1988 Retro Game Tycoon - Chapter 40



Only Noblemtl

Episode 40 – Belt Scrolling Action Game

Kim Du-han.

He was a powerful figure in Jongno during the Japanese colonial period in the 1930s. After liberation, he became a member of the National Assembly and criticized the dictatorship.

The movie , which deals with Kim Du-han’s younger years, is said to have been a huge hit, drawing 680,000 viewers in Seoul. I think I saw it on TV during Chuseok, or maybe I rented it on video. Anyway, I remember watching it at home.

has not been released yet. This movie will be released in 1990. When it is released, I will go see it at Dansungsa Temple.

They said that 680,000 viewers in Seoul was a huge hit. The first 10 million-viewer movie was released in 2003, so the Korean film industry will really grow significantly in the next 20 years.

Of course, the gaming industry will grow much bigger than that in the future. I will make it happen.

The character of Kim Du-han is actually a controversial one, but he is equally attractive as a character. Even after was released in three parts, the story of Kim Du-han was later remade into a drama and became a hit once again.

I have no intention of directly featuring the character ‘Kim Du-han’ in my game.

He’s been dead for over 10 years, but he was a gangster and even a politician, so he could cause unnecessary controversy.

There is no need to highlight a specific character named Kim Du-han, rather than making a cool belt-scrolling action game about a gang of fighters who fought with their fists in Jongno during the Japanese colonial period in the 1930s.

Since the game is based on the character ‘Kim Du-han’ and the historical background, a title like ‘The General’s Son’ is not appropriate.

The movie hasn’t even been released yet, but if I release a game with this title first, it would be like stealing the title of a movie that a great film director is going to produce.

“What other name would be good? A title that captures the subject and background well.”

I wrote and erased several titles, and then came to mind. It seemed like a title that well expressed the setting and characters.

Now it’s time to structure the game.

The plot is simple. Set in Jongno, Gyeongseong during the Japanese colonial period in the 1930s, the protagonist, a swordsman, fights against Japanese samurai, gangsters, police officers, military police, smugglers, fraudulent gambling gangs, and the yakuza.

Naturally, it can show various spaces such as markets, alleyways, theaters, bars, and gambling halls in the Jongno style of the 1930s.

If emphasized the sensibility of an old New York apartment, intends to stimulate people’s memories and emotions by using the streetscape of Gyeongseong as its background.

“This would require an art director. It’s a whole other level than drawing an apartment after watching a movie.”

continued the basic structure of an apartment, even though the shape and pattern of the apartment changed. That’s why I was able to create a plausible background by adding various variations on top of the repetitive pattern.

However, in order to beautifully recreate the streets and buildings of Gyeongseong in the 1930s in graphic form, the touch of an expert is definitely needed. In any case, hiring someone in the art department is also necessary.

“Then what about the story… The rule in belt scrolling games is to find a lover. If it’s the same, it’ll get boring.”

The basic story of , the pioneer of belt-scrolling action games, and , which established this genre, are both about going out and fighting to find a lover who has been kidnapped by delinquents.

The story is very old and fundamental, about a knight saving a princess who was captured by a dragon. Donkey Kong, Nintendo’s first hit in the US, the first game designed by Shigeru Miyamoto, and the first game in which Mario appeared, also had a story about saving a woman who was kidnapped by Donkey Kong.

is also a story where the main character is a swordsman and the swordsman cannot help but fall in love. It is a story that never fails, no matter what you do, it always gets somewhere in the middle.

And the reason I find this ‘boring’ is because I’ve already played the upcoming Final Fight. Gamers of this era probably wouldn’t find this boring.

But I have the pride of a game developer. I don’t want to include the story of saving a girlfriend here. It’s too safe a path, so I don’t want to make it.

Rather than that, let’s go with a story that can better portray the image of a ‘hero’.

If you’re a chivalrous person, it’s probably a sense of chivalry. Justice, loyalty, protecting the weak. That’s what it feels like.

“Let’s make the theme friendship, emphasizing loyalty over love. It’s about the friendship between men who fight with their fists but are stronger than anyone else’s.”

I recalled the I had read before and wrote down a few simple stories. I wrote, edited, discarded, and rewrote them repeatedly until I finally picked one story that I liked.

