Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: New Game
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“Did you enjoy your vacation?”
“Trying to rest without a care in the world for the first time in ages was actually harder than I thought.”
Rogers, who claimed he'd been bored and couldn't wait to get back to work, had come back with a gorgeous tan bordering on brown.
“This guy's a traitor. How could he ditch his friends and colleagues to run off to Hawaii with some girl?”
“Wouldn't it be weirder if he'd dragged you along?”
“Thanks to him, I went home and nearly got beaten to death by my mom!”
As the first day back after a month-long vacation dawned, the office, which had been quiet for so long, began buzzing with life again.
It started with Rogers bragging about his trip to Hawaii with his new girlfriend, and Jason revealing he'd gone home and taken a leave of absence, nearly getting murdered for it.
Everyone seemed to have made the most of their break.
“Alright, now that we're all here, shall I go ahead and explain, Huck?”
“Please do.”
On the first day back from vacation, the employees still brimmed with energy and enthusiasm, their faces alive with vigor.
Once Scarlett confirmed everyone was present, she got my approval and gathered all the staff in one place.
Soon, the dozen or so employees assembled around the whiteboard like they would for a regular meeting, and Scarlett's lips parted.
“Team Leader Jackson.”
“Yes, Scarlett.”
“We're adding a total of fifteen people to the graphics department going forward.”
“What?!”
Everyone was stunned by Scarlett's announcement that she planned to add fifteen members to the graphics team, which currently consisted of just three people including Jackson.
“I've turned the empty third floor into space for the graphics team.”
The only ones who hadn't taken a vacation while all of Savior's employees were away were me, Senior Jane, and Scarlett.
During that time, Scarlett had decided to properly organize the company. Starting with remodeling the first floor into a pop-up store, she launched construction across the entire building where Savior was housed.
Of course, fully remodeling the building in just a month was impossible, so all they'd done was convert the empty spaces into workable areas.
The result: the fourth floor became a space for sound directing, and the third floor for the graphics team.
The second floor was currently assigned as shared space for the development and management teams.
“Isn't the graphics team a bit oversized? With eighteen people, even doing pixel art, there'd be too many idle hands...”
“Our next project won't be a pixel art game.”
“Then... no way?”
“Looks like you've already guessed. President?”
Scarlett passed the explanation turn to me.
She must have figured I was better suited for it than her, coming from the management side.
“Savior's new game will be made with 3D graphics.”
3D.
Unlike 2D, which only used the X-axis for width and Y-axis for height, 3D introduced the Z-axis for depth.
It was just adding height to a world of width and height alone, but that single change could produce tremendous transformation.
Stereoscopic depth. Escaping the flat plane to create true three-dimensionality—that was 3D.
“Come to think of it, that arcade game Seton released last year was made in 3D, right?”
“Oh, Virtual Combat?”
This kind of 3D was a growing trend lately, exemplified in movies by last year's Jurassic Park, and in games by Seton's arcade title Virtual Combat.
“Yeah, making a game in 3D graphics would definitely require that kind of manpower.”
Jackson nodded as if it finally made sense.
Pixel art required a lot of manpower too, but 3D graphics demanded it on an entirely different level.
From character and monster modeling to backgrounds, effects, and animators.
The fifteen hires Scarlett proposed were really the bare minimum.
“President, I'm sorry to say this, but I only know the basics of 3D graphics—I don't know much in detail.”
But Jackson soon drooped his head in embarrassment, speaking in a subdued voice.
“No need to worry about that.”
“Pardon?”
“We've acquired a company that specializes in 3D graphics outsourcing.”
Jackson's jaw dropped at my words.
It was cheaper than I expected. Acquiring a whole studio for about three million dollars.
The British company we'd acquired this time: RenderMorphics.
In a year from now, Microsoft would buy them for six million dollars. The tech they had was astonishing.
RenderMorphics' graphics engine, under the name Reality Lab, was a real-time 3D rendering engine. It handled texture mapping, real-time lighting, and high-speed polygon rendering.
Not the fake 3D like wireframes or flat shading used in early 3D games, but an engine capable of producing realistic images close to reality.
If I develop this further, I can show graphics generations ahead—not just one, but several.
No wonder Microsoft went crazy for their tech and snapped them up.
