root vegetable boy

CHORUS MACHINE DEV LOG #16 - FEBRUARY 2025

BACK TO ARCHIVE



I can’t believe it’s already March… this past month flew by! And, that was because I didn’t spend a single moment in February working on Chorus Machine… Needless to say, this log is going to be a bit different than the usual format.

I figured I’d use this time to reflect on where exactly I think I am in the development process, and what else still needs doing; hopefully after going through some of this information I can give you a rough estimate of when to expect the DEMO release. Or maybe not…


FLOOR ONE DEMO STATUS

DESIGN
    Story: 90% (basically complete, still need to hammer out a few details)
    Dialogue: 40%
    Setup: 80% (stuff like initializing & coding different systems, documentation, etc.)

IMPLEMENTATION

    Art: 30%
    Cutscenes: 5% (I fear implementing cutscenes and have barely started this)
    Enemies: 25%
    Boss Battles: 25% (one out of three boss battles is fully complete but the other two will be more complex)
    Audio: 15% (lots of music needs writing still, even this 15% is mostly SFX)
    Rooms: 45% (some rearranging needs doing but nearing completion for the first half)
    UI: 35% (save/load UI and start menu are totally complete, still need to design pause & inventory UI)
    Misc: 40% (stuff like story integration, combat mechanics, etc)

FINISHING

    Polishing: 0%
    Balancing: 0%
    Testing & Bugfixing: 0%
    Release Material: 0% (stuff like splash pages/logos/icons/etc.)


I’ve gotten to this point after about 16 months of regular work (in addition to having a separate full-time job). These numbers feel somewhat deceptive, in part because polish usually takes longer than I anticipate, but also because development keeps getting faster as I keep getting better at it. Still, I can only work so fast as a single individual… I’m really hoping for a 2026 DEMO release. I don’t think releasing this year is feasible… but next year, maybe??? I hope????



It was really nice to take a break this past month. I’ve been working really hard on Chorus Machine for a while now, and it was downright luxurious to take a true break. My brain definitely needed the rest, and I’m looking forward to hopping back into the developer’s seat in March :]


We’ll see how much I’ll be able to get done! Check back here in April & hopefully I’ll have some cool stuff for you.


Originally posted March 1st, 2025.