With the venue secured and recruitment rolling, Blake wasn't about to sit on his hands for three days.
The trailer had generated insane hype, sure — but players were still skeptical about the actual gameplay. And honestly? Fair. Desert Bus had gone viral because of the music, not because driving in a straight line forever was revolutionary game design. Nobody could guarantee Delta Force wasn't just "pretty cutscenes, garbage gameplay."
He needed to record a live demo. Show people what Zero Dam actually felt like to play.
First problem: hardware.
His current rig was equivalent to maybe a 3070 from his previous life. Serviceable, but nowhere near enough to run Delta at full settings.
Blake pulled up the Steam backend and checked Desert Bus's numbers.
Total sales had cracked 50,000 copies. After Steam's 30% cut, he was looking at roughly $35,000 in pocket.
Not bad for a dollar game carried entirely by a single song. More importantly — it was enough to build a monster PC.
He didn't waste time comparison shopping. Headed straight to the tech district downtown, walked into the first reputable shop, and pointed at the best of everything.
"That one. That one. And that."
RTX 5090. i9-14900K. The works.
By evening, the new rig was set up in his apartment, humming with barely-contained power.
Blake cracked his knuckles.
"System — transfer the Zero Dam demo to this machine. Max graphics preset."
[Transferring DEMO... 10%... 50%... 100%]
[Graphics parameters optimized: 4K resolution, Ray Tracing Ultra, Texture Quality Maximum, TAA Anti-aliasing enabled.]
The monitor flickered to life.
Blake's hand froze on the mouse.
Holy shit.
It looked even better than the trailer.
The dam loomed in the distance, rain hammering the concrete. Where water hit the ground, it splashed into tiny droplets that caught the light. Wind swept across the terrain, rolling sand and dead leaves along cracked pavement. The fractures in the dam's walls were so detailed he could practically feel the texture.
This wasn't a game. This was a window.
"Start recording."
As the developer, Blake wasn't going to waste time wandering the map like a tourist. He could call up any location directly — no need for the scenic route.
He launched his screen capture software and spawned his character at the Visitor Center entrance.
The Visitor Center was one of Zero Dam's outer strongholds, tucked in the southeast corner of the map. Right now, it looked like a warzone — outer wall blown open, documents scattered across the floor, furniture overturned.
Blake pressed his character against a wall and hit the stealth key. Immediately, the operative lowered his center of gravity, footsteps shifting from audible thump-thump to near-silent hss-hss.
Time to show off the environmental interactions.
Medical kit on the shelf? Pop it open for healing items. Counter in the lobby? Temporary cover. Window? Smash it and climb through to the outdoor platform.
"That's enough for the Visitor Center. Next — the Substation."
His operator, Red Wolf, shattered a second-floor window. The knife execution on the rocket trooper served as a seamless transition — one moment he was gutting an enemy in the Visitor Center, the next he was mid-stab in the Substation, surrounded by humming electrical equipment.
The lighting here was darker, more oppressive. Emergency lamps cast harsh white beams while equipment screens flickered pale blue. Industrial. Dangerous.
Blake opened an ammo crate near a side entrance, then crouched and climbed inside.
"This spot right here? God-tier ambush point. When you open the crate, the lid tilts up like this. If you crouch inside, you're basically invisible. Most players walk right past."
Brief demonstration. Then up to the second floor — another window shatter, another knife transition.
Now for the heart of Zero Dam: the Administration Building.
The structure here was the most complex on the entire map. Open atriums. Narrow corridors. Staircases crisscrossing between levels. A hundred angles to watch, a hundred corners to die around.
Blake walked through the basic mechanics.
"Marking system — tap this key to ping enemy positions or highlight loot for your squad."
"Door interaction — press this to open a door quietly instead of blasting through it. Most doors in Delta Force can be opened normally. Only a few special rooms need keycards."
"Some doors are locked but don't need cards — you just kick them down. Very satisfying."
He slipped Red Wolf into an office, crept up behind an Asara soldier, and triggered an execution animation. Flashy as hell. Completely impractical in actual combat. But it looked cool, and that's what mattered for a demo reel.
Zero Dam was massive — way too much ground to cover in one video. Blake cherry-picked the important areas and moved on.
Time for the main event.
He switched to Boss Battle Mode.
The reason he hadn't let Saeed loose during the map tour? Because he was genuinely afraid of getting kicked to death mid-sentence.
Red Wolf exited the Administration Building's combat zone. Blake's voice dropped, taking on a more serious tone:
"You've seen the basic layout. Now let's talk about Zero Dam's real surprise. Or maybe... nightmare."
The screen cut to the interior of the Administration Building's East Wing.
Standing in the center of the room was a hunched figure in a tattered cloak. Well-armed. Well-armored. Radiating do not fuck with me energy.
His nameplate read [SAEED].
His health bar and armor indicators were distinctly different from regular AI — thicker, more intimidating.
"Saeed. The guardian of Zero Dam."
Blake began the breakdown.
"He doesn't spawn every round. When he does show up, here's what you're dealing with:"
"In Standard mode — M249 light machine gun loaded with Tier 4 armor-piercing rounds. Personal loadout is Tier 3 helmet plus Tier 4 vest."
"In Classified mode — weapon upgrades to an M24 with Tier 5 rounds. Armor becomes Tier 4 helmet plus Tier 5 vest. Absolute unit."
"Now here's the thing — he's not some rabid dog that chases you across the map from minute one."
"His activation trigger is very specific: Saeed only wakes up when a player first sets foot inside the main Administration Building. And when he does? He locks onto whoever triggered him. Prioritizes hunting that specific player above all else."
PLZ THROW POWERSTONES.