PFC Chapter 144
Chapter 144
Chapter 144 (700MB)
Castlevania —
Kojima sat at his newly assigned workstation, looking at the detailed design document in his hand, and felt a headache coming on.
This was the first time he had ever attempted to cram an entire grand Gothic story into a 2D video game with a file size of only 1MB.
Although I have directed many 9mm short films in the past, that is completely different from video game design.
However, since Lin Lixin trusts me, I must go all out!
He quietly peeked out from between the partitions and looked at the other people in the office.
The developer named Will was engrossed in a sea of code, his fingers flying across the keyboard, completely oblivious to the world around him.
The man named Sid sat back in his chair, shaking his head from time to time and deleting everything he had just written.
It's less of a development department and more of a creative lab.
Everyone is busy with their own things.
There were no deadlines looming over their heads, and no bosses giving orders.
Kojima looked at the document in his hand.
Aside from this document, Lin Lixin didn't give him any other requests, letting him do as he pleased.
this----
This is a dream come true!
Xiaodao dreams of having an environment where he can freely express his creativity.
Sam carried a heavy cardboard box to the hardware department on the third floor of the company.
"Bang"
The cardboard box crashed to the ground, the sound interrupting Lin Lixin and Gerald's discussion.
"Phew—that's about it. I've practically emptied the bookstore."
Sam wiped the sweat from his brow and reached into the box filled with books, randomly pulling one out.
Semiconductor Device Manufacturing Process
"As per your request, most of the semiconductor-related information is here."
"Well done, you've been a great help."
Lin Lixin's eyes lit up, and he quickly carried the box of books to the table and began to sort them out one by one.
"You—are you planning to learn this on the fly again?"
Gerald's eyelids twitched as he looked at the semiconductor-related textbooks.
He had witnessed Lin Lixin's unconventional style of doing things before.
"Otherwise what? We don't have the resources to poach established semiconductor companies right now."
If possible, Lin Lixin would prefer to buy Toshiba outright, thus solving the NAND flash memory and DRAM problems once and for all.
The problem is with the memory.
Although Gerald has a wealth of technical expertise in hardware, it is mostly in the area of assemblies. When it comes to microscopic things like semiconductors, he can be said to know nothing at all.
Vivian simply didn't have the extra manpower to handle this part of the research.
This task naturally fell to Lin Lixin again.
"If we want to develop our 16-bit machine, memory technology is a must-solve. As for storage—there is another technology tree we can try compared to NAND flash memory chips."
Although NAND storage technology is still far from being realized, there is one thing that has already appeared.
Have you ever heard of CDs?
"Disc?"
Gerrard repeated the word, not immediately understanding what Lin Lixin meant.
This is understandable, since CD technology has only just entered the consumer market and is far from becoming widespread.
In particular, the lack of standardized file formats leaves it completely blank in terms of software ecosystem.
Even so, its hardware technology is already relatively mature.
"That's right, a CD."
Lin Lixin suddenly pulled a disc out of his pocket. The disc reflected images like a mirror, and you could vaguely see colored light.
"This is a Sony disc that I asked Xiaozhi to buy in Japan."
Gerald took the disc and glanced at it for a few moments.
This thing is only a little over one millimeter thick, and its diameter should be just over 10 centimeters.
This size is even smaller than a floppy disk.
"How much capacity does this thing have? More than a floppy disk?"
It's worth noting that floppy disks already have a capacity of 1MB, making them, aside from expensive mechanical hard drives, the cheapest high-capacity storage medium available at the time.
Switching to a completely unfamiliar new technology requires a comprehensive overhaul, from the architecture and storage format to the compression algorithm.
In Gerald's view, the amount of work involved has already exceeded the benefits of iterating storage media itself.
"If the benefits aren't too significant, I think keeping the current booster pack model is more cost-effective."
"Um----"
Lin Lixin pondered for a moment, then reached out and took back the light CD, twirling it around his finger a few times.
"This thing is only 1.2mm thick and 12cm in diameter, but—it has a capacity of 700MB."
"Take away the young master?"
Gerrard almost choked on his own.
700MB? Are you serious?
This is on a completely different level from a floppy disk; it's practically cutting-edge technology.
What does 700MB mean?
This is more than enough to hold all of GAMENOVA's games and add-ons to date.
To put it more bluntly, it's enough to store thousands of games from the Atari 2600 all in one place.
A stack of CDs can contain all the video games from ancient times to the present.
"It's that absurd. In my opinion, CD-ROM technology replacing floppy disks is an inevitable trend."
Lin Lixin paused for a moment.
While optical disc technology is powerful, it has one major hurdle to overcome.
patent!
Neither Philips nor Sony would easily license their CD-ROM patents to them.
Even if they were authorized, they couldn't directly use these specifications specifically for storing music.
How to store, address, and layer data is all a blank slate.
but----
Blank spaces often represent opportunities.
"We must do it, and we must do it faster than anyone else!"
Before Sony and Philips have had a chance to figure out their own documentation standards and patented technologies, they must circumvent the patent barriers of the optical disc giants.
"I see----"
Gerrard knew very well what 700MB meant.
If this technology can indeed be implemented on next-generation consoles, even as an external device similar to an extended floppy disk drive, it would be revolutionary for other game developers.
This capacity means they can freely add as many detailed animations, sound effects, and CGs as possible to the game.
Even from a gameplay perspective, every 1KB increases the amount of code that can be stored.
"However, we have absolutely no experience in optical disc technology. If we want to overtake others by taking a shortcut, we will probably need to spend a lot of time on research and development. If Nintendo or Sega catch up by then, our first-mover advantage in 16-bit machines will be gone."
There's one more thing Gerrard didn't mention.
cost.
Every type of storage medium requires a corresponding read drive.
The price of a CD-ROM drive is not necessarily cheaper than that of a floppy disk drive.