April 12th, 2025, 09:00 AM
Chris's Command Centre, UK
Sunlight streamed through the window, illuminating dust motes dancing in the air and reflecting off the screens that greeted Chris, Tyrone, and Max for the third consecutive morning. The initial setup routine was faster now, muscle memory guiding fingers over power buttons and login screens. Before diving back into Unity, Chris held up a hand.
"Hold up," he said, leaning back. "Before we jump into Captain Capsule's next adventure, let's debrief. Two full days down. What are the big takeaways?"
Max thoughtfully tapped his chin. "Git is essential, but merge conflicts are terrifying at first. Debugging takes way longer than writing the initial code. And," he added with a slight smile, "seeing something you typed actually work on screen is incredibly addictive."
Tyrone nodded vigorously. "Yeah! And how breaking things down into tiny steps makes it feel less impossible. Like, first day, just movement. Second day, jumping and collecting. It builds! Also," he grinned, "visuals matter. Captain Capsule is way cooler than Red Cube."
"Agreed," Chris said. "My main takeaway is the power of this cycle: Plan, Develop, Review. It kept us focused. We learned a ton, fast. But we also saw how easy it is to underestimate how long even 'simple' features take." He looked at the project open on his screen – the small level, the capsule, the coins. "So, lesson learned: Keep iterating, keep communicating, keep breaking it down. Now… what's next for the Captain?"
Planning Session 1 (9 AM - 1 PM Block):
"He needs more world to explore!" Tyrone declared. "That little platform strip is fine, but where does he go?"
"And more challenge," added Max. "The static blocks are okay, but predictable."
"Okay, Plan A for Day 3," Chris summarised. "Expand the playground. Let's aim to create a second 'area' or level section, maybe accessible through a trigger in the first. We also need dynamic obstacles. Max, can you script a simple horizontally moving platform? Tyrone, design the look for that platform, and maybe a visual cue for the transition point between areas. I'll focus on building the layout for Area 2 and integrating the moving platform."
Development Block 1 (until 1:00 PM):
The familiar hum of focused work filled the room. Max delved into manipulating transform.position over time, creating a smooth back-and-forth movement for the platform script. Tyrone designed a sturdy-looking platform with visible 'tech' edges and a simple glowing doorway prefab for the level transition. Chris blocked out a new section with higher jumps and trickier platform placements, implementing Max's moving platform across a wide gap and placing Tyrone's transition doorway at the end of Area 1 and the start of Area 2. Git commits marked the progress: feat: Add horizontal moving platform script, asset: Moving platform visual, asset: Level transition prefab, feat: Implement Area 2 layout and transition.
Planning Session 2 (1 PM - 5 PM Block):
Reviewing the expanded level, Chris noted, "Better, more space. But still feels a bit empty. The challenge is just platforming."
"Needs baddies!" Tyrone suggested. "Not like, complex AI baddies, but... angry blocks?"
"Simple patrol behaviour," Max mused. "Move between two points, reset the player on contact. Doable."
"Plan B," Chris confirmed. "Let's introduce a basic enemy. Max, script a patrolling block – define two points, move between them. Tyrone, design the 'Angry Block Patroller' visual, and let's add a 'thud' sound for when Captain Capsule lands after a jump – adds weight. I'll place a couple of these patrollers strategically in both areas and integrate the landing sound."
Development Block 2 (until 5:00 PM):
Max coded the patrol logic, using simple checks against target positions to reverse direction. Tyrone created a menacing dark grey block with a single red 'eye' texture and found a suitable short 'thud' sound effect. Chris carefully placed the patrollers, ensuring their paths created timing challenges for the player, and added the landing sound trigger to the player controller script. Testing revealed a need to slightly adjust patrol speeds and jump height to keep challenges fair but not frustrating. Commits: feat: Add patrolling enemy script, asset: Patrolling enemy visual, asset: Player land sound effect, chore: Implement enemies and landing sound.
Planning Session 3 (5 PM - 9 PM Block):
"Okay, we have levels, collectibles, hazards, moving platforms, enemies..." Chris listed. "What defines 'winning'?"
"Reaching the end of Area 2?" Max suggested.
"Yeah! With a big 'You Win!' sign!" Tyrone added. "And maybe make the background less... void-y?"
"Plan C," Chris agreed. "Implement a win condition. Max, script a trigger zone at the end of Area 2 that displays a 'You Win!' message. Tyrone, design that message appearance, and find a simple background image or set up a basic Unity skybox. I'll implement the win zone and the background."
Development Block 3 (until 9:00 PM):
The final push for the day. Max created a simple script linked to a UI Text element, activated by a trigger collider. Tyrone designed a bold "YOU WIN!" graphic and found a simple, calming nebula skybox asset. Chris placed the win trigger at the very end of Area 2, configured the skybox to give the game a sense of space, and linked Max's script to Tyrone's UI design. A full playthrough confirmed: start game, navigate platforms, avoid patrollers, collect coins, move to Area 2, overcome more challenges, reach the end, trigger the win message. Fall off or hit an enemy, respawn at the start. Commits: feat: Implement win condition trigger and UI, asset: Win message graphic, asset: Add space skybox background, chore: Final testing and tweaks Day 3.
