In view of this.
Lin Lixin simply made a phone call and sent Lucas back to Skywalker Ranch.
Lucas had a particular characteristic when designing films.
Worldview first.
This is perhaps one of the reasons why the Star Wars series has been so successful.
He didn't design the plot first and then design the world view to serve the plot.
Instead, they did the opposite.
Lucas usually chooses to first construct a world.
It doesn't have to be perfect, but it must be self-consistent.
It even goes down to the specific ethnic group on a particular planet, detailing their clothing styles, architectural styles, and Civilization systems—all of which are meticulously documented.
These details can even, in turn, influence the outward appearance itself.
The vehicles and clothing styles of the different organizations are completely different. Only when the world truly comes to life will Lucas begin to conceive of what happened in the world and fill this skeleton with flesh and blood.
The world exists, and stories will naturally unfold.
This creative mode is extremely complex and is certainly unsuitable for modern, high-intensity commercial creative work.
But as long as it can be done well, it will definitely become a strong and powerful IP.
"Design five simple symbolic languages based on the characteristics of different Civilization?"
After listening to their descriptions, Lucas immediately understood.
It's actually not as difficult as you might imagine.
Designing a fully functional Conlang from scratch would indeed require a significant amount of time for refinement.
But a simple symbolic language that only serves the game flow itself?
Actually, there's a very useful formula here.
Lucas said, taking the drawing board Tim handed him.
Several words that will be used in the game are marked above. Of course, they are written in English.
What they need to do now is design different symbols for each of these languages.
"Since our goal is to make it relatively easy for players to master, it must first and foremost be logical, possessing a set of... how should I put it? A set of... analogical and inductive logic for character creation."
As he spoke, he quickly glanced at the words above and separated a portion of them with a dividing line.
[Cemetery][Church][Botanical Garden][Monastery]
"Let's assume we are this saintly Civilization now, and we need to design a script for these concepts, right?"
Lucas gestured.
"Then we can extract the commonalities among these concepts. For example, since these are all buildings, they must have similar characteristics in terms of the logic behind their character formation."
He drew a half-open rectangle under the [botanical garden].
"A stable, enclosed structure intuitively aligns with the characteristics of a building; we can use this frame as a characteristic of all building-related terms."
As he spoke, Lucas placed the same boxes under several other building-related terms.
"Now the situation is simple. We don't need to rush to finish them; instead, we should look for similar derivative words." He continued scanning the board and quickly found what he needed.
[plant]
"We just need to design a symbol for plants, put it in a box, and it can be a [botanical garden]; design a symbol for death, put it in a box, and it can be a [cemetery]."
"He's handsome."
Lin Lixin nodded in satisfaction.
This is exactly what he wanted.
Don't be fooled by the fact that the first level only has 34 characters; for an average player, memorizing 34 completely new symbols is not an easy task.
Lucas's approach significantly reduced the difficulty for players to learn it.
When players first learn that the symbol for [Botanical Garden] corresponds to a botanical garden, they may have some confusion.
But after the cemetery and the church were identified...
The semantic component, the box, can automatically leave an impression on the player's mind.
Upon seeing similar characters, even if one doesn't recognize them, one can guess that they must be some kind of building. And the symbol inside determines what it means.
If the player already knows the meaning of the symbol, then he doesn't even need to look for any additional clues.
Based on the knowledge already acquired, one can directly guess the meaning of this character from scratch.
With this back-and-forth process, the number of symbols players need to memorize is significantly reduced.
Half of them are semantic expressions and personal pronouns, and the other half are various necessary nouns.
The rest... can all be deduced through logic.
More importantly, this design pattern not only makes the player's gaming experience exceptionally smooth, but it also makes things much easier for developers and designers.
After all, as long as a writing system has its own logic for character creation, the workload for them when creating characters will be greatly reduced.
To be honest, it's actually possible.
It's just a bunch of random symbols, right?
However, this will cause a problem.
It will turn Tower of Babel Hymn into a pure test of memory.
For a puzzle game to succeed, it's a flawed design if it only tests memory.
It determines whether a player has simply memorized the textbook or truly mastered the fictional language.
