Chapter 5

"Where does it look like?" Wang Fubu was speechless. The resolution of the monitors in this internet cafe was only 800x600, and the game graphics at this resolution were predictable. Faces couldn't be seen clearly, let alone who they resembled.

"Next step..." Xia Ci was very satisfied with the character and had already developed some interest in playing computer games for the first time.

The next step after creating the character was to choose the character's profession before the disaster. There were three options: "a recently discharged Marine," "a real estate salesperson," and "a medical student."

The character's previous profession determined their initial attributes and the starting location in the game.

The discharged Marine had higher health, could carry more items, and was better at handling firearms.

The salesperson could communicate better with others, significantly increasing the speed of acquiring followers.

The medical student had the highest intelligence, could set traps, see through the weaknesses of monsters, and had the ability to heal themselves and their teammates, but could only use melee weapons in the early stages.

Although as the game progressed, with the increase in level and attribute points, the character could develop in any direction. The initial profession choice would determine the strategy and pace the player needed to execute at the beginning of the game.

This could hint to the player: the character they were cultivating was unique.

At the same time, it could provide different experiences for the player in the second or even third playthrough.

Of course, there was also the option to "customize," using points to create an initial character and then randomly spawning on the map.

Xia Ci didn't choose immediately but carefully read the descriptions of the three professions, comparing their different advantages.

Wang Fubu, bored, looked at the adjacent computer. The man who was going to take on seven players had already entered the "StarCraft" game page and chose the Zerg race.

"First, spawn a group of Zerglings, and before the computer attacks, you'll win for sure!" The man, under the admiring gazes of seven or eight players, was full of confidence, clicking the mouse and keyboard rapidly.

Wang Fubu had also played "StarCraft" and knew the difficulty of taking on seven players. He was curious to see how this man would do it.

Then, under the watchful eyes of more than ten people, the man spawned a group of Zerglings and transformed them into Mutalisks.

The onlookers were all stunned, as if witnessing a miracle. Only Wang Fubu laughed, thinking to himself that the man was using a game bug to win, and he had been somewhat disappointed.

At this moment, Xia Ci finally chose "a medical student" as her character's profession and entered the game.

Choosing a medical student as the character's profession meant starting in a school dormitory, facing a moderate number of zombies.

"What should I do now?" Xia Ci moved the mouse back and forth. The surroundings were dark, and she felt at a loss.

"Press the W key to move forward..." Wang Fubu leaned in, his posture as if he was hugging Xia Ci, but he was actually teaching her how to operate the game. "Look, you got a baseball bat... then go to the corridor, there are monsters ahead, fight while retreating, don't get surrounded."

"Ah!"

"Ya!"

Xia Ci occasionally let out a scream. The character in the game used the baseball bat to smash a zombie's head, and it was she who screamed.

Soon, Wang Fubu and Xia Ci attracted the attention of the surrounding people, who gradually shifted their focus from "StarCraft" to "Rage."

"Brother, what game is this? How do you get in?" A young man, stimulated by the bloody scenes, was eager to experience it.

"This is 'Rage,' a game I made myself," Wang Fubu said.

"Really?" The young man asked hurriedly, "Can you install it on my computer too?"

Wang Fubu thought for a moment, "I'm uploading it, so I can't directly copy it to you. Here, I'll give you a website. Once I've uploaded it, you can download it from there. It will also help boost the download count."

"Great!" The young man was amazed. He always thought about playing games, but here was someone who, unsatisfied with existing games, started making their own.

Next to them, the man playing "StarCraft" was operating skillfully but suddenly felt something was wrong. He glanced back and saw that the people who were originally watching him were now looking at the adjacent computer. He felt不服气 (unwilling to admit defeat) and glanced at the screen, thinking he would see what game was so captivating.

As a result, his eyes couldn't move away.

Looking at the graphics, listening to the sound effects, and feeling the violence and stimulation of the game, he was amazed!

He was so engrossed that he didn't notice the sound from his computer. When he finally looked, he found that he had been defeated due to inactivity.

He was the best "StarCraft" player in the internet cafe, and being defeated by the computer was a blow to his pride. He looked around and, seeing no one was paying attention, he sighed in relief, quickly exited the game, and focused on the adjacent screen.

"Finally got a gun, put the attribute points from the previous level up into 'gun proficiency' to make the aim steadier. Right-click to zoom in, aim at the head, see, you can kill the monster from a distance," Wang Fubu said in Xia Ci's ear.

"Wow, so cool!" Xia Ci was also excited. She had already adapted to the game's graphics and no longer felt nauseous. Instead, the stimulating scenes made her feel a sense of relief she hadn't felt in a long time.

The people watching around them felt differently. A character moving through a city full of zombies, with the character's level gradually increasing, representing the killing of zombies, brought a sense of indescribable loneliness.

Just then, the character in the game heard a human voice: "Help!"

