However, the problem was that he hadn’t saved any video footage during his previous experience, so to get material, he still needed to experience and record from within the game.

Qiao Liang realized he hadn’t livestreamed for quite a long time.

Perfect timing—he could start a stream playing “Animal Island,” explain it to his fans, and record material at the same time.

Then he would work frantically to get the video finished by this weekend!

Before starting the stream, he needed to make proper preparations.

On this point, Qiao Liang had learned from the lessons of many small streamers who had livestreamed VR games before.

For conventional console, PC, and mobile games, you only needed to transmit the screen to viewers in real-time through a capture card or screen recording software, but that approach didn’t work for VR games.

Although the video from VR games could be converted to a flat screen, the camera would still move around with the streamer’s perspective, which viewers would see.

For the streamer, frequently changing viewpoints wouldn’t cause any discomfort, but for viewers, it would make them very dizzy.

Moreover, viewers couldn’t see many of the streamer’s actions at all.

These factors would undoubtedly greatly reduce the effectiveness of VR game livestreams.

During the previous performance art style promotion, many small streamers lacked experience, so although they did livestreams, the response was poor.

Qiao Liang had thought about it for a long time. These problems were difficult to solve completely, but they could be improved through certain methods.

First, he would stabilize his neck as much as possible and avoid excessive movement.

This approach might seem simple and crude, but it was indeed very effective.

Many people had small, unconscious movements in daily life, habitually nodding and shaking their heads without realizing it. When playing VR games, these small habits would carry over into the game.

By minimizing neck movements and stabilizing the camera, viewers’ dizziness would be greatly reduced.

Additionally, to make things convenient for players, “Animal Island VR” offered a grabbing function for items. This way, players didn’t need to bend down frequently to pick things up and could maintain a level gaze most of the time, which was also an advantage.

Second, he prepared an extra camera to record his movements in reality; then through a simple software, he could detect the button press states of the controllers and display them on screen.

Through the real-life footage, viewers could better understand how VR games were operated.

Many people who had never experienced VR games might mistakenly believe that VR games were also controlled with buttons, not fundamentally different from PC games. This camera view would help them realize their misconception.

The button detection software was also quite common, used by many streamers. Some used it to help viewers better understand their operations, while others used it to prove they weren’t cheating.

This button detection feature, combined with the real-life footage, would better showcase VR’s excellent characteristics to viewers.

After preparing everything, Qiao Liang merged all these elements into his livestream display.

Unlike PC games, the UI in VR games was very minimalistic, as many elements didn’t need to be in the field of view.

For example, player status, ammunition count, and other data could be placed on the back of the player’s hand, only displaying when the player looked at their hand.

“Animal Island VR” had taken this concept to the extreme, with almost no UI on the entire interface, further enhancing immersion.

Qiao Liang placed the real camera footage in the upper left corner of the screen and the controller button detection interface in the upper right corner.

These two parts of the screen weren’t particularly important and could be covered.

The lower left and right positions still needed to display the movements of both hands and various UI information on the arms.

After setting everything up, Qiao Liang started the livestream and prepared to enter “Animal Island VR” to experience the game.

…

Not long after starting the stream, many fans flooded into the livestream room.

“Incredible! The pigeon spirit is actually streaming!”

“Didn’t you just release a video yesterday? I thought Old Qiao was going to give himself a three-month vacation!”

“Wow, today is… livestreaming ‘Animal Island’?”

Upon seeing the livestream screen, many viewers already understood what Qiao Laoshi was planning to do.

But judging from the comments, many viewers didn’t seem particularly excited or anticipatory.

“Old Qiao, don’t stream ‘Animal Island,’ VR game streams aren’t interesting. Stream ‘Turn Back to Shore’ and suffer instead! You can also build hype for ‘Eternal Cycle’ in advance.”

“I’m leaving if it’s a VR game stream, it makes me dizzy.”

“Casual games are all the same no matter how they’re made. I saw other streamers play the beginning, and it’s not my cup of tea.”

Clearly, many players weren’t very interested in Qiao Liang’s current livestream content.

On one hand, VR livestreams indeed lacked viewer appeal; on the other hand, other streamers had already tried streaming a small segment of “Animal Island,” but the effect wasn’t very good, so Qiao Liang’s fans weren’t eager to watch.

Seeing these comments, Qiao Liang wasn’t flustered; instead, he smiled slightly.

