An hour later, Jack and Richard were finally released from the gathering. Estello had waved them off, saying the real business discussions were about to begin—the dreaded weekly reports. Jack stretched his arms, letting out a groan of relief.
"Finally, we're free." He rubbed his temples. "Man, I swear, I have no idea how Grandpa deals with all that talk every week."
Richard, however, seemed more thoughtful. Unlike Jack, who looked drained, Richard had spent the past hour listening carefully, piecing together valuable connections. Some of his grandfather Mario's old friends had approached him after the gathering, offering their support should he ever need it. They owed Mario too much to ignore his grandson.
As they stepped into the mansion's grand hallway, the aroma of home-cooked food wafted through the air. It was a comforting contrast to the formal atmosphere they had just left outside. Near the entrance to the kitchen, a familiar figure appeared—Anita.
She was wiping her hands with a kitchen towel, a warm yet slightly stern expression on her face. "Ah, there you two are. You've been outside for a while."
"Yeah, Grandpa made us sit through his executive gathering," Jack grumbled, slumping his shoulders. "All talking, no action."
Richard smirked slightly, but Anita raised an eyebrow at him. "And you, Richie? You look like you had a good time."
Richard shrugged. "I wouldn't call it fun, but I did learn a lot. Some of Grandpa Mario's old friends were there. They still remember him."
Anita's expression softened at the mention of her father. "Is that so?" She let out a quiet chuckle. "Father really did leave an impression on people, even after all these years."
Jack's stomach growled loudly, breaking the sentimental moment. He scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Uh… yeah, sorry, but… I'm starving."
Anita let out a small laugh. "Then go wash up and eat. I helped with the cooking tonight."
Jack's eyes lit up. "Oh? Then I'm definitely eating!"
Richard sighed but followed along. "Might as well."
They made their way to the dining room, where a spread of steaming rice, grilled beef, buttered shrimp, and a hearty bowl of sinigang sat waiting on the table. A pitcher of cold calamansi juice glistened with condensation beside it.
Jack didn't hesitate—he grabbed a plate and started piling food onto it. "Damn, auntie, this is better than restaurant food!"
Anita shook her head, amused. "Eat all you want, just don't choke."
Richard sat down and took a bite of the shrimp. The familiar taste reminded him of home, of simpler days before all of this—before the game, before the system, before the ambitions that were now set in motion. He glanced at Jack, who was happily devouring his meal.
"After this," Richard said, swallowing a bite, "we should start assembling the PCs."
Jack pointed his spoon at him. "Yeah, nearly forgot about that, but let me enjoy my food first."
Richard chuckled, shaking his head. "Alright, alright. But no slacking after."
-----------
After finishing their meal, Jack leaned back in his chair, rubbing his stomach with a satisfied sigh. "Man, that hit the spot. Props to you, Tita Anita."
Anita, who was clearing the table, chuckled. "Glad you liked it. Just don't sleep right after, or you'll get a big belly."
Richard smirked at Jack. "Too late for that."
Jack rolled his eyes, pushing himself up from the chair. "Anyway, I'm gonna head upstairs and grab the whiteboard from my dad's room. I need a full briefing from you about that vector core engine of yours."
Richard leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. "You sure you can carry that thing alone? Want me to come with?"
Jack waved him off. "Nah, it's not that heavy. Besides, I don't want you chickening out of explaining your code to me."
Richard scoffed. "As if. Go get your board, I'll be waiting down in the basement."
Jack stretched one last time before making his way out of the dining area, heading toward the grand staircase. The mansion's halls were dimly lit with warm yellow lighting, casting soft shadows along the walls. The polished wooden floors barely creaked under his weight as he ascended.
Jack disappeared up the staircase while Richard made his way downstairs. The basement was dimly lit, the only illumination coming from a few overhead lights and the faint glow of the outdoor security lamps filtering through the glass-walled office. Stacks of boxes filled with PC components were piled neatly outside the office space, waiting to be unpacked.
With a sigh, Richard got to work, hauling the boxes inside one by one. The glass door gave a slight resistance as he pushed it open, the cool air from the air conditioning brushing against his face. The office smelled faintly of fresh paint and furniture polish. The spacious area was clean, but it lacked the character of a true game development studio—for now, at least.
Just as he placed the last box inside, Jack arrived, carrying a decent-sized whiteboard tucked under one arm and a handful of markers in the other. He set the board against the wall just outside the office.
"Alright, bro. Time to break it down for me." He tossed a black marker toward Richard, who caught it effortlessly.
Richard stepped up to the whiteboard and uncapped the marker, writing in bold letters at the top:
VECTOR CORE ENGINE
He underlined it with a firm stroke before turning to Jack.
"Vector is more than just Unity 3.0, the engine we're currently using. It's something beyond that."
Jack crossed his arms. "Go on."
Richard drew a vertical line on the left side of the board and wrote:
PROCEDURAL ASSET GENERATION
Jack squinted at the words, his head tilting slightly. "Wait a minute... procedural? Like Minecraft?"
Richard nodded. "Yeah, like Minecraft. Except instead of using pre-set rules and random seeds, it utilizes pattern recognition to generate assets based on parameters."
Jack's expression twisted in confusion. "Hold up—pattern recognition? You mean AI?"
Richard smirked. "Exactly."
