Touching the night talk, every day nonsense and game-related farts, ghost things, new things.
There are always some people who are worried (photo/Xiao Luo)
How many times have I been through the end of the world in the game?
Truth be told, the question is like the classic line of the arch-villain Dior in Jojo's Bizarre Adventures: "Do you remember how many loaves of bread you ate?" The answer was clear from the moment it was asked — countless of them.
The game loves to shape the end of the world, whether it is on the eve of destruction urgently need the player to save, or after the destruction of the player in the wasteland to survive. And we can easily list many excellent works, and even classify them according to different ways of destruction - war, bacteria, viruses, radiation, AI out of control, alien invasions... Protagonists, actively or passively, take up arms and ensure their own safety (there are often countless protagonist auras to escort the player) while also shouldering the task of uncovering conspiracies, saving the world, or at least not allowing the situation to deteriorate further.
Zombies are one of the most common enemies in all kinds of apocalyptic games. This is not difficult to understand. Whether the zombies are infected with bacteria, viruses, radiation mutations, and are controlled by aliens, fighting against "non-humans" always gives people a sense of security, even in a dangerous environment. Just as zombies, and all enemies who have lost their self-awareness like zombies, will attack me indiscriminately, I can face zombies without hesitation, although the plot may arrange a relative or friend who has just mutated into a zombie here, and they even died to protect the protagonist, I can still convince myself that "they are no longer the same people as they were", and "living with their feelings" is also the responsibility of the protagonist.
The goal of "doomsday" is first and foremost "survival"
There are also games that focus on human-to-human confrontation in a post-apocalyptic contexts. In an environment where industrial civilization has been almost destroyed, it is also very reasonable for people to compete for a small number of resources. Survival is portrayed as a zero-sum game, and the human heart is the most terrifying compared to the visible monsters and harsh environments. In some games that support online multiplayer battles, such as DayZ, the ones that need to be most watched out for are other players. However, whether it is single-player or multiplayer, this kind of game will also give players the opportunity to show the glorious side of human nature: knowing that they will lose resources or encounter betrayal, but I still want to help others as much as I can. Even if the kindness is not well reported, at least there is still a chance to read the file and start over.
Either way, I love experiencing the feeling of the end of the world in the game. Not only because the game has the function of building virtual scenes and being unable to do so in reality, but also because the game will always use gameplay design to protect me within a safe range - even if I don't use any weapons in reality, I can skillfully grasp the handle and shoot when encountering zombies in the game; in reality, it is not easy to dig a hole in the ground with empty hands, and a decent shelter in the game may be completed with a few keys; if you are good at operation, or eat the gameplay thoroughly, It's even possible to turn the Wasteland into a real hunting ground – that's the fun of the game.
Even if the environment is harsh, you can choose to be a good person
But occasionally, really only occasionally, I also think, if I live in the city most of my life in the game, as in reality, and hardly have any deadly attacks and wild survival skills, then it is likely that I will not even have the opportunity to become an NPC, and it will most likely only be a color block in the background of the protagonist's way forward, or a sentence in the background description.
From this perspective, I like to adventure in the game's apocalyptic world, in a sense with a kind of fire-watching happiness – deep down, I think that the factors that lead to the end of the world are still quite far away from me.
Because of this, when something suddenly approaches, or makes people feel that they are not so far away, many of the game scenes become more ambiguous, reminding us on the edge of reality and fiction: although there are many things we can't do, at least don't be the kind of person we hate.
If I had crossed into the game in reality, I might not have been able to stick to the end of the beginner tutorial
In the early days of the pandemic, I interviewed some game developers. One of them likes the "end of the world" theme, plans to make a new zombie-infested, action-cooling new work, and also found a lot of similar games as a reference. But when the pandemic came, he didn't open any of those games. He said that whenever he wanted to play, his family would feel uncomfortable, "it is easy to touch the scene."
3 years ago, I interviewed a Russian girl who translated foreign games into Russian. She lives in St. Petersburg and has a cute little dog. After the interview, we gradually faded from contact. But after February of this year, I thought of her again. I was worried about her, and I was worried about all those who were caught up in the war. I sent her an email and vaguely worried about her reply.
A few days later, I received a reply from her. She wrote: "Unfortunately, [the war] also affected my family. But I believe that everything will be fine, and everything will be fine. Take care of yourself, nothing is more important than health, both body and mind. ”
I don't know when such days will come to an end, but at least for now, hopefully everyone will take care of themselves.