Ruins Factory

**Ruins Factory** (KR: **폐허공장**) is a game developer company that has gained quite a bit of recognition for making high-quality games. It was initially a small development team, but it becomes a subsidiary of T1 around the time of TeSTAR debut.

## 127 Section

A mobile game that TeSTAR was forced to collaborate with during Choose Your Side era. The collaboration is done with TeSTAR making a background music (BGM) for the game (Bonus Book) while 127 Section developer team designs characters based on TeSTAR's appearance. The game itself is released domestically on October of Year 1 (Choose Your Side era) and internationally on April of Year 2 (Time to Go era).

### Gameplay

The main story of the game is the story of the protagonist exploring Seoul, which was destroyed by a mysterious material from a meteorite. It’s a roguelike adventure where the protagonist meet various forces in Seoul, and his/her comrades and abilities can change depending on the player's choices.

The game is entirely from first-person POV and begins with the protagonist falling into a sinkhole while out and traveling to a half-destroyed Seoul in a parallel world. The protagonist then navigate the destroyed Seoul within a group of 8 people, including themselves. In the tutorial stage (Chapter 1) which starts right after the game installation, the protagonist will meet 7 companions (NPC) whose designs are based on TeSTAR members and they will travel together. At the end of Chapter 1, these companions will die leaving the protagonist alone to navigate Seoul. The protagonist can pick/create new allies in Chapter 2 through character draws, but the characters from tutorial stage are not available. However, the characters of those new allies can be changed by buying a costume in the in-game costume shop that appears starting from the middle of Chapter 2; in this shop, the outfits worn by tutorial companions can be bought.

### Aftermath

Despite the initial reluctance, the collaboration successfully attracts popularity to both sides after its release. The story of Chapter 1 with its tragic ending attract people to the game out of curiosity, while Bonus Book trailer video along with BETTER ME music video are viewed by those who play 127 Section because of the story correlation with the game's worldview.

The international release of the game on April the next year also becomes a big hit, pushing Bonus Book to enter billboard chart and TeSTAR to be invited to a US TV program, Nerdy Andy Show.

## Roll the Dice MV Extended Edition

A game exclusively developed for Roll the Dice album, of which installation file can be found in the album USB. As the name insists, the game is a playable continuation of Roll the Dice MV and TeSTAR appears as main characters along with the player (protagonist). Unlike the forced collaboration with 127 Section, TeSTAR themeselves reached out to Ruins Factory to join hands. To reduce the program development cost on Ruins Factory, especially the game graphics, TeSTAR ends up doing 60-days of filming march with the help from Bae Sejin's connections in the movie sector.

### Gameplay

The story is set in a confinement facility or prison called KIS (Keep It Safe) where some thieves tries to break into in search for a jewel called *Tutakulum*. TeSTAR members are designated different roles, from thieves (Bae Sejin, Ryu Chungwoo, Kim Raebin), prisoners (Park Moondae, Cha Eugene) guard (Seon Ahyeon, Lee Sejin). Just like in 127 Section, this game is entirely in first-person POV. It has a plot where the player can pick between multiple choice throughout the game, which will affect the story. Following the name, dice is also used as an in-game element to make up for errors  and, in some cases, to proceed with the game.

The prologue starts the same, with the protagonist breaking into the facility out of curiosity and ended up being confined within the building by Lee Sejin. However, the plot of the game itself varies depending on which USB album version is used, although they are all interconnected. In VER 1, player teams up with the thieves whose goal is to break into the facility and escape afterwards, all while avoiding the guards' watching eyes. The VER 2 game is similar to VER 1, but focuses more on the prisoners' story, including some hints about the facility and the experiment they're subjected to. In VER 3, a plot twist is added where Lee Sejin decides to cooperate with the thieves instead, making players wary of being hit in the back throughout the game. However, this version gives the most information because the player and thieves can wear a guard uniform and pretend to be one, making them able to access confidential documents.

On the other hand, although the endings has many variations, they can roughly be divided into four categories: Bad Ending, Normal Ending, True Ending, and Hidden Ending. 'Bad Ending' occurs when wrong choices are made when playing the game, while 'Normal Ending' ends with the protagonist and some TeSTAR members successfully escaping the facility. It is obtained by gathering several members and opening the lock of the facility's front gate. The code to open the lock can be found in the album photocard (following the version).

'True Ending' can be achieved when the player gather all TeSTAR members aside from Ahyeon before approaching the facility's front gate, where they will meet Ahyeon. Ahyeon then will guide them to a different gate, of which code for unlock is still the one from album photocard, but written in reverse from back to front. This ending reveals the truth that KIS is not a prison, but a research institute instead of prison that experiment on *Tutakulum*, which ends up being revealed as a drug that can give humans a superpower. The story ends with the thieves obtaining the jewel and escaping KIS along with the others, but instead of showing the scene directly, it was said by Ahyeon in the attic where TeSTAR members are playing the game.

On the other hand, 'Hidden Ending' is achieved if, when entering the code to unlock the gate from True Ending, the player enters the reversed code of different album version. In this version of ending, the player is stuck with Ahyeon and roll the dice numerous time because Ahyeon keeps manipulating the dice; it will ends after Ahyeon fails to manipulate the dice. Similar to True Ending, this ending shows TeSTAR playing games in attic, although Ahyeon's expression in this ending looks gloomier when he tells how all characters, including Ahyeon, end up successfully escape KIS.

## References

1. ↑ When TeSTAR was informed of, the collaboration had been decided by the higher-ups, especially Gwak Singyun.
2. ↑ Both TeSTAR and Ruins Factory have stopped their affiliation with T1 before this collabortion, making them being on the blacklist of T1 and their other affiliates. Because T1 is a large company even after the downfall, there are many broadcasting companies, even entertainment and production staffs, that TeSTAR can't work with. This action hugely hinders TeSTAR's promotion activity, especially considering they're having a comeback. Ruins Factory, on the other hand, escaped after constant pressure to make next 'episode' for 127 Section from T1. As a result, they lost their capital source and unable to produce game with similar quality with 127 Section. TeSTAR (Stars Orbit) successfully able to make
3. ↑ Webnovel CH 462-464
4. ↑ When wrong choices are made, player can roll a 10-sided dice and get a chance to make up if the number is small; the more critical the error, the smaller the number required.
5. ↑ Whenever a guard appears in the distance, players are forced to roll the dice. Player can only avoid the guard if the number on the dice is smaller than the required number shown on the screen