1988 Retro Game Tycoon - Chapter 49



Only Noblemtl

Episode 49 – Dual Core (Free Last)

Time passed quickly as I moved the furniture, arranged the seating, and set up the computer.

“One, two, three and you’ll hear it. One, two, three!”

“Careful, careful!”

“Do you have any power strips left?”

“Where is this monitor located?”

As soon as the programmers joined the company, they started to run around busily, helping each other, and naturally, they got to know each other and greeted each other.

It just so happened that our schedules coincided perfectly. It ended up being an icebreaker for all employees. It was better than I expected.

Since I worked hard from the first day of work, I went to eat meat for my first company dinner in the evening. Ha Ji-seok, who had just finished school, also joined the dinner.

“No, there were high school students too? It’s sad that there are so many college students. Don’t I look like an old man here?”

“Sir, let’s have a drink among us old men.”

When Dae-ryong Ko, the only programmer who joined as a proxy, started to groan, Yong-ju Lee, who was sitting next to him, chimed in and the two of them downed soju in one shot.

The two were in their late 20s, and were among the only two programmers hired this time.

I saw that and made a joke.

“Huh? Come to think of it, there are two dragons, Daeryong and Yongju. Aren’t these two completely double dragons?”

“Wow! That’s true. Daeryong-hyung is Daeryong, Yongju-hyung is Soryong. It’s exactly like Double Dragon.”

Maybe because we all had something in common in that we liked games, even the silly jokes went through well.

It seemed like there was already a sense of camaraderie among the people.

Perhaps the pride that comes from passing a difficult coding test creates a unique sense of belonging.

“Ah, Manager Choi. Welcome. Now, this is Manager Choi Han-il of the Myeongseong Planning Art Team. He has been a great help with everything from the package to the Saetbyeol store and the office interior.”

I called in Manager Choi and everyone from Myeongseong Planning. And we talked about the behind-the-scenes story of until late at night.

The newly hired programmers listened to our story with rapt attention, as if they were listening to a creation myth.

Manager Song, who always leaves work early because of the kids, stayed late for today’s company dinner. Assistant Manager Oh, who worked the hardest all day, drank heavily and was dozing off in a corner.

I couldn’t even tell how much I drank. I was getting younger and feeling good, so I just drank more and more.

The meat sizzled on the grill, and we chatted long into the night, talking about games and dreams.

Before we knew it, the cold winter had passed and warm spring was coming.

***

The next day, we started the real developer orientation, still hugging our hangovers.

I first explained the company’s roadmap and the projects currently in preparation.

“We will first develop an arcade system board for the arcade, and then we will develop our own unique home 16-bit game console.”

“You’re making your own game console?”

The developers, who were suffering from hangovers, seemed to come to their senses at the story of arcade system and console development. They all looked bewildered by the story that they had never imagined.

“No matter what kind of mindset you have when you join our company, our company will move forward toward a bigger goal. So, you have to be alert and run.”

To ensure smooth progress of the project, I decided to divide the company’s programmers into two teams.

“First, Team A will develop a game for the arcade system board currently under development. The CPU has been decided to be Motorola 68000, so please study 68k assembler first. Our first goal is to make for the arcade. While studying 68k, please also look at the source code. Our Double Dragon’s Dae-ri Ancient Dragon will be the captain of Team A.”

Team A is a team that prepares for the future of the company. They must thoroughly study the hardware for the arcade games that will become the mainstay in the future, and gain experience while creating .

We also purchased several Sharp X68000 personal workstations for Team A, each with a Motorola 68000 CPU. These computers have a powerful black case and excellent graphics performance, and are also widely used by Japanese arcade game manufacturers.

“Team B will be developing the next Jemix game title following . It is a baseball game, and some of the development is in progress. Please upgrade it and make it into a game that can actually be sold. Team B captain will be Park Geon-hyung.”

The next B team is a team that develops games for Gemix/MSX. They are a team that will continue to make games for Gemix while continuing the momentum of .

Team B appointed Park Geon-hyeong, the president of the computer research club at the University of Science and Technology, as its captain.

I had a hard time forming Team A and Team B.

