Making the most realistic free roam UK life simulation game even if it takes me 12 years! 🇬🇧

United Kingdom
Joined September 2026
Every front and back door on the Radworth terraces now has a lock of its own. Lock picking is being built: old British locks, and each kind picks a different way. Which door on the street would you try first? secondchancegame.com/devlog/… #UE5 #gamedev
4
124
Oakhaven's hedgerow birds are getting voices of their own. I drew every field recording as a spectrogram, picked each bird singing alone and close, and filtered the traffic out underneath. secondchancegame.com/birds
62
Listen to this segment of the in game radio station. We have three local councillors running for election in week one and your vote effects local policies going forward. #gamedev
2
48
The custody cell was Claude Code's suggestion. James decided what it would be: the clock never jumps, because a night inside should teach you a lesson. AI does the heavy lifting. A human makes every design decision and checks every bit of it. secondchancegame.com/devlog/… #gamedev
2
60
Simon's pitch: "I sort the stock, you look after a few regulars. You text an order, I drop it round." Turn him down in Second Chance and he leaves his number anyway. James wanted walking away to keep the door open. What should happen when you text him? secondchancegame.com/weed-an…
63
Liz walks her German shepherd down Radworth Road every day. Mid-build, her seven bits of clothing stopped moving with her skeleton. The body walked on and the clothes didn't. No error, no warning. What caused it is in the devlog. secondchancegame.com/devlog/… #gamedev #UE5
2
6
80
A blue tit, eleven and a half centimetres of it, down in the grass by the hedge. One of seven hedgerow species in Oakhaven, each one's behaviour taken from its own field guide notes, not a shared template. secondchancegame.com/birds
22
Eight Class 10 autograss buggies, each modelled in Blender for Clinker Lane, the dirt oval outside Oakhaven. Dropped into a Midlands town like this, what would you want to be able to do? Reply and tell us. The answers steer what we build next. secondchancegame.com/devlog/…
20
UE5.8 trap: Play In Editor crawled at 1 fps in an underground cellar. Lower scalability, lower screen percentage, a smaller window: nothing moved it. One render pass was taking 668 ms of a 682 ms frame. Which pass, and the fix: secondchancegame.com/devlog/… #UE5 #gamedev
1
4
46
Go bent in Second Chance and the first thing grassing you up is the electricity meter. The grow light is billed at 26p a unit, and the disc in the hall spins faster while it's on. Over 277 units a week draws attention. What else should be watching you? secondchancegame.com/weed-an…
14
Neo-Georgian, double garage, big lawn. One of ten house types for Oakhaven's posh estate, where 48 homes are being built. You start fresh out of prison. What would you want to do on the way to a house like this? Tell us below. It shapes what we build. secondchancegame.com/devlog/…
1
22
X is talking about game artists getting a little freedom to add the details. I give Claude Code some too. Its brief now says: suggest ways to make the game better. The Slag & Slurry's ghost needed a name, so it offered three. I picked Josiah Bramwell. secondchancegame.com/devlog/…
27
The gardens of the new upmarket estate: borders planted in drifts, yew cones at the doors, and a quartered box parterre of roses and blue flowers behind every landmark house. About 50,000 plants. How the estate is being built: secondchancegame.com/devlog/… #UE5 #gamedev
1
4
76
The Oakhaven bin crew now work in council hi-vis: fluorescent yellow, two reflective bands, the city council across the back, each over his own coloured tee. The vest's material froze the editor six times before it saved. What was doing it: secondchancegame.com/devlog/… #UE5 #gamedev
1
46
Blow Off Autoworks is open. Exhausts, spoilers, wheels, a paint chart, 560 boxes of stock and a modded show car on the plinth. Next is customisation: talk to the mechanic, watch each option appear on your own car, buy it and it's fitted. secondchancegame.com/devlog/
23
"Simon. That's all you need for now." In Second Chance he turns up in a cab, already knowing your benefits got sanctioned. James asked for him to start the chat himself. His offer: drops round town, cash in hand, your own hours. Take it? secondchancegame.com/weed-an…
19
One of seven landmark houses for Oakhaven's new upmarket estate, modelled in Blender: bay windows, dormers, stone steps. If you lived at this end of town, what would you want to do there? Reply and tell us. It steers what gets built next. secondchancegame.com/devlog/…
13
Oakhaven's bin round no longer waits for you. Skip your shift and the council wagon still leaves the depot and works the day's route. Walk close and the crew are loading bins and setting each one back. Walk away and the round carries on. secondchancegame.com/bin-rou…
11
Bewsall, Oakhaven's new council estate: 149 street nameplates, four zebra crossings and a puffin, all placed in one go. In a game set somewhere like this, what would you want to be able to do? Tell us below. Your answers steer what gets built next. secondchancegame.com/devlog/…
12
E-scooters for Radworth's teens: a free CC BY model by Gesta2, scaled to real size and rigged so the bars steer and wheels spin. We're using the new Projects beta in Claude Code to orchestrate 100 NPCs into the game, each with their own look and routine. secondchancegame.com/devlog/
24