A Game Developer's Journey - Chapter 12

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(Chapter 12 - The End)

The square extended her four edges indefinitely while also aligning herself perpendicularly to GameDev's direction of view. This filled his vision with pure magenta, equally bright everywhere.

And all of a sudden, this all-encompassing curtain of light went out of his sight.

He realized that he was back in his basement again, which was occupied by a folding plastic table, a gaming PC, a couple of office chairs, an empty can of energy drink, and a moldy pizza box - just as they were by the time he departed the room for his private journey.

"Oh well, it was just a bizarre dream," he murmured. He then proceeded to sweep aside some of the litter that was sitting on the floor.

"Yes it was," whispered a familiar voice.

GameDev jumped out of his skin and turned his head to see what was behind him. It was the square, the perfectly axis-aligned pink square, quietly gazing him in his eyes.

"You are still here?" He asked, genuinely surprised.

"Sure I am," she replied. "I am part of you, and the things which I have been showing you are what you already had in your mind when I revealed myself to you."

"This makes no sense; I must still be hallucinating."

"You have never been hallucinating. Everything you witnessed is as real as what you fathom as real. You saw the bare face of our world, embellished by neither grandiose buzzwords nor vain promises. From this starting point of truth, you could divine your path to the place to which you longed to belong."

He was puzzled. What she just said was something he could grasp but not quite manage to put in his own words. She continued to explain for the sake of clarification.

"What you needed as an indie developer was a sense of belonging. You may not be the head of a AAA game company which is armed with all sorts of advantages such as an enormous budget or a body of myriad talents, and you may not be a genius who comes up with a marvelous invention that clamors to revolutionize the world. However, you can still be somebody's favorite game developer in your own treehouse of friendship."

She paused to give him a bit of time to think. Then she resumed.

"You saw many things - places which are filled with possibilities, mysteries, legends, and other fanciful crumbs of passion which never failed to distract you from the core of what you really needed. You are an independent developer, desperate in search of somewhere to which you can stick your identity."

He listened with a strange sense of delight, which was too subtle to let him jump out of joy but nevertheless piercing enough to freeze him in awe.

He contemplated upon the her words and asked, "How do I find a way to such a goal? I want to be somebody who is needed by others, yet it is the very methodology of it which confounds me."

"The way," answered the square, "lies on the outside of yourself. Even the brightest idea of yours is an empty word without someone ready to hear it. You must first explore your surroundings and learn from the words of prudent minds - not of those proud self-help gurus who exploit one's hope for their own advantage, but of those to whom you are willing to open your heart with reverence."

She rotated herself for quite a number of degrees to show some visual variety, but then she realized that her back was invisible to GameDev's eyes. So she resumed her initial orientation and carried on her speech.

"Use your wit to discern your hidden mentors whose lonely howls are yet to be heard. Compassion will let your thoughts resonate with theirs, and show you the way to the most ideal dream you have ever dreamed of. Every honorable journey begins with companionship, and you will find solace in it."

"My years of private struggle was all in vain, then," muttered GameDev in profound bitterness.

"No, it is not so," she responded with a mien of grace. "Your strata of self-reflection will push you forward even in the midst of utter solitude, up until the day you will finally embrace the presence of those who are willing to listen to you and speak to you."

He pondered for what felt like an aeon of inner debate. Then he gathered his courage and asked, "What about the audience? Don't we need people who are willing to play the game?"

The square approached him and said, "Your initial audience will be the ones who know you well. Once they play your game and appreciate it, their friends will come over and appreciate it, too. And the ripple of your personal connections will propagate itself indefinitely, filling up the pond of shared memories."

Then she disappeared.

GameDev was stupefied by this unexpected event. He looked around, trying to figure out where she went. He could not find any trace of her.

After minutes of search, he concluded that it did not really matter. She could've been a mere phantom of his own mind, but it was not important to him. All he needed to do was to get out of his basement to see the light of day.

(The End)