After picking up the call, what surprised Lucas even more was that the person calling him was the head of the Magic City Ga Division, soone he had t a few tis before.
"Minister David, what's the matter?" Lucas asked curiously, getting straight to the point.
"Yes, it's actually sothing pretty important. Did you see the news earlier? The overseas company Micro Valley Tech announced that their new generation VR ga pod has made a big breakthrough. It can give players a more imrsive experience," David said over the phone.
"I saw it," Lucas replied.
Lisa had been collecting industry news every day, so Lucas had already seen that report.
But back then, Lucas hadn't paid much attention to it.
The reason was simple. Based on the information available, this imrsive mode required players to be fully absorbed in the ga, with their attention highly focused. This ant players had to process a huge amount of information, which made VR gas far more draining than regular PC gas.
As for that kind of "subconscious dive" tech, like in SAO from his past life, where players enter deep sleep in a ntal network, that kind of black technology clearly didn't exist in this world yet.
And the price of VR ga pods, while cheaper than when they first ca out, was still far beyond what most players could afford.
Mainstream VR pods cost around $7000, much more expensive than a PC that could smoothly run top gas.
As for higher-end VR devices, those were even further out of reach.
That's why most players still went to VR experience shops, which were basically like internet cafés, to play.
All these factors ant that VR's market share still hadn't surpassed PC.
Then there was the cost of ga developnt. Making VR gas generally cost more than PC gas.
Aside from the top companies that released dedicated VR titles every year, second-tier studios usually tested the waters on PC first, and only after doing well there would they consider porting their gas to VR.
That was why Lucas had Nebula Gas mainly focus on the PC platform for now.
"As for our country, our new generation VR ga pod has already reached a testing stage," David said.
"But we don't have enough gas to test with. And because this new generation pod gives players an even stronger sense of imrsion, we also need to run a lot of safety tests. So gas may seem fine on PC, but once in VR with full imrsion, they could create unusual and intense effects for players."
"Of course, it's hard to explain everything over the phone. Log in to the Ga Division's official site and check the letter we sent. If you're interested, you can co by Ga Division tomorrow afternoon," David added.
Although Lucas didn't know the full details yet, after hearing David's words, he already had a good idea.
Clearly, this was about competition in cutting-edge platform technology.
For Ga Division, VR hardware clearly carried special weight.
It was like how consoles had worked in his previous life.
Back then, Nintendo rose up after the Atari crash and dominated the market for a ti. Everyone in the industry had to follow Nintendo's rules, and the licensing system was born out of that era.
After hanging up, Lucas logged into the Ga Division's official site. After going through the contents, he basically understood the situation.
It was just as he had thought.
The next day, in the Ga Division building's conference hall.
Lucas was a bit surprised, since quite a lot of designers had shown up.
SkyNova, NetDragon, and many other well-known dostic ga companies all had people attending.
Among them, Lucas also spotted so familiar faces, like the good-natured Mr. Marcus.
"Mr. Marcus, you ca too?" Lucas went over to greet him.
Marcus, who had been chatting casually with soone else, heard the voice and turned to see Lucas walking toward him with a big smile. For a mont, the mory of that night—when Lucas held soone else's trophy—flashed in his mind. He showed a slightly awkward but still polite smile. "Lucas, you're here too."
But Lucas didn't get much ti to catch up. On stage in the eting room, David from Ga Division had already stepped up.
"All of you here are top nas in the ga industry. The reason we gathered you today is actually pretty simple."
"The next-generation VR gaming equipnt has already reached the testing stage."
"At the sa ti, we've made special adjustnts to the developnt kit's ga engine for this new VR device, opening up a new physics engine frawork."
As David spoke, the designers, including Lucas, all basically understood why Ga Division had called them together.
In short, the VR device and engine had made new progress.
It wasn't ready for the market yet, but overseas teams were at about the sa stage—and they'd already started promoting it.
Naturally, the dostic side couldn't afford to fall behind, but the problem was that they lacked the right ga content to use for testing.
Of course, they didn't an full gas—just demo-like experiences. And it wasn't without benefits.
First, Ga Division was offering dedicated funding. The intellectual property created would still belong to the designers and companies. In simple terms, Ga Division was paying them to make sothing, and the subsidies were not small. Of course, quality had to pass the bar, and Ga Division would keep track of the progress in real ti.
