Poaching a super genius of Carmack's caliber, especially one who is already a renowned talent, is no easy task.
At least it won't be as easy as Uncle Lin's past kidnapping of Carmack.
Who is Michael Abrash?
To those outside the industry, and even to game developers, he might be an unknown figure.
But within the programmer community, his name is practically legendary.
In this day and age, anyone studying assembly language, computer graphics, optimization, or any other related fields will inevitably encounter Abrash's works.
"Zen of Assembly the Zen of Programming Languages "
Goodness, just look at the title of this book.
Among a sea of books with titles that sound overly masculine and technically oriented, its name stands out like a crane among chickens.
All of this stems from Abrash's unique programming philosophy.
According to Abrash, a good programmer needs more than just an understanding of instruction sets; they also need to cultivate "intuition."
Intuition about hardware, intuition about software. Through observation, experimentation, and creative thinking, discover the optimization paths hidden deep within the design.
This kind of thinking remains invaluable even in later generations.
Especially in an era of rapid expansion of hardware capabilities, more and more developers have simply given up.
They completely abandoned software optimization.
In any case, in a few years, or even a few months, the next generation of hardware will bring a significant performance boost, so what's the point of optimizing it yourself?
If players can't run the game, that's their own problem; they can just spend more money on new hardware.
The programmers are too lazy to do it, the bosses are unhappy because they don't see obvious feedback, and the project managers would rather invest the funds into tokens to run AI for a few more days.
Well...
From a business and economic perspective, optimization seems to have gradually become a false proposition.
But that's clearly wrong!
Damn, if a new graphics card can run at a stable 60 frames per second without optimization, doesn't that mean it could run even higher with proper optimization?
Looking back, early game developers were practically obsessed craftsmen. The most classic example is undoubtedly Super Mario Bros.
Shigeru Miyamoto and his development team have truly taken the term "ingenious and ingenious" to its extreme.
The first-generation Super Mario was only a few tens of kb in size.
What does this mean?
Let's assume we run Super Mario on a modern machine using an emulator, and then use screenshot software to capture screenshots of the game.
Those sizes must be at least hundreds of kb.
It's a single image, smaller than even a JPG image!
Shigeru Miyamoto and his team squeezed every single byte to its limit, ensuring that not a single bit of performance was wasted.
The same principle applies to games like Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and Quake.
Carmack pushed graphics to its limits, creating a 3D world with purely 2D capabilities.
Optimization is good; optimization is necessary.
By pushing optimization to its limits, they can overcome the differences in hardware technology across generations and achieve things that seem impossible. Carmack could do this, but it wasn't his forte.
To resolve the issue of optimization engineers in the engine department in the future, Lin Lixin had to make a trip himself.
Redmond, Washington.
Although it's called Washington, this is not the Washington, D.C. on the East Coast.
It is a large state on the northern part of the West Coast, separated from California only by Oregon.
The Seattle that was famous for the legendary Halloween rainstorm is a city in Washington state.
This is also Microsoft's headquarters.
Inside a quiet little restaurant.
"Knock knock"
There was a gentle knock on the door of the private room.
Immediately afterward, a man whose appearance perfectly matched Lin Lixin's stereotype of an " United States geek" entered the room. He glanced around the room with suspicion, his gaze settling on Lin Lixin, who was sitting in the main seat, and Carmack beside him.
Unlike Lin Lixin's casual demeanor, Carmack immediately went on high alert upon seeing the newcomer, staring intently at him.
Mr. Lin.
Abrash nodded politely and offered a respectful greeting.
Only after receiving Lin Lixin's approval did he enter the private room and take his seat.
When he first received the invitation, Abrash thought it was a prank.
Only at this moment did he truly realize that it was actually true.
As soon as he sat down, Lin Lixin picked up his coffee cup, took a swig, and immediately rattled off a long string of words like a machine gun:
"We need to find a top expert in optimization, graphics, and assembly language to work on the engine. Our current requirements are roughly... and we also need... Of course, regarding performance... well, are you in or not?"
"Ah?"
Abrash was completely stunned.
I didn't expect it to get so straight to the point. There wasn't even a pleasantry or any fancy information exchange.
I just threw a question at him directly.
To do it or not?
During his Japan trip to Japan, Lin Lixin was really stifled by the Asia model.
Now that we're back in United States, we should naturally do something American.
There's no need for all that fancy stuff. I'm just asking you, are you going to do it or not?
