stjorthotic Chapter 361 Engineer Liu's Questioning
Chapter 361 Engineer Liu's Questioning
Hearing what Engineer Liu said, Lu Ran glanced at him and his opinion of Engineer Liu improved.
Being able to immediately recognize that the redstone system is Turing complete demonstrates that this person has a very solid theoretical foundation.
"Yes. The redstone system is Turing complete. In theory, players can use redstone to build any computer program in Minecraft. From simple logic circuits to complex data operations, it can all be achieved."
The meeting room fell silent again.
Half of the people in the room didn't know what the term "Turing complete" meant.
But those who knew the truth had very subtle expressions on their faces.
It wasn't surprise; it was an indescribable expression, somewhere between awe and fear.
"Mr. Lu," Engineer Liu's voice was a little hoarse, "Do you know what Turing completeness means?"
"Know."
"Are you really going to put a Turing-complete system in a game?"
"real."
After a long silence, Engineer Liu said something that made everyone laugh: "You're crazy."
Lu Ran laughed as well: "I'm not crazy. I want players to create their own worlds in my game, not to play content that I've pre-arranged for them in my world. The redstone system is the core of this concept. The things players build with redstone are more amazing than anything I can imagine. I don't need to teach players how to play; I just need to give them a powerful enough tool, and they'll find the fun on their own."
Engineer Liu returned to his seat and sat down without uttering any further questions.
Old Wang was still flipping through the code when he suddenly looked up and asked, "Mr. Lu, is the algorithm you used for generating this world using Berlin noise?"
"right."
"No wonder the map looks so natural. Berlin noise is the most suitable for terrain generation, but few people use it well. Your parameters are so precise; the valleys, rivers, and mountains all look so natural. How did you adjust them?"
Lu Ran smiled and said, "It took a long time to adjust. We went through hundreds of versions before finally settling on this one."
He can't say that the parameter was given directly by the system; he can only say that he adjusted it himself.
Old Wang didn't ask any further questions and lowered his head to continue looking at the code.
Lu Ran glanced at the reaction from the audience.
Those who had looked puzzled before now had changed expressions.
I didn't fully understand the value of the game, but I was stunned by the complete, playable, and unimaginably high-quality finished product in front of me.
Lu Ran mentally gave himself a thumbs up. He knew these people wouldn't believe him just by looking at the plan; he needed to show them something real.
A 10,000-word proposal is not as effective as a playable demo.
He closed his laptop, put away the projector, and stood back in front of the whiteboard.
"Just now, Engineer Liu raised a question, saying that Minecraft's graphics are all blocks, and players might find it too simplistic. Let me answer that question."
He wrote a word on the whiteboard: performance.
"You all know how high the system requirements are for EA's Wildlands. A dedicated graphics card, 8GB of RAM, and many players' computers simply can't run it. Minecraft, on the other hand, can run with an integrated graphics card, 2GB of RAM, and basically any computer can handle it. Because the blocks are so simple, it doesn't need complex rendering, high-precision models, or a lot of texture mapping. This performance advantage is something EA can never catch up with. They can't sacrifice graphics quality for performance, because graphics are their core selling point. Minecraft has never had the burden of graphics from the beginning, so it can optimize to the extreme."
He added another line: recognizability.
"All games on the market are striving for realistic graphics, making them more and more similar. You can't tell them apart without seeing the logos. Minecraft is different. You can tell it's my world just by looking at the blocks. This kind of distinctiveness can't be bought with any amount of money. Some people might say that this art style is too childish, like a children's game. But think about it, what's wrong with children's games? Children's games mean that all ages can play them. There's no issue of 'this game is too hardcore and I don't understand it.' A low barrier to entry is not a bad thing for a game."
He wrote the third word on the whiteboard: creativity.
"The simple graphics have another advantage: players' attention won't be distracted by the visuals, and they'll focus on the gameplay. In other games, you go in and admire the scenery first, taking screenshots to post on social media. In Minecraft, the first thing you do is chop down trees, build houses, mine, and fight monsters. You can't stop; you don't have time to stop and admire the scenery. Because the scenery isn't that great, but this dilapidated block world is so captivating that you can't put your mouse down. That's the magic of Minecraft."
Lu Ran put down his marker and looked at the audience: "After saying so much, I just want to say one thing. Don't judge my world by the standards of visuals. My world isn't something you see with your eyes, it's something you play with your brain. If you think it's ugly, it's because you haven't gotten into it yet. Once you get into it, you'll find that those blocks are the most pleasing things to the eye in the world."
After a moment of silence in the meeting room, someone started clapping.
The applause grew louder and louder, and even Engineer Liu clapped a few times, though he seemed a little reluctant.
After the applause subsided, Lu Ran put the marker back in the whiteboard tray: "Alright, enough with the pleasantries, let's get down to business. The development of Minecraft is divided into three phases. The first phase is the code digestion period. You'll all read through the code I've given you from beginning to end, and only start working on it after you understand it. This phase is expected to last two weeks. After two weeks, everyone will submit a code analysis report, telling me how the module you're responsible for is implemented, where it can be optimized, and where it needs to be rewritten. Anyone who can't write a code analysis report won't be involved in this project."
