Chapter 269 Weird Helper
"Hey, senior, is this Chinese? What does 'jiba' mean?" Choi Min-hee asked curiously.
Zheng Xiuheng's throat rolled as if he was about to vomit blood, but he finally held back and replied: "It's weird, saying that your thinking is too weird. Well, no matter what you say, I came to you because I need your help!"
"Not a treat for dinner?"
"Do you want to eat a pen?"
Zheng Xiuheng asked with a cold face. This bastard is really not easy to deal with, but Zheng Xiuheng has to admire him for being so persistent in doing what he likes and still thinking about his family.
Choi Min-hee smiled awkwardly, and when he thought of Zheng Xiuheng's pen that went through the wooden table, his attitude instantly became much better.
In fact, Choi Min-hee was very surprised that Zheng Xiuheng contacted him, and was even more surprised that he asked him for help. However, Choi Min-hee had a very good impression of Zheng Xiuheng as a senior. He was a very interesting person, and it would be nice to make friends with such a person.
Although Choi Min-hee's true mood was not what he showed on the outside, he was not really decadent. His outrageous life during this period seemed a bit boring. Apart from secretly holding the computer to do various designs and helping friends complete some small projects, he really had nothing to do.
In fact, what made Choi Min-hee most heartbroken and angry was that his father was simply doing it for his own face. At the beginning, he thought that his father was really doing it for his own good, but when he went home and carefully explained the development and current situation of the game industry, as well as his own abilities and future plans, his father still did not give in at all. Finally, Choi Min-hee understood the reason. It turned out that his father didn't care about his future at all.
Currently, South Korea has been recognized as one of the countries with the most developed online game industry in the world, becoming the world's second largest online game power after the United States. The Korean game industry has quickly completed multiple levels of transition in just a few years, relying on only one means - online games. The key factor in promoting its use of this "magic weapon" to achieve its goals is the role of the government, which has done some very practical cultivation work.
In addition, as early as 1999, a new regulation was added. The government stipulated that high-tech talents engaged in the game industry were exempted from two years of military service. This greatly encouraged many young Korean men to join the game industry. To put it bluntly, the government is encouraging more young people to join this industry. You should know that in Korea, those who can be exempted from military service are basically Olympic champions, world champions, etc. Or those who are married, have three or four people in the family, or have parents who are paralyzed or sick and only one person can support the family.
This shows that working in game development is not a bad career in South Korea. On the contrary, its status is not low.
Therefore, Choi Min-hee has basically given up on his father's attitude. Anyway, his idea is only for this year. If his parents still have that attitude, he will leave that home next year anyway. Although he is still young, it does not mean that he can waste his life at will.
"Senior, please tell me what's going on. Although I'm half disabled now, I can still do some physical work with this body of flesh. Do you need me to fill in for you again? I saw you didn't show up for several shows during this period. I heard you were filming a movie?"
Zheng Xiuheng knew very well that this guy was not the kind of person who would settle down, and he was the kind who had a strong sense of subjectivity and was difficult to be moved by external forces. It had been several months since he left MBC, but he was still fighting against his family.
However, Zheng Xiuheng was not here to solve his family problems. He went to Cui Minxi because he needed help, not to fight.
"I want you to help me develop a game!"
"Haha, you found the right person to develop games. Let's not brag about other things. As a technical worker, although I am young...wait, I seem to hear you say you want me to help you develop a game?" Cui Minxi came back to his senses and opened his mouth wide, his eyes wide open in astonishment. He thought of many reasons why Zheng Xiuheng came to him, but he never thought that he was asked to develop a game.
Zheng Xiuheng ignored his surprise and said seriously: "I don't know much about the game development process, but I think it shouldn't be difficult. I just want to make a music game like O2Jam. But it's not the same as O2Jam, just a stand-alone game."
"In addition, the main purpose is to tell a story through the game. There will be about 20 songs. I may not be able to help with the others, but I can provide the design of the rhythm keys for all the songs. You don't have to worry about this aspect of work. That's roughly what I said. If you want to make it, how much time and money will it take?"
O2Jam is an MMORPG game developed by O2Media in South Korea. It is a casual music game based on MP3 music. It was launched in Korea in June 2003 and in China on March 4, 2005. It is a benchmark music game in South Korea.
"Senior Zheng Xiuheng... are you sure you are not joking?" Choi Min-hee was very surprised to hear Zheng Xiuheng's detailed account. This indeed did not seem like a joke, but this surprised Choi Min-hee even more.
