13 years ago, Sim YC was faced with a crossroads.
To maintain his career would mean a stable income, but it would also mean being unable to be truly involved with his growing family.
The alternative at hand was to follow his lifelong love and passion of game development.
It is an industry that was, and still is, rife with uncertainty and instability for those less established in the industry, let alone in a country that was generally lacking in its success stories to begin with.
Today, this unassuming individual from Sarawak has developed and published five games on Steam as the founder and sole employee of Nerdook Productions, while still being able to provide his kids with the fatherly love they deserve.
The important things in life: family and games
Previously working at Petronas, Sim confided that he found his time at the oil and gas giant enjoyable, citing amazing friends and the pleasant experience of working in a well-oiled organisation.
However, when faced with extended time away from his family and hometown, Sim ultimately made the decision to quit his job at Petronas.
He would then travel back to Kuching and launch Nerdook Productions.
A realist who realises that being a stay-at-home dad doesn’t pay the bills, and all too aware of the risks and uncertainty involved, Sim admitted that he would not have been able to take the leap of faith by himself.
For that, he has his wife to thank, particularly as the latter still maintained her day job.
“In exchange for the risk and uncertainty (and a little less money), my wife and I were rewarded with the precious opportunity to personally take care of all three of our children and watch them grow up every step of the way.”
Humorously, his experiences from caring for his children provided particular inspiration for his latest release, Rogue AI Simulator, where part of the game involves caring for needful test subjects.
In the meantime, Sim is satisfied with keeping his company a solo act, noting that the flexibility of family time and a quiet comfortable life outweighed any desire to expand in the name of fame and fortune.
The reclusive game developer maintains a limited social media presence with existing fans, and only really ramps up the marketing when something is ready for release.
That being said, he credited his international partners for handling marketing matters, while he commissions cover art and high-visibility visuals to local artists.
35 games and 50 million plays
Sim first released his games on Kongregate, going up to 30 total games on that platform.
More recently on Steam, Sim has a catalogue of five games available.
In reference to the 50 million total number of plays listed on his website, Sim explains, “Back in the past, almost all Flash games were free to play, so the websites made their money back through advertisements and referral clicks. The Internet was smaller in those days: wide distribution was possible, with a successful game easily reaching millions of plays as it gets uploaded to various Flash game portals.”
Such popularity has become more of a rarity in the age of Steam, but Sim is nevertheless content with the sales performance of his latest games.
Not aiming for any particular demographic, Sim is simply satisfied with having his games played by anyone who might be interested.
On the foundations of game development, Sim confided that the basic foundational skills of programming and art are something that can be learnt in mere days.
Actually creating a good product, on the other hand, requires constantly developing as well as building upon those basic skills.
Optimising code, improving user interface, considerations of player psychology, and the related sound and graphic design are examples of gaming elements that he continually works on.
Post-credits
While the gaming industry in Malaysia still remains somewhat underdeveloped, Sim noted that when others tell him of a successful game developer interviewed in Malaysia, that example would often turn out to be Sim himself, much to his own amusement.
Despite not having achieved the success stories of some more internationally famous indie game developers, he is able to comfortably provide for his family.
To all aspiring indie game developers out there, Sim offered the following words of wisdom:
- First, know what you want, then, make the choice to pay the price required to get there.
- Always consider having a backup plan, in case things go wrong.
- The world is and always will be a tough and scary place, but you should always look for and hang onto your own pockets of joy.
- Don’t chase other people’s dreams and never stop learning!
Incidentally, Sim explains that the name ‘Nerdook’ is simply the word ‘Nerd’ combined with a visual gag of a person wearing glasses, choosing ‘dook’ instead of ‘doob’ to make it snappier.
“For those wondering,” he adds, “It’s pronounced ‘ner-dook’, not ‘nerd-ook’, a question I’m frequently asked!”
Nerdook, AKA Sim, is currently working on his next game, a strategy game called “Kill a Million Rats.”
It is currently available for wishlist on Steam here.
Featured Image: Nerdook Productions