A Romance and Passion Unique to the Chinese People
As the five continued reviewing and scoring videos, the excitement in their livestreams kept mounting.
Chen Ze's livestream had actually passed a million viewers, a sight he almost never got to see.
The five livestreams had more than three million viewers combined. Even the game's livestream channels ranked sixth through one hundredth didn't have as many viewers between them as the five did.
It was easy to imagine just how popular this livestream was.
Da Sima adjusted the glasses on his nose and studied the second-place entry, his voice tinged with emotion.
"To be honest, when I first got the invitation to review these, I thought most of the entries would be ordinary stuff thrown in to make up the numbers. Now I can see how limited my perspective was."
"The players really put their hearts into these builds."
Dan King, Lü Zhenghao, immediately chimed in, full of praise. "That's right. I skimmed through the rankings yesterday, and the further down I went, the more impressive they got."
"Especially a few of the traditional Chinese-style buildings. The mortise-and-tenon joints and upturned eaves were all spot-on."
"After watching those building videos, I feel like I could get into an architecture program at a 211 university."
Xiao Dingdang laughed in agreement. "There were also lots of creative mashups that broke free of conventional building limitations. The ideas were wild."
"Scoring them really isn't easy this time. There are too many experts, and the competition is fierce."
Seeing that the mood was about right, Chen Ze raised his voice a notch. "All right, tonight, let's take a look at the entry with the most likes."
"Old Summer Palace: The Moment a Modern Game Collides with Time."
This time, the moment the video opened, the others fell silent, and the barrage comments in the livestreams went quiet for an instant before flooding the screens in an uproar.
An ink-wash-style video cover appeared, instantly catching everyone's eye.
Across the cover was a gilded title: "Old Summer Palace: The Moment a Modern Game Collides with Time."
[It's here, it's here! The ultimate dark horse is finally here!]
[I've been waiting for this entry to make the rankings ever since the day the video went viral. Sure enough, it's firmly at the top!]
[Honestly, I broke down the first time I watched this video. This is true Chinese-style romance.]
[The result of grinding for days and nights, with the accuracy cranked all the way up. Who could watch this and not be impressed?!]
Chen Ze's gaze stayed fixed on the screen, and his tone grew solemn without him noticing.
"Everyone, I guess this is the grand finale we've been saving for last."
"This reconstruction of the Old Summer Palace has been all over the internet these past two days. Today, let's immerse ourselves in it and give it a proper look."
As soon as he finished speaking, the video began to play. Distinctive sights from the Old Summer Palace appeared one after another, pieced closely together into a spectacle that left people in awe.
After watching the video, the five immediately entered the map code and entered the Old Summer Palace map built by its creator with a single click.
As the game finished loading, an utterly breathtaking vista unfolded before everyone, filling the screens of all five livestreams in an instant.
Upon entering the map, the first thing they saw was the Old Summer Palace's stately, classical main gate. Its vermilion doors were solemn and imposing, and its carved window latticework was exquisitely detailed.
The smooth ground paved with gray bricks had a clearly defined texture. Every detail had been polished to an extraordinary degree of realism, perfectly recreating the dignified air of an imperial garden.
In that instant, all five froze at the sight before them through their VR headsets. It was as though the scene had made them forget they were in a game.
They were like tourists, wandering through the recreated Old Summer Palace before them.
None of the five spoke. They walked quietly through the Old Summer Palace, taking in the stirring sights before them.
A magnificent garden vista suddenly opened up before them, with a network of lakes winding around the entire garden.
Under the effects of the lighting and texture packs, the gilded glazed tiles looked dazzling. They complemented the vermilion palace walls and blue-gray bricks and tiles, their colors elegant and luxurious, with all the grandeur of an imperial garden.
When the five arrived at the central fountain garden, the lifelike statues of the twelve zodiac animals stood quietly in place.
Rat, ox, tiger, rabbit... The twelve animal heads looked uncannily realistic, and together with the fountain, it was as though they had truly arrived at the Old Summer Palace as it had been back then.
It wasn't until they had finished exploring and finally returned here that they could no longer hold back their amazement.
"It's so realistic..."
"Just from the details on these twelve animal heads, you can tell the creator put an incredible amount of work into them. They were definitely refined bit by bit against historical records."
"Yeah, you can see from the work that the creator put in the effort."
"There's no need to say much more this time. I'm giving it 100 points. This is definitely the number one entry in the competition. It really lives up to its place as the most-liked entry."
"..."
As they spoke, the five scored it one after another, and the final average came to an astonishing 100 points.
All five had given it full marks. It was an absolutely exquisite build in this Starfield Building Cup.
After giving his score, Chen Ze couldn't help saying with emotion, "One minute on stage takes ten years of practice offstage."
"The showcase of the result in the video lasted less than a minute, but behind it were days and nights of dedicated work by the creator, countless fine adjustments to the details, and extensive research and verification using historical records."
"Building a garden out of blocks in a game has allowed us to admire the splendor of the Old Summer Palace at its height once again. Its significance has already gone far beyond that of an ordinary game creation."
By now, the livestreams had been completely overtaken by barrage comments. More than a million viewers flooded the screens together, filling them with shock and emotion.
[My eyes suddenly welled up. This is the Old Summer Palace as it once was, the one we've dreamed of seeing!]
[From broken walls and ruins to a garden in full splendor, a player has used blocks to restore what was lost a century ago!]
[This is the masterpiece that makes the Starfield Building Cup legendary. There's no dispute!]
[It's more than impressive. It's a creation with warmth and feeling. This is the inheritance of Chinese style!]
[Every entry before this was just a prelude, all for the return of this glorious age!]
Chen Ze looked at the peerlessly magnificent garden of gardens on the screen, then at the glowing barrage comments filling it, and slowly spoke.
"To all the players who took part, you've fully brought your boundless ideas to life through this Starfield Building Cup."
"There's the historical and cultural heritage of our ancestors, the warships we take pride in today, and moments of romance unique to the Chinese people."
"I feel that there's long been no question who the true champion of this Starfield Building Cup is."
"This romance, sentiment, and pride that belong to the Chinese people belong to all of us Minecraft players. Every player deserves to celebrate together and receive applause."
After he spoke, Chen Ze's eyes reddened slightly. He didn't know what had moved him, not just in his heart but physically as well.
The players watching the livestream also felt the romance in the game at that moment. This feeling was the moving experience and passion they found in Minecraft.
A toast to all MC players.
P.S. Writing this, I suddenly remembered the days when I played Minecraft. I was really happy then.
Maybe a lot of you don't play anymore, but the memories are still there, hehe.
Oh, right, now that you've read this far, could you use your precious little hands to leave me a five-star review? (QAQ)