Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 189: Minesweeper

If nothing unexpected happens, in Ethan's previous life, anyone who had experienced the baptism of the computer age should have played the video game "Minesweeper".

Because it can be played while slacking off at work, can be appreciated during computer class breaks, can be used to kill time when the computer is disconnected from the Internet, and can even train people's observation, judgment, and reaction speed.

Its shipment volume is impossible to count, just like Snake. As a built-in game in Windows 3.1, even if Microsoft had permanently deleted it from the Windows appendix before Ethan traveled through time, its shipment volume would still be framed and hung on the wall by Microsoft, because the performance of Minesweeper is the industry massacre history of Windows, and it witnessed Microsoft conquering the world with its iron hoof.

To be honest, when Ethan first came to this world and the producer (plagiarized) the plan (catalog) (recorded), he considered the game "Minesweeper" because it was too famous. Just like "Snake" which spread all over the world with Nokia, it was almost known to everyone.

But after thinking for a while, Ethan gave up. There were three reasons for this.

First of all, the game "Minesweeper" cannot be made directly with circuit boards. The key to its creation is actually the civilian use and popularization of central processing units. When Ethan wrote his life plan, he had not yet obtained 6502. When the hardware problem could not be overcome, making "Minesweeper" was simply a pipe dream.

Secondly, the threshold for playing the electronic game "Minesweeper" is quite high, which is actually contrary to the short, flat and fast gameplay of electronic arcades. "Snake" is popular because it is easy to play, and even Patrick can understand the up, down, left and right operations. "Pac-Man" is popular because the only operation method is moving, and children can understand it at a glance. Not to mention "Star Wars", their operation even has one less key position than the previous two. And what about "Minesweeper"? Just the digital display in the game will make countless players dumbfounded without reading the instructions.

Finally, when Ethan Jones's head is filled with games...

Wouldn't it be nice if I copied "Northern Cube"?

Why copy "Minesweeper"?
Isn't this a brain disease?

Do you have to go against money?
Because of this, Ethan threw the game "Minesweeper" directly into the trash can, and then wrote "Snake", "Pac-Man", "Northern Cube" and other words on his life plan.

If you want to do it, then do the one that is famous and makes the most money!
But unfortunately, the idea is beautiful, but the reality is very bleak. When Ethan made a lot of money from "Snake", "Pac-Man" and "Star Wars", Evelyn's words in "Northern Cube" that "the chip is not good and can't be made" were like a bucket of cold water, which made him feel cold and excited.

He already has the most powerful consumer-grade chip on the planet, but this thing doesn't work?
This is so frustrating!

What made Ethan even more uncomfortable was that he didn't realize until then that he, who didn't understand technology, didn't seem to know which games could be installed on 6502. When he himself was not sure which games could be copied, the annoying feeling made him almost scratch his head bald.

As for pulling out a bunch of games for Evelyn to identify?
Ah--

If he really brought out a bunch of "inspirations" like Doraemon, Evelyn would definitely pry open his brain to see if there was any dimensional pocket inside.

You know, this guy has been curious about his creative abilities for a long time!

And she is good at hands-on work! She can dissect him!
Therefore, in the case of not revealing his identity, Ethan could only think for himself. While treating "Contra" as a escort masterpiece, looking for some games that would not steal the limelight of the game but could be produced with 6502? This became a tangled matter for Ethan.

But now, with the emergence of "Minesweeper", everything has been solved!
"The game Minesweeper is actually very simple. It has two modes. The simple mode is a 9×9 board with ten mines. The advanced mode is a 16×16 board with forty mines. As long as the player can find the location of the mines, he will be considered successful."

"The grids around the mine will provide players with digital clues. For example, if I draw a 3×3 grid and the mine is in the middle, then the eight grids around it will all have the number 1, which means there is a mine in their immediate grid. If there are two mines in these nine grids, for example, one in the middle and another in the middle of the first row, then except for the bottom row of grids which will display the number 1, the other four grids will all display the number 2."

"Of course, this kind of hint will not be given at the beginning of the game. At the beginning of the game, there will be no hint on the interface. Only after the player has completed the first step of demining and has not stepped on a mine, the surrounding grid he has selected will show the background color and give the player some numerical hints. Then the player can continue playing according to the hints."

