Although Evelyn's production ideas were very clear, and Woz's joining made Ethan even more confident, programming was still like mathematics — not the kind of science and technology where ideas turn into reality just by talking about them.
Even if Evelyn's analysis was logical and well thought out, everyone knew that the personalities of the four ghosts were the core selling point of Pac-Man. But when it came to writing code, everything still had to be done step by step.
They had to first design the level and the character the player would control. Only after the map and objectives were set could the ghosts have room to "play."
At this stage, even though Ethan didn't know how to code, he couldn't just sit aside like some big boss. Evelyn slapped the scratch paper in front of him and asked him to convert 0, 1, 2, and 3 into symbols that the computer could understand.
Simply put:
0 represented a road.
1 represented a wall.
When displayed on the computer as a horizontal sequence, a machine-readable map would appear.
2 represented the spawn point for both the protagonist and the ghosts, as well as the little room the ghosts returned to after death. Without these coordinates, Pac-Man wouldn't even be able to start.
As for 3… that marked the locations of the power pellets.
Once these key coordinates were confirmed, the chase code could be properly established. The ghosts' dynamic monitoring would calculate paths along 0s (roads) while avoiding 1s (walls) — and of course, avoiding the 2s representing their "home."
This job wasn't hard, just tedious. It only took Ethan a few minutes to get the hang of it, but while helping, countless question marks popped up in his head.
"In other words, does the 8-bit CPU mean we have to hand-draw all 255 level maps ourselves?"
"Of course!" Evelyn replied without hesitation. "Or do you expect the program to generate the maps by itself?"
"Can't you write that kind of code?" Ethan asked cautiously.
That question made Evelyn laugh. Shaking her head, she said,
"Oh, Ethan, I admit you have a talent for game design. Maybe it's because you have an imagination that ordinary people can't match, so you naturally start thinking ahead of current technology.
But the technology you're talking about — procedurally generating maps — might be possible in the future, not now. Your idea currently only exists in the outlines of academic papers written by professors at top universities.
Yes, we all hope to use this kind of technology to liberate human productivity. But as of now… it hasn't been achieved."
Hearing his sister's explanation, Ethan immediately understood why she had said earlier that the production time of this game might have to be measured in years.
Manually programming 255 maps would take a massive amount of time. Writing the AI for the four ghosts would kill even more brain cells. And perhaps worst of all would be the testing phase after the game was finished — making sure that on every single one of those 255 maps, the four ghosts could perfectly hunt the player.
Because once the game launched, that one-sided "player experience" was all that mattered.
"F*ck, how long is this going to take?" Ethan groaned. In his opinion, such a massive workload couldn't possibly be handled by just two people.
Not to mention — Evelyn still had to go to school, and Woz still had a day job.
But before Ethan could decide whether to recruit a group of programmers to help with some of the grunt work, something surprising happened:
On the second day of production, Evelyn didn't go to school at all. After waking up, she stayed in the garage and wrote code with Woz.
And Woz was even more shocking —actually brought his own Apple I over like he was reporting for duty, and worked in their garage as if he were clocking in for a full-time job.
This situation left Ethan confused. When he asked why the two of them weren't going to school or work, Evelyn simply replied —
"Go to school? Why should I go to school now?"
"Oh, Ethan, my stupid brother, I've told you many times — the reason I chose to stay in school was because I found computer science fascinating. I wanted to understand the latest technology, to learn it, to master it, and ultimately to use it.
Right now, figuring out how to make game characters behave like real, intelligent beings is the best topic I could ever study!
So why would I go to school when I can study right here at home?"
"I've already told the school I won't be attending classes for now. The teachers know I'm starting a business, so they agreed.
Besides, I have a feeling that if we really make this game — if we manage to realize the concept of artificial intelligence in a game — the school won't just hand me a diploma. They'll probably hire me as a professor!"
"After all, writing a paper is only the first step in proposing a concept. Actually implementing it is the first step in proving that the technology works."
The former requires a vision of the future, while the latter demands real action to chase that future. This thought impressed Ethan deeply.
At the same time, he smiled and said approvingly, "Oh, Evelyn, then let me congratulate you in advance. Maybe next year I'll have to call you Professor Johnson?"
"Oh, thank you." Evelyn waved her hand, clearly pleased with the title.
As for Woz, his answer was much simpler: "Oh, Ethan, didn't Steve tell you? My favorite thing to do is play games!
Do you know why Steve works at Atari? Because once he started working there, we didn't have to spend money to play games anymore!
Before, he would often sneak me into Atari at night and let me play under the excuse of 'testing' the machines.
Now, if I can just sit in your house and make games, why should I bother working at HP?"
Ethan was stunned when he heard this story. Woz — a future tech tycoon — had actually snuck into Atari in the middle of the night just to play games?
Oh no. Was Atari letting them test products for free? What kind of madness was this?! But before he could even express his surprise, Woz continued:
"Besides, Ethan, you might not know this, but Steve's been urging me to quit HP every single day.
He wants me to leave my job and start a company with him to sell personal microcomputers.
He's even thought of a name already — Apple.
To be honest, I've always hesitated about starting a business, because I really like the environment at HP. It gives me access to the latest technology and lets me work on anything I want to study.
But now…"
Woz grinned. "I think this game of destiny is even more fun!
Ethan, your idea is fascinating — much more exciting than anything HP is researching right now.
