"So..."
In the living room, Lin Lixin sat on a single sofa, facing several executives from Infocom and Lucas.
"I have three options here, any one of which can help you gain a foothold in the market."
He spoke arrogantly, but no one dared to disbelieve his lies.
Lin does indeed possess this magical ability to create viral hits.
"One is a grand, epic Adventure game of art; another is an artistic 3D work; and the third is... a 2.5D top-down puzzle indie game. Which one would you choose?"
Both Lucas Arts and Infocom originated from making Adventure games.
For this group of people, Adventure games of the same type are naturally the most suitable, whether they are puzzle games or other gameplay styles.
"Wait, why do we have to choose? Can't we do all three?"
Lucas raised his hand, striking a pose like an eager student.
Lin Lixin rolled his eyes at him.
"Okay, then change the sign outside to Gamenova." His purpose in coming here was to differentiate Gamenova's studios.
Although it has already surpassed the sales champion status of " Myst," which boasts an astonishing influence.
But for the Volkswagen, it is still a work of Gamenova headquarters.
Lin Lixin still hopes to separate the Adventure game genre into a separate category.
Gamenova excels in all types of works.
But it also has a problem that's not really a problem.
It must work miracles.
It has raised the bar too high for its fans; creative works are simply not suitable for its production team.
"In short, I won't be staying here for long. I'll have to go to Activision again in a while. Perhaps we'll have the opportunity to complete all these projects in the future, but for now, we can only choose one."
"All right."
Lucas sighed with a hint of regret.
However, having one work personally directed by Lin Lixin is already more than enough. There's plenty of time in the future.
Both Lucasfilm and Gamenova are examples of this.
He pondered the three directions Lin Lixin had proposed, and glanced at the others present.
He then answered:
"Well... tell me more about this 3D project."
If he had to choose one work as the seminal piece of Lucas Arts, a 3D work would be absolutely essential.
It may not necessarily be more creative than the other two projects.
However, in terms of expressiveness, in this trend of 3D, a 3D game can immediately grab players' attention.
This is important for a fledgling studio.
"I guessed so. 3D might be easier for you than 2D?"
Lin Lixin nodded.
With Industrial Light & Magic, a money-printing machine, Lucas's technological reserves in 3D are undoubtedly top-notch. Moreover, true 3D games are inherently demanding in terms of cinematic language, and a film company like Lucasfilm naturally possesses experience in this area.
Choosing 3D might not actually be the best option, but it's not necessarily a roundabout one.
Lin Lixin stood up and went to the planning board.
Do you remember our previous collaboration on the " Pirates!!" project?
"Of course! Wait, are we going to play a sailing game?!"
Lucas was startled.
If it's a game of the caliber of " Pirates!!", then it's undoubtedly a super AAA title.
How could they entrust this kind of project to a group of newbies?
Even with Lin Lixin in charge, there was still some unease.
"Um... I'm sorry to disappoint you. It's not that I doubt your abilities, but Lucas Arts lacks experience in large-scale projects, so I don't recommend it, nor is it suitable for you."
" Pirates!!" is a cultural treasure that is difficult to replicate and is extremely rare.
It's not something you can just do if you want to. "The platforms we're dealing with this time are NX and Hermes, I mean... the low-end versions, which don't require particularly powerful graphics technology, just basic 3D acceleration."
Lin Lixin raised his hand and wrote a line of bold, cursive letters on the planning board.
[Obra dinn]
"Uh... what does that mean?"
Lucas looked at Lin Lixin's flowing calligraphy with a puzzled expression, especially since he deliberately used a classical-style cursive script, each stroke carrying a unique artistic feel.
But aside from being catchy, this word itself doesn't quite make sense.
The word "obra" seems to be a Spain word, which can probably be directly translated as "work" or "artwork".
As for the word "dinn" at the end, it seems to be a neologism created purely for the sake of easy pronunciation.
At least within Lucas's own knowledge base, no suitable explanation can be found.
He glanced at the others present and found that their expressions were similar to his own.
Doubt, and curiosity.
"It doesn't mean anything, it's just for the sake of sounding good." Lin Lixin grinned and added another line above.
[Return of the obra dinn]
" Return to the Obra Dinn " can also be called " The Return of the Obra Dinn ".