“Can this game be completely random?”

"If that's not possible, then we can do pseudo-randomness."

"Just like what you told me when we were making Pac-Man, about the maximum number of levels that an 8-bit processor can handle, we'll make 100 levels each for the simple mode and advanced mode, and then display them to the players in a random manner."

Holding his sister's hand and returning home, Ethan took the girl directly into the garage prepared for them by Thomas and Linda, and presented the game "Minesweeper" to Evelyn in the form of a painting.

The reason why he said that MOS 6502 can definitely support this game is that he never thought of making this game like Microsoft's game that uses algorithms to generate mines and randomizes the game levels. Instead, he manually made maps for simple and advanced levels, and then used the extraction method to make players mistakenly believe that they are playing a very cool and completely random game.

Although players will definitely see through the design of this game after playing it for a long time, it doesn’t matter at all, right? Because the game "Minesweeper" does not provide players with any information at the beginning. When the starting interface is blank, even if the player has memorized the recipe, the first step is still up to fate.

“We can do it.” Evelin, who was holding the table with both hands, smiled and looked at the expectant face, and said, “If you don’t want it to be completely random, then this game is very easy to make.”

"Okay! It's him!" Ethan clapped his hands, excited.

After confirming Minesweeper, they had three first-run games for their console. Although their lineup was really shabby compared with Atari and MILOVA, it didn't matter, because games of this era were sold on inspiration, and the novel mode of Contra could beat them all.

"Yes! I finally don't have to listen to my brain cells wailing!" Ethan waved his fist.

“What?” Evelyn didn’t understand.

"A lot of them died just thinking about the game." Ethan pointed to his temple.

"Oh—" This metaphor made Evelyn's eyes narrowed with laughter. At the same time, she poured cold water on Ethan, "But I think it's not as interesting as the block game you brought out before."

"Yes, I know." Ethan nodded, "But enough is enough."

"The main game promoted by our console is the shooting game. It is like a red flower shining brightly, and the other games are just green leaves. As long as they are interesting and playable, that's enough. They don't need the players' praise. What they do is to let players kill time when they are bored, and at the same time, make our game library look less shabby."

Ethan could actually just bring all the best-selling games to the console, but that would do more harm than good. In business operations, there can only be one fist product in a promotion. If there are too many fist products, consumers will be overwhelmed, which is very detrimental to the promotion and maintenance of the product.

"Okay, since you think it's okay, then do it." Evelyn asked, "Or me?"

"Uh-huh." Ethan raised his eyebrows and spoke with the tip of his nose.

"It's the same as before. You can draw the two hundred chessboards and arrange the mines yourself. I have a lot of work on hand right now and don't have time to do this. Okay?" Evelyn poked the paper on the table. "Okay." Ethan smiled and nodded.

Unless Evelyn is unwilling to make the game herself, Ethan will never let someone else make the inspiration from his previous life. Don't ask why; the answer is that he doesn't trust her.

After Ethan took over Evelyn's work arrangement, he started staying in the office the next day to design chessboards and lay mines. At first he thought this was a simple thing, but after drawing more, he found that he couldn't even say the four Arabic numerals 1, 2, 3, and 4 when they were placed in front of him.

The situation where you understand the meaning but are speechless is very similar to the situation in a novel where the same word appears crazily in a chapter. If I have to describe it, it's actually vomiting.

Ethan thought he could hold on, but when he finished drawing the fifteenth chessboard and took out a ruler to draw the sixteenth square, he suddenly smelled the smell of pencil and covered his mouth.

"vomit--"

"vomit--"

"vomit--"

He retched a few times.

“Fuck—”

“How disgusting—”

Throw the ruler away, throw away the pencil, and take a break.

Although drawing sickness would slow down the development of Minesweeper, the delay of Minesweeper was harmless when the console was just completed and Contra was just being developed. Ethan even had time to deal with other matters. For example, he split the factory of Destiny Game and renamed it Michael Blanco Electronics Manufacturing Company, and announced the collective incentive plan of 15% of the shares and the subsequent employee incentive plan of 15%.

In the process, he also heard a lot of good news.

