In the cinematic sequences, Captain Qin Yi followed AEEIS’s guidance, familiarizing himself with the control panel’s usage and beginning basic operation training.
Similarly, in the game, Qiao Liang also followed AEEIS’s guidance, getting familiar with the game’s controls and engaging in basic level combat.
Initially, Qiao Liang was concerned when he learned this was an RTS game, worried that his lack of dexterity would make it difficult to play well. But surprisingly, the game’s controls were much simpler than he had imagined!
Qiao Liang had played some traditional RTS games before, like “StarSea” and “Fantasy Battle,” but his skill level wasn’t high—when playing against others, he was purely cannon fodder.
Traditional RTS games demanded too much from players: multitasking, extremely high APM (actions per minute), and precise control over various tactical details.
When facing opponents even slightly stronger, it was entirely one-sided domination.
Qiao Liang wasn’t a naturally gifted player; he was just slightly smarter than average and had more perseverance and determination.
Otherwise, when he had played “Turn Back to Shore,” he wouldn’t have suffered for so long.
But “Mission and Choice” was different from other RTS games—there was no need to issue precise commands to every individual unit; issuing orders to an entire squad was sufficient.
Throughout the tutorial, AEEIS continuously reinforced this concept.
In simple terms, in games like “StarSea” and “Fantasy Battle,” players often needed high micro-management skills. For example, a basic operation was “unit kiting”—pulling back a low-health unit from a formation. This operation could prevent losses, deny experience to enemies, and disrupt the enemy’s formation.
How well one could kite units directly determined a player’s teamfight ability, and the gap between experts and novices would widen infinitely just based on this one operation.
In these traditional RTS games, resources and units were too important; players needed to be extremely economical. Often, a hero with just five or six units would engage the enemy, and losing even one unit had an enormous impact.
Through these constant clashes of details, the resource gap between both sides gradually widened, and the stronger side gradually secured victory.
This approach was classic for RTS games, and it wasn’t wrong, but its problem was that the game’s threshold was too high. For players who couldn’t perform these operations, the enjoyment of the game significantly decreased.
“Mission and Choice” directly simplified these operations in its game mechanics, so even if players couldn’t execute them perfectly, it wouldn’t affect their experience of the game’s content.
There were trade-offs: after abandoning these minute operations and resource micromanagement, “Mission and Choice” gained a lower learning curve and more magnificent scenes.
The maps in “Mission and Choice” were extremely vast, with a high degree of freedom in perspective. After making some simple operations, players had plenty of time to think about their next move, as well as to appreciate the intense battles on the battlefield and check the feedback from various units.
The movie-level cinematic sequences, the grand scale of the game, and the extremely low learning curve all gave Qiao Liang a very good first impression of this game.
…
Just like the protagonist who was encountering the entire control system for the first time and starting training with the simplest campaigns, Qiao Liang felt deeply immersed.
He carefully considered why and thought it might be due to the clever arrangement of the storyline.
In most RTS game stories, multiple protagonists often drive the plot.
For instance, in “Fantasy Battle,” different races had different heroes, and each hero had an independent storyline.
Throughout the game’s story, players constantly had to switch their stance. One minute they might be controlling Hero A against Hero B, and the next minute the situation could be completely reversed.
Of course, this doesn’t mean traditional approaches are bad. Most successful games have their own set of gameplay mechanics, with pros and cons.
The advantage of this approach was that the game could accommodate a very grand, diverse world background and could also emphasize the epic feel of the entire story.
But the problem was that players were basically playing from a god’s perspective, without any sense of immersion. Their emotional experience was largely detached from the emotional experience of the protagonist in the story.
“Mission and Choice” took a different approach to its story.
The plot focused entirely on Captain Qin Yi, and AEEIS didn’t overshadow him at all. It just used a good but unflashy, emotionless electronic voice to constantly prompt Qin Yi to perform various operations.
