"Brothers, even if I died and got nailed into a coffin, I'd still use my decaying voice to shout out that this game is freaking epic!!!"
"No more words needed—if this game doesn't explode, I'll do a handstand while diarrhoea hits!"
Early in the morning, the group leader "White Horse Passing a Gap" blew up in the Niuma Club, and this unexpected statement stirred up quite some activity.
Quit Smoking: "Damn, is the group leader alive?"
Grandpa Ao: "This guy's lifestyle is too intense, lol!"
Spare people under the knife: "I haven't seen you few dog managers all night, I thought you guys got arrested for misbehaving. (funny)"
Who understands me: "What? What game?"
"Dumbfounded.JPG"
After a while, Dog Manager "Long Days Ahead" also appeared.
"It's the Virtual Reality Game that Brother Guang was recommending in the group the day before yesterday."
Quit Smoking: "Damn, you guys are already playing it?! For real?! You're not lying to me!"
Long Days Ahead: "Why would I lie to you."
Sadly, the device doesn't support taking screenshots in the game.
Otherwise, he would have posted a picture right away.
Quit Smoking: "Then hurry and tell us, what exactly is a completely immersive virtual reality game like? Which VR can be used to play it?"
White Horse Passing a Gap: "VR? Haha, you think those screen-mounted headsets can compare to the Game Helmet of Wasteland OL? (laugh)"
Quit Smoking: "What do you mean, you can play Wasteland OL without VR glasses?"
Long Days Ahead: "You can tell you're clueless, they use a game helmet. Emmm…how should I explain, you've seen Sword Art Online, right? It's pretty much like that."
Quit Smoking: "Damn?!"
Who understands me: "A head-mounted microwave?! Awesome!"
Grandpa Ao: "Who are you kidding, Sword Art Online that kind of… Why haven't I ever heard about such awesome technology!"
Spare people under the knife: "Exactly!"
Most people didn't believe it.
It sounded too fantastical!
To be reasonable, when a groundbreaking technology debuts, there must be a phase from unfamiliarity to maturity. This foundational process can be short, but it has to exist.
Fang Chang actually understood their feelings deep down.
After all, he had also gone through what they were experiencing—feeling that the so-called immersive virtual reality game was just a joke made by some quirky group member.
However—
It was true.
Long Days Ahead: "The device doesn't support photography, so I really can't prove anything, just believe it or not. But after experiencing it for such a long time, I've managed to summarize some information about the game."
Quit Smoking: "Good brother! Tell us quickly!"
Long Days Ahead: "Group leader, mute everyone else, I type slowly."
White Horse Passing a Gap: "All right!"
As someone who was once in the top 200 of PUBG Asia and had ascended to the top of the Legends League, Long Days Ahead's gaming talent was evident to everyone in the group.
He also had the most say in gaming matters.
This guy was like he didn't need to work at all, playing games every day.
Not just multiplayer online games; in many speedrun guide teams for single-player games, his name appeared as well.
Some monumental titles, in fact, many guys in the group had used guides he created.
It could be said that he was indeed a gaming god.
Hence, whether or not they believed in the "Fully immersible virtual online game" concept, or whether they obtained the Closed Beta access or not, almost everyone eagerly waited for him to give details.
"Let's start with the game's background."
"The background isn't anything special, a standard post-apocalyptic setting plus a wasteland punk style. The story is set in a fictional world, where a nuclear war 200 years ago destroyed everything, and the players play as residents of fallout shelters returning to the surface."
"Currently, we—meaning the closed beta testers—are acting as the vanguard going to the surface to build outposts; we haven't entered the main story yet. More clues will probably be unlocked in the internal beta or even public release, so I won't expand on that here."
"Now let's talk about the game's realism!"
"Without exaggeration, this game's realism is the ceiling compared to all games I've ever seen, and foreseeably, even fifty years from now this ceiling will almost be impossible to surpass! As to why I say this, because this game is essentially 'Earth OL's' Wasteland DLC!"
"Whether it's lighting effects, or five-sensory interaction, or even the grainy sensation of touching an object's surface…everything is designed to make you believe that this is the real world. This level of immersion is undoubtedly at one hundred percent perfection. Yes, exactly one hundred percent! I haven't found any noticeable bugs or flaws."
"Next up is freedom."
"As a sandbox game, you can interact with almost everything you touch in the game. This interaction isn't just simple volume collision; you can actually move items around based on your willpower, and within the bounds of physical laws, you can change their shape or state."