First, Roger Klein, the head of PepsiCo, was finally poached by Venlock. He came to Cupertino at the end of March and reported to Apple. After a conversation, Apple's two Steves, Ethan, Venlock, and Roger Klein reached a consensus to hire Roger Klein as the CEO of Apple Computer with an annual salary of $200,000.

At the same time, the company also set up a stock option incentive plan for him. After Wenlock joined, Apple Computer's total share capital was expanded to 300 million shares. Based on this, after Roger Corian joined, if Apple's total revenue exceeded 500 million in the next three years, the company would issue him 5 million shares at a price of one US dollar per share to reward his contribution to the company.

Under normal circumstances, when standard stock options are exercised, the incentive recipients usually subscribe for shares with their own funds. However, in order to make him work better for the company, Apple also decided to provide him with a certain amount of exercise bonus. During his three years in office, if the weighted average return on net assets after deducting non-recurring gains and losses is higher than 10%, he can get an exercise bonus of 10% of the net profit each year. Of course, if the total amount of exercise bonus finally issued is greater than the price of the subscribed shares, then the exercise bonus will be issued based on the total amount of subscribed shares.

To put it simply, if Apple's performance is super good, he can get 5 million shares of Apple stock for free at a purchase price of 5 million, and the money will be paid by the company.

At the same time that Roger Corian received the incentive, Ethan also confronted Wenlock and made the two Steves re-sign salary contracts with the company and obtain corresponding incentive plans.

After all, no matter how much loss you suffer, you can’t let your own people suffer, right?
Compared with Spielberg and Lucas, Wozniak and Jobs were extremely kind to him. The former had helped him make several games at a basic salary and optimized "Snake", and the latter's lucky star attribute helped him solve many problems.

In addition to the incentive plan, a nine-member board of directors was also established. The two Steves took three seats each, Jobs became chairman, Ethan got two, and the last one went to Venlock.

After solving the problem on Apple's side, good news came from Hollywood that the production team of "Alien" was finally pulled out. No one was available in North America, and the famous director John Bull was a little afraid that the Colombian check forgery case would burn into the crew. Spielberg and Lucas went to the UK to find a director and also chose the young Ridley Scott as fate would have it.

Yes, that’s right, it’s the young people.

Although Ridley Scott was born in 1977, older than Spielberg and Lucas, it is impossible for him to start his career in the film industry at a time comparable to Spielberg, who had been playing with film since he was a child. Moreover, he only won the Best Debut Award at Cannes last year ().

In terms of seniority, Spielberg and Lucas are actually his predecessors.

But these things are not important. After he signed the directing contract, Universal immediately started casting in New York and London. At the same time, Industrial Light and Magic also worked at a rapid pace to polish the alien creature model according to the ideas of Ridley Scott, Spielberg and Lucas.

The first phase of the investment of two million US dollars was jointly borne by Destiny Pictures and Universal. This speed also made Ethan speechless, because he really couldn't figure it out. Are Spielberg and Lucas really a spinning top? Something that could be done quickly was delayed for a long time!
However, he would only complain about this kind of thing with Evelyn behind closed doors. As time went by, April arrived, and the 50th Academy Awards was also held in Los Angeles.

The biggest winner this year was Woody Allen, who won three major awards for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay for "Annie Hall," and made Diane Keaton the Best Actress.

"Star Wars" won all the technical awards. Because of its unparalleled contribution to the film industry, the Oscar organizing committee also awarded them special achievement awards.

Another film that won the same award was "Close Encounters of the Third Kind".

There is no way. Although "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" lost to "Star Wars" in technical awards and could not compare with "Star Wars" in box office and influence, the stunning alien spacecraft can still be on par with the Millennium Falcon in "Star Wars".

Before the Oscars, Spielberg and Lucas invited Ethan.

But Ethan declined, saying he was working on a new game.

However, after the awards were presented, he also called both of them to congratulate them.

The completion of all internal and external affairs gave Ethan some quiet time. He stayed in the office drawing the levels of Minesweeper. Just when he thought that April would pass peacefully and May would come quietly, and that he would be a little busy until the new product launch conference...

On the afternoon of April 18, 1978, Steve Ballmer, the bald man, knocked on the door of his office again. "Boss, there's news from Washington."

"Ah?" Ethan was confused by the incoherent words.

Ballmer explained: "The Senate passed the canal by 68 to 32."

(End of this chapter)