America: The Godfather of Game Development

Chapter 59 Harvest Moon! The Charm of Earning a Living

Howard took two cans of soda from the refrigerator before sitting down, facing Lin Lixin.

"Mr. Lin, I don't understand..."

His face was full of the expression, "You still dare to make me play games?"

"There's nothing to question. While 'E.T.' may not be a great work, it doesn't mean your skills are really that bad."

Lin Lixin interrupted him.

"Both 'The Revenge of Yar' and 'Indiana Jones' are undoubtedly masterpieces. You're a genius to have done this on your own."

"Thank you so much."

Howard wore a nonchalant smile, seemingly taking the matter in stride.

"I'm serious. Although E.T. is of poor quality, I have studied your design ideas."

Lin Lixin counted on his fingers, listing out the excellent ideas within as if they were his own treasures.

"Exploration, item combination, NPC interaction... If there is enough time to develop and fully design these elements, it will be a benchmark in the history of adventure games."

Atari destroyed all of this.

It's impossible for one person to develop a perfect adventure game in five weeks, especially with tedious and difficult-to-use code.

After saying that, Lin Lixin took out the relevant explanation of the royalty system and a contract for third-party development from his bag.

"If Mr. Worshow is willing to become a third-party developer for our GAMENOVA, I think we will have a very pleasant collaboration."

"Besides, don't you think this is a good opportunity to clear your name?"

"What opportunity?" Howard asked, taking the document with a puzzled look.

"A chance to prove yourself. When you actually bring to life what couldn't be achieved in E.T., Atari and those who looked down on you will naturally understand what this crash really is all about."

Howard stared blankly at the document in his hand, reading it word by word, his eyes wide with shock.

This is a proposal that completely contradicts Atari's strategic propositions.

They completely abandoned the idea of ​​winning by quantity and chose the direction of prioritizing quality.

If he signs this contract and then develops a terrible game like "E.T.", he might even lose everything.

But Howard's eyes suddenly became much clearer.

As long as time permits, the quality of his work is never a concern for him.

This is his chance to return to the gaming industry and prove himself.

"I do, Mr. Lin!"

"Don't agree yet, Mr. Worshow, we have one more condition."

Lin Lixin took out the bound handbook from his bag.

"You need to use N language as your primary development language."

Upon hearing this, Howard took the document, quickly flipped through a few pages, and burst into laughter.

He was the man who developed "Ars' Revenge" using grammar; switching to a more advanced, high-level language designed for games would simply lower the difficulty.

With NovaBox's ridiculously powerful performance, he can completely free his mind to create what he truly wants.

……

GAMENOVA internal project approval meeting.

After listening to Lin Lixin's account, Vivian opened her mouth, trying to construct a less intense statement.

"Lin, even girls wouldn't want to do farm work on a video game console..."

Lin Lixin's concept of "farm simulation" is truly a bit too shocking.

A game with no levels, no clear goals, and just endless physical labor day after day?

Can that still be called a game?

Isn't this cyber forced labor?

"Think about it, a housewife finally gets home after dropping her child off at school, cleans the house, and is ready to relax."

Vivian constructed a picture,

"Will she choose to go back to work in the game, or watch some soap operas?"

I just finished working, and when I turn on the game console, I find I have to work again. It feels like the sky is falling.

Sam nodded in agreement and gave Lin Lixin a "Told You" look.

"Actually..." Gerald, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up, "I think it's quite feasible."

He stroked his chin, carefully trying to figure out Lin Lixin's thoughts.

Traditional game design philosophy follows a clear feedback loop of "clearing levels, scoring points, and defeating bosses".

Story of Seasons completely abandons this point.

It lacks a clearly stated game objective, a final boss that players need to defeat, and even level design.

"The fun of this game should come from the satisfaction derived from 'growth' and 'rewards,' right?"

"That's right. Its driving force comes from within, without the need for external pressure. It's the players themselves who actively want to become better."

Lin Lixin nodded, a smile spreading across his face.

Gerard found the characteristics of long-term enjoyment in gameplay like Story of Seasons.

But the true essence of the success of this gameplay, or rather, the success of simulation management gameplay, can actually be summed up in just one sentence:

"Effort brings reward, diligence brings reward, and hard work pays off."

When every effort a player makes is rewarded, there is no need for any external force to push them to act.

Whether it's making the farm more beautiful, earning more money, making friends, or winning the heart of your desired partner...

Tired? Of course I'm tired!

Lin Lixin still remembers the days when he and his friends would play Stardew Valley all night, and they would not stop until they forced themselves to sleep at 2 a.m.

I wish I could make the most of every hour and every minute, and never allow myself a moment of leisure.

But is it boring?

That's certainly not boring.

The hundreds or thousands of hours of game time shown in the statistics are not lying.

Who would play a boring game for this long?

Even the hero Akaishi couldn't do that.

This seemingly contradictory situation is precisely the underlying logic of management simulation games.

When all efforts are meaningful and every penny is earned for oneself, one will work even harder than an ox being whipped.

This is the best kind of positive feedback.

Interacting with NPCs adds a touch of humanity to this utopian world.

Thinking of this, Lin Lixin scratched his head.

Speaking of which, Story of Seasons differs greatly from Stardew Valley in terms of NPC interaction.

That is, in the early "Story of Seasons" series, the protagonist was fixed to be male, and there were several corresponding male characters competing for his affections.

In this respect, we should naturally align ourselves with Stardew Valley.

……

The first day of the harvest month.

A new game floppy disk has quietly appeared on the shelves of game stores and department stores.

HarvestMoon

Its name seems to have been chosen specifically for these few days.

And its cover, just like its name suggests, depicts a young child holding a pitchfork, with various cartoon-style animal images behind him.

As a highly anticipated first-party title released by GAMENOVA after several months of silence, Harvest Moon is far from the exciting, action-packed American-style game that everyone expected.

Such a huge discrepancy immediately put GAMENOVA in a disadvantageous position in the public opinion arena.