As 9 PM rolled around, they looked at the screen. Captain Capsule idled in Area 1, the starfield visible behind him. It was undeniably a game now, albeit a small one. "Wow," Tyrone breathed. "From red cube to space explorer in three days."
"The iterative process works," Max stated, satisfied.
"Get some rest," Chris said, already thinking ahead. "Tomorrow, we iterate again."
April 13th, 2025, 09:00 AM
Chris's Command Centre, UK
The fourth morning felt like routine. Coffee was brewed, machines were booted, and the latest version of 'Project: Captain Capsule' was loaded. Yesterday's progress felt substantial, but also highlighted new areas for improvement.
Planning Session 4 (9 AM - 1 PM Block):
"Instant death feels a bit harsh," Chris mused, watching Captain Capsule respawn after hitting a patroller. "Maybe lives? Or health?"
"Health makes sense," Max agreed. "Three hits before a full reset?"
"And we need more dynamic platforming," Tyrone suggested. "Like platforms that disappear after you stand on them!"
"Okay, Plan D," Chris outlined. "Introduce a health system. Max, track player health (say, 3 points), decrement on hazard contact, trigger full reset only when health hits zero. Also, script disappearing platforms – maybe they vanish a second after being touched, then reappear? Tyrone, design the health UI (hearts?) and the look of the disappearing platforms (flickering?). I'll integrate the health UI, modify hazards to deal 'damage' instead of instant reset, and place some disappearing platforms."
Development Block 4 (until 1:00 PM):
This block involved more complex scripting. Max implemented the health variable, linked it to hazard collisions, and updated the UI display logic. He also scripted the disappearing platform behaviour using coroutines to handle the timing. Tyrone created three heart icons for the UI and designed platforms that flickered rapidly before vanishing. Chris updated the UI canvas, changed hazard tags, and strategically replaced some static platforms with the new disappearing ones, creating trickier timed sequences. Commits reflected the new systems: feat: Implement player health system, feat: Add disappearing platform mechanic, asset: Health UI hearts, asset: Disappearing platform visual, chore: Integrate health and new platforms.
Planning Session 5 (1 PM - 5 PM Block):
"Health system works," Max reported after testing. "Makes it less frustrating."
"Falling and respawning way back at the start is still annoying though," Chris countered. "Especially in Area 2."
"Checkpoints!" Tyrone exclaimed. "Touch a flag, respawn there!"
"And it's still too quiet," Max added. "Background music?"
"Plan E," Chris decided. "Checkpoints and music. Max, script checkpoint logic – player touches checkpoint, store its location as the new respawn point. Tyrone, find a suitable royalty-free background music loop and design a checkpoint visual (flag? pad?). I'll integrate the music and place checkpoint objects logically throughout the levels."
Development Block 5 (until 5:00 PM):
Max updated the player respawn logic to use a stored checkpoint position variable. Tyrone found a chill, looping synth track and designed a simple glowing blue pad for the checkpoint visual. Chris added an Audio Source component for the music, configured it to loop, placed checkpoint pads after challenging sections, and tested thoroughly to ensure health, hazards, and checkpoints interacted correctly. Commits: feat: Implement checkpoint system, asset: Checkpoint visual, asset: Add background music loop, chore: Integrate BGM and checkpoints. The game suddenly felt much more atmospheric with the music running.
Planning Session 6 (5 PM - 9 PM Block):
"Okay, core mechanics feel much better," Chris said, navigating Captain Capsule through the checkpointed level. "What's a key feature we're missing for basic usability?"
"Pausing?" suggested Max. "And quitting cleanly?"
"Yeah! Like hitting Escape," Tyrone agreed. "And maybe make the coin sparks... sparklier?"
"Plan F, final push for Day 4," Chris announced. "Basic pause menu. Max, script it: Esc key toggles a pause menu overlay, pauses game time (Time.timeScale), with 'Resume' and 'Quit' buttons. Tyrone, design that simple menu panel and buttons, and tweak the coin collection particle effect. I'll integrate the UI canvas and test."
Development Block 6 (until 9:00 PM):
The final session focused on polish and utility. Max implemented the pause logic, carefully managing game state and UI visibility. Tyrone designed a clean, semi-transparent panel for the pause menu and made the coin particle effect brighter and slightly longer-lasting. Chris hooked up the UI buttons and tested the pause functionality rigorously, ensuring timescale changes worked as expected and the game could be quit properly. Commits: feat: Implement pause menu, asset: Pause menu UI design, fx: Enhance coin collection particles, chore: Final testing Day 4.
Nine PM. Four days of intense work concluded. On screen, Captain Capsule could run, jump, collect items, avoid static and moving enemies, survive a couple of hits thanks to a health system, respawn at checkpoints, navigate disappearing platforms, trigger a win condition, all accompanied by background music and particle effects, and the game could be paused.
Tyrone stretched dramatically. "My brain... is full."
Max flexed his fingers, stiff from typing. "We added a lot today. Health, checkpoints, pause... it's starting to feel like a proper framework."
Chris looked at the monitor, then at the project file size, noticeably larger than four days ago. "Four days," he repeated quietly. "From nothing to... this." He gestured at the screen, a mixture of exhaustion and pride in his voice. "We're actually doing it. We're making a game."
The journey was far from over, but the foundation they'd built, block by iterative block, felt solid beneath their feet.