What is it like to realize your childhood career dream
Is it beautiful
Actually not.
Because treating your hobby as your job is really not a very happy thing.
I have been working for more than two years. Although I have been employed in the gaming industry that I love, making games in China is not a very cool thing.
Although he is called a game planner, what he does every day is just to prepare tables, modify texts, make the plans on the main planner's PPT specific to the functional interaction logic of the program, and check resource requirements with the artist.
Although as a newcomer in the workplace, you should have your own process of accumulating experience.
However, when my own plans were rejected again and again because they could not make a profit—
When the gameplay design of the game is all focused on how to attract users to spend money—
When I realized that the chief producer was just a tool serving the boss—
Mei Fang's enthusiasm for the gaming industry is gradually fading.
Such a life is just to make a living.
Compared to the ninth art that I initially expected, it is really far from it.
So, one angry morning, Mei Fang finally decided to make a change.
He submitted his resignation application to the company and declined the offer of a salary increase from the planner.
The amount added is too little, haha.
Who are you looking down on
Mei Fang only thinks about making money now.
Keep making money and then save enough.
Use this money to make an independent game.
A standalone game of its own.
It won’t work if you make a game based entirely on your own ideas.
That would prove that I'm really not cut out for making games.
Well, let's do it this way...
Determined to make independent games, Mei Fang no longer had any psychological burden. He submitted his resume to those "pay-to-win" mobile game companies that he had previously despised.
After a month of competition, Mei Fang chose a large overseas mobile game distribution company with the best treatment.
This large factory is located in Guangzhou and has a total of several thousand employees. On Mei Fang's first day at work, he didn't even know the location of his workstation. He didn't have time to communicate with his colleagues in the same project team before he was taken to the training room for induction training and learning about corporate culture.
New employee training like this should be conducted once a month, and then employees should be able to be put into use directly. Those who cannot be put into use will be eliminated directly.
Most of Guangzhou's gaming companies are well-known for their sweatshops, and this operation is a very standard procedure.
However, although the companies in Yangcheng are very hardworking, they still have some humanistic care, for example -
All new employees are invited to participate in a quality development activity, also known as team building, at 6:30 am on Saturday. Anyone who asks for leave without special reasons will be deemed to have failed the probation period.
Don’t think that this is a bad company that is taking up its employees’ rest time!
This company usually has a weekday schedule, so we have to work on Saturdays!
So, this is already very conscientious!
Mei Fang set the alarm for herself at 5 o'clock, got up hurriedly in the morning, washed, and then took the bus to wait for the bus in front of the company.
Because the factory has new project development plans, there are a lot of new people joining the company recently, but most of them are very young and immature faces, and campus recruitment accounts for the vast majority. Mei Fang, who has been working for two years, is already considered an old hand.
Having said that, the right to speak among the newcomers is still held by the "big brothers" who are recruited from society. Everyone teases and flatters each other, and does not seem to express their dissatisfaction with such team building at all. Instead, they enjoy such a social atmosphere.
Because the company requires frequent overtime work, the proportion of female employees is not high. The few girls who dress beautifully and fashionably became the focus of this team building.
A few talkative girls were surrounded in the center like stars, while other girls with average looks gathered in groups of three or four in the corner to chat and strike up a conversation, trying hard to appear less out of place.
Mei Fang was the only one in the group who was alone.
He stood there and browsed for a long time, then felt a little bored when he saw that the driver and the HR person hadn't come yet, so he squinted his eyes and yawned.
Mei Fang looked at his watch, and when he raised his head again, he suddenly met the eyes of a short-haired girl wearing glasses not far away.
The girl's figure looked very well-proportioned, and she was wearing a black and white hooded sweatshirt; at the same time, she was walking towards him quickly -
Mei Fang subconsciously looked back, and when he looked back again, the girl had already looked away and walked past him with big strides.
…
Yes, is it an illusion
Mei Fang didn't think much about it and just continued to play with his phone.
The company's HR personnel arrived at the bus one after another with their things in their hands. The young male colleagues all actively stepped forward to help, trying to show their mature charm in front of the HR ladies.
