Five ways a world can arrive while it downloads, all crisp, none blurred. Each one loops on the same ten-second clock, so you can compare them side by side. The amber line under each is the real progress.
Your idea. Big square pixels from the first moment, each one splitting into finer ones as more arrives, until it is sharp. The steps cross-fade, so it never jumps.
The world arrives in its own depths: sky first, then the far hills, the near hills, the water, and the lanterns last, each rising softly into place. Your "smooth, rising, depth" as a loading moment.
The world appears first as fine glowing outlines, like a 3D model before it is painted, then colour floods in behind the lines. Feels like watching it being built.
A thin amber line sweeps down the frame and the world exists, sharp, everywhere it has passed. Like a scanner, or a curtain of light.
The world burns through the dark in soft organic islands with glowing amber edges, which spread and join until the whole frame is there.