Game Development Giant

Jester spoke word by word.

His voice was not loud, but his tone was very serious, and it could be seen from Jester's expression that he obviously enjoyed telling Kazunori Yamauchi this.

"...The sound of the cup breaking attracted the enemy's attention. This was the AI ​​intelligent calculation in the engine at work. In the end, the two sides exchanged fire and caused an explosion. The smoke and explosives generated by the explosion were caused by the physical effects in the engine. .”

"This is how the scene you just described should work under a complete game engine."

Although Jester did not speak quickly, the contents of this series were still a bit difficult for Kazunori Yamauchi to understand. After all, he had previously imagined the game "Quake", and in this game It uses the only 3D engine in the world.

It can be said that, apart from Carmack, there should not be many people who know more about 3D engines than Jester.

Jester also saw Kazunori Yamauchi's doubts, and he smiled again.

"In this case, I will explain it in detail."

"Actually, what you said at the beginning is more in line with my vision. When Carmack and I were designing the 3D engine, we discussed this issue. How should the engine we designed work? In the end, the two of us People have come to the conclusion that although the game engine has the name "power", it actually performs the work of the brain."

Jester was talking, and Kazunori Yamauchi was listening attentively. It could be seen from his expression that he was still very interested in what Jester said.

"The brain, the brain in the game, what does it mean? That is to say, he has to command and control various resources in the game. When I was developing the Unreal and Frost series engines, the exact definition of the game engine is also the same - use The main program that controls all game functions, from calculating collisions, physics systems and relative positions of objects, to accepting player input and outputting sounds at the correct volume, etc. In other words, in my eyes, a complete game What systems should the engine contain?”

As Jester spoke, he paused slightly, apparently giving Yamauchi Kazunori time to think.

But the time was not long, only a few dozen seconds.

Jester then continued speaking.

"Generally speaking, a qualified game engine includes these systems. The rendering engine, that is, the renderer, includes a two-dimensional image engine and a three-dimensional image engine, a physics engine, a collision detection system, sound effects, a script engine, computer animation, and artificial intelligence. In the future, there must also be network engines and scene management.”

After finishing speaking, Jester once again set his sights on Kazunori Yamauchi.

Then he asked casually: "Do you understand?"

To be honest, even though I heard Jester say so many things. But he still had some vague understanding of it, although he also knew that what he heard today was for anyone interested in game development. It was a rare opportunity. Although he didn't understand it, Yamauchi Kazunori nodded.

After Jester saw this. But he laughed.

"Well, now that you understand it, tell me what a top engine in the future should look like? Just follow what I just told you, use your imagination and imagine it."

Originally, Kazunori Yamauchi seemed to understand somewhat.

Immediately after being asked this question by Jester, his face became embarrassed. He opened his mouth again, but still did not say the content.

Jester had obviously expected this. He just smiled and said: "It's normal that you can't explain it. Needless to say, it's you. Even in Mars Entertainment, except for a few people, you can explain what you just said. There are probably only a handful of people with problems.”

"Then, sir, tell me, what should the future game engine be like?"

Kazunori Yamauchi was also very curious about this question. He became even more curious when he heard Jester say that this question was difficult for even professionals to answer.

"hehe."

Jester smiled indifferently.

"Okay, let me tell you my opinion. Of course, my opinion can only be an opinion. After all, no one can predict the future. I can only say that I have summarized from my work I have some experience to share.”

"First of all, it must have complete game functions. With the improvement of game requirements, the game engine we are using now is no longer a simple 3D graphics engine, but should be what I said before covering 3D graphics, sound effects processing, AI computing, physical collision and other components in the game, and the component design should also be modular, and can be freely combined through modules as needed."

“Secondly, there must be a powerful editor and third-party plug-ins. An excellent game engine must also have a powerful editor, including scene editing, model editing, animation editing, etc. The more powerful the editor is, the more space artists can use. The bigger it is, the more effects it can produce. The existence of plug-ins allows third-party software, such as some dedicated modeling software, to be connected with the engine to seamlessly import and export models."

