1988 Retro Game Tycoon - Chapter 62
Only Noblemtl
62 – Game Development Principles
“This is the A1 board prototype.”
I brought the board that Lee Ki-cheol was working on to the company and showed it to the programmers.
On the surface, it looked like an ordinary circuit board with chips glued to it.
But the programmers looked around the board with sparkling eyes as if they were looking at the treasure of the century.
“Uh …
Lee Ki-cheol visited our office for the first time to explain system board development to programmers.
Lee Ki-cheol answered the programmers’ questions quite kindly.
I was worried that I might look awkward in front of people at work, but fortunately, it seems to suit me better than I thought.
“We understand the CPU now, but what about the graphics chipset?”
“I’m comparing a lot of things. The game developer… no, the CEO wants a lot, but he keeps nagging me to lower the price. Even when making a game, there are a lot of ridiculous demands like this?”
“yes.”
The programmers nodded as if it was so obvious.
“But when I tried it again, it all made sense. At first, I thought it might be too much.”
“That’s right. It’s really amazing. It seems nonsensical, but it makes sense when you try it.”
“As expected, since all the gamers are gathered together, everyone has become like gamers. Anyway, it seems that I’m not the only one who’s being treated this way. Well, that’s okay. I thought you were discriminating against me because I’m a gamer.”
Lee Ki-cheol continued his explanation with an expression that seemed to indicate that something was strange.
“Anyway, I’m looking at various chips for the graphics, including Yamaha, Texas, and Epson. Then I just need to choose a sound chip, and since the Japanese have already decided on the interface, I just need to match that, and once I’ve got the RAM, ROM, BIOS, and power supply all in place, I think I’ll be done.”
We had decided how to configure the CPU, but there was still a lot of work left to do in board development.
However, compared to the board that is moving forward and finding a direction, the problem is the game development part. Game development can only begin in earnest once the CPU and graphics specifications are determined.
But now, because the board and the game are being developed at the same time, the programmers are not able to speed up. It was an inevitable transitional phenomenon that occurred because it was still in the process of being made.
“Once the board development is somewhat settled, Mr. Dae-ryong Ko will start developing the BIOS firmware with me. Please prepare in advance while learning 68k assembler. Once the board comes out, we will have to keep going without rest, so we will need to organize the development schedule again. It will probably be several times harder than when we were making , so please prepare yourself mentally in advance.”
“Hey, you gamblers. Let’s all have some fun together!”
Lee Ki-cheol waved his hand to the programmers with a bright smile. The programmers, who were still unfamiliar with Lee Ki-cheol’s personality, sat awkwardly, not knowing how to react.
“You worked hard, hyung. You’re better at speaking in front of people than I thought.”
“Oh, that’s right. I also find it a bit strange. I usually don’t like that kind of thing. The people here seem a bit different. Do you feel comfortable?”
“That’s good. If you want, you can come to our company whenever you want. If you say you’re coming, I’ll make you a separate room.”
“No. I know it’s nice here, but I can’t get used to places that smell like money. I’m comfortable at home. If I’m tired from work, I can just lie down and sleep. If I’m hot, I can work wearing only underwear. I don’t have to worry about anything.”
“No, if it’s hot, turn on the air conditioner. I’ll install one for you. Don’t work in just your underwear.”
When I frowned, Lee Ki-cheol shook his finger as if it was out of the question.
“Oh! No way! That’s the problem with rich kids like you. If you try to solve everything with money like that, you’ll end up mentally weak. Thinking about using that expensive air conditioner just because it’s a little hot? You’re like a flower in a greenhouse.”
Lee Ki-cheol clicked his tongue and turned me into a weak greenhouse plant before returning to the Iron Age.
I really want to live like that once. Like a flower in a greenhouse. Then I won’t feel wronged.
As board development became more concrete, I started revisiting my game development plan.
“While there is still time, it would be good to start preparing for .”
Originally, I was planning to complete the development of and then create .
However, since there is still time until the board specifications are finalized, we decided to proceed with the pre-production process to refine the plan for .
is already a completed game, and because the structure was well planned from the beginning, the basic outline is complete when transplanted to an arcade. All you have to do is adjust the stages and graphics, etc.
