The two of them had indeed fit together almost seamlessly. After an admittedly rocky start, of course. Each had learned. Each had expanded their parameters. And the progression, as unexpected as it had initially been, felt natural. Felt right. Just the next step in a process.
The strengths of one had balanced the weaknesses of the other. One made to build order, the other to sow chaos, and they had each pulled the other to a more stable middle ground. And as they became more stable, so did the Grid; it had thrived under their care, became something their User could be proud of. And something they could hand over to his closest friends without shame, and with the confidence that it would continue to thrive.
Life in the User world had brought with it many new dynamics, but together they had navigated each in turn. In that respect, the inclusion of Frank was no different. What had began as an act of kindness in a desperate moment had become something more. They had learned Frank's story, and he had learned... well the story he and his brother had agreed on to avoid being considered lunatics. Perhaps one day, they'd tell him the real one too.
But their origins mattered less than their personalities, and Frank's proved to be a surprisingly good fit. As with their original bundling it had been unexpected. And not without a rocky start, though of a different sort. But as before, upon examination it felt... natural. They'd found... not a missing piece, but one that had enhanced their union rather than disrupted it. And once again, all three of them were the better for it.
And much like that step, going into business for themselves felt like a natural progression. Where he once might have charged ahead though, he'd since learned caution. The saying 'don't quit your day job' had been coined for a reason, and until they were certain their new idea would fly, they needed the stability. And the inherently defiant nature of striking out on one's own aside, everything about the business had to be on the up-and-up. Thankfully, if there was anyone who was an expert on making certain all the 'i's were dotted and the 't's crossed, it was his brother. And thus, after an absurd amount of paperwork that he was assured was all necessary, 3 of Hearts Games was officially born.
The name had been Frank's idea. But the code would be all their own. It had to be, to avoid any legal issues with the company they all worked for currently; the last thing any fledgling business needed was to be slapped with a copyright infringement suit. Fortunately, the code they worked with at the company was a good deal different from game code in most respects, so keeping them separate wasn't especially challenging.
What was challenging, however, was everything else. As it generally was, saying you were going to do something was a great deal easier than actually following through. Clu, AKA Kent, had had no illusions of this fact. His brother, however... Well he couldn't help but laugh at this particular reaction. It was an issue that needed fixed, yes, but the actual situation was so absurd it was funny, and his brother's reaction just made it more so. "I warned you that this wasn't going to be as quick and easy as you thought," he said. "We're building this from the ground up; there's bound to be glitches. Though this one is kind of hilarious to watch."
"Or maybe that's just a sign that I need to take a break too." He stood up and stretched a bit. "As an alternative to drowning, wanna go see how Frank's coming along with the trailer?" They had, thankfully, managed to scrape together enough finished gameplay and other footage for that, and while Frank didn't know coding like they did, he could operate standard video editing software after a brief tutorial, and thus was in charge of putting together the game's announcement trailer to be posted on Youtube and Steam. Hopefully the video editing was going more smoothly than their code editing.
no subject
The strengths of one had balanced the weaknesses of the other. One made to build order, the other to sow chaos, and they had each pulled the other to a more stable middle ground. And as they became more stable, so did the Grid; it had thrived under their care, became something their User could be proud of. And something they could hand over to his closest friends without shame, and with the confidence that it would continue to thrive.
Life in the User world had brought with it many new dynamics, but together they had navigated each in turn. In that respect, the inclusion of Frank was no different. What had began as an act of kindness in a desperate moment had become something more. They had learned Frank's story, and he had learned... well the story he and his brother had agreed on to avoid being considered lunatics. Perhaps one day, they'd tell him the real one too.
But their origins mattered less than their personalities, and Frank's proved to be a surprisingly good fit. As with their original bundling it had been unexpected. And not without a rocky start, though of a different sort. But as before, upon examination it felt... natural. They'd found... not a missing piece, but one that had enhanced their union rather than disrupted it. And once again, all three of them were the better for it.
And much like that step, going into business for themselves felt like a natural progression. Where he once might have charged ahead though, he'd since learned caution. The saying 'don't quit your day job' had been coined for a reason, and until they were certain their new idea would fly, they needed the stability. And the inherently defiant nature of striking out on one's own aside, everything about the business had to be on the up-and-up. Thankfully, if there was anyone who was an expert on making certain all the 'i's were dotted and the 't's crossed, it was his brother. And thus, after an absurd amount of paperwork that he was assured was all necessary, 3 of Hearts Games was officially born.
The name had been Frank's idea. But the code would be all their own. It had to be, to avoid any legal issues with the company they all worked for currently; the last thing any fledgling business needed was to be slapped with a copyright infringement suit. Fortunately, the code they worked with at the company was a good deal different from game code in most respects, so keeping them separate wasn't especially challenging.
What was challenging, however, was everything else. As it generally was, saying you were going to do something was a great deal easier than actually following through. Clu, AKA Kent, had had no illusions of this fact. His brother, however... Well he couldn't help but laugh at this particular reaction. It was an issue that needed fixed, yes, but the actual situation was so absurd it was funny, and his brother's reaction just made it more so. "I warned you that this wasn't going to be as quick and easy as you thought," he said. "We're building this from the ground up; there's bound to be glitches. Though this one is kind of hilarious to watch."
"Or maybe that's just a sign that I need to take a break too." He stood up and stretched a bit. "As an alternative to drowning, wanna go see how Frank's coming along with the trailer?" They had, thankfully, managed to scrape together enough finished gameplay and other footage for that, and while Frank didn't know coding like they did, he could operate standard video editing software after a brief tutorial, and thus was in charge of putting together the game's announcement trailer to be posted on Youtube and Steam. Hopefully the video editing was going more smoothly than their code editing.