Blockage, overhaul, and parallel project

Welcome to this second The Reaping Company devlog (but not only)! I had planned to write one article per month, but February and March got so mixed up (between technical blocks, changes of direction and another project that reappeared in my schedule) that I preferred to group them into a single devlog, more coherent to read.

These two months have been a lot less linear than expected : technical dead ends, questioning, but also good learning experiences and a small temporary pivot towards another project.

The trap of the "perfect" camera"

I started February by continuing work on The Reaping Company, with the goal of improving the game's camera. I had found a solution the previous month for Combining pixel-perfect rendering and smooth camera work, However, in practice, this method has proven to be quite effective. too heavy to operate for a game with a complex camera like the one I envisioned.

The vision: a camera that lives with the player

I didn't want a camera that simply followed the character. I envisioned a rich, dynamic camera that would enhance the feeling of the game at every moment. :

• A followed with a slight lag and a soft rebound, to give elasticity to the movements.
• A gap of the camera in the opposite direction to the player's direction, proportional to his velocity, in order to clear the field of vision forward.
• A vertical deadzone when the character is on a platform below a certain height, to avoid any vibration during jumps and to offer perfect precision to the player when jumping.
• A snapping in contact with the ground in order to naturally regain the player's position after a jump.
• A catching oneself during falls, leaving a space in front of the character so we can see where we're going to land.
• And eventually, of more cinematic effects during cutscenes, boss fights, narrative scripts, etc.

The technical wall

The problem wasn't so much the camera's ambition (which turned out to be much more difficult to implement than expected, but still feasible). The real issue stemmed from my pixel-perfect solution combined with this camera.

My system is based on a double set of coordinates : a classic "in-game" position, and a position relative to the center of the game rendering. With simple camera tracking, this works. But as soon as you add all the layers described above (lag, offset, dead zone, snapping…), you need constantly compensate for the movements and the discrepancies between the two systems. The complexity skyrockets.

I managed to get some of the bricks working, but the result was too fragile and clearly unsustainable in the long term.

A detour that wasn't really one

We often hear that we shouldn't rush into these kinds of features too early, and that it's better focus on core gameplay. In principle, I agree. But for me, the camera is an integral part of the gameplay and the feeling I want to give the game: it's not just a cosmetic addition that I can adjust at the end.

And most importantly, the time spent exploring the limits of my system wasn't wasted. It directly influenced the direction I was going to take and how the game would function internally. My pixel-perfect system with its dual coordinate system is nothing like a classic camera system: the entire tracking, physics, and rendering logic had to be approached differently. Without this exploratory phase, I would have started with a flawed architecture that would have cost me much more later.

In concrete terms, the visible results are modest, but the technical and architectural education, They, however, are valuable for what comes next.

In parallel with the work on the camera, another task was waiting to be addressed on The Reaping Company: completely rework the main character.

The ghost, as I had conceived of it until then, no longer convinced me. There was a gliding effect and one lack of impact in its movements, mainly because it doesn't touch the ground. No matter the settings, I couldn't get the more responsive feel I wanted.

So I decided to start from scratch with the character, connecting him more closely to the lore I had established the previous month. The ghost was replaced by a small skeleton, more grounded, more expressive, and much better suited to the sensations I'm looking for.

Woolmoot: the parallel task that took over

Despite the progress on the character side, I continued to stagnate and get stuck on The Reaping Company because of the camera. To avoid getting trapped in frustration, I preferred to allocate some of my time to a another task in parallel. That's when I immersed myself again in a project I'm leading with my partner: Woolmoot.

This project has nothing to do with The Reaping Company or video games. Initially, it was simply meant to allow me to keep working on something when I got stuck. But, as I'll explain below, an idea of reorientation changed everything, to the point that I finally devoted myself to it 100% %.

The origin of the project

The idea for Woolmoot was born in October 2025. My partner makes hook, and by accompanying her in her professional development, I quickly realized that she did not have effective tools to save her time on certain time-consuming tasks on a daily basis.

The observation is quite striking: the hook is a a very non-technical field, with very few innovations or modern tools. Probably because people who practice crochet are not, in general, technical profiles capable of developing their own solutions, and because it is a niche area, little addressed by software players.

First attempt: an overly ambitious marketplace

Starting in October, I began working on the project with a fairly broad ambition: to create a marketplace specialized for the crochet pattern sales. I spent about two months there, laid a good technical foundation, then took a break during the Christmas holidays.

Upon returning in early January, two things combined:

• Looking back, the project seemed very too ambitious in its original form.
• I especially had a strong desire to get into video games, and The Reaping Company became my priority.

So I put Woolmoot on pause, without abandoning it.

The recovery: the turning point that refocused everything

When I reopened the project in mid-February, my initial idea was to move forward gradually alongside The Reaping Company. But by revisiting the project with a fresh perspective, a new approach emerged: rather than a complete marketplace, why not focus on a service very specific, focused on a concrete and immediate need?

This pivot changed everything. Suddenly, the project became feasible again within a reasonable timeframe, with real added value to deliver quickly. Since the entire foundation developed in 2025 was solid, I was able to rebuild on top of it rather than starting from scratch. From then on, I found myself dedicating most of my time to it, almost 100%, as the release window drew ever closer.

The online launch is scheduled for the mid-April. There's not much left to do, mainly checks and finishing touches. Once that's done, I can finally get back to full-time game development with a clear mind.

To conclude

These past two months have clearly not been the most productive for The Reaping Company, and I admit it. Between a camera that made me go around in circles, a necessary but time-consuming character overhaul, and a detour via Woolmoot, progress on the game has been modest.

But these periods are also part of the job. I learn concrete lessons from them:

• Some technical explorations They may seem sterile but are essential for laying good foundations, especially when venturing off the beaten path.
• Accept question a direction when the feeling isn't there, even at the cost of a complete overhaul.
• Know temporarily change projects to unlock his mind rather than exhausting himself by forcing it.

The recovery: the turning point that refocused everything

Beyond these two months, I think it's an opportunity to explain a little my way of working, because it explains a lot about my journey and how this devlog is evolving.

I operate a lot on feeling. As a freelancer, I have a lot of ideas in my head, and I am extremely productive when I know exactly where I'm going. When I get stuck on something, my natural reflex is to hyper-focus on the problem until... solve it at all costs, And generally, problems tend to resolve themselves fairly quickly. But when a blockage persists for several days, or even several weeks, despite repeated attempts to reassess the situation, I prefer allocate time to something else in parallel rather than getting bogged down.

I also have no trouble questioning my ideas, even if it sometimes means starting from scratch. Often having no constraints, left to my own devices, one might see it as a kind of fickleness, and I'm well aware that it wouldn't be ideal in a collaborative context or in the traditional workplace. But it's my way of doing things, and so far, I'm managing quite well this way.

I can switch from one project to another, take breaks, start from scratch, until I find the path that allows me to move quickly, directly, and with pleasure. That's exactly how my website was built. GR-GO, ...spread over several years. That's how Woolmoot eventually took shape. And very likely, that's how The Reaping Company will develop, which will probably be nothing like the game I imagine today!

The return to The Reaping Company is imminent, and I can't wait to get back to it with a solid character, more lessons learned, and another project finally ready to fly on its own.

Thanks for reading this devlog, and see you next month!