Game development begins with destroying Girls' Frontline.

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So, how did the Spark development team advance the storyline in "Project Ark" without being limited by location?

The answer is time.

When players have played for 15 minutes, they will feel a violent shaking no matter where they are, followed by an alarm sounding and an impending storm.

The player's main quest then becomes going to the control room to adjust their direction.

The entire Spark development team treats the ship as a scene, which often allows them to incorporate more details into the scene.

The main questline is divided into three stages.

These are Phase One, "Storm Crisis".

In this stage, players must gain control of the cruise ship within a limited time.

This limited time is not based on game time, but on real-world time.

After a player accepts a quest, a time will appear in the upper left corner.

The system will tell the player that the ship will enter the storm zone in an hour. At the same time, the character controlled by the protagonist will talk to himself, enhancing the sense of urgency.

Next, players must gain control of the ship within an hour, following the prompts, and avoid the storm.

After Phase One ends, Phase Two will begin.

That is, "puzzle mode".

Since the player has gained control, they can choose to restart the engine, and then all the cabins on the ship will light up, bringing the game to phase two.

Here, the engine restarts.

Another "new character" added to the game is the ship's "ship management system," or what can be understood as the ship's "AI captain."

Players will complete a series of tasks under the guidance of this "AI captain," during which they will hear the "AI captain" explain the crises that occur on the ship.

According to AI, a group of people set off but believed that the great disaster would not happen, so they decided to go ashore.

Here, the game will also showcase its core world-building.

Catastrophe.

The so-called major catastrophe refers to a prediction made by humankind many years ago that two asteroids similar to those that caused the extinction of the dinosaurs will collide with Earth.

At first, humans didn't take this information seriously at all.

After all, the probability of an asteroid hitting Earth is already very low, let alone two.

Until the probability of a collision increases from a few tenths of a percent to single digits, then to 20%, 30%,...40%...

Panic gripped the world.

Various methods of salvation were selected, including the nuclear bomb program, the ascent to heaven program, and the Tiangong program of the Eastern superpower, as well as various underground shelters and Ark projects in Europe and America.

The ship the protagonist is on is part of Project Ark.

This information led the player to solve the first major mystery: what was the ship for?

But soon, after this puzzle was solved, three new questions arose.

First: Did the major disaster actually occur?

Secondly: What exactly happened while the protagonist was asleep?

Thirdly: What's the deal with the giant tree on the ship?

The entire second half of the plot basically revolves around these three questions.

These questions are revealed through the player's exploration.

The entire game of "Project Ark" is not particularly long, roughly 6 hours in length.

However, in reality, including the time spent eating and going to the toilet, it took Huang Wenfeng about ten hours to complete the game.

He looked at the screen.

The main character stands at the bow of the ship.

On the distant horizon, the outline of a city reduced to ruins stands silently beneath the gray sky.

Huang Wenfeng let out a long sigh.

This breath was long and deep, as if it carried all the emotions from the ten hours of gameplay.

To be honest, the emotional shifts in this game are actually quite clear.

The visual impact I felt from the very first step onto that giant ship, strangely overrun by plants.

When the storm hits, the sense of urgency almost overflows the screen amidst the sirens and countdown.

Then, they encounter the AI ​​captain and gradually uncover the truth about the great disaster, the Ark Project, and everything that happened on the ship.

The solution to each puzzle is not given directly by the system, but is hidden in the details of the scene and in log files scattered throughout.

And in those narrative fragments that blend seamlessly with the environment.

This exploration-driven narrative style maximizes the immersive experience of the story, making Huang Wenfeng feel as if he is not "playing" a story, but "experiencing" a piece of history.

Moreover, the plot has a certain depth. At the beginning, you think that AI is the villain, but later you think that the mad scientist who cultivated the World Tree is the villain.

Then, after learning about the various inside stories, different thoughts arise.

In fact, Huang Wenfeng has been playing for twelve hours straight, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and he has been eating hamburgers for meals.

But even after ten hours, he still hadn't fully grasped many of the plot details.

However, the overall atmosphere of the game is very well done.

In a post-apocalyptic world, the protagonist is alone, with the ark that carries hope yet is also scarred, and ultimately sees only ruins.

This seems to suggest that the AI ​​captain's statement is correct, but it may not be, because while Huang Wenfeng was playing the game, the comments section was constantly instructing him on how to play.

However, it doesn't matter whether he missed anything in the specific plot or whether the current ending is the real ending.

Huang Wenfeng rubbed his slightly sore eyes.

But the corners of his mouth unconsciously curved upwards into a slight smile.

"classic..."

He uttered those two words softly.

