Game Development Giant

Jester approached the young kid as the maker of American Cube.

The other party didn't quite believe it at first, but after Jester found Jedi as a witness, he finally made the kid named John Carmack believe his identity.

Then Jester used the excuse of chatting about his feelings about the game to invite Carmack to a nearby fast food restaurant to chat and treat him to dinner.

The already hungry child only hesitated for a second before agreeing.

"It's quite interesting!" After swallowing the last piece of hamburger and still swallowing hard, this kid who was only thirteen or fourteen years old finally expressed his evaluation of "American Cubes".

When John Carmack spoke so highly of his game, and it was a game that would definitely occupy a high position in future generations, Jester was a little bit dumbfounded. If anyone else dared to say that, he would definitely start blaming you. Who dares to say that about my game? But in front of the person in front of him, he didn't feel like squirting at all.

Looking at the slightly immature face in front of him, Jester was able to connect it with the legendary figure in the future.

Both of them are so arrogant that they are the best in the world. They don't care about other people's feelings at all, and they seem to be unruly and don't care about anyone.

"No wonder when he entered a juvenile home, the mental evaluator commented, 'This boy is like a walking body... He has no idea how to feel other people's feelings.' Such a bad evaluation... …”

Emotional intelligence is close to zero...

This kid named John Carmack didn't care about Jester's expression at all, and said straightforwardly: "There are some merits in creativity, especially the last easter egg..." At this point, Carmack smiled proudly. He got up, and then he continued, "But technically there is nothing commendable about this game, and your level is too poor. If I were to come, it would be enough to make the size of this game even if the content remains unchanged. Reduce it by a fifth.”

Then John Carmack paused again, seeming to think that a game that was originally less than 10kb, even if he could shrink it by one-fifth, would be of little use. He continued to say as if to show off: "If you give I have enough time, and if I want to streamline it by one-third, I can still do it!”

He thought that Jester didn't believe what he said, so he told Jester about some logical algorithmic problems in how "American Cube" handles the code, and asserted that you definitely didn't use this kind of processing. method.

Jester remained silent after hearing this, feeling a sigh in his heart.

I originally thought that the programming ability of the owner of my reborn body was already very powerful, but I didn't expect that he would still be unsightly in front of a real technological master.

As expected of John Carmack!

The father of the 3D engine, the father of the FPS, and the father of Thor, a man who single-handedly changed the course of the game industry. He was recognized by colleagues in the industry as the world's number one programmer. In the year of 2009, he was selected by Time magazine as the best programmer in the field of technology. The tenth among the fifty most influential people, John Carmack was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame at the age of thirty-one, and could even build high-energy deep space rockets!

It can be said without mercy that his life is a legend.

Although he may not be at his current level, he will be able to develop the 'Dynamic Shadow Algorithm', Carmack Inversion', 'Dynamic Light Special Effects', 'Diffuse Light Source', and 'E's Z-Fail Method' in a few years. The 3D engine technology, known as the godfather of graphics, would make you look at the realm of small mountains at a glance, but when Jester read the biography "Revelations" by John Carmack and John Romero, he was still deeply moved. I am deeply impressed by the talent of John Carmack. The programming level of a teenager exceeds the genius of 90% of the people in the world. It only takes half the time for other people to master a brand new program. How can you not be impressed by the wizards of programming languages?

"I just want to write excellent programs." This is how Carmack expressed his dream. "Revelation" and wrote it down in his notebook to motivate and spur himself. After the book "Revelation", it started to burn again. What a legendary era it was, and what a group of geniuses who have become legends created one legend after another. Compared with those so-called stars who are so coquettish, they are the idols who truly deserve my worship. "\u003c, is a fan of Carmack, because that was his idol! "Revelation" is a book that has influenced countless programmers. It has inspired one after another aspiring young people to embark on the road of code farmers. They aspire to be geniuses like John Carmack or John Romero who influence the entire world with the technology in their hands.

But most of them cannot become John Carmack or John Romero, and can only be coders for the rest of their lives.

But Jester was a little curious. In his memory, John Carmack was not from California. If his memory was correct, he should be from Kansas.

Why is he here?

"I escaped." Carmack didn't hide anything. He spoke straightforwardly about his situation. Then, he looked at Jester squarely. This was the first time he looked at Jester squarely.

He hesitated for a moment before speaking, "I said... "American Cube" was really made by you?"

Jester smiled and nodded. After hearing what he said, he remembered that at this time, Carmack should still be educated in a juvenile home.

So, he ran away from a juvenile home?

Then Carmack, who was still a little kid, curled his lips, turned his bright eyes intelligently, and then said to Jester coaxingly: "Then you must have a game company? How about you hire me? I'm very good." I don’t believe you can ask any procedural questions, even if you can’t do it, I can complete it!”

It really has the style of John Carmack.

Jester sighed in his heart, the two founders of id-software were both freaks. Although they were both technical geniuses, their emotional intelligence was too low.

How can there be such a job search...

Jester thought of John Romero, who should still be in England at this time and had not returned to the United States.

This genius who was Carmack's close partner in the early days of his business, and who is also known as the John Lennon and Paul McCartney of the gaming industry, is still earning royalties by writing game codes and sending them to gaming magazines. This guy even He would directly send letters to magazines that made them laugh or cry, and attach the latest game code he wrote.

For example, he would write a letter to a magazine like this.

"The champion of your program competition this time will definitely be me. My program is very good. Instead of setting up a bonus of 500 US dollars, just give me the 500 US dollars. There is also the annual award, yes, one For the one thousand dollars, give it directly to me." The signature was as outrageous as ever: "John Romero, ace programmer."

