The filming is proceeding smoothly.
Adding the time needed for casting and adapting to the role, the remaining filming work was temporarily handed over to Lucas.
Lin Lixin, on the other hand, rushed back to the Bay Area first.
Whether it's the arcade board or the development of the game itself, neither can be taken lightly.
Gamenova Headquarters, Hardware Division.
Although Mark Cerny came from a gaming background, he did have some knowledge of arcade board technology.
Rather, it's more accurate to say that very few game developers in this era are proficient in only one area: hardware or software.
After all, in the era before Windows became widespread, most people who wanted to understand software first had to understand hardware.
The so-called "hardware proficiency" and "software proficiency" are simply a matter of which side has a stronger bias.
Otherwise, Cerny really wouldn't be able to be an architect.
Before joining Gamenova, and even before joining Sega, Mark Cerny was already a star producer at Atari.
" Marble Madness " is a typical arcade game. From hardware to software, it was all developed by him and a colleague.
Preparing a circuit board for an arcade game is not a complicated matter.
The only thing to consider is how to choose the detailed configuration.
"What's certain is that we won't be using a graphics card; we might need to find a 2D graphics chip."
Cerny flipped through the project proposal, trying to calculate the approximate performance requirements.
For a game that is extremely 2D, using a graphics card is a complete waste of resources.
Yes, although Gamenova has its own complete CPU and GPU production lines, it doesn't mean that they have to use these products to make all their hardware.
This isn't a restaurant owner going to eat at another place; it's a consideration of necessity.
Personal computers, game consoles, arcade machines.
From the very beginning, the three gaming platforms had completely different design goals.
PCs, including future mobile smartphones, should essentially be general-purpose computers and general-purpose computing platforms.
When it was designed, neither the manufacturer nor the designer really knew what it would be used to run. It might be office software, it might just be used to listen to music, or it might be used to run AAA games.
To meet such demands, CPUs must be universal and conform to international standards and specifications, and the same applies to GPUs.
In this respect, Gamenova has not done a good job, to be honest.
Athena is a processor designed entirely for gaming consoles; in terms of compatibility, it's completely outclassed by Intel.
Novaradeon is a new standard that was forcibly promoted entirely by Gamenova's strong capabilities.
For users accustomed to EGA and CGA graphics cards, VGA and graphics cards are both expensive and rarely used.
If it weren't for Gamenova's truly extraordinary gaming ecosystem, Novaradeon wouldn't actually be performing so well in the consumer-grade graphics card market.
Game consoles, or rather, home consoles, are a completely different story.
While manufacturers and designers are uncertain about what future works will be produced, one thing is certain.
This thing must be used to run games.
Do we need 3D performance? Of course we do, for the sake of future projects.
What about 2D? Of course, that's also necessary. Nintendo's Mode 7 for the Super Famicom is a typical example of a design that caters to both needs.
All future devices that will be integrated into the design must be considered from the initial design stage.
Otherwise, it will end up like the NX, which relies on a mess of peripheral expansions to force compatibility, ultimately resulting in something that is neither elegant nor performs well.
Of course, there are exceptions, such as 3D, which never aimed to be a traditional video game from the beginning.
The madam+cilo architecture directly changes the traditional rendering logic.
Regardless of the game company, even EA itself, when they come into contact with this new console, they all have to start learning from scratch.
Its functionality is also very limited.
However, the advantages of a console are also obvious.
It doesn't need to consider all the requirements like a PC; it only needs to excel in the gaming field.
From this perspective, Gamenova is undoubtedly the best.
Athena and Novaradeon, which faced many constraints in the PC market, became highly sought-after in the game console market.
As for arcade games... their situation is definitely the most extreme among all hardware platforms.
The most important principle for arcade games is not compatibility, exaggerated performance, or fancy motion controls.
Rather... it's about commercial value.
Or, to put it another way, the payback period.
For an arcade owner, distributor, or operator, whether your video memory is 4MB, how strong the triangle filling performance is, or how advanced the manufacturing process of the chip is, none of these matters.
There's only one thing they truly care about.
How long will it take me to break even?
Just like Ace Combat.
Isn't that awesome?
That's awesome!
Simulated cockpit, simulated flight joystick, the world's top 3D Air Combat experience, a unique collaboration with Top Gun, and a partner of the Dod Department of Defense Entertainment Media Office.
It's showered with accolades; it's practically a Legend classic. But should you buy it?
There is no single answer.
Unless you're the manager of a large arcade with a very strong cash flow, most arcade managers would choose to hold back rather than go all in when faced with this prized arcade machine.
