Chapter 1 Familiarizing with the Game

In the story's cinematic sequences, Captain Qin Yi, guided by Aeeis, familiarized himself with the controls and began basic operations training.

Similarly, in the game, Qiao Liang followed Aeeis' guidance to become familiar with the game's controls and fight through the basic levels.

Qiao Liang had been worried that he'd be too clumsy to play an RTS game well, but he was surprised to find that the game's controls were much simpler than he'd expected!

He had played some traditional RTS games, like *StarCraft* and *Fantasy Wars*, but he wasn't very good at them. He was always getting crushed in multiplayer.

That's because traditional RTS games demand too much of the player. They require multi-tasking, high APM (actions per minute), and a strong grasp of tactical details.

Against even slightly stronger opponents, he'd get completely stomped.

Qiao Liang wasn't a genius gamer. He was just a bit smarter and more persistent than most people.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have suffered so much playing *Repent and Be Saved*.

But *Mission and Choice* was different from other RTS games. It didn't require precise commands to individual units; issuing orders to an entire squad was enough.

And Aeeis constantly reinforced this concept throughout the tutorial.

In short, *StarCraft* and *Fantasy Wars* often require intense micro-management. A basic maneuver is "unit kiting," where low-health units in a squad are pulled back to avoid losses, deny the enemy experience, and disrupt their formation.

Good unit kiting directly impacts a player's teamfight ability, creating a huge gap between pros and noobs.

That's because resources and units are so important in traditional RTS games. They require meticulous planning. Often, a hero would lead just five or six units into battle, and losing even one unit would have a huge impact.

These constant skirmishes gradually widen the resource gap between the two sides, allowing the stronger player to secure their victory.

This is the classic RTS approach, and it's not necessarily wrong, but it does create a high barrier to entry. Players unable to perform these maneuvers will find the game much less enjoyable.

*Mission and Choice*, however, simplifies these operations at the game mechanics level, allowing players to enjoy the content without having to master them.

There are trade-offs, of course. By sacrificing micro-management and meticulous resource management, *Mission and Choice* achieves lower difficulty and more grandiose scale.

*Mission and Choice* features vast maps and highly flexible camera controls. After making a few simple commands, players have plenty of time to consider their next move, watch the intense battles unfold, and review feedback from their units.

The cinematic story sequences, the grand scale of the game, and the extremely low barrier to entry all gave Qiao Liang a very good first impression of the game.

...

As he went through the same introduction to the control system and the same basic campaign training as Captain Qin Yi, Qiao Liang felt a strong sense of immersion.

He thought about it and realized it was probably because of the clever way the story was structured.

Most RTS games tend to have stories driven by multiple protagonists.

For example, in *Fantasy Wars*, different races have different heroes, each with their own independent storylines.

Throughout the game's story, players are constantly switching allegiances, possibly controlling Hero A against Hero B one minute and switching sides completely the next.

Of course, this traditional approach isn't necessarily bad. Most successful games have their own set of gameplay mechanics, with their own pros and cons.

The advantage of this approach is that the game can accommodate a vast, diverse world and highlight the epic scope of the story.

The problem is that players are essentially playing from a God's-eye view, without any real sense of immersion. The emotional experience is largely detached from the emotional experiences of the protagonists in the story.

*Mission and Choice* takes a different approach.

The story focuses entirely on Captain Qin Yi. Aeeis never steals the show; it simply provides instructions in a bland, emotionless electronic voice, prompting Qin Yi to perform various actions.

As a result, players naturally put themselves in Qin Yi's shoes.

This sense of immersion is further enhanced by Aeeis' direct communication with the player during the game.

As the story progresses, the players' emotions mirror those of Qin Yi, creating a more profound connection than even a movie could provide.

A clear example of this is the player's emotional response to the introduction of "realistic elements."

Before these elements are introduced, players, like Qin Yi, command soldiers who obey orders without question, going wherever they're told, and the battles proceed smoothly.

After the player issues simple commands, the Aeeis AI refines those commands, making the human army seem unstoppable. The players' attitudes naturally become inflated, just like Qin Yi's.

But after the "realistic elements" are introduced, the soldiers suddenly develop minds of their own, often disobeying orders and behaving in frustrating ways.

Even before suffering many casualties, the entire unit's morale collapses, sending them scattering in all directions, infuriating the player and completely shattering their earlier sense of pride and complacency.

At this point, Aeeis guides the player's actions, providing data analysis. After experimenting a bit, the player finds that the suggestions work well and naturally makes the same choices as Qin Yi.

After the player makes these choices and completes this part of the game, Qin Yi makes the same choices in the cinematic sequence, further reinforcing the player's sense of immersion.

This creates a subtle difference in the experience compared to traditional RTS games.

Most traditional RTS games first present a goal and then task the player with acting.

Often, players are not doing what they want to do, but what the mission requires them to do.

But in *Mission and Choice*, clever story design ensures that the vast majority of players make similar choices to Qin Yi. As a result, the player's sense of immersion is greatly enhanced, and they are better able to understand Qin Yi's situation and actions.

...

Before he knew it, time had flown by.

Qiao Liang was completely immersed in the game and couldn't stop playing!

It felt similar to some of the excellent cinematic games from overseas.

These games feature movie-quality storylines that drive the game forward, with a fast pace and plenty of twists and turns.

*Mission and Choice* achieves a good balance by interweaving movies and gameplay.

Players play the game for a while, and when they get tired, they can watch the story sequences and relax.