"The second phase is the localization period. The underlying architecture of this code is fine, but some parts don't suit the habits of Chinese players. For example, the default key bindings, default settings, and default gameplay. These all need to be changed until Chinese players find it convenient to use. This phase is expected to last a month. After a month, we will release an internal test version, which we will play with ourselves in the company and fix any problems we find in a timely manner."
"The third stage is the formal development phase. Only after the first two stages are completed will the real development work begin. At that time, you will propose what features to add, what system modifications to make, and what optimizations to perform, and I will decide. There is no timetable for this stage; we will continue until we are satisfied."
He glanced at the audience: "Any problems?"
Old Wang raised his hand: "President Lu, is two weeks enough to digest the code? This code is very large; we can't finish reading it in two weeks."
"If you can't finish reading it, work overtime to read it. Keep working until you finish."
Old Wang opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again.
Zhao Yiming raised his hand: "Brother Lu, can I skip the other modules and focus solely on studying the Redstone system? I find that system incredibly interesting, and I want to master it."
"Okay. You'll focus solely on researching the redstone system. Give me a progress report every week."
"receive."
Zhang Hao raised his hand: "Brother Lu, can I see the world generation algorithm? I want to figure out how you tuned the parameters of your Berlin noise, and then do some optimizations based on that."
"Sure. You'll specialize in world generation algorithms. Like Zhao Yiming, you'll submit a progress report every week."
Engineer Liu sat in the back row, neither raising his hand nor speaking.
Lu Ran looked at him: "Engineer Liu, what are your thoughts?"
Mr. Liu paused for a moment, then said, "Mr. Lu, I have a question. This code wasn't written by you, was it?"
The atmosphere in the meeting room suddenly became tense.
Lu Ran looked at Engineer Liu, his expression unchanged: "Why do you say that?"
"Because of inconsistent styles," said Engineer Liu. "I looked at several pieces of code, and some parts were written very skillfully, like a veteran with more than ten years of experience. Other parts were written very casually, like a newbie who just entered the industry. One person cannot write code with two different styles unless two people wrote it."
Lu Ran laughed: "When did I say that I wrote this all by myself? I said before that some parts were helped by others, and we signed a confidentiality agreement so I can't reveal them. If you don't believe me, you can ask Brother Zhou; he knows about this."
Engineer Liu glanced at him but didn't ask any further questions.
Lu Ran did indeed inform Zhou Mingzhe about this matter.
Although Zhou Mingzhe didn't know where these codes came from, he knew that some things shouldn't be asked.
Lu Ran said there was a confidentiality agreement, so there is a confidentiality agreement. As for who the other party to the agreement is, it's not important.
After the meeting, Lu Ran walked out of the conference room with a cane, and Lao Wang followed him.
"Mr. Lu, are you sure you don't need to explain Engineer Liu's question just now?"
"What's there to explain? The more he thinks about it, the more convinced he becomes. If I don't explain, he'll find it mysterious; if I do explain, I'll give myself away. Let him guess; he'll never figure it out, no matter how long he tries."
Old Wang shook his head: "You're too good at hiding your true colors."
"It's not that I'm hiding things, it's just that there are some things I can't say." Lu Ran patted Lao Wang on the shoulder. "You only need to know one thing. Minecraft will definitely be a success. Not because I'm confident in it, but because I know players need it."
How do you know players need it?
"Because I am a player. I know what players want and what they don't want."
Old Wang watched his retreating figure, stood in the corridor for a long time, before turning back to the technical department.
When Lu Ran returned to his office, Shen Yuege had already left. A note was left on the coffee table: "I've gone to the studio. I'll be back tonight. Your leg isn't healed yet, so try not to walk too much."
Lu Ran smiled, folded the note, put it in his pocket, sat back behind his desk, opened the Minecraft folder, and began to look at the code line by line.
Although he knew there was nothing wrong with the code, he still wanted to look at it.
It wasn't because he was worried, but because he wanted to figure out how the technological system of this world differed from that of his previous life.
Only by understanding the underlying principles can you avoid making mistakes when developing other games in the future.
The sky outside the window gradually darkened; winter comes early in Shanghai.
Lu Ran sat alone in his office, staring at the dense lines of code on his computer screen, a slight smile playing on his lips.
My world is finally about to appear in this world.
He recalled his past life, in a dilapidated rented room, the scene where he first opened "My World" and was so shocked by that blocky world that he was speechless.
The shock didn't come from the visuals, but from an indescribable feeling—this world is alive, it belongs to me, and I can do anything here.
He wanted to bring this feeling to players around the world.
It's not about making money, it's not about beating EA, it's not about proving anything.
He simply wanted to share the feeling that had shocked him with others.
That's it.
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