EBE Chapter 180 My buddy's made it ashore!
Chapter 180 My buddy's made it ashore!
Chapter 180 My buddy's made it ashore!
Life is a miracle woven from a series of choices.
In this unique journey of everyone, one will always encounter a crossroads that may affect one's entire life.
For many, this intersection represents an entrance exam, a job interview, or a phone number.
There is always that one moment that is crucial to a person.
For Kanheim, that moment was the bright, sunny afternoon when he first met Lin Lixin.
That meeting a year ago completely changed the fate of this young man who switched from a medical PhD to the gaming industry.
The phenomenal success of the first game, "Might and Magic," on NovaBo still feels like a dream.
Although he made money, Kanheim still prefers to tinker with game development on his own.
Instead of using the money to expand his studio, he first bought himself better development equipment and a batch of high-quality coffee beans that he heard were imported from abroad.
Coffee is the best mana potion for programmers.
In early 87, Kanheim threw the empty pizza box outside.
This was a small reward he gave himself to celebrate the New Year.
A sausage pizza with double cheese.
After washing his hands, Kanheim sat back down at his PC and rummaged through the messy pile of documents to find the best-bound booklet.
This is the project proposal for "Heroes of Might and Magic" that Boss Lin gave me.
To be honest, it's really perfect, even far exceeding my expectations.
This is a derivative work based on the world view of "Might and Magic".
Players will take on the role of a monarch, fighting against the native forces of the continent of Enlos in a struggle for the throne.
Turn-based strategy games shouldn't be too difficult to implement.
At least in Kanheim's mind, a relatively qualified design had been basically formed.
But sometimes fate is just that unreasonable.
With the release of NovaXeno, along with GAMENOVA's first-party strategy masterpiece Civilization, which ushered in a new era of strategy games, the countdown to the end of the 8-bit era has officially begun.
His initial draft, which he had been so proud of, suddenly became somewhat outdated.
Kanheim was a strong-willed person, so of course he couldn't accept this.
So after receiving the NX console and Civilization disc that Lin Lixin had specially sent him, Kanheim made his decision on the very day he played it.
Let's start over!
Damn it, anyway, I'm the only one here to support. The money I made from "Might and Magic" is enough for me to focus on developing a new game.
At worst, I can just let things settle down for a few more years.
Fortunately, the NX development kit is basically unchanged from the NB era, except for a large number of new and easy-to-use functions.
"Snoring"
Kanheim picked up his cup and downed his coffee in one gulp. Then, looking at the document, he scratched his head. "Could it be that I'm working too slowly and Boss Lin can't wait?"
Many of the elements in this plan were already familiar to Kanheim from Civilization.
Come to think of it, it's been a year already.
"Forget it, after all, I don't have many people here, and we don't have the same level of skill as Boss Lin or Carmack. It's okay to be slow, but we can't let the quality suffer."
Kanheim patted his face, quickly banishing the fleeting thought of "should I speed things up and just get by?" from his mind.
I believe in Boss Lin, and I believe in myself!
Just then, the phone rang.
"Hey? Kanheim, do you want a company or not? I have an adventure game developer here who doesn't need it."
"?"
"Hello? Did I mistype?"
Hearing the silence on the other end of the phone, Lin Lixin called out twice more in confusion before Kanheim replied.
"Hey, boss, what did you mean just now?"
"It means exactly what it says. I just bought Activision. They have a studio that makes adventure games, and they're a bunch of pretty good guys. Are you interested?"
As Lin Lixin spoke, his eyes kept glancing at David, who was still sitting there somewhat at a loss.
David swallowed hard, completely bewildered by what was happening before his eyes.
This is too magical, bro.
Magical games are all fake; this is the real magic.
Regardless of how divinely or unwise Lin Lixin's style of doing things was, David keenly caught the name in Lin Lixin's words.
"Kanheim"
He remembered the name.
Rather, it's hard for any RPG enthusiast not to remember him.
Joe Van Kamholm.
This previously unknown young man developed "Might and Magic," now considered one of the three major CRPGs, and also the best-selling third-party game on NovaBo.
"Well, that's how it is. Developing 16-bit systems is more difficult, so I thought I'd find you some help."
There was another long silence on the other end of the phone.
"Lin, I don't have the extra energy to run a development studio. I prefer to develop my own things freely."
Accepting sponsorship from a small studio isn't all good; it can also be a constraint.
If I were no longer in my current solitary state, could I still maintain my original intention and purely dedicate myself to developing a masterpiece?
Kanheim knew the answer to that question perfectly well.
That would go against his original intention.
Perhaps with the backing of GAMENOVA and Lin Lixin's endorsement, he can still print more money in the future by increasing production capacity.
But is that really what I want?
of course not.
Otherwise, wouldn't it be better to just honestly be a doctor?
This is a medical PhD from the United States, with the American flag in the center.
"Hmm—that is indeed a problem."
Lin Lixin pondered for a moment, "How about this, I will hire you as our Chief Development Officer in my capacity as Chairman of Infocom, and the operations will remain under Activision as before."
"?!"
""
This is blatant co-opting.
Kamholm had been dreaming of this opportunity to truly become a part of GAMENOVA, rather than just a third-party developer.
No matter how well he got along with Lin Lixin and others, they would often dine and chat together.
But no matter how close he gets, he is still an outsider in name only.
Kanheim isn't a true independent studio like Sir-Tech or OriginSystems; he's a self-made man who doesn't necessarily want to be independent.
He had met Will and Sid when he went to GAMENOVA to study, and knew that GAMENOVA's development department had already expanded and recruited new people.
To be honest, Kanheim really envies those lucky guys, even feels jealous.
Driven mad with jealousy.
Why can they do it, but I can't?
Kanheim had asked himself this question countless times.
He considered himself not to be top-notch, but he was not an ordinary person either.
And now, today, Lin Lixin has finally extended an invitation to him formally for the first time.
"It's my honor, boss!"
My buddy finally made it through!