"Third, an excellent engine will encapsulate complex image algorithms inside the module, and provide a simple and effective SDK interface to the outside world, which will help game developers get started quickly. This is just like various programming languages, the more advanced the The language is easier to use."

"Finally, in my opinion, although the current network has just begun to develop, future games must be online games. Therefore, in the future, excellent game engines will also provide network, database, script and other functions. It is even more important for engines for online games, which must also consider the conditions on the server side and reduce the extremely high pressure on the server side while ensuring excellent image quality."

Jester spoke in detail, and Kazunori Yamauchi also listened attentively.

After finishing speaking, Jester shut up. Then he saw Kazunori Yamauchi seemed to be deep in thought. Obviously, he was shocked and inspired by the answer he just gave about how the future game engine should be. It was unparalleled. After listening to what Jester said, he seemed to be a little helpless.

"call."

In the end, this state lasted for several minutes before Kazunori Yamauchi woke up.

He looked at Jester, as if he wanted to say something, but he couldn't say a word. Obviously, the lesson Jester gave him about the game engine previously shocked him very much. big.

At this time, Jester looked at the time on his watch.

"It's getting late. I still have some things to do. That's all for today's meeting." With that said, Jester stood up.

He stretched out a hand towards Kazunori Yamauchi.

After Kazunori Yamauchi also stretched out his hand to shake it with Jester, Jester smiled and said: "Yamauchi Kazunori, is that your name? I thought the previous chat with you was very interesting, and, I think you have the potential to develop games. If you are willing, you can go to the Mars Entertainment headquarters in Costa Mesa after e3 to report. If you are unwilling to leave Japan, then you can go after you return. Reporting from Mars Entertainment’s Japan headquarters.”

Without any warning, Jester said something that is a dream for anyone interested in working in the game development industry.

You must know that those who were personally invited by Jester to join Mars Entertainment all happened when Mars Entertainment was first founded, and now, every such person has become a famous producer in the industry.

"Of course, whether you want to go or not depends entirely on you, but I think game development is more suitable for you."

Before leaving, Jester said this to Kazunori Yamauchi.

He had been leaving the press conference of Mars Entertainment and was sitting in the car specially arranged by Jester to take Kazunori Yamauchi back to the hotel he had booked before. His mind was still a little hazy.

Although before that, he had expected that Jester might invite him, but after this happened, it was still very shocking to a young man like Kazunori Yamauchi who had just graduated. Even, When he was in the car, he kept pinching his thighs to realize that what he had experienced before was not a dream.

When he arrived at the hotel, his senior brother Fukushima had already returned from the Nintendo press conference.

As soon as he saw Kazunori Yamauchi, Fukushima couldn't wait to tell him that he had just seen the new handheld machine released by Nintendo at the Nintendo press conference and how excellent it was. Not only was the performance better than that of Mars Entertainment, but it also had a longer battery life. Ability has been further improved.

But before Fukushima could say a few words.

He found Kazunori Yamauchi who was still a little distraught, so he quickly asked: "What's wrong? Yamauchi? Are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere?"

Seeing Kazunori Yamauchi shaking his head repeatedly, Fukushima was also a little surprised: "Is it because Mr. Jester Li met you before and what did he say to you?" As he spoke, Fukushima seemed to understand. He came over and asked in a very surprised tone.

"Did Mr. Jester Li invite you to join Mars Entertainment?"

After hearing these words from his senior brother Fukushima, Yamauchi Kazunori nodded, but he still added: "Although Mr. Jester Li's invitation is sincere, I did not agree on the spot..."

"What? Didn't agree? Why didn't you agree? Do you know what a rare opportunity it is to be invited by Mr. Jester Li? You know, he is respected as the godfather in the industry! I don't know how many famous people All the developers consider themselves his disciples!"

After hearing Kazunori Yamauchi's answer, Fukushima's tone became obviously anxious. (To be continued...)