Steve, who was about to get up, stopped in his tracks after hearing Lin Lixin's words.
"Communications - Arena?"
Lin Lixin pulled an expansion floppy disk drive from under his seat. "The first mode requires an expansion floppy disk drive."
He reconnected the floppy disk drive cables one by one and took out two Fire Emblem floppy disks.
"Simply insert two floppy disks into the same NovaBo to activate this hidden mode."
As Lin Lixin inserted the second floppy disk into the floppy disk drive, the game suddenly reloaded automatically.
Returning to the title screen, in addition to [Continue from where you left off] and [Continue from record], there is now a brand new option.
[ Link Arena ]
"Mr. Steve, as you know, GAMENOVA has been working on developing its own esports programming lately."
Steve took the controller Lin Lixin handed him, his eyes wide with shock.
How could I forget about this!
Expand your floppy disk drive!
This GAMENOVA device was recently released to complement the King of Fighters.
Surprisingly, Fire Emblem actually has a compatibility feature with it.
"I thought the next time I'd see it was a Fire Emblem content pack. It can even read two identical floppy disks?"
"That's right, it can recognize save files on both floppy disks and allows players to use them in the Communication Arena."
Lin Lixin entered the Communication Arena directly and selected [Team Formation].
Depending on the team selections made by Player 1 and Player 2, the game will dynamically select save files from the two floppy disks.
Both sides can only use the save data stored on their own floppy disks.
The selected character will retain all their stats from the main storyline save file.
"All stats? That means—including level, attributes, equipment, and equipped items—and even the Support relationships you mentioned earlier?"
Steve looked at the available characters and their status displayed on the screen, his surprise deepening.
This means that the stronger a character becomes in the main storyline, the greater their advantage in battles.
This is a completely different model from fighting games.
It's worth noting that in Street Fighter and the King of Fighters, although the characters are incredibly diverse and each has their own unique characteristics, the performance of the characters they choose is always exactly the same.
There won't be a situation where two people playing Guile will have different attributes.
"The real battle begins before the fighting even begins."
Steve understood the purpose of this design.
Aside from in-game combat command, the greatest strategic depth in Fire Emblem comes from resource allocation, or rather, character development.
The ability to cultivate the strongest team with limited resources is, in fact, part of the battle itself.
"Wait, Mr. Lin, I brought my floppy disk. Let me use my own save data to play against you."
Thinking of this, Steve beckoned to his assistant and took the floppy disk that was handed to him.
After all, he was a formidable player who survived all 12 chapters, so he still had a competitive spirit.
If it really comes down to a battle, using a team you've personally trained will definitely give you a better feel and better stats.
Just as Steve was about to choose his favorite Rutger Master as his starting lineup, he suddenly had a jolt.
"Oh, right—if you die in the arena—"
"Oh, don't worry about that. In this mode, the save file is read-only; we're just borrowing the data."
The Link Arena is a purely simulated battle.
Weapon durability will not be consumed here, and death will not result in permanent death.
However, correspondingly, one cannot gain any experience.
Otherwise, this would be some kind of dark duel where it's a matter of life and death.
"Hmm... it seems like it can be done too."
Lin Lixin suddenly chuckled; this really was worth making a separate supplementary pack for.
That kind of real life-or-death struggle might actually be more popular among hardcore gamers.
As both sides selected their teams, the screen was suddenly covered by a blue grid.
Then, a plain appeared out of thin air in the very center.
Centered on this grid, the map begins to Fallout outwards in all directions.
This is not loading an existing map.
At least in Steve's memory, loading chapters was never like this.
He didn't remember ever playing a map like that.
"Mr. Lin, this map—was it randomly generated?"
Sometimes Steve really felt like his identity as a game reviewer was a joke.
Having spent so much time playing, I thought that getting a save file with all survivors meant I had thoroughly explored the game's core mechanics.
But it turns out he was just a complete novice who hadn't even scratched the surface.
Steve is an amateur.
"Yes, to ensure fairness and reduce the intelligence advantage gained from memorizing maps, a small Battlefield will be randomly generated for each match."
Lin Lixin paused for a moment, then added, "Of course, the maps from the main storyline can also be used; it just depends on the needs of both sides."
Once the map is generated, both teams are positioned at opposite ends of the map.
The victory condition is, of course, to annihilate all of the opponent's units.
Although Steve didn't fully understand the hidden mechanics, he was still a formidable player who could lead a large group of people to Chapter 12 without taking any damage, and he wasn't entirely a greenhorn when it came to combat strategy.
He quickly scanned the map, identifying several key strategic locations. The map was divided into a U-shape by a mountain range in the center.
Apart from Pegasus Knights and Fei Long Knights, other units can only pass through the few plains passes below.
As long as he can secure a good position, he can coordinate with snipers and mages to constantly harass Lin Lixin's units.
"This map is randomly generated; it's practically magic."
The more Steve studied the map, the more he felt its ingenious and perfectly natural craftsmanship.
It seems like a map designed specifically for battles.
When he heard that the map was randomly generated, he expected to see some kind of random patchwork of land.
But it turned out he was completely wrong.
This generator was definitely designed intentionally by Lin Lixin.
No traversable area on the map is unreachable; every non-ocean and non-mountainous grid will have a path for ground infantry units to traverse.
He didn't even know if it was his imagination, but the distribution of key strategic locations such as forests and fortresses seemed to follow certain patterns.
At least at first glance, this map was absolutely perfectly balanced.
"Consider it a small experiment of mine."
Lin Lixin smiled, not intending to elaborate further on its algorithm.
Random map generators are definitely an important technological branch in later generations.
Starting to iterate early is definitely not a bad thing.
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blessing