A top-tier game developed by Lucas that has won numerous Game of the Year Award and art awards.
Players take on the role of an investigator Uncharted Waters, boarding the merchant ship Obra Dinn and deducing what happened on board through investigation.
Ultimately, they identified everyone's identity and whereabouts, bringing the truth to light.
In a sense, it is indeed an " Adventure game" in a broad sense.
If Lin Lixin were to choose a game that could instantly captivate players, Return of the Obra Dinn would definitely be among the top contenders.
The fact that its developer is named Lucas adds a lot of connection between the two parties.
However, this "lucas" is not Lucas Arts, but rather "lucaspope".
A great developer active in the new millennium.
His life is what countless independent game developers dream of.
This gentleman once said the following:
[My company has two employees: my wife and me, so the costs aren't high. I could probably start a larger company and make bigger games, but that would mean completely losing the luxuries I enjoy now. I just want to keep making games; that's enough. I can make another game.]
Every word was resounding and thought-provoking.
I wonder if this mindset was influenced by Cerny, who was also very concerned about cost management, during his time at Naughty Dog.
But it is precisely this idea of his, and his most sincere love for video games, that drives him to continuously produce many high-quality games.
It's a pity that he's still young and not a child prodigy like Carmack.
Otherwise, given Lin Lixin's personality, he would naturally recruit many of his own subordinates to work for him.
"The... return of the Auberadin?"
Lucas muttered the names on the planning board and nodded thoughtfully.
Hmm, I see. I really didn't understand at all.
"Don't rush, it will take some Kung-Fu Master to explain the design of this game to you."
Lin Lixin pondered how to tell them about this great work.
"In short, first we need a complete model of the entire sailing ship, including all the details such as the cabins and masts."
"Wait a minute, you just said this is a game for the NX platform? Can its graphics performance really support us in making a nautical game?"
Lucas recalled what Lin Lixin had just said.
Regardless of how this game is played.
If they were to force an entire ship model into the game, it would be a huge challenge for rendering.
NX is a 16-bit machine, and a very old 16-bit machine.
In today's world, with its pitiful graphics performance, running a true 3D game would be completely unrealistic.
The ability to run the original Quake was thanks to Quake's incredible optimization and unique map design.
Just like Battlefield 1991 specifically created a vast desert and intense sandstorms, every game's creation involves significant compromises made for hardware.
Early versions of Quake featured very simple map designs and lacked complex polygonal models.
Rendering under these conditions is difficult, but it can still barely hold up.
After all, with dedicated 3D graphics accelerator cards available, the advanced nature of this architecture is enough to make up for many years of technological gap.
But a complete sailing ship?
That's a completely different matter.
Various odds and ends on the ship, the condition of the deck, the sails, the masts, the furnishings inside the cabins...
Each of these miscellaneous bits and pieces consumes a significant amount of rendering resources.
Based on NX's capabilities?
That's completely unrealistic.
Lucas is not Activision; they have never had experience with engraving on low-end machines.
These people are spoiled high-end users, pampered by workstations. "Indeed, the performance of the NX is insufficient to support such demands."
Lin Lixin nodded noncommittally.
But that's precisely what Return to the Obra Dinn.
What if we give up color and light?
"Huh? What do you mean?"
Abandon color? Wouldn't that just turn it into sketching?
If even the lighting is gone, then the sense of three-dimensionality will probably disappear along with it.
While it can indeed save a lot of video memory and rendering costs, it also makes the visuals meaningless.
If this is how you do censorship, then you might as well just stick to 2D.
"That's right, we're forgoing color and using 1-bit black and white. As for lighting... we're using pre-baked scene lighting, requiring no real-time calculations."
color!
A 16-bit color game, just for displaying different colors and resolutions, can consume over a megabyte of video memory. It's like when Lin Lixin and Vivian were researching graphics cards in the early days.
Choosing color means sacrificing resolution, and vice versa.
I know what you're worried about.
Seeing Lucas frowning in thought, Lin Lixin patiently began to explain.
"Trust me, Lucas, this design will absolutely not affect the game itself; on the contrary, it will make it even more fun."
Only by stripping away the superficial details can the more refined information surface and enter people's eyes.