Chapter 95: Realism

What should I do now?

But after eating, Insu felt a little lost. If this were the twenty-first century, he would at least send KakaoTalk messages to his friends in Korea, but this was still a world without PC messengers. No, in Korea, even the internet had not properly spread yet.

ISPs had probably only just begun appearing, so elementary school students would still have to wait several more years before encountering the internet.

For reference, Insu still occasionally exchanged letters with his friends in Korea. But that Lee Joohee kept asking him to write in English and trying to write in English herself, as if she had mistaken him for a foreign pen pal, leaving him wondering what that was about.

Ah, I want to grow up fast.

At times like this, he wanted to wander around alone, but at his current age, the most he could do was go to nearby shops, and even that was not exactly recommended. In America, people could get driver’s licenses at a relatively young age, but ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they still needed to be at least fifteen years and six months old, so he still had about four years left.

He knew how to drive because of his previous-life memories, but he did not have the nerve to drive without a license in America.

He could only regretfully tell himself that he would get one as soon as he became old enough.

Instead, Insu decided to enjoy driving on the computer. After all, the only thing he could do while resting right now was use the computer.

[Eshern Drift]

It was a package with an illustration of a stylish sports car leaving the city and racing down the road. It was a newly released game, and even though Insu was barely playing games these days, he was still buying and collecting every game that looked decent.

Partly, it was because he needed to understand trends as a game developer, but since he had money and no time, collecting games was also a way to satisfy his desire.

It was similar to office workers who barely played games but kept piling up titles in their Steam libraries.

This must be this world’s version of Need for Speed.

When he opened the package, there was a CD inside. Now that CD-ROMs were becoming fairly widespread, more and more games were gradually being released on CD.

Insu was also considering whether to release a new CD package for TLF2, even if not for earlier titles. Since it was still selling quite well, switching to CD would likely meet the minimum production quantity. It would also serve as marketing in its own way.

“Oh. Nice.”

Perhaps because it used high-capacity media, it included an opening video. However, it was not computer graphics, but simply actual footage of sports cars driving.

Well, it’s not like they have to use computer graphics.

Then, after passing through a relatively simple title screen, he entered the game.

“The graphics are good.”

Like Doom, it used 2D graphics that gave a 3D-like impression, commonly called 2.5D graphics. Strictly speaking, it was pseudo-3D, or fake 3D, while 2.5D referred to something else, but later, these early quasi-3D techniques were commonly called 2.5D.

In any case, there were already several racing games on consoles that used this sort of graphics, so it did not feel especially new. However, being able to enjoy console-level graphics on a computer felt fresh.

At this time, computer graphics still had not caught up to consoles, but with the 586 just arriving and Windows emerging, computers’ multimedia capabilities were rapidly improving. This was when PC games that showed off high-end graphics like this were beginning to appear.

That did not mean this game merely followed the level of existing console racing games.

Earlier racing games, even when they used 2.5D graphics, portrayed cars in exaggerated cartoonish forms or simplified shapes.

But this game used quite realistic depictions and maximized immersion. In turn, it became a fairly meaningful game because it influenced console racing games as well.

“Oooh!”

Insu quickly became absorbed in the game. Compared to the realistic graphics, effects, and physics engines of 2025, it was lacking, but it still captured depth and speed well enough to be enjoyable as a racing game.

It showed that computers had now entered a stage where they could provide intuitive enjoyment through realistic graphics and interfaces.

The Need for Speed from his previous life, and this Eshern Drift, could be considered one of the beginnings of realism in gaming, showing that games could be fun simply by reproducing reality as faithfully as possible without major alterations in game development.

Insu was able to enjoy it for quite some time.

However, this realism differed quite a bit from the direction Insu pursued.

Of course, realistic graphics and presentation were things Insu wanted as well. But the games Insu wanted to develop had large scales and high complexity, so realistic graphics would be difficult to use not only now, but for quite a long time afterward.

To begin with, if one wanted to add realism to a game like an MMORPG, 2.5D would not be enough. Proper 3D was required, and that could only be attempted near the late 1990s. Even then, due to technological limitations, developers would need to use cartoonish exaggeration instead of realistic expression.

Since there were not enough polygons in the first place, curves and delicate details were impossible, so it could not be helped.

(Translator’s Note: Polygon — The geometric building blocks used to create 3D models in computer graphics. Higher polygon counts generally produce more detailed models.)

At best, one could say that Lineage 2 attempted realistic expression, but even then, it could not completely abandon cartoonish exaggeration.

(Translator’s Note: Lineage — Korean MMORPG released in 1998 by NCSoft. A fantasy online role-playing game centered on medieval warfare, guild conflicts, hunting, and large-scale PvP combat. One of the foundational MMORPGs of the Korean online gaming industry.)

By Insu’s standards, a game that could achieve proper realistic expression without sacrificing other aspects would probably begin around Black Desert.

I can’t exactly hold out until 2014, so I’ll have to give up on realism for a while.

And even if 2014 arrived, he was not sure whether he would invest that heavily in graphics anyway.

After all, by 2025, shortly before Insu’s death, the perception that excessive investment in graphics was inefficient had already spread, and it was becoming clear that the relationship between graphical realism and gamers’ interest or immersion was not as directly proportional as expected.

Interesting.

