1988 Retro Game Tycoon - Chapter 108



Only Noblemtl

Episode 108 – The Art of Transplantation

It’s been a week since I returned from my business trip to Japan.

Meanwhile, the Mega Drive transplant work for was underway step by step after completing the basic construction.

My goal is to finish development work within 3 weeks, with one week for debugging and finishing touches.

At the current pace, I think I can stick to the schedule I have in mind without any problems.

The art team designed the character of Isamu, a Japanese student, while retouching the character and background color style to match the Mega Drive.

Once the style is sorted out, we’ll move on to the dot work needed for animation.

Lee Yong-ju is currently creating animation sprites using old graphic assets. Fortunately, the characters are the same size, so he is just processing them in black and white and then creating the animation.

Later, when the art team comes out with new graphics, you can just add new images.

Ha Ji-seok began to modify the physics engine that handles collision detection, which is the most important in action, to fit the Mega Drive. While capacity was not an issue on the A1 board, the Mega Drive must conserve the ROM pack capacity as much as possible.

The length of the code affects not only the game’s capacity, but also its processing speed. To fit it on the Mega Drive, which was slower than the A1, everything had to be made more concise.

After completing Stage Zero, I created five stages using Stage Zero as a game engine.

I decided to start with common and most basic things like graphic processing, and to create more elaborate work by piecing it into the system as other people’s work was finished.

If we compare the transplant process to pizza, right now I am kneading the pizza dough, while other people are preparing the cheese and toppings that will go on the pizza.

We’ve made bundle games for Gemboy before, but this is the first time we’ve put this much effort into porting a game.

Porting is a different kind of work than creating a new game.

Although not as creative as creating a new game, reconfiguring a program to fit a new system still requires some creativity.

Most porting work requires making games for smaller screens, less storage, and slower processing speeds.

How can we make it feel as similar to the original as possible in a more difficult environment? Thinking about and solving this part is the core of the transplant work.

This is a situation where you know the recipe, but the ingredients and cooking tools are different, so you have to make it taste as similar to the original as possible.

I have no gas or wok right now, but I need to make spicy jjambbong.

As realistically as possible. As deliciously as possible.

And to suit the tastes of people all over the world.

I randomly summoned characters on Stage Zero to test how many I could move and fight properly. You need to know the limit so you can push it to that limit.

The number of enemies you can summon is bound to be reduced compared to the original. Adding visual effects like the burning theater will further reduce the number of characters.

It needs to be supplemented in some way.

I decided to exaggerate the scenes where people get hit and get beaten a bit more than in the original .

There’s no way around it. If you need to add flavor but can’t use fire, you have no choice but to add flavor sauce.

“When Kim Do-kwon uses his signature punch, make his fist bigger. It feels like he’s swinging a hammer.”

I asked the art team, who were working hard, to revise the action scenes. Not only Kim Do-kwon, but also the actions of other characters, even enemy characters, were revised to feel more intense than the original.

Make it look more powerful when you hit it.

And when it hits, it makes it look even more painful.

If you still feel like you’re missing out even after pouring so much spicy sauce on it, you should mix it with mala sauce later.

Even if everything else is sacrificed, the true flavor and thrill of the action must be preserved for the Mega Drive version of to come alive.

While I was concentrating on the transplant work, Team A and Team B were also diligently carrying out their own work.

Team A is focusing on researching action movements and techniques for fighting games.

There is a story in the fighting game, but the most important thing is the cool techniques and actions that the characters use. Team A collected all the information they could about martial arts, visited martial arts schools, and filmed the movements of the instructors.

“I don’t know yet what concept I’ll use to create the worldview and characters. I don’t have anything clear. I’m going to start by researching the action, and while creating the characters, I’ll gradually think about the worldview.”

“I can’t think of anything in particular, so there’s no need to force it. Okay.”

I decided to trust Captain Ko’s method and wait. If the action is good, I can create the world view later.

Just because you go to Seoul doesn’t mean you have to start from world view planning for every game.

If the action is great, people don’t really care if there are some holes in the worldview. After all, the genre is definitely fun. But if it’s the opposite, it’s difficult.

On the other hand, Team B changed the game name to and was working on the game concept, scenario, and stage composition in depth.

