Game Development Giant

Hearing what Jester said, Carmack also nodded.

He knew what Jester said was true.

Indeed, the development of virtual reality equipment is destined to be a long process. Just like when Jester launched the light gun from Nintendo on FC, the Dreambox development team at the time also quickly developed one. Of course , because of rush work, the quality of the light gun on this Dreambox is not as good as the one on FC.

However, the meaning of the existence of this thing, at least in that era, was not to compare who was better than whom, but to compare whether there was such a thing.

Nintendo made a lot of money from light guns, so they continued to invest a lot in this kind of somatosensory equipment, such as their super gloves, but unfortunately, they failed with this thing.

Jester knew at that time that under the current conditions, these somatosensory peripherals were redundant. They were not core at all and had little value. They were only representative. We can do the same, although After Jester developed the light gun of Dreambox, he quickly established a development team for somatosensory equipment. So far, this team has been maintained for almost eight to nine years.

At that time, it was still impossible to come up with something that could be truly commercialized in Dreambox 3, which will be withdrawn next year.

It is foreseeable that the research and development of virtual reality equipment may be small at the beginning, and only some theoretical technology reserves can be carried out. It will probably take several years before the actual research and development begins, and it is necessary to actually come up with something that can be used. The results need to be calculated in ten years as a unit. For many people, for many people with strong ambitions.

It is absolutely impossible to accept such a job.

Especially for those who are conceited about their talent.

But Jester wasn't too worried about Carmack. Carmack did everything based on his own interests. For example, when he was at his peak, he chose to quit the game development industry and specialize in the research and development of rockets. As we all know, in addition to the country's huge investment in rockets, It is impossible to achieve any results at all.

But Carmack jumped in without looking back, let alone. Virtual reality equipment will definitely bring rewards and investments in the future.

After that, Jester chatted with Kazunori Yamauchi for a long time about the development of "Sports Roadster". Jester basically couldn't find anything about Yamauchi's system architecture for his first console game. Disadvantages.

Basically, looking at the structure of the game described by Kazunori Yamauchi and Jester, everything that can be thought of and can be completed in this era is also on top of it.

But Yamauchi Kazunori specifically pointed out this. He wants to contact other major car companies again, hoping that they can provide models, allow them to collect data and information, and preferably conduct on-site interviews. However, this requires a lot of money. Currently, Yamauchi Kazunori's studio does not have too much funds to carry out such a large-scale project.

Jester also has no power to directly ask the company to fund a studio.

But he can make his own suggestion: "Let's do this. You write an application to the headquarters. Then when the voting meeting is held, I will agree to your application."

Yamauchi Yidian nodded his head hungry to get Jester's promise. Not bad for him.

Next, Jester will go to Hironobu Sakaguchi’s studio.

Originally, Jester planned to go to Naka Yuji's studio to take a look, but Naka Yuji's studio had just finished a game, and most of the employees were on vacation. Naka Yuji himself was there, but he was revising the game for the new game. He was a little worried about what to do, and he might not be in the mood for Jester to go now.

It happened that Hironobu Sakaguchi wanted to discuss the new game with Jester, so Jester temporarily changed his plan and planned to go to his place.

Jester is extremely familiar with the game that Hironobu Sakaguchi is going to make.

Final Fantasy 7.

Jester had already seen the entire game development plan given to him by Hironobu Sakaguchi before, and he was very familiar with it, because it was from this game in the previous world that he truly became a loyal fan of the Final Fantasy series. .

This is an epoch-making work.

There are as many legends about him as a crucian carp crossing a river. It can be said that it is this game that tells all console game developers what an excellent 3D game should look like.

When he met Hironobu Sakaguchi in Osaka, Jester could see that his eyes were full of bloodshot eyes, as if he hadn't slept in a few days, but he was extremely energetic. This surprised Jester and told him After chatting for a few words, Sakaguchi Hironobu's thinking was also very sharp.

"are you OK."

After hesitating, Jester still asked.

