Chapter 295: Computers Have Skins Too
Loading into the game.
On Jia Peng's side, they had Garen, Master Yi, Annie, Vayne, and Lulu.
The computers had Malphite, Twisted Fate, Master Yi, Miss Fortune, and Soraka.
The computers' heroes were randomly selected from the current hero pool, with one random hero for each of the five positions. However, considering that if a computer hero went jungling, it would require specialized jungle AI, which wasn't really necessary, Chen Mo didn't bother implementing it. Instead, he set the computers to a default 2-1-2 lane split.
Jia Peng stared at the loading screen, rubbing his eyes in disbelief.
"What the hell?! How do the computers have skins?"
Two of the enemy computers had skins: Master Yi's [Chosen Master] and Malphite's [Mecha Malphite].
The Chosen Master skin went without saying—Jia Peng had been eyeing it long before entering the game. And this Malphite (the rock guy) Mecha Malphite skin made Jia Peng's fingers itch with desire.
From the splash art, it looked like a massive mechanical beast, brimming with sci-fi vibes and an overwhelming sense of pressure.
Jia Peng sighed in admiration. "Damn, this skin is so cool! Looks like I can't call Malphite an ugly hero anymore. Whether he's ugly or not depends on whether his summoner has money."
Chang Xiuya, on the other hand, was completely focused on all the cute things. "No Teemo on the enemy team either... so disappointing..."
Among the five computers each match, two would have skins. Of course, which heroes and skins appeared were random. The intention behind this was simple: use the bot matches as a way to showcase skins, letting players see various new skins while fighting computers, thereby stimulating their desire to shop.
As for why not all five computers had skins... poor players needed to save face too!
Entering the game, Jia Peng bought a Hunter's Machete and Health Potions according to the recommended items.
During the newbie tutorial earlier, Jia Peng had already done some item purchasing, so he was fairly familiar with the process now.
As for this item system, Jia Peng's impression was that it was incredibly convenient.
Every hero had a default item build recommendation, divided into five modules: Starting Items, Early Game Items, Mid Game Items, Full Build 1, and Full Build 2.
Clicking on an item icon on the left would show the entire crafting tree for that item on the right. Purchasable items were displayed normally, while unpurchasable ones were grayed out—clear at a glance.
In other words, even if a player knew nothing about the item system, it didn't matter. They could just follow the recommended items and click through them one by one.
Moreover, in the tab on the right, there was also [All Items], neatly categorized into Starting Items, Tools, Defense, Attack, Ability Power, and Movement.
In Chen Mo's previous life, many of the official recommended builds weren't optimal. Players had, through continuous experimentation, discovered better itemization strategies. So Chen Mo made some adjustments here, basing his builds on those used in high-level matches and competitive play from his past life.
As for the two Full Build sets, they were determined by each hero's unique traits, giving players the freedom to choose.
Of course, players could also freely modify each hero's item build plan.
After buying the Hunter's Machete, Jia Peng quickly moved his Master Yi out of base and headed to the Blue Buff position.
From the tutorial earlier, he had learned that a jungler's economy came entirely from the jungle, avoiding lane minions as much as possible. For jungling, you could start at either the Blue Buff or the Red Buff, depending on your planned jungle route.
Jia Peng preferred the Blue Buff because he felt that Master Yi was a hero with a mana bar, and this mana-regen buff was like a mobile Fountain of Mana from Warcraft III—it should be very practical.
The other heroes also made their way to their lanes.
"Minions have spawned!"
With a system announcement, both sides' minions began appearing from their Nexus and marching toward the enemy base.
In Jia Peng's eyes, these minions were also pretty ugly, with a rather simple design, not as varied as those in Warcraft III.
But in reality, the minions were deliberately designed this way to avoid stealing the spotlight and distracting players.
Jia Peng felt very relaxed.
This was different from Warcraft III. When playing a versus match in that game, Jia Peng felt his nerves were constantly on edge. Even a rooster crowing at dawn could make him tense up.
This wasn't just about game pace; it was also about art style and atmosphere.
In Warcraft III, the sound effects were very rich, but this richness also made players feel constantly busy.
Peasants diligently built structures, and they'd notify you when finished.
Technology research completions would alert you.
New units and heroes created would notify you.
Population cap reached would alert you.
Various units under attack would sound alarms.
Even when moving a hero, every click on the ground would make them say something. If you kept clicking nonstop, they'd keep talking endlessly.
In short, players were constantly receiving all kinds of information. Combined with Warcraft III's relatively dark, realistic art style and slightly tense background music, players would unconsciously focus their attention while immersed in the game.
Of course, this had its benefits—it made it easier for players to immerse themselves and concentrate.
But it also had drawbacks. This tension made players feel fatigued.
League of Legends made many adjustments to address these issues.
The background music was melodious and soothing. Even during intense team fights, no overly stimulating background music would play. If you weren't paying close attention, you might even forget the music was there.
At the same time, there were no more complex notification sound effects. Even the hero voice lines appeared less frequently.
When players frequently moved their heroes, the hero would only say something every few seconds. And there was a large pool of voice lines to cycle through, so it wouldn't provide instant feedback like in Warcraft III, chattering endlessly.
Coupled with the bright, high-saturation visuals and the chibi-like art style, players' mental state during gameplay was relatively relaxed.
(Of course, during crucial team fights or important promotion matches, players would naturally get tense on their own—no need for visuals or sounds to push them there.)
The Blue Buff spawned, and the massive Gromp appeared before Master Yi.
Jia Peng controlled Master Yi to use Alpha Strike and started clearing the Blue Buff.
Earlier, Jia Peng had briefly looked over Master Yi's skills. After reading them, he concluded one thing: although this Master Yi was far weaker than the Blademaster from Warcraft III in every aspect, there was one thing that was great.
No "Critical Strike" skill.
None of Yi's four skills were particularly luck-based probability skills, which greatly boosted Jia Peng's favorability toward him.