Development Log - October 3, 2025

Goxod’s Labyrinth - Major Engine Migration

The Big Switch

Sorry for the radio silence! Been heads down on a massive decision that's gonna change everything for the better.

After months of wrestling with MonoGame's quirks and hitting walls with cross-platform deployment, I finally bit the bullet and decided to port the entire project to Godot.

Why the switch? MonoGame's great for learning, but Godot just makes sense for what I'm building. Better 2D tools, way easier deployment, built-in scene management, and honestly? The workflow just clicks. Plus the open-source philosophy aligns perfectly with what I want to do with this project.

The reality check: Yeah, it means starting over with a lot of the code, but most of the game design, assets, and core mechanics can transfer over. And the stuff I'm rewriting? It's gonna be cleaner and more maintainable.

Progress Update

What's been ported so far:

  • ✅ Core dungeon generation - Cellular automata algorithm works beautifully in GDScript
  • ✅ Basic player movement - Smooth grid-based movement with proper collision
  • ✅ Tile-based rendering - Godot's TileMap system is a dream to work with
  • ⚠️ Character creation system - About 60% done, reworking the UI with Godot's Control nodes
  • ⚠️ Inventory system - Core logic ported, UI needs rebuilding
  • ❌ Combat system - Next up on the list
  • ❌ Neuroglyph magic system - Will be way cooler with Godot's particle effects

Unexpected wins:

  • Godot's scene system makes organizing game states so much cleaner
  • Built-in save system handles complexity I was struggling with in MonoGame
  • Animation tools are gonna make combat feel way more polished
  • Cross-platform builds "just work" without the headaches

Current blockers:

  • Learning GDScript quirks (coming from C#, but it's not bad)
  • Rethinking some UI layouts to take advantage of Godot's strengths
  • Asset pipeline adjustments (minor stuff)

What’s Next

Focusing on getting the core gameplay loop working in Godot before diving into the fancy stuff. Priority order:

  1. Finish character creation - Get the full appearance system working
  2. Combat mechanics - Turn-based system with proper visual feedback
  3. Basic inventory/equipment - Core progression loop
  4. Save/load system - Godot makes this way easier
  5. Polish pass - Take advantage of Godot's visual tools

Timeline: Realistically looking at 2-3 more weeks to get back to feature parity with the MonoGame version, but with a much more solid foundation.

The honest truth: This setback sucks in the short term, but I'm already seeing why this was the right call. The code's cleaner, the tools are better, and I'm not fighting the engine anymore.

More updates coming as I make progress. Thanks for sticking with the project through this transition!

Status: Full steam ahead on Godot. No looking back.