Text/Liang Lotte

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Recently, a friend recommended a game on Steam to Grape King, called "Mrs. I like you! 》。 When I first heard the name, Grape Jun thought this was a Cao Chengxiang simulator.

As a result, after the hands-on experience, Grape Jun called him a good guy. Yes, this is indeed an emulator, but it is a "doujinn simulator".

In the game, you can become a fanwriter, create fanfiction of various themes, participate in comic conventions with fanbooks, accumulate fans, and become a big hand; You can also buy self-pushed millet, prick the pain bag, and decorate the room; You can even get to know four people with very different personalities (fans who like the same idol), and you can get together because of the work you love together and write an unforgettable fandom story.

And,Grape Jun found out after understanding,The game's producer Xiaozhi used to work at Tencent,22The "Homo Girl Climbing Wall Simulator" that had swiped the screen of the circle of friends was made by her,Now this "Homo Girl Simulator" has been conceived for 6 years,Experienced a number of prototype gameplay verifications。

01

A six-year-old prototype

The idea of making a doujinn simulator dates back to 2018.

At that time, the domestic independent game industry was in full swing, and works such as "Taiwu Picture Scroll", "Chinese Parents" and "Portia Time" were in front of the jade, and investors were very willing to invest funds in the development of independent games.

Twigs studied games at New York University as an undergraduate. In 2018, when she was a junior in college, she made a prototype of a fandom simulator, but when she pitched her ideas to publishers, the general feedback she received was questioning: this track is too vertical, how big is the market? There are no similar competitors on the market, how can you prove that this work can be successful? Due to a lack of financial support, Xiaozhi had to put the project on hold for the time being and turn his energy to finding a job.

After graduating, Xiaozhi joined Tencent and worked as a creative incubator, but she never gave up the idea of making this game. During the years when she worked at Tencent, in addition to her daily work, she also made some small games one after another to verify the gameplay of the game:

In February 2021, the valley circle simulation game "Ziweixing North Star" was launched, with the purpose of verifying whether the gameplay of collecting millet valley beauty is interesting; In May of the same year, "Trim Master" was launched, aiming to explore the impact of character names on players' sense of substitution; In September, "Meal Replacement Master" was launched, with the purpose of testing players' acceptance of meal replacement texts; In January 2022, "Master of Grain Production" was launched, and the gameplay of placement + restaurant simulation operation further verified the combined effect of the whole set of fandom gameplay and simulated management.

Screenshot of the valley circle simulation game "Ziweixing North Star".

In April 2022, "Doujin Girl Wall Climbing Simulator" was launched, which once again completely verified whether the whole set of simulated business gameplay of social interaction can attract players. In order to make it easier for players to get started, a web version of the game has also been developed. Players who have experienced it have generally given positive reviews and found the gameplay quite interesting.

Soon after the production of this game, due to Tencent's internal organizational adjustments, Xiaozhi chose to leave Tencent. After that, she joined a company that specialized in making two-dimensional games, but it soon became clear that working there didn't give her much sense of accomplishment, and she wanted to do something more meaningful to herself. So since last summer,Xiaozhi and his friends picked up the project again.,Decided to make that fandom simulator.。

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How to make a fangirl simulator?

After experiencing the opening part of the game's demo, Grape Jun was very impressed with the character customization system. In contrast to similar titles, in this game, players are free to pinch their faces and customize the appearance and personality of the character you push.

Kowig-eda explains that you can think of it as a design that adds a sense of immersion. For fandoms, you push, that is, the character you like, it must be the player's own, unique character. This is the same as the design idea of Galgame prompting players to customize their names at the beginning, or RPGs that allow players to pinch their faces.

What's even more interesting is that the character you've set up will be able to move freely on the table and interact with the player. In the future, they will also separate the system and make a special program for desktop character interaction.

In addition to this, the story and NPCs are also an important part of the game. In the game, you will meet the cold circle with you, the courtesan who is impressed by your work, the cold and silent goddess of the town circle, and the-for-tat deep cabinet opponent.

In fact, the game's original name was "Codename 1234", and the entire storyline is also built around four representative characters. Not only are these characters relatable and relatable, but they also encompass traits that many people aspire to have, such as the partner who reads your work every day and gives feedback, and the goddess of the same burden who makes you fall in love with her work at first sight.

For them, because they have been immersed in the fandom for a long time, it can be said that it is a natural thing to set up these characters, and even sometimes, they will have to cut some of them because they have too many ideas in mind. This strong desire for expression is also reflected in the copywriting. The copywriting of the main line comes from the manuscript of a friend in the circle of Xiaozhi.,It's also an experienced writer who has been immersed in the fandom for many years.。 Koeda said that when they pulled the release, many people told them that the game had a large amount of text.

The volume of the copy is also reflected in the game's fandom writing system, where you play as a fanwriter, going out during the day to find inspiration and returning home at night to write stories about them. Whether it is story themes such as school, entertainment industry, and ancient style and immortal cultivation, or story types such as sweet texts, abuse texts, and reunions with broken mirrors, they all reflect the large amount of text in the game.

According to the producer, because of the large amount of text and the variety of content, copywriting may gradually turn to manuscripts in the later stages of game development. Now the ratio of original copywriting to commissioned manuscripts is about half and half.

As they create their copy, they also invite players to test it out and keep content that has been received with positive feedback. In March of this year, the game also underwent a systematic test. Now, the game has launched a demo, entered the sprint stage, and is expected to be launched within the year.

For the development team, they have a very clear positioning of this game, which is the first crab in the fandom genre. As the first people to try, although they can't predict the outcome, they will still give their all and do their best to make this game well, and as for the final player reaction, it is left to the market to decide.

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Through the works, people from all over the world

Connected

In 2006, Xiaozhi first saw Seven Heroes and Five Righteous Fellows on the Internet, when she was 9 years old and had just entered the third grade.

In 2007, at the age of 10, Twigs made his first attempt at writing Harry Potter fanfiction.

From the earliest forum, to the later post bar, to the library, and finally to the current old Ford, Xiaozhi has written millions of words of fandom. She's 27 years old this year, which means she's been in the fandom for 18 years, and fandom is like a part of life.

Old Ford APP

Twig introduced to Grape Jun that, in her opinion, the doujin circle should be a spiritual world separated from reality, a bit like a utopia. Inside, you can meet friends from all over the world, and although you are physically distant, your spiritual connection is very close. The fandom derived from the stories you like.,Purely out of feelings.,Out of love to connect everyone.。

It's a circle that crosses identities, borders, and cultures. Today, you may chat with someone more than 1,000 kilometers away, with an age difference of 10 years, on QQ; Tomorrow you may also receive comments from the other side of the globe, expressing love for your work in broken Chinese. In reality, you may never have an intersection with someone in your life, but you are connected by a character you both like.

This can also be seen in the members of the game development team, who are in charge of planning and programming, and the other four members in charge of art met through fandoms.

Xiaozhi told Grape-kun that there was once a little sister who had experienced the game and told them that in the real fandom, because she was in the cold circle (referring to the small number of people in the circle), she rarely felt the same interests, and in the game, she felt the happiness of everyone being connected because of their common love.

Although they are very limited, they hope that the game can reflect a more beautiful fragment or corner, so that players can get the touch and beauty that can be experienced in the real fandom.

They often say that this game is a love letter to all fanwomen. In the game, everyone gets together because of common interests, which is a miracle in the sea of people. The theme of the game is called "The Miracle of Meeting You", because every encounter is a miracle in itself.

"If you can touch the game we made a little bit, it will be a miracle for us."

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