Building a Gaming Empire From Scratch

As for the real-time online number of players, “Speed Chase” and “Paradise” undoubtedly dominate.

However, in the player circle, the discussion around Flying Fox’s “The Last Moment” has become the center of the topic.

Reflected on live streaming platforms, Flying Fox’s “The Last Moment” has successfully occupied a significant share.

Whether it’s because of nostalgia or trying something new, many streamers who have the conditions to play VR games have chosen to broadcast “The Last Moment.”

Of course, most of the streamers have adopted the “launch Mirage console, log into the virtual world, and play VR games in personal login space” as a live broadcasting method.

On Flying Fox’s side, Lance could even see through the backend that over 98% of their players were playing “The Last Moment” via Mirage.

This made Lance, who was previously excited about the increase in sales, couldn’t help but sigh with a wry smile.

At the same time, it completely solidified his own judgment: the hardware moat no longer exists, the userbase has completely jumped over the wall, and “The Last Moment” is the final glory.

It’s time to start anew and thrive in the desperate situation!

Players don’t have such complicated emotions. Those who have the conditions play by themselves, and those who don’t watch streamers play. They are all driven by the game to return to the end of the war, to the distant strait.

“When will this end?!”

“It’s almost over. This war has been going on for too long. Not only are we tired, but they are too. Everyone is tired.”

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

“Boom!”

“Rapid gunfire…”

“Sharpie! Go! Get out of here! The Fourth Brigade can’t all die here!!”

“Old Fei, your letter.”

“Sigh, missiles can be electronically navigated, but we still rely on postmen to deliver mail.”

“There’s no choice. This hellish place has been bombed over and over again. Every month, it gets bombed a few rounds. If you don’t bomb, they do, and in the end, no one can avoid joining the fray. All facilities have been bombed clean! Not to mention, all the messy electromagnetic interference, sigh…”

“Well, be content. We’re still lucky. A while ago, several brigades of the Manjiaci Allied Forces were ambushed, and it seemed like the entire army was annihilated. In the end, it was us who discovered it first, and we still don’t know exactly what happened.”

“Why?! Why not pursue them?! Did our brothers die in vain?!”

“The war … is coming to an end.”

“But it’s not over yet! We still have time! I know their position! Even if I’m alone, I will avenge our brothers!”

Dual storyline mode.

On one side, the protagonist is a member of the Daxia Volunteer Team: “Old Fei.”

The other protagonist is a revenge-fueled Manjiaci soldier: “Sharpie.”

The plotline of Old Fei’s side doesn’t have many combat scenes, but it showcases the extensive destruction that the war has caused to the area—

Ruins everywhere, once thriving cities turned into scorched earth, displaced people struggling to survive.

Playing as “Old Fei,” players follow the Daxia Volunteer Team while also providing help to the suffering civilians of Manjiaci.

Protection, rescue, medical, supplies, and even education.

It comprehensively presents the unique societal state of struggling to survive under the war while striving to maintain life continuity.

Many details are meticulously portrayed, touching players’ hearts and making them realize the horrors of war and the beauty of peace.

If we say that this storyline represents the “literary” side of the game,

then the other line, featuring the tormented Manjiaci country soldier “Sharpie,” who has been betrayed by his comrades, is the game’s “martial” side.

The opening scene is the ambush, followed by a thrilling escape.

Then, after being refused help and even urged to “give up revenge,” Sharpie embarks on a lone journey of vengeance.

After that, the game is filled with explosive combat.

Ambush, sneak attack, assassination, head-on assault, explosion, escape, going back and forth…

One after another, almost all of Flying Fox’s resources are used to push sensory stimulation to the hardware’s limit.

The game’s pacing control is also very mature, with the two lines intertwined without any abrupt switching. The two lines are juxtaposed but never scattered.

— Besides, it’s evident that Flying Fox has taken the players’ physical strength into consideration by switching between “literary” and “martial” aspects, allowing players to rest appropriately.

On “Old Fei’s” side, players learn little by little about the Manjiaci soldier “Sharpie’s” story through interacting with local residents.

