Rebecca Cordingley was itching.
She itched to be working on something personal.
Sometime fun.
She itched to escape the frustrating development cycle surrounding video games, and she itched
to have more creative control over what she was going.
The worst part of all this itching was the fact that there was nothing really wrong with
what Rebecca was already doing.
She had a fantastic job at a comfortable game development studio, and was in the very enviable
position of making video games for a living.
By all rights, this should be all she should need out of life.
So why did she constantly feel like, trapped in this traditionally structured studio, she
was missing out?
Rebecca had been told again and again by colleagues that the frustrations she felt were a necessary
evil of the gaming industry.
No developer can produce an entire game alone in a bubble, and they all needed to rely on
each other to produce something truly impressive.
This, everyone reminded Rebecca, meant suffering through choppy development cycles, cooperating
with other people, making compromises, and ultimately losing a little autonomy and freedom
in order to produce a game that actually works.
There is no other option, Rebecca was told, and for a while, she believed it.
But then, Stardew Valley was released, and everything Rebecca thought she knew about
games development, was instantly flipped on its head.
Rebecca Cordingley had never really set out to become a video game developer.
She'd always loved games, but hadn't thought that she had the skills necessary to develop
anything herself.
Instead, she prized her skills as an artist, and set out to become a graphic designer.
After a lot of study and practice, she found herself working at a design agency, tasked
with making fun, eyecatching visual art that would draw people's attention.
As she experimented and worked on various projects, though, Rebecca quickly gained an
appreciation for making interactive media, and various design projects that people could
enter their own inputs into.
It was from here that the initial seed of desire to develop games started to grow within
Rebecca's heart.
Carefully, Rebecca sidestepped into a job as art director for Schell Games, working
on a variety of tasks, some of which used her existing skills, like producing marketing
materials for games, and other which pushed her to learn new things, such as localizing
games, or producing mobile ports of existing titles.
This was a period of great personal development for Rebecca, as, for the first time, she began
to peek behind the curtain and learn how to code games herself.
Schell Games was a relatively small studio, so she often got the chance to observe and
work with various team members who were working on every aspect of game design.
As enjoyable as this was, though, Rebecca couldn't help but feel like she wanted the
chance to make something all her own.
She liked the idea of producing something that explored her own, very personal message
about life, which reflected her interests, her preferred art style, and her own way of
thinking.
Essentially, Rebecca wanted to make a game that would be the perfect kind of thing that
she'd want to play.
Then one day, as she mused on this, Rebecca came across Stardew Valley, Eric Barone's
unexpected hit farming simulator.
There was so much in this game to love!
From its rich world and colorful characters, to its charming gameplay and simple, earnest
design.
Perhaps the most impressive thing of all, though, was the fact that this entire game
had been developed by just one person.
Rebecca was amazed to hear the story of Eric Barone, who had spent four long years working
in isolation to produce something that was all his own.
So it was possible after all!
Rebecca could make her own perfect game!
If Eric could achieve this, surely she could as well!
This idea wouldn't leave Rebecca alone.
She could do it.
She could really do it, if only she had the guts.
Slowly, she began to build up the courage needed to quit her job at Schell Games, and
to launch herself into the unknown.
Rebecca wasn't entirely alone in all this.
Her husband, Ben Wasser, was there beside her, and could see how much this meant to
her.
He had faith in Rebecca's abilities as an artist and a programmer, and he was willing
to throw his weight behind supporting her in this risky endeavor.
And so, Rebecca quit her job.
The was it.
Goodbye, Schell Games, and hello uncertainty.
So what was next?
Rebecca brainstormed some ideas for games, alongside Ben.
They found themselves with two big frontrunners.
One, a game they titled Moblets, would be a game that drew inspiration from Stardew
Valley, and Harvest Moon, as well as from Pokemon.
The player could collect and raise adorable tiny creatures, work on a farm to provide
them with food to help them grow, and battle them against other people within the game.
This all seemed wonderful, but it was just too big of an idea.
Rebecca was aware that she needed to pace herself, and create a project that wouldn't
overstretch the abilities of a one person studio.
The other idea was IT Simulator, and this seemed like a better avenue for Rebecca to
devote her time.
