Game development begins with destroying Girls' Frontline.

Matteo had only been in the game for a maximum of ten minutes, and he was still planning how to design the newly randomly generated map when he received a phone call.

"Lorenzo? Why is he calling?"

Lorenzo was Matteo's classmate, or more accurately, his college classmate. The two often hung out together in college because they shared common interests.

They also established a simulation management game club at the university.

Matteo answered the phone, and almost the instant the call connected, Lorenzo's excited voice came from the other end.

"Matto! Did you see the news?!"

"News? What news?"

Matteo was a little confused. He hadn't had time to read the game news today, and went straight to his computer to start a new save file as soon as he got home.

"You still don't know?! Julius Caesar got a remake, and a new game too!! There's also a remake of Rise of the Dragon, and a new Rise of the Dragon game!! The forums are going crazy! And you don't know?!"

Lorenzo's voice almost pierced the telephone receiver.

"What?! Julius Caesar 5?! Really?! I didn't receive any news about it."

Matteo jumped up from his chair, his first thought being to check the date on his computer to confirm that it wasn't April Fool's Day.

Matteo didn't even hang up the phone.

I started searching for Caesar 5 directly in the game library.

However, to his surprise, the search returned a blank page.

"Lorenzo! How can you be so boring? There's nothing there at all!"

Matteo sat back down in his chair, his tone very unpleasant due to the dramatic ups and downs in his emotions.

"What? No? Oh, I see, you searched for it on Steam, right? This time it's published by Spark, you need to download Spark. Okay, I'm not chatting with you anymore, I'll be home soon!! Let's play together online later!!"

Lorenzo hung up the phone hastily, leaving Matteo sitting blankly in front of the computer.

He paused for a few seconds, then reacted, immediately opened his browser, and typed in "Spark Games Platform".

"Spark Games Platform? Really?"

Matteo is no stranger to Spark Games, after all, any gamer has seen a lot of news about Spark Games in the past year or two.

However, before today, Matteo was only someone I had heard of.

His computer does not have the Spark Games platform installed.

Why? There's no particular reason. They're just used to Steam and don't want to get used to a new platform. It's that simple. This is also why many middle-aged gamers, despite knowing that Starfire offers many discounts, haven't downloaded it.

Matteo muttered to himself as he quickly downloaded and installed the Spark Games platform.

After installation, he couldn't wait to open the platform, where the homepage prominently displayed the title "Spark Game Festival: Classics Reborn, Future Sets Sail".

Matteo's heart suddenly started racing.

"Could it really be true!?"

With a hint of anticipation, Matteo clicked on the promotional posters and immediately spotted the trailer covers for "Julius Caesar 5" and "Rise of the Dragons 2".

He took a deep breath and clicked on the trailer for "Julius Caesar 5".

Matteo was stunned when the scene appeared.

"Yes! It's true!!"

The brand-new 3D engine has brought the game's graphics to an unprecedented level. The details of Roman-style architecture are perfectly presented, the patterns on marble columns are clearly visible, the pedestrians on the streets are lifelike, and even their clothing is full of historical feel.

The trailer showcases several core gameplay elements: city building, resource management, resident needs, and cultural development.

These classic elements have been preserved, while new mechanisms have been added, such as a dynamic weather system, historical event missions, and multiplayer cooperative modes.

"This...this is the sequel I've been dreaming of!"

Matteo muttered to himself, his eyes fixed on the screen.

At the end of the trailer, the scene freezes on a panoramic view of a magnificent city of Rome, and the subtitles slowly appear.

"Julius Caesar 5 - See you in Rome."

Almost instantly, Matteo felt his eyes welling up with tears. Without a second's hesitation, he went straight to the purchase page.

The price is 29 euros, and there is also a bundle with the Julius Caesar remastered version priced at 49 euros.

Matteo didn't even blink before clicking on the bundle.

Then, activating the Spark account, linking the credit card, and making the payment—things that Matteo previously found troublesome—were no longer troublesome.

All in one go.

Looking at the download progress bar, Matteo took a deep breath, his heart filled with excitement and anticipation.

The game download and installation would take time, so Matteo immediately opened a forum he frequently logged into.

Wow! It's so lively!

Normally, this forum only has a few active posts a day.

However, today, the forum's homepage was almost completely flooded with this content.

Unsurprisingly, almost all the posts were discussing news from the Spark Games Festival, especially the announcements of Caesar V and Rise of the Dragons 2, which excited countless veteran gamers.

Some old IDs that Matteo hadn't seen in a long time also appeared on the forum.

"Ha! I can't believe I still remember this account! I even found a post from twelve years ago! Even though twelve years have passed, Julius Caesar 5 is actually here!"

Chapter 549 The Unleashing of Creativity

"There have been so many game remasters lately, and Warcraft 3 is coming out tomorrow too."

"There's still half a life left to reset."

"I only have one thing to say: Long live Spark!!"

"Does Xinghuo have a branch in Italy? I really want to go and tell them in person how well they did!!"

