Chapter 98: TLF2 CD Package
Chapter 98: TLF2 CD Package
That made sense. Since he knew it was Blizzard of all companies, and that they would continue writing legends through nonstop success afterward, he understood that reducing development costs just to receive a little dividend money was even stupider than slaughtering the goose that laid golden eggs.
Honestly, he almost wanted to say that if they lacked money, he would provide more.
However, unlimited finances did not necessarily guarantee quality. On the contrary, they could even lower motivation and creativity. And realistically, Insu also had to continue development and survive himself, so he swallowed down the impulse instead of acting like a pushover.
And in January of that year, besides the release of The Others, there was another major event.
No, no matter how important The Others was, it could not compare to this event.
<Everything has been destroyed.>
That line came from the news, not from some game narration. On the screen appeared the sight of a city utterly devastated.
This was Japan. On January 17th, two days after The Others released, a massive earthquake struck.
In particular, it caused catastrophic damage to Kobe City. The disaster later came to be called the “Great Kobe Earthquake.”
If we’d gone to Japan, things really could’ve turned disastrous.
He had targeted America from the beginning, but if that failed, Japan had also been considered as Plan B. After all, its game market was highly developed.
In truth, even if they had gone to Japan, the chances of ending up around Kobe were extremely low, but it still left him feeling shaken.
Ah, I feel like there was some earthquake in LA too...
Insu briefly felt anxious, but quickly shook it off.
This was a similar world, but he had no way of knowing whether even natural disasters would occur exactly the same way. And it was not as if he remembered every major event from the past.
If that was the case, then worrying pointlessly served no purpose.
While mourning for the Japanese people who had suffered such tragedy, Insu decided to continue developing games to the best of his ability.
Still, just in case, maybe we should prepare a helicopter on the rooftop or something?
Of course, he could not help entertaining slightly cinematic delusions.
In 1995, Parallel Soft rereleased TLF2 as a CD package.
Recently, CD-ROM drives had spread rapidly, and most new games were now launching on CD-ROM. Since TLF2 still remained popular, there was more than enough demand, so since they were printing additional packages anyway, they decided to release it on CD as well.
Part of the reason was also because the old diskette package was starting to carry an outdated image, and they wanted to break away from that.
However, releasing a CD package was not something that happened automatically. They had to temporarily pull several people from the already overworked development team to handle the task.
First, they had to merge files and refactor the game to suit the changed environment.
They also added an autorun function.
On top of that, they slightly improved security.
Once a security specialist joined the company, it became clear that TLF2’s multiplayer mode was extremely vulnerable to hacking.
They blocked it on the server side first, but they also added a few patches to the package itself.
Then the graphics team and Yoo Juyeon were brought in to add several illustrations and sounds.
Since they were remaking the package anyway, they wanted to create enough differences to encourage even existing fans to buy it again.
However, the differences in the CD package did not end there.
“Versus mode?”
Nick wore a slightly troubled expression after receiving the request to develop a new system.
“It’s not that difficult. There’s no need to save anything on the server or anything like that. It’s just users connecting directly and fighting one-on-one. The combat logic is already independent, so there’s no need to separate anything. We just reverse positions and properly set the targeting.”
“Ah. If it’s something like that...”
Of course, even if it was simple, it was not something that could be completed with a single click, so Nick and Lee Suhyeon ended up spending around two weeks developing it.
Nick worked with Lee Suhyeon because Lee Suhyeon himself showed enthusiasm for the task, and he was also one of the few people capable of handling both UI and other graphics work alongside coding.
Since the development team was busy making TLF Online, they could not spare many personnel.
As mentioned before, Insu added this versus function partly to create differentiation and sell more copies, but he had also been inspired after receiving notice from the TCG company they had previously contracted with that an expansion pack using TLF’s IP would soon be released.
He thought that people who had experienced battling through TCGs would definitely find it interesting if they learned they could also fight each other through multiplayer in the actual TLF2.
Even aside from that, if players can battle other people using characters they raised themselves, it’ll motivate growth and make combat itself more enjoyable.
Since TLF2 already had a fairly strategic combat system, he thought it would be enjoyable enough.
Of course, because it had not been designed specifically for one-on-one battles, there might be shortcomings, but in the end, it was merely a simple bonus minigame.
And while this versus mode could be launched from inside the game, it was closer to a separate game that simply loaded TLF2’s data and systems independently.
As a result, since it did not affect the original game data, the chances of bugs occurring were low.
Because of that, the CD package was quickly released after only brief testing of the versus mode and without any additional major testing.
Eric, a fan of TLF2, agonized for quite a while after hearing that the CD version had been released.
Within the TLF2 community and fandom, many people thought there was no real reason to buy the CD version separately.
Most already owned the diskette version, and since the content barely differed, spending fifty-seven dollars felt like a complete waste.
Of course, among the core fans, there were also plenty who bought it unconditionally simply because they were happy to receive something new.
Eric wanted to make a rational choice.
But the reason he could not completely give up was the versus mode included in the CD version.
Since he had already greatly enjoyed multiplayer mode, he simply could not shake his expectations for online play.
In the end, I bought it...
After leaving the game store, he looked down at the TLF2 CD package inside the shopping bag and let out a bitter smile.
As soon as he returned home, he immediately installed the game.
