"It's not quite the same." Yu Nan recalled for a moment, "I won't give away any spoilers, just ask me if you have any questions about the mystery."
Fearing she'd get too bored, Yu Nan simply took the elevator back to her bedroom, retrieved her Switch, and started playing Zelda while keeping an eye on Zhu Yao's game.
"Tell me your thoughts and feelings; we need to keep in touch."
Zhu Yao nodded, staring excitedly at the large screen in front of her.
As a wealthy person like Yu Nan, her equipment was naturally top-notch, so Zhu Yao's first gaming experience was also excellent.
Instead of putting on her spacesuit, she wandered around, repeatedly studying the information in the initial room where she had just entered the game.
"What are you doing? Why aren't you going out yet?" Yu Nan asked, a little puzzled.
"The scenery here is so beautiful, I even want to take a screenshot and use it as wallpaper," Zhu Yao said excitedly.
This was the first time she had seen such an open-world game, and the first time she had seen such beautifully designed scenes with free movement. It felt a lot like strolling around a house in real life.
Yu Nan looked at her helplessly, thinking to herself: What's so beautiful about the initial scene of a game?
As Zhu Yao wandered around the room, she saw a piece of paper on the table, which detailed the steps for launching a rocket.
There were 10 complicated steps in total. She quickly looked for paper and pen, trying to write them down for later use in the game. Since the goal was to go to the moon, there would definitely be a rocket launch!
"Hey, hey, what are you doing?" Yu Nan saw her raise her phone and frantically take pictures of the screen.
"There's so much information here, I'm afraid I won't be able to remember it all," Zhu Yao said earnestly.
Yu Nan then realized that the person sitting next to her knew absolutely nothing about the game.
"Don't worry, there will be hints later. Now just enjoy the game and the visuals."
Yu Nan chuckled, "If the producer makes a game where players have to take notes to pass a level, then the game is a complete failure."
Zhu Yao seemed to understand, but not quite.
As a writer, she avoids piling up background information at the beginning of the story, as this can make the novel unreadable due to too much unfamiliar material.
Similarly, she wouldn't repeat the same background in different places.
Since Yu Nan said they could communicate anytime, Zhu Yao simply voiced her questions.
Yu Nan was both surprised and delighted that Zhu Yao could raise questions about game design pacing so soon after starting the game; she felt like she had struck gold.
“Actually, the things you just spent a lot of time reading won’t affect your gaming experience even if you don’t read them, and they won’t even affect your achievements.” Yu Nan thought for a moment and continued, “Those fragmented details are more like a surprise for players who played the game the first time, liked it, wanted to delve into the background, and then played it again.”
"Is it like foreshadowing in a novel? It's buried very early on, and you only realize it after reading it a second time, even though it was hinted at a long time ago."
Yu Nan nodded, "However, novels are different from games. Foreshadowing can't be buried for too long. One or two is fine, but if there are too many, readers will forget about them. It's best to start laying the groundwork when the mystery is about to be revealed."
Zhu Yao's inner thoughts: I think I vaguely know why I failed.
I would write out the outline and then frantically plant clues, even presenting clues at the beginning that would reveal the answer to the mystery at the end.
The novel's click rate is decreasing with each chapter, which is definitely a problem with the writing style.
Zhu Yao has always written what she wants to write, never examining her writing from the reader's perspective. Today, Yu Nan's words suddenly enlightened her.
"As for the repetition issue you mentioned, it's just a realistic depiction based on common sense." Yu Nan put down the switch. "If you were an astronaut, it would be normal to have instructions on how to start a rocket in your dorm room, and it would also be normal to receive prompts when you try to start the rocket."
Zhu Yao nodded, seemingly understanding, "That's indeed the case!"
“This kind of repetition is acceptable in common sense. But if you're writing a novel, repeating these processes twice will annoy the readers.” Yu Nan seemed to suddenly realize something. “You're not a novelist, are you?”
Zhu Yao was so startled she almost dropped the handle, but she still calmly denied it.
"No, I read a lot of novels, but I have a friend who writes novels, and we usually exchange ideas on how to write novels."
Seeing Yu Nan's skeptical look, Zhu Yao added without changing her expression, "I majored in English in college, and my graduation thesis was a study of novels."
Seeing Yu Nan nod with a look of sudden realization, Zhu Yao breathed a sigh of relief.
She didn't want to be exposed. If the landlord found out that she wrote yuri novels, she would be kicked out because he thought she was a lesbian.
After all, there are many people in Kongtong, and as a closeted gay woman, she has to be extremely careful.
Since Yu Nan said there was no need to remember the clues, Zhu Yao put on her spacesuit, took her computer, and left the dormitory for the rocket launch center.
She looked at the desolate rocket launch site under the setting sun, with yellow sand and dilapidated machinery everywhere, and she was all alone in the whole scene.
If I had just seen a description in my dorm room that read, "The Earth has entered a period of great blackout, all order has ceased, and yellow sand has begun to swallow the sky," all I would have thought of was the harshness of the environment.
At this moment, amidst the post-apocalyptic wasteland scene of endless yellow sand, a sense of loneliness and desolation began to permeate her heart. It was as if she had been transported into a game, wearing a spacesuit, standing in a deserted, abandoned rocket launch site, smelling the pungent yellow sand, preparing to undertake a feat that would change the fate of humanity.
It's really different...
The power of words is limited; it's difficult to vividly describe a powerful scene and convey it to the reader's mind. However, games can use visuals and appropriate music to tell stories that words cannot.
No wonder Yu Nan looked speechless when she recalled the game she mentioned during the Q&A session.
My understanding of games was too one-sided before!
