Tag: Game Dev Blog

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🧠 DevLog #8 – From Test Rooms to Real Levels

This week wasn’t flashy — but it was real. A lot of time went into refining the stuff that holds the game together: prefabs, logic, interactions, and that ever-growing list of “I’ll fix this later” tasks.

I’m happy to report that “later” was this week.

🧱 Prefab Polish Pass

You never really finish prefab work, you just hit a point where the fiddly stuff stops slowing you down. That’s where I am now.

Walls, gates, switches, triggers — they all got a round of attention. It was part bug fix, part optimization, and part me getting tired of seeing things slightly off-center.

These tiny improvements may never be noticed by players, but I’ll know they’re there — and they’re the difference between “meh” and “smooth.”

🎯 Level Template Locked In

This was a big milestone: the template for every level is now in place.

I finally have a clean, flexible structure to build on — something that works across puzzle types and robot layouts. It’s not just code anymore; it’s a pipeline.

I can now snap in elements and know what to expect. That means building future levels won’t feel like surgery. More like LEGO.

🧩 First Playable Level

Until now, everything I made was tiny and temporary — bite-sized test rooms for mechanics and edge cases.

This week I built something that finally feels like a level — with real puzzle flow, a beginning, middle, and end. It’s short, but it works. And playing through it made the whole project feel 10x more alive.

It’s the first time I’ve been able to say, “Yeah, someone else could play this and actually get it.”

🧠 The Grind Behind the Scenes

There’s still a lot of behind-the-scenes work going on (some of it not very exciting), but moments like this — when the game starts feeling like a game — are everything.

It’s the difference between building pieces and building purpose.

🔜 Next Up

  • Finish robot #3 artwork
  • Build 2–3 more “real” levels
  • Revisit the movement logic for edge-case polish
  • UI polish prep
  • Decide when to send out the first playtest build (getting close!)

That’s all for now. Thanks for following the journey — one prefab at a time.

– Chris
Imagine Beyond Games

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30 Days or Bust – Week 2: Mixed Signals and Forward Motion

Week 2 just wrapped, and I’ll be honest — it came with a shift in energy.

There’s still fire in the tank, but this was one of those weeks where the business side of things hit a little harder than expected.

The game’s still moving forward. The dream is still alive. But not every update is packed with wins, and that’s part of building in public too.

💬 The VA Conversation

I had a meeting with the VA this week. Let’s just say… it wasn’t the most optimistic chat I’ve ever had. It’s not a full stop, but it didn’t inspire a ton of confidence either. They might still come through — but “might” doesn’t help much when the clock is ticking.

📤 More Investor Outreach

I kept pushing forward on funding. Sent out a couple more applications to small investors and indie-focused groups. There’s interest, but timelines are long, and I don’t have the luxury of waiting around forever.

Still, every message sent is a step forward. And every connection made is a seed planted, even if it takes time to grow.

💭 Considering Kickstarter?

This week I started to seriously ask myself: Is it time to launch a Kickstarter campaign?

On one hand, it could buy this project more runway. Enough to cross the finish line, maybe even start building a player base.

On the other hand… a proper campaign takes serious time. Time I’d be pulling from development, or investor outreach, or (you know) sleeping. So I’m weighing it carefully. If both the VA and the investor paths stall or slow down, it might be the lifeboat this project needs.

But if I do it, it’ll be for the right reasons — not just as a Hail Mary.

🔧 Quiet Progress

Behind the scenes, I kept building. Most of it wasn’t glamorous. More infrastructure work, planning, decisions that won’t make it into public updates (and honestly, probably shouldn’t).

It’s that invisible layer of indie development — the foundation-building that nobody celebrates but everyone depends on.

🧭 What’s Next

  • Keep refining the prototype
  • Apply to more investor groups
  • Decide (quickly) on whether to move forward with a crowdfunding campaign
  • Finalize the third robot (art sneak peek coming soon)
  • Try to make it all work without burning out

It wasn’t the easiest week. But I’m still standing, still building, still pushing.

I said I’d give this everything I had — and I meant it.

Thanks for sticking around.

– Chris
Imagine Beyond Games

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🧠 DevLog #7 – Walls, Demos, and Deadline Energy

This week officially kicked off the final 30 days of funding. It’s a weird mix of adrenaline, optimism, and existential dread — but in a productive way.