“Everyone, please be patient and watch for a while. I’ve made thorough preparations before streaming, so it’s definitely different from other streamers!”

Qiao Liang didn’t explain much more and directly entered the game.

Although some people left, most viewers were longtime fans who stayed, and the number of people in the livestream room continued to grow.

…

The method and process of entering the game differed somewhat from other games.

Other games typically had a fixed process of clicking buttons, black screen, displaying logos, and going through opening animations, but “Animal Island VR” was different; its entrance was in the VR headset’s environment.

The Doubt VR headset initially came with three scenes. The default scene was a sunny small island with the ocean in front and the island’s forest behind.

In this scene, turning around and clicking with the controller would open “Animal Island.” Of course, the prerequisite was that the game program had been downloaded on the computer in advance, and the wireless screen projection connection between the computer and VR headset had been completed.

After entering the game, the scene would seamlessly transition to the beach at the island’s landing site.

The surrounding scene remained unchanged, but the game’s logo and animation would appear above the player’s field of view. Many small birds would fly up from the forest, and fish would begin jumping in the waves.

This was actually the game’s loading process.

Before players realized this, they had already transitioned from the VR headset’s initial interface to the game’s scene.

Afterward, the controller vibrated slightly, and Qiao Liang saw a slightly raised part of the ground moving toward him, like a tunnel.

After another two seconds, this tunnel hit a large rock nearby, making a “thud” sound.

“Ouch!”

A anthropomorphized marmot character emerged from underground. It was round and plump, with an adorable appearance, carrying a miniature pickaxe with some steam components and a steampunk technology emblem.

A large bump had formed on the marmot’s head, clearly from hitting the rock earlier.

“I’m so silly, I forgot to wear my hat again!”

The marmot pulled out a miner’s helmet from its backpack and put it on.

Just as it was about to dive back into the hole to continue digging, it happened to see Qiao Liang and hurriedly said, “Ah! Hello!”

“I heard someone has already contracted this small island, and according to the description in the documents… it should be you, right?”

“Rest assured, the island has been preliminarily developed by our Steampunk Technology Company. Although it’s still far from the perfect island of your imagination, it’s already in a habitable state!”

“How to develop this island is entirely up to you. Let me take you to the Steampunk Technology service center to register first.”

“This is the Steampunk Technology balance car prepared for you. Please get on!”

As the marmot spoke, it clumsily pressed something on its wrist, and a strangely-shaped balance car drove over from not far away, stopping a short distance in front of Qiao Liang.

Meanwhile, the marmot continued with its lines, guiding the player on how to move.

The instructions were very simple: use the joystick to move and change perspective; use the jump button for teleportation.

The first two hints mainly guided players to move toward the balance car. After boarding the car, new guidance would be provided.

According to Mr. Pei’s requirements, “Animal Island” needed to make the game guidance as concise and natural as possible. So instead of having a separate interface for instructions, it provided guidance in the form of “Now please move to the balance car (use [Left Joystick Icon] or [Left Hammer Button Icon])” while the marmot was speaking.

After standing on the balance car, the marmot began to introduce its driving method.

“The driving method of the balance car is very simple. See that button under your left index finger? Press it for braking/reversing. The joystick under your left thumb controls direction, and the button under your right index finger is for acceleration…”

After the character boarded the balance car, their hands automatically grabbed the two control levers on the car. The layout and structure of these control levers were highly similar to the controllers held by the player.

Therefore, when the marmot introduced the functions of the buttons on the balance car’s control levers, it was essentially introducing how to use the controllers.

During the introduction, the corresponding buttons on the balance car would highlight, making it easier for players to clearly identify which button the marmot was referring to.

“Alright, now try to drive it and follow me to the service center on the island!”

After finishing the introduction, the marmot dove back into the ground, quickly digging tunnels to lead the way, while Qiao Liang controlled the balance car following behind.

Arriving at the entrance of the Steampunk Technology service center on the island, the marmot waited outside, teaching the player how to put away the steam balance car and enter the service center to complete the procedures.

According to the game’s setting, Steampunk Technology had tailored an island development plan for small animals. These small animals could become the owners of an island by spending some money, collaborating with Steampunk Technology to develop the island and turn it into what they wanted.

The service center was a place for the Steampunk Technology company to communicate with and provide services to island contractors.