Even the final task intertwined the two threads completely: “Old Fei” received a mission to help an ally deliver a letter to the vengeful soldier.

It was a formal order from his superiors, requiring him to stop the pursuit immediately and return to the camp.

“Sharpie” had already gone too far alone, and Manjiaci Country could not find him in a short time. They had to seek help from the technologically advanced and well-equipped allied forces of the ruling nation.

The mission requirement for “Old Fei” was: to find “Sharpie” before the time set in the ceasefire agreement, and deliver the order letter to his hand.

Otherwise, after the agreed ceasefire time, launching another attack might cause even more severe consequences!

So, two people and two threads officially intertwined.

Players could also experience “Old Fei’s” perspective once again, retracing the path “Sharpie” had walked during his revenge pursuit.

They could also encounter different characters and branch storylines to gradually understand the extent of the damage caused by the “traitor” from another angle.

—Not only ambushing and killing comrades-in-arms but also causing countless civilians’ blood to be shed on this land.

Thanks to the convenience of the virtual world, players no longer had physical limitations when playing VR games. Everyone could play at once, and the game progressed rapidly.

Streamers were even more addicted to marathon live broadcasts.

They didn’t even need diapers!

When they wanted to eat or use the bathroom, they could simply snap their fingers or use a player-defined trigger word to remove the VR equipment and log out of the virtual world.

This was so much easier than the hassle of putting on and removing physical VR equipment when logging in or out of the game!

Unfortunately, the standard bearer of marathon live broadcasts, Yi, had sold his Flying Dragon 3rd generation VR device after completing the “Blaze 3” DLC and had no chance to participate in this excitement…

At this moment, he could only watch other people’s live streams and participate in the void.

But whether they were players playing the game or watching the live stream, they increasingly felt that this was a “masterpiece”!

Even if it couldn’t be called flawless, it was close!

On the RANK-Popular Game Rating, the proportion of full marks for “The Last Moment” was surprisingly high.

Lincoln, who stayed up playing games, felt the same way as the players.

His premonition when he first saw the trailer had been completely verified – as long as they didn’t go unfinished like NetDragon’s initial project.

When Lincoln finally caught up with “Sharpie” in the game, it was already late at night and only one hour remained before the agreed ceasefire time.

Lincoln controlled Old Fei, holding the order for Sharpie in his hand. As long as he delivered it, Sharpie would have to choose between obeying orders and defying them for revenge.

However, Flying Fox gave players another choice here: cooperate with Sharpie, break into enemy lines, and end the battle before the ceasefire!

Without a doubt, this option doubled the difficulty.

But Lincoln didn’t hesitate at all and immediately started the final battle – just like numerous players who reached this point.

After a tough battle and countless reloads, Lincoln, controlling Old Fei, finally helped Sharpie complete his revenge.

But success left them trapped in the enemy’s clutches.

The ending was a violent explosion.

Sharpie sacrificed himself to open a path for Old Fei to break out of the enemy camp.

But breaking out of the enemy camp did not mean they were safe – the enemies were already in pursuit, followed by a difficult escape sequence.

In the very end, the player was completely surrounded by enemies, with no escape possible.

Lincoln sighed, “Sigh… Receiving a letter from home at the beginning, promising to return after the war… these are all dead flags!”

Lincoln was about to reload when, unexpectedly, all the enemies suddenly stopped attacking at one moment.

Under the moonlight, a worn-out officer stepped forward and told him-

“Go home, the war is over.”

The ceasefire had arrived.

The war was over.

The game also ended.

Lincoln logged out of the game, and it was already morning on the next day.

He opened the RANK-Popoular Game Rating, and without hesitation, he gave it a perfect score.

The quality of this game was off the charts!!

It even made Lincoln involuntarily think of “City of Light,” the silent film that Charlie Chaplin made during the death of silent films, which elevated him to the status of a legend.

In Lincoln’s opinion, Flying Fox’s “The Last Moment” was simply the “City of Light” in the field of VR games.

A nearly perfect VR game born in an era when VR games were already dying.

How impressive! And how… unfortunate!