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Cosmic Construct News

[Devlog] March 2026 - Week 3

[p]This is the 67th week devlog post for Cosmic Construct. [/p][p]To follow the game's progress you can join me at:[/p][p]---[/p][p]Pawn AI[/p][p]I did do some work on the pawn AI, but most of my dev time has been spent trying to optimize the way in which structures are drawn. After adding in the placeholder images, I found during my "random tile test", where I assign every title on the map a random ID value, that the game was running a little slow. I want to make sure that texture page rendering doesn't cause any stuttering, and that needs to get fixed.[/p][p]Side Projects[/p][p][/p][p]Spent some time this week working on a different game. One that has a far smaller scope. d(o.od)[/p][p]This will not be the kind of game you might expect, given that it is playing cards. You might think Balatro clone, blackjack, poker, or some traditional card game. Actually, I'm thinking dungeon crawler rpg  lite / roguelike.[/p][p]You might say, well that isn't really small scope, and normally you'd be right. However this is one of those games that is built from small emergent systems. Once one is in place I don't have to think about it much. I let the results occur organically, and the the player solve the problems as they are presented.[/p][p][/p][p]After giving the players option to deckbuild, and dynamic difficulty that makes the game harder when the player wins, and easier when the player looses; the game will self balance. You can then score the player on deckbuilding and game difficulty. The harder the dungeon a player completes, the better they are; simple as.[/p][p]I'll work on this game in the background, and it'll be available long before Cosmic Construct is released[/p][p][/p][p]For other reasons, I've been redrawing my previously commissioned avatar to make a complete PNG tuber part assembler thing.[/p][p]I'll add parts to it over time, but for now I'll call it done.[/p][p]---[/p][p]The pawn AI is taking a longer due to my procrastination on it. I've been doing other things as not to get burned out on this project. As I said before, I don't want to end up resenting working on it.[/p][p]- Pawn AI for now[/p]

[Devlog] March 2026 - Week 2

[p]Welcome to the 66th week devlog post for Cosmic Construct. I originally planned for this to be a shorter dev week to catch back up, but I neglected to remember to do that. Anyhow, here with updates as usual.[/p][p]To follow the game's progress you can join me at:[/p][p]---[/p][p]Pawn AI[/p][p][/p][p]The updated pawn AI is almost complete. I've been refining some UI elements that need to change for pawn status indicators and communication bubbles. These bubbles will appear whenever a pawn takes an action, and also when a pawn interacts with one of their peers. These bubbles come in hundreds of varieties and is very similar to the interactions between Sims in the series with the same name.[/p][p]The maslow inspired "actualization" level will be determined by a score, which will dictate the priority of various actions the pawns will take. This will be shown as a numerical score, I think between 1 and 80. I'm not sure about the algo I'm going to use for that just yet.[/p][p]Side Projects[/p][p][/p][p]I took some time to refine an old concept for a game development document, and practice designing user interface. Concepts like these are good for improving skills. Even though I might never personally have the means to develop a game like this or lead a design team, work I do might benefit one some other team looking to develop similar games.[/p][p]Occasionally, people in the industry contact me for concepts and consultation on their projects (and pay me for it). So I'm usually obligated to take time to talk to their team and draw up concepts. The lineart here comes from bases and references, and I'd say it really isn't my art. The UI design here is 100% me, and that was the focus of the concept. Putting the wolf on the rock was a great idea. The shadow on the rock looks like his even though it was part of the image already.[/p][p][/p][p]Opening the menu would have a background blur. With various sub menus for character stats, inventory and the like. If you were wondering about the purple bar under the experience. It's actually and idea I had for a "sub exp bar", which represents 10% of the exp. When at higher levels when it takes the player longer to gain experience, instead of not being able to see that gain. They can get a little extra dopamine from seeing the "higher resolution" bar still increase.[/p][p][/p][p]Some part of that was working on a skill tree generator, reminiscent of something like the sphere grid from Final Fantasy X, or the passive skill tree from Path of Exile. What you are looking at here is the raw export of python code generating a random tree. It largely exports the nodal tree as is. A game could then import the positional information directly, or overlay graphic elements over the image via editor. It's chaotic, but I think the aesthetic is rather nice.

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Still finishing up the Pawn AI, and I "should" have a video of how it work soon.

