Making a Game

Rosalie knew Mark was smart, but she had never imagined he could do something this astonishing!

If word got out that he had used a computer to make a movie in just one day, the entire Hollywood film industry would probably be rocked to its core.

"Mom, will it be much easier for you to memorize the script's lines and scenes now?"

Mark looked at Rosalie and asked.

"Of course!"

Rosalie nodded, bent down, and planted a hard kiss on Mark's cheek. "Mom has basically memorized all the lines now, and she even knows how to perform them!"

As long as she watched the movie a couple more times, she was confident she could memorize the entire script.

More importantly, the script, which had once been nothing but words, now had images in Rosalie's mind.

Once filming began, she could use them as reference.

After helping Rosalie resolve her biggest problem, Mark prepared to start making a game.

With video-generation software, making games would be much easier as well.

"Hmm... which game should I make?"

Mark fell into thought.

After all, he did not have his own game company. Even with the help of video-generation software, making a large-scale game would take too much time and effort.

"I'll choose this one!"

A moment later, Mark made his decision.

The game he chose was Stardew Valley, which had once taken the internet by storm before he transmigrated.

Stardew Valley was an independently developed game that Eric Brown had spent four and a half years creating on his own.

The game's story was about a player receiving a letter from their grandfather, returning home to inherit an abandoned farm, and then clearing the land to run it.

The game's core gameplay revolved around managing the farm, fishing, mining, and socializing with the town's residents.

Stardew Valley had received no promotion at all, yet it became an instant hit across the internet after release, maintaining a 98% positive rating on Steam for years.

Mark believed that once he made this game, it would become an online sensation as well and earn him his first pot of gold.

"Alice, help me create the graphics. The requirements are as follows..."

As Mark typed out code, he instructed Alice to help him make the game.

With his current memory, he could remember every background track he had heard and every NPC storyline he had played through in his previous life without missing a single detail.

He hummed the game's background music, then had Alice perform it using different instruments and tones, including piano, violin, and flute.

The original game only had twenty town NPCs, which was obviously too few.

Mark directly increased the number to over a hundred. Besides including the original NPC storylines, he also had Alice simulate and add a large number of side quests and hidden storylines.

With Alice's help, Mark completed Stardew Valley in just over half a month.

"Mom, Aunt Daphne, I made a game. Come over and help me test it out. See if it's fun."

After finishing the game, Mark called out to Rosalie and Daphne, who were sitting in the yard drinking tea and chatting.

After Mark turned three, Daphne no longer needed to work as his full-time caregiver, and she found another job at a different clinic.

Whenever she had time on weekends, Daphne would come to Mark's home to visit him.

"Sure! Is this the game you've been busy making all this time?"

Rosalie asked Mark as she got to her feet.

She was not particularly interested in games herself, but since her son had made it, she naturally had to take a look.

"Little Mark, you're amazing. You can make games at such a young age."

Daphne smiled as she praised Mark.

Rosalie sat in front of the computer and opened the Stardew Valley icon.

As soothing music began to play, the opening animation appeared on the screen.

The player received a letter from their grandfather, quit their job, returned home to inherit the farm, and then the game officially began.

The first thing that appeared before them was an abandoned farm.

Following the game's prompts, the player began clearing away trash and reclaiming the farmland.

Mark had not used the original game's pixel-art style. Instead, he made the visuals far more refined.

When Rosalie first started playing, she was somewhat flustered and often had no idea where to click.

After becoming familiar with the controls, she gradually became absorbed in the game.

Farming, gathering, mining, upgrading the house, building chicken coops...

Before she knew it, an hour had passed.

"Mom, it's time to cook!"

Seeing that it was already noon, Mark had no choice but to remind her.

"Oh, right..."

Only then did Rosalie reluctantly get up and leave the computer.

"Um... Mark, could you send me a copy of this game too?"

Daphne asked Mark somewhat embarrassedly.

She had watched Rosalie play all morning, and she had long since become eager to try it herself.

"Sure!"

Mark nodded and instructed Alice, "Alice, send Aunt Daphne an installation package for Stardew Valley through email."

He had already registered the game's copyright anyway, so he was not worried about it being leaked.

"Okay, Mark."

Alice's crisp, bell-like voice rang out.

"Having Alice around is really so convenient!"

Daphne looked envious.

Rosalie had already shown off Alice to her many times.

But what Daphne envied even more was that Rosalie had such a smart and adorable son as Mark.

Daphne had once been somewhat doubtful that Mark was Tony Stark's son.

But after witnessing all the abilities Mark had displayed, she no longer had the slightest doubt.

Other than Tony Stark, no one could have such a smart child!

Over the next few days, Rosalie became completely addicted to the game.

The first thing she did every morning after waking up was hurriedly open Stardew Valley and enter the game to harvest her crops.

She also often talked with Daphne on the phone, exchanging farming tips.

Seeing that both of them liked the game so much, Mark knew this was a sure thing.

He began preparing to make money from the game.

There were no third-party game platforms like Steam yet.

Independent game developers like Mark could only upload their games to download sites, then promote them through PC-sharing software and gaming forums.

After finishing the registration and uploading the game, Mark instructed Alice, "Alice, go to the major gaming forums and make posts promoting Stardew Valley."

"Okay, Mark."

Alice immediately began posting promotional threads on sites such as Usenet, GameSpot, and the IGN community, leaving download links for Stardew Valley.

Mark's payment model was to let players try the game for free for thirty minutes. After paying ten dollars, they could keep it forever.

There was no online payment yet, so Mark could only have people mail him ten-dollar money orders. Once he received them, he would send them registration codes by email.