"I know what you're thinking—Minecraft or The Forest, right? But it's completely different, it's a true sandbox, not just a block and texture stitching! Just on this point alone, sandbox players will absolutely find this game to be a steal!"
"Now onto the most critical part!"
"First, whether it's players or monsters, there are no HP bars or MP bars set, not even a visible attribute panel, at least during the beta phase."
"However, in the actual game, there are initial attribute differences between players. For example, some players have stronger strength, others have higher perception, agility, or other hidden attributes that have yet to be discovered. I speculate that by the closed beta, an occupation system and weapon system will be introduced, allowing players to develop their own gameplay based on their attribute talents."
"Next are the NPCs, during the current beta phase, there are only two NPCs in the game. One is the Manager codenamed 'Dawn'. The other one is his assistant, a robot named Xiao Qi!"
"It's been confirmed that both NPCs have a high level of intelligence and can communicate and interact normally with players. I suspect there might be hidden affinity settings involved, but that's just my personal guess and it's not confirmed yet."
"Besides that, what really concerns me is the sense of pain. Though the game is one hundred percent realistic, some aspects being too real isn't good, especially since I'm someone who really fears pain. However, the game's design is very humane; the sense of pain does exist along with touch, but there is a protective threshold."
"For instance, when I tried to cut my arm with a stone, I didn't feel pain, but pinching myself did hurt. I assume the game might have some sort of protective mechanism that prevents 'excessive' pain from being captured by the brain's neural center… Of course, it could also be the body's natural protective mechanism. It's like how in dreams we feel pain but it never exceeds our tolerance."
"Actually, I think the game officials could be more humane, like giving players the rights to adjust their pain settings themselves. Personally, I'm very satisfied with the current sensory immersion and pain masking, but there might be players who enjoy that kind of sensation. (Laugh)"
"As for the game's resurrection mechanism, I haven't tried it yet, but I've heard that each death deducts contribution points and the resurrection cooldown is as long as 3 days! Contribution points are okay since they can be earned by accomplishing tasks, but the punishment time is really too long. Anyway, I'm not keen on trying it, but any brave soul is welcome to give it a go, maybe they'll unlock a different gameplay."
"Lastly, I want to complain, why are all the characters pure alpha males??? Who the heck wants to see big burly men naked!!! I strongly call for the game officials to allow players to set their own gender!"
"Long Days Ahead" wrote a lengthy post of one to two thousand words, attracting more and more onlookers in the group chat.
Among them was the mastermind—"Light."
Chu Guang was looking at medical reports from the cultivation chamber scans, hadn't noticed the group chat, and when he accessed the computer at the residents' hall, he saw the lengthy post.
However, to be fair, this "Long Days Ahead" guy summed it up pretty solidly, covering virtually everything he wanted to say, even considering aspects that hadn't been thought of.
Group silence lifted.
Group messages instantly flooded the screen.
"6666!"
"Niubi, is this game really that awesome, I'd freaking buy ten copies!"
"I don't believe it."
"Don't believe +1! Unless you give me a beta pass!"
While there are still many in the group who don't believe in such an awesome game, at least about a dozen people changed their minds.
As for why Chu Guang knew, it's because he could see the backstage of the official website.
In that little while when "Long Days Ahead" was talking, the number of pre-registrations jumped from 11 to 25.
Light: "I was working just now and didn't notice the group chat. What Long Days Ahead brother said was pretty much correct, just let me add a couple of points."
Quit smoking: "Damn! Brother Guang!!!"
(Group silence activated.)
("Light" has been appointed as the group's manager.)
Hmm?
Turned into dog management?
Chu Guang was slightly surprised but didn't pay much attention, continuing to type.
"Firstly, regarding player characters and attributes, just as Long Days Ahead brother said, there are indeed character attributes and level settings in the game, and each player's initial talent is different, which can be viewed at respawn points—i.e., the cultivation chamber where players wake up, or on the official website."
"The death penalty is not just a 3-day resurrection cooldown and deduction of contribution points but also results in the loss of some progress before the save. The method of saving is to lie in the cultivation chamber to undergo scanning and somatic cell sampling, taking about 1 to 2 hours, which will automatically process when the player logs off."
"We plan to implement a quicker attribute inquiry system before the closed beta stage, allowing players to keep real-time track of their character's status, enhancing playability."
"As for customizing the appearance and gender of characters... I'm sorry that's not possible."
"Like being reborn, it's not something you can choose. The bodies in the game are determined by preloaded DNA, and if players are dissatisfied with their character's appearance, they may consider plastic surgery or even prosthetic modifications, which will be available later in the game."