If Steve and I don't start a company, how about I just work for you instead? You wouldn't mind one more person, right?
Oh wait — didn't you invest money in Steve? Well then, we can't let your money go to waste!"
Ethan didn't mind. If nothing else, Woz's skills alone were at the absolute cutting edge of the era.
While major computer manufacturers were still tinkering with modular systems, Woz had already integrated all the major functions into a single unit.
Although the inspiration came from his father's military background, being the first one to try something new still required guts.
"Alright, Stephen, as long as you're willing to join us, I'll welcome you anytime."
Ethan patted man on the shoulder. "And if you find commuting too troublesome, you can just stay at my house."
"Really?" Woz asked, eyes lighting up.
"Of course — we're friends," Ethan said with a smile.
How could he possibly turn away someone like this — skilled, passionate, willing to work at his own expense, and even willing to take on the most boring tasks? This was the perfect employee every boss dreams of!
"Alright then, I'll move in tomorrow," Woz declared. "From now on, I won't go back unless I have to meet my girlfriend."
"Wait, what?!" Ethan blinked in surprise. "You have a girlfriend?"
"Yes, and we love each other very much," Woz said proudly. "We met at HP."
After chatting for a while, Ethan learned more about Woz's personal life. When he heard that Woz was already planning to marry his girlfriend, Ethan immediately dropped the idea of getting free labor and decided to pay him a salary.
"What do you think about a weekly salary of five hundred?" Ethan asked with a smile.
"Oh, that's too much!" Woz tried to refuse. But Ethan shook his head.
"Brother, your skills are worth every penny. And besides — remember this: romance needs money to survive. I wish you happiness."
The generous salary offer made Woz beam with happiness.
Since developing Pac-Man wouldn't be completed overnight, Ethan took the opportunity to chat about Apple.
He wanted to know how well Steve Jobs' company preparations were going.
But during this conversation, Ethan discovered that Jobs was currently in a period of uncertainty.
Although Jobs had received $50,000 in funding from Ethan and purchased 200 MOS 6502 chips from Chuck Peddle's company, Apple still hadn't formally started selling their microcomputer.
Not because the Apple I wasn't finished — but because Steve Jobs was lost. He simply didn't know how to sell personal microcomputers.
In his mind, the users of such a product were computer enthusiasts — but the market for that group was far too small. Worse, those who understood computers were often demanding, even troublesome.
Jobs wanted to target a larger audience but didn't know how to make ordinary people want a computer.
"He's trying to figure out how to sell personal microcomputers to the masses," Woz explained.
"Of course, he's not just wasting time. He promised me that if he can't find a solution within three months, he'll start selling to enthusiasts first next year, win over that group, and then figure out a way to expand."
Ethan didn't comment much on Steve Jobs' dilemma. He knew that the real key to getting the public to embrace personal computers lay in the software.
What people wanted wasn't a machine for writing code — they wanted a tool to help solve everyday problems.
As long as Jobs dared to sell it boldly, those computer geeks would naturally take care of the rest.
But he couldn't say any of this. Jobs needed to figure it out himself.
The very reason Ethan had invested in Steve Jobs was because this guy had both the vision and the ability to turn technology products into mass-market consumer goods.
It was precisely this ability that gave birth to Apple. If Ethan were to interfere too much, sure, he could accelerate Apple's growth — but then what? If he stepped in today, would he have to step in again tomorrow? Would he have to keep reminding Jobs forever?
In his previous life, Ethan wasn't even in the tech industry. He didn't know everything about the entire field. Take Pac-Man as an example: when he decided to make it, he hadn't realized just how difficult it would be. Without Evelyn to nail down the key technical points, the project might have crashed and burned.
Since he couldn't control everything, the smartest thing he could do was let the people who actually knew what they were doing handle it.
And Steve Jobs — immature and hot-blooded as he might still be — was exactly that kind of person. Apple had no survival crisis at the moment, which gave Jobs room to experiment, make mistakes, and grow.
And once he grew past that stage…Apple would truly Grow. After chatting casually for a while and unwinding, Woz went back to writing code.
Ethan sat nearby, painstakingly creating all 255 Pac-Man levels and then converting them into computer-readable code.
The work was tedious — but Ethan found himself oddly happy doing it.
Because, at a certain point, he realized… he felt like he was playing a game.
Note:
① I don't know if the original version of Pac-Man actually had all 255 levels manually designed by its creators, but there definitely wasn't any technology for procedural generation back then. What makes me laugh is that when a player finally cleared Pac-Man and showed Namco the result, Namco didn't even know the game could be beaten.
② Before Jobs went to Atari, he worked at HP assembling circuit boards. The reason he switched to Atari is exactly as written here — he and Woz figured out that working there meant they could play games for free. Even the big industry legends did some ridiculous things when they were young.
③ In reality, Steve Jobs and the gang weren't exactly "confused" about selling the Apple I. Their real problem was that they were too busy showing off. While other manufacturers were still using multiple boards, Woz had already built a single-board computer that resembled the modern PC. Jobs, eager to show off this feat, would brag constantly about how "revolutionary" the technology was, including in the Apple I advertisements — but most people simply didn't get it.
They didn't really turn it into a product until the Apple II, when they finally added a keyboard, case, and made it a proper machine.
I deliberately changed that part of the story here — because in the real world, Jobs' behavior came across as more like posturing than product development. If Ethan were to hear him bragging like that, he'd probably want to punch him in the face.