12: The auditors are excited and resources are tilted

The Ancient Style Game Development Competition has professional reviewers.

They review everything from the game's name, description, CG, to the specific content.

Initially, they would reject games for various reasons, even strange ones incomprehensible to Mortals.

But as societal development became more stagnant, more and more players and practitioners flooded into the gaming industry.

The review restrictions gradually loosened.

Now, as long as a game isn't excessively anti-human, it can pass.

The reviewers' task also changed from rejecting games to recommending them.

They would add recommendation blurbs to good games, allowing the official platform to allocate more traffic for promotion.

However, anti-human games are obvious at a glance, but the difference in quality between games is very difficult to compare.

Most of the time, they can only avoid offending anyone, recommend no one, and just follow the rules.

Qin Dahai was one such reviewer.

He has been in the industry for ten years, reviewing thousands of games annually.

During the peak of the Ancient Style Game Development Competition, he even reviewed hundreds of games in a single day, almost making himself sick of them.

His entertainment threshold was naturally extremely high; vulgar games couldn't move him, and shoddily produced CGs could be condemned in mere seconds.

As the deadline for competition registration approached, more and more CGs were submitted for review, and even many DEMOs were sent in.

Qin Dahai sat at his desk, listlessly moving his mouse and clicking open the latest submitted CG:

“Brothers, come chop me!”

A loud voice immediately rang out.

A celebrity, wearing exquisite armor and holding a Dragon-slaying saber, laughed heartily.

Behind him was a battlefield strewn with corpses, golden lights, and countless dropped equipment.

“One slash, nine-nine-nine, equipment—”

The voice stopped abruptly.

It turned out Qin Dahai had directly closed the CG.

Such trash games were a waste of time to even look at for another second.

He scrolled the mouse to view the next CG.

“Illusion Dream Game Studio?”

Qin Dahai thought for a moment; the name sounded familiar yet strange. He didn't recall playing their games.

So he turned to his colleague next to him and asked, “Old Zhang, have you heard of this Illusion Dream Game Studio?”

Zhang Dajun put down his headphones, turned his head, and also pondered.

Qin Dahai glanced at his screen; it showed ancient palace women dressed in revealing clothes, with a corpulent emperor beside them.

This was also a game type that appeared every year.

“Illusion Dream Game Studio? Is that the one Antarctic Studio copied this year?”

“Oh, oh, that's it!”

“Huh? Huanmeng sent over a CG?”

Zhang Dajun leaned over curiously, looking at the screen with him.

Qin Dahai was also a bit curious.

Games chosen by Antarctic Studio to copy usually have a very good foundation.

This shows that Illusion Dream Game Studio has strength.

But didn't Jiang Feng say he was going to release a new game different from heroes in troubled times?

And he also said he wanted to subvert the entire gaming world's worldview.

So what would this submitted CG be?

Qin Dahai was very curious. After so many years in the industry, he had long grown numb to games and lost his initial interest.

After all, games are just the same old things repeated: Wuxia, palace intrigues, farming, trade… No matter how much you like games, playing them intensely for ten years will make you sick of them.

Qin Dahai had some expectations for Illusion Dream Game Studio in his heart, but subconsciously, he didn't think they could really come up with anything new.

No one in the entire gaming industry has subverted the landscape for so many years; could a new studio do it?

Impossible.

“Hurry up and play it, let's watch together!”

Zhang Dajun shouted from the side, full of anticipation.

Qin Dahai nodded and clicked on the CG.

The two watched intently.

As the three-minute CG played, the expressions on their faces kept changing.

Amazement, shock, confusion, bewilderment... It was as if they weren't watching a three-minute CG.

But a three-hour blockbuster movie.

“What are you two watching so intently?”

Another colleague walked over, curiously peeking.

His pupils suddenly constricted.

“Holy crap, buildings on clouds? What is this?”

“Holy crap, holy crap, warships? So big? And flying in the air?”