Hironobu Sakaguchi smiled, waved his hand, and said calmly: "It's nothing, I just haven't slept for more than a day. I am modifying the design plan of my previous ff7, and I thought of a lot of very moving things... I think We need to add them perfectly into the game!" Jester could clearly hear from Sakaguchi Hironobu's tone that he was excited about this matter.

"That's a lot of money!"

After he said it excitedly several times, he calmed down a little, and then started to talk about the reason why he asked Jester to come this time. In fact, Jester had also guessed the reason before - ff7 The grand structure of the project can be said to be very courageous for Hironobu Sakaguchi to have the courage to carry out such a large project.

"How much do you need?"

After Jester heard Sakaguchi Hironobu's sigh, he just smiled and said this calmly.

Then Sakaguchi Hironobu reported a number.

Then, Jester frowned.

"This number is impossible, you know, because the new console will be released in a year, and now the company's main energy is also focused on this aspect... There are many projects to start, and a lot of funds are needed. It is impossible for us to make it this year Those who give you so much development funds can only give you one-third...and even next year, they can only give you another one-third."

"Besides, you still need to submit a report to headquarters."

Hear Jester say this. Hironobu Sakaguchi could only nod with some regret. He was silent for a while, and then said: "I can lower the quality of the picture, which can also reduce the development cost. If it is two-thirds, it is about the same."

It's not that Jester doesn't want to give ff7 enough money, but it's not something he alone can have the final say on.

In his eyes, the system is much more useful than his personal authority.

He will retire from the company one day. Only by improving reasonable systems can a company be successful. long after leaving their founder.

Therefore, after Jester heard Hironobu Sakaguchi sigh, he frowned and thought for a while.

"Well, if my game can be completed on time next year, I will probably be able to save some money. I will take out the part of the money you need... If the remaining money is not enough, then , ff7 will temporarily launch the launch plan of Dreambox 3. Change the release date to 1996. In this case, the development funds you need will definitely be sufficient."

Hironobu Sakaguchi obviously doesn’t want to withdraw from Dreambox 3’s launch game plan, however. He was not willing to let him lower the quality of the game's development. He couldn't make a decision, so he could only nod to Jester: "I'll think about it again."

Then. The two discussed the development plan for ff7.

To be honest, probably no one is more familiar with the game ff7 than him.

What makes this game great. For Jester, there is no need to use any words to describe this game. Its subversion of people's cognition is unprecedented. No one can imagine that the game can also have movie-like pictures, just like you While still playing PS4 next-generation games, he has already started a life of virtual games.

The huge gap in game quality has achieved a crushing effect on other games. From today's perspective, if you play Final Fantasy 7 from more than ten years ago, you will still be shocked by its plot, its music, its combat system, and , her ending.

Of course, for a game that transitions from 2D to 3D, ff7 seems to be technically inferior to Nintendo's masterpiece "Zelda Ocarina of Time" that will always be a monument in the history of games.

Because, "Zelda Ocarina of Time", which is what many fans call oot, is fully 3D, and the viewing angle can be adjusted freely. At this time, most 3D games have fixed or optional viewing angles. Secondly, it introduced the concept of target locking, which solved the problem of attack pointing that had not been solved by 3D Act and FPS at that time. Target locking is no longer essential after Sony invented the double rocker, but it was a very important design at the time.

In addition, although its wild world is in the box garden mode, it is fundamentally different from past games. Mario64 and oot are the starting points for all large-scale 3D games today.

But ff7, being able to be compared with this game in the same era, naturally has its greatness.

In fact, the greatness of oot is that he told others how broad the stage of 3D games is, and ff7 told others, stop struggling and make 3D games. This is the future of games.

Therefore, ff7's influence is more at the industrial level.

In the original history, when 2D games faced 3D games, they did not collapse immediately. The two sides engaged in a long tug of war.

In Jester's memory, in 1996, there was still a tug-of-war between 3D and 2D games, especially on PCs where the concept of multimedia was not yet popular. Most people were very skeptical about the value of 3D technology. A typical example of this might be Many people will think that the exception is Blizzard.

