I’ve officially settled on the studio name Watchlight Studio and secured the domain for five years, which feels like a decent commitment to this project. Setting up a studio email and locking down social media handles took longer than expected because of bot checks slowing down account creation, but that’s done now. I’m building the website with Hugo and switched the theme to Hextra, aiming for something clean and manageable. The site structure is coming together with an About Me, studio values, a landing page, and a blog section. I decided against Quartz to keep things more independent and flexible.

On the content side, I’m planning to post devlogs either weekly or monthly instead of daily, which feels more sustainable. I’m also working on infrastructure to track and prioritize content, but it’s still early days. The local scribe service I built for transcription is pretty buggy and needs constant maintenance. I’m thinking about adding a watchdog service to keep it running more reliably, but that’s still just a rough idea.

Technically, I’ve been deep into Blender, experimenting with complex geometry nodes and render nodes to nail down a low poly and pixel art style. For the game’s pathing, I’m using a Bezier line drawn through a terrain model and assigning tile materials based on distance along that path. The tricky part is figuring out how to classify tiles properly—whether they’re center, edge, corner, inside convex, or outside concave—because that affects both game logic and visuals. I also need to improve the dirt tile textures; they’re not quite right yet, especially when trying to fit the pixel art style. I’m testing some auto-tiling methods to generate low poly assets that can adapt to different terrain meshes, but it’s still experimental.

Narratively, I’m exploring ideas where characters face enemies that represent personal fears, and the player character concept involves someone cast down from a higher plane.

I’m tracking my time with Clockify, averaging about 20 hours a week, which projects to roughly 1000 to 1500 hours annually. On the business side, I’m weighing whether to file as a company for visibility or tax reasons but haven’t decided yet. There are also risks like potential lawsuits and LLC maintenance costs, which I’m keeping in mind. Monetization ideas are floating around—devlogs, YouTube, Patreon, subscription sites with ads, and selling assets—but nothing’s locked in. The transcription app might be something to sell, but pricing is still undecided.

Overall, there’s a lot of moving parts—technical challenges with tile classification and art style, narrative and gameplay ideas that need fleshing out, and business decisions still up in the air. I’m making steady progress but still figuring out how to tie these pieces together in a way that feels coherent and manageable.

Two-Line Takeaway

Key step forward

The most important forward progress step is establishing Watchlight Studio with a committed domain, setting up the website, and making steady technical and narrative development progress.

Significant barrier or risk

The most important barrier or risk is the uncertainty in business decisions, including potential lawsuits, LLC maintenance costs, and unresolved monetization strategies.

Keynotes

Decisions & Observations

• Decided to name the studio Watchlight Studio, secured domain for five years, and completed setup of studio email and social media handles despite delays.
• Chose Hugo with the Hextra theme for the website to keep it clean and manageable; decided against using Quartz for independence and flexibility.
• Exploring narrative concepts involving characters facing fears and a protagonist cast down from a higher plane.
• Evaluating monetization options including devlogs, YouTube, Patreon, subscription sites, asset sales, and possibly selling the transcription app; pricing and strategy undecided.

Issues & Next Steps

• Planning to post devlogs weekly or monthly for sustainability; building infrastructure to track and prioritize content, though still in early stages.
• Needs to resolve bugs and maintenance issues with the local scribe transcription service; considering adding a watchdog service to improve reliability.
• Working on classifying game tiles (center, edge, corner, inside convex, outside concave) to impact game logic and visuals; this remains a technical challenge.
• Needs to improve dirt tile textures to better fit the pixel art style.
• Experimenting with auto-tiling methods to generate adaptable low poly assets for different terrain meshes; still experimental.
• Weighing whether to file as a company for visibility or tax benefits; considering risks like lawsuits and LLC maintenance costs.

Generated with Nucleate by Watchlight Studio — distilled from full transcription.