The Game Developer Who Left the Company Is Too Competent

61. El Cross reopening (1)

Recently, the games that Taeyeon spends the most time on are El Cross and Pandaemonium.

Among them, I especially spent a lot of time on El Cross.

In Pandaemonium, only the art resources need to be replaced, but in El Cross, the whole thing had to be overhauled.

The first thing Taeyeon instructed was optimization work.

“Let’s blow away all the unnecessary details and block the unnecessary movement with collision boxes and objects.”

The fundamental problem with flaming El Cross was the level design.

“This is not a console open world game. You have to allow them to immerse themselves in a role play appropriate to the worldview and scenario. It’s an MMORPG.”

Taeyeon’s philosophy on MMORPG games was firm.

“Let’s focus on the flow of scenario production. Role play should be confined to the stage.”

Resources equivalent to 40% of the field area were gone.

Among the spaces spread out to the extent that they felt desolate, all areas that deviated too far from the quest line were blocked.

This alone greatly reduced lag, and the graphics cards that were running to the point of burning also became quiet.

“Let’s also drop unnecessary detailed modeling and texture specifications.”

The next thing I paid attention to was ‘combat’.

“Let’s increase the feeling of hitting to the maximum. Let’s maximize the fun of fighting.”

What Taeyeon said as soon as she first joined the development team was that she would abandon the quarter view, a feature of hack and slash.

“The El Cross I’m after is not a game where old men smoke and click a mouse with one hand.”

This was a characteristic of Shinhwa Online.

At first, the intention was to make a game that anyone could enjoy easily and fun, but the direction gradually changed, and all development directions were focused on a small number of heavy paying users.

Taeyeon thought that one of the problems was that she tried to apply it to El Cross as well. If it was such a game, there was no reason to abandon the Shinhwa Online series and switch to it.

It didn’t even fit in today’s times.

“It’s hard, and what does hitting feel mean in a game?”

One developer responded:

“Isn’t it something like the sound or effect of the moment my character hits a mob?”

“You are not wrong. Personally, I think there is a part that is difficult to define because the sense of impact is an area of emotion.”

Nevertheless, as a director, you must be able to give firm definitions and instruct your team members on the direction of development.

So, Taeyeon said:

Operation. hit animation. sound. effect. hit animation. Demichi figures.

“I will classify the feeling of impact into six stages.”

In the existing quarter view method, many processes were omitted or greatly abbreviated.

It was because the purpose of hunting was focused on item farming rather than the pleasure of hunting itself.

Since you have become stronger by spending a lot of money, shouldn’t you quickly wipe out the enemies and eat good items?

However, Taeyeon suggested a completely different direction.

“In the end, it may not look much different from the previous one in terms of using a keyboard and mouse, but if you design it delicately with these points in mind, users will feel like they are actually fighting.”

Immersive feeling as if you are in it!

“Especially the hit animation is a very important element. It is the result of my actions. The more real the reaction, the more I can feel the right feeling, right?”

Nod.

“With this in mind, let’s proceed with the battle renewal work.”

It’s easy to say, it’s a battle renewal, but in the end, it was a major project that required all parts of the studio to be mobilized.

The head of the animation department, who was to play the most important role among them, asked with a worried face.

“Can we do all of this in one year?”

Taeyeon laughed.

“You can.”

It wasn’t just the development content that changed.

The atmosphere in the studio has also changed significantly.

“What shall we eat for lunch?”

A cry suddenly rang out around 11:45 am.

Attention was focused on female planners.

The head of the system part called Anpanman because of his appearance reminiscent of Anpan, which floated in the partition across from him.

“When I was leaving work yesterday, I saw a ramen shop in the back alley. Aomori is a famous chain store in Japan… … .”

“Oh, there! i know! It’s a place I look for every time I travel to Japan, but it’s also in Korea! i have to go there Who are you going with?”

“Oh, then me too… … .”

It could be said that the first change was that such a conversation became possible.

This was impossible in the days when PD Song Jae-hee and others from Shinhwa Online dominated the center.

It was like a plate of thin ice that could collapse at any moment, and everyone was always nervous and sensitive.

Even the smallest mistakes were not tolerated.

Remarks had to be made only through a formal meeting, and even with the planning document perfectly prepared, and if you made a mistake even a little bit, that day would be the beginning of hell.

It was just as rigid and excessively strict as the large corporations in the past.

After Taeyeon came in, this atmosphere disappeared.

Anyone was free to express their opinions, and as long as Taeyeon did a good job, it didn’t matter whether they went out to drink coffee or went to the arcade and came back.

The biggest change is that the frequency of talking about games has increased.

