Chen Mo had played Earth Online a long time ago, and was quite dissatisfied with the game.
Of course, it couldn't be denied that this game was a masterpiece of VR games in the parallel world, but the problem was that its design concept was a bit outdated, mainly to emphasize realism, which severely weakened the gameplay.
For Chen Mo, with something as awesome as the Matrix VR pod, making just Detroit: Man Breaker was far from enough.
Although the Matrix VR pod was the next generation of VR equipment, and was a revolutionary change from the original gaming pod, it still had two serious problems.
One was that it was expensive, and the other was that there were too few games.
Although many remakes of classic VR games could quickly enrich the game library of the Matrix VR pod, most players had already played these games, and it wasn't enough to motivate players to spend a lot of money on the Matrix VR pod. Moreover, many players were still in a wait-and-see state, as three hundred thousand wasn't an amount that could be easily taken out by the average working class.
Chen Mo needed an absolute masterpiece to ensure the success of the Matrix VR pod.
Although Detroit: Man Breaker was a decent game, it was still a long way from being a masterpiece with perfect scores. In terms of ratings, it should be around eight to five, which was a shortcoming.
Chen Mo needed a revolutionary masterpiece with perfect scores to show off the significance of the Matrix VR pod, and that game was Grand Theft Auto, GTA.
…
The English name for GTA was grand.
If translated literally, it meant "felony car theft." In fact, this was a common term used by the police in America, and it was used in many rap songs, which was why it was so popular. In the early days of GTA, the game was mainly about stealing cars and running away, which was why the name was used. However, as the system and gameplay of GTA grew, the name was still used.
As for the Chinese translation, it was more awkward. If the English name was translated literally, it would be meaningless. Calling it "Car Thief" or "Car Theft Felon" was somewhat inexplicable, and it didn't sound impressive at all. In comparison, although Grand Theft Auto didn't translate well, it was easier for players to remember and praise it. Moreover, Chinese players didn't like pure villains in games, so the name lightened or beautified the criminal elements of the game.
The key to "virtual reality" was "reality". In other words, the more realistic it was, the more valuable it was. Detroit: Changed People was also building reality, but the problem was that its storyline was relatively simple. Other than experiencing the branching plot over and over again, players couldn't get enough lasting fun from the game.
What better way to embody the meaning of virtual reality than to reconstruct the real world?
In fact, "Earth Online" was designed with this in mind. It was to build a highly realistic world in the virtual world. But the question was, what should the players do in this real world? You've got to entertain them.
Earth Online's approach was relatively conservative, but it still gained the love of many players.
Grand Theft Auto's answer was: Let the players do whatever they could and couldn't do in real life!
As a classic that couldn't be ignored in the history of video games, Grand Theft Auto was a masterpiece of sandbox games. More importantly, it could provide players with a long and rich gaming experience. Whether it was racing, shooting, robbing, or other small games, they would all be improved by leaps and bounds with the help of next-generation VR, giving players a reason to buy the Matrix VR pods.
Of course, there were obstacles.
Grand Theft Auto was a game that focused on blood, violence, and crime. With next-generation VR, these effects would definitely be amplified.
Of course, for the players, the bloodier and more violent the game was, the better. Being able to experience things they couldn't experience in real life was the purpose of games. But this also meant that Grand Theft Auto was under a lot of pressure to be censored.
In Chen Mo's previous life, there were calls for violent games to be restricted in America, and Grand Theft Auto was one of the first. It could be seen that there were people who had the same opinion, both in China and abroad.
Although the Matrix VR pods had the support of the Game Committee, there were some lines that couldn't be crossed. For example, players could taste good food and alcohol in the Matrix VR pods, but they couldn't try poison or meat from animals protected by the state. Poison, in particular, was extremely harmful to society. If players experienced it once in the game and brought their curiosity to the real world, it would be very troublesome.
As for things like car theft, robbery, killing passers-by, assaulting police officers, and so on, if it happened in the country, it was absolutely forbidden. However, if it happened abroad, it could highlight the dire straits of America, and the standards for passing the trial would not be so strict. In Chen Mo's previous life, Grand Theft Auto's videos were still up on video sharing websites, which meant that the content wouldn't cause any serious harm to society.
Considering Chen Mo's current position in the video game industry, the benefits that the Matrix VR pods could bring, and the Intelligence Reduction Halo, Grand Theft Auto wouldn't be a problem.
Of course, even if it passed the censorship, it would still be rated 18 +. Minors definitely wouldn't be able to play it.
Although he had the Intelligence Reduction Halo, Chen Mo still had to consider avoiding unnecessary risks for Grand Theft Auto.
For example, the AI of the NPCs.
Chen Mo did consider if he should wait for the intermediate artificial intelligence to be developed before developing Grand Theft Auto. That way, it would be equivalent to building a real city. But on second thought, this wasn't the right thing to do.
If all the passersby in Grand Theft Auto had the ability to think and think like humans, with the help of a high precision model and a real physics engine, wouldn't they be no different from real humans? They would panic when a gun was pointed at them. They would be greatly agitated when they saw the main character kill someone. News of the crimes would spread, and it would affect the citizens of Los Santos.
It would be very complicated if this was explained in detail. Simply put, if the passersby had the same intelligence as humans, there was no telling what they would do. Everything would be messed up.
Moreover, the players would feel their hands and feet tied when dealing with these passersby. They would think that they were real humans, which would greatly affect the gaming experience of Grand Theft Auto.
What the players wanted was a "crime without any psychological burden," not a "real crime." Most people were law-abiding citizens. If the passersby in the game were too similar to real humans, it would cause them a heavy psychological burden.
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