"So, the MacGuffin in this game is... learning different languages, climbing to the top of the tower, and breaking down barriers between different ethnic groups."
When believers and warriors are no longer enemies, when warriors understand the poet's art, when the barrier between the poet who pursues art and the alchemist who pursues science is broken down, and when the alchemist learns the truth about the hermit...
Finally, the world reconnected, the Tower of Babel was no longer torn apart, and humanity was reunited...
The linguistic symbols of all peoples merged to form a unified Esperanto.
Language has become a bridge between peoples.
"It really is... a rather romantic piece."
Even though the game hasn't had a single line of code written yet.
But simply exchanging ideas and envisioning its appearance was enough to amaze everyone. "Let's leave it at that for now. The configuration requirements aren't high this time; it's exclusive to NX, and it'll also be compatible with our fifth-generation machines."
Lin Lixin made some arrangements.
Lucas can handle the rest of the work.
With Skywalker Sound involved, even Hans Zimmer Studio doesn't need to get involved.
If all goes well, the work could be completed in as little as a month.
Back to headquarters.
Lin Lixin found Mark Cerny, who was still working on the architecture.
Although the development process for the fifth-generation model has already begun.
But there is still one very, very important thing that has no progress yet.
"We need to design the next generation of controllers."
Lin Lixin got straight to the point, explaining the situation before pulling out a chair and sitting down. Gamenova has always used the controller kits inherited from its early days.
Around the time of " Tokimeki Memorial," I tried some different approaches.
For example, a rechargeable wireless controller with a lithium battery can be equipped with a vibration pack.
However, these experimental items don't actually have much practical significance.
To a greater extent, it helped Gamenova verify the technical feasibility.
Facing the fifth generation, they definitely need to start from scratch and design a completely new controller.
"I already have some ideas about this."
Cerny pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly.
Gamenova has already accumulated some technical expertise in wireless communication for gamepads.
What we need to do now is simply to make it smaller and more integrated.
"Our design direction this time is... convenience, right?"
He recalled the key points Lin Lixin had emphasized when he first initiated the project: This would be a phenomenal device that would pamper gamers to the extreme.
"That's true. What are your thoughts?"
"Hmm... I think we can Kung-Fu Master on the power supply."
Cerny spoke, he picked up an inconspicuous little thing from the table.
Smaller than a fingertip.
If Lin Lixin hadn't had exceptional eyesight, he wouldn't have even been able to see what he was carrying.
It was a miniature structure resembling a bullet, with a layer of gold plating on its surface.
"Pogo pin (spring pin)."
Cerny gently placed the items on the table.
This thing is very common in the electronics industry, and its structure is not complicated.
A spring-type probe consisting of three parts: needle shaft, spring, and needle tube, riveted together.
Because of the gold plating, it has good corrosion resistance and electrical properties. In the hardware sector, this kind of thing is really plentiful.
Because when testing various chips and PCBs, there is often a need to check the circuit, requiring a quick inspection of the soldering and voltage conditions.
They typically integrate some test points on the PCB.
Simply press a row of spring needles onto the test point to get the results quickly.
This thing is also used in the design of battery compartments in many products.
When you insert a dry cell battery into the battery compartment, the spring contacts will press down on the battery terminals.
Some detachable modules also use spring pins for connection.
However, it's clear that Cerny didn't take it out for these purposes.
"I remember you said you wanted players to be able to put the controller down and do something else after finishing the game."
He explained,
"So I was thinking... is there any way to power the controller without going through a serial port?"
"Pin contact charging..." Lin Lixin's eyes lit up.
Many future devices, such as wireless headphones and wireless controllers, will adopt this metal contact charging method.
It is indeed very easy to use and very elegant.
Pogopin isn't actually some kind of futuristic technology.
It actually appeared in the electronics industry very early on.
The reason why it didn't become widespread in the consumer electronics field until so late is actually quite simple.
Lithium battery technology is lagging behind.
But this problem... Gamenova has already solved it.
So, combining the pogo pin with a lithium battery, and then designing a power management chip...
"We designed a charging dock with contact points that can be placed on your bedside table, on the coffee table next to the sofa, or anywhere there's a power outlet!"