Chapter 734: Seaside Mansion
Chen Mo planned to launch ten different themes, and additionally, he intended to take Drake’s house from the final chapter and turn it into a standalone unit, given as a gift to players who purchased *Uncharted*.
The themes for VR game pods were similar to computer themes—they served as the large background scene players saw upon logging in.
On a computer, a theme might just be a wallpaper or dynamic wallpaper paired with a unique interface UI, but in a game pod, a theme was an entirely independent scene.
After purchasing a game pod theme, players would enter a special space upon logging into the pod, and from there, they could access different games.
This space could be decorated with various landscapes. Some companies specialized in traveling the world to capture stunning scenery or creating beautiful scenes to sell as game pod themes.
After all, everyone appreciates beauty, and many people enjoy dressing up their game pod spaces to look nice.
The *Uncharted* themes Chen Mo selected were mostly exceptionally beautiful vistas. For example, the scene from [Chapter 12: At Sea] featured an ocean of turquoise green, as clear and transparent as crystal, with blue skies and white clouds as poetic as an oil painting.
Islands dotted the sea like gems, with sandy beaches, rocky caves, lush vegetation, and lost ruins. From the top of a tower, everything around could be seen at a glance, breathtakingly beautiful.
Moreover, these scenes were unique because they were artistically exaggerated. In reality, such remote, uninhabited islands were absolutely rare to encounter.
Creating these themes wasn’t difficult either, since the scenes were already available in the game and just needed some tweaks. The main changes involved scaling down the size and reducing the performance requirements for the game pod, so loading a theme wouldn’t be as taxing as loading a game.
Additionally, these themes could be used as settings for relaxation mode, allowing players to rest comfortably there.
Beyond these themes, Chen Mo also planned to create a home for players within the VR game pod.
Similar ideas had been attempted by other designers, but so far, no particularly popular product had emerged.
The reason was simple: they weren’t good enough.
It’s important to note that in the parallel world, current VR technology hadn’t yet achieved the realism of a “soul transfer.” It was more advanced than the tech in Chen Mo’s previous life, but still far from the concepts depicted in online game novels.
“Preparing a mansion for players in the game pod” sounded like a great idea, but many designers ran into numerous problems when actually creating it.
The scenes in the game pod were ultimately fake. Players could watch TV, lie on the sofa, cook, look in the mirror, change clothes in their “home” within the pod—but this required the scene to be extremely realistic.
Extreme realism meant extremely high investment.
High-precision scenes, complex character animations, scene interactions—all of these were beyond the reach of small companies.
For large companies, they also had to consider whether the cost of creating these things could be recouped.
Players would pay for VR games, but few would spend a lot of money on a scene with no story.
There were some similar products on the market, but overall, they followed a “low quality, low price” approach, mainly to create buzz.
They would create a home scene of mediocre quality and sell it cheaply to interested players (especially female players) to maintain profitability.
But for Chen Mo, there was no issue with investment, because these were all ready-made scraps from *Uncharted*.
He also didn’t need to worry about profitability. Anyone who spent a certain amount on the Thunder Game Platform would get them for free.
In the final chapter of *Uncharted*, there was such a scene: Nathan and Elena settled in a seaside mansion. Step outside, and there was the beach and ocean, with coconut trees and cliffs nearby, plus a small hut used as a storage room and workshop.
On the beach, there were lounge chairs, a hammock, and a small pier where a yacht could dock.
Drake’s residence also had many interactive props, such as a guitar, wardrobe, TV console, photo album, camera, bookshelf, record player, and a dog.
Of course, some modifications would be made compared to the original scene in *Uncharted*.
First, overly realistic items would be removed, like clothes strewn about or clutter on the sink, since the original scene made Nathan’s home too messy to emphasize a lived-in feel.
Second, new interactive props would be added.
For example, players could freely change clothes near the wardrobe, play games on the TV from itch, flip through a photo album to view in-game screenshots, browse books purchased online on the bookshelf, listen to music on the record player, and interact with the dog.
These interactive elements could even be expanded into small games.
For instance, interacting with the dog could include feeding, bathing, grooming, and training, turning this module into something like a “virtual pet” gameplay.
This house could continuously receive new content, undergo updates and iterations, and even support players in paying to purchase scenes online for DIY room decoration.
Of course, these were plans for later versions. The first version was just a gimmick.
For now, since VR game time was hard to guarantee and players’ gaming time was precious, aside from relaxation mode, players generally wouldn’t waste their normal playtime lingering in this room.
But what if technology broke through again in the future, and players’ minds in the game pod weren’t so easily fatigued?
What if the level of realism improved further, allowing players to truly experience brain-computer interface VR technology?
Would many players dislike the real world and choose to enjoy themselves in the game pod, in the virtual world?
In the parallel world, nothing was certain, so Chen Mo considered this an early move.
By leveraging his current advantages to expand market share in these fringe areas, he could establish more leads over other game companies. When technology broke through again, he would be one step ahead.
For now, it might seem like a flashy toy, but in the future, it could become a key scene that everyone relied on.
This scene was named *Seaside Mansion* and would be offered as an independent scene (also viewable as a mini-game). Any player who spent 2,888 soft coins on the Thunder Game Platform would receive it for free.
Of course, this was just the initial version, with a fixed house layout and only some simple interactive functions. There were no extended services like custom room decoration or larger house types yet.
But in terms of scene quality alone, it was absolutely top-tier among similar products, completely outclassing other comparable offerings.