Jack blinked a few times before letting out a breath. "Bro... are you telling me you've integrated artificial intelligence into an engine to auto-generate assets?"
Richard drew another line beneath "Procedural Asset Generation" and wrote:
DEEP LEARNING ALGORITHM
"Think of it this way," Richard continued. "Instead of manually sculpting terrains, buildings, foliage, or even characters, the engine learns from existing assets and generates new ones in a fraction of the time. Say you give it a few historical reference images—like real photos from WWII—Vector Core analyzes them and generates historically accurate textures and models automatically."
Jack let out a low whistle. "Damn. That's some next-level tech, bro."
Richard nodded, feeling a mix of excitement and pride. "That's only the beginning. It can also generate weather effects, destruction physics, even adaptive AI behavior for NPCs."
Jack scratched his head. "Okay, I get how this is a game-changer. But how reliable is it? I mean, won't we still need artists and designers to refine what it generates?"
Richard circled "Procedural Asset Generation" on the board and pointed at it. "Of course. The AI doesn't replace artists—it enhances their workflow. It creates a rough draft, and then human developers refine it. It speeds up the process while still allowing for creative control."
Jack leaned against the table, arms crossed, still processing everything. "Damn… That alone is gonna save hundreds of hours in development. But what else you got?"
Richard smirked and drew another vertical line next to the first feature. At the top, he wrote:
Jack leaned against the table, arms crossed, still processing everything. "Damn… That alone is gonna save hundreds of hours in development. But what else you got?"
Richard smirked and drew another vertical line next to the first feature. At the top, he wrote: Adaptive Asset Optimization
"Another key aspect of Vector Core," Richard began, "is how it optimizes assets across different platforms."
Jack squinted. "You mean like… LOD scaling?"
Richard nodded. "Yeah, but way more advanced. It doesn't just swap between low-poly and high-poly models. The AI assesses the hardware's capabilities in real time and dynamically adjusts texture resolution, shader complexity, and polygon count based on performance."
Jack whistled. "So, no more manually creating low-poly models for mobile and high-poly for PC?"
Richard grinned. "Exactly. The engine does it automatically, meaning no wasted resources."
Jack rubbed his chin. "Alright. That's crazy useful. What's next?"
Richard drew another vertical line and wrote:
AI-Assisted Logic Scripting
Jack raised an eyebrow. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
Richard turned to him, eyes gleaming with excitement. "This is where things get really wild. Vector Core uses AI to assist with coding—specifically for game logic and AI behavior."**
Jack blinked. "You're telling me… this thing writes code?"
Richard shook his head. "Not entirely. Think of it like an AI-powered assistant that provides real-time suggestions as you write scripts. It helps with error-checking, debugging, and even optimizing code before you run it."
Jack let out a low whistle. "So, kind of like those AI auto-complete things for coding, but built into the engine?"
Richard nodded. "Exactly. But that's just the start. It also generates AI behavior trees automatically."
Jack's eyes widened. "Wait—you mean like those massive branching diagrams for NPC decision-making? The ones that usually take weeks to script?"
Richard smirked. "Yep. The AI observes developer-defined parameters and gameplay conditions, then generates optimized behavior trees for NPCs and enemies. No more scripting everything from scratch."
Jack ran a hand through his hair. "Holy shit. That's gonna save months of AI development. No more manually tweaking every little decision tree."
Richard laughed. "Told you. This isn't just an engine—it's a revolution."
Without pausing, he drew another vertical line and wrote:
Dynamic Resource Allocation
Jack leaned closer, intrigued. "Okay, now this one sounds interesting. Explain."
Richard spun the marker between his fingers before pointing at the board. "Most engines handle resource management in a fixed way. High-end PCs get the same resource distribution as low-end ones—just with better framerates. But Vector Core is different."
Jack narrowed his eyes. "How so?"
"It automatically adjusts rendering and simulation in real-time based on available hardware. If a system is struggling, it offloads unnecessary computations and prioritizes performance-critical tasks. If there's extra power available, it cranks up the visual fidelity automatically."**
Jack sat back, shaking his head. "Wait… so instead of tweaking settings manually, the engine just… figures it out?"
Richard nodded. "Exactly. It ensures smooth gameplay across different devices without developers needing to manually optimize for every single configuration."
Jack grinned. "That's sick. No more worrying about whether a game will run like trash on mid-range PCs."
Richard smirked and wrote the next feature on the board:
Cross-Platform Compilation
"And this one," he continued, "is where things really get streamlined."
Jack leaned forward. "Lemme guess—one-click deployment?"
Richard pointed at him. "Exactly. With a single build, developers can deploy their game across Android, iOS, Windows, and Linux without needing to rewrite or recompile code separately for each platform."
Jack's jaw dropped. "Dude. That's huge. You mean… no more rewriting half the game just to get it running on mobile?"
Richard shook his head. "Nope. The AI handles hardware-specific optimizations automatically. So, whether it's running on a high-end PC or a mid-range Android phone, the game will adjust itself accordingly."
Jack let out a laugh of disbelief. "Bro… you realize what you're building, right? If this works, we're not just making a game—we're about to shake the entire industry."
Richard smirked. "That's the plan."
He was about to write the next feature on the board, but before he could, Jack held up a hand.
"Hold up, man. My brain needs a sec to process all this. This is some next-level shit."
Richard chuckled. "I told you, didn't I? Vector Core isn't just another game engine. It's the future."