Actually, there was a bit of an issue with the recruitment of the Tobagi team. After the coding test, I met with the people who passed the test one more time and talked to them. I wanted to make sure that they had coding skills but no personality issues.

If we could meet, we would meet, and people in the provinces would talk on the phone. While talking to Park Geon-hyung, I told him good news and bad news.

“The good news is that Mr. Park Geon-hyung passed the coding test. And Mr. Hyun Woo-sik and Mr. Jeon Ki-jong also passed.”

“What do you mean···?”

“Yes, unfortunately the other two failed the test. I appreciate their experience in completing the game, but their individual skills were not that impressive.”

Since there were five people who applied as a team at the same time, I expected that it would be difficult to separate them into those who passed and those who failed.

But the resistance was stronger than I thought.

“I’m really sorry, but Mr. CEO, could you give us a little bit of time to think about it? We went through a coding test with a game that the members of Tobagi made together, and we applied to continue working together, so we would like to talk more among ourselves.”

“Does that mean that depending on the situation, Mr. Park Geon-hyung or other successful candidates may not be hired by the company?”

“I think I’ll have to talk to the members about that. I’m sorry.”

Well, it seems like this person is the type to see things through to the end without leaving anyone behind, no matter what the situation.

Now that I think about it, I didn’t go all the way to the end during the coding test and kept checking until the end.

The style of taking good care of people has the advantage of less discord and a good atmosphere within the team, but on the other hand, it also has the disadvantage of slow decision-making and being driven by emotions.

The best strengths can sometimes become the best weaknesses, depending on the situation.

“If the other members say they don’t want to split up, are you thinking of giving up on joining the company, Mr. Park Geon-hyung?”

“No. I can’t give up either. This is such an important opportunity for me. I really want to work. But I feel like I’ll regret it if I leave these two people behind…”

The two who were eliminated had ambiguous skills, but the remaining three were people who were too good to miss. It is by no means easy for a university club to plan and complete a game in just a few months.

The game’s completion was a bit disappointing, but the unique scenario of going to the back side of the moon that we cannot see and fighting was also quite good.

Park Geon-hyung asked.

“Then, would it be possible for you to split my salary between the two of us?”

“Yes? Then, Mr. Gunhyung, how do you plan to live in Seoul?”

“If only the boss would allow me, I can eat, sleep, and go to work. I’m happy just to be able to make games like that!”

I got a feeling.

This guy is serious.

I sincerely think that it would be okay if he could just develop games for our company without receiving any money, and I sincerely want to come with the members of Tobagi even if it means giving his salary to the two people who were left out.

At this point, if the two people were separated, it might be difficult for Park Geon-hyung or the other members to pull themselves together.

After thinking about it for a moment, I made another suggestion.

“No matter what, I can’t give your salary to other people. How about this? I’ll hire the two people who failed as interns. They’ll work at the company for six months, do the same work as other people, and monitor their performance. In return, I’ll give them half the salary of other employees.”

“Really? Is that possible?”

“Instead, I will re-evaluate after six months and decide whether or not to hire you officially. However, if I decide not to hire you then, I will not be able to give you another chance.”

“Yes, I understand! I will take responsibility and improve my skills. Thank you for giving me the opportunity. Thank you!”

So, the original plan was to hire only three members, but with the addition of two interns, the total number of members has increased to five.

And while Park Geon-hyung was chosen as the captain of Team B, Hyun Woo-seok, who is majoring in industrial design among the members of Tobagi, and Yeom Chan-woo, who was originally one of the eliminated members, were placed in Team B.

I gave a separate request to Park Geon-hyung.

“There is something you must be careful about in the future. I have accepted all the members of Tobagi, but now that you have joined, you must not think of them as Tobagi anymore. We are all part of Starbeat. If you favor Tobagi members while running the team, or if you stick together only with your own group inside and outside the company, it will be a problem. Do you understand what I mean?”

“Yes, sir. I will always keep that in mind. I will make sure that something like that never happens again.”

“I will believe you.”

Among the 11 new programmers hired, there are five members of Tobagi. In fact, it is like taking over an entire development team, so if we are not careful, the weight of the development team could shift to that side.

To prevent that, and to ensure smooth progress of the project, the team was split in half and people were placed carefully.