"Also, from the Series A testing stage, players will be able to set their preferences for the five attributes—strength, agility, constitution, perception, intelligence—through a questionnaire on the reservation level page."
"If you choose strength, for example, you are more likely to gain a Strength Type talent, and your initial character will have higher strength. If you do not specify a preference, you may choose a balanced type."
"As for the gender, the character's gender matches the player's, and players cannot freely set this. This is mainly for safety reasons, as physiological differences can lead to coordination problems. Concurrently, the risks of gender dysphoria and related social criticism are something we are unwilling to take on."
Actually, this wasn't set by Chu Guang.
But rather, it was a system's original setting.
There seems to be very complex technical challenges involved, and Chu Guang doesn't understand the principles, only knowing that it is set this way.
Long Days Ahead: "Damn! Come on, I'm an adult already, I can sign a risk awareness agreement!!! T.T"
(Group manager "Long Days Ahead" has been muted for 10 minutes by the group owner.)
White Horse Passing a Gap: "Don't interrupt!"
Level Eight Great Gale: "Exactly!"
Got up at night a dozen times: "Please just shut up for now."
Chu Guang chuckled inwardly, yet he didn't interrupt, continuing to type diligently.
"That's all I've got from the meeting we just had. Moreover, in the next phase of testing, we will add an 'Affinity' System."
Got up at night a dozen times: "Affinity?! What does that mean? Can we date NPCs?!"
(Group manager "Got up at night a dozen times" has been muted for 10 minutes by the group owner.)
Good gosh.
This Old White is really impartial, muting without a second word.
It did save him quite a bit of time.
Chu Guang shamelessly continued to nitpick words with all seriousness.
"Stop always thinking about your object; 'favorability' means the NPC's evaluation of a player."
"The specific manifestation is that the player's behavior will affect the NPC's view of the player. Especially for some key NPCs, when the favorability is high enough, not only can players receive extra rewards, but they may also trigger hidden tasks and unlock hidden career paths!"
Hidden tasks!
Hidden careers!
Seeing these simple eight words, the four beta testers in front of the screen had their eyes wide open.
Their hearts caught fire.
Goodness, this is encouraging them to be bootlickers!
But—
Grandpa likes it!
What's wrong with being a bootlicker?
It's not like licking real people!
They're licking NPCs, artificial intelligence, and besides, licking brings big benefits.
Not embarrassing at all!
Chu Guang thought about it, and it seemed there was nothing else to add.
Currently, the shelter was too poor, and he, the Naked Commander, only had a bunch of free labor and nothing else; he could only draw pies for the players with his identity as an online dog planner.
"Do you guys have any questions? Or any concerns?" Chu Guang wanted to know if the players themselves had any better ideas.
He was very open-minded.
If conditions allowed, he could consider adopting their ideas. If not, he could still draw a pie, telling them that everything would be available in the future.
Level Eight Great Gale said, "Yes! What exactly are Contribution Points? Are they money? Or something like experience? Points?"
Sure enough, the question came up.
Chu Guang thought about it and typed back.
"The game's economic system is still being designed. Our goal is to create a completely realistic economic system from production to circulation, allowing both life-occupation players and combat-occupation players to fully enjoy the game."
"As for the Contribution Points, you can think of them as a special currency for the beta phase, mainly to test the current task system."
"In addition to being used to purchase Resurrection Coins, our planning team is also considering introducing special rewards that can only be exchanged with Contribution Points as a return for beta testers."
Anyway, it was just drawing pies.
As for what rewards, Chu Guang hadn't decided yet; that would depend on what good stuff he could get from the system.
However, this statement was completely different in the eyes of the players.
Only exchangeable with Contribution Points?!
That is to say—
Beta-testing limited rewards!
The four who had already obtained beta-testing qualifications were overjoyed.
Those who had reserved on the official website but had not yet received beta-testing qualifications also felt itchy hearts.
As for those group members who didn't believe in the "full immersion virtual reality game" from the start, naturally, they wouldn't change their minds because of his words.
However.
That was not important.
As long as some people believed, that was enough.
"It's getting late, I've been adding work all night, I need to sleep for a while. By the way, 'Fang Chang,' your strategy is well-written, why not post it on the official website? The forum system has been launched on the official website, you can register an account and post there, and good posts seen by the manager will be highlighted."
This manager was naturally Chu Guang himself.