"Do you think I'm a very idle person?" Zheng Xiuheng replied sincerely. He really didn't have the slightest intention of joking.
Cui Minxi frowned, put away his playful expression, and asked seriously: "According to what you said, you are going to develop a stand-alone game, right?"
Zheng Xiuheng nodded.
Cui Minxi thought for a moment and replied seriously: "To be honest, Senior, although according to what you said, apart from the labor costs, it basically doesn't cost much!"
"But, according to what you described, if such a game is developed, no one will play it. 'O2Jam' is now a very iconic music game, and it can even be crowned as the number one game. For example, 'Audition', which was very popular two years ago, failed not long after it was launched. As for music games, there are basically few companies developing them on PC, let alone stand-alone games. If you really want to do it, you can only lose money... Maybe if you wait for two years, you will have a chance to succeed!"
Zheng Xiuheng did not explain his purpose, but asked curiously: "Why is there a chance of success in two years?"
Cui Minxi smiled and said, "Nowadays, technology has made a lot of progress. Nokia's Symbian system is now a standout, but it still has many limitations for mobile game developers. In 2005, Google acquired Andy Rubin and others to create Android, which is also a mobile phone operating system. This project has probably been going on for several years. Recently, I have seen news in some technology development forums that Google is actively contacting multiple manufacturers, operators, software developers, etc., and is preparing to establish an alliance to develop and improve this system. I don't know what the future will be like, but technology is always improving!"
"In two or three years, if smartphones have greatly improved performance due to new operating systems, they will inevitably become a new battlefield for many game companies. In fact, in South Korea now, many small companies squeezed by large companies have begun to transform, just like Com2uS, the company I joined before, which has been focusing on the research and development of Java mobile games. So when it comes to technological progress, if large-scale 3D games can be played smoothly on ordinary mobile phones, rather than those developed for special machines or pseudo-3D types."
"When that time comes, the current game market is bound to change. Com2uS is now preparing to enter the smartphone market and lay a solid foundation. That's why I said that if such a game is developed in the future, it is very likely to be successful if it is launched on mobile phones, but it is indeed difficult to make money on PCs, at least in Korea!"
Zheng Xiuheng’s first feeling after listening to it was that “it seems very impressive”.
"I don't want to make money, I just have something I want to do. Just tell me how long it will take to develop the kind of game I mentioned?" Zheng Xiuheng didn't pay much attention to Cui Minxi's words. After all, that was not his main battlefield, so he just listened to it.
"Well, if you really want to do it, it may take one to three months, of course it may also take half a year!" Choi Min-hee replied helplessly, and he didn't seem to be very interested.
Zheng Xiuheng was still confused: "What does this mean?"
Choi Min-hee explained: "It's very simple. It depends on the number of people and professionalism of the development team. First of all, let's not talk about what your story is, nor the length. Just talking about background illustrations, if they have already been designed, or there are experienced artists, this can save a lot of time. The second is the twenty or so songs you mentioned. If you use existing music directly, and your rhythm and buttons have been designed, then it can naturally be completed quickly, but if not, and you want to make original music, then it will naturally take a long time!"
"What about the time spent on development? For example, on the program and the engine?"
Cui Minxi chuckled like a professional at this time and said, "Senior, this is actually the easiest part. First of all, as long as you don't want 3D graphics, Cocos can basically meet your requirements. In addition, O2Jam is too iconic. Even the editing program based on O2Jam can be found on the Internet at any time. Therefore, the length of development time depends on manpower and professionalism. If I work with the standard team at Com2uS, I can get it done for you in less than half a month if all the materials are complete."
"Although I am not optimistic about my senior's involvement in the game industry, from what I heard from him, it seems that he wants to tell me a story. Can you tell me about it? You should know that although I am full of infinite yearning to make a game, I don't like many current games. Except for some large teams with pioneering strength, many companies are just following the trend. Because of government support and promotion, they are doing well, but I really hate those things that are boring after two hours. So I am very curious, what kind of story do you want to tell?"
Cui Minxi's words were very straightforward, but his attitude was very sincere. Zheng Xiuheng also saw that this guy would not smile when talking about things he liked. Sure enough, everyone's attitude would become sincere when it comes to things they like.
"The story is just a rough outline. The inspiration comes from a dream, but the story is based on reality. I can tell you first, but you have to help me after you hear it!"
"Hey, hey, hey, senior, why are you so shameless? It's just a story, right? Is it worth such a huge price? Otherwise, I won't listen to it!"
