DECEMBER 2025 - DEVELOPMENT PROGRESS UPDATE

Like last time, this update is written by both Megalo (Director + Main Artist) and mook (Project Manager + Systems Programmer). This is mirrored from our recent Kickstarter update.

For anyone who hasn’t already, you can read our previous development progress update from July 2025 here.

MOOK'S SYSTEMS CORNER

👽 mook: Hello, everyone! I hope all who celebrate have had a happy HoloDay season :) The new metagame/timeline system I talked about in the previous development update has made enough progress for me to consider it essentially complete! It’s the sort of system I can always add on to, so it’s hard to ever consider it "done," but it’s at the point where it can now support all of MINDWAVE’s gameplay content moving forward.

As a reminder, the metagame system contains a video editor-esque timeline with multiple tracks we can dynamically place events on, and self-contained scenes that we can quickly swap between. It behaves sort of like our own engine-within-an-engine.

Here’s an updated look at the timeline system in action:

I’ve done the work to port Starlight (Story + Endless) and Tutorial to the metagame system, and it’s proven itself capable enough to handle any design challenges posed by future Minds :)

While I do compare it to a video editing interface, the timeline system doesn’t actually have any kind of "visual UI" so to speak. We aren’t dragging and dropping events onto the tracks. It’s all driven by code! In the above video you can see new events getting dynamically placed ahead of the current point in time, like that one Wallace and Gromit bit.

The dynamic nature of the metagame system is the secret sauce that will help the game feel no different from before! (or, in some cases, slightly better). This system is much more flexible than the rigid gameplay flow present in the demo, and provides us with much more creative freedom whenever we want to mix things up.

LOBBY PROGRESS + STORY PROGRESS

🌙 Megalo: More lobby/floor concept designs have been made! Generally we’ve ironed out most of what we want out of each floor’s atmosphere and feel. We just need to fill in visual gaps, and move onto creating the assets and implementing them. Not everything is fully conceptualized yet but we’re close to having a full idea of what every lobby/floor in the game is gonna look and feel like. I’ve also designed more potential lobby NPCs! And I of course have been working with our writers Starmy and Mizu to oversee their writing process and brainstorm more major story ideas and directions to take.

As mentioned in the previous update, we were rethinking our approach to the story and dialogue within the lobby segments to strengthen the focus. Without giving too many specifics, this approach has been going really well! Throughout the year, Starmy and Mizu have continued to map out the game’s narrative, major events, and characters, all under our new adjusted direction. They’ve been also writing a bunch of dialogue drafts for a lot of different characters to talk to throughout the game to get a feel for how everything will flow as a whole experience.

Everything’s still a process, though. I and the writers are still figuring out how to properly tie everything together and deliver the ideas we want. There's still much more work to be done and gaps to fill in the story as a whole. We have great ideas for major story beats, a great overall map of the narrative, and great