🎮 Devlog: "Definitive Edition Update: CDawg'sByte Sized Adventure"

One thing I always like to do after a jam is polish - even if it's just for myself,
I fix hundreds of bugs usually and add dozens of enhancements.
Here's a highlight reel of some of those enhancements.

✨ UI & UX: Making Things Fit, Look Nice, and Not Explode

To make sure things were playable in browser,o I went on a crusade to make sure every piece of dialogue, banter, arrow, cursor, and UI widget fits properly inside a 1280×720 viewport. Yes, that included:

• Rescaling the mudan/fishing minigame arrows

• Fixing dialogue overflow

• Adding a hand cursor to the radial menu because apparently that’s a thing humans like

• Making the radial menu actually behave like a radial menu instead of a pizza wheel from a cursed dimension
  

Also, pixelation shaders were added to the background so everything looks like a retro game. The other name for this update/release is is the "Cartridge Edition".

🎮 Controllers: If It Has a Button, It Works Now

At this point I think the game supports more controllers than the average console:

• PS4 / PS5

• Switch

• Steam Deck

• Xbox One

• Xbox 360

• Probably a Fisher-Price toy controller if you plug it in

I fixed thumbstick math, neutral reset poses, D-pad navigation, backwards menu movement, and a dozen “why is everything drifting to the right when I hold the stick?” bugs.

In short: you can now play the entire game while pretending the keyboard doesn’t exist.

🍥 The Menu Saga: A Trilogy in 12 Parts

The menus went through a complete spiritual awakening.

What began as a simple pause/title screen menu turned into a fully interactive ecosystem with:

• Working submenus

• Text size & speed settings

• SFX/music sliders

• Functional back navigation

• Radial menu interactions

• Anti-cheat cooldown logic

• A pause system that actually… pauses

It now behaves like a real game menu instead of a cursed IKEA shelving unit.

Also, I removed blur effects that murdered performance, which felt like throwing out old tax documents.

💬 Dialogue & Banter: Talking, But Better

I added in a responsive banter system, so now you won't be bored while playing minigames. It's a bit dynamic, so the CDawg might respond differently depending on what the other characters say.

🎣 Minigame Upgrades: Fishing, Dancing, Stealthing

Fishing Minigame
I added a DDR Dance Timing Component to the fishing minigame, because someone commented in another jam thread https://itch.io/jam/monkey-jam-2025/rate/3917761 that they were tired of conventional fishing minigames. Finall,y things feel fresh and new.
It has a sort of "slowdown time" mechanic, which was inspired by this video, as if it was a monk slowing down time:

Mudan Minigame
Also added a difficulty select, as many people complained it was too hard,
that way botb hardcore and casual gamers can have a good time.

Mouse Minigame - Now also Chris Stealth Minigame

Added a Metal Gear Solid like stealth segment to the mouse minigame for added variety. Chris also has his own banter!

🔊 Audio Polish: When Sound Effects Finally Behave

Highlights:

• Preloaded all music and SFX for faster loading

💾 Code Quality & Build Wizardry

The build pipeline now uses:

• Reduced file sizes by removing assets (the video file was taking up half the game!) final size: 51MB!

• Proper obfuscation
  

• Null checks in all the places they should’ve been from the start

Basically, the codebase is less “student project from 2012” and more “amateur studio in a garage with hopes and dreams.”

🎉 Closing Thoughts

I did a lot this cycle — probably too much — but the game is looking cleaner, smoother, and way more cohesive than it did even a month ago. The menus feel good, the controllers behave, the minigames are polished, and the UI no longer looks like it went through turbulence.

Thanks for reading. If you want more behind-the-scenes chaos, stay tuned!