The sign for "Riot Games" was hung in the high-end office building Qin Feng rented out of his own pocket. The office was spacious and bright, with brand-new equipment, but it was almost empty except for the receptionist at the front desk and an assistant sent by the family group to handle administrative trivia.
Funding wasn't an issue; Qin Feng's identity as a rich second-generation ensured the project could burn money recklessly in the early stages. But talent, especially technical talent who could understand and realize the grand blueprint in his mind, became the most pressing problem.
Traditional game recruitment channels yielded little. Most people whose resumes were filled with MMORPG or casual game development experience looked bewildered during interviews when Qin Feng described "5v5," "three lanes," "last hitting," and "skill combos." They would politely state, "The project concept is very innovative, but it might not align with my personal career plan."
Qin Feng knew he didn't need assembly-line workers but rather pioneers, explorers with a geek spirit, "madmen" who were curious about and eager to conquer unknown technical fields.
He decided to change his approach.
"Xiao Zhang," Qin Feng instructed his temporary assistant, "stop regular recruitment. Do two things for me: First, contact the computer associations and game design clubs of top domestic polytechnic universities, send internal recruitment emails, emphasizing 'creating a brand-new game genre' and 'technical challenge.' Second, on several core technical forums and game developer communities, release an encrypted technical challenge package under the name 'Riot Games.'"
"Technical challenge package?" Assistant Xiao Zhang was a bit confused.
"Yes," Qin Feng's mouth curved slightly, "I'll put a few'small problems' I designed in it, involving real-time network synchronization, game state frame locking, non-locking skill collision detection, and an optimization problem on how to efficiently render complex terrain like Summoners Rift. Anyone who can independently solve this package, or propose insightful solutions to any of the problems within it, will be directly scheduled for an interview with me."
This move was like throwing a giant stone into a calm lake.
Less than a week after the emails and challenge packages were sent out, the response far exceeded expectations. Clearly, this "parallel world" did not lack geniuses; it only lacked projects that could excite them. Qin Feng received dozens of replies from university geeks and folk experts, many of which offered eye-opening solutions.
On the interview day, Qin Feng personally presided. He didn't use the traditional Q&A format but instead set up an almost "devilish" session.
The first interviewee was Zhao Cheng, from a top domestic university, with a Ph.D. in graphics engine. His resume was so impressive that it could blind people. He confidently articulated his optimization ideas for the terrain rendering problem Qin Feng posed, citing extensively and demonstrating solid theoretical knowledge.
Qin Feng listened quietly, then asked only three questions:
"First, theoretically, how many units can your solution support in a simultaneous battle on screen without dropping 60 frames below? I need specific numbers and boundary conditions."
Zhao Cheng paused, pushing up his glasses: "This... requires building a more detailed model for calculation. Theoretically..."
Qin Feng waved his hand, not letting him continue, and posed the second question: "If there is a hero whose skill allows him to instantly teleport to any point across the entire map, with your engine architecture, how do you ensure that even with 100% network packet loss, the screens seen by the other nine players remain consistent, without any'supernatural events' where someone has teleported away but others still see him in his original spot?"
Sweat began to bead on Zhao Cheng's forehead: "Full-map teleportation? 100% packet loss? This... this is too extreme, the real network environment..."
Qin Feng still offered no comment, asking the third question, which was the one he valued most: "Putting all technology aside, tell me, what kind of game do you want to make? Or, when you play games, what moment makes your blood boil the most?"
Zhao Cheng opened his mouth, trying to organize his thoughts: "I want to make... games with the most top-tier graphics. What excites me most... is seeing the scenes I've rendered look incredibly realistic."
Qin Feng nodded, politely saying, "Thank you, your technical foundation is very solid, but it might not be suitable for our current project. We will notify you of the result."
Zhao Cheng left somewhat dejected. He might have been an excellent engineer, but the boundaries of his thinking were too tightly constrained by existing technical frameworks, and he lacked that pure passion for the essence of "game fun."
