Warhammer: Open the door! Human League players!

Chapter 2 Interstellar Search and Retreat

Stellaris: Star Wars is known as the uncrowned king of real-time strategy games on Earth. Its closed beta was met with excellent feedback, but it has never been officially released. It is renowned in the strategy game community.

The superb realism technology, the exquisite art style, and the grand war scenes are all eye-catching.

What players might find even more surprising is the NPCs in the game.

These NPC factions possess extremely high intelligence, and their combat methods are incredibly realistic, forcing some players to abandon strategy guides and instead study military tactics.

This high-brow real-time strategy game naturally attracted hardcore strategy game enthusiasts and quickly became a hit. Some even offered 100,000 yuan for a beta test slot, but there were very few sellers.

Today, the Virtual Wars service was inexplicably frozen, and then Stellaris suddenly released a new DLC. Within half an hour, tens of thousands of players flooded the forums, even using auto-clickers, trying to grab a beta test spot as quickly as possible.

The game streamer, Liu Kou Shui, is a top-tier FPS gamer. He learned about this game through the chat and, driven by curiosity, rented an account. He immediately became hooked on the game and kept trying to join the closed beta. Unfortunately, even though he offered 200,000 yuan privately, he still couldn't get a spot in the closed beta.

"Is the new Stellaris DLC called Lost?"

The word "lost" may be used, but no one doubts the sincerity of the planning team.

"Only ten spots? How come there are so few! Wait, what does 'priority for FPS players' mean?"

He was drooling and chuckling; he was originally a streamer known as "Zhou Xuechang" in FPS games.

"Hehe, what a coincidence! But what does 'prioritizing FPS players' mean? Stellaris, isn't that a space combat game?"

"Never mind all that, let's just apply first."

"Gods and Buddhas, please bless me! I'd be willing to go to Warhammer the very next second if it meant I could snag a spot in the closed beta!"

Congratulations, player: Drooling, you have obtained a beta test qualification.

"Wait, holy crap, I actually got it?"

"Brothers, hehe, finally I can eat something hot! Let me taste something salty, slurp..."

The live stream chat was flooded with question marks and drooling comments.

"Seriously? How could someone like you, drooling over porridge, possibly get it?"

"Stellaris, you've switched from StarCraft to FPS? And why do you need FPS prerequisites?"

What does it mean to prioritize serving porridge, tiles, and go?

"Transaction successful. I curse you to get Warhammer if you're drooling over it, I mean it!"

Players have their advantages, and clones have theirs, because online play is part of the mod system, and some mod privileges can be shared with players.

For example, mini-maps, and friend-or-foe identification.

The players who emerged from the bio-vault looked completely bewildered.

"Wait, where's my warship's control interface? How did I end up completely naked?"

They thought they were being greeted by an incredibly cool spaceship, but instead they found themselves in complete ruins.

"Wait, man, this game is way too out of place. Isn't Stellaris supposed to be an aerial combat game? How did it turn into foot combat?"

"This game has style."

Having just left the bio-vault, the group swayed unsteadily, but gradually adjusted to their bodies and instinctively moved closer to Fang Yun.

"Fellow countrymen, our fleet has suffered a devastating blow and has lost contact with headquarters. We are now lost on a strange planet... Your mission is to adapt to the land-based combat environment as quickly as possible. Our objective is to collect energy products."

"I have prepared weapons, ammunition, first aid supplies, and companions for you."

The player's companions are clone soldiers, who will also serve as the player's subordinates.

Assigning them clone soldiers is also intended to help players adapt more quickly. With the help of clones, some minor troubles can be eliminated directly by the clones, preventing players from being killed by dogs alone.

"You are the best warriors I have chosen, and I have selected your helpers; they will be your most loyal partners."

"Now, gather your companions and explore this planet."

"For SUPP!"

"I'll be waiting for you at the camp exit."

Fang Yun then turned around and waited at a distance, allowing the players to adapt to the new environment.

"Holy crap, no wonder it's the Stellaris planning team, their art direction is amazing!"

Despite being somewhat prepared, the players were still shocked by the almost realistic scene.

