Chapter 421: The Exhibition
The research and development for *Overwatch* was progressing smoothly. Unlike before, the development process no longer involved releasing the game pod first before opening the initial version of *Overwatch*.
The current game was still relatively simple, featuring only one map, Lijiang Tower, and one hero, Pharah. Upon entering the game, players were taken directly to the Lijiang Tower map.
Chen Mo took a look around. He had already transformed into Pharah. Looking down, he could see the blue armor he was wearing and the rocket launcher in his hands.
Of course, Chen Mo was currently experiencing the in-game state. In the official release version, players would be able to view the full appearance of their hero from a third-person perspective on the character selection screen.
At the edges of Chen Mo’s field of vision, there were some prominent UI elements. The top left displayed basic information like the hero’s avatar and health points. The bottom left showed the usage and cooldown status of two special abilities. The bottom right indicated weapon status and ammunition count, while the top right showed the ultimate ability’s charge status.
The entire periphery of the field of vision was rendered in a semi-transparent, tech-inspired style, giving the impression of observing the battlefield through a special tactical visor. Key information and the UI elements blended seamlessly together without obstructing the player’s view.
It felt similar to wearing glasses. Although the frame of the glasses could partially block the view, it was only at the edges. If you didn’t pay attention, you’d ignore it; only by deliberately looking could you notice the information displayed there.
Moreover, this UI design offered a stronger sense of immersion and aligned better with the technological feel of *Overwatch*.
Players could open the help interface at any time to view the hero’s skill descriptions.
In the open space ahead, there was a training robot target with unlimited health.
Chen Mo fired a rocket from the rocket launcher in his hand at the robot target.
A slight vibration traveled through his arm, and the rocket launcher’s aim was essentially aligned with where Chen Mo wanted to shoot.
Porting an FPS game to the VR platform didn’t mean you could shoot anywhere you wanted; otherwise, FPS games would become purely about eyesight.
In FPS games on the VR platform, players could freely control the direction of their weapon, but with certain limitations. For example, you couldn’t shoot behind you (you had to turn around first). When shooting toward the center of your field of vision, accuracy would improve accordingly; the closer the shot was to the edge of your vision, the worse the accuracy would be.
The player’s control of their field of vision and the direction of their shots were two different mental signals, testing the coordination of the player’s eyes, hands, and brain. Players who had spent a long time playing FPS games would have much higher accuracy than newcomers.
Chen Mo then tried using Pharah’s two abilities.
The direction of the Concussive Blast matched the direction of the shot, following the same rules. When using the Jump Jet, Chen Mo could feel a slight vibration in his back, and his entire body quickly launched into the air.
The feeling of flying was similar to the PC version, but the field of vision was much broader, and observing the surroundings was much freer, no longer requiring the effort of moving the mouse.
The sensation of rapidly descending from a high altitude was a bit too realistic, making Chen Mo’s legs instinctively feel weak. However, after flying a few more times, he quickly got used to it. The feeling of soaring in the sky was fantastic, offering a much stronger sense of immersion than the PC version.
After bombarding the robot target with a barrage of rockets, Chen Mo exited the game pod with satisfaction.
“How was it, Boss?” Qian Kun asked with some anticipation. It was clear he had already experienced Pharah in VR mode.
Chen Mo nodded. “Mm, it feels about right. No issues. Keep working on it. Rush to finish the subsequent heroes as soon as possible.”
“Okay, no problem.” Qian Kun happily went back to work.
After confirming that the VR version of the game experience was fine, Chen Mo felt reassured.
The development plan for *Overwatch* was progressing steadily. Once it was confirmed that the game could be completed on schedule, Chen Mo headed to Shanghai to arrange matters for the game exhibition.
Since the YouPlay game exhibition the year *Onmyoji* was released, Chen Mo had basically let others in the company handle it, without participating himself. Since there were no games particularly needing promotion, holding the exhibition wasn’t very interesting.
But this time, Chen Mo planned to use the exhibition as an opportunity to release the first version of *Overwatch* and use it as a starting point for promotion.
…
…
Shanghai, New World Expo Center.
The booth for Thunderbolt Interactive was being set up, with many staff members busy at work.
This time, Thunderbolt Interactive’s booth was in Hall N3, which was much larger than last time, occupying over a third of the entire hall.
This time, the exhibition hall wasn’t grouped with Dizhao Interactive or Chanyi Interactive. The companies in Hall N3 were all small firms, so Thunderbolt Interactive’s booth was assigned a very good location.
The recent games Chen Mo had developed with some recognition were *Minecraft*, *League of Legends*, and *Outlast*. However, *Minecraft* and *Outlast* weren’t very suitable for setting up booths, and there wasn’t much room for cosplayers to shine.
So, this time Chen Mo mainly set up two experience zones: a PC experience zone and a VR experience zone, equipped with computers and VR game pods.
In the PC experience zone, players could try out the new version and new heroes of *League of Legends*, with competitions held to give away hero figurines. In the VR experience zone, players could experience *Outlast* and *Overwatch*.
Additionally, there were some cosplayers, mainly portraying female characters from *League of Legends* and *Overwatch*. Of course, cosplayers weren’t strictly necessary; the key point was the trial experience of *Overwatch*.
For Chen Mo, he no longer needed to rely on cosplayers or gimmicks to attract players. The quality and reputation of the games alone were enough to draw them all in.