The experience this game provides goes beyond mere entertainment.

The reflections it evokes, the atmosphere it creates, and the way it tells its stories are all enough to make it leave a significant mark on gaming history.

This is much more than just a good game.

This is a true classic that will still linger in your mind long after you've finished playing it, bringing back memories of the scenes and feelings you experienced.

Side Story 4: 95 and Mars' Room

July, the height of summer.

The scorching air clung to my skin, almost solidifying.

As soon as Shu Jing opened the car door, a wave of heat hit her face.

Fortunately, the new headquarters of Xinghuo has a relatively high green coverage, so after walking a few steps to the shade of the trees, the heat wave is much better.

Her schedule today is the same as always: recording "95 and Mars' Room".

This show started airing in 2017, and it's been seven years now. During these seven years, Shu Jing has always felt very grateful that she was so lucky to participate in the audition for Spark back then.

If we were to rank all the game characters in Spark by popularity...

95 is a top-tier product in any ranking.

As a Mandarin voice actress born in 95, Shu Jing's career has been very successful in recent years, and she is quite popular. She is often recognized on the street and asked for autographs.

As she stepped into the building, a wave of cool air hit her, instantly dispelling the lingering heat and making her sigh almost imperceptibly with comfort.

The hall was bustling with people, mostly young faces.

This is the program studio attached to the Xinghuo Building, or as Xinghuo itself calls it, the digital technology studio.

As the number of games on Spark increases.

In fact, the competition among the Spark programs is getting bigger and bigger, but these have nothing to do with Shu Jing. "95 and the Room of Mars" has accumulated so many years of experience.

The audience had already calmed down.

While it's certainly difficult to reach the top of the show, it's common to consistently stay in the upper-middle range, and occasionally even make it to the top one or two in major special episodes.

"Good morning, Sister Jing."

She had only gone a short distance inside when she ran into her partner.

Jiang Bai, the voice actress who voices Mars, was a young girl who had just graduated from high school and was still a bit immature when she first partnered with her. Now she is a beautiful young woman.

"morning,"

Shu Jing smiled back, and without stopping, walked straight to the elevator.

"It's really sweltering outside today."

"Yes, the weather forecast says it will reach a high of 38 degrees today."

Jiang Bai stuck out his tongue.

"Sister Jing, you're so punctual."

"I'm used to it." Shu Jing pressed the elevator button. "Besides, if I'm late, Lao Zhou will nag me to death."

The two walked in together.

After a quick touch-up, we went to the photo studio.

To distinguish whether a program on Spark is new or old, look at the set design. Programs with luxurious sets and voice actors who are as cute as idols are often new programs.

As for shows like Shu Jing and Jiang Bai's, which don't involve much makeup, are dressed in their own clothes, and are set in simple scenes, these are older shows.

Interestingly, though.

In the eyes of most viewers, these old shows are actually more interesting and authentic.

The fact that the show has been able to continue broadcasting since the early days proves that it's mostly because the voice actors themselves are interesting.

"Hello everyone! I'm Shu Jing, the voice actress who voiced 95."

"The voice actor for Jiang Bai... oh, no, it's the voice actor for Mars..."

"Haha, what are you doing..."

The show started recording as soon as the two sat down.

Compared to newcomers who take half a day to get into character, the two of them can get into character almost as soon as they sit down.

With just a few words, the atmosphere became lively.

I randomly picked a few letters from the audience and started the usual small talk segment.

"Speaking of which, the cherry blossoms have all fallen by now."

"How did we suddenly get onto this topic?"

"Yesterday, all the cherry blossoms at my usual spot had fallen, so I felt a little sad. Do you feel the same way, Jing-jie?"

"Yes, it's really sad to see the cherry blossoms fall. But it's already July, right? The cherry blossoms in the park must have all fallen by now. Where did you see the fallen cherry blossoms?"

The area around Xinghuo's new headquarters is planted with cherry blossoms, especially the park, which has a large area of ​​cherry blossom trees.

When the plan was first made, these cherry blossom trees were intended as scenic spots for taking photos.

So when the two talked about cherry blossoms, Shu Jing naturally thought of the cherry blossom trees in the park.

However, that was clearly not what Jiang Bai was talking about.

"??? You weren't online yesterday?"

Jiang Bai asked back with an air of self-righteousness.

"Online???"

Three question marks seemed to pop up on Shu Jing's forehead as well; the topic was jumping around a bit too fast for her to keep up with.

“Girls on the front lines,” Jiang Bai explained, “during yesterday’s maintenance update, all the cherry blossom trees in the base’s cherry blossom park withered and fell overnight…”