Recaps

Lin Lixin built the technology and production operation behind Need for Speed and Myst, then turned Myst into a major success. As GameNova expanded PC gaming spaces, he and Carmack refined a client/server approach to multiplayer networking.

• Lin Lixin recruited Carmack, Michael Abrash, Ben Gokey, Yuji Naka, and others to build a flexible engine, then established NOVA-ENGINE and NOVA-GRAPHICS.
• GameNova unveiled Need for Speed, whose 3D racing, car information, and detailed driving mechanics captivated Gordon and helped promote the Nova Radeon 9000.
• Lin Lixin proposed a Myst adventure tied to Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Lucas and Spielberg joined him in developing its story and production plan.
• Lin Lixin’s team built Myst’s island sets, solved its CD-ROM asset-loading problem, and used layered parallax animation to create movement within its scenes.
• Lin Lixin announced Myst with Lucas and Harrison Ford, and the game’s cinematic trailer led Ron to try its first-person exploration and puzzles.
• Myst sold more than a million PC copies in less than a week, and Lin Lixin noted that female players accounted for 27 percent of its buyers.
• Lin Lixin and Sam inspected a makeshift PC arcade and planned better facilities with food ordering, competitions, private rooms, and high-speed internet.
• Lin Lixin, Carmack, and Sam tested multiplayer networking, and Lin Lixin proposed client-side weapon prediction with the server correcting the actual results.

Lin Lixin led GameNova through Quake 2’s development and launch while confronting the costly, under-supported 3DO. He then began building Battlefield 1991, and the stretch ended with a successful test of its vast, compressed desert map.

• Lin Lixin explained lag compensation and its tradeoffs, then formally began Quake 2 with Carmack leading programming and Will developing subtle, natural enemy AI.
• Lin Lixin asked Hideo Kojima to shape Quake 2’s simple story and linked objectives, then revealed an oversized workstation for visual grading.
• Lin Lixin showed Kojima the workstation’s hardware and colored-lighting system, while Mark Cerny proposed combining player reviews with gameplay data.
• At a tournament event, Lin Lixin lost an exhibition match to SOLID, then announced that Quake owners could download the full Quake 2 update on Black Friday.
• Lin Lixin demonstrated Quake 2’s visuals and performance, and Supernova beat SOLID in a close Deathmatch after Lin landed a final railgun streak.
• Trip Hawkins launched the $699.99 3DO as an open hardware standard, but Lin Lixin saw its high price, difficult architecture, and lack of launch games as major weaknesses.
• Lin Lixin proposed Battlefield 1991 to Ted Turner and CNN, then worked with Carmack and the team to optimize its large-scale Gulf War combat with desert fog, LOD, and a dedicated Frostbite engine.
• Lin Lixin outlined interest management and dedicated servers for Battlefield’s multiplayer, while the 3DO struggled with weak launch sales and delayed games.
• At Lockheed, Lin Lixin examined a C-5 Galaxy for Battlefield references, then tested the game’s desert map and revealed that its enormous terrain used only 8 MB.

Lin Lixin turned Battlefield 1991 into a major hit, then built Mortal Kombat around Hollywood performances and violent finishing moves. As the arcade game succeeded, Lin Lixin began planning a low-cost virtual pet device to support GameNova’s future hardware and software.

• GameNova released Battlefield 1991 as the Gulf War began, and Emma, Vincent, and George experienced its large-scale multiplayer battle.
• After coalition forces won Operation Desert Sabre, Battlefield 1991 surged in popularity, and Lucas asked Lin Lixin why he had ignored the 3DO.
• Lin Lixin recruited Linus to develop an open-source operating system and proposed an entirely new Hollywood-inspired fighting game called Mortal Kombat.
• Lin Lixin developed Mortal Kombat’s live-action rotoscoped animation, exaggerated martial arts, and Fatality finishing moves with actors including Schwarzenegger and Brandon Lee.
• Lin Lixin and Mark Cerny designed a cost-effective arcade board for Mortal Kombat, while Jenette Kahn agreed to consider DC characters and Nicholson filmed Joker footage.
• Jasper and Robin played Mortal Kombat, and its dramatic attacks, unusual characters, and brutal finishing moves captivated players as cabinets spread through arcades.
• Trip examined Mortal Kombat’s arcade board and felt humiliated by its use of elements resembling 3DO’s MADAM-CILO architecture.
• After Mortal Kombat became a hit, Lin Lixin proposed a digital virtual pet, and he and Vivian discussed making it small, affordable, and emotionally engaging.

Lin Lixin launched PokéPal, helped Infocom and Lucas Arts shape Return of the Obra Dinn, and guided Activision into browser-based kitchen simulations. The stretch left GameNova turning its growing web traffic into a platform built around capturing attention.

• Lin Lixin recognized the potential of a kitchen simulation, then recruited David to help design a simple virtual pet device using Athena’s 8-bit architecture and Vivian’s low-power display idea.
• At CES, Vivian unveiled PokéPal, showing how players could care for pets, play minigames, and communicate between devices, and the affordable device sparked a buying frenzy.
• Lin Lixin left Sam in charge of Street Fighter II and The King of Fighters 91, then traveled to Skywalker Ranch to develop Return of the Obra Dinn with Lucas and Infocom.
• Lin Lixin shaped Return of the Obra Dinn around monochrome frozen scenes, fragmented clues, and the Memento Mortem pocket watch, while Lucas and his team contributed research and sound resources.
• Li An played Return of the Obra Dinn, investigated the Obra Dinn’s dead crew, and praised its fragmented storytelling, and the game sold more than 500,000 copies in half a month.
• Lin Lixin led Gary Kitchen and the Activision developers in designing Papa’s Pizzeria around a focused pizza-making loop, funny customer reactions, and reusable, compressed assets.
• Lin Lixin partnered with John Schnatter and Papa John’s on the game and a cross-industry promotion, while Pauly and Connie tried the pizza and played Papa’s Pizzeria.
• As Papa’s Pizzeria and free email strained Nexus, Lin Lixin told Nexus’s leaders that attention would become the internet’s scarce resource and proposed embedded GG as part of a broader platform.