Pseudo World

What's the Goal of this Project?

Use procedural generation to create a third-person action adventure game
where there is always something to do
and a unique story emerges through interacting with dynamic NPCs.

Pseudo World is a story generator with an action game on top.

What does the game look like?

3D models with low-poly count, exaggerated shapes, and low detailed textures.

Assets

Pseudo World uses Asset Store assets to balance quality and variety all on a budget. Assets all have to go through a process to make them game-ready and consistent with the art direction.
Key or hero assets are commissioned by actual artists on a contract or part-time basis.

Generative AI

No generative AI was used or will be used in the development of this project.
The reason for this is not only because I have mixed feelings about the ethicality of using current modern AI art, but largely because the use of AI art seems to alienate a large portion of my target audience.

Who is Pseudo World For?

The target audience for this game is individuals between the ages of 20 and 35 years old, who enjoy single-player RPG games, action adventure games, and character simulation games. They have access to mid-range hardware (or better).

This is someone who sits down after a long day looking for something they can jump into quickly, where they can turn their brain off and destroy things for 20 or 30 minutes.

The World of Pseudo World

What's the Main Loop of the Game?

At any given time the player will be in one of the following three overall states:

How does the Player move around the world?

The player can walk, run, jump, roll, vault, and climb over most environmental obstacles.
Characters and obstacles are collision and physics based, so colliding with other characters or enemies pushes them back and can even damage them.
To most effectively get around, the player must manage their speed and direction, avoiding hazards and obstacles, more like a racing game as opposed to a platformer.

What does combat feel like?

Combat in Pseudo World is meant to be somewhat mindless during most encounters, with medium or high challenge during a few. The player is encouraged to be reckless and aggressive and to use the environment around them as a weapon.

The two main abilities the player has is a basic melee attack and a telekinetic grab/throw.
The player can grab and throw small and medium-sized objects. Collisions cause damage to colliding objects, including walls and Enemies.

By spending ability points, the player can upgrade their basic attack and gain augmentations to their throw ability such as adding a ricochet or an explosion.

How do you procedurally generate quests?

Quests in Pseudo World are not predetermined but are instead created on the fly by mixing and matching various pieces.

A quest always has (at least) one objective: a requirement or condition that the player must meet. These come from a range of things such as killing a specific enemy, obtaining a key item, or simply going to a certain location.

New quests are (usually) created when an NPC gives the player a task. An initial objective is chosen, then a motive and description are filled in.

When the player has completed all of a quest's objectives, the player can then complete the quest, ie: by talking to the original quest giver and/or delivering the key item.
There is always a reward for completing a quest, whether that is treasure, experience, or reputation.

Sometimes the quest manager will throw a twist into the quest, adding an objective or modifying an existing objective. These can be things like random encounters, or an enemy ambush, or needing an additional key item.

Ultimately, the quest manager's role is to give the player somewhere to go and something to do.

What are the NPCs like?

The NPCs in Pseudo World are procedurally generated from a range of characteristics and pools of traits.
They have stats that represent their mood and personality, as well as relationship stats with the player and other NPCs.
If they are friends enough with the player, they can be recruited to join the player's party and become a Companion.

The Non Player Characters are meant to feel alive.
They go about their day, working, eating, resting, not waiting for the player to interact with them.
They react to the events around them, such as enemies, explosions, or fights.
They acknowledge and remember things the player did or said, to them or to people they know.

Companions

Companions are NPC's who follow the player, fight alongside the player, and take orders from the player. The player can have many Companions.

The player is encouraged to keep Companions happy, by maintaining basic needs (eg: food, social) and by doing actions the Companion likes.
Happy Companions are more effective in combat and can help with quests.
Unhappy Companions may not follow orders or may leave the party.
Companions regularly make comments about the situation based on their mood.

The Unique Selling Point

The NPCs and the companion system are Pseudo World's Secret Sauce: interacting with characters creates a unique story over the course of the game.
By layering the quest system and the NPC system, the game generates a series of connected events, causes and effects, stemming entirely from the player's choices.
A narrative emerges between the player and these characters, one which they (seemingly) recognize and react to.

Progress Overview

Here is an overview of the systems needed and their current level of completeness

Timeline

Pseudo World is reaching the end of pre-production and entering the production phase.

Finalizing the remaining systems and overall framework of the game will take between two and three months.

Procuring and producing the content of the game, including the environment, enemies, props, and quests, will take at least five or six months.

It is currently July 2025 at the time of writing this, which puts the target release of the alpha around April 2026.

Based on feedback and testing from the alpha release, the full release of Pseudo World is projected to be Q3 or Q4 of 2026, ideally around the October Steam Next Fest.

Funding

The purpose of this pitch is to secure funding for the production phase and release of the project.

Premade Art Assets - $3000

Part-time / Contract Artist(s) (100 hours @ $40 an hour) - $4000

Sound FX and Music - $2000

Solo Developer Expenses (12 months @ $4000 a month) - $48,000

Total Minimum Budget - $57,000

Marketing

I am also looking for help marketing Pseudo World and cultivating a community around the game.

Brian Landes

Professional Unity Developer and Software Engineer

Check out the Pseudo World pitch trailer

This pitch trailer was developed for and entered into the May 2025 Blue Ocean Game's Rising Tide Challenge where it placed 602nd out of 1066.

Thank you for your interest and for getting all the way through this pitch!
Please let me know what your thoughts are on Pseudo World and this pitch. You can email me at [email protected]