Even with a ridiculous number of admin tasks and funding logistics taking up headspace, the game is making steady, meaningful progress. It’s not polished, it’s not perfect… but it’s getting very real.

🧱 Wall Prefabs: Ready to Rumble

The wall system is done — simple prefabs that finally let me crank out actual puzzle levels. That may not sound glamorous, but this changes everything on the level design side. No more reinventing the wheel for each build.

Now it’s just: drag, drop, test, repeat.

🤖 Robot #2 Joins the Team

Our second robot is now fully colored and integrated! Like the others, this little bot can only interact with switches and gates that match its color — so visual distinction really matters.

The gameplay is all about switching control between bots and figuring out how one robot’s path unlocks another’s. The color coding isn’t just for looks — it’s the whole puzzle.

📱 The First Mobile Demo Is Almost Here

This is the closest I’ve been to getting the game on an actual phone. Nothing fancy yet — no menus, no polish — but I can finally see the moment coming when I tap that little icon and the game launches. That alone is wild.

🧾 Admin Avalanche

I won’t sugarcoat it — a lot of this week was paperwork, funding forms, and planning. But it’s all part of giving this game a chance to go beyond just “cool personal project.” I’ve got a VA meeting lined up next week that could make a huge difference.

🔜 What’s Next?

  • Build a playable test level
  • Push the first mobile prototype
  • Continue funding outreach
  • Wrap the third robot’s art (no spoilers yet)
  • Try to sleep, maybe?

Even in the middle of the mess, it’s starting to feel real. I’m finally building levels — not just systems — and that means players aren’t far behind.

Talk to you next week, hopefully with a demo on my phone and a few less to-do list items on my desk.

– Chris
Imagine Beyond Games

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30 Days or Bust – Week 1: Prefabs, Pitches, and Pushing Forward

This past Tuesday, I kicked off a final sprint — 30 days to get this game, this studio, and this dream as far forward as I possibly can before the funding runs dry.

I’ll be honest: there’s a lot on the line. But I’m not here to spiral. I’m here to ship.

Each Friday I’ll be sharing these updates — what moved forward, what hit a wall, and what’s next. Welcome to “30 Days or Bust.”

🚀 This Week’s Highlights

  • ✅ First investment application submitted
    One down. A few more lined up for next week, and I’m tailoring each one carefully. It’s time-consuming, but critical — and I’m optimistic.
  • 📅 VA funding meeting scheduled
    I’ve got a meeting next week with the Veterans Affairs office to see if they’ll move forward with supporting this venture. If that door opens, it could be game-changing.
  • 🔧 All essential prefabs created
    Core systems are in place, and I can now start building actual levels. They’ll be barebones for now, but it’s enough to test puzzles and mechanics.
  • 🤖 Second robot graphics are done
    Two of the four robots are now visually distinct. Each robot has a different role, and bringing them to life is key to making the gameplay feel intuitive and fun.
  • 📱 Instagram and Threads launched
    I’ve expanded beyond X/Twitter to start sharing daily updates in more places. Right now they’re mostly reposts, but it’s about being visible wherever potential players and supporters are.

🧠 This Week’s Mindset

This week wasn’t about finishing — it was about setting the stage to finish. Getting the tools in place, the outreach moving, and the systems stable enough to sprint on.

There’s no denying the pressure, but I’m not panicking. I’ve come too far to flinch now. The game is fun. The idea is solid. What it needs is momentum — and that’s something I can build.

👀 What’s Coming Next

  • 🧩 Start building and testing early levels
  • 💼 Prep and submit additional funding applications
  • 🏛️ Attend the VA funding meeting
  • 🎨 Begin work on the third robot’s graphics
  • 📢 Grow visibility through daily build-in-public posts

If You’re Following Along…

Thank you. Seriously. This project might be one guy with a vision, but every like, share, or comment helps more than you know. I’ll keep showing up, keep building, and keep sharing it all — the wins, the worries, and the weird little robot puzzles in between.

See you next Friday for the Week 2 recap.

– Chris
Imagine Beyond Games

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🧠 DevLog #6 – Menus, Maps, and Mayhem

Hey everyone, welcome back.

This week was a bit of a whirlwind — one of those classic indie dev stretches where you get a lot done, just not always in the order you expected. Or planned. Or even fully remember.

But somehow, it’s all moving forward.

🧪 What’s New This Week

🧭 Main Menu + Level Selection

You can now navigate between levels from a central menu — a small win that feels huge. It’s basic, functional, and perfect for testing. One click, boom, you’re loading into the next puzzle.

