Questions by Brian Perry Jr.
Answered by David Lin – Lead Programmer
Onrpg: How has the development of GodsWar progressed?
David Lin: GodsWar is moving into the first phase of alpha testing in which the primary systems have been finished. The other systems will be improved in following phases after the testing.
Onrpg: Have there been any unexpected difficulties that have come up while programming the game?
David Lin: Well programming is moving forward smoothly because fortunately we have an experienced programming team. Of course bugs are unavoidable, especially in the character clothes-transfer systems, some special effects and our server capability. We spend considerable time and efforts to work out these issues as they arise.
Onrpg: Is it difficult to convert the game from being in Chinese to English, in terms of the code?
David Lin: Not yet. It was in the preliminary stages that we thought of the conversion in language code. This issue was settled by creating different language packages.
Onrpg: Are there things you wanted to do for GodsWar and cannot, or things that you found you could do that you did not think were possible?
David Lin: Yes, we expected to use Flash Effects which could make the visuals gorgeous but, due to the hardware aspects and other related requirements we had to give up on this idea. However, the results of our character’s appearance and the special effects have been out of our expectations. Thanks to the self-reliant engines supporting the visual effects and memorizer requirements, the results have been beyond anything we could expect.
Onrpg: How did you become Lead Programmer for this title?
David Lin: Since the gaming industry is quite new in China, there isn’t any path for professionals to follow while in school. Like most youth, I was full of passion for gaming. I started my career in the gaming industry after I graduated from the computer institute. After six years of developing my skills in this industry, I have accumulated related experience and have ambitions to create good games for all gamers. It could be a coincidence for me to join IGG, but to some degree it is also a necessity because my personal goal conforms to IGG’s. I believe this is the perfect platform to exert my talents fully, so I joined IGG in 2006 and commenced to create GodsWar Online from last year.
Onrpg: What sorts of schooling would you recommend for those who want to become programmers for games?
David Lin: I am happy to see that more and more young people take game programming as their career and nowadays more and more institutions are paying attention to the booming demand for this sort of education. However, in the near future game programming will have more demanding requirements of professional programmers. More knowledge for game technology and symbolic logic must be needed. So I think math is not a bad choice for people who want to become a programmer for games.
Onrpg: Would you even recommend people looking into becoming programmers? It seems that often the coders are unappreciated and take the blame for everything being wrong with a game.
David Lin: It is very important for every one of us to think hard about what progress you want from your future career path, no matter where it may lead. Your decision will have an impact on your occupation planning. Compared with game designers and art designers, what the coders do is easy to be ignored and misunderstood when things go wrong in games. However, the feeling of achievement is great for coders when working out certain difficulties in game programming, which game designers and art designers and other people can never experience.
Onrpg: Have you worked on any other games before?
David Lin: I have participated in some game programming for commercial games. Among them were some that failed but for me they were very precious experiences, especially for the creation of GodsWar. I believe success lies in the accumulation of efforts rather than instantaneous results.
Onrpg: What is your favorite MMORPG?
David Lin: Personally, among the MMORPGs I really like WOW from Blizzard. From the view of a developer, the excellence in WOW production deserves every honor bestowed upon it and it will always be a great example of design excellence. I hope I can learn from other games to improve our own games. Through learning we can perfect our skills, experience and games day by day.