Only a regressor like Insu could watch the beginning of realism while already thinking of the beginning of realism’s decline far in the future.

In this way, even during the brief rest time he finally gained amid development, Insu spent his time playing games and thinking about the future of game development.

Eunha was driving her car to work while thinking about her recent vacation.

It was city driving, but the way she turned the wheel and handled the car looked quite skillful. That made sense, since it had already been over two years since she started driving.

Ah, that vacation was fun.

She had spent her vacation fairly productively. She toured Hollywood, watched a romance movie at a theater there, visited MOCA, the art museum in LA, to look at artworks, and also tried a restaurant said to be famous.

Among all of that, the best part had been the leisurely time she spent at Malibu Beach.

Perhaps because she lived a life of being squeezed dry by Insu, the team leader, every day, the time she spent blankly enjoying the endlessly repeating waves at the bright beach felt wonderful.

“Haah.”

The company was gradually getting closer. The programmers looked exhausted too, but the graphics team, including her, absolutely did not have it easy either. An MMORPG had a far more enormous world than an ordinary singleplayer game, and filling that vast world was precisely the graphics team’s role.

Now she could only endure by clinging to the lingering aftereffects of her vacation.

This year seemed especially difficult. As mentioned before, that was partly because they were working on a difficult project called an MMORPG, but she also had personal reasons.

It was because she had graduated from high school and was no longer a student.

Of course, she was technically a high school dropout, but this was about age and feeling. Now she could no longer think that working was better than that tiresome school. She had simply become an adult and an office worker who had to fight for survival.

That said, it was not as though she worked only for living expenses and money.

In truth, she had already earned a considerable amount of money.

There was over one million dollars in her bank account. In Korean money, that was nearly eight hundred million won, and ten hundred million won at the time was worth around 2.5 billion won by 2025 standards.

Moreover, she had also bought a house in Seoul, so as long as she did not waste money, she had already gathered enough to live on for the rest of her life. In fact, lately, she had even been wondering what it would be like to drive a sports car instead of this used Japanese car.

But that would be a waste of money after all.

If she had some great interest in cars, that would be one thing, but spending that much just because she saw one in a movie and briefly thought it looked cool was too much.

For now, I’ll drive this one until it breaks down, then think about it again.

Eunha parked her car in the company parking lot and began walking toward the development room. She definitely no longer ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠looked like a little girl, but an ordinary young office worker.

When she first met Insu, she was still a middle school student, but before she knew it, this much time had passed.

Huh?

As she headed toward the building with a mixture of determination and resignation, an unfamiliar person entered her sight. Recently, many new employees had joined Parallel Soft, but even so, the total number of people was only around thirty, so even if she did not know everyone’s name, she had at least memorized their faces.

Is he a fan of our company?

There were game fans who came to visit the company. Since he was also a man who seemed to be in his twenties, he was around the same age as the people who usually came. The way he lingered outside without going in gave exactly that impression.

But he seems a little older, maybe?

When she got a bit closer, the white man looked unlike the passionate fans in their late teens or early twenties. He seemed to be in his mid-to-late twenties, and there was something about him that made him look as though he had suffered through society, so he did not seem like a student either.

In any case, Eunha tried to pass by without paying much attention. At first, she had felt happy that fans came all the way here, but after it kept happening repeatedly, she grew indifferent. In some ways, it also felt slightly scary.

“Excuse me.”

But the man who had been glancing around spoke to her first.

“Yes?”

Eunha could not bring herself to ignore him because of her personality, so she turned back. The fact that this was not some street but right in front of the company, and that the other person did not give off a particularly bad impression, also played a part.

“Are you one of the developers here?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Would the president happen to be here right now?”

Eunha reflexively thought of Aunt Hyein, no, the president’s car in the parking lot. In any case, it was a somewhat unexpected question.

“What is this regarding?”

“Ah. I came here about an investment matter.”

“Ah, I see. Yes, she’s probably here right now. You can go up to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the second floor.”

So he really was not just a fan. Feeling relieved that she had not ignored him, Eunha sent the man upstairs and headed toward the development room.

Ever since TLF became a major hit and Parallel Soft gained recognition, investment offers had continued coming in. But after they continued succeeding with games and clearly proved their commercial success to anyone watching, then built considerable recognition through online marketing, they also began receiving investment requests in the opposite direction.

Once a company had funds, figuring out how to manage them and generate profit was also an important part of business.

Moreover, because Parallel Soft had continuously earned large profits without outside investment from the beginning, it needed places to invest. For that reason, Hyein, Seongcheol, and Insu had been reviewing these incoming investment requests quite ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seriously.

Of course, with things like this, there were usually more duds than promising options.

“What the hell is ornamental fish breeding?”

“What?”

“You know, fish.”

Seongcheol and Hyein sometimes looked at such proposals and laughed in disbelief.

To begin with, if a business was truly decent, it would normally borrow money from a first-tier financial institution, or at least sign a contract with an investment-related company. It would not go poking around at just any place that looked like it had money.

So after they gained some experience, they began ignoring almost everything unless it had some business connection to the IT field.

Still, they continued reviewing game-related proposals seriously. Because game companies belonged to the same industry, the psychological barrier was lower, so they often approached Parallel Soft with fairly high priority, and some of them were reasonably decent companies.