🧱 Room Switching + Scene Loading

Actual level switching is working! I can hop between puzzles mid-session without the whole thing falling apart — which means I can finally build, test, and tweak without relaunching the game every time.

🎨 Visual Experiments (AKA “Oh Shiny!” Moments)

I played around with new room tile graphics and some early tests for switch and gate visuals. No permanent changes yet — just seeing what sticks, what pops, and what feels right.

🧾 Business Side Adventures

Also: I spent too much time doing business-y things. Paperwork, planning, and prep work to get the studio side of this dream off the ground. It’s not glamorous, but it’s real — and it’s happening.

🚀 What’s Next

  • Continue refining the level loading system
  • Finalize core visual style for gates, switches, and floors
  • Start rebuilding levels using the new loader + menu flow
  • Keep pushing forward on the company side so I can do this full-time

🙃 Final Thought

Some weeks are about building. Others are about unblocking the stuff that lets you build better. This week was a little of both — a few solid wins, a lot of little tests, and just enough chaos to keep things interesting.

Onward.

– Chris

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🧠 DevLog #5 – Scaling Back to Move Forward

Hey folks, and welcome back!

This past week was all about the level loader — again. At one point, it was working. Then it was really working. Then, as I kept expanding it to handle more edge cases, things started to feel… bloated.

Turns out, the more magic I tried to cram into the loader, the more fragile and complicated it became.

🔧 Simplifying the Monster

The original goal was to have one system that:

  • Built rooms from text
  • Placed switches and gates
  • Rotated gates correctly
  • Linked switches to gates
  • Delivered pizza
    (okay maybe not that last one, but still)

It was ambitious — and to be honest, kind of fun while it lasted.

But as the complexity grew, so did the mess. I realized I was spending more time debugging edge cases than actually building puzzles. That’s when I made the call: scale it back.

🧩 What the Loader Does Now

The loader is now focused on what it does best: tile placement.

  • It builds the room shape from a text-based layout
  • It places walls, floor tiles, obstacles, and decorations
  • It sets the stage for the rest of the logic to happen manually (for now)

The rest — things like linking switches to gates or rotating them properly — will be handled by hand in the Unity editor for now.

It’s not perfect, but it’s a cleaner, more stable foundation. And honestly, it’s still saving me tons of time.

🚀 What’s Next

  • Rebuilding my test levels with the new streamlined loader
  • Reintroducing gates, switches, and goals one piece at a time
  • Planning phase two of the loader once the basics are rock solid
  • Trying to resist the urge to “just add one more feature” again

🙃 Final Thought

Sometimes, progress means pulling back instead of pushing forward. The dream is still a full-featured level loading system — and I’ll get there. But for now, I’m happy having a tool that helps me build faster without breaking everything else in the process.

One tile at a time.

– Chris

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🧠 DevLog #4 – The Camera Saga

Welcome back!

This past week was all about the camera — and not in a cinematic, dramatic, “look at this beautiful shot” kind of way.
More like “why is the robot vanishing off-screen while the camera stares into the void” kind of way.

🎥 The Camera… Situation

What started as a small fix turned into a full-blown side quest.

  • The camera wasn’t moving
  • Then it moved too late
  • Then it moved weirdly
  • Then it shook for no reason at all
  • And then it just… stopped responding altogether

I tested it.
I tweaked it.
I fixed it.
Then I broke it again.
Then I fixed it better.

I think the camera and I have finally reached a mutual understanding: it follows the robot, and I stop threatening to delete it from the project.

✅ What’s Working Now

  • Smooth camera follow behavior
  • Snappy framing on movement
  • No weird jitter or lag
  • And most importantly: the robot is back in view like it’s supposed to be

It’s not fancy, but it works — and right now, that’s enough.

🔄 What’s Next

Now that the camera isn’t fighting me every step of the way, I’m heading back to the level loader.
There’s still a lot to add — support for multiple robots, switches, gates, and all the logic to tie it together — but having a stable view makes it way easier to debug and design.

Next up:

  • Expand layout options
  • Improve internal wall handling
  • Start placing real game elements in levels
  • Try not to break the camera again in the process

🙃 Final Thought

Some weeks you build features. Some weeks you fix features you thought were already built. This was definitely the second kind.

The camera’s back on track. The robot’s visible again. Time to get back to building puzzles.

– Chris

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