"Lin! I've done what you asked for. Now, isn't it—"
Carmack stood behind Lin Lixin, staring intently at him, afraid that Lin Lixin would blurt out some new task.
To be honest, Carmack didn't dislike delving into technology.
Especially graphics libraries, which are among the most cutting-edge computer technologies.
He thoroughly enjoyed leading his team to overcome this challenge.
But everything is subject to comparison.
"Boss, I want to make games!"
There's probably nothing more enjoyable in this world than playing games with Lin Lixin.
No matter how advanced the technology or how many technological breakthroughs there are, in Carmack's eyes, nothing can compare to the emotions that video games evoke in him.
"Certainly."
Lin Lixin laughed heartily. If OpnGL hadn't been so important, he wouldn't have wanted to send Carmack to MicroNova.
Now that the job is done, of course we should bring him back.
Back at Gamenova headquarters, Carmack finally calmed down and observed his surroundings.
He had been focusing all his attention on Lin Lixin and hadn't had a chance to take a closer look at the new office building.
"Wait a minute, why are there a few unfamiliar people here?"
He immediately spotted three unfamiliar faces in the development department, and his face fell.
No wonder, no wonder they weren't in a hurry to call me back.
Lin Lixin smiled helplessly and walked up to Will.
"Have you played our latest SimCity? This guy is in charge of it."
After saying that, he turned back to look at Will.
Will was sitting with Sid, discussing something in front of the screen.
Unlike the Kojima with its completely different style, the two of them together were like Boya meeting Zhong Ziqi, they simply had endless things to talk about.
Are you playing SimCity?
Lin Lixin glanced at the screen and found it was the familiar SimCity interface.
"Hey Lin! We're trying to revamp SimCity, it's Sid's new idea!"
Will excitedly turned to Lin Lixin and explained, " Sid said he wanted a game that simulates the development of human Civilization, so we used SimCity."
We'll try to make some modifications based on the existing foundation.
"Yes, Mr. Lin, Will's grid-based building system gave me an idea. I'm wondering if we could use this to make a strategy game."
Sid was equally agitated.
Not long ago, while playing Fire Emblem, that vague idea in his mind suddenly became clear.
Strategy game!
After the idea popped into his head, Sid immediately went to find Will, who was sitting next to him.
The two hit it off immediately, which led to the scene before us.
Lin Lixin raised an eyebrow and took a closer look at what was on the screen, only to realize that it was indeed very different from the original SimCity.
"Technology tree?"
Although the design was still very rudimentary, Lin Lixin recognized it at a glance.
This was the prototype of the tree-like unlocking mechanism commonly used in later generations.
Once you've selected a project, you can accumulate progress by playing the game for a certain amount of time. When you reach the required progress, you can unlock that content.
Once unlocked, you can build things that were previously locked.
"Shit, what a great name!"
Sid clapped his hands in amazement at the brilliance of the term Lin Lixin had proposed.
TechnologyTree compares technological development to a tree, which perfectly reflects the tree-like branching structure of technological development.
"What a coincidence! Do you remember the 4X game I mentioned before?"
Lin Lixin chuckled. He had already considered this idea when he first recruited Sid Meier, but he had temporarily shelved it due to the time commitments of " Momotetsu " and " Castlevania ".
Now that Sid has brought it up himself, things are back on track.
"4X games? Ah, I remember that. You said you were going to tell me about it, but then you just left me here."
Sid nodded after a brief moment of recollection.
Lin Lixin mentioned this word to him on the day he arrived, but he still hasn't been able to find an answer for himself.
"Ahem, anyway, this is a concept I've been thinking about, or rather—a design principle?"
Lin Lixin pulled over the whiteboard and quickly wrote four words on it, "4X, which refers to four words that also begin with EX."
eXplore (Explore)
eXpand (expansion)
eXploit (operation)
eXterminate (conquer)
"I believe these four words can, to some extent, summarize the core elements of strategy games."
boom!"
Upon seeing those four words, Sid's mind went blank for a moment, and his previously fragmented thoughts suddenly surged forth.
It was so insightful that Sid couldn't find a single fault with it.
Lin Lixin pondered for a moment, then called out to Sam in the office, " Sam, bring that thing over here, the board game ' Civilization ' that I asked you to buy before."
"Um----"
"Ah?"
When Sid heard the name " Civilization," he was suddenly stunned, followed by an overwhelming sense of loss.
The perfect name had just flashed through his mind.
Before I could even bring it up, a board game with the same name already existed.
"----Yes, yes, this is the box."
Lin Lixin took the board game box and laid out the components one by one.
This board game, called Civilization, was released in 1980 by a board game company called Avalon.
And its name is no coincidence.
Sid's future inspiration came from this board game, combined with the inspiration from video games such as SimCity, which led to the creation of that eternal monument of strategy games— Sid Meier's Civilization.
"That's it—that's what I want to do: play the role of a monarch of a country."
Sid stared blankly at the board game in front of him.
To act as the supreme will of a nation, leading its Civilization to continuous development, and ultimately becoming the most powerful empire in the world.
"That suits me perfectly. Let's officially launch the project then. This game will be called ' Civilization '."
Lin Lixin immediately approved the project he had been waiting for, saying, "Not only will we do it, but it will also be the launchpad for our next-generation mainframe."
"Ah???"
Upon hearing this, even Will gasped in surprise.
They were naturally aware that 16-bit machines were under development.
The fact that this new game was chosen by Lin Lixin as a launch title for the new console is absolutely the highest praise.
It's important to know that the titles Gamenova releases for its consoles are never ordinary.
NovaPocket is used for Tetris and Pokémon, while NovaBo is used for Wolfenstein 3D, the world's first 3D game.
"However—can we not use the name 'Civilization ' anymore? It's already taken for this board game."
It took Sid a while to come to his senses. Looking at the box of " Civilization " on the table, he still felt somewhat disappointed.
What a wonderful name!
"It doesn't work? Why?"
Lin Lixin tilted his head and gave Sam a look.
The unspoken understanding between the two was self-evident; Sam immediately returned to his office and began preparing the necessary paperwork.
It's just a small board game company; consider it an addition to GAMENOVA's supply chain.