Heya, to anyone who is checking in on my game DORMANT UTILITY SERVICE TECHNICIAN - I have not abandoned it!!!  In fact, i have been working on it all this time.  But i am also freelancing, and pacing myself so i don't burn out.   And i'm also not sharing much still, because I'm using what available time I do have to just dev.   So - has the game stayed on track in terms of scope?  nah!!!!

I got ambitious and decided the game needs some activities - like bball.  i need to be able to play bball with a cyborg frog guy, u know?

      I've been learning a lot more about programming, and am using these little tangents as fun ways to learn new stuff, that will inevitably improve both the speed and quality of my work.

      At some point last year, i  realized that i had to actually plan out the story more, so i've been mostly in that phase, just organizing and making sure i have a path to stay on, and knowing what that path even is.  It's been very helpful.  I intend to have 3 or 4 planets, each with their own side quests and npc's to meet.   And the idea is for the player to have the capability to travel between them, like Metroid (but casual - so "casualvania")  The above bball gif is at a space diner, like a truck stop, for space truckers, i guess.  i love the idea of letting the player take a break from the action and just shoot some hoops and talk to some cyberfrogs.  What else is there to do in the cafe?  mayyyyybe fishing...

So i made an inventory, for keeping track of quest items, powerups and collectables (like fish!)

      Ok - so there's my proof :)   Programming the inventory system from scratch (all my code and assets are handmade by me - a total newb...) really leveled up my c# capabilities compared to before.   But, it's just gonna take me a while, like at least a couple more years to finish this little easy-to-make game haha....  that's ok - it's my magnum opus.  SO with that said, I am kinda doing another tangent currently (just while i'm juggling some freelance music stuff)  and again, it will help the development of this game in the long run for me to take a quick detour.  So i have a side project, another solodev adventure for me, but it is gonna be quick, short, and (hopefully) multiplayer!   I'll make a whole separate page for it sometimes soon, probably early next year.  More on that later.  

     Please stay tuned, and if you haven't played the D.U.S.T. demo yet, or if you have - but u are NOT yet a "CHAMPION OF VR", then please take the demo for a spin and try it.  I can do it!  and I SUCK at games.  :)   If you aren't successful and need hints, i put a youtube vid in the comments, it's a no-commentary walkthrough  that shows off pretty much everything in the demo.  Any questions or comments, feel free to chime in on the demo page.  It will probs be a while till i get another one of these devlogs out, but i do check in on the page and try to address everything that gets posted.  Cheers, hope you all are enjoying your projects and wish you luck.

till next time - mikeb10