root vegetable boy
CHORUS MACHINE DEV LOG #21 - AUTUMN 2025
Happy December! Did you miss me?
Well, let's get straight to it!
DEVELOPMENT UPDATE
As of writing, the design and implementation of the CHORUS MACHINE Demo are 100% complete. I’m now working on things like polishing, balancing, and testing/bug-fixing.
(Saying this, I felt a deep fear rising in me...)
I’ve already sent the first version to some close friends to have them play & try to break it. One of them had their younger brother try; he described it as, “the Dark Souls of pixel games”. I think I will be gloating about this forever, probably.
One friend described it as a "fun challenge that offers difficulty even for really good gamers, and bad gamers (such as me) get to feel very accomplished by progressing", which made me very happy to hear. That's the exact difficulty curve I've been aiming for!
At this point, I’m trying pretty hard not to make any major changes. At the most, I’ll add a couple enemies, maybe rearrange the existing order of mobs.
Though, this is mostly because there’s a lot of strange issues I still need to fix. I did the majority of coding on my MacBook, so the Mac port is really polished and smooth, but I ran into all sorts of problems as soon as I booted it up in Windows. And even then, after patching what I could find myself and sending it to my friends, some of them are getting errors I’m having trouble recreating on my own. Fixing them feels like we’re all blindly stumbling around in the dark together... I’m really, really appreciative to those who have agreed to help!
I’m really excited to have everyone play it. And, really excited to get back to work on the rest of the game! (Once all these darn bugs are stamped out, of course.)
PERSONAL UPDATE
I quit my full-time office job two months ago...
This is the #1 reason why I was able to finish the demo so quickly. It’s been beyond rewarding to work on Chorus Machine full-time, but as-is, it’s not financially sustainable for me. So, I think I’m going to start a Kickstarter for it once the demo is released??? and maaaybe a Patreon for myself???? I would love to hear from my fellow friends and artists that are able to make any amount of money off of their work, or from Regular Joes who have been following along that have a preferred method of supporting creators.
I’m also actively looking for work in addition to my work on Chorus Machine! if you or someone you know is currently looking for a composer or sound designer, please reach out via email.
RELEASE UPDATE
Since the demo is so close to completion, it’s time to talk about its release.
Originally, I planned on releasing the demo for free on itch.io, and then releasing the full version on Steam once the entire game is finished, but I think the culture is forcing my hand a little bit; every single time I talk to someone new about my game, they ask when they can play the demo on Steam. So. Additional Steam release added due to popular demand!
I still need to fork over a few hundred dollars to various companies for various licensures… (I get so dizzy that I fall over) But, once that’s done, I’ll be able to give y’all an actual estimated release date! So, stay tuned! (I give you two thumbs up from the ground)
I think the “Spring 2026” estimate from the Summer log is still accurate. Maybe even sooner…? I’m doing my best to get it into your hands as soon as possible!
CLOSING REMARKS
I have so many bugs to kill!! Ahhhhh!!!!!!!!
Don’t come back until they’re all dead!
Originally posted December 1st, 2025.