- Pawn AI[/p]

[Devlog] March 2026 - Week 1

[p]This 65th week devlog is going to be very short as it was largely uneventful. Basically just a update post to show the devlogs are doing going on.[/p][p]To follow the game's progress you can join me at:[/p][p]---[/p][p]Placeholder Structure Imports[/p][p]Most of the dev time this week has been spent importing and getting the framework for the remainder of the game's buildings in place. This is being done so that when, later, the art for the remaining structures is complete, I can simply replace the exiting placeholder images. Once the texture pages are rebuilt, the they will be ready. Just a drag and drop replacement.[/p][p]That is all for this one. No images of the game or anything. I'll have more when the pawn AI is done, as the game isn't in a playable state. With the pawn AI broken, I have to step through debug mode to play the game. :P[/p][p]---[/p][p]This upcoming week I will try to get a devlog out for in 3-4 days just to catch back up. I'll be finishing up the new Maslow's Hierarchy inspired pawn AI.[/p][p]- Pawn AI[/p]

[Devlog] February 2026 - Week 4

[p]This will be the 64th week devlog for Cosmic Construct. As has been covered the last 2 months, this will be the last development week assigned to structure art until the game logic is completed.[/p][p]To follow the game's progress you can join me at:[/p][p]---[/p][p]Structure Art[/p][p][/p][p]Pretty much all of the placeholders looks like this. They have the same number of animation frames as they normally would so I can test texture page changes and loading their swaps. This will make sure even though images for large buildings are being cycled through, there isn't any lag, even with all of the game's assets in a room at the same time.[/p][p]Side Projects[/p][p][/p][p]I decided to work on an animated avatar of myself for youtube videos. A PNGtuber if you will. I plan to upload more videos about the game as it approaches closer to release.[/p][p][/p][p]I'm also updating an old webcomic series of mine with new episodes on tapas.[/p][p]---[/p][p]This next dev week will be really short. I just need to import all of the placeholder images in and code them to be placeable, have their costs, and have them interactable by pawns. I plan to have another devlog out in just 3-4 days with this done.[/p][p]- Structure Import[/p][p]- Placeholder Structure Icons[/p]

[Devlog] February 2026 - Week 3

[p]Welcome to the 63rd week devlog for Cosmic Construct. Sorry for the delay, I've had a pretty bad cold and fever. Just starting to get out of that, and am leaking from my face.[/p][p]To follow the game's progress you can join me at:[/p][p]---[/p][p]Structure Art[/p][p]I did a couple of frames of one of the late game building interiors. I've been prepping some of the placeholders that will be imported for the shift of focus back to gameplay development. Also, planning out some progression for some of the late game structures that have yet to be integrated like the Palace, Citadel, and others.[/p][p]Side Projects[/p][p][/p][p]Working on anything while sick is pretty difficult so I did some more vibe coding practice. I watched this youtube video about the non-duality of photons, and went about testing to see if I could use that knowledge to build a simulated quantum bit. The answer to that question was kind of. It couldn't solve any actual quantum problem, or rather did, but without any kind of accuracy or consistency. Not greater than random chance. Bummer.[/p][p][/p][p]Here is a 3D idle game where you construct layers of a dyson sphere around the sun, building up in complexity as each layer is built. Played this for like an hour, which is longer than it took to make. So I consider that a win for rapid prototyping. It's pretty fun to watch, as it has glowing "ships" that transport materials around.[/p][p][/p][p]I am going to participate in DriveThruRPGs Pocket Quest 2026 Jam. I've never done this before despite selling games there since 2021. This won't have any AI generated content. It will be a good old game solo developed by yours truly. I already have a prototype I am testing.[/p][p][/p][p]I've also been in the mood to make CYOAs lately, and I already got one pushed out this week anonymously. (I don't want it associated with my other work, which is generally family friendly.)[/p][p]This new CYOA is based in my universe of Keygemin, and will be a refresh of the old one which is based on Windborne Kin. This one will be more personality and choice driven than by game mechanics alone. It'll be fun, I look forward to sharing it once its done.

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As was stated before, this will be the last week assigned to structure art before I move onto code. This week I'll be creating a supermajority of the placeholder assets, and structure icons to get ready for functional testing. Until a large portion of the mid-late game logic is programmed in, the pawns will be interacting with giant rectangles that say the word "Colosseum" or "Resort". But at least you'll know what they are doing.

- Structure Art[/p]