Captain Park established the concept that the protagonist’s power would actually weaken as the game progressed. Although the idea of ​​overturning the obvious shooting game formula was experimental, it had its own charm.

“Is it because the title was changed? The game content and planning are both quite in-depth. It may be a bit of a risk, but I think it’s worth a try. Please continue developing it like this.”

My entire game development team, including myself, was enthusiastic about working on the new project.

All three projects were games targeting the global market, so I was naturally motivated.

As the company moves to conquer the global market, the number of fan letters that make me feel a little heavy-hearted is increasing little by little.

– I go to the arcade to play every day these days! But when will it come out on Jemix? I have an arcade at home, but my mom keeps asking why I have to go to the arcade. If Jongno comes out on Jemix, I don’t have to go. My mom tells me to stop using coins.

– Hello. I recently got a Gemboy. But I was really disappointed that wasn’t in the bundle game. If I wait a bit, this will come out as a Gemboy, right? Right?

– I made a bet with my friends on whether would come out first with Gemix or with Gemboy. Of course, I bet on Gemix. Starting with , Starbeat has always made games with Gemix. This time, it’s obvious that Gemix will come out first, right? I believe it!

– I pray every day for to come out as a Jemix. A while ago, there was a big full moon, so I made a wish on the moon. When will it come out as a Jemix? How many nights will it take for it to come out?

Users of Jemix and Gemboy were eagerly waiting for .

I know all too well how it feels when a game you’ve been waiting for doesn’t come out on your console, so my heart was heavy.

But the company’s development team was currently running out of space.

After the release of the A1 board, all projects shifted their focus towards it.

If we take people from the development team now and create a Gemmix and Gemboy transplant unit, the development speed of existing projects will inevitably slow down.

And since there are no leader-level programmers other than Go Dae-ryong and Park Geon-hyeong, it is difficult to form a separate transplant unit.

However, I also feel uncomfortable ignoring the users of Jemix and Gemboy, who are the roots of Starbeat.

The best way would be to hire more developers and form a separate team to transplant Gemix and Gemboy. Finding new developers with the kind of experience that can be put to work right away was close to a miracle.

Even if you hire a new person, provide them with programming training and monitor their progress, several months will pass by in no time.

While I was thinking about this, I received a call from Jewoo Electronics.

“Sir, the development of the Gemix Mega V will be completed soon!”

Ah···, why at this timing?

But since Jemix is ​​releasing a new model, I was curious and couldn’t help but look into it. I took some time to visit Jewoo Electronics.

“This is the Gemix Mega V built on MSX 2+ specs. It has 64KB of RAM, the same as the Gemix V, but the VRAM has been increased to 128KB! That’s a whopping 8x increase.”

The researcher at Jewoo Electronics said with a proud face. Even the Mega Drive only has 64KB of VRAM. How can they use twice that?

It definitely feels like Jewoo Electronics has put some effort into it this time.

The Mega V looks like a typical square box, not much different from the Gemix Super V I remember. However, the Gemix Super V was the MSX 2, and this Mega V is a higher version, the MSX 2+.

“The graphic features have become much more powerful than before. Both horizontal and vertical scrolling are possible, and the color range is up to 512 colors. It will be more than enough to create a game like .”

“Well, it’s true that Mega V is more powerful than before, but we’re running the game on two 16-bit CPUs…”

Even educational computers were already designated as 16-bit IBM compatible models, and the transition period was shifting to 16-bit. Even though the specifications had been raised, the era of the 8-bit platform was coming to an end.

“Have the release date and price been decided?”

“We are thinking of releasing it around November. The price will probably be around 150,000 won.”

“It’s quite expensive.”

“It was inevitable that the price would increase as the specs were raised. That’s why the game is even more important. Please make with MSX 2+ specs. It will also support Mega ROM, so the capacity will be sufficient.”

“okay.”

I smiled bitterly inside. I’m talking about this at a time when it’s hard to make a 5-6 megabyte game in 16-bit. Of course, Jewoo Electronics probably doesn’t know that we’re porting to Mega Drive.

“If you need more time to make into an MSX game, you can delay the release of Mega V a little more.”

“No, you don’t have to go that far.”

