From the development notebook. These entries discuss story details and describe the game at the time of writing.
A blade should arrive when it hurts
The first-person weapon moved after damage had already resolved. That made an
attack feel like a button and an illustration of a hit, rather than a physical
commitment. This pass moves the contact test into the swing. A target can leave
reach or get behind cover during the wind-up. The blade draws back, cuts through
and settles; the camera does not need to lurch to communicate the action.
The company also needs to look and act like individual men. Their first response
to Focus is slightly staggered, and the artist model's attack phase follows the
same timer used for its contact. Recovery from a flinch no longer restarts an
unrelated sword swing. Exposed enemies give the company an opportunity to spend
less stamina and recover faster. Guarding is a way to make room for someone else.
The first step through another memory
The author chose to place the richer memory after John enters BAC. That makes
the crossing matter immediately. John has the first man he ever made, and the
one companion he managed to hold. The other four names are visible absences.
We did not quietly reunite everybody just to make a new room easier to build.
The first slice asks the player to get home from a route that has changed.
A plate comes free; the way in closes. An older arrow leads around it. PAN
recognizes a return mark if he is here. MAC can spend light if he is here.
John can also look for himself. BAC can force the iron, but the player sees
and confirms the injury before choosing it. The hope is that the old balance
between impatience and preparation becomes something felt in a decision.
The stone is blue now, with copper ribs and rounded columns in an illustrated
frame. Steps are discrete and turns immediate; the map keeps north steady.
The writing stays unsigned and silent. The memory score and quiet water fill
the room without a father recording explaining what to feel. John recognizes
Llylgamyn in one brief line, then has a practical reason to keep moving.
This is one playable room, not the whole migration through our gaming history.
The existing bodily handoff still uses modern geometry before the framed memory,
and the King route follows the new room. The visual bridge between eras can
become more continuous as the later stages are built. Existing modern saves
keep their places. No answer about what Dad left has been committed.
Release verification for 0.37.0: all 220 application tests and 18 player tests
passed; the final room-focused run passed nine matching tests after the visual
refinements. Strict Clippy and formatting pass. Hidden PC captures at 1920x1200
and the 1280x800 Deck layout show the room, readable controls, older wall arrow
and visited map. A freshly extracted portable also renders the room correctly.
All 179 packaged file hashes and ZIP CRCs were verified. Archive size:
125,795,954 bytes. Actual Steam Deck performance and controller feel still
need the author's handheld playtest. The updated archive is in dist; the older
I-drive copy was not changed in this pass.
We remembered more than one game
During this work, the author supplied a larger structure: he and Dad played the
first and third Wizardry games, moved to The Bard's Tale, then Daggerfall. Ultima
Underworld belongs among the influences too. The dungeon can progress through
those memories, with Dad's trail carrying John toward the modern world. We had
been asking the modern dungeon to behave too much like Proving Grounds.
John will recognize the shifts and occasionally name them. Recognition should
be a small human beat, not a history lesson. The author remembers later Wizardry
as more rounded; that remembered impression matters without requiring every
edition's graphics to fit it. A tune, a mark, or a familiar companion can continue
through a change in how the world is shown.
This is now recorded in A dungeon remembered across games.
The intermediate eras are not implemented in 0.36.0. We will settle the physical
crossing and the scattered-party sequence with the author before restructuring
the opening. The work already built remains available, and the mystery of what
Dad left stays unresolved.
Release verification for 0.36.0: 213 application tests and 18 player-crate tests
pass, including the full campaign route, timed contact, input buffering, an
opening used by a tired companion, and bounded/pause-aware effect lifetimes.
Strict Clippy and formatting pass. Six useful hidden PC pose/render checks cover
the weapon phases, WereBear, imported LAC and the original-party option. The
freshly extracted portable build also renders the contact sparks and weapon pose.
All 178 packaged file hashes and ZIP CRCs were checked; archive size is
125,735,312 bytes. Actual Deck performance, controller feel and sound balance
still need the author's handheld playtest.