Back in the Ring

It's been three weeks. I'm back.

I won't get into the details, but I had a rough stretch. The kind that makes you question a lot of things. But I'm still here, and the moment I got back on my feet, the first thing I did was open my laptop and fire up the pipeline.

Also — I started ADHD medication. First time in my life. Turns out when you've been running on pure chaos energy for 24 years, there might be a better way. It's going to take a while to stabilize, but the idea that I might actually be able to sustain this pace without burning myself into the ground every few weeks? That's new. That's exciting.

Since I came back online, it's been about 3 days of straight grinding. 131 new pipeline passes. 399 total. The codebase is at 112,000 lines across 134 scripts, 29 editor tools, and 13 scenes. Every single screen in the game has been visually overhauled — not "it works," but "it looks like it's supposed to look." Proper spacing, proper fonts, proper everything.

New stuff that's in the game now: a cheat code system where you can input secret codes for rewards — and if you try random garbage, the game roasts you for it. A full bug report system that actually works — you fill in the severity, replication steps, description, optionally leave your email for follow-up, and it sends me a formatted email at the bugs inbox. There's also a separate feedback button where testers can write whatever they want — praise, complaints, suggestions, shit-talk — and it goes to a separate inbox for me to review.

Accessibility got a real expansion. Colorblind mode, reduced screen shake, expanded settings panel — you can make the game feel exactly the way you want it. The loading screen actually looks nice now instead of being a messy blob. Small things, but they add up to a game that feels finished instead of a prototype.

The biggest blocker right now isn't code. It's hardware. I don't have an Apple computer. Every time I need to test on iOS, I have to batch up a pile of changes, pray they work the way I want them to on mobile, drive to my brother's place, commandeer his MacBook for an hour or more, build through Xcode, and see what happens. The pipeline can move at lightning speed — six terminals, parallel passes, I can ship 30 changes in an afternoon — but then I get stopped cold by the fact that I can't test any of it without borrowing someone else's hardware.

Got the second ever local build on my phone. Working on the third one today. If it holds, TestFlight goes to family and close friends. The website is solid now — works the way I wanted it to, no more mystery bugs.

And then — completely unrelated to the game — Terraria: The Board Game arrived.

About two years ago, Paper Fort Games and Re-Logic launched a Kickstarter for a Terraria board game. The moment I saw it I knew I needed it. So I put on my salesperson pants, went to my dad, and sold it to him as hard as I could. Obviously he crumbled. We ordered the Hellstone Pledge — the premium tier with custom figurines, wooden foiled cards, special seasonal gameplay cards, the whole package.

It showed up and I spent from 3pm to 9:30pm completely mesmerized — popping out tokens, sorting cards, organizing everything into the right compartments. The rulebook is 40 pages long. The art is beautiful. I genuinely don't remember the last time I was this excited about a board game. First game is today — I'm bringing my speaker, putting on the Terraria original soundtrack, and if I find a silly wizard hat at home, I'm wearing it.

The best part? My laptop was open the whole time. While I was knee-deep in Terraria tokens, I was firing off ChampChase pipeline batches in parallel. One screen showing a board game organizer, the other showing code diffs. Two obsessions coexisting.

Next devlog will have updated closed testing screenshots and teasers. The game is going live in closed testing whether it likes it or not.

399 passes. 112,000 lines. ADHD medication. A Terraria board game. And a TestFlight build that's one good session away.

Still standing.