So, I learned a thing recently... if you don't select a specific time-of-day for releasing your game on Steam, it defaults some crazy hour of the morning (in my time zone). Lesson learned. Gotta be specific on certain platforms when selecting a release date.

Feeling weird tonight (in a good way, I think). Since I'll be up til 4am, I thought I'd write a little DevLog.

Hard not to dive directly in retrospective mode. I'll save that kind of reflection for later on. This game is not technically the first published game I've worked on. But it's the first independent game for which I've been the lead developer. So it's a special feeling, getting ready to press the big button to release it.

The last month or so of development has been almost completely debugging effort. A few little UI/UX things. Fixing up menus. A fairly significant handful of audio code changes. Finding and eliminating lots of memory leaks, that sort of thing. It's interesting to spend so much time building the game play, and then feel like surgeon in the last month(s), just trying to patch the thing up and make sure it survives the launch into the hands of the public. 

Also, trying to decide how and when to share info about the game (that is... marketing)... it's a whole weird art/science of its own. I will probably not get better at that part of things until I've done it a few times. I'm okay with that, for now.

Another thing I'm thinking about tonight... is that, probably, nobody makes it alone in gamedev. I certainly didn't.
My pal Chad at Binary Solo Games came on board when I was about six months into the project, and basically saved it from landing in the pile of half-realized projects that many of us seem to accumulate. He asked good questions, fleshed out the systems required to complete the core features, and provided a consistency that helped me keep my head straight about what we were making. Clarity of vision, it turns out, is a super important ingredient for reaching completion.

There's a saying I've heard a few times recently. If you want to go quick, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
I think, even if I was sharp enough to jam out a game alone in the original time frame I had intended, the game probably would not have been as interesting, and I would not have been as healthy at release time as I am now. I think I'm a "go far" kind of developer. Better to go in good company. 

Whether you've been following the game's development for some time or you're stumble upon it at release time, or later on, thanks for being here! I appreciate you reading the devlogs and soon... playing the game!

Cheers!
-Rhoq