 British developer Ed Key began work on Proteus in 2008 during his evenings and weekends . The game only neared its final form when David Kanaga joined development in 2010 . Key originally envisioned the game as a procedural role @-@ playing game in the same vein as The Elder Scrolls IV : Oblivion , in which the player would visit towns and complete quests . Realizing the extent of the work that would be needed for such a game , the developers decided to instead make something " nontraditional and nonviolent " . 
