This was ultimately just a minor incident.
Indeed, Infocom didn't have any IPs that left a deep impression on him.
It would be better to hand it over to Caneghem, so that he can unleash his creativity and produce even better works.
What Lin Lixin really needs is Activision as the core entity and the four David brothers as its founders.
"This privatization can be considered a rectification of the original situation."
He looked at David, who was still busy taking care of his old buddies, and nodded with satisfaction.
These four individuals represented half of the Atari era and should not be buried in the annals of history.
However, Lin Lixin was somewhat dissatisfied with Activision as it was now.
It's not that it's bad.
However, he is theoretically not from the Activision company he is familiar with.
The once-renowned and Activision Blizzard actually only began to develop after Bobby Kotick took over.
Although Kotick has a terrible reputation in the gaming industry, it must be said that without Kotick, the game would not have become such a coveted prize that even world-class gaming giants like Microsoft and Sony would fight over.
The real Activision of later generations was a new generation that rose from the corpses of an era.
After acquiring the bankrupt Activision, Kotick laid off the vast majority of Activision's employees and shifted the business focus entirely to video game development.
Judging from this strategy alone, Kotick did the right thing.
Of course, an empty shell like Activision is not qualified to grow into a king of an era.
So Kotick approached a studio called [RavenSoftware] and became their exclusive publisher.
Subsequently, studios such as 2015 and RitualEntertaiment joined the group.
And it was in 2015 that a game IP was created that was enough to shake up an entire era.
" Call of Duty "
Strictly speaking, this is not a product of Studio 2015, but rather a product of a new company called InfinityWard, which was formed by 22 developers from Studio 2015.
It was this work that allowed Activision, which was far behind EA at the time, to suddenly rise up and catch up, growing into a company that was no less than EA.
"This is difficult to handle----"
Lin Lixin is the one who keeps clicking his teeth. His studio was established in 2015, which was actually in 1997.
At that time, most of the developers were just kids.
It's simply impossible to get them to take on major responsibilities right now.
After all, not everyone is like Carmack, possessing remarkable computer skills at a young age.
"Hmm? It seems there really is a suitable candidate?"
Lin Lixin's fingers, which were lightly tapping the table, suddenly stopped.
The lead programmer at Raven Software, Activision's first wholly owned subsidiary.
A rebellious kid whose growth path is exactly like Carmack's, skipping school, spending time in arcades, and becoming a tough guy who mastered excellent programming skills through self-study.
Ben Gorcy.
His subsequent career may not have been as illustrious as Carmack's, but his technical skills are absolutely commendable.
He was a genius who could create real-time 3D scenes in his messy garage back in the 90s.
Wisconsin.
When Lin Lixin and Carmack knocked on the garage door of the Gorcy family's house, the two witnessed an astonishing scene.
The garage was cluttered, with a lot of odds and ends scattered haphazardly. A simple PC and a folding chair were Gorcy's only tools for productivity.
This seems incredibly stingy now that many developers have already started upgrading to 16-bit compatible machines.
The boy stood in front of the garage door, frowning as he stared at the two men for a few moments, lingering particularly on Carmack, who was about his age, only fifteen or sixteen.
"Is there anything I can help you with?"
Carmack remained silent, glancing at Lin Lixin in a low voice.
That look in his eyes seemed to ask, "Brother, are you sure?"
Even when Caneghem was poached by Lin Lixin, the situation wasn't this outrageous.
After a brief silence, Lin Lixin returned Carmack's glance.
They're just kids, so it's understandable.
Carmack shook his head speechlessly; he certainly didn't consider himself a child.
He stepped forward, his demeanor intimidating. "Hey, Gorcy, right? Interested in doing odd jobs for me?"
Carmack was never particularly gifted at speaking.
Gorcy frowned and stared at Carmack, wondering what this strange guy was talking about.
Sorry, not interested.
After saying that, he plopped back down in front of the PC, clearly not intending to waste any more words with Carmack.
Gorcy tapped lightly on the keyboard, completely ignoring the two of them and focusing his attention on his own affairs.
Lin Lixin shrugged at Carmack, took a step back, and walked out of the garage, indicating that Carmack should handle it himself.
Carmack lightly stamped his foot, and seeing that Lin Lixin really had no intention of helping him, he then stepped forward and walked up to Gorcy.
He glanced at the dim, monotonous colors on the pitiful little monitor and raised an eyebrow slightly.
It looks familiar.
This is a copy of the pseudo-3D rendering technique used in Wolfenstein 3D.
However—his skills are somewhat lacking.
At least that's how Carmack saw it.
"Uniform grid spatial division is outdated, kid. Your design can only render rudimentary spaces."
He stood behind Gorcy with his arms crossed, and his first words completely denied what the child had worked so hard to develop over the entire Christmas holiday.
This time, Gorcy was really fed up. He turned around abruptly and stared straight at Carmack.
Gorcy had no idea what was going on with these two inexplicable uninvited guests.
"Ha! You have no idea. I'm doing this to simplify lighting calculations and achieve smooth, gradient lighting—something even Wolfenstein 3D can't do!"
"So your design is outdated."
Carmack remained unmoved. "What you need is to study computer graphics properly, not to reinvent the wheel here. Managing complex geometry using binary space partitioning (BSP) is far more efficient than your design."
Just as Gorcy was about to explode, the anger that surged to his chest suddenly paused.
Damn it, this guy seems to be right.
I'm so angry!
Isn't that even more infuriating?
"Hmph----If you're using a BSP, how are you going to implement a lighting system?"
He could only bite the bullet and retort.
"If it were me, I would use a light table to pre-calculate the lighting values for each area, which would allow me to achieve a smooth transition between light and dark."
Carmack offered his solution without hesitation. He hadn't been stagnant during his time at MicroNova. "So, as I said, when I was designing the rendering system for Wolfenstein 3D, I hadn't systematically studied computer graphics. If I were doing it now, I wouldn't have taken so many detours."
With BSP binary space partitioning, the entire rendering system can be completely reconstructed, greatly improving efficiency.
The complex geometry of the space also allowed him to design game maps with real height differences, rather than the completely flat maps like those in Wolfenstein 3D.
Gorcy scratched his head, trying to figure out Carmack's new proposal, and after a long while, he nodded in understanding.
Although he hasn't yet figured out the detailed operating logic of this system, he can already roughly estimate how much the actual improvement will be.
He's right.
"Hmm... okay, you have a point... wait, what do you mean by the rendering system you developed?"
Gorcy then seemed to wake up from his daze.