This way, players would naturally immerse themselves into the role of Qin Yi.
Additionally, during the game, AEEIS would directly communicate with the player, further strengthening this sense of immersion.
As the story progressed, players’ emotions changed along with Qin Yi’s emotions, even more empathetically than in the movie.
A clear example was the change in player emotions when “realistic elements” were introduced.
Before incorporating “realistic elements,” both the player and Qin Yi commanded soldiers who followed orders 100%, attacking wherever directed, and the entire combat process was very smooth.
After the player issued some simple commands, the AEEIS artificial intelligence would refine these commands, making the human army seem unstoppable. Naturally, players’ mindsets would become just like Qin Yi’s, unconsciously becoming inflated with pride.
But after introducing “realistic elements,” the soldiers suddenly had their own thoughts and would often disobey orders, doing things that would anger the player.
Even before many casualties occurred, the morale of the entire unit would collapse, and they would scatter and flee, infuriating players and completely washing away that previous sense of arrogance.
At this point, AEEIS would guide the player’s operations and provide some data analysis. After trying this and finding it effective, players would naturally make the same choices as Qin Yi.
After players made choices and completed this part of the game content, Qin Yi would make the same choices in the cinematic sequence, further strengthening the player’s sense of immersion.
In terms of experience, there was another subtle difference from traditional RTS games.
Most traditional RTS games first provided objectives and then let players act.
Often, when players commanded campaigns, they weren’t doing what they wanted to do, but what the mission required.
But in “Mission and Choice,” through clever story arrangement, most players would make choices similar to Qin Yi’s. This way, players’ immersion would be stronger, and they would better understand Qin Yi’s situation and actions.
…
Imperceptibly, time passed minute by minute.
Qiao Liang was completely immersed in the game and simply couldn’t stop!
This feeling was somewhat similar to some excellent cinematic games from abroad.
The characteristic of such games was that they were permeated with movie-level storytelling throughout, with a fast pace and many twists.
“Mission and Choice” achieved a perfect balance through the interweaving of movie and game.
Players would play the game for a while, and when they got tired, they’d enter a cinematic sequence to relax.
The story sequences served to connect what came before and after, presenting players with a new problem, creating a sense of anticipation. After watching enough of the cinematic, players would directly enter the next phase of gameplay, continuing this cycle.
Combined with the game’s inherently strong immersion, by the latter part of the game, Qin Yi’s feelings of anxiety, confusion, and despair could directly affect players at their computers, making them share his sense of urgency to quickly complete the game.
Qiao Liang felt his emotions were being manipulated by “Mission and Choice,” making it an enhanced viewing experience!
By the time he reached the middle of the story, Qiao Liang had already roughly deduced that the game’s cinematic sequences and the movie’s content were likely completely identical!
Although the content was identical, the experiences of the game and movie each had their own advantages and disadvantages.
The advantage of the game was that after each storyline, players could personally experience it hands-on. Games are an interactive art form, and players have far greater freedom in games than in movies. If the decisions players make in the game based on their own will happen to align with the decisions the protagonist makes in the movie, it exponentially strengthens both the player’s sense of immersion and their identification with the protagonist.
This sense of participation is something movies cannot match.
The advantage of movies, on the other hand, is a better overall experience.
Compared to games, movie content is more condensed, the entire emotional flow is compressed, and the big screen and sound system of a movie theater absolutely provide a viewing experience several levels better than a player’s computer and headphones.
So, previously Qiao Liang was wondering if he could refund his movie ticket and get the movie for free through the game, but now he wouldn’t think that way at all.
After playing the game, he actually wanted to go to the theater even more!
Such impressive sets and special effects, plus Lu Zhiyao’s excellent acting—how could he fully enjoy this film on the small screen of his computer? Even a large TV wouldn’t do it justice!
A film this good needed to be seen in a theater.
And movies couldn’t replace games either, because the sense of participation and immersion games give players is something movies cannot achieve.
