Chapter 1 What Did You Comprehend?

"Didn't comprehend anything?"

"Don't rush, tell me slowly. Explain your mental journey in detail, don't miss any details."

Zhu Xiaoce and Lu Zhiyao went to the room and sat on the sofa in the suite's living room.

Lu Zhiyao grabbed the half-finished can of cola on the table and took a swig, then began to pour out his grievances to Zhu Xiaoce.

"Director Zhu, I don't know if your method is useless, or if I haven't grasped the essence, but in short, I haven't comprehended anything."

"You told me to imagine every unit in there as a living person."

"I kept reminding myself of that, and it was okay at first. I made sure to keep all the soldiers with low health hidden in the back, and no one died."

"But then, I'd accidentally lose one, and then accidentally lose another..."

"Later I realized, the more I tried to treat all these people as living people, the less I could!"

"Because if I kept emphasizing to myself that they were living people, I couldn't concentrate and rationally think about and handle the current battle at all."

"And the more entangled I became, the more people died."

"So, by the end, the battles became more and more difficult, and I couldn't save these people's lives at all."

"Even if I repeatedly lied to myself that these were all living people, my subconscious resisted strongly, constantly denying it, so I couldn't think the way you said..."

"In the end, I was confused, lost. Even though many people died, I felt nothing. Everything went back to square one."

"In short, nothing gained."

Lu Zhiyao finished pouring out his grievances and looked at Zhu Xiaoce.

He originally thought he would see disappointment or comfort on Zhu Xiaoce's face, but he didn't expect Zhu Xiaoce to raise his hand, gesturing for him to stop talking, and started thinking seriously with his head down.

Lu Zhiyao was stunned.

What does this mean? Did Director Zhu really find some inspiration in my words?

Are directors so good at overthinking?

Zhu Xiaoce frowned, feeling like he had grasped something, but it was a bit unreal.

President Pei asked that the small soldiers in the game should have their own ideas. Combining this with the "breaking the fourth wall" approach, people naturally thought of the idea that "the small soldiers in the game are actually real people."

But this idea had already been used by others. If he wanted to come up with something new, he had to dig deeper into this idea and come up with something innovative.

Lu Zhiyao's mental journey, although it couldn't be directly used in the plot, provided some previously unconsidered ideas.

For example:

Being too concerned about whether these units are real people will affect one's rational judgment. Not treating them as people can reduce casualties, which seems a bit ironic.

Because of the special medium of games, the subconscious will resist and deny the idea that "the characters in the game are all real people" during the process of playing the game.

When too many people die, life becomes a number, and the highest commander will only fall into numbness and despair.

But, is it right to completely treat people as numbers? It seems that it will create more problems...

Moreover, Lu Zhiyao was playing *StarCraft 2*, not *Fate & Choice*.

Imagine, if it were *Fate & Choice*, each small soldier would have his own ideas, and the gap between humans and Zerg would be even greater...

Many thoughts collided rapidly, and Zhu Xiaoce suddenly felt inspired!

He quickly said, "Let me use the computer!"

Lu Zhiyao quickly stood up, "Okay."

Zhu Xiaoce exited *StarCraft 2*, immediately created a new document, and began to quickly type on the keyboard.

Lu Zhiyao stood curiously behind him. After watching for half a minute, he said with some doubt, "Director Zhu, are you... rewriting the story outline from scratch?"

Zhu Xiaoce quickly said, "Of course not! I have hundreds of thousands of words of script in my work computer. This is just to jot down the inspiration I just had."

"Don't interrupt my train of thought, and don't look, I can't write if you're watching me. You go sit on the side first."

After sending Lu Zhiyao away, Zhu Xiaoce continued to frantically type on the keyboard, recording all the inspiration in his mind.

Lu Zhiyao was suspicious, but he was too embarrassed to look again, so he could only wait anxiously on the side.

Zhu Xiaoce wrote very quickly, constantly adding and deleting.

"President Pei said that there is only one protagonist, Lu Zhiyao."

"Either there are no interactions, all solo performances, which means that the protagonist must have many mental transformations to support the entire length of the movie."

"Right now... there are five, not enough."

"Hmm... it's also possible that there are interactions, but the interactions are not with actors."

"Artificial intelligence?"

"Hmm, if you want to break the fourth wall, the protagonist must have the help of artificial intelligence to control the fleet through the game. Similarly, the game itself must also require some AI help to simplify operations."

"Since there must be artificial intelligence in the movie, it must interact with the protagonist. Moreover, with the intervention of artificial intelligence, the protagonist's mentality can change many times."

"Nine times."

