Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: New Game
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Capacity is a crucial factor in games.
‘I need to split it up more and compress it further.’
I was deep into programming the new game, and the most important part of that process was efficiency.
There were no terabyte-scale storage devices like in the future, and with RAM maxing out at 8MB, I had to cut down the size any way I could.
‘Games in the real future were a breeze to make.’
By around 2025, a single game routinely took dozens of GB, with plenty exceeding 100GB. Compared to that era, this time was a true battle of developers' skills.
The current leader of the gaming world in '92 was Nendo.
A perfect example was Satoru, who would later become Nendo's president.
One of Nendo's flagship titles, the legendary Pocket Tamer Gold & Silver, shocked players and became famous for it.
Unlike its predecessor, Gold & Silver was set in the new Kanto region. Clearing the game rewarded players with a ship ticket, letting them sail to the old Kanto region—a twist that stunned everyone.
‘Even now, that’s impressive.’
And the game that delivered that shock and to players who thought the ending was over? It clocked in at just 1MB.
Truth be told, Pocket Tamer was developed for handheld consoles, not full consoles or PCs, so the team had to cram everything into that 1MB limit—
“If we clean up this code, we could halve the size.”
Satoru spotted it while reviewing the prototype, rewrote the code from scratch, and basically remade the game.
The result? They added the entire Kanto region to what was originally just the Johto area in Gold & Silver, creating an iconic ending that’s still talked about today.
Of course, stories of geniuses like Satoru weren’t the only ones.
Developers back then constantly wrestled with harsh constraints to make games more efficient and creative. That’s why players got so many masterpieces.
‘No wonder people say old games were better.’
One thing I realized making games myself: humans unleash greater creativity in scarcity than abundance.
I was meticulously coding now—down to levels others might call obsessive—to shrink the file size, but that grind was what decided the game’s quality.
“Huck, here’s the first draft of the design.”
“Hm… Looks like we’ve got the basic image down.”
“Pardon? Basic?”
My days were a grind: glued to the computer, staring at screens, pounding out code.
But luckily, I now had a companion in this drudgery.
“I’d like more color variety.”
“I’d love that too, but won’t it cause lag?”
“Nah. We’re using palettes anyway, so no issue.”
Jackson, hired right after his interview, was now hard at work on the designs I’d assigned for the next game.
‘This is way too much!’
I remembered his incredulous face on his first day when I dumped the workload on him.
But humans adapt. After two weeks of all-nighters with me, he was too busy working to complain.
“You’re swapping palettes in real-time for animations and effects, right?”
“Spot on.”
“Won’t that explode the workload?”
“Once your designs are done, we’ll hire more people or outsource the dot graphics.”
“True, that’s just grunt work—no real skill needed.”
Graphics were a world apart from coding.
Coding could be faster solo if you were skilled, but graphics? Pure labor. Numbers mattered more than talent.
We weren’t at that stage yet, so no hires, but once Jackson finished, we’d need more hands.
‘Scaling up staff without a solid structure feels risky.’
No one to handle operations yet, so I’d have to manage hires myself—and that’d eat my time.
For now, Jackson and I pushing hard was best. All I could offer his exhausted self was a fat salary.
‘A rookie designer at $40K a year? That’s generous for now.’
In this era, $40K was top-tier.
Big corp designers might pull that, but it was special with us.
Our contract had a twist:
- Of the total $40K salary, base pay is $20K; $10K as year-end performance bonus, remaining $10K as special bonus.
Game industry had high turnover, so contracts were full of tricks. Entry/exit was freewheeling.
The classic was performance bonuses.
Base pay barely hit minimum wage, then dump the real money at year-end—or more.
It locked staff for at least a year, but companies had no choice.
‘Mid-project quits drag timelines, and the company eats the loss.’
For me, if this new game missed H1 '93, plans would derail hard.
Jackson headed back to tweak colors per my notes, looking relieved we’d outsource dots.
‘At least his skills are way better than expected.’
I flipped through the sketches he’d left on my desk, watching him focus.
From a boy in a straw hat with a hoe over his shoulder, to cute, whimsical character designs.
Even the farm tools and crops I requested were sketched adorably, like kids’ toys.
“Huck… you sure this design works?”
“It’s exactly what I envisioned.”
“No, I mean… it feels more console than PC game.”
Jackson was a hardcore gamer, surprisingly.
His worry? Our game’s look strayed too far from PC norms.
Early PC games were rough, gritty, savage.
Mine and Jackson’s style leaned toward Nendo’s Super Daniel or Seton’s Running Hedgehog—cartoony, cute.
He’d played my Dead Hills, so the total shift unnerved him.
“You played Deadzone Survival 3D?”
“Of course. Still do sometimes.”
“Any PC gamer worth their salt has tried it.”
“Yeah, all my gaming buddies have.”
“Any girls among those friends?”
“Uh… no girls, come to think of it.”
I nodded knowingly at his answer.
“The gaming market’s potential is endless.”
A few years back, Goldman Sachs’ report on the industry blew up.
- Gaming is a massive scam. Tech dazzles consumers, but its future’s no better than Atari’s. Overhyped, bubbly, worthless investment.
Stocks tanked short-term, but sales exploded yearly, mocking them.
Rumor was the analyst got canned, but his take wasn’t worthless.
- An industry targeting just niche male enthusiasts can’t grow forever.
He nailed the market demographics.
“Nendo’s Super Daniel and Seton’s Running Hedgehog? Little girls love ‘em.”
“True. My niece crushes Hedgehog.”
“Why do you think that is?”
“Hm… no gore, simple controls and playstyle?”
Jackson nailed it.
My Dead Hills, top dog Deadzone Survival 3D—tons never even tried ‘em.
‘Too gross.’
‘Why’s every game just shooting?’
‘Kids shouldn’t play this.’
PC games targeted young men, so violence boosted hype but capped growth.
“That’s our target at Savior.”
“Aiming for folks who’ve never touched PC games.”
“Can’t fully ditch our core young male buyers, though.”
“But… can this game pull it off?”
Jackson still doubted.
My pitch sounded good, but it wasn’t like devs hadn’t thought of it.
Every company dreamed of broadening to women and beyond.
Some tried cutesy dollhouse games for girls.
‘Bombed spectacularly.’
Reality? Only Super Daniel or Running Hedgehog cracked that nut.
“PC gamers are mostly console refugees unhappy with what they got… but this game we’re making…”
“Feels boring?”
“…Honestly, yeah. Who wants to farm in a game?”
He glanced nervously, but worry poured out.
We’d kicked off dev in earnest since he joined: working title Village Maker.
A farming game.