? The end times… have come…”
Just then, the cathedral began to shake violently. A thunderclap flashed, and a terrifying strange fire appeared in the clouds—a falling star.
The meteor streaked across the sky, hurtling toward the cathedral. The violent impact knocked Leah to the ground. When she stood up to look for Deckard Cain, all she found was a massive crater where he had been.
“Uncle!!”
With Leah’s scream, the CG cutscene ended. The *Diablo* game logo appeared in the center of the screen, along with its English name.
Diablo!