It's too expensive.
A single game session takes way too long.
Even if it costs 10 yuan to play once, it still takes a lot of time for a machine to break even.
By the time they actually broke even, the hype surrounding Ace Combat had died down, and players who had already experienced the initial excitement rarely touched it again.
Moreover, with the rapid development of hardware technology, more and more 3D Air Combat games are beginning to appear on the scene.
Buying such a large item to display in the store is more often a way to attract customers.
The only Ace Combat in the county
That title alone is enough to attract a large influx of players.
The traffic revenue and massive exposure it generates are the truly valuable aspects. Considering these factors, the design of the arcade board is a complex engineering problem.
"What about that the King of Fighters board? Wonder should be reliable, and adding a coprocessor should handle our needs."
When developing the King of Fighters, Vivian specially crafted a graphics chip for its much faster-paced combat style compared to Street Fighter. This chip was Gamenova's first true graphics chip.
That is, novawonder.
"Hmm... that's possible, but its architecture is already quite complex. We'll definitely need to upgrade the audio chip and DSP, as well as the processor, interfaces, memory, CD-ROM..."
Cerny pondered the condition of the substrate.
When Gerald handed over his work to him, he specifically gave him instructions on this matter.
The relevant design documents are still sealed in the archives.
"If we were to fully modernize it..."
"Then we might as well redesign a new substrate. It seems so."
Before the other person could finish speaking, Lin Lixin took the initiative to finish the sentence and nodded. He pulled out a chair, sat down in front of Cerny, and pondered silently.
Mortal Kombat differs from Street Fighter and the King of Fighters in that it has some unique performance requirements.
Lin Lixin didn't want to create a very primitive version like the first one.
Based on current hardware specifications, it could easily be used directly with a CD-ROM.
The large capacity of the optical disc drive allowed them to store a considerable amount of FMV footage.
This is why Lin Lixin attaches such importance to the work in Hollywood this time.
These cutscenes will be a major component of the entertainment value and excitement in Mortal Kombat.
This is also the transformation path chosen by the modernized Mortal Kombat.
Just like the Close-Up of the dunk in " Double Dribble ".
The specially designed video clips will become its signature content.
"Extensive use of video playback, multi-layered 2D graphics, live-action sprite sequence animation, CD-quality audio..."
Lin Lixin tapped on the table, listing out the requirements one by one, when he suddenly paused. He stopped what he was doing, looked up, and met Cerny's gaze.
Do you think the same way I do?
"That's exactly what Gamenova would do..."
Cerny wiped his face, immediately understood, stood up, and went to the cubicle.
A short while later, he came out carrying a sturdy, flat black box.
A closer look at the hardware requirements of Mortal Kombat reveals a key point.
Its positioning... surprisingly fits this black box quite well.
Its name is written in gold on the fuselage.
panasonic
real-3do
"Madam! Those idiots at 3do actually used such a perfect architecture to make a movie/game! What a waste!"
Lin Lixin slapped his thigh. "Damn it!"
It's time to give EA a demonstration of forehand and backhand techniques.
Despite 3do's complete failure in terms of positioning, the groundbreaking architecture of madam+cilo was surprisingly well-suited to the Mortal Kombat project.
The abundance of live-action FMV footage is already 3DO's comfort zone.
2D fighting games themselves involve a large number of sprite images with variations.
Frame-by-frame animation, including translation, scaling, and transformation.
These all perfectly align with the working purpose of Madam, or rather, Celengine.
As an auxiliary component, cilo is well-suited to handle the relatively low logic processing requirements of fighting games.
Live-action sprite performances are essentially based on the Cel system.
Whether it's Liu Kang, Johnny, Sonya Blade, or characters like Scorpion and Shao Kahn, they are all ultimately composed of individual images.
Live-action filming is just one aspect of the production process.
Whether it's video or frame-by-frame animation, the storage format in the resource files is a series of consecutive images. Unlike the 3D world of Battlefield 1991, which is entirely processed by the graphics card in real time, the 2D world doesn't require as much "real-time compositing."
Hahahaha...
Lin Lixin threw his head back and laughed loudly.
"Come on, Cerny, let's take a good look at how 3DO does things, and then... we'll give them a little surprise."
Using "madam" directly definitely won't work.
If we follow the other party's architecture design, then this arcade machine is theoretically a 3DO machine.
Moreover, arcade machines don't actually require the exaggerated performance of 3DO.
As long as the requirements of Mortal Kombat can be met, everything else that needs to be cut should be cut.
Achieve the ultimate in cost-effectiveness!