It was almost noon the next day when Ross returned to school.
Pushing open the door, he found his roommate game playing a game with great effort.
Ross himself was a little surprised.
Does Noel need to work this hard?
Those who know, know you are playing a game; those who don't, might wonder what you're doing.
Setting down his coat, Ross walked over to watch, and soon became engrossed himself.
"Wow, this game is amazing."
"Huh?!"
Ross's sudden voice from behind startled Noel, who was immersed in the game's slaughter, almost making him fall off his chair.
"When did you get back?" Noel asked, taking off his headphones with some dissatisfaction. "You didn't even say hello when you came back; suddenly making a sound behind someone can scare them to death."
Ross chuckled, touching the stubble that had grown on his face overnight. "I saw the game you were playing was quite interesting, so I didn't even notice someone came in."
He sat on the bed, took off his shoes beside him, and lazily looked at the headboard, then stretched his neck, which was sore from a night of exertion.
Noel glanced at him with some displeasure. "Are you done so early? Don't you usually come back in the afternoon?"
"Oh, don't even mention it. I was tormented by Amy and Tracy yesterday. If I didn't leave early today, who knows what would have happened? No matter how strong a man is, he can't endure that."
What?!
Noel gritted his teeth in anger. This guy just has so many girls around him because he's handsome.
He really couldn't understand what was so good about Ross.
"By the way, what game is this?" Ross asked, hands behind his head, wiggling his toes. "You haven't answered me yet."
"Border. Do you want to play together?"
"Border?!"
Ross jumped off the bed. "Is this the 'Border' made by Pokeni?"
Noel smiled disdainfully. "What do you think?"
"So it's already released. I've had my eye on this game for a long time; I originally wanted to buy a copy."
"Do you want to play together?" Noel raised an eyebrow. "This game can be played by two people, or in multiplayer local area network battles."
"Oh? Has it really reached that level?"
...
Although he felt his body was about to give out, Ross really couldn't resist the temptation. He first installed the game, then linked up with Noel to enter the campaign.
But soon Ross found something was wrong—
"Why does my game look different from yours? My game is too laggy!"
Noel turned his head to glance at him and quickly started laughing. "What graphics card are you using?"
"What else could it be? The one that came with the computer when it was assembled," Ross said bluntly.
"That's definitely not going to work," he leaned over, re-configured it for him, and set all the game effects to the lowest.
Dynamic lighting, shadows, anti-aliasing, everything was turned off, and even the game model precision was set to the lowest level.
Ross's machine barely managed to run.
At least the operation was smooth, and there were no more lags.
But—
Compared to Noel's machine next to him, Ross felt like he had bought a fake.
"Why are your game effects so good? Mine aren't? I feel like my models are all blurred together, all big color blocks, while your game character models look much more detailed."
Noel turned his head back, looking at him with amusement. "Didn't I just say, it's a graphics card issue? I specifically bought an Nvidia graphics card to play 'Border'."
"Huh? That G what was it?"
"GeForce256 graphics card, GPU." Noel smiled even more happily.
He had been a little pained by the cost, after all, it was $300, but now seeing the game effects and the expression on Ross's face, Noel felt the money was worth it.
...
So, everything is most afraid of comparison; a comparison will lead to psychological disparity. Now looking at 'Border' on his own machine, and then 'Border' on Noel's machine next to him, if the game process wasn't the same, Ross would find it hard to believe that these two were actually the same game.
Is the difference in graphics cards really that big?
I should have known; I would have replaced it with a better graphics card.
"Damn it, 'Border' this game is just a commercial advertisement! It's Pokeni using it to promote Nvidia graphics cards!"
Ross cursed fiercely.
Noel next to him laughed exceptionally happily. "Otherwise? Of course, they made it to sell for money, didn't you know? Nvidia actually has a lot of shares owned by Pokeni, and Pokeni is also a major shareholder of Nvidia."
"No wonder! Damn capitalists!" Ross became even more annoyed.
