Chapter 229: The First Version
For *My World*, Chen Mo had a whole set of modified plans, but those were things to be implemented in the second and third stages.
One of those plans was to establish a more complete tech tree system, allowing players to use blocks in *My World* to build high-tech products like cars and trains, or even construct modern cities.
Of course, in his previous life, many talented people had already pieced together such things, but most of what they built were static objects that couldn’t move. Chen Mo wanted to make these high-tech products part of the gameplay mechanics.
But that was all for later.
...
*My World* on the PO platform was a bit hard on the eyes, unbearable to look at.
Chen Mo didn’t mind, though, as he experienced the *My World* demo on his own laptop.
The others were nervously watching from behind, afraid the demo might disappoint Chen Mo.
The game’s interface was still very basic, with only two options: [Start Game] and [Exit]. Chen Mo clicked [Start Game], and the entire world quickly generated.
Soon, the game began.
The game was in first-person view, with no UI elements like health, hunger, or inventory bars. On the right side of the screen, there was a simple little hand representing the character’s hand.
In the demo, the character could fly freely. Chen Mo controlled the character to fly around the entire world, checking the basic terrain and elements on the ground.
Oceans, mountains, rivers, grasslands, trees, animals...
All the terrain generated normally, and no issues were found. The current art quality was still quite poor, since it was made from substitute resources Zhou Hanyu had rushed out in a short time, roughly matching the art quality of *My World* in Chen Mo’s previous life.
This art quality was acceptable on mobile, but on VR, it was downright unbearable.
Chen Mo manipulated the character to dig up a mountain, then filled it back in. He also tried placing various blocks and crafting items. After testing for a while, he found no bugs.
“Alright, the basic framework is fine. Now, let’s talk about the art direction for the next stage.”
Chen Mo called everyone over and began explaining the art requirements for *My World*.
“The current art style is too rough. We need to make some improvements. First, the sky should have dynamic clouds, and the lighting effects need to be enhanced. The water surface should be more realistic, with reflections and transparency. The grass should sway with the wind, and the trees should have more detailed textures. The animals need to be more vivid, with basic movement animations.”
“Also, the character model needs to be refined. The current blocky look is fine, but the proportions should be more aesthetically pleasing. The hands should be more detailed, and the movement animations need to be smoother.”
“For the terrain, we need to add more variety, like caves, ravines, and different biomes. The underground world should be richer, with more ores and resources.”
“Finally, the UI needs to be redesigned. The current interface is too simple. We need a more polished inventory system, crafting interface, and health bar.”
Chen Mo spoke in detail, covering everything that needed attention. His requirements were very clear, with no communication issues.
Zhou Hanyu wrote down all the points. “Alright, I understand.”
Chen Mo said, “You can start preparing the art resources. After the first version of *My World* is fully developed and ported to the VR platform, we’ll gradually fill in these art details. You have plenty of time, so take your time to refine them.”
Zhou Hanyu nodded. “Okay.”
...
So far, all the development work for *My World* was going smoothly. After all, in Chen Mo’s previous life, this game was developed by a single person, so there was no difficulty in making it.
After creating the basic rules of the entire world, Chen Mo personally got to work, using various materials to build special structures like villages, mines, and temples. These structures would be added as special terrain during map generation.
Chen Mo considered manually creating more special terrain later, as basic elements to include in the generated original world.
By the time the New Year approached, the PC version of *My World* had fully reached the level of its predecessor in Chen Mo’s previous life.
After trying it out, everyone had a decent opinion of the game. But when they thought about using the VR version of this game to challenge the VR version of *Thousand Prisons*? Most people still felt uncertain.
After all, in terms of art quality, the pixel style and the high-precision VR game *Thousand Prisons* were worlds apart.
...
Chen Mo turned down all the activities before the New Year, focusing entirely on making *My World*.
This year’s award ceremony, Chen Mo only attended as a formality. Neither *Diablo* nor *Don’t Starve* won any awards.
This was expected, as neither game particularly suited the judges’ tastes. *Diablo* was a Western fantasy theme, too dark, and its gameplay wasn’t considered highly innovative. *Don’t Starve* was seen as a small-scale production, so it didn’t qualify for the major awards.
Moreover, the judges in this world hadn’t yet recognized the terrifying potential of sandbox games. In the eyes of most judges, *Don’t Starve* was just a niche, high-selling game that wasn’t worthy of the big stage.