- BfV Devlog: Final Boss Development – Week 4 - 21 September 2026
YouTube Short: The work on the final boss continues!Starting the "Learn Godot 4 by Coding Classic Pong!" series slowed down development a bit, but on the other hand it gave me a way to entertain and distract myself from the overwhelming work on the final boss.As of right now, I've gotten used to making the tutorial shorts and have resumed progress on the boss. Ultimately, I barely used the boss designs I had been preparing for the last half a year – they were too small for the vision I had.Initially (in the first weeks of work) I partially used the original work and just added more bulk on top, but this was a waste of time. For the last couple of weeks I just redrew the full sprite, then cut it into the parts I need to create the phases, and started drawing the highlight layers and weapon hardpoints.Fortunately, I managed to reuse most of the highlight parts and some of the weapon sprit…
- BfV Devlog: Final Boss Development – Week 3 - 7 September 2026
The work on the Final boss continues (mostly) as planned, slowly but steadily! Originally I thought that I would have a working version of the boss by the end of August, but I vastly underestimated how much work there would be.So now I don't plan for a specific end date – just trying to make the boss as interesting and challenging as possible.What was done:The highlight layer for most of the boss's parts is finally drawn properly.New design of the railgun weapons, specific to the final boss, was added.An entirely new class 3 weapon sprite was created for the final boss – it shoots the purple type‑3 enemy shots.A new class 3 plasma sprite was added for the boss.Started the work on the phase change method that will activate/deactivate weapons and such.It took quite some time to draw the highlights because I wanted to make the layer more detailed than the other bosses, and of course becaus…
- BfV Devlog: Final Boss Development – Week 2 - 31 August 2026
This will be a very short devlog post! Last week I was quite busy with family and home tasks (and also working on the how‑to guide for Pong), so I don't have that much progress on the final boss.And yet – I've finished and polished the design, separated the sprite into appropriate pieces, and managed to implement it properly into the game.This is only the phase one sprite – still missing the highlight layer and most of the weapons – but the design work is done, and I have the base ready. So it was good progress for sure!And as I mentioned last week, I'm working on a few retro prototypes that will be used for a series of "Learn Godot 4" build guides, starting with Pong.Last week I published the teaser, and today the game plan for the guide will be live as well. Learn Godot 4 by Coding Classic PongTeaser TrailerThe Game Plan
- BfV Devlog: Started working on the final boss - 24 August 2026
It has been a long time since I started working on The Battle for Vega back in November 2021, so it's hard to even imagine a point where I can say the work is finished. But... this point is coming sooner than later!This week I've started working on the final boss fight, and the final level of the game! Of course this will be a massive chunk of work, but it marks that the end of the project is coming!I had previously started working on the sprite, even made different variants for the different phases of the fight, but when compared to the previous bosses it looked too similar, and not that much of a threat.So I used the sprite as a start and expanded on it, trying to make the last boss fight as epic and as intimidating as possible!The design of the boss is about 90% done, and I've already started to plan the weapons and the enemy waves for the different phases.I'm very happy with the pro…
- BfV Devlog 0.8.7: Most of the clean up is done - 17 August 2026
So, fortunately almost everything that I had listed as bugs, or things I need to change, were already fixed! I expected some of those tasks to be old ones, but indeed almost everything was already done.Last week was mostly about going through the bugs and feature lists, and trying to reproduce one issue at a time. It was a time‑consuming process, but it needed to be done sooner rather than later.Of course, some small things still needed to be fixed, and not all tasks were completed.What was done:Bug Lists: Went through all my bug/feature lists and checked all of them to be sure they are fixed.Intro: Some of the old assets were replaced with newer ones to make it look and feel better.Main Menu: The idle animations are adjusted, with a few of the assets replaced as well.Act Progress: This is a brand new visualization of the progress in the current act, showing where you are in the act's l…
- BfV Devlog 0.8.6: Compiling the list of bugs and minor changes - 10 August 2026
After the last few weeks' hard push on new content and finishing the 4th boss, and Acts 9 & 10, it was time to scale back the changes and go through the game, do some cleanup, and start preparing for the last round of balancing.This week was mostly about going through all of the documented bugs and small tasks – including my handwritten notes that I write while working on the game.It's quite a long list, with some of that stuff already addressed, but it's a good idea to go through all of them just in case.So nothing too exciting yet, except one thing – I've written the script for the Ending, and already talked to the artist that helped me with the game's cover art. We had a couple of meetings and more or less finalized what the scenes of the ending will look like.Nothing is done so far, but all the plans are clicking into place!
