Where dreams begin

In May 2023, we met everyone at CP29 (Comicup), held at the National Exhibition and Convention CenterShanghai, commonly known as its nickname, the Cloverleaf. In the beginning, our organization was called "Gammers Break Ground". More than ten years ago, we had bonded over a certain e-sports online literary work, and since then we have moved through countless circles. When the timeline overlapped again in 2023 (The year 2023 just happens to be the time when the story setting within the e-sports online literary work takes place, so a lot of old fans were out at the time), we had reached the age of the main character of that particular work, but we once again agreed to go back, and get into to the fandom activities. Because the IP is more than ten years old, we laugh at ourselves, "the gammers buried in the ground are sit-ups", and from then on this is also how the name " LaoO Studio " came to be. (LaoO has the same pronunciation with gammer in Chinese)
We have been fandom creators since elementary school, writing, painting, buying goods and coming to Comicons...... Since the early days of Everbright Convention & Exhibition Center (where the CP used to held), Shanghai CP has always been the event we look forward to the most biannually. Due to the epidemic, it delayed for two years, we have been eagerly waiting for CP29 for a long time. We first made the fangame at Game Jam held by Coconut Island, and then made goods and table games, in order to bring them to CP29 to meet with other fellow fans. The long wait did not disappoint us. It was fantastic two days. By the end of the day, everyone was in a dreamlike excitement, looking forward to the next CP. At that time, the support for the fair in June was spring up like mushrooms, teammates in Shanghai even go to Nanjing Road to support for the fair almost everyday. But unexpected, that the days of waiting for CP30 are longer than we thought. --This time, it is a year past. During this year, the game Sensei! I like you so much! that was planned for CP30 also came into being.
(Sensei! I like you so much! after the polished)

The day it grew and sprouted

I studied game design in university, plus my more than ten years of fandom experience, the idea of "Fandom Simulator" has actually taken shape as early as in my junior year of university. At that time, when I pitched this simulator idea, everyone would ask: Whatever the name of your simulator is, what's the size of the fandom community? How many users? Are there similar competitors? What is the daily activity? ...... I can only say sardonically: its presumably have more than 100,000 people on Weibo...... then cannot go on. But the idea did not end there. After work, from the H5 and small games, I have never stopped the idea of "making a game of fangirls". The master of shipping, the master of X as Y / X in Y AU, the master of fandom creators; to the later Fans Conversion Simulator, as well as the Goods Circle Simulator Zi Wei Xing ...... I want to do a X as Y / X in Y AU Simulator, want to do a Fandom Simulator, has been circling around in my mind. Since the cost is too high to realize it, then I break up the experience and realize it in a low-cost way; if I can't draw a beautiful illustration, then draw a sketch; if I can't write a long story, write a brainstorming outline. As long as there is an experience I want to convey, convey it in the plainest and most feasible way. Learning to express before getting better, this is how we creators fight.
(Started out the free WeChat mini-game platform. Then someday later WeChat started charge money on a monthly basis. It was suspended because I couldn't afford to pay for the servers.)

Groundbreaking Moments

In 2023, the project team I was working with was cut across the board; the new project team that I join in afterward didn't get along well with me either. At the time, I was more confused than ever about what I was trying to do: did my product have meaning? Did the game I was working on really need me? Is my ability really useful to this company? What kind of game should I make if not an anime/gacha (mobile) game? Jumping out of a big company to make a single player game, it is just like get into niche corners of fandom all by yourself. However, in this world, there are some shippings that only you can bound. There are also some shippings that you like from the bottom of your heart and want to convey them. It calls to us.
The answer didn't even take a second to think about. At the time, my friends and I hit it off right away. We decided immediately to "make a master of X in Y AU pro max deluxe edition fandom simulator" (by then its called Codename 1234). Some of our team members are conversed ex-companion; some in Game Jam bonding; some in the Weibo, hit it off with each other at first sight, get acquaintances by chat up; some rely on the introduction of friends, even friends of friends. We are not a regular game company, and some of us have never been in contact with the game industry, and the work some of us do is very distant from the game. The only common denominator for all of us is we are fangirls, and we coalesced purely out of love, wanting to make a game dedicated to fans. For most of the development phase which more than six months, everyone worked on a volunteer basis. I spent my savings (which I took when I was laid off) on commissioning, and the artists were all part-time corporate slaves who worked at their companies during the day and went home at night to work on our artworks. So, our communication was often late at night. If you search for the word "overtime" in the group chat logs, you can read the modern corporate slaves miserable history of blood and tears.
"Every corporate slave who make fandom deserves respect.) One of us who have the heaviest overtime, and let me worrying the most is a young girl. Every day she works at a tech giants company until nine PM, then go home, continue work on Sensei! I like you so much! project for six more hours. Almost every day, she submits materials around 2 or 3 AM. In this way, it seems that this project is really for young people only, I'm afraid it's hard not to hurt your bones when you get older.
(We are really in the GMT+8 time zone...) But the good thing is, as the project progresses, we are getting more and more support from our friends. In terms of caption, art and distribution, we received great help from our former friends. Almost all of the cooperative partners who participated in the project were full of enthusiasm and dedication that far exceeded that of a typical assignment, which made us fully appreciative. And those who participated in the demo and the internal test also expressed encouragement for our direction, which also gave us great confidence. Whenever people expressed their anticipation, we felt that it didn't matter if we had to work to sudden death. (But we still have to finish the game before we die.)
In the original schedule, we wanted to finish the game before the end of this year, and our game did get most of its features done before the end of this year. I didn't realize that polishing would take far longer than I thought it would. I'm good at prototyping gameplay, but I'm not good at polishing. However, this was the only game that we wanted to polish and polish and again. At this point, I need to apologize to all of you who have waited patiently. I apologize for making you guys wait so long. But the good thing is, we're finally ahead of CP30 (laughs).
(I really hope that one day I can come back here (going back to the Shanghai New International Expo Centre would also be fine)) The so-called miracle is the encounter with all of you. Initially, we just wanted to make a pint-sized simulation game. But after receiving so much support and attention, I was determined to go a little harder and farther. I want to make a game that people like us need; I also want to make a game that can tell everyone that this is OUR game. What is fandom culture? What do we want to express? What do we love? What kind of lives do we lived? I want to convey all of this in the game. Every time I receive support from everyone, a surge of unstoppable warmth fills my heart. I rarely speak, and perhaps you don't realize that I hold a deep appreciation for each and every one of you. If you can be touched and loved for a moment, for an itch, then that's the original intention of this game, and what the development team wanted to convey the most. Every encounter in the sea of people is a miracle. Because we love the same work and the same character, we meet with people from all over the world.
And each of your favorites is a miracle that belongs to us. I hope these miracles can be converged into stars, lighting up the sky that belongs to us. https://store.steampowered.com/app/2957700/_/ -------------------------- Join Our Discord Follow Our X Account

[ 2024-06-27 03:22:43 CET ] [ Original post ]