“Holy crap! Holy crap!”

Alas, a person of no culture can only exclaim “holy crap” to express everything.

When people are utterly shocked, they can't utter many words.

The entire office was startled by these sounds, and more and more colleagues gathered around.

In a corner, a colleague had just opened the backend; it was a CG sent by Antarctic Studio.

This was from a major company, so it had to be processed immediately.

However, he then glanced at his colleagues, who were in an uproar.

He immediately dropped his work and jogged over to join them.

The CG was set to auto-replay, starting from the beginning.

Layers of clouds, buildings with colorful flowing lights, and a fairy-tale-like scene immediately captivated everyone's attention.

Warships breaking through the air and Cultivators riding Flying Swords elicited gasps of astonishment.

“This Flying Sword must be a drone, right? Is it a sci-fi style?”

“No, no, it definitely isn't a drone. Look here, this Cultivator isn't stepping on a Flying Sword; he's completely walking on air! So cool!”

“Holy crap, Huanmeng Studio has pulled off something huge!”

The reviewers discussed animatedly, all with looks of shock.

Needless to say, this CG was immediately flagged by them for a massive allocation of promotional resources.

If a normal CG were pushed to ten thousand people.

Then Huan Meng's CG would be pushed directly to one hundred thousand people!

The competition for the contest had already begun with the submission of CGs.

And Illusion Dream Game Studio delivered a perfect score.

Qin Dahai sat in his swivel chair, an expectant expression on his face.

After ten years in the industry, he had thought no game could excite him anymore.

But now, he felt like he was back in that summer ten years ago, eagerly anticipating the release of a new game.

This was the pure anticipation belonging to a player.

“Everyone, Antarctic Studio has also submitted a CG for review!”

Someone shouted.

Everyone immediately grew curious.

Qin Dahai was also full of anticipation.

Although Antarctic Studio was shamelessly copying, it was a big company after all.

Their CG might be a PLUS version of Huan Meng's!

Thinking this, everyone quickly opened it.

The result... “In the late years of a feudal Dynasty, a powerful technological civilization invaded.”

“Under the enhancement of gene potions, humans possess powerful physiques.”

“With the aid of drones, Martial Artists can fly with swords.”

“Against this background...”

A narration began, followed by rapidly flashing images.

Antarctic Studio's game was an ancient-style game incorporating technological elements.

The background was a technological civilization invasion, using gene potions to strengthen Martial Artists and launch a dimensionality reduction attack on the feudal Dynasty.

Martial Artists no longer used traditional longswords and broadswords but instead utilized drones or other technological products, such as laser swords.

The screen even flashed some roaring airplanes, with gene warriors wearing parachutes stepping through the air, pulling out laser swords to fight, looking quite impressive.

In the imperial city, the emperor was sitting and conversing with an envoy sent by the technological civilization, seemingly angry and slamming the table because the negotiation terms were unfavorable.

Finally, the Martial Artist controlled by the player appeared on screen, holding a traditional Wuxia manual in one hand and a laser sword in the other.

“Is that it?”

“This doesn't seem very good...”

“Technology plus ancient style? It looks so jarring no matter how you look at it...”

The reviewers looked at each other, all feeling that Antarctic Studio seemed to have lost its mind.

Stitching together multiple elements is a big taboo in game development.

In vr games, it's the biggest taboo of all.

No matter what kind of player, once they enter the VR world, they have a strong sense of immersion.

People go in expecting ancient style, but then you show them a laser sword—isn't that ridiculous?

It's not that you can't stitch things together, but you have to do it with skill and heart.

The answer sheet Antarctic Studio delivered now was clearly perfunctory and too superficial.

Qin Dahai was also disappointed.

He had thought he had rediscovered his anticipation for games, rediscovered the pure heart of a player.

It turned out that Huan Meng's CG was just too special.

“I'm really looking forward to it. I wonder what their demo will be like...”

Qin Dahai rubbed his hands, his face full of anticipation.