15 Days: Part 34 – September 1st to September 15th

I Once Gave Blood In Brangwyn Hall And Then Ate a Biscuit

I’m a little late in sending this out. In a rare occurrence, the day job has been encroaching into my free time, something I strive to deny as often as I can. Sadly, its recent relentless pressure meant that for a few weeks, I’ve been taking work home with me. In an odd twist, I’ve also had a really intense period of testing to get through and, somehow, I’ve managed to balance both demands extremely well, but the cost of this is that 15 Days was neglected until now. However, I am pleased to say that the day job is now back in its 9-to-5 box and I’ve successfully hunted and caught more bugs than I can remember. It’s been a busy few weeks.

Part 34 contains:

• Events In 2026
• Am I Making A Game?
• Hazard Pay Is Out Now
• UrbX Warriors 16-Bit Is Funded
• Heir of the Dog Bounds Closer To Release

Events In 2026: Where last year was about going to as many gaming events as possible, mostly to network and get a feel for what is out there, this year was about maximising my attendances as best I could, whilst switching my attention to learning more about game development outside of testing. There was also the consideration of cost. These events are never cheap, or rather, it’s the travel and accommodation that’s expensive. The events themselves are priced in such a way as to be accessible. But hitting as many as last year isn’t financially viable. Some had to be sidelined this year. Timeless is a good example. Probably one of my favourites last year, but it didn’t make the cut. And it’s the same with the upcoming Blackpool Expo this year. Pretty much everyone I speak to says it’s a huge event and a lot of fun but, although it was booked in my calendar, it too has been culled.

However, three events remain and it’s my intention to be at these over the remaining months of 2026. Up next is CRASH Live!, followed by AdventureX, and then finishing 2026 with an unexpected trip to my home city of Swansea, for Swansea VGE at the end of November. And, in times past, I came to know Brangwyn Hall well so returning there after so long will feel very special, and a fitting way to round off my scheduled events this year.

Am I Making A Game?: I alluded to this in a recent podcast and the answer is – I probably will…but for now, I am happy learning the basics of programming. So what I’ve done recently, albeit time has been limited (as explained above), is start using Pico-8 and its programming language, LUA. The logic behind this choice is that the boundaries within Pico-8 are limited and so I can only work with what’s available. No real danger of scope-creep and the focus remains on learning the basics and building from there.

It’s gone well as a first attempt. And I’ll tell you this, not much really impresses me in a ‘Wow!’ way these days but when I saw my little sprite appear on screen and I learned how to move it around, that was a ‘Wow!’ moment. It’s not polished, pretty or particularly interesting but having learned a little code and started to understand how it works, followed by designing something that suddenly appears on screen and can move, is a very cool feeling. And here’s a really short clip of what I mean.

Hazard Pay Is Out Now: Back in Part 24, I mentioned I’d let you know when Hazard Pay was coming out. I don’t think I did…but that’s OK, because it’s out now!

Released only ten days ago, the reviews have been very positive. I really enjoyed playtesting this and was very grateful for another credit. And another title to be added to my Testing Shelf in due course.

You can find the game on Steam, Switch and Playstation via the publisher’s link here: https://numskullgames.com/game/hazard-pay/

UrbX Warriors 16-Bit Is Funded: Yes! It is done! UrbX Warriors 16-Bit smashed its funding goal and hit several stretch targets in the process. Apologies if your social media feeds were filled with posts about the campaign while it was live; it was just really important to generate the message, and this one is very exciting for me to be a part of. In heading up the QA for UrbX, your support means a huge amount to everyone in the teamm and every share, like, or pledge has made a massive difference. So, thank you!

For now, my upcoming task will be focusing on finalising the testing for the Spectrum NEXT version before moving onto this 16-Bit version. Everything I’ve seen so far has been excellent, and I maintain that however much I repeatedly play these builds, I’ve never once been bored. I think that everyone who plays this game is going to have a lot of fun.

Heir of the Dog Bounds Closer To Release: This has been the title that I’ve thrown a staggering amount of time into over the last few weeks, and we’re at the stage where it’s more about tweaks and minors fixes than anything game-breaking. For example, most of the latest changes have been to do with aligning text with the voice over. It’s laborious and focused work but when that’s the worst of what’s being found, I know from experience that we’re close to being done, and to see it all starting to come together has been really satisfying. Point and Click adventure games are a lot of work. More so than any other genre, in my experience. Just think about inventory items and how many combinations there are. Think about items that have bespoke descriptions depending on certain interactions. Then think about the logic and sequence of events, and so much more! It’s a huge amount of work but, when it’s completed, we all know we’ve done a fantastic job. So, for now, testing continues but the major work is done. We’re nearly there.

Heir Of The Dog is available to wishlist now and the link is here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2431920/Heir_of_the_Dog/

And so I arrive at the end of another 15 Days blog. I hope you enjoyed it, and I’ll be back soon for Part 35!

Until next time, as always, stay safe and thank you for reading.

Paul.