However, is a new game in a new genre, so a new framework was needed.
The game engine was planned to be created when the home console was developed, so had to be created from scratch.
I looked over the document again, selected key parts, and drew a storyboard.
This is to revisit my ideas by visualizing my thoughts, share my plans with programmers, and have more active discussions.
I posted the storyboards I drew on the partitions where Team A and Team B worked.
“Refer to the storyboard frequently to develop your game ideas. What kind of background would be appropriate? What kind of direction would be good? How would the characters have personality? What kind of actions would they show? What kind of enemies would look like?”
“Didn’t the CEO already decide on the plan?”
“I’ve only laid out the basic outline. And there’s no guarantee that what I think is the right answer. If you work together on the plan like this, you’ll be able to code much faster. You’ll know in your head what you need to make, how you need to make it, and why you need to do it.”
The programmers in Team A exchanged glances. It was as if they were saying, “Is that really okay?”
It seemed like he was still hesitant about touching the project I had created.
“As the game director of , I will set the overall direction, and as a PD, I will be in charge of budget, schedule, and other aspects of production management. The rest is up to you to fill in. Please fill in the gaps in my plan, which is still in the idea stage, by adding your own ideas, and enrich the game.”
Developers should not just be the hands and feet of others, but should have the ability to think for themselves.
“If you have an idea for a game, no matter what it is, talk about it and discuss it with anyone in the company. If you think it will make it better than it is now, anything is fine. If you talk a lot, you’ll find some good ones and some not so good ones.”
Explaining my plan, I gave the programmers a task:
“But remember this. I won’t criticize you for any ideas you have for the game. But the final decision on whether or not to include them in the game is mine, as the game director.”
Our company’s game development rules are very simple.
Anyone can contribute ideas to the game without worrying about what others think. Even if you are not part of Team A, which is in charge of game development, you can still contribute ideas if you want.
We come up with ideas together, discuss them, and develop game ideas. However, the director ultimately decides whether or not to include the idea in the game, and how to do so.
Communication is horizontal.
Decision making is vertical.
These are the most basic principles I will apply in managing the game development team and operating the development process going forward.
Of course, it is possible to create a game by simply coding as I tell you without going through this process. It probably takes less time and the results may be more efficient right away.
But if I tell the programmers how to implement everything from A to Z, I will get tired and the programmers who create the game will lose motivation.
That method will probably work for a year or two. Right now, everyone is so desperate for game development, and they admire me for making two huge hits in a row in this harsh environment.
Team A was already greatly inspired by the great success of Team B’s . They were also anxious to finish the game and release it as soon as possible.
Here, it is possible to divide the areas by function in an orderly manner and create games like a conveyor belt in a factory.
But if you make a game like that from the beginning, you won’t learn the most important thing for a programmer: thinking.
Of course, programmers should be the most creative people in a game company. They are not people who simply implement plans given by others into code.
To make a truly good game, developers need to understand what the game’s intentions were when they designed it, what the core elements of fun are, and what emotions they want people to feel while playing the game.
It’s so obvious that I don’t even have to think about it. I can do my job better when I understand what I’m doing and why it’s important.
Countless projects that had been fought between planners, developers, and artists suddenly flashed through my mind.
Many planners forget this and treat developers as coding vending machines, which leads to hitting a wall from the start.
Of course, developers also abuse the word “no” by considering planners who do not know how to develop as delusional people and exploiters who rely on PDs.
Artists get upset every time the plan changes, and when developers say they can’t keep the details in 3D modeling, they start to panic and fall into delusions.
Planning, development, and art were not a trinity, but rather were separated into three parts, and they were busy shooting at each other and fighting, accusing each other of being incompetent.
Of course, if the business unit that was watching all this changes the BM and turns the project around, a miracle can happen where the three that were separated come together. Of course, it will only happen for a very short time.
The worst boss at that time was the PD who said he was democratic and had to listen to everyone’s opinions, but didn’t actually make any decisions.
At first, I thought he was a good person because he listened to my story, but what the heck. In the end, I realized he was just a person with no clear vision for himself and who didn’t like taking responsibility.