The story serves as a bridge, posing a new question for the player and creating anticipation. After watching enough of the story sequences, players dive right into the next stage of the game, repeating the cycle.

Coupled with the game's inherently strong sense of immersion, by the second half of the game, Qin Yi's anxiety, confusion, and despair even begin to infect the player in front of the computer, filling them with the same restless desire to beat the game.

Qiao Liang felt like his emotions were being manipulated by *Mission and Choice*. It was like an enhanced movie-watching experience!

By the middle of the story, Qiao Liang had guessed that the cinematic sequences in the game were probably identical to the movie!

While the content was the same, the game and the movie offered distinct experiences, each with its own strengths and weaknesses.

The game's advantage is that players can personally experience each part of the story. Games are an interactive art form, and players have far more freedom in games than in movies. And if the decisions a player makes in the game of their own volition happen to align with the decisions the protagonist makes in the movie, this exponentially strengthens the player's immersion and identification with the protagonist.

This sense of participation is unmatched by movies.

The movie's advantage, however, lies in a better overall experience.

Compared to the game, the movie's content is more concentrated, and the emotional flow is compressed. Furthermore, the big screen and sound system in a movie theater provide a viewing experience that's several levels above the player's computer and headphones.

So, while Qiao Liang had previously wondered if he could cancel his movie ticket and just watch the movie for free through the game, he no longer felt that way.

After playing the game, he actually wanted to see the movie even more!

With such amazing sets and special effects, and with Lu Zhiyao's incredible acting, how could he possibly enjoy this film on his computer's small screen? Even a big TV wouldn't do it justice!

Such a great film deserved to be seen in a movie theater.

But the movie can't replace the game either, because the sense of participation and immersion that the game provides is something that the movie can't offer.

"President Pei is such a sly fox!"

"He's actually using this method to make money off of me twice!"

"But... I hope he pulls this trick again in the future!"

Qiao Liang's wallet had taken a double hit, but he was also enjoying double the happiness.

"Strange, the plot fragmentation I was worried about doesn't seem to be happening?"

"How did they do that?"

With most of the story already behind him, it was no longer a secret. Qiao Liang thought about it for a moment and understood.

The key to achieving this was the story design.

The story of *Mission and Choice* could be seen as a one-man show for Lu Zhiyao, or as a duet between Lu Zhiyao and Aeeis, but either way, this arrangement was fraught with both risks and opportunities.

The risk was that all eyes were focused on Lu Zhiyao alone. If his acting was godly, the audience would be thrilled. If his acting was terrible, the entire film would be dragged down by him, plummeting to the bottom.

Furthermore, the story was actually divided into phases, with natural transitions between them, but with each phase still clearly delineated.

So, when this kind of story is adapted into a game, it not only allows players to have a strong sense of participation and immersion, but also allows the story sequences and gameplay to seamlessly connect.

As a result, players don't feel any fragmentation. On the contrary, they feel that the game's story has excellent continuity!

"You can actually do stories like this?"

"My game knowledge has been turned upside down again!"

After figuring this out, Qiao Liang was simply amazed by the game.

A simple game adaptation of a movie, or a movie adaptation of a game, couldn't achieve this kind of effect.

The game and movie had to be greenlit together, simultaneously considering the expressive forms of these two different artistic mediums, combining their strengths and weaknesses, and then using a deep understanding of both art forms to perfectly integrate them with a single story!

And to achieve this, the key isn't really ability, but rather courage.

Qiao Liang believed that there were many people capable of writing stories that were suitable for both games and movies, but bosses who dared to use the same script to create both a game and a movie, and who invested heavily in both, must be as rare as phoenix feathers in this world!

The story continued to progress.

The game's story was identical to the movie's, but because the player's sense of immersion was stronger and the duration was longer, the experience was even more intense.

In the final stage of the story, Qin Yi gave a speech to boost the morale of all humanity. And in the final battle, Qiao Liang suddenly noticed that the soldiers who had previously disobeyed orders had changed. Many were willing to sacrifice their lives to defeat the Zerg. The message "Humanity Endures" flashed rapidly across the screen...

For some reason, Qiao Liang suddenly felt his eyes moisten.

Although he knew perfectly well that this was just a game and that the soldiers were just virtual programs, he inexplicably felt as if these soldiers had truly come to life in that instant.

Watching them charge forward to the Zerg wave after wave, sacrificing themselves, Qiao Liang instantly understood Qin Yi's complex emotions. Combined with Lu Zhiyao's brilliant performance, Qiao Liang was filled with a mixture of emotions.

And when he saw Qin Yi betrayed in the end, becoming the new Zerg Overlord, opening his eyes and flying into the cosmos, Qiao Liang was deeply shaken. He didn't recover until the screen went black and the credits rolled.

The entire game flow wasn't very long, because the movie itself was only a little over two hours long. The gameplay levels were interspersed between the story segments, extending the total playtime to about six hours.

Of course, this was the length of time for the basic difficulty. After completing the game, players could try higher difficulties, which would increase the playtime accordingly.

By this point, the sky outside was already bright, and morning had arrived.

Although Qiao Liang was a bit sleepy, he was mostly excited and energized!

Before completing the story, entering the game would automatically continue from the previous story point. Only after the story mode ended would the title screen and various new game modes appear.

There were quite a few of these game modes, but Qiao Liang wasn't in the mood to explore them right now. He had only one thought: to sing the praises of this game right now, immediately!

Of course, Qiao Liang's old bones and limbs were also a bit worn out, so the first priority was to grab some breakfast and then catch up on some sleep.