Then he won the championship.

It is worth mentioning that the British Air Force's first air combat simulation program against the Soviet Union on a small aircraft was created by John Romero. At that time, he saw the mission he had to do at a top-secret military base. He just said: "No problem, I'm the best at gaming!" He was only fifteen years old at this time.

Think about what you were doing when you were fifteen years old?

Well, Jester thought about it. When he was fifteen years old, he could only play Diablo on the computer. Then he discovered that he could use the method of copying and saving files to copy equipment. After that, he could hide it as his biggest secret and not share it with his friends... …

As for John Carmack? Not only is he technically superior to John Romero, but in terms of character, he is even more incompetent than John Romero.

By the way, in the real pioneering era of games, those first-generation game programmers had finished the game and wanted to sell their games, or like the Williams couple, they packed bags with words written on them. Cards of your own game code, yes, what you heard are cards. The earliest programs were stored in cards with holes punched in them, and they were sold to people who were interested in their games on the street.

Isn't it funny?

In fact, it’s not funny at all. It was by relying on this salesman-like method that the Williams couple founded Snow Mountain, the world’s second largest PC game publisher, which later became famous in the PC game industry.

Or just send your code to some software magazines and let them publish the code you wrote in their magazines.

As for how others play?

It's very simple. First of all, you need to be proficient in programming, and then you can enter these codes on your own apple or modore64 to play the game. This is basically equivalent to remaking the game on your own computer.

Isn’t it very cheating?

Jester knew that Carmack was a genius, and that he was the most gifted and talented genius in the world, but he still couldn't agree to the other party's request.

Yes, Jester really wanted Carmack to work in the game company he had not yet formally established. His company did need him in the future. In terms of 3D engines, no one in the world could match him. A genius, but the problem is, he is only fourteen years old!

Without the consent of his guardian, it goes without saying that I cannot hire him. Even if I take him in, I will be prosecuted by the federal government.

But Jester really didn't want to let go of such an opportunity to have an in-depth communication with Carmack.

Carmack's talent is so great that it would be a waste to leave it alone...

Jester frowned and thought for a moment. After a while, he finally came up with a method.

"First, you have to go home." Jester had just finished saying this, and you could see the disdainful expression in Carmack's eyes.

Obviously, he didn't agree with Jester's proposal.

"Then, after you go home, I will provide you with a part-time job, such as writing some small games for my company. It won't be too difficult. I will pay you. I can guarantee that these rewards will be much higher than what you gave me." Those magazines write a lot more code." Jester seemed not to see Carmack's disdainful look before, but continued to talk to himself, "I can even guarantee that the first task The pay is enough to buy you a brand new Apple computer."

Hearing Jester's last words, Carmack's throat visibly surged, and his eyes showed a look of longing without any concealment.

"Really?" Carmack's voice became trembling.

"Of course." Jester nodded.

He knows very well what Carmack desires most now. You must know that he has just been sentenced to a year of training in a juvenile home, and the days away from the computer have left him at a loss.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this that he escaped from nowhere. How could his unscrupulous and unscrupulous character be able to withstand the rules of a juvenile home, where life was measured with a ruler?

Juvenile homes are similar to our domestic juvenile correctional institutions. Most of the students there are imprisoned because of drugs. But Carmack is different. He is imprisoned because of Apple machines.

As for why he entered a juvenile home...

It's not too complicated to say, it's even a little ridiculous.

Carmack used his own thermite machine and a sticky Vaseline emulsion to melt the glass of the school's computer room. Because there was an Apple computer in it, his purpose was to quietly 'borrow' the Apple computer.

Because he felt that instead of leaving such a good Apple computer in the school and gathering dust, it would be better for him to do something more meaningful.

But things failed, and he and his friends set off the sirens and were surrounded by police.

Later, when Carmack was being questioned, an interrogator asked him, "If you hadn't been caught this time, do you think you would do something like this again?"

And Carmack said, without hesitation, "Yes."

As a result, the friends who were with him were fine, but he was tragically sentenced to a juvenile home for a year of correctional education, and was in the company of drug-addicted teenagers.

Therefore, Jester knew that for Carmack now, an Apple computer was an irresistible temptation.

Jester could clearly see the surprise on Carmack's face after hearing his answer.

Carmack licked his lips and asked in an extremely urgent tone: "You said, no matter how complicated the procedure is, I can complete it in the most concise and clear way."

For a programmer, there is no difficulty in programming, there is only the difference between complex and uncomplicated.

Their biggest dream is to write a complex program in a concise and clear way.

"Don't be anxious." Jester smiled and did not say what he wanted Carmack to do, but repeated his first sentence again, "You have to go home first."

Carmack did not curl his lips with a dismissive expression this time, but a hesitant look appeared on his face for a few seconds, and then he nodded vigorously: "I promise you, I will go home."

But after finishing speaking, Carmack dug into his pockets, with a troubled look on his face, and whispered to Jester: "But I have no money."

"Haha!" Jester smiled, took out his wallet from his pocket, took out three hundred dollars and handed it to him, saying, "This money is enough for you to go home, but I don't get this money for free. Give it to you, and I will deduct it from the reward I will give you in the future.”

"Then you can tell me what you want me to do now." Carmack pouted and put away the three hundred dollars, then curled his lips and said, "What a stingy guy."

Jester just smiled after hearing this.

"The first job I give you is to help me design a small game that is compatible with all current personal computers... As for the name of the game, I call it Minesweeper."

Hearing Jester's description of the game he called 'Minesweeper', Carmack's eyes suddenly lit up while he was still a little distracted.

"This game seems... good!"

That's what he thought.