I Built a Map. Then Another Map. Anyway, We're Back at Camp.

Sanctuary is a camp outside the dungeon again.

If that sounds familiar, it's because that's roughly where this whole adventure started. I've just taken the scenic route through several maps, some questionable terrain, and another reminder that I am not a 3D world designer.

But I like it now. That's the important part.

The map that refused to look right

I couldn't get Sanctuary's map to match what I had in my head. I tried AI-generated maps. I tried maps exported from software like Wonderdraft. I tried taking a generic landmass and stamping map symbols onto it.

Different approaches. Same result: it wasn't right.

Eventually I started looking at 3D options. I need to get better at 3D anyway, so why not give it a proper shot? If a full map didn't work, perhaps a small section of the world would.

This was a sensible plan, apart from the part where it required me to design a 3D world.

I am not an artist. Especially not a 3D artist. I gave it a go, I'm still learning, and I've once again established that knowing what I want something to look like doesn't automatically give me the ability to build it.

So Sanctuary is now a camp scene outside the dungeon. Familiar, contained, and much closer to something I'm happy with. Possibly what it should have been all along.

Sometimes progress is discovering that your original idea was fine before you spent all that time trying to replace it.

Meanwhile, the shop actually got built

On a brighter note, we have a shop!

I got so sidetracked by the map that I almost forgot what I'd been working on before the cartography incident.

The shop has Coin and Essence packs, a beginner pack, and chests. Because apparently every other game has chests, and I didn't want mine to feel left out.

More importantly, they connect to rewards earned through playing: achievements can grant keys that let you open chests.

• Silver keys open the mundane chests, which can still grant some good gear.
• Gold keys open the ornate chests, where the best equipment is tucked away.

The beginner pack needed its contents worked out earlier in the process, but that part has now moved forward too. The chest and beginner-pack rewards are configured in the editor, and the chest-opening display is done.

The opening animations are still being worked on. There are separate stages to getting a chest open, apparently, and at least one of them involves me staring at animation work.

A shop that fits on the screen

A lot of time has gone into getting the shop to feel right and making sure it looks correct across different devices, particularly foldables.

Having the functionality work is one thing. Having the menus behave when the screen changes shape is another little collection of decisions waiting to happen.

The basic UI and functionality are built, and I think the shop is close to its final shape. The menus still need some hand editing and a little tender loving care, but the major pieces are there.

Which is a considerably better place to be than “I'll get back to that once I've finished this map.”

Back to things that try to kill you

With Sanctuary settled into camp life and the shop coming together, I'm back to the game itself: enemy behaviours, spells, and visual effects.

It's progressing nicely. There's still work ahead, but it's good to be spending time on what the monsters do instead of deciding where to draw another coastline.

Oh, and I still need to navigate the Play Store setup and add all the in-app purchases.

That'll be fun.

Maybe I should have kept one of those maps.