“Mr. Pei is so clever!”
“Using this method to make money from me twice!”
“But… I hope this kind of cleverness comes more often!”
Although Qiao Liang’s wallet took a double hit, he also received double the pleasure.
“Strange, the concern about story fragmentation I had earlier doesn’t seem to have materialized?”
“How did they manage that?”
More than half of the story had passed, so this was no longer a secret. Qiao Liang thought about it briefly and understood.
To achieve this, the most crucial aspect was still the story arrangement.
The storyline of “Mission and Choice” could be described as Lu Zhiyao’s one-man show, or perhaps a dialogue between Lu Zhiyao and AEEIS. Either way, this arrangement came with both risks and opportunities.
The risk was that all viewers’ attention was focused solely on Lu Zhiyao. If his acting was divine, viewers would be thrilled; if his acting was poor, the entire movie would be dragged down by him, falling straight to the bottom.
Additionally, the entire story’s plot was actually divided into stages, with natural transitions between stages but very clear distinctions.
So, when this kind of plot was adapted into a game, it could give players an extremely strong sense of participation and immersion while allowing the cinematic sequences and game content to seamlessly connect.
As a result, players wouldn’t feel any disconnection; instead, they would feel that the entire game’s story had excellent continuity!
“You can create a story like this?”
“My understanding of games has been overturned once again!”
After understanding this principle, Qiao Liang was simply in awe of this game.
A simple game adaptation of a movie, or a movie adaptation of a game, couldn’t achieve this effect.
It required both the game and movie to be initiated together, simultaneously considering the expressive forms of these two different artistic mediums, combining their weaknesses and strengths, and through a profound understanding of both art forms, perfectly combining them with a single storyline!
And to achieve this, the most crucial factor wasn’t ability but vision and courage.
Qiao Liang believed that many people could write scripts suitable for both games and movies, but bosses who dared to simultaneously make both a game and a movie using the same script, investing heavily in both, were probably as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns!
The story continued to progress.
The game’s story was completely consistent with the movie, but because the player’s sense of immersion was stronger and the duration was longer, the experience was also more intense.
In the final stages of the story, Qin Yi gave a speech to boost the morale of all humanity. In the final campaign, Qiao Liang suddenly discovered that the previously disobedient soldiers had changed. Many were willing to sacrifice their lives to defeat the insect race, with the message “Humanity Persists” rapidly flashing on the screen…
For some reason, Qiao Liang suddenly felt his eyes moistening.
Although he was very clear in his mind that this was just a game, and the soldiers in it were just simulated programs, somehow he had a feeling that these soldiers had truly come to life in this moment.
Watching them charge toward the insect swarm one after another, sacrificing themselves, Qiao Liang instantly understood Qin Yi’s complex emotions at this time. Combined with Lu Zhiyao’s outstanding performance, Qiao Liang’s heart was filled with mixed feelings.
And after seeing Qin Yi being betrayed at the end, becoming the new Hive Overlord, opening his eyes and flying into the cosmic stars, Qiao Liang was deeply moved. Even as the screen turned black and the credits appeared, he was still lost in thought.
The entire game progression wasn’t very long, because the movie itself was only a bit over two hours. With game levels interspersed between plot segments, the entire storyline was stretched to about six hours.
Of course, this was the duration on the most basic game difficulty. After completing it, players could experience higher difficulties, and the game time would increase accordingly.
By now, the sky outside was bright; morning had come.
Although Qiao Liang was a bit tired, he was more excited and energized!
Before completing the story, entering the game would automatically continue from the previous point in the story. Only after the story mode ended would the title screen and various new game modes appear.
There were quite a few of these game modes, but Qiao Liang had no interest in exploring them now. He had only one thought: to praise this game to the skies right now, immediately!
Of course, Qiao Liang’s aging body was also at its limit. The most urgent task was to eat breakfast and then get some sleep as soon as possible.