Chapter 31
Chapter 31
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: Physics Engine
-----------------------------------------------------------------
1 Million Copies.
-Demon Slayer and Village Maker, released in December '93, have both hit 1 million copies sold as of April '94—an incredible feat. In the existing PC game market, typical sales hover around 50,000 copies...
"This journalist must've taken money from id Software or something."
"Well, they didn't lie about our numbers, so let's just let it slide."
Even after my words, Scarlett still looked unsatisfied, venting her anger toward the reporter who wrote the article.
"If id Software had really hit those sales figures, they would've bragged about revenue ages ago. Ours is the real 1 million—backed by hard numbers."
"Calm down. The fact that we won isn't changing."
I soothed Scarlett while struggling to believe we'd actually reached 1 million copies.
And that was in just four months since launch. The potential for even more sales ahead made it all the more shocking.
'Village Maker's steady demand means aiming for 2 million wouldn't be out of the question.'
Of course, this record was set to be broken soon anyway.
Demon Slayer's sequel—the one that had supposedly hit 1 million alongside us according to the article—was slated for release by year's end.
"What's your predicted actual sales for Demon Slayer?"
"Over 500,000 would be a massive hit."
Demon Slayer had undeniably exploded in popularity.
If our 1 million was boosted somewhat by marketing and luck, Demon Slayer rode pure fervent support from the male demographic to match our buzz.
"It's probably spread way more than ours. I hear stores are bundling it as a default package with new PCs these days."
"Pirated copies, of course?"
"Yeah. id Software must be tearing their hair out, but what can they do? No way to stop copying."
The reason I pegged actual sales at 500,000 was news that id Software had recently met with MiniSoft for investment.
'If they'd sold 1 million, no need for investment now. This means id Software's cash is drier than expected.'
Server expansions must've cost a fortune, and with more developers than us, they were likely hurting on expenses more than anticipated.
On our end, though...
"Village Maker's Neo Famicon port for Nendo is dropping next month. They even handled localization this time, so I expect it to outsell Dead Hills RE."
"Can't thank Mr. Sgeru enough."
"Grateful for the localization, sure, but the royalty fees still make my stomach churn."
"Best to think of it as taxes. Eases the mind."
Unlike Dead Hills RE, which was a straight port without localization, Village Maker was getting a full Japanese translation and adaptation.
-This was a special request from Division Head Sgeru, so we accommodated it.
Of course, it wasn't free—Nendo's Development Division Head, Mr. Sgeru, had pulled special strings for this miracle.
"Japan's a weird market. Population's half of America's, but sales match up. If we can crack it, we have to."
Scarlett griped about royalties, but no one knew better than her what breaking into Japan meant.
The world's second-largest economy and the homeland of gaming, dominated by console giants Nendo and Seton—Japan needed no further intro.
'Scarlett would faint if she learned about Korea later.'
A nation with an even more distorted—and potent—gaming market right next door? No one knew yet.
"So, our management team crunched numbers on console Village Maker projections, plus current PC revenue and future earnings."
"You calculated that?"
"That's what we hired them for."
Scarlett said it casually, but it was impressive.
No industry was harder to forecast revenue than games—volatility could lead to huge losses on bad predictions.
Her confidence meant they'd nailed a solid estimate.
"Don't freak out. Savior's total projected revenue is..."
Everyone had eavesdropped, pulling chairs into a circle with eager eyes fixed on Scarlett.
"30 million dollars!"
Teasing the growing impatience, Scarlett finally dropped the bomb.
"Whoa!!!!!"
"Crazy—not 300,000 or even 3 million, but 30 million?"
"We're rich!!!"
Cheers erupted across the office.
"Sorry for the late intro—this is Jane, the sound director I scouted."
Clap clap.
After my quick intro of Jane, the gathered staff burst into applause.
"Uh... hello. I'm, well, from Berkeley Music School... no, Jane Lee, joining Savior on Huck's recommendation. Just call me Jane."
Overwhelmed by the warm welcome, Jane showed her rookie awkwardness.
'Did everyone see me like this when I first started?'
I took a moment to admire her fresh-out-of-school vibe, then explained the meeting's purpose.
"Savior's nailed it with Dead Hills and Village Maker back-to-back."
Hard to believe for a company with barely over ten employees.
Even among all game devs, our revenue qualified us as mid-tier now.
"Success deserves rewards. Once Village Maker wraps, everyone's getting a paid month off."
'A month's paid vacation' drew cheers from the whole team.
'Games are straight-up 3D work. Rewards gotta match.'
Dead Hills was solo, but Village Maker was blood, sweat, and tears from everyone.
Jackson on graphics had pulled all-nighters for months.
Rogers went without saying, and even slick Jason juggled byte-line duties with Village Maker.
"Before vacation, let's talk next steps."
I wheeled over the whiteboard.
"For the next year, no new games."
"Huh?"
Scarlett voiced the team's confusion at halting development.
"Huck! Savior's brand is skyrocketing. Even trash would sell hundreds of thousands now. Missing this momentum..."
"Not slacking, of course."
I grabbed the marker and started writing.
'So far, we've made games compromised for the era and circumstances.'
Dead Hills fit weak PCs; Village Maker focused on player extensibility.
Great games for now and the future, sure.
But that'd cap us at 'good game company.'
"We're building a game engine."
"Game engine?"
"Think of it as a toolbox."
The term was alien, so blank stares; I broke it down.
"Carpenters need tools to build houses, right? Games are similar."
Graphics, physics for realism, sound for immersion, input controls—tons of elements, each built separately and stitched together in current dev.
"So, bundling it all into one unified system."
Despite my simple explanation, most were lost—but Rogers and Jason got it.
"Core's physics and graphics?"
"Spot on. Rest is secondary."
Physics and graphics engines made up over 90% of a game engine.
"Huck, you've lost it? Real-time in-game physics via calculations? Do you know how insane that is?"
Jason's rare serious face.
"Who knows better than me?"
Physics engine was a massive challenge.
Vector math for position, force, velocity—updated in real-time.
Collision detection and response to earn the name.
Worse: math formulas first, then code it up.
"You madman... Saying that makes it sound doable!!!"
As Jason wailed, Scarlett quizzed Rogers, still fuzzy on physics engines.
"What's got Jason like that? How hard is it?"
"Simple terms: building a physics engine from scratch is like erecting the Empire State Building barehanded."
"That bad?"
"Yeah. Scarlett, clap once?"
Clap.
Puzzled but obliging, she clapped.
"When you clapped, could you calculate your arm angles, shoulder force, and hand collision speed?"
"What? How..."
"That's what Huck wants to build now."
Jason lunged to strangle me—"Escaped Jo Nerdan, now this demon?!"
Rogers looked deflated, disbelieving.
But I was certain.
With my current skills, I could build not just basic—but ahead-of-its-time physics engine.