Chapter 98: Alpha 0.5 Version, New Playstyle

VM was clearly an acronym.

It was an acronym for Vital Monitor, and it was the standard configuration of almost all shelters.

Even so, Chu Guang had never seen one before.

The gadget was more like a wrist-mounted computer that integrated physical examination, positioning, communication, maps, and black box functions rather than functioning just as a vital monitor.

As if the system was worried that Chu Guang would not know how to use it, it quickly provided the instruction manual and presented it in front of Chu Guang in the form of a light blue interface.

[1.

This device monitors the user's vital activities, collects information including heart rate, respiration, blood pressure, blood oxygen concentration, hormones in sweat, DNA form, etc., and performs comprehensive analysis on the collected information and presents it in the form of specific data.

]

[2.

After it has stopped detecting vital signs, the VM will automatically archive the dying records in the cached data, and continuously send encrypted signals containing its relative distance and location information through the transmitter in the chip to facilitate recovery missions of search and rescue personnel.

]

[3.

The VM device can intermittently emit lasers of a specific frequency within a certain range to perform three-dimensional surveying and mapping of indoor spaces, with a surveying radius of up to 5m, and it will be attenuated by the influence of air humidity and dust particles. This function is very useful when exploring buildings. Large obstacles such as walls, doors, boxes, etc. can be marked, and the data can be shared after uploading.

]

[4.

The power of the VM is provided by a thermal battery, which can be charged in bright light or near a heat source such as a fire. Under low battery conditions, it can absorb heat naturally emitted from the user's body and charge slowly, and automatically switch to its energy-saving mode, running at the minimum configuration.

]

In addition to the commonly used functions mentioned in the manual, Chu Guang also learned through Little Seven that, in principle, all VM devices could be reset through a compiler.

In other words, if the hardware had the functions, he could add a few very useful widgets to them. He would be able to know where the player was and what they were doing; he would even be able to hear what they were saying.

"Holy shit, this thing is like a cheat!"

No. It was basically hacks on steroids!

Chu Guang even wanted to call it

Overwatch!

When the time comes, I will give every player one and not allow them to take it off.

No, wait...

Chu Guang, who was excited for a few seconds, calmed down quickly.

After thinking about it carefully, he felt that if he forced players to strap a mobile phone to their arms, wouldn’t it appear like he was forcing them to do things?

Human nature made everyone naturally rebellious. Free things would never be cherished either.

Looking at the VM in his hand, Chu Guang stroked his chin and mumbled thoughtfully, "Logically speaking, this wrist-mounted computer... It can’t be cheaper than a marauder's gun, right? I think it should cost at least thirty silver coins."

Little Seven raised its camera and started to buzz, "But master, I’ve heard that this kind of VM is very common in shelters. Considering the ease of maintenance and durability, it’s not actually very valuable...”

Chu Guang nodded slowly and continued, "Mhm, it'll be priced at forty silver coins then, and it’ll only be available when they obtain citizenship."

Little Seven tilted its camera to the side. "... Master?"

Chu Guang looked back at Little Seven, who stood next to him.

"Little Seven, do me a favor. I want to add some functions to these VMs, can it be done?"

Little Seven was visibly confused. "... Yes, it can be done as long as the hardware configuration allows, but what specific functions do you want to add to it?"

"A property panel! A Mission Window! A map! And also... A chat window!"

Would it still be a game without stuff like that?

A lot of players complained that they could only check their level and experience when they went offline. They couldn’t open the character interface at any time to check their level, experience, abnormal status, and buff effects. From this perspective, how was anything different from the junk game

Earth Online

?

Another complaint was the mission system.

Although it was written on paper and wooden boards instead of straight-up wood chunks or plastic boards, the essence had not changed. It was still too troublesome to check the progress of a mission.

The most important point, though, was that it was a waste of paper! That made it extremely bad for the environment...

The map function, on the other hand, would be considered a surprise.

Chu Guang was surprised at how great the VM was; it even had laser surveying and mapping functions! In the future, players would be able to take it with them while scavenging. They would be able to explore the wasteland and expand the map for the shelter.

Not just that, but it would also be easy to see where other players had searched and where they hadn’t. Those hidden spaces and secret passages that were easily overlooked could also be exposed more easily. The efficiency of scavenging would be increased by more than double!

The most crucial feature was the ability to let players upload maps automatically, which would also save a considerable part of Chu Guang's workload.

Previously, exploration of the map was solely dependent on the players’ eyes.

As an example, in a previous case, a player on a scavenging mission went to a specific location on the map that was made before the war to report the situation to the administrator.

He obtained information from those players by many questions, which included but were not limited to, "What is the terrain like?", "Are there many mutants?", and "Is there any trace of human activity?"...

This job sounded easy, but it was really a torment to execute. A hundred people would tell him a hundred different things.

Some people had a very bad sense of direction and simply didn't go to the place shown on the map, but they would still tell Chu Guang information very seriously, giving him a lot of headaches.

Now that VMs were available, there was no longer any need to listen to these idiots tell him about the road conditions on the wasteland. They just needed to bring the VM back and upload the information it stored. They could also synchronize the discovered map data to the official website database.

The work did not even require manual input from the players.

Chu Guang got Little Seven to do it for them automatically.

