Game Development Giant

John Carmack.

Jester hung up the phone, and when he asked the young applicant to come to his office, he repeated the name he just heard on the phone.

Then, his mind couldn't help but fly to the scene where he met the teenage kid in the arcade in Los Angeles a few years ago.

At that time, he rejected the request of the kid named Carmack to work in his company that had not yet been officially established, but Jester still told him that if you really want to become a game designer, just Come to me in adulthood.

Jester knew John Carmack's transcendent status in the history of games and was the best programmer in the world. Therefore, after sending Carmack home, he also asked him to make several small games. However, as things happened later, With the increasing number of people, this matter was gradually forgotten, and he almost forgot that such a person existed in the world. Unexpectedly, the other party really came to his door.

When John Carmack came to Jester's office, Jester took the initiative to stand up and greet him.

\u0026[万_书_吧].nsbnbsp;Wearing a pair of glasses and a slightly shy expression, Carmack looked at Jester. He was no stranger to him at all, and proactively greeted Jester: Hi, I said I would definitely come. Jester smiled noncommittally, stretched out his hand for Carmack to sit down, and asked with a hint of joking: I told you at the time, you can only reach me if you I will hire you only if you meet the recruitment standards. Do you think you have this ability now?

After hearing this, Carmack smiled disdainfully. He picked up a cup and went to the water dispenser to pour a glass of water. Maybe he was a little thirsty before. After drinking a few water to moisten his throat, he curled his lips and said, I was there back then. I have said that my level when I was twelve years old was higher than yours. I don’t know if you have personally participated in programming work in recent years, but I have decoded your games, which is better than yours when making American Cube. I got a lot stronger now. But that’s all.”

hehe.

Jester smiled, pondered for a moment, and said, Everyone can talk big words, but saying it is one thing, whether it can be done is another matter.

Unexpectedly, Carmack just shrugged his shoulders indifferently and said confidently: No matter what the problem is, as long as someone in your company can solve it, I can solve it. If I can't do it, I...

But at the end of the day. Carmack suddenly realized that he had nothing to say. He couldn't just say that he couldn't do it and leave right away, right? Actually, we don't have any requirements for recruitment here. Unlike other companies, you must graduate from a prestigious school. As long as you have real ability, academic qualifications are not important in my eyes. After all, I am not a college student myself. You're just a dropout. I just looked at your profile and it seems that you just graduated from high school?

Jester said this, and when he saw Carmack nod, he continued: I actually knew a thing or two about your level from the few small games I made with you before, even if it was your level at that time. . are enough to work at Mars Entertainment, but to be honest, if you are willing to start from the bottom programmer as soon as you come in, I have no objection. You can go directly to HR to fill out the entry procedures, but I can do it alone I’d like to give you a chance, if you have a project that impresses me. I might even offer you a nice position, say, as my second-in-command to complete an amazing game.”

After Carmack heard Jester's words, he pursed his lips, obviously thinking about something.

After three to five seconds, he spoke: I did have an idea before, but I haven't had time to study it thoroughly. I came up with it when I was writing game program code for some software by myself. I originally wanted to I was studying how to complete the scroll movement on the computer, but I found out that you had already done it before I officially announced it. At that time, I made the first level based on your Balotelli's Adventures in Another World , I was originally going to send it to you as a surprise, but I didn’t expect it to be a step too late. Then I was wondering if I could go a step further and complete the effect of three-dimensional images on the computer?”…

After Jester heard what Carmack said, a look of surprise immediately appeared on his face.

He knew that in his memory, it was Carmack himself who first completed 3D simulation on the computer, and this was when the computer's performance was very weak. However, he remembered that it was Carmack who felt bored because he was working for others. , with the instigation of John Romero, he established id Software with the other party, and then began their legendary journey.

But that was around the beginning of the 1990s, and it’s only 1988 now, with a difference of two years. Although the functions of mainstream computers are almost the same, now we want to figure out how to perform 3D imaging on computers. This It was already very inconsistent with the history he knew.

But when he thought about this, Jester suddenly remembered the other John who established ID with Carmack. He didn't know if the two Johns met together like in history. Judging from his experience in the past few years, The inertia of history is quite large. If you don't take the initiative to influence it, then it will slowly move forward along the track of inertia until it is influenced in other directions.

Jester has been in the United States for four years and has had a huge impact on all aspects of this country. Therefore, it is very likely that future history will not be even remotely similar to the world he knows well.

I've heard this idea of ​​yours mentioned by another person, but he didn't move me at all... Jester spoke, and then a thoughtful look appeared on his face, as if he was thinking about who the person he was talking about was. , and then he said, Oh, I remember, that man is about your age. His name is John Romero. I wonder if you have heard of it.

Hearing the name coming out of Jester's mouth, especially after hearing the name John Romero, Carmack had a puzzled look on his face. Obviously, he had never heard of this name.

After seeing Carmack's expression, Jester also knew the result he wanted to know, so he nodded and motioned Carmack to continue talking about what he said about how to achieve three-dimensional image effects on the computer at night.

Yeah. Carmack nodded and continued: In fact, there are many manufacturers in arcades, whether it is you or some in Japan, who use some special modeling methods to only make pseudo-3D games, but these are not In the real sense, only half of 3D is 3D. What I was thinking at the time was whether I could complete this kind of camouflaged 3D on a computer first, because this is a kind of progress.

However, I found that using traditional methods was useless. Carmack smiled and then shook his head. After I used traditional methods that didn't work, I immediately changed to a new way of thinking. , this is what I thought at the time. The reason why the old method doesn’t work is because of functional issues. You must know that 3D graphics are much more complicated than 2D images. For the same picture, they need to draw the picture in an instant than in two dimensions. It’s many times more complicated. I looked through all the magazines and periodicals at that time, but still couldn’t find a good solution.”

Although Jester has not participated in specific programming work for a long time, it does not mean that he does not have a general understanding of the functions of the current mainstream machines. As far as he knows, at least his own company's team has not yet People can complete 3D production on the PC platform, but on large arcades, pseudo-3D production is quite good.

However, the performance of large-scale arcade machines is much stronger than that of today's mainstream computers.

Therefore, when he heard Carmack talk about how he could achieve smooth running of 3D images on a computer, he was also full of interest, because he knew that the 3D revolution in the history of video games started with the PC. Started on the game.

When Carmack said this, he had a look of pride on his face. Obviously, as a programmer with excellent skills, he was very confident in his research.

As you know, to make a game, you must first determine the engine. Previous games were relatively simple, and the engines were completed during the process of the game from culture and planning to formal programming. In other words, those previously produced As far as I know, the game will basically not design a special engine program for it before it is completed...

Just as Carmack was talking about this, he was interrupted by Jester.

John, what you said about not making an engine in advance according to the requirements of the game does not exist at Mars Entertainment. Here, we must first plan and propose the functions we need, and then the program must be based on the planned It is required to complete the engine first. Only after the engine of this game is completed, our real game development will start based on the engine. Our program is also very good. They can complete all the requirements we planned and put forward very well.

As he spoke, Jester explained to Carmack that he had always asked his development team to develop according to the standards of later generations of game development, planning and proposing ideas, and programming to complete the engine. After the engine was completed, the engine would be officially based on The functions it possesses can be used to tap the potential of this engine as much as possible, and when developing an engine, some of the technologies obtained can also be added to the company's technology reserve.

When the development team in Japan encounters technical difficulties, they can refer to the technology in the technical reserve library to solve it. If this cannot be solved, they can even apply for technical assistance from the headquarters.

Therefore, Mars Entertainment’s development capabilities stand out among all game development companies.