And honestly, no one invited here was so rookie. They were all at least mid-tier in the industry, so no one would be dumb enough to waste the chance just to cheat subsidies.
Another perk was that those who joined the testing would be the first to get access to the new technology. It wouldn't be rolled out to every designer for free right away.
Those who didn't join, well, just like before—they'd have to pay extra for the extra resources or access.
After David's short introduction,
The group of designers followed Ga Division's staff and got into cars heading toward the company's research park.
Led by staff, they personally got to try out the new system.
Soon it was Lucas's turn.
After stepping into the VR pod, the scene he saw was a bare, unfinished-room environnt.
At the sa ti, Lucas understood what David had ant earlier.
He had tried the VR pods in the parallel world before. The sense of imrsion was strong, sure—
—but there were still flaws.
The new VR pod, however, gave an almost perfect response.
Wearing a full-body feedback suit and gloves, lying inside the pod, every move he made gave an incredibly realistic reaction.
Walking, jumping, punching—Lucas tried a few moves. The feeling was still a little different from real life, but the feedback was now almost indistinguishable from reality.
"The level of imrsion this VR device gives… it's already reached this point?!" Lucas exclaid as he climbed out of the pod.
But he also understood the issues ahead.
The most obvious one was that an overly strong sense of imrsion could bring negative side effects.
Using Dark Souls as an example, if it were made into a VR ga with the level of imrsion Lucas just experienced,
most players probably couldn't handle it—not because of the difficulty, but because the imrsion would scare them off.
Just think about the sewer rats, the creepy underground prison scenes, not to ntion horror gas!
After all the designers on site had tried it, David also explained a few things.
In short, if any designer here is interested, they can create a demo ga for the Ga Division to test. Based on the feedback, adjustnts will be made to the imrsion level in the ga pod.
Because the imrsion is so strong, so parts may need to be toned down.
It sounds a bit funny and contradictory, but after experiencing it himself, Lucas understood what that ant.
Next ca the sign-up session. Aside from a few designers who were busy with their own projects,
there were thirteen senior designers who stayed, including Lucas. Marcus was there too.
"Lucas, are you planning to join the Ga Division's demo project?" Marcus asked curiously as they stood in line together.
After all, rumors about the Dark Souls sequel were all over the internet. Shouldn't Lucas be fully focused on developing Dark Souls right now?
How does he have ti to take on the Ga Division's task?
Could it be that the developnt of Dark Souls is so far ahead that Lucas doesn't need to oversee it anymore?
Thinking about it, that didn't seem impossible.
After all, it's just a sequel. In the gaming industry, it's almost an unspoken rule that sequels can reuse a lot of art assets, which saves a lot of developnt ti.
Completely unaware that Marcus was overthinking things, Lucas smiled. "I'm just curious. Plus, this will be my first ti making a VR ga, and I have a few interesting ideas."
That was true—given this chance, Lucas really wanted to try.
Hearing this, Marcus's eyes lit up. "Actually, designing a VR ga isn't that different from a PC ga. The biggest differences are the controls and the sense of perspective. Most VR gas use first-person view, but in so cases, third-person works better—like in action gas focused on visuals."
"Then Marcus, let's share ideas later," Lucas said, looking at the enthusiastic Marcus. He couldn't help but think, Marcus is really a nice guy!
"Of course." Marcus grinned. After losing in the first contest, getting overshadowed in the second gaplay showcase, and winning nothing at the Ga of the Year awards, this was his chance to shine again.
Since Lucas asked him, this ti he would really play the role of a teacher!
"Oh, by the way, Lucas, do you have any ideas for the new ga?" Marcus suddenly asked.
"I do have one. The na for the PT ga," Lucas said with a smile and a nod.
"PT? What does that an? Sounds kind of strange," Marcus asked curiously.
"It's short for 'Playable Teaser.' After all, this demo is basically a playable preview. We could even add a prefix and call it 'Silent Hill PT,'" Lucas said with a grin.
"Silent Hill PT, huh? That sounds pretty aningful. Let's talk more about it later, Lucas!" Marcus said with a smile.
"Definitely," Lucas replied with a nod.
(End of The Chapter)
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