This game would be set in a typical office environment, with various computer problems,
and wacky scenarios for the player to explore.
Things would catch fire, people would dance, and the entire experience would be an absurd
parody of office life.
Rebecca had to admit that she'd never really worked in an IT company before, but she hoped
that this lack of experience would mean she'd be able to bring more originality to the project.
And so, Rebecca set to work.
In keeping with her plan to make something on her own terms, she ignored the standard
game development process, and dove straight into artwork and character models.
While most developers make sure that the game has a solid foundation first, Rebecca wanted
to make something beautiful and eyecatching, so that people viewing her work would instantly
understand where she was going with her game.
The point of IT Simulator was to make something that people would find funny, so if she worked
on the game mechanics first and neglected the artwork, her game wouldn't have the
right focus.
Becky worked night and day on her project.
Ben would join her in the evenings, helping out where needed, and after a few months of
work IT Simulator began to take shape.
There was just one problem – this was a small indie game, and it would need to rely
on word of mouth throughout development in order to gain momentum.
But nobody really seemed all that interested in IT Simulator.
Maybe it was the setting, or something surrounding the gameplay, but this just didn't seem
like a game that people were interested in.
With frustration, Rebecca found herself facing failure.
She couldn't keep working on a game that people didn't care about.
It was time to start all over again, and try to find something that people would really
love.
With IT Simulator not quite making the progress that Rebecca had hoped for, she'd started
exploring Moblets as well, just as a side project.
She started creating this game with a similar cutesy artstyle to that which appeared in
IT Simulator, but had fun designing Pokemon-like creatures to populate her world.
Rebecca casually floated these online to see what people thought of them, and to her complete
surprise, the popularity of these little Moblet drew in unprecedented interest!
IT Simulator may have been a bust, but instead, Rebecca was finding that her cute creations
were finding an audience in a way that she couldn't have expected.
Changing gears was hard, but if it meant making a game that people actually wanted to play,
Rebecca figured that she was onto a winner.
Moblets might seem to be a big, daunting development task, but it felt like the right direction
to take.
Again, Rebecca focused first on creating the game's visuals and art style, so that she
had something to show off to her growing fanbase.
Ben got involved more and more, taking on some community manager roles, as the pair
pushed to make their game, now renamed Ooblets, as enjoyable as it could be.
The pair began attracting attention from many prestigious game expos and media outlets,
as their project expanded, and fans latched onto it.
Rebecca started a patreon to help fund Ooblets, and was pleasantly surprised to see that many
of the game's fans were more than willing to support her endeavor financially.
The real moment of success came, though, when Rebecca and Ben found a publisher for their
game – none other than the prestigious studio, Double Fine.
Their game was snowballing in popularity, as more and more fans discovered Rebecca's
work and threw their support behind her.
Ooblets had reached greater heights than Rebecca could have ever imagined, even being shown
on the main stage during Microsoft's presentation at the 2017 E3 electronics entertainment expo.
For an hour afterwards, Rebecca danced around in excitement!
She'd done it!
She'd set out to make her own game, her own way, and it was resonating with people!
While the game was still a long way from completion, what mattered to Rebecca was that het little
project, her attempt to tell her own gaming story on her own terms, was being embraced
by gamers around the world.
There was a long way still to go, but one thing was certain: Rebecca's decision to
quit her job to make Ooblets had paid off.
Her dream was coming true.
There are many morals that could be taken from this story, but perhaps the most important
is that you can't let people tell you that something cannot be done.
Rebecca felt frustrated with the process of games development, because she didn't have
the freedom to make something by herself.
It was only after she took the plunge and attempted to do the impossible that she discovered
that it wasn't really impossible after all.
This might not mean that quitting your job is right for you.
Instead, you may be required to work within the system to find a way to make your dreams
come true.
But remember: you can never achieve your goals if you don't actually try.
There are plenty of areas of life where you might be told by those around you that you
can't do something, that you're incapable of success.
Don't listen to them.
If you have a goal, and you work hard enough to achieve it, you'll surprise all those
who doubt you.
With enough determination and focus, no matter what challenge you may face, you can accomplish
anything.
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