As the days went by, the hype around "Getting Over It" had died down.
Unlike It Takes Two and Dark Souls, this simple game didn't have much depth.
The main discussion wasn't about the game's content but about players breaking down after playing it.
It was just a short-lived trend.
But even though it was short-lived, it attracted countless indie game developers who all tried to copy it.
The hype at the time was just that insane.
And the cost to make this type of game wasn't very high either.
But all of this had nothing to do with Lucas.
Right now, Lucas was in the research lab of Galaxy Intelligent Technology.
"Has the AI tech made some progress?" Lucas was a bit surprised as he listened to the researcher's report.
Casually, Lucas glanced at the system's UI.
The golden countdown progress bar from that special item was still ticking.
And there were already results?
Was this like downloading and playing at the same time, with an unfinished version halfway through?
"Yes, Lucas. Based on big data collection and its application in gaming, we've made some optimizations and improvements…" Matthew started explaining to Lucas.
Lucas didn't understand a lot of the technical terms, but he got the main idea.
They had applied for patents in every country for AI technology in the gaming field and achieved a significant breakthrough. But it was still far from perfect; they needed more time for testing and optimization.
For now, they had built a prototype, and it was already ready for commercial use.
"Let me take a look."
Lucas followed Matthew into the lab to see the test on a big screen.
The test subject was an internal demo of Dark Souls: Age of Fire, mainly for checking various numbers.
Since it was a test version, lots of monsters were in the wrong places.
For example, Iudex Gundyr had shown up in the old Undead Asylum.
After Matthew and the staff adjusted things, Lucas quickly saw the real demonstration.
In an empty courtyard, they pulled Iudex Gundyr out alone and placed him in the middle, then added a regular Hollow with a short sword.
But for the hollows, they added completely new actions like rolling and sprinting.
As for Iudex Gundyr, he still used the same old AI patterns, but the hollows were running on a brand-new AI system.
Then the real demo started. Lucas saw that after adding rolling and sprinting, the hollow looked just like an Undead veteran who had fought through countless battles.
Rolling to dodge, backstabbing, timing attacks in Gundyr's openings with a chain of strikes—
Gundyr's HP dropped like water, and unlike the weak hollows who could at least take two hits, this one could only take one.
But from start to finish, Gundyr never managed to land a single blow on it. The hollow dodged everything perfectly, like a precise machine.
If it had a shield in hand, Lucas had no doubt that with the right moves added, this thing could pull off perfect parries and executions on Gundyr.
"If this AI goes into the game, I don't think players will be able to keep the fire alive anymore." Lucas muttered after watching the AI in action.
The original Dark Souls was more about pattern recognition, since bosses had clear attack signs.
But with this AI, the enemy stats hadn't really changed—it was just way smarter.
Now players wouldn't just need to memorize move sets, they'd also need real-time reflexes. Add that to Dark Souls' insane damage and almost no room for error—how could anyone keep the fire?
"Cough, cough. Lucas, this is more like a high-level mode. In fact, our main goal is just to improve how the AI feels in the game. The difficulty can always be adjusted down," Matthew explained from the side.
"Yeah, we'll keep tweaking it. And as for this new AI tech, we can first put it in a special game mode as a test," Lucas said after thinking.
It definitely couldn't be added to the base game right away, but once the Dark Souls prequel wrapped up, they could use this AI tech to build a whole new mode.
After all, in the last game Lucas had already released a random mode later on, so this new game couldn't be left behind.
The old random mode had to come back, of course.
But on top of that, he could also add a brand new "Death Mode!"
In his past life, Dark Souls 1 had something called the "Prepare to Die Edition."
But that was basically just a re-release with patches and a bit of extra content. The name was scarier than the reality.
This time, Lucas wanted to give players a real surprise.
Gravelord Nito stayed cooped up so long that he was weaker than the skeleton minions he summoned.
Artorias, corrupted by the Abyss, lost his greatshield and had a ruined arm—how was that fair?
The legendary Lord of Sunlight, Gwyn, burned himself once passing the First Flame, leaving behind only a hollow shell. With parries, he was weaker than some of the game's weakest bosses. He even forgot his iconic Sunlight Spear! How could that be worthy of him?
And many other bosses too—by the time players fought them, they were far from their peak power.
That just didn't feel right.
If players never got the chance to battle these legends at full strength, how big of a regret would that be?
Even if some players already had their own bias against him, Lucas couldn't ignore it.
As a designer who cared deeply about giving players the best possible experience, he couldn't allow them to carry such regrets.
Of course, this brand-new mode would only come out after the full release of the game.
...
After returning from Galaxy Tech, Lucas reviewed the development progress of Dark Souls: Age of Fire..
With the combat system already polished in the last game, other parts weren't that hard to finish.
Most of the environments were nearly done too.
Looking at the map, Hector, Rachel, and Anna were stunned.
It was a massive, seamless world map, yet the player's journey was divided perfectly.
Different areas linked into each other in clever ways that only exploration would reveal.
Players still had the same satisfying experience as before—fighting their way through, only to realize, "Wait, I've been here before!"
Then they'd try another path, and again, "Oh no, I've looped back again!"
After all, it was common knowledge that the Undead couldn't climb walls, pull doors, or jump.
But as brilliant as the level design was, what really gave Hector and the others chills was how enemies were placed after the map was complete.
"Lucas, this Firelink Shrine leads to late-game areas too? Shouldn't we leave a warning or maybe lock it?" Hector asked nervously, looking at the enemy placements Lucas had instructed him to put down.
Forget late-game areas next to Firelink Shrine—even the Undead Burg outside the starting village was brutal.
"No need. It's not like players ever really listen to warnings anyway. And locks? How do you even lock it?"
"Besides, the story is designed this way. And if we lock it, what does that mean? It means we're teaching players how to play the game! Taking away their freedom of choice!"
"As a designer with both conscience and responsibility, how could I ever do something like that?" Lucas said righteously, sipping his tea in his chair.
Hector stared at the dev screen in silence for a long time.
Because… damn, that actually made sense!
(End of The Chapter)
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