{"rewrite":{"id":"r_6d77977fd772cf5544c2c270","clusterId":"c_3be8e0b2a2bf57c94561b493","slug":"shengshi-tianxia-producer-on-100-bad-endings-and-1-500-minutes-of-live-action-drama","model":"deepseek-v4-flash:free","headline":"Shengshi Tianxia Producer on 100 Bad Endings and 1,500 Minutes of Live-Action Drama","summary":"New One Studio producer Demi discussed the making of the live-action interactive drama series Shengshi Tianxia: The Road to Empress I and II in interviews published on July 31, 2026. The games, set in China's Tang Dynasty, follow Wu Yuanzhao, the future Empress Wu Zetian, as she enters Emperor Taizong's harem around 640 AD. The series took about three years from planning to release, with over 100 days of filming and a total runtime of roughly 1,500 minutes. The second game alone features about 1,000 minutes of new footage across 32 episodes and over 100 branching routes, nearly double the first game's volume. Demi said the bad endings were not a target metric but a necessity to give choices real weight, so players feel that decisions carry irreversible consequences. The team used a custom real-time editor and color-coded scripts to coordinate video and game scriptwriters. The games are available on PC via Steam, iOS, and Android, with a combined Switch version planned for 2026 by Sega.","whyItMatters":"The interviews reveal that the series' high death rate is a deliberate design philosophy, not a punishment, and that Japanese players' embrace of the 'death game' framing has validated the studio's approach to choice-driven storytelling.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eThe interviews, conducted by Automaton and Game Spark, offer a rare look into the production of a live-action FMV game at a scale usually reserved for television drama. Demi, the producer at New One Studio, said the team includes screenwriters, directors, and cinematographers from film and drama, alongside game designers and engineers who built a custom editor for the project. Director Zhizhu has a background in acclaimed Chinese period dramas, which informed the series\u0026#39; attention to historical detail, including the chashou li gesture of respect and court deliberation procedures.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDemi emphasized that the goal was to make players feel they are living in the world rather than watching it. The team avoided narration-heavy explanations of ancient culture, instead letting characters naturally use etiquette and titles within scenes. The localization for Japanese players aimed to avoid feeling like a translation, adjusting imperial terms and honorifics to match the tone of Japanese period dramas. The bad endings, which number over 100, were written with a playful tone so that failure itself becomes part of the entertainment. Demi noted that Japanese players often treat deaths as collectibles, saying \u0026#39;I died again!\u0026#39; in let\u0026#39;s plays, which confirmed the team\u0026#39;s intent that choices carry weight.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Shengshi Tianxia's 100 bad endings are less a feature than a structural choice. Demi frames them as the cost of making choices feel irreversible, which shifts the game's design burden from quantity to consequence.","twitterPost":"Shengshi Tianxia's 100 bad endings exist so choices feel irreversible. Demi says they were a necessity, not a metric.","threadsPost":"Shengshi Tianxia's 100 bad endings sound like a selling point, but producer Demi says they were a necessity: without them, choices wouldn't carry weight. That reframes the game's scale as a design requirement, not a boast. The Switch version is planned for 2026 by Sega.","newsletterBlurb":"New One Studio's producer explains why a Chinese court drama with over 100 bad endings works: choices must feel irreversible. The series spans 1,500 minutes of live-action footage, with a Switch release planned for 2026.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"Automaton\",\"url\":\"https://automaton-media.com/articles/interviewsjp/20260731-457510/\",\"title\":\"Interview with the developers of the popular 'Chinese court death game' live-action ADV 'Shengshi Tianxia: The Road to Empress I\\u0026II'\"},{\"source\":\"Game Spark\",\"url\":\"http://www.gamespark.jp/article/2026/07/31/169999.html\",\"title\":\"\\\"Bad endings were born out of necessity to give value to choices\\\" - Interview with the producer of the live-action ADV 'Shengshi Tianxia: The Path to the Empress'\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":10194,"outputTokens":1039,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1785901080,"createdAt":"2026-08-05T03:30:32.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-08-05T03:32:23.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-05T03:30:32.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_3be8e0b2a2bf57c94561b493","canonicalTitle":"人気の“中国宮廷死にゲー”実写ADV『盛世天下：女帝への道I\u0026II』開発者に訊く、「バッドエンド100種類以上」でも萎えない工夫。制作3年・撮影期間100日で磨き上げたリアリティとエンタメのバランス","representativeArticleId":"a_b043d59a05912580b34e60b2","sourceCount":2,"writtenSourceCount":2,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":false,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[\"盛世天下：女帝への道I\",\"盛世天下：女帝への道II\"],\"studios\":[],\"people\":[],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"games\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-07-31T04:00:32.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-07-31T04:00:32.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-08-05T03:32:24.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"Automaton","url":"https://automaton-media.com/articles/interviewsjp/20260731-457510/","title":"人気の“中国宮廷死にゲー”実写ADV『盛世天下：女帝への道I\u0026II』開発者に訊く、「バッドエンド100種類以上」でも萎えない工夫。制作3年・撮影期間100日で磨き上げたリアリティとエンタメのバランス"},{"source":"Game Spark","url":"http://www.gamespark.jp/article/2026/07/31/169999.html","title":"「バッドエンドは選択に価値を与えるため必然的に生まれた」―撮影100日以上、総尺約1,500分、100以上の分岐ルートが紡ぐ実写ADV『盛世天下：女帝への道』プロデューサーに訊く"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":["盛世天下：女帝への道I","盛世天下：女帝への道II"],"studios":[],"people":[],"type":"news","domain":"games","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":["Shengshi Tianxia: The Road to Empress I and II took about three years from planning to release, with over 100 days of live-action filming.","The series has a total runtime of about 1,500 minutes, with the second game alone featuring about 1,000 minutes of new footage across 32 episodes.","The second game has over 100 branching routes, nearly double the volume of the first game.","The games are available on PC via Steam, iOS, and Android, with a combined Switch version planned for 2026 by Sega.","The series has sold over 5 million copies worldwide, according to Automaton."]}