Since he had spent the money anyway, he intended to enjoy it properly.
[If you install the game into the folder containing the previous version, you can continue using your existing save data.]
The developers had apparently anticipated duplicate buyers like Eric himself, because the manual prominently printed instructions explaining how to continue previous save files.
Whiiiiiir!
He heard the CD gradually accelerating as the installation proceeded rapidly.
CDs really were satisfying. Diskettes held tiny amounts of data, yet rattled endlessly while making users wait forever.
“What changed?”
After installation finished and he entered the game, Eric initially could not feel much difference.
Some illustrations and sounds had supposedly been added, but realistically speaking, those changes accounted for less than one percent of the entire game.
“Oh. They added character designs here.”
Fortunately, Eric was a veteran who had thoroughly devoured TLF2 to exhaustion, so he managed to notice that certain NPCs and races now had distinct individual designs compared to before.
In truth, this was the kind of difference people might fail to notice even if it was right in front of them unless they looked carefully.
Of course, while continuing to play, people could probably feel the experiential differences created by such subtle changes, so it certainly was not meaningless, but it still felt a little disappointing.
“Oh. There are more event illustrations too.”
Several additional illustrations now appeared when entering certain dungeons or regions.
Previously, there had only been a handful. Every cave-type dungeon used the same cave illustration, and every tower-type dungeon used the same tower illustration. Now several had been differentiated.
He also noticed that some magic sound effects had changed.
He could not specifically point out exactly what had changed, but they definitely sounded different from before.
“Not bad.”
Even this much was enough for fans like Eric to completely lose any dissatisfaction over paying fifty-seven dollars and feel reasonably satisfied instead.
There were probably hardcore fans who felt deeply moved just by this.
Anyway, he had inspected things enough.
Now it was finally time to try the versus mode, his true purpose.
The method of entering it was the same.
Since the game did not store data on the server and instead utilized data from the user’s PC, based on the current point in gameplay, it was started directly in-game by pressing F10 rather than from the title screen.
The waiting room interface is the same too.
As soon as he entered his regional server, the screen was already filled with waiting rooms from players seeking challengers, showing just how many people had already bought the CD version.
[Only New Game+ 5 or higher. Obviously level 50 only.]
(Translator’s Note: New Game+ — Replay cycle after clearing the game, commonly used by players to indicate progression depth and experience level.)
[Newbies welcome.]
[New Game+ 3, level 40.]
Since quite some time had passed since TLF2’s release, Eric expected only hardened veterans to remain, but surprisingly, there were many lower-cycle and lower-level players.
Of course, whether those room titles were actually truthful, and whether lower cycles and levels truly meant newbies, was another matter entirely.
[Hi! Max level?]
[Yep. Want to start right away?]
At first, he planned to talk about the CD version itself.
But because he had spent so long suffering under telephone charges while playing multiplayer mode, he had grown used to speaking only briefly and directly, so they immediately entered versus mode.
The other player was probably the same.
“Oh...”
Outside the usual board-like battlefield deployment area, the surrounding terrain was typically represented according to the region.
But unlike the original places where characters normally fought, versus mode depicted some ancient stone structure resembling an old arena.
Most of it looked like the familiar TLF2 battle screen, except instead of monsters, the opposing side contained a party of characters similar to his own.
However, because the interface was identical, there was nothing confusing about it.
Unlike multiplayer mode, versus mode did not require rearranging formations, so the battle immediately began using the deployment formation from before connecting.
[3]
[2]
[1]
[Battle Start]
It felt somewhat simplistic and fast-paced, but at the same time, the straightforwardness was convenient.
Eric decided to summon his creature first.
Recently, the TLF2 meta involved including one Summoner in the party and using a summon with overwhelming HP and durability as the frontline.
Among summon abilities, the thing ordinary characters found hardest to replicate was their immense HP and durability. Meanwhile, their weaknesses, such as equipment limitations or buffs, could be covered by support from other characters, allowing players to create a nearly impregnable wall.
However, Summoners generally had relatively slow turn speed, and powerful summons tended to require difficult conditions and considerable time to summon.
As a result, strategies for buying time during that period were important.
The simplest method was placing a reasonably durable tank in the party to survive temporarily during that brief window, while experts used much more varied methods.
Oh? Fast.
His opponent appeared to be using a strategy that maximized the Summoner’s turn speed through items, stats, and skills.
A character who looked like a Priest took the first turn and cast [Acceleration] on the Summoner, allowing a summon to appear on the frontline by the third turn.
However, the opponent’s haste ended up meaning little.
Eric used the artifact “Mirror of the Rift,” which he had purchased for an enormous sum, to make his entire party temporarily leave the battlefield during the opening turn.
It was an item useful for protecting the party from enemies who unleashed devastating attacks early on while allowing safe buff preparation, and it remained effective even in the current summon-heavy meta.
However, it was extremely difficult to obtain, making it a strategy mostly used by hardened veterans.
Afterward, Eric summoned the “Fallen Angel,” a summon with exceptionally powerful defensive capabilities, placed it at the front, and then used a mage-centered damage lineup.
In just two turns, he completely destroyed his opponent’s summon, the “Glacial Wolf,” before unleashing an almost one-sided bombardment that concluded with his victory.