Then, in 2023, he cleaned out his parents’ garage. In a shoebox, wrapped in a 2002 calendar, was the Compaq iPAQ. The battery was long dead. He plugged it into a vintage charger. The screen flickered to life. And there, in the “My Documents” folder, was the final build of i—Age of Empires II Portable .
He tapped the icon.
The first playable build ran on December 23, 2003. Leo loaded “The Battle of Agincourt” scenario. The iPAQ’s 206 MHz processor screamed. The battery light flickered like a dying candle. On a screen smaller than a credit card, a horde of red English Longbowmen—represented by tiny red squares with even tinier black lines for arrows—faced a mass of blue French knights. He tapped a knight with his stylus. He tapped the ground. The blue square moved. It was choppy. It was ugly. It was glorious. i--- Age Of Empires Ii Portable
That was the seed.