Hy everyone !

Like the last month, i'm sharing with you the advancement on my new game project, a medieval City builder. I'm trying to show you what a solo gamedev can make during working days and describe you all creative steps before to have a finished and shipped game.

I detail every working week with the total amount of time i spent in work, a quick view of my charge of work, tired level, motivation and respect of schedule delay. I represent it with this scale :

Good 🟢 🟡 🟠 🔴 Bad
----------------------------------------------------
Calendar color meaning
🟩 Art / Sounds
🟧 Development Work
🟪 Communication / Socials
🟦 Research / Documentation / Formation
🟨 Work management
🟥 Administrative Tasks
----------------------------------------------------

🗓️ Week 1 (2-6 march)

🕙 Worktime: 26 h 45
Workload: 🟢 | Fatigue level: 🟢 | Motivation: 🟢 | Delay: 🟢

📣 Communication / Socials

• Read, awnsers, discuss
• Bluesky, X, Threads Posts, Discord, Instagram, TikTok
• Devlog updates

🎨 Art

• Shop item asset polishing
• Recipes ingredients polishing

🚧 Development : Demo

• Objectives system improvements
• Daily report improvements

Weekly review

Small worktime week to add missing features to the game demo. I took the oppotunity to polish graphic assets for items buyable in the farm, the first building available in the game. I also made a small update of my tool I use to calculate and follow my worktime.

I slowed down my production rythm this week to take the time to oxygenate my mind and rest a little.

🗓️ Week 2 (9-13 march)

🕙 Worktime: 27 h 30
Workload: 🟢 | Fatigue level: 🟢 | Motivation: 🟢 | Delay: 🟢

📣 Communication / Socials

• Read, awnsers, discuss
• Bluesky, X, Threads Posts, Discord, Instagram, TikTok
• Devlog updates

🎨 Art

• Inn recipe images polishing
• Tavern recipe images polishing

Weekly review

Another week with a small amount of worked hours. I've only work on the graphic assets for Inn and Tavern recipes, buildings that will be offered in the demo. Like last week, I again took some time to rest before restarting with a more "classical" production rythm.

At the end of the week, I finally take the time to adjust my new production schedule, after my Steam Next Fest withdrawal. I can't participate to the Medieval Fest as planned, because we need to have a released game to participate to the event. I'll be able to take more time to improve the game demo et organize several playtests.

🗓️ Week 3 (16-20 march)

🕙 Worktime: 39 h 30
Workload: 🟢 | Fatigue level: 🟡 | Motivation: 🟢 | Delay: 🟢

📣 Communication / Socials

• Read, awnsers, discuss
• Bluesky, X, Threads Posts, Discord, Instagram, TikTok
• Making communication videos (VFX, recipe...)

🎨 Art

• Polishing beer recipe assets
• Creating VFX animations for building construction

🚧 Development : Demo

• Integrating new inn recipe assets
• Integrating new tavern recipe assets
• Integrating visual effects

Weekly review

This week, I resumed a slightly more intensive work pace. I finalized the visual assets for the beer recipes (for the tavern) and stew recipes (for the inn), which will be featured in the upcoming game demo.

I then integrated all these assets into the engine and linked the button-click actions that adjust ingredient quantities and prices. When a player increases an ingredient’s quantity, its visual representation updates accordingly. I used two distinct visual styles for "dish" type and "beverage" type recipes. Since beverages are harder to visually represent as a composition, I opted to display them in side-view mugs, with layered visuals representing each ingredient.

Once the recipe work was complete, I moved on to creating the visual effect for building construction, a quick, stylized smoke cloud animation with minimal frames to keep production time efficient. As always, once an asset is ready, it must be integrated into the engine, and the corresponding interactions (display, triggering...) must be implemented.

I wrapped up the week with various communication tasks, including writing and updating this development log. You may have noticed I’m dedicating more time to the project’s communication side. As I grow more comfortable with social media platforms, I plan to share more regular updates across socials.

🗓️ Week 4 (23-27 march)

🕙 Worktime: 39 h 35
Workload: 🟢 | Fatigue level: 🟡 | Motivation: 🟢 | Delay: 🟡

📣 Communication / Socials

• Read, awnsers, discuss
• Bluesky, X, Threads Posts, Discord, Instagram, TikTok
• Making communication video (SFX)

🚧 Development : Demo

• Integration of audio assets into Godot

🔊 Sound

• Searching appropriate sound effects
• Designing custom audio effects

Weekly review

This week was all about sound, and music! The entire week was dedicated to crafting the sound effects for Ellsydia.

As with any artistic task, a significant (and often lengthy) portion of the work involves gathering references. For audio, a cozy casual game doesn’t call for the same sonic palette as a post-apocalyptic one, the target audience has expectations, and it’s essential not to overlook this important step. I followed this rule: I began the week by diving deep into research, listening several sounds and watching gameplay videos to define the right tone. I then explored multiple sound libraries to find assets that fit the game’s theme and atmosphere. I’d like to take this moment to thank the many artists and musicians who generously share their work under open licenses, your contributions provide invaluable raw material for poor creators like me. 😅

Even when sounds seem “ready to use,” they usually require editing to match the desired mood. Often, multiple sounds must be layered and mixed to create a unique effect tailored to a specific in-game action. This part is especially time-consuming, especially when you’re not a sound design specialist! Once all the audio assets were finalized, I integrated them into Godot.

I wrapped up the week again with communication tasks. I’ve come to really enjoy this part of the workflow, and I plan to keep dedicating this time slot to communication until the end of Ellsydia’s development.

📈 March review

Workload: 🟢 | Fatigue level: 🟡 | Motivation: 🟢 | Delay: 🟡

After an exhausting February, March allowed me to ease into a more sustainable pace, with more balanced, comfortable workdays.

This month was also rich in artistic stuff with the creation of animations and sound effects.

As mentioned in my last devlog, I had planned to organize a playtest session this month. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to make it happen. I’m now aiming to schedule it for next month🤞

Regarding the wishlist: numbers continue to climb, though at a slightly slower rate than last month, we’re now at 83 wishlist additions, including 1 removal 😢, a raise of +13. We’re getting closer to the 100 wishlist!

Thank you all for your support! ❤️

As mentioned earlier, I’ll be stepping up my communication efforts this month. I will post more regularly across platforms to help grow the game’s wishlist count.

This March devlog is now coming to a close. I’ll be back next month with a fresh update, new insights, and the latest numbers!

As always, before signing off, a quick reminder: if you haven’t already, please consider adding Ellsydia to your wishlist. Thank you in advance! Your support means everything to my small indie project! 🥰

https://store.steampowered.com/app/4159160/Ellsydia

Wishing you all a great day, afternoon, or evening, whatever time it is for you! 😊

Thank you for reading 🙏