Game developer

"I will be a game developer. But to do that, I need money to support myself." Pieter and Mom nod.

My dad seems less convinced. He groans and says: "You still won't bring in money in that case. But if you start your own company, you will be faced with your own kinds of hardships. If you can prove the hours you make with concrete things like documentation of things you have done, asked the government, or I fixed these issues."

Pieter chimes in. "Small warning, it is a creative process, he might not be able to show anything some days or weeks. But I do agree that having a pitch document and specific milestones should help you make the game in time." I nod along as the two start talking about what that would mean. Mom has checked out and has gone to make a pot of coffee and tea.

So our plan for now is that I will pitch 5 games I would like to play and make to them. I have to pitch in 6 work days. For that, I will need an actual concept but also a MoSCoW(Must, Should, Could, Would) table with mechanics and features. And if I can create a good milestone plan with estimates of how many hours each thing would take. And how long do I want to take building it? Dad also wants me to register the company already, but Pieter wants to have a plan for a game first, so I have to know what product I am making. Dad was convinced by that.

(Pieter's POV)
I leave Robin's place. That conversation went smoother than I expected. Parents always want their kids to be happy. Will I still buy into the company, or maybe invest in Robin's game development company? I don't need to decide today or tomorrow. I drive home and get the message that I can give her a new quest.

Robin completed an advanced quest[+7XP]

Level up! [+1 perk point]

Robin will receive the following quest: 'Make 20 or more rough pitches and send them to someone for feedback.'

Select one of the following rewards:

• Inspiration for half of your pitches.
• Understanding of what the scope and limitations are of each pitch.
• Per pitch, 1000 euros starting capital.

I select: 'Understanding of what the scope and limitations are of each pitch.'

Understanding what each pitch entails helps her pick the games she is actually most interested in to work out. I'll head to sleep. It has been a long day.

It is 8, let's make some oatmeal, toss in some fruits and call it breakfast. I look at my phone, three messages: 'Hey Pieter, can you give me some feedback on these pitches. One attachment.', 'Robin completed a quest, ' and 'Robin can receive a quest.' Robin has been hard at work last night and this morning. Let's have a look. 45 different pitches, but they all fall within 3 genres: dating sim, walking sim, and Harvest Moon-like. Definitely not the most complex genres, but super saturated. What subgenres does she seem to like? Narrative, obviously, incremental, okay, just as saturated, platforming saturated but good execution leads to great buzz, and souls-like, those last two are hard to get right. I give comments on each and tell her to get a second opinion. I also tell her to think about focusing on platforming and souls-like elements, and make that the draw and the elements she now has as a main, as a secondary element.

Her response is: 'You are a genius, those elements need to be implemented at a foundational level or not be present.' I smile. She found her own meaning in what I said, but it will help her. I get that you can make a new quest for Robin's message.

I go to make a new quest.

Robin completed a basic quest [+5XP]

Robin will receive the following quest: 'ask your mom for guidance with makeup'

Select one of the following rewards:

• Perk: Makeup I
• Improved bond with your mom
• A day out with Pieter

I select: 'perk: Makeup I'

I might not know what it does, but it will help her on the way to being more feminine. I finished the oatmeal that had gotten cold while I was busy helping Robin.

(Robin's POV some time after Pieter left)

That went well, sad that Pieter didn't stand up for me more about work. But I get that he wants to mediate. It isn't like going full-time streamer has boosted my results. But part of me feels like I never tried. I'd better give it my all at being a game developer.

I get a new quest: 'Write at least 20 rough pitches and send them to someone for feedback.' Would it care if I sent it to more people? Probably not. I start my first pitch, 'A dating sim where you need to platform.' And look at the quest '0/20', is it lacking too much detail? I try to improve it. 'A dating sim with both male and female romanceable characters. In order to increase their affection, you need to perform platforming challenges.' I look at the quest '1/20', cool, so that is enough detail for now. I continue writing pitches until 1 am and then go to sleep.

6 am, I wake up with creative fever and spend another hour and a half. I look at the quest and see '45/20'. Did I go overboard? Ohh well, at least the reward scales with effort. Now to send it to someone. I pick Pieter, Anne, Roos, Bart, and a mod from my stream, named Project42068, on Discord.

First to respond is Anne, mostly to mechanical and programming issues found in each. Warning me off the executive challenges. The same goes for Roos shortly after, but she also adds some clear notes on scope creep things that might wander in. Third is Pieter giving some minor mechanical issues, but mainly focused on how easy it is to get eyeballs on my game. Man, I know from streaming how difficult it is to do. Wait, focusing on mechanical gameplay can really help. He might not understand how saturated those games are as well, but due to skill difficulty, those games are either good or bad. But combining one of those with a saturated narrative genre might work. Bart sends in great work based on actual market research.

I received a quest telling me to ask Mom to help me with makeup. Mom works a half day, so this should be easy.

I head down for breakfast mom and dad have already gone to work. I could do some work downstairs for a few hours until Mom is home.

11 am, my mod messages me with 'if you want, you could stream the making of whatever game you think up. Especially if you are willing to take on input from your community. But here is my feedback.' And a document is attached, in contrast to my friends who are a bit older, he talks about the expectations of the user with each option. An angle that I had yet to consider. But that is definitely an important thing to keep in mind.

I take into account all the comments from everyone I asked. Condensing the good ideas down to 5 great ones. As I finish my 5 big ideas.

• A Metroidvania with dating sim-type relationship mechanics, where you and a suite of other characters have to escape a derelict ship. The main character is a human, and the other characters are a bunch of alien species. The game should be winnable without romancing the characters as long as you make friends with them. The ship should feel large enough that you can spend hours feeling lost in it.
• A souls-like with strong puzzles for powerfully scaling weapons. Weak base values high dependence on dedicated stats. Set in a sci-fi setting on another planet main character is not a human. The main character is seeking to reclaim lost glory. Each level up helps him abilities. Model should adapt with stat changes.
• A platformer where you explore the world to learn more about your past. Each bit of the map might reveal new things about yourself. Platforming challenges with tight deadlines. Focus on a good experience on the potato pc.
• A roguelite where each **** removes a part of yourself you can recover it after a time determined by the number of deaths. If you are far enough, you can make prostheses to bridge the time between when you are whole. Losing all parts, a starts again with special mechanics. TEST thoroughly before implementing.
• A Metroidvania, souls-like with roguelite elements, where it is your goal to beat it in a specific time or die. The time limit is to save a loved one each loop, a different one from a pool of 11 for ease of designing unique ones. Saved loved ones are removed from the pool.

Mom comes in. "Hey Robin, nice to see you down. You were up until late and this morning up again. That must have given you motivation." She smiles softly.

"Mom, can you teach me how to apply makeup?"

"Sure, after lunch. Why that?"

"Always been curious about it, never had the guts to ask. With some pushing from Pieter, I am out to you, so I'd better also ask the things I always wondered about. Shall I bake us some eggs for lunch?" Mom smiles and nods.

I bake us some eggs, and we head up. Mom does some colour checks and comes to the conclusion that she doesn't have any colours that match me.

Mom says: "We will need to go out shopping together, okay?"

I nod and get dressed to go out.