Lin Lixin didn't even mention the issue of salary and benefits.
To be honest, Abrash himself doesn't really care about any of that.
It's not that he was particularly aloof.
Abrash, on the other hand, had already achieved Fortune freedom long ago.
Now he's a senior engineer at Microsoft.
Although Microsoft has not yet grown into the super giant it will become, Microsoft has long been the undisputed leader in PC software.
In addition, the Wintel Alliance expanded rapidly and seized control of the PC market.
As one of the core engineers, Abrash enjoys a top-tier position and treatment at Microsoft.
only...
"Why me? There are countless geniuses with better skills than me."
"Because you come from a game development background."
Lin Lixin waved his hand.
Only those with the truest love and passion for video games have the ability to create the best products.
If he weren't this kind of person, he wouldn't have been able to get along with id Software and Carmack in the original timeline.
Before joining Microsoft.
Abrash is a genuine game programmer.
He has written numerous clone works, including even Space Invaders and Pac-Man. "While Space Strike and Snack Attack are clone works, I have reverse-engineered their underlying implementations."
Lin Lixin paused, then smiled and said,
"You know, Gamenova started with 8086 assembly language. Sam and I studied a lot of your code back in the day."
"You want to learn my code?"
Abrash scratched his head, unsure of what to say.
It's like they're making fun of him.
But after a brief hesitation, Abrash suddenly realized...
It might actually be true.
Lin Lixin's achievements in various fields were so dazzling that Abrash even overlooked the frightening fact that this guy was actually a young man in his twenties.
Abrash is already in his thirties this year.
Looking back, that period seems to have coincided with the time when I first started writing software books.
A sudden, inexplicable sense of pride welled up within me. See? This incredibly talented expert even started out using our tutorials!
"As the project grows in scale, it's becoming increasingly difficult for our small team to meet the current development demands."
Lin Lixin continued,
"We are building a completely new team, a new subsidiary independent of the Gamenova development headquarters. Carmack is the head of the project team."
With strong financial backing, an industry leader, promising market prospects, and a bright future...
Abrash wasn't interested in any of these things.
What he really wants is the opportunity to break through his own limitations.
Abrash could sense that he had reached a bottleneck in his progress.
A high wall that is difficult to cross.
If I don't get the right opportunity, perhaps this is the furthest I'll ever go in my life.
So he chose to give up his job at OriginSystems and abandon his career in game development.
He joined the ranks of Microsoft, the most powerful company in the x86 architecture. And now, a completely new path unfolds before him.
Returning to the embrace of the game.
Embrace what may be the world's most advanced semiconductor and software technologies.
"Of course I'd love to! Please let me join, Mr. Lin!"
"Wait a minute."
Carmack, who had been staring at him, suddenly spoke up.
Upon hearing this, Lin Lixin chuckled, crossed his arms, adopted a spectator's stance, and promptly withdrew from the conversation.
Clearly, Abrash hasn't gotten past Carmack yet.
"Nova-engine is the team I'm in charge of, and I don't want incompetent people who can't actually get their hands on it."
Abrash paused slightly, then caught a glimpse of Lin Lixin's gossipy attitude out of the corner of his eye, and a sense of understanding flashed through his mind.
There are two more sides to the co-authored work!
"What, Mr. Carmack, you don't agree with Lin's judgment?" "Uh... I certainly believe him, but I've also met those guys who only write books and talk theory on paper. Practice and theory are two different things."
Carmack himself was a staunch pragmatist.
Compared to "regulars" like Lin Lixin, who at least studied at University of Southern California, Carmack's equipment was all Apple II taken from the school's computer lab.
"Lin said you're very good at optimization?"
"Certainly."
"I've recently been trying to create a high-speed 3D space using BSP..."
The two then engaged in a debate centered around technical issues that ultimately eroded all conventional wisdom.
Lin Lixin wasn't in a hurry. He casually ordered some snacks and listened to the conversation, treating it as a way to boost his stats.
Sometimes, listening to other people's technical exchanges can be very helpful in organizing one's own thoughts.
Abrash is like the one who can complete Carmack's personality.
Carmack's greatest strength lies in forging a possible path from the impossible, much like how he solved the problem of raycasting for pseudo-3D in Wolfenstein 3D.
Abrash, on the other hand, was able to thoroughly solidify the rough road that Carmack had carved out with a machete, paving the roadbed, pouring concrete, and then rolling in a solid layer of asphalt.