Dev Log (12/8/25) || Holiday

Keeping this one short for a number of reasons. First and foremost, really feels like I’ve reached a place where all that’s left to do is tweak numbers and wording, something that’s less mentally taxing than coming up with systems from whole cloth. Most of what was brought up from the last testing session has been addressed: faction components have been more evenly spread out across units, spells, and whatnot; bloat spells have been cut; automatons have been reworked, and Threat Assessment has been tied to the number of removed spawners, so it's easy to keep track of. At this point, all that’s left to do is print the new materials and play-test. But then I run into reason number two for keeping this short — because I realized that I’ve whittled the wick out of the bottom of the candle, and I’m two seconds away from lighting both ends.

It’s a bad habit that is doubly ironic because it’s the one thing I’m keenest to remind people about when working on a team. I can see the signs better in others than in myself. A fault that I’m working on, hence why this is so short. See, one of the best bits of writing advice I’ve heard is that you deal with writer's block by pushing through, and you handle burnout by stepping back. I’m really good at pushing through, but once that train gets going, there's really no stopping it because if it starts to slow down, I start thinking about all the time I’m losing and start shoveling more coal on to make it another ten miles. The problem there is that you eventually run out of coal and start burning the seats; then once the seats are gone, you start tossing in the flooring; then the rear carts get tossed bit by bit until you're standing naked in front of an engine hatch, wondering where the rest of the train went and why everything hurts. Trust me, it's not the first time I’ve been there.

So, for the betterment of myself and the project by extension, I’m using this lull to take a break. Things are in a good place as is: core systems are in place, factions are taking shape nicely, and the core concepts are only 15% fat now, down from 50%. A good place to stop, take stock, and re-orientate come the new year.

Until then, peace.

Kong V4

Plot Rules V4

Automaton Lv0

Automaton Lv2