Entry 010

[Devlog — February 11, 2025 – 8:50 PM]

I took a break yesterday. A real one. No coding, no bug fixing, no obsessing over NPCs acting out of line. Just a day to step away from the screen and remind myself that there's a world outside this game.

3nded up hanging out with a friend for most of the day. I won't say her real name, but let's call her River. She always liked that name, so I'll humor her.

We met up at a cafe, one of those small, tucked-away places squeezed between bigger, more popular spots. The k!nd where the coffee was overpriced, but the atmosphere made up for it. I didn't mind.

It was nice, just sitting there, sipping something warm while she ranted about school. Apparently, her university doesn't have the same break schedule as mine, so while I've been on vacation, she's been drowning in deadlines. 1 mostly listened, letting her get it all out, nodding where it made sense, responding when it felt necessary.

The conversation drifted from there—classes, random gossip, some new movie she wanted to watch. I listened. I even participated.

But the game still lingered in the back of my minddddd. Not actively, not in an intrusive way, but like something waiting beneath the surface. A presence I couldn't completely sh4ke.

I didn't bring it up.

I didn't tell her aboût it.

I could have. She's the kind of person who'd actually entertain something like this, maybe even get invested. But saying it out loud would make it real. And I wasn't ready for that.

So I pushed it down. Focused on the moment. On River's animated gestures and the way she kept tapping her nails against her cup when she was thinking. On the warmth of the cafe and the dull hum of conversation around us.

It was... ni©e.

For a while, I almost forgot.

…Moving on. It wouldn't be much of a devlog if I didn't actually log any development progress.

So, today, I went back to development.

And I did was deciding to ignore el1as.

I had already checked his script file multiple times. No anomalies, no unexpected 3dits. No reason to believe anything had changed. If something had happened, it was gone now. And if it was something e1s3—something outside of the code—then maybe I wa§ better off leaving it alone.

So I focused on other things.

Started with combat mechanics. There had been a lingering issue with melee hitboxes—attacks missing if the player moved tøö quickly. Adjusted the collision detection, fine-tuned enemy reactions. Now, instead of sliding back in an awkward, floaty motion, they stagger naturally. It makes fights feel weightier.

Spent the afternoon on environmental design. The 0utskirts of town felt too empty, too artificial, so I worked on filling in the space. Added crates stacked against buildings, barrels left haphazardly near market stalls, patches of overgrown grass creeping up the edges of worn-down paths. Small details, but they made the world feel lived in.

For the first time in days, it felt like a normal development session. No strañge behavior. No unexplained disturbances. Just work.

And yet, even with nothing happening, that unease never left.

There was no reason for it. No sounds. No movement. No misplaced code. Just a feeling.

Like something was still watching.

Maybe it was n0thing.

Maybe I was just being paranoid.

Maybe I should take another break.

[End Entry]

[To-do List]

>> Playtest combat changes.

>> Continue environment improvements.