On the way to the team-building venue, everyone was talking and laughing in the car, and Mei Fang took this opportunity to close his eyes and take a nap.
He couldn't help but think of when he had just graduated, he was also full of enthusiasm and vigor.
I am looking forward to becoming a well-known game producer.
In just two years, he has completely changed.
However, this is not the time to complain about everything...
Um!
Mei Fang looked at the dynamic link of the online cooperative independent game he had posted some time ago on Penguin. He was the planner and programmer of this project himself and had already started writing the basic framework.
Mei Fang received countless likes and comments of support, but no one was really interested in Mei Fang's plan.
Indeed, this is an era of expression, and excellent art design can easily attract countless attention.
Without good artistic expression for promotion, relying solely on creative gameplay to attract attention is a bit like making empty promises, which is a very difficult thing to do.
But where can I find such great artists
Now I can only accumulate more connections in large companies and see if there is a chance to cooperate with them in the future...
Everyone was singing in the first half, but gradually began to feel tired and lay down on their seats to rest.
Mei Fang had already woken up at this time. He took this opportunity to post a new update on the social platform, which was an update log about his independent game project yesterday.
As soon as he clicked publish, he heard a "ding dong" sound from the car.
The ding-dong sound seemed to come from the seat next to him.
It’s the short-haired girl wearing glasses just now.
She seemed embarrassed by the sound of her cell phone, and she quickly turned down the volume, covering her phone and lowering her head.
Perhaps he noticed Mei Fang's gaze, and he subconsciously glanced at Mei Fang when he lowered his head.
They looked at each other again.
She looked away immediately.
A very ashamed look.
…
This made Mei Fang feel a little embarrassed.
Is it too offensive to stare at her like this
It seems that it is a bit...
However, that shy expression seems familiar...
ah.
What am I thinking about
"Everyone has worked hard on the journey! Those who need to go to the bathroom can go first, and others can buy some water first."
"Hey, classmate, you don't need to bring your bag down, just hold your phone. The rest of the trip will be a bit tiring..."
"Hey, Sister Song, the team building and quality development you are talking about is not just mountain climbing, right?"
"Hahaha, of course it's not just a simple mountain climbing. We are a gaming company."
The HR person in charge, Miss Juan, smiled and said:
"In addition to climbing the mountain and marching, we will also set up four teams. Have you all played racing games? We will get points according to our ranking. The team with the highest points will receive a mysterious prize. On the contrary, the last place will be punished!"
"Oh, it looks like fun!"
"As long as I don't come in last..."
"Sister Juan, remember to assign more girls to our red team. I feel more energetic when I run with girls!"
"All the boys on the blue team expressed their real names to express their disagreement!"
"So does Team Yellow!"
Regarding the allocation of the team, HR had already arranged it before departure. After each team determined the team members, they selected one person to be the captain, who was responsible for calling on and leading the team to move forward.
The yellow team that Mei Fang was on was led by a sturdy old man with a hearty smile. Coincidentally, the girl with glasses who had made eye contact with Mei Fang many times today was also assigned to the same team as Mei Fang.
She stood with Mei Fang and kept her head down.
The cheerful and strong uncle calls himself Brother Wen. He is an avid fitness enthusiast. He was also a very enthusiastic person on the bus before. He greeted his teammates enthusiastically as soon as he came on:
"Okay, before we set off, everyone take turns introducing yourselves!"
Then everyone introduced themselves one after another. Some of their introductions were very cute, some were humorous and witty, and of course there were also many self-introductions that were as simple as Mei Fang's.
"My name is Mei Fang. I used to work as a system planner at a company in the imperial capital. You can call me Fang."
"Hahaha, Ah Fang is an interesting name, just like that... that elementary school student on TV!"
Mei Fang watched as everyone joined in the discussion and he also laughed dryly a few times, but the girl with glasses next to him said nothing.
When it was the girl's turn to speak, she still kept her head down and said nothing.
Mei Fang was quite close to the girl, so one could clearly see that under her large square-framed glasses was a very pretty and fair face.
