chemo-sim/docs/DEVELOPMENT_ROADMAP.md

Development Roadmap

Chemo-Sim

Shipping to Steam Early Access Q3 2026

Timeline assumes 2 devs + heavy AI tool usage. Be realistic about velocity.

Phase 1: MVP (4–6 weeks)

Just Make It Playable

Goal: First-person movement, one chemo treatment, one symptom system, one minigame.

Deliverables

• Core gameplay loop
  • First-person character controller (movement, look around)
  • Hospital room scene (basic geometry)
  • Sit-down animation, IV insertion sequence
• First symptom system: Nausea
  • Screen tilt + color desaturation
  • Vomit minigame: hit keys in sequence (like Guitar Hero but gross)
• UI skeleton
  • Treatment timer
  • Symptom tracker (simple text readout)
  • Main menu
• Audio placeholder
  • Hospital ambient sound
  • UI beeps
• Builds for Windows + Linux (automated via GitHub Actions)

Success criteria: You can play start-to-finish in 5 minutes. It's janky. That's fine.

Phase 2: Core Loop (6–8 weeks)

Add Depth & Polish

Goal: 2–3 complete treatment sessions, 4–5 symptom systems, minigame variety.

Deliverables

• Multiple symptom systems
  • Nausea ✓ (from Phase 1)
  • Hair loss (visual degradation)
  • Taste distortion (food looks/sounds wrong)
  • Chemo brain (UI glitches, text corruption)
  • Fatigue (movement slows)
• Expanded minigames
  • Vomit accuracy challenge ✓
  • "Eat this food" (taste it wrong)
  • Conversation memory test
  • Hospital navigation while dizzy
• Treatment variety
  • Infusion pump (timed, interactive)
  • Different drug regimens (affect symptom severity)
  • Radiation room (if you want it)
• Progression system
  • Day counter (Week 1 → Week 6+)
  • Cumulative effects (symptoms get worse over time)
• Audio overhaul
  • Licensed or royalty-free indie soundtrack
  • Realistic hospital ambience
  • Minigame SFX
• Automated testing
  • GUT (Godot Unit Testing) for symptom system interactions
  • Prevent regression when multiple symptoms overlap (nausea + chemo brain + fatigue)
  • CI runs tests on every push
• Art pass
  • Hospital environment refinement
  • Character appearance (hair loss progression)
  • UI polish

Success criteria: 20–30 minute playthrough. Feels like a game, not a tech demo.

Phase 3: Dark Humor & Absurdity (4–6 weeks)

The Soul of the Game

Goal: Add the comedic/edgy elements that make this your game, not a medical sim.

Deliverables

• Absurd hospital scenarios
  • TV plays surreal content (AI-generated English/gibberish meme-format text)
  • NPC dialogue with dark one-liners
  • Environmental storytelling (notes from other patients)
• Unlockable content
  • Easter eggs (hidden minigames, joke treatments)
  • Achievement system (Steam achievements)
  • Dark humor unlocks (internal monologues, sarcastic commentary)
• Minigame variations
  • "Eat bad food" becomes increasingly absurd
  • Conversation minigame gets funnier/sadder
• Soundtrack expansion
  • Menu music (ironic, upbeat cancer music)
  • Treatment room ambience (hospital + dark humor)

Success criteria: Playtester feedback: "I laughed and felt uncomfortable simultaneously."

Phase 4: Polish & Optimization (2–3 weeks)

Make It Shippable

Goal: Stability, performance, accessibility.

Deliverables

• Cross-platform testing
  • Windows: test on 2–3 configs
  • Linux: Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch
• Performance optimization
  • Target 60 FPS on mid-range hardware
  • Memory profiling
  • Load time optimization
• Accessibility
  • Colorblind modes
  • Subtitle options
  • Control remapping
  • Difficulty settings (if applicable)
• Bug fixes & stability
  • Playtester feedback implementation
  • Crash fixing
  • Save/load robustness
• Steam setup
  • Steamworks account configured
  • App ID reserved
  • Build depots set up
  • Store page content drafted (see STEAM_RELEASE_CHECKLIST.md)

Success criteria: No crashes in 1-hour playthroughs. Runs on a 5-year-old laptop.

Phase 5: Early Access Launch (1–2 weeks)

Go Public

Goal: Get it on Steam, gather feedback, iterate.

Deliverables

• Final build verification
  • Download from Steam, play start-to-finish
  • Test all platforms
• Store page live
  • Screenshots, trailer uploaded
  • Description, tags, content warnings finalized
• Community channels live
  • Discord server
  • Twitter/social presence
• Day-1 support plan
  • Hotfix process for critical bugs
  • Feedback monitoring

Success criteria: Launch day without game-breaking bugs. Early feedback positive.

Post-Launch (Ongoing)

Updates (Bi-weekly to monthly)

• New minigames
• Additional symptom systems
• More absurd scenarios
• Community-requested features
• Cosmetics (patient gown styles, room decorations)

Long-term (6–12 months post-launch)

• Full release candidate build
• Content expansion (survivors' stories, alternative treatments)
• Mod support (if community demands it)
• Console ports (if budget allows—Switch would be dark comedy gold)

Total Timeline

MVP → Full Early Access Launch: ~16–19 weeks (~4 months)

Budget for slippage. You'll hit roadblocks. That's normal. Ship what's fun, not what's perfect.

Team Velocity Notes

With 2 people + heavy AI tools:

• Art/Animation: AI image gen + Godot animation nodes = faster
• Sound: AI text-to-speech + royalty-free libraries = minimal cost
• Code: AI pair programming (Copilot, Claude) = faster iteration
• Bottleneck: Creative decisions and playtesting (can't be automated)

Protect creative time. The dark humor is the game. Don't let optimization timelines kill your weird ideas.