"The property panel, mission system, and map functions are all easy to make... But the chat window is a bit difficult. Although the VM has a transmitter, it is not a dedicated communication chip. It is not a problem to send and receive text messages and update the task panel near the shelter, but it is a little bit troublesome when it is a little further away."

“Oh, I see.” Chu Guang stroked his chin, thought for a moment, and continued, "For the time being, there’s no rush in developing the chat function. You can develop the property panel, mission system, and map first. I'll find a few templates for you later."

“If the function is not perfect, even if it is implemented, the players will not stop complaining. So it's better to wait for it to be improved in the future. Moreover, there is now a plaza and an official website, which are sufficient for those players to brag about themselves.”

"Okay, master!"

Looking at the energetic Little Seven, Chu Guang nodded in satisfaction, turned around, and returned to level B1.

Currently, it was three o'clock in the morning in wasteland time, and three o'clock in the afternoon in the real world, which was when the game had the fewest online players.

It was also the best time to throw in an update!

Walking to the computer in the residents' lobby and sitting down on his chair, Chu Guang yawned and took out his notebook from the drawer, opened it, and then opened the text file that contained all the material he had gathered.

Everything was ready, he just needed to hit copy and paste for the so-called update to take effect.

Chu Guang stretched his fingers and smiled.

It was time to release the announcement.

......

[Wasteland Online Alpha 0.5 version update announcement]

[Major update]

[1.

The number of closed alpha players has been increased to 200.

]

[2.

The property panel, mission system, and map functions have all undergone major changes.

]

[3.

Shelter level B2 has officially opened!

]

[Optimization]

[1.

More realistic snowy weather special effects have been included; as time goes by, the land, the river, and the lake will be frozen.

]

[2.

Added a pot of charcoal fire to the weapon shop. Please encourage the owner to cheer her up and increase her favorability.

]

[3.

The respawning frequency of wild monsters is now more in line with the severe cold weather.

]

[4.

Richer internal details of the shelter.

]

[5.

Fixed a few bugs.

]

[6. ]

[Remarks:

As the number of people has increased, the player manual and user agreement have been updated to version 3.0. Players who have obtained the qualification for the closed alpha should check it in time to avoid having a bad game experience.

]

[Current Number of Applications:

1007

]

[Additional Remarks:

In addition, the Winter is Coming expansion has officially ended. The Warrior of Winter title has been issued to 90 eligible closed alpha players, and their IDs will be included in the Hall of Fame. Winter is here, now tremble in the cold winter, survivors!

]

...

This time, there was a lot of content during the update.

If he didn’t chat with the players about the update for a while, Chu Guang was worried that the players would think that he didn’t do his job as a game designer well.

Following his usual routine, Chu Guang immediately posted the edited development log after posting the update announcement.

[Development Log:

Alpha 0.5 version

]

Light: Hello everyone, I am your dear game designer! After exploiting five engineers in the technical team, our server has finally changed from potatoes to shofar potatoes! Now! It’s already possible to accommodate two hundred players into the server at the same time. Are you happy? Are you excited? Go and check your inboxes! The invitations have already been sent to those lucky guys!

- The biggest changes in this version update are mainly the property panel and mission panel that many close alpha players asked for! Moreover, there is also an extra map function! You all must be very happy.

- In fact, I am just as happy as you guys! Under the temptation of baked potatoes, the programmers of the development department finally understand what functions we want.

- Of course, please don’t celebrate too early. For the players’ gaming experience and the realism of the game, we held departmental meetings for five days straight and finally made a decision to integrate this part of the function into a special device called the Vital Monitor (VM).

- After players obtain their citizenship, they only need to pay forty silver coins to purchase the item. Due to the particularity of the setting of the item, each player is limited to one VM each, and it is bound to the account and cannot be transferred. If your teammate dies, please remember to take back their VM! Otherwise, the shelter can only deduct ten silver coins from their account in exchange for the cost of the material used to make the VM.

- As long as it is in the shelter or near the nursing home, The VM can then connect to the shelter server to complete the mission access operation.

- In addition to the mission window, the core function of the VM is the property panel! Through a small screen, you can easily view the development progress of your genetic sequence, character attributes, buff or debuff effects, contribution points, and status levels.

- Of course, there is no need to show your contribution points. The VM itself is a symbol of identity and power! This is because, in our settings, only citizens who have made outstanding contributions to shelters are worthy of this honor. Having it will also mean that you will no longer be a rookie. From now on, you are an adventurous warrior who is truly qualified to travel around the wasteland!

- In addition, the laser mapping function carried by the VM can accurately capture obstacles and walls at close range and upload the map data to the shelter server for you. Even if you have a terrible sense of direction, you will still be able to find a way home. Your mom will no longer have to worry about you getting lost in the wasteland!

Upload...

Done!

Chu Guang stretched, pushed away the chair, and stood up.

Staying up late for two days in a row was still exhausting for him, even if his constitution was better than before.

This time he intended to sleep until noon, trying to adjust his work and rest schedule.

After thinking for some time, he looked at Little Seven who was sitting obediently in the corner. "Little Seven, don't forget to wake up Xia Yan later."

"Hmm... Okay, Master."

After giving his instruction, Chu Guang went to sleep in the next room happily.

Of course, when Chu Guang was sleeping soundly, the discussion posts about the Alpha 0.5 version update on the official website never stopped!