"The protagonist's mentality changes nine times, each time pushing the story forward a little more, closer to the final truth."

"And we can't forget that the protagonist is a determined space warrior, who won't have too many expressions. So, we must strive to present a contradiction:"

"The plot is completely unexpected to the audience, bringing a strong plot tension, but the protagonist remains strong, calm, and rational, until the very end when he has a little emotional fluctuation, and each emotional change must be expressed with very subtle expressions..."

"There is only one protagonist, so this protagonist must leave a deep impression on the audience."

"Tell a good story, create a good protagonist. In President Pei's view, that should be enough."

Zhu Xiaoce wrote about five hundred words, then checked it once, and nodded with satisfaction.

This is the most essential story outline, but to write it into a script, it still needs to be repeatedly adjusted and refined.

Thinking of this, Zhu Xiaoce put away the gaming laptop, put it in his backpack and took it away. "Okay, Movie Emperor, your work is done. I'm very inspired! I'll go back and add the little bit that's missing from the script, and then we'll immediately prepare to start filming!"

Lu Zhiyao asked somewhat uncertainly, "Director Zhu, are you sure the script is only missing a little bit?"

Zhu Xiaoce smiled. "It was missing a lot before, but it's not missing anymore! Rest well, shave your beard, and I'll send you the first part of the script soon."

Lu Zhiyao was stunned for a moment. "You're going to give me the script in batches?"

Zhu Xiaoce nodded. "Of course, to help you adapt to the role better. I'm leaving first!"

After Zhu Xiaoce finished speaking, he turned and left.

Lu Zhiyao scratched his head in confusion.

He felt that what he said did indeed inspire Director Zhu a lot.

But he still couldn't imagine what the script would be like...

...

Zhu Xiaoce returned to Fei Huang Studio and directly called Huang Sibao and the screenwriters together for a short meeting.

"What does everyone think of my idea? If it's okay, we'll start working immediately and complete the script as soon as possible."

"While writing the script, pre-production work can also be started."

The screenwriters all showed surprised expressions. "Amazing, Director Zhu! This story not only integrates well with the game content, but the character personalities are also very prominent, and the story development is also very unexpected..."

Huang Sibao also nodded frequently. "Very good! And the content of the movie is really too consistent with the game. I already have ideas about how the game should be made!"

Only one screenwriter frowned slightly. "But, Director Zhu, I think the ending has a bit of a forced reversal, it's not natural enough."

"Of course, it seems that there's nothing wrong with filming it this way, but some viewers may not be able to accept it."

"Can we find a way to bury some foreshadowing in the front to give a hint?"

Zhu Xiaoce was silent for a moment, carefully considered it, and then nodded. "Hmm, there might be a bit of that feeling. But... the previous content is already very complicated, and this foreshadowing can't be crammed in."

"What's more, if it's hinted too obviously, the audience might guess it directly, which might cause all the puzzles we've set up to collapse."

"Or..."

"We can bury a little foreshadowing outside the movie, deliberately inducing everyone to misunderstand, but when the mystery is revealed at the end of the movie, it will make everyone feel that it is unexpected but reasonable."

Huang Sibao thought for a moment. "That's possible! Shang Yang Games is making DLC for Tengda's original games. I'll go ask them to help make a related DLC. It can not only bury foreshadowing, but also give the new game an early warm-up!"

Zhu Xiaoce nodded. "Okay, then everyone should follow the story outline I just gave you to improve the script. Be more efficient these two days and complete the script as soon as possible!"

The screenwriters nodded one after another and went to work with full motivation.

Zhu Xiaoce then called Shang Yang Games and explained his intentions to Wang Xiaobin.

Wang Xiaobin on the other end of the phone was silent for a moment. "If it's a science fiction theme... there really aren't any suitable games. How about doing it in *Sea Fortress*?"

"We can make a separate independent story for *Sea Fortress*, redoing everything from the protagonist to the monsters."

Zhu Xiaoce was very happy. "That's great, an FPS game is more suitable. Because FPS games are in the first-person perspective, the immersion is stronger, and it's easier for players to experience what I want to express."

"Moreover, *Sea Fortress* has a huge player base, and the publicity effect will be better."

"I just don't know if it will affect your original development plan?"

Wang Xiaobin: "No, I haven't really decided how to do it yet. If you have a better plan, I'm of course willing to use it. Moreover, Tengda Games is developing *Fate & Choice*, and I can directly use a lot of the art resources from there, so the workload isn't that big."

Zhu Xiaoce was very happy. "Okay, then I'll send you the story outline soon. Let's do it in the DLC for *Sea Fortress*!"