PFC Chapter 71 The Arrival of the Premature Year
Chapter 71 The Arrival of the Premature Year
As for the last surprise mentioned in the interview, it was claimed by an anonymous mother, also from New Mexico, just one week later.
According to an interview with an anonymous Wolfenstein expert, to obtain the chainsaw, one must perform a series of seemingly impossible maneuvers on the highest difficulty level.
The chainsaw is more like a "backdoor" deliberately left by the designer; once you get the chainsaw, you can easily cut down your enemies.
That scene could be either incredibly wholesome or incredibly unhealthy.
But the most interesting thing is probably that in the hidden area where the chainsaw is concealed, there is a line of powerful, slashed characters.
'DOOM'
……
Lin Lixin put down the magazine and glanced at the signs outside the car window.
The Micro-Nova project was finally successfully launched before he left home.
As GAMENOVA's first legitimate subsidiary, Micro-Nova's infrastructure is not particularly luxurious.
The studio was about the same size as the hardware department in Santa Clara. Apart from the person in charge, Vivian, only He Guoyuan and Gerald, who would come to help from time to time, supported the entire project team.
Yet it was in this small office that the world's first truly universal graphics card was born.
"how?"
Vivian leaned against the CRT monitor and gently patted it; the screen displayed a crudely rendered image.
Of course, the so-called roughness is from the perspective of Lin Lixin, the time traveler.
Judging from the effect shown on the screen, the performance of this prototype card seems to be comparable to IBM's EGA enhanced graphics adapter.
"That's really beyond my expectations, senior."
Lin Lixin made a compliment, but it wasn't about the card; it was about Vivian.
In his view, Vivian's attributes had undergone a complete transformation since they first met.
The increase in attributes is second only to Carmack's S+.
Not only has its hardware capability doubled, and is about to break the triple digit mark, but its graphics capabilities are also catching up with Ho Kuo-Yuan, who was originally far ahead.
Compared to this graphics card, this is the true pillar of GAMENOVA's future.
Businesses should still prioritize people.
"Hmph, you're not the only genius in this world."
Even Vivian, who was involved in the entire process as the leader, could hardly contain her pride in the effectiveness of NovaWonder.
He Guoyuan put down his work and came forward to briefly explain its specifications:
"Its performance is now comparable to, or even better than, IBM's EGA chip."
His eyes were also filled with excitement, but he quickly suppressed it and changed the subject.
"But I still have to pour cold water on your enthusiasm."
Vivian clearly understood what he meant, shrugged, and tapped a key on the keyboard.
The image immediately changed, from a pure display of performance to a picture that, while not highly detailed, was exceptionally complex in color.
"Currently, the maximum number of colors displayed on screen is still only 16, and the color palette has a capacity of 64, the same as EGA."
"We are also working on resolving this part."
Vivian immediately took over the conversation, pulling a draft from the filing cabinet.
"I intend to abandon the restrictive EGA specification and look for a new specification that is more flexible and universal."
She labeled the draft with the title 'GraphicsArray'.
Below is a somewhat rudimentary architectural design.
"Eat?"
Lin Lixin was startled and quickly took the document to examine it carefully.
According to the description above, Vivian attempted to create a new standard that would allow a device to store four EGA color palettes simultaneously and support rapid conversion.
In her vision, by rapidly switching color palettes, a near-instantaneous color-changing effect could be achieved on the screen.
This color mode, based on register-based multicolor palette storage, seems to be very similar to the VGA standard that IBM will introduce later.
This is no small matter.
Unlike EGA and CGA, which have long been obsolete, VGA is a long-lived standard.
It is also the most widely used interface type on graphics cards.
It was only with the advent of HDMI and DP that it was gradually replaced.
Even after the rapid development of information technology in later generations, VGA pin headers are still commonly found in some low-end devices and school computer labs.
If Vivian really has the ability to snatch the deal from IBM and develop this standard ahead of time...
This is a major project.
"We have to do this!" Lin Lixin immediately decided. "Ideally, we should be able to get it done within two years, so that we can also get a piece of the PC market."
It seems that Micro-Nova really needs to continue expanding.
But what's more important now is this graphics card.
"Let's put color and resolution aside for now. What about its power consumption? And the price?"
This thing is going to be used on their first-generation handheld console; these two things are the most important.
"Aha, I knew you'd ask that."
Vivian blinked and immediately presented her test results.
"With the same visual effect, NovaWonder can save up to 30% of power consumption, and can further reduce power consumption under low power consumption conditions."
She laid out several different circuit boards on the table and gestured for Lin Lixin to look over.
Without Vivian's introduction, Lin Lixin guessed which one was NovaWonder.
Compared to other products, it is much smaller in size, and the components installed on it are also significantly more streamlined and fewer.
"Based on Mr. He's idea, we adopted one ASIC core and three auxiliary chips, totaling 87 components."
"And the cost issue that you're most concerned about..."
She made a "3" shape with her fingers.
"If we continue to optimize and mass-produce, we can control the price to $30 or even lower."
Lin Lixin was slightly surprised.
This price is perfectly acceptable.
Ideally, their first handheld console will be priced around $100, and at most $150.
A cheap and easy-to-use graphics chip is the key to saving costs.
With the Z80Y that was recently ordered, at least cost control won't be so tight.
"We're getting the first batch of wafers out in trial production as quickly as possible, and Gerrard's team is also preparing."
……
A few days later, after settling all his affairs and personally escorting Carmack to Gerald's house, Lin Lixin took Sam and boarded a flight to Japan.
Tokyo.
This city, mired in a false prosperity fueled by an economic bubble, is drastically different from the sparsely built-up California that Lin Lixin and his colleagues are familiar with.
Everywhere you look, there are skyscrapers flashing neon lights, and everywhere you look, there are pedestrians with beaming spirits.
The signing of the Plaza Accord almost overnight created a seemingly glamorous but actually huge bubble.
After a brief overnight rest, the two of them immediately went to their destination.
This is a storefront that isn't very spacious, similar to VideoSoft, but it's very well-organized.
A sign was hanging on the front, clearly displaying their company name.
【Game Freak Co., Ltd.】
The 20-year-old president, Satoshi Tajiri, and illustrator Ken Sugimori were sitting inside.
It's hard to imagine that such a small magazine publishing company, which is still publishing game magazines today, will become a major player under Nintendo in the future.
This is the birthplace of Pokémon, a world-class IP that consistently tops the list of IP value rankings.
Lin Lixin and his group arrived here a full ten years ahead of schedule.