– The protagonist who fights in Jongno. One day, the protagonist’s friend is beaten by Japanese yakuza and taken to the Japanese military police, where he dies in prison. The protagonist is furious when he sees his friend’s ashes returned as ashes. He storms into the yakuza’s stronghold to seek revenge. However, the protagonist’s journey is full of difficulties until he meets a yakuza group protected by the military police.

It’s a bit tragic, but the emotions mixed with resentment grow, and the protagonist’s sense of justice is also emphasized. Fighting for a friend who is already dead!

It might be a shocking start for the kids, but I think it would be a little less impactful if they just went to find their friend who was taken away. Then their girlfriend would just become their friend.

If you’re willing to go into a yakuza den to avenge your dead friend, you’re a true swordsman.

Of course, there are many more people who play action games for the fun of beating things up without worrying about stories. How realistic and cool the action is is much more important to its actual success.

But since I’m making a game anyway, I want to make it so that the story is consistent and touches people’s hearts and emotions more.

When a story that touches your heart is combined with a beautiful setting and powerful action, it becomes a masterpiece that will be remembered for a much longer time.

After I finished organizing the characters and the main story, I took my hands off the keyboard for a moment and played in my head, imagining that there was a virtual game console in my head.

As the character moved, hit, and broke things, the stage composition, programming method, and action direction all came to mind simultaneously.

I thought about the various types of background stages and imagined enemies with different characteristics, such as thugs, student soldiers, policemen, martial artists, gamblers, samurai, military police, and yakuza.

In fighting games, it’s actually more important to know who the main character is than what enemies they fight against. This is because who the main character is, what kind of enemies they face, how they fight, and why they fight show who they are.

First, I set the overall scale and composition of as large as possible.

Since it is a game that is made with more emphasis on arcades, it is right to increase the scale accordingly, and when developing for Gemix, it is right to reduce it in a simple way.

If you keep adding to small things to make them bigger, the game will become a mess and may go in a strange direction. On the other hand, when you reduce big things, you should go in the direction of leaving only the essence. Although it may be a little painful to cut them out.

Since it was a very familiar genre, planning wasn’t that difficult.

The real problem with this game isn’t the design. It’s the actual implementation of the game.

As with all 8-bit retro games, the computing power is poor in terms of processing speed, game capacity, available memory, and video RAM. Among them, Gemix, which is based on MSX1, is even worse.

1. Multiple stages with multiple fights?

Because of the size, it’s probably impossible to put it in a regular ROM pack, so you’ll need a Mega ROM pack. Then the price of the game will go up significantly.

2. Market streets, bars, theaters, and the magnificent Governor-General’s building in the background?

If you create it in a tile format like , the limits to the detail that can be expressed are clear.

3. Military action surrounded by numerous enemies?

Due to the limitations of the hardware sprites supported by the MSX1, there is also a limit to the number of characters that can appear simultaneously.

4. A flashy and cool action impact?

To feel the thrill of fighting, smooth animation is necessary, but what’s really important is the impact sound. The thrilling sound that rings out at the right time heightens the sense of realism of the action.

However, the sound modules in Jemix are not enough to create realistic sound effects and sounds.

These are just some of the problems that come to mind when making for Gemix. I think there will be more problems when actual development begins.

You’ll have to cut out quite a few details.

I know it can’t be helped, but it’s heartbreaking to have to cut out things that could have been made more fun due to hardware limitations.

Every time I remove a detail, it feels like I’m taking a little piece of flesh off of myself. Just thinking about it makes my head spin and I’m starting to feel stressed.

after···!

I took a deep breath and calmed my mind. Since I had chosen the Gemix V, this was a predetermined future and an unavoidable reality.

To relieve my stress, I pictured the completed arcade version of .

Yeah, first of all, let’s try to narrow the gap between the two as much as possible. Then, we can hire more people and develop for consoles other than MSX.

“Let’s make this for Mega Drive too. We don’t have to stick to Gemix.”

is only available on Gemix because I made it by myself. Our company does not have an exclusive contract with Gemix, and there is no reason why we cannot make the game for other consoles.

You can make games for the Gemix, you can make games for the arcade, and you can port them to the Mega Drive.

