Chapter 730: The Art of Scene Transitions
Many designers whose faces had been thoroughly slapped watched the livestream and quickly understood what was going on.
It wasn’t that there were no loading times; Chen Mo had simply used incredibly clever methods to hide all the loading!
For example, the transition from the orphanage to the prison scene was accomplished through the brothers’ CG cutscene. While the cutscene played, the game pod had already deleted most of the orphanage’s resources and loaded the prison’s resources.
Moreover, hiding loading times wasn’t limited to just CG cutscenes.
Nathan would violently slam against a door at regular intervals—this might be loading. Climbing across a place where a bridge collapsed—this might also be loading.
If CG cutscenes were the only method of hiding loading, players would likely notice. Playing a cutscene every time the scene changed would make the intention too obvious.
Chen Mo used many different methods to clear out previous resources from the game pod and preload resources for the next level, allowing the VR game pod to always run a small level at peak performance while ensuring players always had a seamless gaming experience.
Many designers had to admit: this was a truly genius idea!
Even if others could think of this concept, it didn’t mean they could actually implement it. This required extremely strong script control and level planning abilities, seamlessly connecting numerous small levels through various methods without leaving a trace.
Furthermore, this was a design that only *Uncharted* could use, because it was a cinematic, linear narrative experience.
Many open-world games couldn’t use this technique, but *Uncharted* had no complex branches or high freedom. It only had one storyline, so rhythm control could be taken to its peak.
In other words, this technique and *Uncharted* mutually reinforced each other. High-quality graphics combined with the unique no-loading design allowed *Uncharted* to achieve the pinnacle of cinematic gaming.
...
Nathan put the documents about the Malaysian shipwreck back into the cabinet and stood up.
The camera angle zoomed in, and Lin Xue regained control of Nathan.
“I want to go back and see the seabed from earlier. Can I still go? The seabed was so beautiful!”
Lin Xue was still a bit unsatisfied. When she was salvaging the sunken ship underwater earlier, she had become somewhat captivated.
The underwater scene: the blue-tinted view, rocks, seaweed, schools of fish, her own breathing sounds, radio chatter, sunken cargo containers...
When using the tow hook to pull the cargo container, she had to wrap the rope around it once to hook it. This detail also made Lin Xue find it very interesting.
Although Lin Xue had never actually tried diving, this segment made her feel that diving should be exactly like this.
At this point, Nathan was already at home.
Lin Xue stood up and examined the layout of Nathan’s house.
Nathan was currently in the attic of the house. Everywhere she looked, there were scattered odds and ends, but it wasn’t messy. It really looked like what an adventurer’s storage room should be.
Curious, Lin Xue walked around, picking up artworks on the table and cabinet to examine them closely.
A Buddha statue with three heads and six arms.
A metal skull.
Spanish silver coins found on a German submarine.
A photo with Sully and Elena from years ago.
And the Saint Dismas cross found in the prison years ago.
Clearly, these were all Nathan’s collectibles.
She even picked up a toy gun and had a shooting game in the attic.
It wasn’t until Elena called Nathan downstairs for dinner that Lin Xue reluctantly headed down.
First was the bedroom, a bit messy.
Clothes were casually piled on a chair, and the items on the desk weren’t neatly arranged. But Lin Xue felt this scene had a strong sense of life, perfectly portraying Nathan’s post-marriage state.
If this scene were as tidy as a furniture showroom, that would be unrealistic.
While going down the stairs, Lin Xue specifically looked at the paintings on the wall. There were several photos of Nathan and Elena, along with some landscape pictures.
Nathan went to the fridge, grabbed a can of drink, and chatted with Elena while drinking.
Soft, soothing instrumental music played from the speakers on the bookshelf. The dim yellow light from the wall lamp made the whole scene feel very warm. Elena sat on the sofa, writing a draft on her laptop.
Nathan walked over to Elena with a bowl, just as she finished her work. Relieved, she placed the laptop on the coffee table and took the dinner from Nathan’s hands.
The camera froze in front of the sofa, showing Nathan and Elena eating and chatting.
As they talked, the conversation turned to video games.
“Huh? You can play video games in here? What kind of video games?”
Lin Xue was puzzled when the camera shifted, and a Switch appeared on the screen.
Lin Xue: “...This product placement caught me completely off guard!”
She loaded the game and was stunned.
“*Flappy Bird*?????”
The original game in the source material was *Crash Bandicoot*, but Chen Mo had mischievously replaced it with the first game he made after coming to this world, *Flappy Bird*.
“Hmph, Nathan, you’ve come to the right person this time. I’ll definitely help you beat your wife’s record, don’t worry!”
Lin Xue was full of confidence. She had played *Flappy Bird* before and had also endured the baptism of *Getting Over It*, giving her a strange confidence in such small games.
However, her best score was only a pitiful 35...
Then she looked at Elena’s high score: a shocking 360 points.
Lin Xue complained, “Alright, girl, I finally understand what you do at home all day when you’re free. It’s suffocating. Why would you waste your time playing games every day? Isn’t a man more fun, or isn’t capitalist life decadent enough?”
The barrage comments fired back: “Xue, you’ve got some nerve talking about others!!”
...
Meanwhile, Zou Zhuo was enjoying the scenery.
Below the mountain was the mansion where the auction would be held. Luxury cars of various colors filled the front yard. Gentlemen and ladies in formal attire gathered in small groups, holding red wine and chatting.
The light brown roof and the European-style mansion looked like they had a long history. The people attending this auction were either wealthy or powerful.
On the mountain was the ruin of some main building. Dilapidated stone structures were covered in climbing vines. The green grass swayed in the gentle breeze, butterflies fluttered, and occasionally the pleasant chirping of mountain birds could be heard.
In the distance, the cliff was reflected in the water. The sky and sea met at the horizon. Pale clouds and mist cast a warm hue over the entire scene, breathtakingly beautiful.
Zou Zhuo couldn’t bring himself to move.
“I feel like this scene could be used for a relaxation mode. Put a lounge chair here, bask in the sun—so comfortable,” Zou Zhuo sighed.
On the barrage, various “666” comments were flooding the screen.
“Graphics are insane!!”
“Mom, I want to buy a VR game pod! For traveling!”
“This art design is amazing!”
“As expected of Thunderbolt Interactive, the scenes are incredible!”
“The sound effects are perfect too. Hard to imagine what it’s like experiencing this in a game pod!”
“I want to leave a message on this cliff: ‘Stunning view!!’”