But looking back, 'Border' is really well made.
Especially after his needs were cleared last night, as a man, seeing such an interesting and exciting shooting game, how could he not be tempted?
At this moment, Ross looked at Border as if he were looking at a hot girl beckoning him.
But, turning his head to look at his own screen—
The hot girl turned into a mosaic face, and he felt completely awful.
To get a better experience, to truly experience the essence of Border, one must buy an Nvidia GeForce256.
When the Border game came out, it was better than any advertisement.
It was truly frustrating.
Pokeni is truly a company that makes people both love and hate it.
...
Forget it. After looking at the price, Ross still resisted the impulse in his heart, mainly because he had other expenses. Otherwise, he would have gotten an Nvidia graphics card no matter what.
It was barely playable, not completely unplayable, so Ross endured the disparity with Noel next to him and connected to the game.
Through the local area network, the two started a two-player mode.
He hadn't played the previous levels, and Noel reluctantly accompanied Ross to play through them again.
From time to time, shouts from the two of them came from the room:
"Noel, behind you! Enemy at 6 o'clock!"
"How am I supposed to know where that is?! Why did you run to such a place?" Noel was truly speechless.
If Noel was a cautious, strategic offensive player, then Ross was the type who charged in headfirst without thinking.
Dying or not didn't matter; just charging forward was all that mattered.
In 'Border', to enhance the experience for the "weaker" player in two-player game, there was also a revive teammate function.
As long as the nearby enemies were killed and they were out of the alert range, the revive teammate button could be activated.
So in the game, a common situation was—
Ross charged into a crowd and died.
Noel cautiously cleared the battlefield, enduring this guy's constant nagging commands in his ear: "Go this way, don't go there, there are enemies over there, that's where I died."
"Cover, cover! I can already smell danger."
"Be careful, almost there, save me quickly!"
"Alright, I'm a fierce man again!"
"Take this! Taste my power!"
Ross grabbed his gun and charged in again, as if his previous death hadn't happened.
"Not so fast, you're going too deep, it's easy to get into trouble!" Noel frowned, thinking this guy was truly hopeless.
...
In the opposite room, Owen was seeing his girlfriend out.
Mary froze as soon as she reached the door, hearing the sounds coming from Ross and Noel's room, and a look of great shock appeared on the girl's face—
She looked at her boyfriend with a meaningful gaze and rolled her eyes twice.
"Are your classmates across the hall 'that'?"
"They're playing game," Owen smiled. "They're definitely not."
Ross had slept with who knows how many girls.
As for Noel...
Owen frowned and thought for two seconds. He was just a guy who liked playing game and didn't really date much.
There were plenty of such boys in this dormitory building.
At first, Mary was a little suspicious, but after walking down the corridor, passing rooms where gunshots echoed one after another, she finally believed what Owen said.
"The soundproofing in your dorms is terrible."
"Haha, that's right, otherwise how would they hear?" Owen chuckled mischievously.
"Promise me, don't get addicted to game like them, okay?"
...
Owen saw his girlfriend off and then turned to Ross and Noel's room.
The two were deep into playing Border.
"Is this Border?" Owen asked, standing behind them with his arms crossed.
The two were playing so intensely that they had no time to chat with him. They replied without turning their heads, "Yes, this is the damn Border made by Pokeni!"
Ross said resentfully.
"Are you playing the same game?"
Owen's words were astonishing, once again accurately stabbing Ross in the heart.
"Uh..."
Just then, Ross was also killed by an enemy, his body falling into the grass.
He frowned uncomfortably. "As you can see, this is obviously the same game."
"But why are the effects so different?"
Owen asked, still with his arms crossed and a puzzled expression.
"Because I freaking turned off all effects and set the display quality to the lowest."
"Why don't you use standard settings, or a better effects mode?" Owen's words were like daggers.
Noel next to him couldn't stop laughing.