“No. No. We have to wait. I know it’s a bit weird to say this, but Starbeat hasn’t released an MSX game in months since , so we’re having a hard time right now. In the meantime, Hyunmyeong and Oseong have come out, so our competition has increased significantly, and honestly, we’re a bit behind. Please help us!”

The people at Jewoo Electronics bowed their heads to me and asked me a favor.

These guys are making people feel awkward.

It’s good to be honest and unvarnished, but asking for things like this isn’t going to work.

“I understand the situation at Jewoo Electronics, but our developers also have a lot of other work to do. It doesn’t seem like it will be easy until the end of this year.”

“No! If we do that, we’ll be in big trouble. If we do that, we’ll hand over all of our Korean homes to Hyunmyeong and Ohseong, who came with the support of those Japanese forces. Shouldn’t we protect the pride of our Korean games? Mr. President, are you going to abandon all of your G-Mix users like this?”

The people at Jewoo Electronics kept begging me to try another way.

Oh, but I don’t know about anything else, but it hurts a little to hear you say that you’re going to abandon the users of Gemix like this.

My first game console was Gemix, and the first game I made back then was for Gemix, so I want to support the Gemix platform for as long as possible.

To be honest, it’s not about business, it’s just something I want to do.

When you think about business and money, it’s much better to focus on the global market rather than the Korean market. It’s not like Gemix can achieve a large market size in Korea like the arcade business. Also, the limitations of the 8-bit platform are obvious.

But even now, somewhere, there must be kids like me playing games on Jemix.

Even after the world went 16-bit and computer magazines stopped covering the MSX, there were still kids who held onto their Gemix until the end, either because of family circumstances or because their parents wouldn’t buy them a new console to study for.

When I think of them, I can’t just let go of my Jemix.

But right now, the company doesn’t have the resources to do so. And going forward, the development team will have to focus on creating new games.

They are the future of the company and its competitiveness. No matter how much it is for the sake of gamers, entrusting them with porting 8-bit games is a huge loss not only to our company but also to the Korean gaming industry.

Now, the 90s are here, the fastest-changing decade for video games. We have to keep moving towards the future.

In that case, the best way would be to either create a new team specializing in transplants through new hiring, or outsource the work to another game company.

The former requires time to build a team and operate properly, and the latter is a company that does not exist in Korea at all.

There may be a few places where it is possible for Japanese game companies, but in an era before the Internet, it is not easy to manage outsourced work while communicating with Japanese companies.

It was a headache-inducing situation in many ways.

“I will also try to find some possible solutions.”

“Please, please. Starbeat is our only hope for Jemix! Shouldn’t we save the Korean native Jemix?”

People asked me with desperate voices.

As I left Jewoo Electronics, my mind was a bit complicated with various thoughts. Come to think of it, I’ve been focusing on the A1 board and Sega lately, so I haven’t been to Yongsan with Seun much.

In the meantime, I headed to Seun Shopping Mall Modu Electronics for the first time in a long while to see how the Korean console market has changed. It was also on my way back to work anyway.

After going to Akihabara and seeing Seun Shopping Mall and Cheonggyecheon, I felt the gap again.

I don’t think I can fill that gap all by myself, but I still want to make sure that Korean gamers of this era can enjoy games without any major shortcomings compared to Japanese or American gamers.

“hello.”

“Huh? What’s going on? Without even contacting me?”

As soon as I entered the electronics store, Yang Geun-seok greeted me with a surprised and happy expression.

“I stopped by on my way to work. Where’s the boss?”

“Oh, he went to another store for a bit. Just wait a minute. I’ll call him. He’ll come running right away when I tell him you’re here.”

“I guess you have some free time these days?”

“It’s a bit quieter than when we were really busy. We even hired some new people.”

“A new employee? Huh?”

I was looking around the store and was surprised to see a familiar face.

“Ah···. Hello.”

That person also recognized me, hesitated awkwardly, and then bowed in greeting.

Team leader of the program team that created pirated games under CEO Kim Ho-seung.

The name is···.

“Oh, that’s right. You already knew Byeong-cheol hyung. I forgot.”

Yang Geun-seok said, hitting his forehead.

Yes, it was Jeong Byeong-cheol.

But why is this person in Modu Electronics?