Bab 10: Chapter 10: Unveiling
"Oh—Damn!!! Is this for real??"
The screen left Ethan in disbelief.
"I told you it's simple!"
Evelyn smirked, "The light gun reaction is technology from the 1920s! Optical motion has been a skill mastered by engineers for many years! So-called electronic games just combine these mature technologies, not a big innovation."
"Can I play it now?"
Ethan turned abruptly, looking at Evelyn with eager eyes.
At this moment, he didn't want to hear any technical explanations! He just wanted to grab the joystick and play! After all, it's 1975!
What lay in front of him was not future software games but pure physical charm!
"Of course."
Ethan's joy made Evelyn happy.
As an engineer, nothing delighted her more than having her creation acknowledged.
"Wait a moment, let me get a joystick."
With these words, Evelyn cut off the power again.
After connecting the remaining wires on the circuit board to the existing joystick, she restarted the system.
This time, the TV screen didn't flicker anymore.
Holding the crude joystick, a silver object with short nails, Ethan was eager to try.
Since the joysticks of this era were mechanically composed of linkages and rocker arms, incapable of rotational motion, one had to use both hands simultaneously, one manipulating left and right, the other up and down, to play the game.
But that didn't matter, right? Ethan had mastered Nokia's flat phone, and this small joystick was a piece of cake!
In less than two minutes, Ethan was already playing skillfully.
As he manipulated the joystick, the sleek white snake moved on the screen. Each time it ate a 'food,' its body grew longer. When the dark world was completely occupied by light, the game came to an end...
"Perfect!"
Staring at the darkened screen, Ethan clenched his fist and swung it vigorously.
"This is exactly what I wanted! It's amazing!"
"Evelyn! Thank you! I really love you!"
He tossed the joystick aside, opened his arms, and excitedly lifted Evelyn, spinning in place.
"Wow~~~"
The sudden enthusiasm caught Evelyn off guard, and she exclaimed.
But the genuine excitement made her face light up with a happy smile.
When they landed again, panting, she flipped her hair and laughed, "Okay! Okay! Ethan! I know you're satisfied! But next time you celebrate, can you not spin with me? My head... it's so dizzy!"
"Alright, I'll try my best!"
Ethan casually nodded, adding, "But I don't know if I can control it. It's just too exciting!"
Ethan was indeed excited because "Snake" was not just a game; it meant numerous dollars! In other places, money might not be everything, but in America, the land of trade where everything is negotiable, money is like a god! Everyone loves those green bills!
However, just as Ethan was about to say something more, a knocking sound suddenly interrupted.
This sound made Ethan furrow his brows in surprise, but Evelyn tilted her head slightly and whispered, "Thomas."
Sure enough, as she opened the inner door leading to the house from the garage, Thomas, dressed in pajamas, walked in.
His face displayed endless anger, a volcano erupting after disrupting a peaceful dream.
"Kids! It's already midnight! Why are you still making so much noise!"
"Evelyn, I know it's the weekend, and you don't have to go to school tomorrow. Ethan, I know you're unemployed and don't have to go to work. But I, your old man, still have to go to the orchard tomorrow morning!"
"Although the spring oranges have already been harvested this year, they will bloom and bear fruit again soon! I'm very busy, you know!"
"I know you two have reconciled! I'm happy about that! But it's time to sleep now!"
"If you have something to discuss, do it tomorrow. So, now, get out of here!"
Spittle flew everywhere as Thomas scolded Ethan and Evelyn.
In the next moment, the two of them raised their eyebrows and shrugged in unison.
Their tacit understanding made them burst into laughter. They quickly packed up their things and left the garage, giving a friendly greeting to Thomas as they went upstairs.
"Goodnight, Uncle Thomas~"
"I love you, Dad~"
"Bang!"
However, no matter how sweet their words were, the response they got was the dull sound of a closing door.
They didn't take it to heart; after all, they had indeed been a bit noisy just now.
Arriving at the door of their respective bedrooms, they bid each other goodnight.
"See you tomorrow, Evelyn."
Ethan waved with a smile.
"See you tomorrow, Ethan."
Evelyn leaned on the door and said, "Don't wake me up before nine, I want to sleep a little longer."
"You are the boss."
Ethan agreed.
Her lazy appearance made him curious, "How do you know I have something to do with you tomorrow?"
"Because I'm a genius!"
Evelyn made a funny face and then said, "Last night, no, at this time, it should be the night before last, when I looked at it, the circuit diagram I hastily made had many flaws. I only designed the photoelectric reaction during the game process and nothing else, so you will definitely ask me to complete it."
"Alright, I admit you're a genius." Ethan nodded and said, "Goodnight."
"Hehe~ Goodnight~"
As Evelyn said, the Snake game Ethan had just played was actually very rough.
No interface, no background music, no sound effects, no scoring indicators, apart from the pure game content, there was nothing else to assist the player in having a better experience. If it were in the 21st century, what Evelyn did would be considered a semi-finished product.
But for now...
Just a successful game process was already considered perfect.
Ethan believed that given enough time, Evelyn, his tech-savvy sister, could turn a circuit board into a game console. The fact was, the next day when he woke up, Evelyn came to ask about Ethan's complete requirements. Then, she started modifying and improving according to Ethan's ideas.
She first remade three circuit boards labeled 1.2.3. for the starting interface of the game.
When the main circuit board labeled 1 started running, the TV screen would display the game logo "Snake Game," and at the same time, it would power on the second circuit board to start the background music.
Then, once the third circuit board labeled 3 detected the player inserting a coin through physical pressure, it would connect the power of the initially made fourth circuit board, allowing the machine to enter the game interface.
Evelyn also made modifications to this fourth circuit board.
Originally, this circuit board directly used the NTSC standard, enclosing the periphery of a 640 by 480 pixel area horizontally and vertically, acting as walls. However, after the modification, the game interface shrunk a bit, with a fixed game name at the top and scoring displayed in the upper right corner.
Every time the player controlled the snake to eat a piece of food, not only would its body grow with its light source, but also the counter would start counting through discharge. When the player's
skill level could be intuitively represented by a score, the game became more enjoyable, stimulating people to compare scores.
Of course, besides the interface change, the fourth circuit board also connected to a music circuit board. Ethan recorded the sound of himself eating an apple for half a day, and now, every time the snake ate something, a crunching sound would play through the speakers.
After completing all the core components, it had already been a week.
Next, Ethan spent more than a day putting them in a casing.
It looked like a 'big refrigerator,' and if one had to describe it, it was quite similar to a future self-service payment machine.
With the arrival of April 13, 1975, this arcade machine labeled "Snake Game" finally made its debut.
Looking at the guy painted with green paint, crude but not ugly, Ethan was satisfied.
"At least we didn't embarrass our fellow townspeople."
He patted the back of this contraption.
"What are you talking about?"
In the past week, Evelyn, who had been attending classes during the day and building machines at night, was tired but happy and didn't understand.
"Nothing." Ethan smiled and said, "What I mean is, the next step is to sell it."
Evelyn, who had known about this step in advance, was not surprised. However, she had something to say about Ethan's eagerness.
"No, there's one more thing before that."
The tone of her words made Ethan stunned, "What?"
"Magnavox." Evelyn mentioned the name of Ethan's former company.
"Oh!" This reminder made Ethan suddenly realize.
He nodded with a smile, "Yes, there's one more thing. We need to find a lawyer to deal with that damn copyright issue!"
"Bingo!"
Ethan's reaction satisfied Evelyn, and this time, it was her turn to snap her fingers.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone