Ambitions: A Game Dev Story
Michael Khripin
Writer, LiveOps Expert at Balancy, Co-Founder at New Perk Ltd, Owner of "Game Dev Uncovered" blog
1
One typical morning in the producer's department of the "N" publishing house, a typical dialogue took place.
"Hey, Dike," said Ring, "we've been offered a project for a million bucks..."
"Why?"
"Well..."
"Is there a demo?"
"Yes. And there's even a concept. And a budget too."
"And what's in the budget?" asked Dike.
"Seven hundred grand," Ring replied.
"And what about the million?"
"Well, they said the project is worth a million bucks."
"Which company?"
"JUICE."
"Never heard of them," said Dike, but a suspicion stirred in his soul.
"Me neither."
"I don't have time to look at the demo right now, with two releases imminent and three milestones in one day. Couldn't you have said something earlier?"
"Well, we'll see tomorrow when they come to show it themselves."
The next day, Gear entered the room with a suspicious expression on his face.
"Guys! Some dudes have arrived, they are talking about JUICE..."
"I didn't order anything," said Boxer.
"Not food! The developers have arrived..."
"I'll be right there, start without me."
Ring and Dike got ready, took a notebook, a pen, and a voice recorder. Ring remembered something and hurriedly went to print the concept document and budget spreadsheet. In a minute, everyone was ready. In the corridor near the meeting room, a young man and woman were shifting from foot to foot.
"Blonde," thought Gear, but said, "Come in, we're about to start. Coffee, tea?"
"No, we're good," the man replied.
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Ring sat down at the table and began to lay out the papers. Dike turned on the voice recorder and pretended it was a mobile phone. He managed. He put it on the table and waited for the call.
Boxer arrived and declared from the doorway:
"Let's get acquainted," and expectantly looked at the guests. Behind him, Arto squeezed into the room and sat down modestly at the corner.
"We represent the JUICE studio," said the man. "I'm the CEO, this is Betty."
"You wanted to show us something?"
"Yes!" exclaimed Betty. "We want to offer you an amazing project!"
"Uh-huh," thought Boxer. By the look in their eyes, the other producers thought the same thing synchronously.
"Do you have a demo version?" Boxer found his voice.
"Yes, of course, let's look at it right away," said the CEO. He pointed to the computer in the corner. "Can we set it up here?"
"Sure," said Ring, tearing himself away from the papers.
The CEO took out a DVD and immersed himself in the installation process.
"Tell us about the project in the meantime," prompted Ring.
"Yes!" exclaimed Betty. "We offer a third-person shooter with RPG elements, hand-to-hand combat capabilities, set in a sci-fi setting. The main character is a specially modified superhuman who finds himself on a distant planet and has to unravel the mysterious events that happened there with a tourist group."
"Interesting," said Ring. "What are the key features of the project?"
"Yes!" exclaimed Betty. "We will have stunning graphics, diverse gameplay, and an exciting plot."
"Uh-huh," thought Gear. By the look in their eyes, the other producers thought the same thing synchronously.
"Why do you think your plot is exciting?"
"Well, you see," Betty began to gesticulate animatedly, "our hero has superpowers, he has a rapier, and he can use different combos. He must defeat an artificial superintelligence that has been lurking on the planet since ancient times."
"I see," said Gear and pondered.
...
From publishing side,
PixelWraith