Chapter 471 - 302: This War of Mine
Uffie immediately rushed to her workstation and started downloading the demo for This War of Mine.
’Is it really slacking off for a game developer to play games at work?’
’This is called studying!’
’Besides, to put a nice spin on it, this is an internal demo.’
’In reality, it just means being the first batch of testers for this game.’
’We should be glad we’re not asking Zog for a testing fee.’
After working with Zog for so long, her way of thinking had mostly become Zog-ified.
While waiting for the download to finish, Uffie tried to recall the details of the design proposal. She’d only glanced at it briefly, so she couldn’t remember much.
As a professional, she couldn’t just play the game for fun. She needed to map the design choices to their final effect and try to understand the reasoning behind them.
And she wanted to figure out the answer to a question that had been nagging her: what did that title actually mean?
"This War of Mine."
’It’s strange to call a war "mine." How can a war belong to just one person?’
’I don’t get it.’
’Besides, the playable characters aren’t front-line soldiers, but civilians in a warzone.’
’An anti-war game that doesn’t even deal with the war itself... is that really a good idea?’
"DING!"
This was the download completion alert. It was a sound Zog had insisted on—it had to be a "DING!"
The demo didn’t have much content. The entire Magic model used very few Inscriptions.
It even used very few art assets.
The game’s logo was just simple white text on a black background, spelling out the title.
It was so stark it hardly felt like a game.
The start screen was even more direct: a dilapidated urban district, probably with a filter applied to give it a sketch-like art style.
A very unique, stylized approach.
In fact, as Feilin’s games had gradually developed, they had discovered a very obvious pattern.
The more realistic the art style, the more popular the game.
Using a stylized aesthetic was usually a compromise made due to a limited budget.
Zog was obviously not short on funds.
’Could this be Mr. Zhuoge’s artistic vision?’
’As expected of the boss!’
Uffie clicked to start the game, and several other colleagues gathered around to watch.
Playing games so openly during work hours was a privilege reserved for High Level technical staff like Uffie.
But the others were welcome to watch and get their fill.
As the game started, the screen went black and a line of text appeared.
"In war, people die like dogs—senselessly."
Attributed to Hemingway.
’What a brutally frank statement,’ Uffie thought with a sigh.
’But who is this Hemingway?’
’It sounds like a quote from someone famous, but the name doesn’t ring a bell at all.’
The camera panned, slowly sweeping across a city destroyed by war. There were a few scattered spots of color, but because of the sketch-like filter and low saturation, it looked almost like a black-and-white game.
Feilin’s games had never gone through a black-and-white era. Thanks to the nature of Illusion Techniques, they had been in full color from the very start.
Only the Magic Vision Device had a brief black-and-white period.
The deliberately crafted, near-monochrome visuals evoked an unavoidable sense of sorrow.
"Why does this feel so bleak?" a colleague watching over her shoulder murmured.
’So it’s not just me,’ Uffie thought. ’Another trick learned. He’s not using set pieces or other specific visual elements, but the overall style to influence the player’s emotions.’
After showcasing the city’s ruins, the view on the screen settled on a single house.
It was three stories tall with a basement, but it was in ruins, with several collapsed sections. Three characters stood waiting in different rooms.
Day 1.
The day count appeared in the center of the screen, marking the official start of their struggle for survival in the warzone.
This was followed by a pop-up with background and character introductions.
"War broke out. Everyone thought it wouldn’t last long. However, months have passed since the army laid siege to this place. The civilians trapped in the city have endured hunger, sickness, and the constant threat of shelling.
"Kadia knew Pavle and Bruno before the war. She was a reporter. Bruno was an excellent chef with his own cooking show, while Pavle was a fairly well-known athlete. Now, their world has been turned upside down, and they are all scrambling for food and a safe place to stay..."
The introduction panel showed three photographs. They didn’t look like Illusions; they looked more like photos of real people.
The characters stared directly into the camera, as if their gazes could pierce the screen to meet the player’s own.
What Uffie didn’t know was that the character combinations prepared for first-time players were all extremely powerful.
The chef, Bruno, used fewer resources when cooking and had astonishing mental fortitude, making him almost impossible to break.
The athlete, Pavle, was the fastest character in the game, making him perfect for scavenging runs.
The reporter, Kadia, was a skilled negotiator who could haggle with traders to secure more supplies.
Although the game had no difficulty options, for a survival game defined by resource scarcity, this team composition was effectively a hidden easy mode.
Zog’s mercy.
If a first-time player started with a much harder set of characters, it would lead to significant frustration.
However, even this "easy mode" was anything but for a new player unfamiliar with the game’s systems.
Uffie, at that moment, had no idea what agonizing choices lay ahead.
For now, Uffie was busy controlling her three characters, guiding them to scavenge for supplies within their starting house and familiarize herself with the game’s systems.