"This level of realism is almost perfect, isn't it?"

"The art style of the warships is so good, and the art style of this FPS game is also this good?"

Most of the ten players in this competition are bloggers for various FPS games. Many of those who can become FPS bloggers are talented players.

Therefore, many passersby watched the live stream of the new storyline development in the game.

"Damn it, planners, just give us ten spots! Holy crap, this new format is making me so envious..."

Two burly men walked up to the drooling man and looked at him with unwavering eyes.

"No, I feel like there's something dangerous in their eyes."

"Won't I be investigated?"

The two shouted in unison, "Sir!"

My mouth watered and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness, thank goodness, that scared me to death! I thought there was a mountain drama among the stars."

After getting used to his body, one player said, "Wasn't that the commander of the Fourth Fleet of the Stellaris? He's in the Lost DLC too?"

"He should be the main character, since we all served under him during the fleet era."

"They've assigned us two companions. Does that mean we're going to lead troops? Like a Mount & Blade-like war game?"

"Why do they seem like idiots?"

"Alright, we're almost through the story. I didn't expect it to be a personal exploration DLC. I can't wait to explore it."

Players who have adapted to the new environment should quickly come to Fangyun to progress through the story.

"We know nothing about the situation here, so you must be ready to seek out any useful information at any time."

"Our primary goal is to collect energy-related items, such as batteries, fuel, and organisms that can be integrated into the bio-power grid. Of course, consumables like firearms, ammunition, and food are also valuable."

"Try not to reveal information. If you encounter what appears to be intelligent life, either don't do anything, or do it ruthlessly."

"In short, scatter, search, and return to camp once you find valuable items."

"Be careful! Resources can be found again, but you only have one life!"

The players whispered among themselves.

"Isn't this just the search, attack, and withdrawal mode?"

"No wonder they prioritize players who prefer porridge."

The clones have far superior tactical skills compared to the players; they can execute tactical orders perfectly, even if they die. However, their thinking is rigid, making them only slightly better than robots.

But clones aren't as greedy as players; whether they're greedy for money, food, and guns but not for women is up to the player.

Fang Yun dispersed the ten players, sending them to explore the surrounding environment with their subordinates.

He needs to understand his surroundings.

Players who left the camp noticed that their perspective had changed.

[Enter semi-immersive mode]

"Isn't semi-immersive mode just keyboard and mouse mode?"

Players who leave the camp will move and fight using the same mouse and keyboard controls as in a real-world setting.

This is to allow players to familiarize themselves with the controls as quickly as possible.

The game is so immersive that players can't aim their guns accurately and can't quickly pull back their weapons.

However, the semi-immersive operation method is still keyboard and mouse, only the display screen has been replaced with 3D glasses.

You can pull the trigger in a second whenever you want to fire.

This is the unique charm of online multiplayer game modules: no matter how fast the player operates, the clone's operation can keep up.

Their advantage becomes apparent when players leave the exploration area, because as a product of the multiplayer mod, the areas explored by players will display specific terrain features and mark hostile units on the minimap.

The minimap is a system-generated feature. Without satellites and reconnaissance drones, it will be shrouded in fog of war, similar to the fog of war in real-time strategy games.

The fog of war was gradually dispelled by the players' exploration.

"Commander, we have detected an energy reaction underground ahead, covering an area of approximately ten square kilometers."

"Does this building lead underground?"

Fang Yun's gaze fell on the wall, where there was a thick layer of substance, which looked like the residue left after something similar to a fungal carpet had been burned.

Following the opening, Fang Yun jumped down and landed on a tunnel.

The ground was covered with a thick layer of dark substance, different from the substance outside; it was sticky and had a metallic smell.

"Is this blood?"

"A massacre took place here."

Although a massacre had taken place here, Fang Yun did not see a single corpse.

They were eaten or burned.

"There is a carnivorous creature fighting against another race here."

"All players move towards my position."

Just as Fang Yun was issuing commands to the players, a panting sound came from the tunnel ahead of him.

Splash...splash...the sound of running and splashing water.

"Drink, drink, drink, drink........

It was an extremely rapid panting sound, accompanied by terrified cries.