Currently, he was the only person in the whole company. He played the role of NPCs, an online dog planer, and also moonlighted as the moderator of the official website's forum.
"OK! I'm on it!" Fang Chang, whose gag order was lifted, left this message and quickly crawled through chat records.
The group owner lifted the gag order for the whole group.
Messages flooded the group chat like a bursting dam.
Chu Guang saw that quite a few people added him as a friend; some wanted to inquire about beta-testing qualifications from him, others wanted to dig for game information, and some even planned on teaching him how to make games.
Unable to keep up with the replies, he simply didn't respond and logged off.
Looking at the four medical reports on his computer, Chu Guang suddenly had a whimsical idea and asked.
"Xiao Qi."
"What is it, Master."
"Do you think... since players can use the cultivation chamber, can I also use a clone from the cultivation chamber to move around."
"emmm... I don't know."
"I have no idea what that is???"
"Because I am only your assistant, the information I know is basically what you also know. There is no record of the cultivation chamber you used in my database, perhaps... the Manager did not design a cultivation chamber for your use?"
Chu Guang was about to ask why, but then he fell silent again.
Actually, the reason was not difficult to guess.
If this shelter could withstand a strategic nuclear strike, there surely wouldn't be any means on the Wasteland that could forcibly invade this shelter.
Even if something unexpected happened to him, who was highly anticipated, it would merely mean another period of dormancy for the facility, waiting for the arrival of the next Manager.
Watching Chu Guang fall into silence, Xiao Qi squeaked with concern.
"Master?"
"It's nothing."
Having regained his composure, Chu Guang continued to look at the physical examination report on the computer screen.
Perhaps to help players understand, or perhaps due to the first generation Manager's peculiar sense of humor, over 120 complex physiological data points were all re-summarized and condensed into five succinct categories:
Namely, Strength, Agility, Constitution, Perception, and Intelligence.
Strength referred to the strength of muscles, bones, and other body tissues, indicating the player's basic carrying capacity, melee damage, and throwing weapon distance.
Agility corresponded to reflex nerves, relating to the player's reaction speed and physical coordination abilities, with the specific display being that players with higher agility were more adept in combat and more likely to actively dodge attacks.
Constitution referred to the player's vitality and resilience, mainly reflected in health recovery and resistance to certain abnormal statuses and immunity, among others.
Intelligence was not equivalent to IQ or logical thinking ability, mainly affecting the learning ability and mental condition recovery speed of the character, as well as the compatibility with neural access devices. Specifically, characters with high intelligence could operate more neural access devices simultaneously.
Perception represented intuition and discernment abilities, with characters having higher perception being more sensitive to crises and more likely to discover hidden clues and traps.
This was the most mystical attribute!
All attributes started with a baseline value of 5, fluctuating within the range of ±2 based on the gene sequence and physical condition.
Although he did not have a cultivation chamber specifically for him, Chu Guang still found a spare physical examination device on Level B1 of the shelter.
Just as he had guessed.
He also possessed a special gene sequence, detectable by the physical examination device.
Unfortunately, there was no information related to this gene sequence in the database; it seemed like an existence outside of the plan.
To explain using a term from the game, this was a path not even considered by the "game publisher."
And this also meant that no one knew where this path would lead or what results might come from following it.
Realizing this, there was a slight unease in Chu Guang's heart.
But more than that, he was excited.
Perhaps the word 'adventure' was engraved deep in his bones.
Rather than following a path thought out by others and proceeding step by step, he preferred to forge his own path.
Based on the results of the physical examination and the attribute conversion formula left by the first generation Manager, Chu Guang created his own attribute panel and also made one for the four beta testers using it as a blueprint.
[
ID: Chu Guang
Gene Sequence: Manager
Level: LV.5
—Basic Attributes—
Strength: 8
Agility: 6
Constitution: 6
Perception: 7
Intelligence: 6
]
"The five-dimensional data are basically stronger than the players by one level."
"Does Level LV5 mean the gene sequence has undergone 5% development? It seems that the past five months have not been entirely wasted."
The development progress of the other four beta testers was 0.
But not exactly 0.
For instance, "White Horse Passing a Gap."
His gene sequence was "Strength Type," and by frequently using brute force, namely chopping trees, his development progress had increased by 0.3% in a single day, while the other three beta testers had only increased by about 0.1%.
If he continued chopping trees for the next two days, Old White might become the first player to break through level 0 and advance to LV1.
Thinking of this, Chu Guang made up his mind in his heart.
Indeed, he had to take advantage of them more and make them work harder.
This was also for their own good!