The Progress is Too Fast
"Haa..."
We'd been tussling over the phone, but after all that roughhousing, I'd lost track of why we were even fighting in the first place. In the end, Yoo Seol-ah and I called a temporary truce, then turned to the other two—who'd been chatting away without paying any mind to our childish antics—and finally got to the point.
"So, what's on the agenda for today?"
"Oh, you two still on your phones?"
"Yeah. Switch to computers?"
"That'd be better. Take your time."
Probably some visuals they needed us to see properly. After hanging up, I turned to Yoo Seol-ah, who was glaring at me with puffed-up cheeks.
"Where's the computer?"
"...Over there, the room opposite the bedroom."
The bedroom had a king-sized bed that left no room for a desk, but unlike her cramped studio apartment, our spacious new place allowed for separate work areas. Heading into the room she pointed out, I was struck by the uniquely laid-out interior.
The wide table we'd ordered while furniture shopping sat there, with Yoo Seol-ah's computer and mine placed back-to-back. So we're splitting the big desk down the middle, huh.
Her side, naturally, was loaded with her tablet, sub-monitor, and all her drawing gear lined up neatly. Mine just had a compact master keyboard. I'd considered separate rooms for our workspaces, but given her personality, she probably wanted to avoid that as much as possible.
It was like those open-plan offices where teams face each other, but the key difference here? No dividers at all. Monitors side by side, fully exposed—you could see everything the other was up to.
Before I could even say a word, Yoo Seol-ah explained.
"...I mean, if we can see each other, maybe we'll slack off less... Like people studying in the library..."
"You barely slack when you're focused anyway."
Her concentration while drawing was insane. It was a compliment, really, but she flushed pink and shot me a side-eye.
"...Just drop it...?"
"You want me to?"
"I said drop it!"
We could've easily gotten a screen divider, so the open sightlines were clearly intentional. I'd just poked at her a bit because of that earlier fib she'd tried to pull. Smirking at her huffy reaction, I settled into my spot, which was all set up.
Damn, it's spotless. Cables routed perfectly through the slim hole in the table's center—like something out of a trendy cafe.
Yoo Seol-ah took her seat across from me, sneaking a glance my way before averting her eyes the second they met.
"...On the computer now."
She slipped on her earphones and joined the call first. Confirming that, I grabbed the headset from its stand.
- Everyone there? It's not super urgent, but there's stuff I wanna run by you. Sorry if you're busy.
"Nah. We're done with our stuff anyway."
Moments later, Doyun hyung's screen share popped up in the corner of the call app. It was that game sample I'd seen before, but streamlined way more this time around.
- So, collection RPG is locked in. Aiming for that mobile vibe, but thinking PC expansion to follow trends.
Most subculture gacha games run fine on phones, but plenty get played via PC emulators, or even get full PC ports.
- Combat-wise, let's pick one and commit. I'm leaning turn-based personally—what do you think?
"Turn-based fits mobile. Fewer buttons the better on a phone."
If lots of players go PC, we could add more controls, no biggie. But starting mobile means tiny screens crammed with movement and attack buttons would feel clunky. Plus, Doyun hyung had already crushed it with turn-based in S.O.S.
- Got it. Speak up if you've got other ideas. I've been hooked on that distance mechanic we talked about last time, so I've been building around it.
On the shared screen, a free sample mage and assassin character were visible. The weird part? The battlefield wasn't uniform. Grid-based per character, sure, for the distance system, but no fixed chessboard—the tiles were scattered every which way.
Even Yoo Seol-ah sounded surprised and curious.
"The turn-based games I played didn't have positioning like that. Separate maps or something?"
Like he'd anticipated it, Doyun hyung explained patiently.
- Yeah. Wanted to stand out from other games, so I brainstormed a ton. This variable battlefield idea came up.
"Looks like a forest."
- Seol-ah spots the design first, huh. Spot on. Made it as a forest battle example—let's demo.
Trees and rocks had X marks blocking movement. He clicked, and the sneaky-looking assassin slid to another tile.
- In collection RPGs, what matters to me is no single character carrying the team.
"Balancing that sounds tough."
- And I hate how high-rarity ones dominate once you get 'em. Speaking as a gamer before dev.
Early-game faves get benched fast, forcing low-odds pulls for wins. Non-spenders feel shafted all the time.
- So I pumped up strategy with custom maps. Basic system rundown first.
The assassin closed in on the mage, and a red glow lit up the mage's tile—attack range, probably. Four options popped up beside the assassin: basic attack one tile away, two active skills, and a passive labeled as such.
- Basic attack range one's obvious—you gotta get right up in their face.
"Yeah. Assassins gotta be range 1."
Yoo Seol-ah was stifling a laugh. Obvious double meaning, so I stretched my leg under the desk and nudged hers. She glared past her monitor and shoved my foot back with hers.
Doyun hyung was still explaining, so I let it slide.
- Skills aren't locked to 1, obviously. Skill 1's range 2, so it hits from one tile back.
He maneuvered the assassin, demoing ranges. Yoo Seol-ah, fully immersed, fired off a question like an eager student.
"Diagonals? Do they count as one tile?"
- Varies by character. You know chess?
"Like bishops?"
- Yep. No diagonal movement base-wide, but attacks vary. Enables stuff like this.
Switching to the mage—way fancier design, even for a sample.
- High-rarity mage in mind, range 5. Can hit from here.
Basic attack connected from five tiles out. Yoo Seol-ah looked thrilled, like she was living it.
...That face pisses me off.
But then it was my turn to grin.
- Even high-rarity needs weaknesses, so this one's straight lines only—horizontal/vertical. Assassin hits all directions at 1. Rook and king vibes.
Meaning the assassin could whale on it unchecked. He positioned diagonally one tile off, and the mage's basic wouldn't connect.
- Position like this, assassin farms it free. Range gap irrelevant.
I flashed a victory smirk.
"Yeah, mages suck up close."
Her grinding teeth from across the desk made it even sweeter.
- Jobs get base speeds too—affecting turn order and move distance per turn.
Screen flipped to a dense stat table crammed with numbers and text. Some characters even had skills fleshed out.
How many is that... Stats mostly filled, skills too.
- Placeholder for now—about 50 across five job types. Designs from you guys later.
A few days since club time, and 50 ready? I asked with real concern.
"Hyung, you sleeping?"
- Don't worry. Minimum five hours. S.O.S was the same—used to it. Game design's way funner than coding.
Five hours and "don't worry" don't add up... Another reminder of how massive his role was in our club.
- That's it for now. Helpful?
"...The progress is too fast, teacher."
I was thinking the same. Big-three devs hunt all-rounders at this level, huh.
"Lemme know any map ideas or vibes you want. BGM's gotta match."
- Will compile and send later. Thanks.
With the game's shape emerging so quick, our motivation surged right along.