"Owen, I seriously doubt how someone like you found a girlfriend?" Ross sighed. "It's obvious, the same game, different performance, what else could it be? This guy is using the latest Nvidia graphics card, and I have a crappy integrated graphics card. It's that simple."
It wasn't even Voodoo; the fact that Border could barely run was partly due to the company's good production and optimization techniques, and partly due to a bit of luck.
"Oh?"
Owen was stunned, his mouth wide open in surprise. "Is the game difference caused by graphics cards really that huge?!"
...
Noel and Ross spent over 10 hours, front and back, and finally reached the last level of 'Border'—
Assassinate General Valentine.
He was the overall commander of the enemy forces in this conflict.
This was also the last area of the entire Verac war zone.
Fighting together was clearly much more comfortable than fighting alone, especially once Ross's operational skills caught up. The two had great chemistry in battle.
They would cover each other, watch each other's blind spots, and support each other. The game progressed smoothly, which even Noel found a bit incredible.
Ross was also completely hyped up.
To prevent Ross from getting too frustrated, Noel even swapped machines with him so he could experience what a GeForce256 graphics card was like!
So he could also feel what 'Border' was like! What FPS was like!
As soon as he got his hands on it, Ross exclaimed: "Mom, my nearsightedness has been cured!"
"Oh my god, the whole world has become clear."
"Noel, do you know why I died so many times?"
"Why?" Was it not because you're a noob?
"Because my previous display was too unclear. After using your machine, I truly felt what Border was really like! My computer limited my performance. Now, just watch, it's time for me to go on a rampage!"
Hahahaha, don't brag, brother.
Noel next to him couldn't stop laughing.
...
After a battle, the two successfully infiltrated (eliminated all enemies along the way) the enemy's command post, reached the command room, and successfully assassinated General Valentine.
The game ended there, and the ending screen appeared.
[Congratulations, you have completed all missions for the Coreen Republic]
[All missions for the Barque Republic are unlocked. If you are interested, you can play the corresponding campaigns in the upcoming game]
[Thank you for your support of this game]
...
The two exited to the main interface. Sure enough, after clicking on the campaign, in addition to the completed Coreen missions, a series of Barque missions also appeared.
This game itself is mirrored, meaning that no matter whether you choose Coreen or Barque, you will get a similar mission experience.
And in the game's map and terrain design, the beauty of mirrored correspondence is also reflected.
Basically, for the two opposing sides, the game terrain differences are not so obvious, achieving a dynamic balance to some extent.
For example, the mission to assassinate the local commander in the last level: the Barque faction has its own command post, and correspondingly, the Coreen also has its own command post.
After the identities are reversed, it immediately becomes different, but overall, the experience is similar.
These settings, in addition to providing campaign experience, are also preparations for game battles.
When players are familiar enough with the game after playing the campaign, each fragmented small map in Border will provide them with a brand new battle experience.
...
And from a worldview perspective, Pokeni also wanted to use this game to tell players—
In this war, there is no absolute good or evil, and no so-called invasion or anti-invasion.
Both countries waged war to seize Benefit.
War is cruel.
Ross and Noel already deeply understood this, because the total number of times they died in the game was at least a hundred.
Fortunately, this was just a game made by a game company for them to experience, a virtual reality, not a real battlefield, otherwise they would not have survived at all.
...
After clearing the Coreen levels, the two still felt they hadn't had enough.
So they bought some food, came back, and continued to conquer the Barque campaign missions.
Only after finishing everything did they breathe a sigh of relief and go to bed contentedly.
"Damn it, I'm definitely going to buy the latest Nvidia graphics card tomorrow!"
Before going to sleep, Ross lay on the bed, saying indignantly.
The gap in game experience was just too great.
...
The next day, after buying the graphics card and returning, Ross found that the sound of Border was also coming from the surrounding dorms.
In the evening, two buddies from next door came and knocked on Ross and Noel's door.
Seeing the two of them playing Border, the guys standing outside smiled mischievously:
"Want to organize a match?"
"OK, who's afraid of whom?!"
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