My GameDev Conceptual Idea

Creativity has always been my drug. If it was creative, I wanted in. I’ve dabbled in graphic design, web stuff, photography, even made my own short films. But game development? I don’t know why—something always gets in the way.

I had three game-related projects between 1998 and 2005—a multiple story-driven StarCraft maps called Spider Wars, a fanmade Pokémon: Orange League, and a sprite-based adventure called The UrbX, built with RPG Maker 2000. None reached the finish line—the setbacks hit too hard to recover from.

I only need to make one game, but this isn’t some Nike “Just Do It” moment. Unlike my past creative projects, I need more than just effort. I need time, research, and a clear sense of what to build and what to avoid. And one thing I know for certain is my game won’t fall into the over-saturated categories of shooters or zombie-based games, as those genres have already been done to death.

Discovering the Light

I’ve bought hundreds of games on Steam during the pendemic, just to piece together the elements for my game—figuring out what works and whatnot.

One of them was Dead Island, with its white sandy beaches, crystal-clear waters, lush greenery, luxurious stays, beach bars, and defunct military ruins—everything about it reminded me of Sentosa. Well, almost everything. The only crystal-clear water they’ve got comes from a tap. They did have pink waters at Sentosa Cove earlier this year, but that’s a different story. The point is, I’m onto something here.

Long before Steam, there was World of Temasek by Magma Studio, an MMORPG set in a reimagined 14th-century Singapore. Players assumed the roles of a ranger, mariner, or artisan, shaping how they explored, survived, and interacted with the world—including not getting ravaged by a man-eating tiger. It was a solid game with an educational twist, but sadly, their servers shut down less than a decade after launch.

Speaking of time, I’ve been an avid gamer since childhood, drawn to the TV like a moth to flame, burning hours on Fatal Fury, The Warriors, Free Running, and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. I still revisit classics—but only with purpose. On 2 January 2020, I had to emulate Resident Evil 2 just to see a pixelated Back to the Future Part III photo hidden in the game. I had to. My crazy hours on it back in 1999 wouldn’t sit right otherwise.

It’s moments like these that spark new ideas, born from the mess of past experiences, events, and memories. Rummaging through the list of projects I’ve produced, especially those focused on storytelling and narratives, that a brainstorm…

Blossomed like Spring

In a 4 March 2011 article titled Live Life in 14th Century S’pore – Virtually, The Straits Times called World of Temasek the first locally made 3D multiplayer role-playing game. While other parts of the article may differ, this statement holds true. To this day, it’s the only open-world game set in Singapore, made locally and built on Singaporean history. Other games that feature Singapore are just fragments—none match the depth or cohesion World of Temasek delivers.

So what if, inspired by World of Temasek and Dead Island, I create an open-world game set in 1980s Singapore—specifically on Sentosa—but in an alternate universe where both Sentosa and Singapore go by different names?

What if I blend Fatal Fury, The Warriors, and South Town from the Fatal Fury series with pirate-infested Sentosa history and the myth of Libertalia, and set it all in a world where alternate Sentosa is a lawless state ruled by local gangs, with the catalyst for this chaos being Singapore’s “island prison” notion turned real?

What if the Urban Explorers of Singapore appear in this alternate world—but years after the team disbanded, following the death of their founder—me—and now the second-in-command takes the lead as the main character, armed with parkour and longboarding skills shaped by Free Running and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater?

What if the game’s main objective was to adapt to real-life challenges—confronting moral ambiguity, challenging rigid ideals, and exposing life’s complexity—all while emphasising the weight of choice and consequence in a world where suppression of freedom violates basic human rights?

Honestly, I got a bit lost while writing the last paragraph, but what’s clear is I know exactly what I want to make. This post only scratches the surface of an idea I’ve been shaping for the past two years, but it also marks the day a hungry wolf power geysers his wild ambition into reality.