“Ah, I went around to check the phenomenon that I kept falling into the map earlier, but there was a place where I couldn’t enter even though it was definitely an entry section.”

“yes? is it so? Please tell us! I will check it out and fix it right away.”

Previously, it was very rare for people from different parts to gather in the studio and chat. Moreover, if it is an indication of each other’s field of responsibility!

Because of the move to the Gangnam office building, the development environment was not comparable to that of the Pangyo headquarters.

But the development atmosphere is 180 degrees. It changed in a positive direction, so people were satisfied with their company life.

During lunch, a developer suddenly caught my attention with this statement:

“Isn’t it amazing? The workload has not decreased, but rather increased, but it is cramped, oppressive, and difficult… … That feeling is much less than before.”

The head of the content department said.

“That’s the difference between driving with and without navigation.”

Everyone pays attention to him.

“When I was a PD Song Jae-hee, I sometimes thought about this. So what exactly do you want to do? What is a game that is more advanced than Shinhwa Online?”

“Oh, right. I thought about that a lot too.”

people agree

The head of the content part, who gained strength from this, raises his voice.

“This is all because PD Song Jae-hee lacks experience as a director. You have something you want to do, but you don’t know how to design and assemble it. How to program, how to do art… … .”

“that’s right. I was embarrassed because my understanding of game programs was so low. Being from KAIST, he has genius programming skills… … I was expecting something like that.”

“Art is also young… … I had no understanding of graphics work at all. I just blindly demand high quality, and I don’t care about optimizations or crashes… … .”

As human beings, no matter how good the environment is, work-related stress will inevitably accumulate.

At times like this, I feel relieved when I curse at the former developers who went out with a lot of fun.

They are not wrong, and they reaffirm that they are being properly used now, and they have a sense of relief and achievement at the same time.

‘PD Song Jae-hee does a really big job.’

Haewooso.

Taeyeon contemplated whether to send a gifticon out of gratitude, but shook her head.

‘I don’t even want to deal with such an irresponsible person.’

Optimization, combat, content, directing.

These were the four elements Taeyeon focused on for the El Cross remake.

When it entered the 9th month of renewal.

“This is enough. Now let’s do some polishing.”

It’s easy, let’s try to raise the graphic quality.

Around this time, the main quest cinematic videos were arriving one by one.

3 per field. 18 in total.

From nob le mt l dot com

Most of them were outsourced to different studios, and only some were produced in Nexple’s own studio, so the details are different for each.

Polishing it was also the role of the El Cross Studios art team.

This is because quality must be consistent.

While the art team was working hard on die work, other teams were working hard on the test with the Q&A team.

After playing, noticeable bugs or incomplete parts are listed by part and shared on the intranet.

After all of these are corrected, the checked document is shared, and Taeyeon and each team leader finally check it.

It was a daily routine since the 10th month of the remake project.

“There is nothing more important than testing. Don’t just skip through the text and tree objects, take a closer look.”

Taeyeon emphasized the importance of testing at least once a day. Even doing so wasn’t enough.

‘Even so, when the user test is conducted, the lacking parts are pouring out.’

1 year.

The time period foretold has arrived.

Taeyeon sent an official letter to all the studios at the headquarters.

[L Cross conducts in-house testing. The test method is the same as before.]

This fact received attention not only from Nexle, but also from the entire industry and the game community.

It was natural.

Isn’t that ‘that’ El Cross?

50 billion!

A project that drew attention for its unprecedented development cost in the history of online games in Korea.

However, the revealed reality was extremely absurd and left many people greatly disappointed. Nexle’s share price fell to the bottom.

If PD Song Jae-hee hadn’t left the company quickly, if Nexple and Taeyeon’s decision had been a little late, it would have been a disaster.

What was like that was now about to show off a completely new look.

[Is it possible that even Yoo Tae-yeon, PD-nim, can revive that mangem in just one year?]

└I’m honestly skeptical… … Still, if it’s PD Taeyeon Yoo… … I am watching with anticipation. Because there are things that have been shown so far.

└ I think it’s possible to hit the average by somehow improving the quality that has fallen since the second half and fixing things like bugs… … .

└Everyone seemed to be thinking that much. To be honest, even doing that much in a year is really amazing.

Seeing such a reaction, El Cross developer was smiling with contempt.

“You will probably be surprised.”

“We thought so too at first. No matter how Taeyeon Yoo is… … Is it really possible in 1 year? But it was even more than that! hehehehe.”

“ah! I want to play our game quickly and see them fall in love!”

“Why doesn’t time go by like this? I hope you start testing soon!”

With a distinctly different appearance from the first opening, the developers of El Cross hastened the slow passing time.