The Game Developer Who Left the Company Is Too Competent

48. first step towards the world

Anyone can speak.

‘It’s difficult to practice.’

But you have to.

Haven’t you already been outspoken?

We will reduce our dependence on China and go global.

‘I can’t make every game successful.’

It is a time of choice and concentration.

‘I’ll have to think about it over a cup of coffee,’

After returning to my seat for a while, I grabbed my laptop and headed to the cafeteria… … .

‘omg! It’s the chief!’

‘Should I stand up?’

… … I turned around and headed for an outside cafe.

Arriving at a quiet cafe, Taeyeon ordered a cup of coffee and accessed the Nexple website.

A list of numerous games currently in service is displayed.

‘I need a title that can be eaten all over the world.’

Let’s leave the games that are currently being produced, including Pantheon, as future power.

‘Find games that have the potential to go global and reprocess them to explore exports.’

Looking for MMORPG and FPS?

There was no other reason.

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MMORPG was his main game, and FPS was a very popular genre all over the world.

‘Except for games that are too old… … .’

The results of the culling were as follows.

1 FPS.

Three MMORPGs.

‘There’s nothing worthy of FPS.’

Graphics, system, billing… … Everything is thoroughly optimized for the domestic market.

‘Battle City… … .’

It is a game called Nepple 3 captain.

It boasts such high sales, but sales are declining every year.

Because its popularity in China is rapidly cooling.

This is not only due to the developer’s own missteps, but also the influence of the Blue Dragon Group. A mobile PC that mimics Battle City as it is. This is because they are giving strength to them by releasing mobile games.

‘I’ve already tried to enter the English-speaking world, but I’ve failed so badly that I’ve withdrawn.’

It is a game that will only work in the Korean, Chinese, and Southeast Asian markets.

‘Globalization is impossible at this point, but… … Still, if you polish it well, you can increase the domestic sales trend.’

Anyway, except for the FPS game ＜Battle City＞.

Three MMORPG titles remain.

‘Atlancia Electric, Elcross, and the turn-based MMORPG game Heroes Kingdom.’

Heroes Kingdom.

It is a game created by Nplus, which was originally a small and medium-sized independent company.

It is said that it cost 15 billion won at the time, and Jin Gap-soo, a famous first-generation star developer at the time, made it under his own name and made it a box office hit.

‘After that, the company was acquired by Nexple, and now, several years later… … .’

Although annual sales have fallen to the 5 billion range, the number of developers is barely over 20, and the developer’s annual salary is not high. So the team is barely holding on.

‘If it’s an advantage… … .’

The speciality of combining MMORPG and turn-based.

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Maximize strategic tactics through mercenary operation.

In the gap between the housing and trade systems, we tried to bring a variety of fun to the game by introducing all kinds of famous contents into the game.

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Massive scenario quests.

‘As for the downside… … .’

All sorts of problems stemming from poor structural design in the early days.

For example, enhancement, copying bugs, or frequent hacking damage.

‘There is also a problem with the balance error of the mercenary characters who randomly took pictures without considering the balance.’

In addition to this, there are so many fatal issues that I can’t even list them all.

“… … You better leave this game out.”

For reference, director Son Young-sang, who was originally the head of the live headquarters, said that he had considered ending the service of this game.

‘If I walk on my arms and fix it, I’m sure it will get better… … .’

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Most of the problems stem from the underlying design, requiring too much time, effort, and money.

‘… … It would be better to exclude this.’

In the end, what remained was Atlansia and Elcross.’

One has already been touched, and the other must be touched from now on.

‘The answer was decided from the beginning.’

Even if you think about it again, there are only two games that need to be selected and focused for the future of Nexle.

‘FPS is… … .’

This is something I’ve been thinking about since the beginning.

‘I’ll have to make a new game by disassembling and combining the original Battle City resources.’

* * *

We called Myeong-Hoon Park, Creative Director of the Live Headquarters, to share these issues.

“Atlansia Electric combines the latest trends, but the basis is an authentic MMORPG. Then, how do you plan to make changes to Elcross?”

“hmm.”

“Could that even be an authentic MMORPG?”

“It should be.”

“It’s because we’re going overseas with the same genre… … Would it be okay?”

“Still, I can’t help it. If you compare it to an apartment, you have already reached the move-in stage, but a big issue has been discovered, so you have to send people out again and do repair work.”

After the meeting, I visited the Battle City studio.

“Hey, how are you!”

The third producer of the game, Yonghwan Kim.

He was the head of the early system part, then the head of the planning team, and now he is in charge of directing Battle City.

In a word, he is a developer of sacred bones in Battle City. Not an outsider suddenly plugged in.

“I came here because I wanted to talk to producer Kim Yong-hwan in the conference room.”

“Call me. I would have run right away.”

“It’s right that someone with a business needs to come.”

There is no popular online game director in the world who doesn’t get scolded. PD Kim Yong-hwan, who has been directing the game for over 4 years, is also a person who has been criticized for all sorts of patches and operational issues. But other than that, I haven’t done anything that could be flawed in the human aspect.

And he loves Battle City more than anyone else.

This was the reason for treating producer Kim Yong-hwan.

In the conference room, Taeyeon brought up an idea of her own.

“I am trying to make a new game using Battle City IP.”

The matter was simple.

“I’m going to try sketching things using the sauce.”

In short, it asks for permission to access the original source database.

After obtaining permission and necessary information, I came back and installed the necessary programs on my laptop and downloaded the data.

‘Security is important.’

You never know when something unintended will happen… …

Taeyeon murmured after completing the two- and three-fold countermeasures.

‘This is enough for peace of mind.’

Lately, she couldn’t do it because of work and household chores, but Taeyeon liked to plan and build a game.