Of course, Hiroshi Yamauchi's disdain for 3D technology is well known.

For example, the SS that competed with the PS at that time was also a relatively orthodox 2D console. Due to the fundamental differences between 3D graphics and movable block technology, many manufacturers are unwilling to transform immediately. In fact, historically, most Japanese manufacturers failed in the late 1990s because they did not cross the threshold of 3D. This is a The separatist process lasted for several years.

Once you make the wrong choice, you will die without a burial.

Before FF7, the only real advantages of 3D were racing and Resident Evil. 3D acts like "Mario 64" could not be promoted to other models because they required special controllers. In Japan, the center of the game industry at that time, RPG was still the most important type, and whoever succeeded in RPG would conquer the world.

Several major RPG series in Japan, except Megami Tensei in the past, were fake 3D. Other games such as Dragon Quest, Demons, Mana, Romance SaGa, Light, Legend, etc. are all pure 2D RPGs. Most manufacturers feel that the potential of 2D has not yet been fully tapped, and chasing 3D is a waste of time. In fact, in Jester's view, this is just an excuse, an excuse used by some Japanese manufacturers to cover up their short-sightedness.

Of course, developing 3D masterpieces at that time required completely new technological accumulation, but they did not need it at all to make 2D.

If you invest in the above, there is no comparison between the two sides.

And it was in this context that ff7 allowed ordinary players to experience a huge leap forward in 3D compared to 2D for the first time. Therefore, to a certain extent, it is not a bad idea to call this game the Messiah.

If the progress of game graphics from 2005 to 2015 is defined as 10. The difference between ff7 and ff6 is 100.

You can imagine how big the difference is.

You can look at the graphics of the game in 2005 when you first saw WoW, and compare it to the difference you see now in "The Order 1886". You can know that ff7 is good for the entire industry in terms of picture improvement. What a shock it caused.

That's totally a geometric progression.

ff7 personally labeled all of its previous RPGs as outdated, while the new players who followed ff7 labeled all the old players who maintained the status of 2D RPGs as idiots. Outlander 4 and Nordic Goddess can be called the pinnacle of 2D games, with extremely gorgeous graphics, but facing the siege of the new generation of 3D RPGs, they cannot stand alone. PS is regarded as the dividing line between old players and new players. The prelude to the blue ocean era of the gaming industry has a lot to do with ff7.

Of course, it's not just that. The excellence of ff7 is not only reflected in his pictures that transcend an entire era.

ff7 introduces a lot of psychology and modern literary techniques into the plot. Stream of consciousness and Freud are everywhere, which makes new players have the capital to despise old players in terms of content.

There are also CG cutscenes in ff7. No one would regard video playback as a big deal now, but in the 1990s, video playback ability was a hard indicator second only to the level of 3D graphics. ff7 is simply tailor-made for ss that lags behind in 3D and video broadcasting. Sega was actually defeated by ff7. Although n64 has 3D, it does not play movies, and it was abandoned by software vendors.

Jester has experienced this era, and he has some say. In 1997, faced with tens of millions of FF7 believers who suddenly appeared, the depression of 2D players was far from what those future stand-alone gamers would be said by mobile gamers. "Mobile games will eliminate traditional games" can be compared, because in the minds of these players at that time, from the first time they saw ff7, they knew that the game players who support 3D were right, 2D games have already Killed by ff7.

This is also why ff7 is so great in the entire history of gaming.

He killed a glorious era and opened a new era that will inevitably be more glorious.

Jester and Sakaguchi Hironobu talked for a whole day, and even the meal was sent to the office where the two of them were discussing. Even in the end, it was not just Jester and Sakaguchi Hironobu who participated in the discussion, but The script writer, original animator, and even the soundtrack engineer of ff7 all came to this office and had a very lively discussion.

At night, Jester could see that Hironobu Sakaguchi was very tired, so he insisted on temporarily ending the discussion and letting Hironobu Sakaguchi go to rest first.

However, Jester also promised that they will continue to discuss it tomorrow. (To be continued...)