Matteo quickly browsed through the posts and couldn't resist posting one himself.

"I just finished watching the trailer for Julius Caesar 5, and I'm so excited I can't speak!"

The post also included a screenshot of the download he casually took, and dozens of replies flooded in immediately after it was published.

"Same here! The visuals in the trailer are stunning, completely exceeding my expectations!"

"I'm also waiting for the download."

"Haha, I've already downloaded it, I'm going to start the game now."

Not only on the forums, but also on social media, the lineup of games for the Spark Reset Game Festival has already sparked a heated discussion in the community.

Players are discussing the major announcements from this year's Spark Games Festival, especially the unveiling of "Caesar V" and "Rise of the Dragons 2," which brought tears to the eyes of countless veteran players.

Both of these IPs are typical examples of games with a good reputation but not particularly high popularity.

However, this type of game often has a very loyal user base.

Just like Cyndi Wang's resurgence in popularity in China, veteran players simply rarely speak out on the internet for various reasons. They're just old, not dead.

In particular, the remakes of these two games came out of nowhere.

It sprang out like Sun Wukong.

It was naturally a pleasant surprise.

Just then, Matteo's computer beeped, indicating that the game download was complete.

Matteo immediately closed the forum and eagerly clicked the start button.

The first game to finish downloading was the remastered version of Julius Caesar. As the game's loading screen appeared and familiar Roman-style music began to play, Matteo's heart began to race.

As the screen gradually lit up, the familiar UI appeared in front of Matteo.

Both simulation games in this version, namely the remastered versions of "Rise of the Dragon" and "Julius Caesar", use a new technology: 2.5D high-definition pixel rendering.

This is also a technology that Spark developed specifically for resetting old games.

Even if we only consider the core gameplay of older games like this, they are not outdated by today's standards.

Take Rise of the Dragons as an example. Many players still enjoy playing it. For such a game, the biggest challenge in making a remake is to maintain the continuity of the style while iterating and upgrading the art.

Furthermore, the art upgrades shouldn't be too excessive, especially for games that were originally 2D. If they are completely upgraded to 3D, they will lose their unique charm.

This is the difficulty in remastering classic games.

The goal was to make it modern, but not too modern. After a long period of deliberation, the production team of Spark finally came up with a solution.

This solution uses 2.5D high-definition pixel rendering.

This technology was popularized in Octopath Traveler, used in Heroes of Might and Magic III Remastered, and has been iterated upon in the upgrades of several older games.

It has become very mature by now.

Its most distinctive feature is that while preserving as much detail as possible from the original work, it uses lighting and modeling to make the visuals more suitable for modern resolutions and more beautiful.

"This...this is just too, too beautiful."

The remastered version of Julius Caesar also used the same technology.

Although the game is called "Julius Caesar Remastered", the core of the remaster is not the first game, but Julius Caesar 3.

This is because the first edition of the Caesar the Great was released in 1993.

It's not like Rise of the Dragons, where the building system is already very sophisticated.

However, the first Julius Caesar was rather crude.

Spark Remastered Studios ultimately chose to focus on Julius Caesar 3 as the core of their graphical overhaul.

Although the remastered graphics were quite good and looked very appealing, Matteo reluctantly closed the game because just now...

The sound of "Julius Caesar 5" download complete has already been heard.

Cancel the remastered version.

At this moment, Matteo was like an emperor with countless concubines, captivated by countless beauties.

As a player of simulation games, he had never experienced this kind of happiness for a very long time... or rather, never at all.

So much so that when Matteo exited the remastered version, he actually felt a clear sense of guilt.

Of course, this feeling of guilt vanished the moment Julius Caesar 5 appeared.

They really do say men are all heartless jerks...

~~~

The opening UI of Julius Caesar 5 is very simple, with options such as starting the game on the left and a magnificent Roman city on the right.

"This scene... is so beautiful!"

Matteo couldn't help but exclaim in amazement.

The game's graphics are even more exquisite than what was shown in the trailer. The textures of the marble buildings, the pedestrians on the streets, and the distant mountains are all incredibly lifelike.

He couldn't wait to start the new game.

Why are city-building simulation games so fun?

Everyone may have their own answer, but as a game developer, Lin Li has broken it down in detail when communicating with several remake studios.

The reason for studying this separately is that many classic old games have elements of simulation management and construction.

If you don't understand this point, you're likely to run into problems when making remakes of games or sequels to remake game IPs.

simply put.

The core appeal of all city-building simulation games can be attributed to the release of creativity.

In Minecraft and LEGO toys, this release of creativity allows players to build anything they want using blocks or bricks.

In city-building simulation games, this unleashing of creativity allows players to design and build their own cities from scratch.

Whether it's planning roads, dividing areas, or designing building layouts, players can create unique cities according to their own imagination and aesthetics.

This release of creativity gives players a strong sense of control and satisfaction.

Of course, city-building games are not just about simply "laying blocks". To make the game fun, it also needs to provide players with a complex yet simple system of resource management, economic planning and population-related aspects.