The Plan: Code First, Assets Second, Unity Last

Before writing a single line of game code, I had a plan. Probably the only smart thing I did early on.

Phase 1: Build the code skeleton. Every system stubbed out, every script compiling, every scene in the build list. The game doesn't DO anything yet but the architecture is there.

Phase 2: Assets. This is where I spent the most time upfront. Switching between PixelLab for sprites and backgrounds, ElevenLabs for voice lines, Suno for music. Hundreds of hours generating, reviewing, regenerating, cleaning up, organizing. At some point I realized I had everything I needed — every portrait, every icon, every track, every voice line.

Phase 3: Unity assembly. Take the code skeleton, plug in the assets, wire everything together. This was supposed to be the easy part.

It wasn't. But having all the assets ready meant I could focus purely on making things work instead of stopping every 5 minutes to generate a missing sprite. That decision saved weeks.

The real acceleration came when my dad got me the Claude Pro Max subscription — $200/month. The moment the money hit my bank account, two minutes later I sent him a screenshot of the purchase confirmation. Minutes after that, Claude Code was open and I was in it.

That first day I spent the entire day in my undies, in bed, under a blanket, laptop on my lap, just going crazy. Moving forward, regressing hard, then pushing through. Three days later I went from a working menu screen and ok-ish fight presentation to basically the whole game functioning. Three days.