“RenderMorphics, the company we acquired, will provide all their technical materials and train our headquarters—Savior—in 3D graphics, especially polygon rendering. So going forward, Jackson and the new graphics team hires must master it completely.”
“Of course!”
Jackson's face, which had looked ready for a blind leap, brightened noticeably now that a lifeline had been thrown.
Jackson hadn't gone to college due to family circumstances, but he'd graduated with honors from the prestigious art high school LACHSA.
Experts and the public alike had raved about the graphics he'd handled for Village Maker, so his talent was beyond doubt.
“The job postings are already up. Interviews are this Friday, so Team Leader Jackson, you'll join and pick your own team members.”
“Yes, got it!”
With the graphics department settled, next up was development.
“Byte Cell, Byte Word, and Byte Planner—these three programs are done.”
“What? Hold on, who finished them while we were on vacation?”
Who else? It was obvious.
“While you guys were slacking, I wrapped them up. Couldn't drag out something this easy, right?”
Jason clenched his fist at my words, and even golden-boy Rogers had veins bulging on his forehead.
They'd been nearly complete anyway, so either of them could have finished it.
But these guys perform better with a little prodding now and then.
It wasn't just teasing—their talents were essential, or the physics engine project would take me too long alone.
A slight jab, and sure enough, their eyes were already burning.
“We're splitting the development department into three teams now.”
“One's the physics engine you mentioned before, right? What's the other two?”
“One will maintain and expand the Byte series with additional programs.”
The Byte line had ballooned after the exclusive Microsoft deal.
A single Byte series could make us a multi-billion-dollar company in a few years, so it needed a dedicated team.
“And the last one?”
“Console development team.”
The final team was for console manufacturing development.
“Whew... You're already aiming for the console manufacturing market?”
Rogers asked with the look of inevitable doom finally arriving.
The other employees' faces hardened too at the mention of a console dev team.
Like soldiers being marched to the battlefield.
In my memories of the future, PC games never overtook consoles—not because PC was small, but because consoles were massive.
Nendo's flagship Neo Famicon had sold over 50 million units, and Uni's upcoming console would double that. That was the console market.
Any game company worth its salt had to step into it.
But the employees' anxiety was understandable.
What looked attractive to me looked attractive to others too, and countless companies had entered console manufacturing.
Only Nendo and Seton survived.
A few minor players eked out sales, but none else could claim true success.
Hence, another nickname for the console market: "Ant Hell."
It lured companies in with sweet scents, then made them vanish.
No wonder the employees were worried about diving in.
“We're not entering right away, of course. But to hit the right timing, we need to prepare now by forming the team early.”
The console market was brutal—even knowing the future offered no guarantees.
Even Microsoft, once the world's most valuable company, had tasted bitter defeat there.
Still,
The upcoming consoles won't fully handle the games Savior makes.
From the physics and graphics engines in development now, everything ahead was ahead of its time.
But hardware limits crippled their full potential.
Even Uni's top-spec console struggled, so waiting would be too late.
We needed a console that could fully unleash our tech—maybe not now, but in a few years.
At my assurance we weren't jumping in immediately, the employees sighed in relief, and the meeting continued.
Next came expanding the management support team to match the company's growth.
“This finally feels like a real company, huh?”
Everyone nodded at Jason's words.
Savior had gone from ten people to filling a whole four-story building—a proper company now. It was a new feeling.
Just two years ago, I'd started alone. Our growth rivaled any conglomerate.
“But you can tell us now, right?”
“Tell you what?”
“You said after vacation, you'd tell us about the next game we're making.”
Jason grumbled at me, and Rogers and the others chimed in, urging me on.
“That was the highlight of today's meeting anyway. Jane, can you prepare it now?”
“Yes! Of course.”
I spoke to Senior Jane, who'd been at the meeting, and gave her a nod. Her response came instantly, like she'd been waiting for this moment.
“Let's head to the fourth floor.”
She confidently led the staff to the fourth-floor sound studio.
This brimming confidence was the Jane I knew.
And she had every reason to be.
Before the employees returned from vacation, I'd tasked her with showing results. Just yesterday, she'd played her work for me.
They'll understand what game I'm making once they hear this.
The piece Senior Jane played was exactly the music I'd envisioned.