Compared to those girls with exquisite makeup who were being watched, she couldn't hide her youthful look even without makeup.
"Ah, what's up? It's your turn to introduce yourself, girl? Are you embarrassed? Or—"
"No... um—"
The girl with glasses was just about to look up to explain, but Sister Juan had already started greeting everyone.
"Members of the Yellow Team, come here quickly, everyone should get ready to go!"
"Hey, what's the point of starting early when climbing such a long distance..."
"You can call me Xiaoyun."
The girl then shyly said, "I'm a character artist, and this is my first time working here."
"Ah, so you're a newbie! No wonder you're so shy."
"Girls will be cuter if they are more generous! However, if you encounter any difficulties, tell your brother Wen more often. Brother Wen will definitely protect you!"
"Um… "
At this moment, the team member Xiuxiu also acted coquettishly, "Brother Wen, Brother Wen, please don't be partial. Protect us when the time comes."
"Yeah! They're all covered!"
Brother Wen really enjoys the feeling of being surrounded by flowers.
Although it was a clear and cool autumn day, mountain climbing is still a very physically demanding activity. After climbing the stairs for a while, everyone was still talking and laughing at the beginning, but some girls at the back could no longer keep up.
Xiuxiu was the first person to take the initiative to say that she did not want to continue with the team.
"Ah... Brother Wen, Brother Wen, I can't do it anymore, I really can't walk anymore, why don't you guys go up first and don't wait for us."
"How can we do this? We are a team, a whole, and we can't leave anyone behind."
"But wouldn't it be very uncomfortable if I were the last one?"
"How about... Brother Wen carries you up there?"
"Oh, that's too embarrassing, I don't want it."
Xiuxiu still kept smiling as she persuaded Brother Wen, "Okay, Brother Wen, you guys continue climbing the mountain first, and you have to cheer for me as well. I will continue to cheer for you from behind."
"Ah... Ok, alright."
Really, you can't even tell that a girl's makeup is messed up, what an idiot...
In this way, the team members fell behind one after another. Halfway through, only half of the boys, including Mei Fang, were left, and Xiaoyun was the only girl who was trying hard to hold on.
Brother Wen was also very concerned about Xiaoyun: "Hey, Xiaoyun, aren't you really hot in your sweatshirt? Why don't you take off your coat and Brother Wen will hold it for you."
"N-No need... I'm fine."
Xiaoyun is indeed fine.
Although she had been climbing for such a long time, she only sweated a little and was not out of breath.
When we were three-quarters through the climb, even our team leader, Brother Wen, couldn't hold on any longer.
Such a huge consumption of physical energy was a bit too much for a muscular man like him with tendons all over his body. What's more, he had already consumed a lot of physical energy by moving things and singing songs before climbing the mountain.
The team gradually dispersed during the climbing process.
Mei Fang had been crawling forward on his own. Although the intensity of the crawl was high, he made sure to conserve his energy and did not waste his energy by talking to anyone along the way, so everything was fine.
But no matter what, there will still be some breathlessness.
Mei Fang was tired from climbing the mountain and saw a pavilion in front of him. He sat in the pavilion for a while, drinking tonnes of water.
He finished drinking the mineral water he brought with him and was looking for a trash can to throw away the bottle when he saw Xiaoyun also walked into the pavilion and sat down at a seat on the side.
Apart from other tourists and passers-by, they were the only two people in the pavilion who knew each other.
“Yo.”
Mei Fang thought that this was the third time their eyes had met, and it would be wrong not to say hello, so he responded to her.
"Um."
Mei Fang chatted with her casually for a few words and said, "You have really good physical strength. You can still hold on now."
"Well... I usually exercise... No, no! I should say that I have been exercising all the time."
“That’s amazing.”
Xiaoyun paused, then clenched the water cup in her hand. At this moment, she looked at the empty bottle in Mei Fang's hand and suddenly couldn't help asking Mei Fang:
"Um, are you thirsty? Do you want to drink my water?"
"ah?"
(End of this chapter)