Chapter 282 Shi Dazhu's Online Game
"Just set up a necessary small group," Su Yuanshan replied, then added, "Make sure it stays confidential."
Claude let out a light breath, nodded, and lit a cigarette with a crisp snap. After exhaling a smoke ring, he smiled and said, "This sounds like a retirement squad."
"Not necessarily. It might turn out to be a squad of honor," Li Mingliu chimed in. After exchanging a glance with Gao Xiaodi, he added, "So what about our side? Should we also form a necessary team? Or are you taking the lead?"
Li Mingliu knew that the CPU department at Yuanxin had a natural advantage — they had Su Yuanshan, the anomaly. If Su Yuanshan pulled a 64-bit CPU architecture out of thin air right now, Li wouldn't even be surprised.
"I can't," Su Yuanshan said with a sigh. "A 64-bit instruction set has to be designed from scratch, and it's a massive workload. There's no way I can handle that alone. It definitely needs to be a team effort."
"Alright, we'll handle that when we get back," Li nodded. "So, about the next-generation architecture — are we going to refine the Sol architecture, or do something new?"
"The Sol architecture looks advanced for now, but it was designed for the 0.5-micron process. Once we move to more advanced nodes, its limitations will start to show," Su Yuanshan replied with a smile. "So, the next major push should focus on what we can achieve with the 0.18-micron process."
"And not just that — we also need to plan for 0.13 microns and even more advanced nodes..."
Su Yuanshan tapped his pencil on the desk. "Let's think this through — at 0.18 microns, how many transistors can we fit into a core, and how many features can we realistically pack in?"
...
As the software expo approached, the domestic scene was much livelier than the first edition.
As always in China, once the government showed clear support and investment in events like the software expo and the broader field of computer technology, entrepreneurs emerged in droves like mushrooms after the rain.
Internationally, the software scene saw a surge in new publishers, including people like Davidson, which meant that the provincial expo had evolved from a symbolic gesture to something genuinely attracting international attention. If the local government kept this up, international recognition wouldn't be far behind.
Shi Dazhu and Qiu Bojun arrived at Yuanxin the day before the expo.
"Every time I see Yuanxin's tech park, I get the same thought — when are you just going to buy us out and be done with it?" Shi said with a smirk, gazing out over the jagged lake surface, clearly envious.
Compared to Qiu Bojun, Shi exchanged emails with Su Yuanshan far more frequently, so they were much closer.
"Haha, sure, name your price," Su Yuanshan joked back.
"Seriously?"
"...Nope. I wouldn't even have space for you if I did," Su Yuanshan laughed.
They all chuckled.
And honestly, both Shi and Qiu were fine with things as they were — at least they stood on equal footing with Su Yuanshan.
Well... they knew full well that at Yuanxin, Su Yuanshan never acted like a typical boss.
He earned respect through sheer technical brilliance.
"President Shan, from your perspective, do you think online games have a future?"
The three of them had walked into the peach grove and were now sitting around a stone table. Shi Dazhu rested his chin in his hands and asked the question with a serious look in his eyes.
Su Yuanshan was a bit surprised by the question, then turned it back at him just as seriously. "When you say online games, what type do you mean? LAN-based room games? Or more like MUDs?"
Yuanxin's MUD had been up and running for some time, and it had been a huge hit from the start — over two-thirds of the several thousand employees at the tech park had accounts, including Su Yuanshan and Xi Xiaoding.
Su Yuanshan still logged in occasionally just to look around.
That alone showed how powerful it was to be able to interact with "enough people" in the "same world."
"Definitely not LAN games, and not even MUDs," Shi replied.
"I'm talking about massive multiplayer online interactive games."
He glanced at Qiu Bojun and smiled.
"We've discussed it and think it's the direction of the future."
Hearing Shi say "the direction of the future" made Su Yuanshan blink —
Wait, wasn't that phrase supposed to be his trademark?
He chuckled, then nodded.
"Yes, I agree. It's the direction of the future."
Shi's eyes lit up, and he said earnestly, "And it falls within the internet domain... which means we can avoid a lot of interference from traditional software players. No more dealing with Davidson or Kutaragi types."
At this point, Shi and Qiu were recognized as two of the top figures in China's software — especially gaming — industry. To break into Western markets, you either went through console platforms like PlayStation or through publishers like Davidson. Either way, you had to give up a hefty cut.
"That's still a long way off," Qiu interjected. "For now, we still need physical discs and distribution partners."
"True," Su Yuanshan nodded, thinking for a moment. Then he asked,
"But have you considered this — even if online games are one of the future trends,
right now, they're not even allowed domestically.
That leaves only the international market."
"Of course," Shi nodded. "We're definitely targeting the West."
"Online games require massive amounts of data processing and real-time communication on the server side," Su Yuanshan said. "Based on current server architecture and performance, that'll be tough."
"We're not in a rush," Shi and Qiu exchanged glances, then Shi took a deep breath and said,
"Here's our plan, President Shan..."
Su Yuanshan looked at them. "Go ahead."
"We plan to spend three to five years developing an online game," Shi began.
"It will be based on our Eastern mythological creation stories, with a cultivation and ascension system built into it."
"In this game, we'll design a fully standardized translation system —
one that introduces all the vocabulary and concepts of Eastern civilization to the Western market."
"After careful analysis, we found that one of the main barriers to Western players understanding Chinese fantasy is the lack of consistent terminology. It all just seems like a confusing mess."
"But once we standardize the system, we believe we'll have a real chance of penetrating Western gaming circles," Shi said, eyes gleaming with conviction.
He clenched his fist.
"And by the time we launch, domestic computer ownership should have increased enough to provide us with a fallback market."
Qiu Bojun added, "The key is speed.
If we're the first in the world to launch this kind of game, and players embrace this interactive model..."
Su Yuanshan nodded slowly as he listened.
A few seconds later, he asked,
"Why not use a Western-style fantasy setting instead?"
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