Such projects tend to fizzle out sooner or later, and the PD ends up blaming people and then quickly runs off to another company.
I felt a lot of things while watching that.
Our company doesn’t have a separate planner position other than me.
The intention was to have developers naturally become familiar with the planning field through this type of training.
Up until the 8-bit era in the 80s, I could easily cover it all by myself if I thought about it and planned it. Back then, even a game that was only 1MB in size was considered huge, so games had no choice but to be simple.
However, moving into the 16-bit era of the 90s, games began to rapidly become larger in size. Even in the mid-90s during the PlayStation era, CD-ROMs were adopted, making games larger than 500 MB a given.
As game development becomes more advanced and teams grow from a few people to dozens or even hundreds of people, game developers increasingly lose sight of the big picture and focus only on their own area.
I just create characters according to the planning documents without understanding what role they play in the overall story.
As communication with other parts decreases and it becomes difficult to understand the whole picture, it is perhaps natural that only what I create becomes important.
In a situation where you don’t understand properly, you’re so busy that you keep having to make changes, so you end up thinking the other person is incompetent and fighting.
So many fights arise from not understanding how one’s work connects to the bigger picture and from not respecting the other person’s sphere of influence.
To prevent such things from happening in advance, the early programmers who will become the core of our company should be able to work in as many different areas as possible, think for themselves, and freely share their opinions.
And I have to carefully consider their opinions and select content that fits the game and is helpful to develop the game.
Each person’s thoughts and opinions are important, but if there are too many captains, the ship will go astray and head towards the mountains.
I need to provide a foundation for developers to think and grow on their own, but I, as the detector, need to hold the key firmly.
This is a tiring and labor-intensive method for me. It’s faster and easier to just tell them to do it this way and that way and tell them when to do it.
But if I, the captain of the company, am comfortable, our company and the game will be in shambles.
Even if it’s a little difficult and tiring right now, developing developers will have much greater benefits in the long run.
Team A and Team B met regularly to further refine the plan for stage by stage.
Team A designed the game based on arcade games with left-right scrolling as the basics, while Team B designed the game based on a game where players fight on a static background without scrolling except when moving.
It was as if two games had sprouted from one seed.
“How about changing clothes for each stage? The main character is a man who lives for style and dies for loyalty. He changes the clothes that get dirty from fighting and fights again.”
“Should we try applying Taekkyeon or Taekwondo movements to the action? I think it will make it more realistic.”
“I have a friend who has been learning judo for a long time. Should I try to teach him how to use falling techniques when he falls? If he uses falling techniques at the right time, he will lose less stamina. I will learn how to do falling techniques and come back.”
“Wouldn’t it be fun to add power-up items like in a shooting game?”
“When the main character, Kim Do-kwon, fights, how about sprinkling bone powder as a weapon? He takes out the urn from his bosom and sprinkles it in the bad guys’ eyes. Bang! Bang!”
Well, sometimes there were some ridiculous opinions.
Programmers each imagined their own action game and created the game pieces one by one.
But soon a problem arose.
Among programmers, there were only a few who could dot properly.
Although Hyunwoo Seok, who majored in industrial design, had decent skills, he was still not at a professional level.
So, the development of visual assets for the arcade game was not up to my standards and progress was not easy.
Now, must be redesigned from the small resolution of the MSX to the large resolution of the arcade.
Just because you look at it broadly doesn’t mean it’s necessarily good. Good things look better, but backward things look worse.
“Manager Park, we need to hire a lot of art staff now. Our limitations are too obvious.”
“How do I select people? There is no such thing as a computer game art team in Korea.”
Manager Park of the human resources department made an embarrassed expression.
In a world where even computer academies, let alone computer graphics academies, are not that common yet.
Moreover, finding a game graphics expert was by no means an easy task.
“It’s too hard for us to go around and find them. Instead, we have to make them come to us.”
“You’ll come to me on your own? Of course, that would be best, but how?”
“We’re holding a computer graphics competition. On a grand scale.”
It’s not easy to find out who are the real graphic experts suitable for game art in Korea these days.
So I decided to go the opposite way.
We decided to make it so that people from all over the country who are good at drawing pictures on computers would come to us in person.