- BfV Devlog 0.8.4: Act 9 & 10 levels added, started working on the Boss 4 - 27 July 2026
This was a HUGE week for the game! I had already started on the basic level design of Act 9 and Boss 4, but now the levels are mostly done! With this, all level structure is in the game and it's mostly balanced to the rest of the game as well.What was done:Levels > Act 9: All level data is created and balanced, including the enemies and mini‑bosses.Levels > Act 10: Same as Act 9 – the levels for the act are completed.Levels > Astronauts: All 25 astronauts (the collectibles in the game) are added to the appropriate levels.Enemies > Boss 4: The basic functionality of the boss, with all of his weapons, is added to level 9‑10.With all level data done, it's time to add (and test) all of the level directives for Act 9 and 10, and to finish all 100 (plus 20 bonus) levels!The Boss 4 is in the game, but there are no phases, weapon rotation, or behaviour changes yet, so th
- BfV Devlog 0.8.3: All level dialogs are added, and much more - 20 July 2026
I'm back from my annual summer physiotherapy session, got a few days of rest, and pushed the game as far as I could. At this point I'm only working on the game, so I have good progress as well.So what's the first progress this summer:Story > Dialogs: All level dialogs are now implemented in the game. Last week I added the missing ones for Act 10.Intro: Using some of the new assets from the game's cover, I've improved the intro and made final adjustments to the timing of the texts.Settings: Added a "Performance" section with 2 options to disable the particle systems for the ships and for the weapons.Drops: The Powershot Cooldown and Powershot Damage drops now restore your powershot charge on pickup. The Shield Cooldown drop now has an improved effect and immediately restores 1 shield as well.The new performance settings were added because I noticed that on extremely old (1st gen i5) or v…
- Devlog build 0.8.2: All the small things - 8 June 2026
It has been a while since I've had that much time off the game, but I went through overstress and overwork, and I'm still recovering from the lasting effects.But slowly and steadily, I'm still doing some work – starting with the official website (www.battleforvega.com). It was time to adjust some of the design (especially on mobile), to finish up and update the roadmap now that the demo is out, to add some of the new videos to the media page, and so on.Shockingly, I found the will to take a look at my company's site (which was last updated in 2007) and started preparing a new version!But getting back to the game:Player ships:Created a new particle-based engine and booster effects.Final adjustments of the hardpoints of MK3, MK4, MK5-X, MK6-X (added more of them).Balance:Ships: Base prices adjusted for all ships for a new balance based on the changes from Demo 2.0.Weapons: Class 2 weapons…
- Demo 2.0.1 Patch Notes - 14 May 2026
It has been a week since the demo launched, so it's time for the first patch release with several fixes and balance adjustments:Weapons > Spreadshot: Fixed an issue with the new warm-up screen affecting this weaponArcade Leaderboards: Fixed a bug where dying during the final boss fight was incorrectly counted as a completed run and uploaded to the leaderboardsMini-bosses: Reduced the HP pool of Type 2 and Type 3 mini-bossesBoss: Reduced HP from 2000 to 1500, and from 5000 to 3000 on HARD difficultyWeapons > Plasma & Laser: Slightly increased the full upgrade price for both weapons; Laser upgrade cost increased from 1500 to 2000Ships > MK1 & MK2: Base prices remain unchanged, but upgrade costs have been slightly increasedBoot splash added: Replaced the gray screen shown briefly during startupNothing too major, but these changes should make Story Mode more balanced and Arcade Mode a bit e…
- Demo 2.0 is out now! - 13 May 2026
As per usual, nothing goes according to the plans I make about this game – and last week showed me that in full force!First, the good news – the Demo 2.0 is out, and I even managed to release it one day earlier, on May 7th, 2026!Everyone can log in to Steam and play it. It's the closest I can make a demo to the upcoming full release of the game, and I'm pretty proud of it!But the road to the release was a rough one. It started Monday (as they usually do) when I began testing on my PC with Windows, just one last time before creating the Steam build.I work on Mac and I test the game directly inside the Godot editor all the time. I've played through the game probably thousands of times, tried every setting, every ship, every weapon – but the moment I tried that on Windows, I was shocked!The game works (uncapped 800-900 fps), but with stutters every second or so! I tried changing the framer…
- Demo 2.0 Officially Released on 2026, May 8th - 7 May 2026
Hello everybody, the new updated demo is finally here! This one is based on the most recent version of the main game and includes everything that have been added for the last 2+ years of work.The demo will contain the first 3 Acts of the game in full – including:All 30 levels6 bonus levels (2 per act)3 of the mini-bossesThe first major boss of the game (and hard mode boss)Also you will have access to:4 player ships (1 of them unlockable)6 class 1 weapons5 class 2 weapons (1 of them unlockable) (including the new elemental plasma weapons and the unlockable boss weapon)Main features:Full story dialogsUnlockable Arcade modeOnline Leaderboards for the Arcade modeVisual Filters:3 different CRT filters3 visual modes (2 of them unlockable) (the CRT filters and the visual modes can be combined together)
- Demo 2.0: Last minute game optimizations - 4 May 2026
To be honest, for this last week and a half the plan was to just update my PC devices, create a final build, and try to test it properly for one last time before uploading it to Steam.But in a strange twist of events, I randomly found a way to optimize the way I'm using particle systems – especially on low‑power devices with built‑in graphics, there is a noticeable difference!So instead of doing the final testing, I've started re‑doing all of the particle nodes in the whole demo. There are still a few more left, but judging by the current result, I will be able to optimize all of them and still create the build in time.So no delay on the demo's release – I'm still targeting this Friday (8th of May).