Instantly, the loneliness was replaced by the excitement of finally seeing another human.

Choosing "medical student" and "discharged Marine" as professions, the first NPC would appear about 30 minutes into the game. This was a deliberate design by Wang Fubu. Although "Rage" had an open mechanism allowing players to kill NPCs and take their items, he didn't want to encourage this behavior.

At the beginning of the game, when the character was poor and the player didn't know how to play, Wang Fubu arranged for an NPC to appear. Some players would kill the NPC for their weapons, out of annoyance, or simply because they were trigger-happy. After 30 minutes, the player was familiar with the game, had found suitable weapons, and had experienced 30 minutes of loneliness, making it more appropriate to encounter an NPC.

Xia Ci controlled the character to a rooftop. The one calling for help was a young man who was starving, asking the player for a little bit of cookies to regain his strength.

Xia Ci had passed a supermarket earlier and had plenty of food. After hearing the request, she opened her backpack and moved the mouse over the cookies. She hesitated for a moment, then moved to the side and selected "premium steak" for the NPC.

"I'm almost starving to death, can you give me a little bit of cookies? Just enough to regain my strength." The NPC refused Xia Ci's offer, rejecting the steak and insisting on cookies.

The people watching around them burst into laughter. The laughter attracted other players, and soon the entire internet cafe was gathered around.

Xia Ci glanced at Wang Fubu. Wang Fubu was embarrassed. While the design was convenient, it did look silly. But he stubbornly said, "The steak is raw, who would eat raw meat!"

So Xia Ci traded over a roasted chicken.

Again, the NPC refused, insisting on cookies.

The surrounding people burst into laughter again.

"Just give him the cookies!" Wang Fubu couldn't stand it anymore.

"I like eating cookies, can't I keep them for myself?" Xia Ci said, seemingly reluctant, and hesitated before giving the cookies to the NPC.

After eating the cookies, the NPC immediately became lively, suggesting and inviting the player to establish a base at a hospital to the east.

Since Wang Fubu didn't want to impose any form of compulsion on the game's flow, the NPC only highlighted the benefits of establishing a base. The player could ignore him and continue their adventure.

Xia Ci didn't understand the significance, but the players surrounding her were amazed.

This game was truly astonishing! The creator seemed to have created a world entirely different from reality but equally real. Even just watching was captivating.

They couldn't articulate the technical aspects, but they knew the game was fun! They wanted to play!

The fun of the game was based on its unparalleled freedom. This was what Wang Fubu pursued in making "Rage" and the confidence he had in its gameplay, rivaling Western blockbusters.

Perhaps compared to visually stunning, tightly scripted blockbusters like "Battlefield" and "Call of Duty," "Rage" had its disadvantages. Playing for an hour, "Rage" might not be as thrilling. However, "Rage" could keep players engaged for a month, even half a year, and still provide new surprises.

After "Call of Duty 10" came out, how many people would still play "Call of Duty 9"?

Seeing the expressions of the people around him, their eyes filled with a desire to immediately enter the world of "Rage," Wang Fubu felt a deep sense of satisfaction.

"Brother, what game is this?" A new arrival, seeing the crowd, squeezed in to take a look and couldn't move.

"It's called 'Rage,' made by a great person. He said we can all play it soon," someone quickly explained.

"Is it a game made by Chinese people?" This triggered a chorus of disbelief.

"Ha, you haven't seen the great person. Once, the computers at my school were broken and couldn't be fixed. Later, a classmate opened the hard drive and used a sewing needle to poke it for three hours, and the computer was fixed! I later found out he was actually writing machine language, those 0101 codes," someone countered. "China has many talented people! If foreigners can make games, why can't we?"

Wang Fubu listened to the whispers behind him and smiled inwardly.

Xia Ci was now very familiar with "Rage." She didn't like to confront zombies head-on. When encountering large groups of zombies, she would retreat, set traps, and then lure the zombies over.

For example, she could hang a thin steel wire in the middle of the road and then lure the zombies over. The zombies, unaware of the danger, would have their heads sliced off when they reached the wire, but the ones behind would still move forward, and their heads would fall to the ground one by one. The visual impact was very strong.

Unconsciously, three hours had passed. Xia Ci, not addicted to the game, obediently exited the game when Wang Fubu said so.

By this time, "Rage" had finished uploading. Wang Fubu added a preview of the next version to the post and clicked to publish.

Although many people had stood for three hours, they were still eager for more and were disappointed when the game exited.

"If you want to play the 'Rage' I made, please go to this website to download it for free," Wang Fubu pointed to the Valve official website and said to the crowd behind him, "The download count is very important to me, so please help by downloading it and not spreading it through copies."

"Thank you, great person!"

"Whoever uses a disk to copy the game, we'll throw them out!"

The crowd, full of enthusiasm, promised Wang Fubu and rushed back to their seats, eager to start downloading.

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