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Who Am I?

I am the founder of VNL Entertainment and the developer of School of Chaos, an indie cult-hit open-world MMORPG that has been running successfully for over a decade.

School of Chaos stands out as the only school-based mobile MMORPG, offering a chaotic, rule-free sandbox where teachers are gone and students fight for respect. It defined the mobile sandbox genre by allowing true freedom: a completely player-driven economy, real-time combat, deep character customization, and a unique "Quest Maker" system that empowers the community to build their own content.

This project proved that a small, dedicated team can build complex, persistent virtual economies that sustain a loyal player base for years. I am now bringing that same "builder" philosophy to a massive new simulation project.

The New Vision

We are building a new, massive, persistent sandbox simulation that gives players true freedom and real consequences with social networking at its core.  In short, we want to build a simulator where players can exist in to goof around to see what happens.

The art will be more of a stylized humorous, and goofy take.  It will not be high fidelity, ultra-realistic.  But it should not be generic and look like any other low grade GFX games either.  It will have it’s own derpy style that is pleasing to the players.  This can be discussed and tweaked later.  I just want to put this out there.

This is a Games-as-a-Service (GaaS) project. Just like my previous title, we will start with a strong core game and continuously grow and evolve it for years based on our imagination and player feedback.

I practically solo-developed my last hit, 1 dev and a few part-time artists. It was successful, but to achieve the scale of this new vision, I need an elite squad. I’m not looking to hire "employees" who just want a paycheck; I’m looking for partners in crime.

I want to form a "special forces" unit of game makers. We are starting with a hardcore, game-loving developer (YOU) to lay the foundation. From there, we will expand into a tight-knit team where everyone is a builder, not a bureaucrat. We want people who obsess over game loops, who dream in code, art, and tech, and who want the satisfaction of building a legacy, not just a career.

More Details 

You will build a modern-day small city (to start, we’ll grow it as we progress) running 24/7 on the cloud. This is not just a "social hangout" game; it is a living, breathing world:

• Living AI Ecosystem: The world is populated by NPCs who live their own lives, have their own desires, routines, etc. They are born in hospitals, grow up, work jobs (shopkeepers, police, thugs, etc), and eventually die. The population regenerates naturally, creating a dynamic ecology.
• One World: A single universe in the cloud where every player shares the same reality.
• True Freedom: Players need to eat, drink, and survive however they choose to. They have the freedom to do whatever they want.  Live as a peaceful person, make friends, communities, just finding their own ways to survive or they can be bad and attack other players, or NPCs, taking their hard earned resources —but actions have consequences. e.g. If you rob a bank, it’s unlikely you can just run home and get away free. You might go to jail, or get shot!
• Realism over Arcade: Movements and physics are grounded in realism. While the art style might be stylized or "goofy," the gameplay carries the weight of real life. For example:
  • You are not sprinting around like COD kids, guns blazing with no fear.  That’s arcade style.  In a realistic setting, you cannot outrun bullets, not for more than a few seconds.  Physics should be real.
  • Interactions should also be real.  If you are not wearing a helmet and a hammer hits you in the head, you will either die or be very injured.
  • Every move matters.  Because you can die and lose, you will think before you act, just like in real life.

The Technical Challenge (Why This Is Hard)

This is not a simple mobile game. We are building a living, breathing world running on the cloud. We need to solve:

• Persistent World State: Thousands of NPCs with simulated lives continuing even when players aren't looking.
• Emergent Ecology: An AI system where NPCs are born, work specific jobs, and die, regenerating the population naturally without breaking the economy.

The Arrangement (Collaboration & Timezone)

We are looking for a dedicated expert to join us in a full-time capacity. We need high-bandwidth collaboration—the ability to solve problems in real-time, not via email tag:

• Timezone: Must overlap with Malaysia Business Hours (GMT+8).
• Role Type: Lead Game Engineer / MMO Architect and Game Generalist.
• Structure: Full-Time Upwork Contract (40 hrs/week).
• Stability: This is a long-term, open-ended engagement. We are looking for a partner for the next decade+, not a short-term freelancer.
• Compensation: $3,500 - $4,500 USD per month. Bonus starts when the game starts to profit.

How We Work (High Discipline, Low Bureaucracy)

We are an indie team, but we operate with professional discipline. "Indie" is not an excuse for messy code:

• Tools: We use standard industry tools for organization (e.g. Clickup for sprints, Git/SVN for version control).
• Code Quality: We are building a platform for the next 10 years. We care about clean, maintainable, and scalable architecture.

Who We Are Looking For

• You must be extremely reliable and proactive with high integrity.
• You must communicate extremely well and be responsive.
• You are the first technical hire. There is no art team yet to help with UI, 3D models, or animations. You must be resourceful enough to build functional art for the Proof of Concepts yourself in addition to using free assets, Asset Store packs, or programmer art that can be replaced later easily when we have the art changes. You cannot be blocked by an artist. You unblock yourself.
• Engine Agnostic (Unity/Unreal/Custom): I don't care what engine we use, as long as it's the right tool for the job. You will help make that architectural decision.
• Deep MMO/Simulation Experience: You have built systems for persistent online worlds.

🛑 Do NOT Apply If:

• You have never developed a profitable multiplayer game before.
• You need a 20-page specification document before you can write a single line of code.
• You are waiting for a manager to tell you what your tasks are for the day.
• You prefer office politics over shipping features.

How to Apply

Please submit your proposal with a portfolio and a brief cover letter covering:

• Who Are You? What have you built (specifically in the MMO/Sim space)?
• Why this project? Why are you excited about building a realistic life-simulation MMO?
• Availability: Confirm you can work full-time hours on the GMT+8 timezone.
• Autonomy: Describe a time you had to build a complex system without a clear spec or art assets.