Now that the chosen approach has been determined, the rest of the work will proceed much more smoothly.
Carmack spent the entire day walking around the house with Trevor.
The goal was simple: to thoroughly explore the route that Lin Lixin wanted to design.
Integrating these elements into a game is not an easy task.
Even when using images, they still needed to first create a complete model of the entire mansion.
Faced with this demand, the few standard development machines they brought along proved insufficient in performance.
This batch of equipment is a top-of-the-line product specially customized by Micro-Nova, even more powerful than the batch previously given to Lucas.
Carmack went with Sam to debug the equipment.
Only Lin Lixin and Kojima remained in the hall.
As a game director, Kojima knew very well why Lin Lixin had specifically called him over.
"Fixed camera position?"
Lin Lixin briefly explained the new rendering plan that had been finalized yesterday to him.
Kojima immediately understood the situation.
He's actually done this kind of work quite a few times.
Although the games of the past were all 2D, he was actually responsible for the camera work and other aspects, such as cutscenes.
"I get it, making the game more cinematic and enhancing immersion is the right thing to do, right?"
Kojima fiddled with a Panasonic VHS recorder in his hand, looking around at the furnishings in the hall.
Before long, his expression brightened, and he quickly walked to the front of the stairs, set up his camera, and looked up towards the landing.
Then we went to the side corridor and chose a suitable shooting position.
It seems he's already starting to look for a suitable location.
"Lin, imagine this: when the player enters this small room, let's give him a close -Close-Up —tsk tsk."
Kojima is a huge photography enthusiast.
Even before he entered the gaming industry, or even when he was a child, he had already started working on creating his own short films.
Now that he's back in his comfort zone, he seems exceptionally excited.
Lin Lixin measured the camera position he had chosen and smiled.
"It's definitely a creepy angle."
This is the advantage of 3D; many cinematic techniques cannot be achieved in a 2D environment.
As 3D technology advances, Kojima's importance within the team will only increase.
He is indeed a unique genius when it comes to cinematic storytelling.
Inside the workroom.
Lin Lixin and Carmack stood around a rendering machine.
The screen displays a texture map, which they recently replicated one-to-one with the real environment.
This is the wallpaper on the wall, including the textured paneling at the bottom.
By simply pasting it onto a flat surface, you can simulate the walls of a real room in a computer.
However, due to limitations in functionality and resolution, they still need to downsample the texture several times before it can be put into actual use.
"Let's change the compression algorithm. Look, this part is all blurry, but the disc capacity is still enough. We don't need to go to such extremes with this part."
Lin Lixin pointed to a pattern that had become a blurry mess and gave Carmack some instructions.
Sam, standing to the side, frowned more and more as he watched.
After a long while, he finally couldn't suppress his curiosity and came to the two of them.
"There's something I'm really curious about—can such a blurry image really scare people?"
It was fine when it was first drawn, but after several revisions, it's now very difficult to see the original details.
Although Sam understood that this was an unavoidable compromise made for the sake of performance.
But if even these static parts can only be done to this extent----
What about the zombies?
Who would be scared by a blob of pixels?
Upon hearing this, Lin Lixin looked at him and uttered a name: " Temple Run."
"Remember that arcade game we made before? Its graphics weren't exactly top-notch either."
"But in creating a tense atmosphere, no one has surpassed it to this day."
Although this was just an arcade game they casually cobbled together during their initial technical testing, there are actually many aspects of its "horror" that we can refer to.
"Visual impact is only one component of fear, but psychological terror and atmosphere creation are equally important."
This is one of the key reasons why they need a game director.
Creating atmosphere requires a comprehensive coordination of various aspects, including visuals, scene design style, music, and camera work; none of these can be omitted.
For example—
Lin Lixin extended a finger, his eyes fixed intently on Sam, meeting his gaze.
Just as Sam was waiting for Lin Lixin to deliver some profound remarks, a rotting hand, bloody and seemingly still dripping with soup, suddenly patted his shoulder.
"Aww!"
Sam immediately jumped three feet high, his body convulsing wildly as if crawling with cockroaches, and flung the hand away.
He turned around, Carmack expressionlessly withdrew the prop hand and placed it back on the table.
"This is called JumpScare, a classic example of visually stimulating action."
Lin Lixin looked at Sam, who was covered in goosebumps, and said with a smile, "As for the other type, it's atmosphere-building—psychological terror."
To explain this to him clearly, Lin Lixin preferred to organize a small event rather than just talking about it.
It was definitely not some kind of malicious prank or revenge.
In the evening, Kojima went to the city center.
Firstly, it's to buy everyone the daily necessities they'll need while living here.
Secondly, he wanted to run errands for Lin Lixin to buy a few things.
The most crucial item was an old flashlight with a tungsten filament bulb.
Before LEDs became widespread, this was one of the few usable portable light sources.
At the same time, it is also a frequent feature in horror games.
Lin Lixin made some simple modifications to it and handed it to Sam at sunset.
What does this mean?
Sam turned on the power, puzzled, and casually waved it around in the woods.
Lin Lixin helplessly spread his hands and pointed in the direction of the mansion.
"As you can see, this dilapidated house is really old. The plumbing and electrical systems are severely worn out, and now the power is out. It's really unbearable."
The once brightly lit mansion was now bathed in the glow of the setting sun, and all the lights inside were already off. "I still need to work on the compression algorithm with Carmack and the others, so this task will have to be left to you."
"Huh? What kind of job?"
Sam became increasingly puzzled as he listened.
Why did the power suddenly go out?
Besides, even if the power is out, shouldn't you call a plumber to fix it?
"Oh, I see. I just checked it myself. The main power grid is fine; it's just that all the fuses in the basement distribution box are blown."
"When the Umbrella came to clean the house before, they made a mess of my spare fuses, and they're really hard to find."
"So, your task is to find the three fuses scattered throughout the mansion and get them to the power distribution room to restore power."
Here are a few alkaline batteries, enough for about two hours.
"Remember to hurry, batteries are hard to find in this remote area."
95
Looking at Lin Lixin's harmless smile, Sam involuntarily Cold War.