The Mega Drive is a cutting-edge 16-bit console that has only been on the market for a few months. It is a high-performance machine with flashy specs and fast processing speeds that are incomparable to the Gemix V. If the Gemix is ​​a bicycle, the Mega Drive is a car.

You should release the game on Gemix for Korean gamers, but it’s also more advantageous to make it on Mega Drive for export. You’ll be able to make a much better game.

Oh! I suddenly feel like my insides are opening up. When the February issue of comes out, there will be a lot of inquiries for the company, so we need to hire a lot of good developers. I hope the February issue comes out soon.

By then, I need to do as much game planning as possible. If I have to interview developers and teach new ones while making games, I won’t have time to plan later.

And before you hire a developer, there’s one more thing you absolutely must do.

Now I have to start making the arcade game board. I have a lot of experience with games, but I have no experience making hardware, so I don’t know how much time and money it will take. I have to start as soon as possible before I get too busy.

Fortunately, there is one corner that believes in this. When I was making the ROM pack, there was an engineer who was recommended to me. It may sound a bit strange, but I heard he is an incredibly talented person.

“Sir, are you going to be late again today?”

“Yes, I’m currently working on the next game plan. You can go in first.”

“Are you already preparing for the next game? It hasn’t even been a month since went on sale?”

“It’s too late. We have to keep making new games. I’ll do more on my own and then I’ll go, so you go first.”

“Okay, then I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow~!”

As the employees left, I glanced at them. It seemed like they were worried that I was the only one left working. But that was only for a moment. I think they would get used to it soon.

I poured out my game plan when I went with the flow. The sound of my keyboard keystrokes echoed nonstop in the temporary office.

The next day.

I headed to Seun Shopping Mall to meet the engineer who would be commissioned to make an arcade board.

On the way, I stopped by Modu Electronics to say hello and went up to the 6th floor. It was my first time going up to the Seun Sangga apartment.

It seemed that many engineers had already set up workshops in the Seun Sangga apartment complex. There were quite a few places with nameplates saying XX Electronics or OO Electronics on the doors.

There was a nameplate posted at the place I was looking for.

[ Iron Age ]

It’s a rather humorous name for an engineer who works with electronic devices to name his workshop.

I checked the lake and rang the bell loudly.

There was no response.

I checked the lake again and rang the bell a few times, but still no one came out.

“I should have called and come. I thought he’d be there when I got there.”

I was about to go back, but just in case, I opened the door slightly.

Squeak-.

The door opened with a sound.

“Hello. Is President Lee Ki-cheol here?”

I made a noise and called out to the Iron Age CEO, Engineer Lee Ki-cheol.

But instead of an answer, another sound was heard.

I’ve heard of this before.

It was an electronic gunshot sound.

Duck Hunt for the Nintendo Famicom.

A duck hunting game, as the title suggests, where you shoot an electronic gun called a ‘zapper’ at ducks flying towards the screen.

This guy also likes video games. Then the conversation will be faster.

“president?”

In what was probably the living room of the apartment, a man was sitting at a desk, shooting a gun at the TV. The man, wearing large yellow plastic goggles, looked quite young.

He was so absorbed in the game that he didn’t even notice me coming in. I stood by the door and waited for the game to end.

His marksmanship was so good that he never missed a duck.

When the game was over, he put the smokeless barrel of the electron gun to his mouth, blew on it, and then put it in his chest and said,

“I’ll be back!”

That’s the movie Terminator.

I thought he was a bit funny, but when he discovered me late, he was so startled that he jumped up from his desk.

He spoke in an agitated voice as he pointed the electron gun at me.

“Mom! Who, who is it?”

“I didn’t mean to startle you, but I’m sorry. I rang the doorbell and called you but there was no answer.”

The situation was a bit funny, but I was so flustered that I raised both hands and answered.

If someone saw it, they would think it was a real gun…

uh?

“That gun? Isn’t that a Zapper made by Nintendo?”

“Of course. Because I made it.”

“You made it yourself?”

“Yeah. Why buy it when you can make it? It’s a waste of money.”

That’s true, but what if that’s not true?

I turned my head and looked at the console in front of the TV.

There was no Famicom where there should have been one.

Instead, there was a single green circuit board with a complex web of wires that contained the cartridge input device and the power supply.

Did this guy make his own Famicom and play games on it?