Of course, my thoughts may not be perfect, but if you don’t like it, you can change it. I originally paid attention to the space so that the team could be arranged flexibly.

Team A, centered around the oldest member, Dae-ryong, who was not a game developer but had several years of development experience at another company.

Team B, led by Park Geon-hyung, who has experience leading his own team to complete a fairly decent game.

Finally, our company has a dual core that can run two development projects simultaneously.

I will now lead the project, working across both teams as game director and producer.

At first, I will be heavily involved in practical work, but I plan to gradually step away and focus solely on directing. This will allow the dual core to operate on its own and perform its role properly.

The two development teams will also have a meeting once a week to share what they are working on.

For convenience, we split the team into an arcade system team and a console team, but since we have to make multiple versions of one game, the two teams have to work together organically and understand each other’s work.

Back in Japan, well, not so long ago. There was a game company called Technōs Japan that developed some pretty popular games starting in the late 80s.

This is the company that created , the first belt-scrolling action game. The company developed arcade games and games for the Nintendo Famicom, but as the Famicom games became very popular, the company began to focus its efforts on the Famicom game development department.

Meanwhile, the arcade game department, which was increasingly becoming a neglected department, came into conflict with the Famicom game department, and eventually, as many developers left the company, the arcade development department disappeared.

In-team politics and competition between internal studios are common in game companies. Internal competition can be a driving force behind the creation of good games. However, when conflicts grow, extreme cases like Technos Japan can easily occur.

Game development is not just about planning and coding games. Games are ultimately made by people. People and team management are important, if not obvious, tasks for making good games.

But what else did Technos Japan make besides ? I was surprised as I tried to gather my vague memories.

I quickly ran to the cabinet where the game software was stored and took out the Technos Japan games.

And

Ah···, I missed this.

After the success of , a game about delinquent youth fighting, Technos Japan released several sports games under the name of the Passionate series, including dodgeball games.

Somehow, when I was giving it the title , I felt like it sounded familiar.

It may not be a problem in Korea, but it is a title that could cause problems in Japan, and above all, it seemed inappropriate to use a title that could be mistaken for Technos Japan’s passionate series.

I gave Team B the first mission to come up with a new title.

“Wasn’t the title already decided?”

“I was thinking about that, but now I’m not making this game alone. I’m going to think about it again. Think of a title that you all like. This is the first game I’m making since joining Starbeat, right?”

“Ahhhhh···!”

“Are you saying that since we are making this game with our own hands, we should give it a new title?”

Actually, it was my mistake and I had to change the title, but I didn’t say anything about it.

A few days later.

Tata dadadak! Tata dadadak!

The sound of a dot matrix printer printing something filled my ears.

It is very noisy because it prints by lowering the printer head onto an ink-soaked ribbon like a typewriter, imprinting the paper. It is still a few years before inkjet or laser printers become widespread.

After finishing the printing, Park Geon-hyung came to Team B with a nervous look on his face and handed them a piece of paper. It was a list of new title suggestions for a baseball game.

– Passion! High School Baseball

– The fastball is stuck!

– Diamond of Victory

– Tomorrow is the home run king!

– Mound of the Storm

– That hot summer cheer

– Strike three out!

There were a lot of fun titles that symbolized baseball, but I think a title like this would be more appropriate for a game with a story.

Among them, I chose the name that best represented the game concept of a high school baseball tournament.

– Golden Sun Flag National High School Baseball Tournament

There is also a RPG game series called that was later released for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, but it is a completely different genre.

“This looks good. It looks like the Golden Lion. But I think it would be better if there was a subtitle that reveals the background of Dongdaemun Stadium a bit more.”

.

Abbreviated as .

Thus, Starbeat’s second game title was confirmed.

Team A and Team B began the project in earnest by starting code analysis.

Ha Ji-seok, who was still a high school student, came straight to the company after school. I put Ha Ji-seok in Team B and told Park Geon-hyeong to give him a mathematical problem, such as the movement of a baseball.

And since Ha Ji-seok is still a high school student, I went to Ha Ji-seok’s house to get his parents’ consent.

Although it is not a required procedure, I thought it would be polite to at least greet the parents when hiring high school students as employees.