‘Is the particle and lighting system of the recently released Epic engine so advanced? I want to do some research and touch it.’

Epic Engine.

It is an engine that rivals the unique engine that is widely used by numerous game and media officials.

Originally, it was specialized in light games such as casual and mobile. It is in contrast to the unique engine, which is the strongest in the industry, that focuses on depicting heavy yet detailed graphics.

However, this time, the function has been greatly strengthened while upgrading the version.

‘I especially like the ability to handle changes in the environment in real time. Wouldn’t it be fun to make an FPS game using this?’

* * *

The AD couple Hong Min-seok and Lee Young-ae, who went to the United States, have returned.

“Please return the princess!”

“No, Princess Cinderella came to visit our studio!”

There really were no stars.

That’s because he showed a surprisingly beautiful transformation in a live broadcast of a world-class game show… … .

“Don’t do that. I’m embarrassed.”

Embarrassed, Lee Young-ae waved her hands with a flushed face, but people deliberately made an uproar at her appearance.

If you don’t want to do it in the first place, what you want to do more is human psychology.

Taeyeon also spoke with a soft face this time.

“Let’s take a short break and listen to business trips while eating something delicious in the conference room.”

Lee Young-ae revealed photos and video materials and delivered detailed reactions to the scene.

“This is a fact told by people in the industry, and it is said that our booth was the place where the average age of booth visitors was the most diverse and the level of satisfaction was evenly high!

She was so excited and the developers were excited at the same time.

“What is the fact that I realized after visiting this time?”

“… … .”

“Our game… … It’s a really well-made game. If the publicity is good, there will definitely be a good response!”

It must have been something.

At lunchtime, Taeyeon could understand the reason in a conversation with the couple.

“Disney seems to be very encouraged by the on-the-ground response to our game. As soon as we return, they said that they would review the plan for additional marketing budget and promote the game extensively by operating the group’s infrastructure at full capacity.”

“That is really good news.”

Local officials say they were convinced.

I’m sure you won’t be disappointed if you push!

“And it seems that he was very impressed with the VR technology applied to Project D. If it’s okay, I’d like to ask you to do some work on the Dark Ride attractions that are being prepared for renewal. … .”

In an instant, Taeyeon’s eyes flashed.

“I have to accept an offer like that. What did you say?”

At that moment, Lee Young-ae and Hong Min-seok exchanged meaningful smiles.

Lee Young-ae replied.

“I thought he would answer me like that, so I said I’d know right away. As PD-nim knows, in fact, this proposal is that we will take care of it. In addition, it also means that we will continue to do more diverse projects by maintaining a good relationship like we have now.”

“I think so too. A giant in the media world sees our technology well and extends his hand, and he has done a great job.”

The technology used in Project D can also be applied to the media and theme park fields.

It is also good for the future of Nexple Entertainment to receive orders from major global media companies one by one and show them with good results.

Lee Young-ae smiled sweetly.

“I said that I would contact you as soon as I finished arranging the position, so I think you can wait with a happy heart.”

Then, a conversation about replacing the graphics engine continued.

“You know that the Epic Engine recently upgraded, right?”

“Ah, I heard something… … .”

“I’m trying to make a game by myself with that engine… … .”

“yes? What are you doing by yourself?”

This time, it was Lee Young-ae and Hong Min-seok’s turn to be surprised.

“Let’s check it out. Right now, it is at a basic level with the map and character floating and only a few functions implemented.”

What Taeyeon showed on her laptop was a map of a destroyed city and a character wearing a hat.

Hong Min-seok AD, an FPS maniac, recognized it at once.

“uh? Isn’t this Battle City?”

“you’re right. I’m trying to make a new game using that source. Rather, look at this.”

What was reflected on the screen was a clear sky.

The keen eye of the two ADs already identified one feature.

“uh? cloud… … ?”

“The clouds are moving!”

Taeyeon smiled.

“Now the change is slowly starting.”

Dark clouds rolled in, followed by chase, and rain fell.

Rainwater collects on the hollow bottom terrain.

“It will rain more.”

shower.

“It will thunder.”

Kurleung!

“It pours for a while, then the rain stops and it gradually clears up.”

The sun is pouring in and the rainwater that has been pooling seeps into the floor.

“Let’s change places.”

AD couple staring blankly at the screen.

“uh?”

“It’s snow!”

After a while it snows.

slowly.

Then, it turned into a blizzard, and in an instant, all sides were covered with snow, and fog covered an inch. Snow and frost were visible on the broken car object.

“First of all, here it is.”

“Hey, did this weather change producer code it himself?”

“Isn’t it a bit clumsy?”

“Not that… … ok!”

He knew that he was good at everything he did.

But in just a few days, and with a new engine that was just released, I didn’t expect to do this.

That too in a few days!

“When I used it, it was much better than the current unique engine in many ways. Virtualized geometry, particles, global real-time illumination… … .”

Taeyeon’s voice becomes more and more heated.

“You can easily import and use movie-level assets. In particular, the light source effect was applied very beautifully and realistically. Metal surface specular implementation is also well done.”

“… … No, what do you know so well?”

“Anyway, how are you? Replacing the Pantheon with this engine is.”

“Um, but this is the first version up and so many features have been updated, so there must be a lot of unstable parts.”

“Technical support is available by contacting Epic Engine headquarters. From my point of view, it seems that they put a lot of effort into this version up with the intention of eating up shares of Unique Engine.”

“It seems to me as well. No, but this far… … Huh, true!”

After reviewing the features and checking the engine for a while, AD Min-seok Hong finally made up his mind.

“great. Let’s try, what!”

It was the moment when Pantheon development reached a new turning point.