At this moment, everything Zhu Yao touches is new. She can use the controller to control the people on the screen to use flashlights, walk, run, squat, jump, climb, and even collect information and interact with objects in the scene.
In her past impression, games were demonized spiritual opium; now they are a real world.
Every novelist is a great creator, and so are game developers!
She went into the base and began preparations for the rocket launch.
The base remains as it was 5 years ago. Zhu Yao followed the game prompts to solve the puzzles—it wasn't as difficult as she had initially imagined. Each time, she found the puzzles and solved them smoothly.
At this moment, the game prompted her that the ladder was broken and she needed to find a way to climb to the third floor of the rooftop to repair the equipment. Zhu Yao remembered that she had seen an escalator next to a freight elevator on the second floor of the equipment room, so she took the freight elevator downstairs and skillfully carried the escalator up from the freight elevator.
Zhu Yao was so engrossed in the game that she didn't notice Yu Nan, who had been half-lying down next to her, gradually sitting up straight with a serious expression and staring at her in surprise.
You should know that when Yu Nan first played "Send Us to the Moon", she wandered around the rocket base map for a long time, and she had to check the walkthrough to get to the escalator.
I had just turned off my Switch, ready to become Zhu Yao's living game guide—however, she passed the level with such ease and nonchalance, as if she knew the entire game process perfectly.
Compared to others, I feel so useless.
"Wait!" Seeing Zhu Yao neatly and efficiently repair the last switch and about to launch the rocket, Yu Nan finally couldn't help but interrupt her.
"Is this really your first time playing this kind of game?" Yu Nan couldn't help but exclaim.
Seeing Zhu Yao nod with a blank expression, Yu Nan paused for a few seconds, then asked, "Could you explain the strategy for passing the ladder section?"
"It's obvious." Zhu Yao recalled the level they had just encountered.
"As soon as you enter the second floor, there is an unused freight elevator, and the exit next to it is blocked by a movable escalator. At that time, I guessed that the freight elevator would be used to send the escalator up later."
Yu Nan paused for a moment, then started laughing.
At first, she tried to hold back her laughter, but later she simply stopped hiding it and let Zhu Yao look at her like she was crazy.
Yu Nan was overjoyed because she discovered that Zhu Yao was a natural-born gaming pro.
Chapter 15 The Universe's First Humble Astronaut
In Zhu Yao's mind, all the groundwork must be useful.
When writing a novel, if you use a lot of words to describe things that are unrelated to the main plot, it will not only mislead the reader, but also reduce the readability of the novel.
As for Yu Nan, she usually plays open-world games with non-linear narratives, which have a vast world view, non-linear narrative, long plot and many branches.
Today's game, "Send Us to the Moon," is a linear narrative sci-fi puzzle game, so Zhu Yao's way of thinking naturally has the advantage.
Yu Nan told Zhu Yao about how she got stuck on the puzzle and praised her solution without reservation.
"A top-tier player, even if completely unfamiliar with the game's content, should be able to quickly grasp the game's genre and basic gameplay upon starting, and then complete the game using a suitable pace and logical approach."
Yu Nan sighed, "It's a pity there are so few people like that."
Finally, Yu Nan added to Zhu Yao, "But you can do it, I believe in you."
Zhu Yao: "..."
Suddenly I feel such a heavy burden on my shoulders!
What should I do when a pro player praises me as a pro player on my first time playing a game?
Zhu Yao continued solving the mystery, while Yu Nan completely turned off her Switch and watched with great interest.
Watching her play games is a real treat; I don't feel the frustration of constantly hitting roadblocks when I play myself.
Soon, Zhu Yao gathered all the clues and prepared everything for the rocket launch.
She took a deep breath. Even though it was just a game, she felt a sense of pride and accomplishment, as if she were "participating in a great human project."
Upon arriving at the control room, Zhu Yao pressed the "Ready" button as instructed in the game. She then saw flames shooting out from the bottom of the rocket in the distance, as if it were about to fly into the sky and stand shoulder to shoulder with the sun.
What?!
Zhu Yao was shocked: "I haven't even gone up yet! Don't astronauts need to go on rockets?"
Yu Nan burst out laughing, "It hasn't flown yet! Hurry up and run over, maybe we can still make it!"
Zhu Yao looked at Yu Nan with a "don't treat me like an idiot" look, as if this guy was making fun of her.
"Success! The rocket is ready!" the NPC in the game said.
"You must immediately proceed with the manual launch of the rocket, or the sandstorm will destroy the rocket... and everything we've worked so hard on!"
After the NPC finished speaking, a countdown appeared on the screen—one and a half minutes left.
They really did run over there!
Zhu Yao was stunned. She wouldn't dare write something like that in a novel—she was afraid of being criticized for lacking common sense and logic.
“It gets even more humble later,” Yu Nan said with a mischievous grin. “This is nothing; you haven’t even left Earth yet.”
Zhu Yao was controlling the astronaut as he circled around the maze-like base. The wind and sand were strong outside, and the character's movements were incredibly slow. She was getting anxious for the protagonist even though she was watching from outside the screen.
In the final twenty seconds, she boarded the elevator leading to the rocket.
"What are you waiting for?! Launch the rocket now!" the NPC urged her.
Zhu Yao wanted to launch, but the elevator was too slow, and she couldn't fly up.
Finally, in the last five seconds, she passed through the iron gate, climbed the ladder onto the rocket, and entered the cockpit at the last second.
"Phew..." Even though she was sitting on a beanbag chair, her adrenaline surged and she broke out in a cold sweat.
"I was just saying, playing games is physically demanding," Yu Nan said with a smile. "Wasn't that scene more shocking than the staff dormitory? Thinking of taking screenshots for wallpaper?"