The place where Ji-seok lives is on the second floor of a typical townhouse in Seoul. It felt a bit strange, like a teacher visiting a home. When I went to the house, Ji-seok’s mother was waiting for me.

I explained in detail what kind of company we are and why we need Ji-seok.

“Jiseok is very good at math and physics. As time goes by, such talents will be needed more and more when developing games.”

“Thank you for just listening to me. And for even coming here in person.”

“No. Of course it should be like that. Ji-seok is good at studying, right?”

“I’m good at math, science, and English. I’m good at English because of the computer. I’ve never had to ask for tutoring, but I always get a perfect score. But the other things are a bit…”

“I’m not going to college anyway, so what’s the point of getting good grades?”

“You’re not going to college? What do you mean?”

I asked back in surprise.

“I’m going to continue to go to Starbeat and develop games. It’s not like there’s a game development department at the university, so it’d be a waste of time to go. I’m already wasting my time going to school, and I promised my mom that I’d finish high school, so I’m going.”

“No, Ji-seok. You’re seriously mistaken. Of course, you can’t learn game development at school. But you absolutely must go to college to further develop your talents. Go to a math or physics department. Go and study more deeply. That way, in five or ten years, you’ll be able to become a truly outstanding game developer.”

When I advised him to go to college, Ha Ji-seok looked at me with a strange expression.

“I naturally thought you would tell me to stop going to school and make games at the company… But is it true that you don’t need me?”

“No, I need it. I really need it. That’s why I picked it. But as it is now, it’s still awkward. Game development isn’t that easy. It’s not like your skills will improve just by looking at code every day. Of course, if you just keep programming at the company like this, you’ll become a pretty good developer. But if you really want to be an excellent developer, go to college. Go and study more math. Do you understand what I mean?”

“But if I have to start preparing for college entrance exams now, there are a lot of things I have to do···.”

“If you get perfect scores in math, science, and English, you can quickly learn other subjects. If you really can’t, just memorize them. I’ll adjust your work during exam periods. Life is long, Ji-seok. If you want to be a great developer not just now, but 10 or 20 years from now, then go to college. Got it?”

“Yes, I will do that.”

I got Ji-seok’s promise to go to college and left the house. Ji-seok’s mother followed me out, held my hand tightly, and thanked me several times.

“Thank you, boss. I really appreciate it. No matter how much I talked to him, he was the kind of kid who refused to go to college. But thanks to one word from you, he became like this···.”

Ji-seok’s mother was unable to continue speaking and burst into tears.

“Of course, if Ji-seok does well, it’s good for the company, and that’s good for me. I’m doing it for my own sake. I don’t know if Ji-seok will work for our company for the rest of his life, but if he does, then it’s okay.”

“What are you talking about, boss? I have to work at your company for the rest of my life. Where else can I find a boss who thinks about my child’s future like this? Honestly, I didn’t like my last company, so I couldn’t tell my child and I was like, what should I do? I’m so glad I met someone like you.”

“Did anything bad happen at your previous company?”

“He was a student, but he made me skip school because he was busy with work, and it didn’t seem like he was paid properly. He doesn’t talk about it in detail, but after he quit, he started getting calls from the boss there, and his voice was kind of creepy, so he said he wasn’t there because he was studying at school.”

“Is President Kim Ho-seung calling?”

“Yes, I’ve been here several times.”

“Don’t worry anymore, I won’t let you do it.”

I said goodbye to Ha Ji-seok’s mother and we parted ways.

Well, I don’t want to meet this guy Kim Ho-seung again, but I can’t. I feel uneasy and can’t leave him like this.

I need to make sure that I can’t contact Ha Ji-seok anymore.

I went straight to Cheonggye Media, the headquarters of Jeminan. It was right next door to the building where Modu Electronics and Cheolgisidae were located, so it was really close.

Enemies and allies are gathered in one place like this. I felt anew how physically narrow this place is.

“Is the boss here?”

“who are you?”

I went into Cheonggye Media with Manager Mo and looked for Kim Ho-seung.

“My name is Seo Nam-joon. Is the boss here?”

“What? Who are you?”

Before the employee could answer, the inner office door burst open and Kim Ho-seung came rushing out.