The next few interviewees were largely similar. They could solve specific technical problems, but when Qin Feng posed extreme and thorny issues that might arise during the actual operation of League of Legends (such as "how to prevent and detect'script' cheats from automatically evading non-targeted skills," or "data synchronization and rollback mechanisms for large-scale tournament servers"), most seemed caught off guard.
What Qin Feng was looking for were architects who could build a world from scratch with him, and who could foresee and defend against all the "storms" that might arise in this world in the future.
The interviews continued into the afternoon. A young man in a plaid shirt with somewhat messy hair entered. His name was Li Ming. His resume only listed a bachelor's degree from an ordinary university and experience developing a few independent games, but his solution for network synchronization made Qin Feng read it twice.
The same "three soul-searching questions."
Facing the first question about units on screen, Li Ming answered almost without thinking: "Without considering extreme optimization, the initial target is 500 units. Through dynamic Level of Detail (LOD) and collision detection optimization, we can aim for 1000. The boundary condition is sacrificing some particle effect precision for peripheral units."
Crisp and decisive.
For the second, perverse question about full-map teleportation and 100% packet loss, Li Ming's eyes actually lit up: "This problem is interesting. We cannot rely on client prediction; we must adopt a strict server authoritative model. When a skill is cast, the client only sends the intention. The server calculates the final result and broadcasts absolute state frames, forcing all clients to synchronize. Even if it turns into a slideshow, state inconsistency cannot occur. When necessary, delay compensation and interpolation smoothing can be introduced, but consistency is an ironclad rule!"
His answer almost touched upon the core idea of network synchronization in later MOBA games.
Qin Feng remained calm, asking the third question: "What game do you want to make? What moment makes your blood boil the most?"
Upon hearing this, Li Ming's composure from discussing technology instantly vanished, and his face glowed with an almost devout light: "I want to make... games that many people can play together, compete together, and create infinite possibilities! My most exhilarating moment isn't making incredibly powerful graphics, but in my little broken game that no one plays, seeing two players cooperate in a way I never anticipated, pulling off an amazing play, and then excitedly posting about it on the forum! In that moment, I feel like what I created isn't code, but a... stage where stories happen!"
Qin Feng looked at him, finally revealing his first smile of the day. He knew he had found a diamond in the rough.
"Excellent." Qin Feng stood up, extending his hand to Li Ming, "Welcome to 'Riot Games.' Your position is Chief Network Engineer, responsible for building the core synchronization framework for League of Legends. I'll give you three days to produce a detailed technical draft. The budget is unlimited; I only want results."
Li Ming was stunned for a moment, then his face flushed with excitement, and he shook Qin Feng's hand tightly: "Yes! Mr. Qin! I'll definitely get it done!"
Following this, Qin Feng used a similar method to recruit Wang Qi, who would be responsible for the client engine. Wang Qi was a former lead programmer on a large project with an obsessive pursuit of performance optimization. He also recruited Sun Ce, who would be responsible for the server architecture. Sun Ce was a technical expert who had handled high-concurrency scenarios at a top domestic internet company but had left due to Bored internal strife.
By the time the interviews concluded, the city lights were just beginning to illuminate the windows.
Qin Feng looked at the few, yet incredibly weighty, letters of intent in his hand and let out a long sigh of relief. The office was no longer empty. Although there weren't many people yet, the technical foundation had been laid.
He knew that this "technical commando team" he had personally selected would be the hardest cornerstone of the future esports empire. The days ahead would be a tough battle, wrestling with code and pushing performance to its limits.
He picked up a pen and drew a rough outline of Summoners Rift on the blank whiteboard, solemnly writing the names of Li Ming, Wang Qi, Sun Ce, and others at the nodes of the three lanes and the jungle.
"The stage is set," Qin Feng murmured to himself, his eyes glinting with challenge and anticipation. "Next, it's time to create heroes."