- Demo 2.0: Release date and trailer - 27 April 2026
It took some time, and many iterations, but the trailer for Demo 2.0 is finally here! And with that, I've decided on the new demo's release date as well:The Demo 2.0 will release on 8th May 2026There will be a full changelog around the time of release, so I'll be short – this new version of the demo matches the latest state of the game, and is as close as possible to what one day will be the full game.This includes:All balance changesAll bug fixesPlenty of visual improvements (tone mapping for each act, object highlights on everything, new weapon sprites, and much more)Most importantly – the mini-boss enemies!The demo will contain the first 3 Acts of the game in full – including:All 30 levels6 bonus levels (10+2 per act)3 of the mini-bossesThe first major boss of the gameAlso you will have access to:4 player ships6 class 1 weapons5 class 2 weapons (including the new elemental plasma wea…
- Getting back to the game after the Easter 2026 holidays - 20 April 2026
As per usual, mid‑April was dominated by Easter celebrations and a couple of personal occasions (including my birthday) as well. So except for the Easter‑inspired video that I produced for the game, I barely worked on it.I went back and backported all changes made specifically on the demo branch to the full game before I forgot what they were, and now the full game contains all of the small and big changes and bugfixes.But from this week, that's about to change! I have a clear goal for the demo's trailer and have already picked out some of the clips that will be included. So this week will be all about the new trailer and figuring out the right release date for the demo.
- Demo v2: Week 10 – The demo v2 is completed - 6 April 2026
Great news – the work on the new updated demo version of The Battle for Vega is done! It took almost three times the work I was planning for, but I found a huge amount of bugs that were present in the full game as well, and almost all of the changes made to the demo have been transferred to the full game too.So no time was wasted. It's all for the better experience and a more complete game at the end!I'm still not ready to give a release date – there are too many official and not‑so‑official holidays (I have two personal holidays this month, including my birthday).But I'm starting work on a small marketing push, and most importantly on the demo release trailer!
- Demo v2: Week 9 – Unexpected bugs and more testing - 30 March 2026
The plan for this week was to do the last few runs of the story and arcade modes, decide on the release date for Demo v2.0.0 (The Battle for Vega), and start working on the trailer.And indeed the first few testing runs went pretty good – until it started to go... well, not that good!I saw a major issue while pausing the game on boss fights: one of the methods I use to generate a volley of shots is not respecting the pause at all.Unfortunately, this method is used through the game in 100+ places, and I can't risk leaving it like that. Testing a fix on the boss fight worked, so I've started going through the code and fixing all of it.I'm almost there with the fix, but meanwhile I started testing the game with gamepad (and arcade stick) and there are a few issues with that as well.So next week will be to finish the pause fix, then move into final testing and fixing controller support. But…
- Demo v2: Week 8 – Achievements, Bonus Levels and Boss Hard Mode - 23 March 2026
The previous week was all about finding and fixing bugs, and some of those persisted into this week, but nothing major. So I continue to test and polish the build in order to be ready for the release.What's new this week:Story > Bonus Levels: All bonus levels are tested, readjusted and re‑tested again.Story > Boss 1 HARD mode: I've fixed most of the issues with the fight last week, so now was the time to test the fight properly, to adjust the difficulty and add the necessary unlocks when you beat it.Game Complete: This demo won't have any fancy ending, but I reused the old Game Complete screen with some new additions and the proper texts and links (and new music!).Achievements: This is where most of the work this week went into – I found a few small bugs here and there, a few achievements with almost impossible requirements for the demo, but most importantly I've redesigned (fixed fonts…
- Demo v2: Week 7 – Story and Arcade modes are both balanced - 16 March 2026
Finally, I'm happy with the balance of both the Story and Arcade mode in The Battle for Vega's upcoming new demo! So I've started the last push – testing everything from start to finish, and even invited a friend of mine to do full runs as well.And not that surprisingly, we encountered quite the list of minor (and not so minor) bugs along the way.So this is what was done:Auto-Upgrade > Ships: There was a bug allowing auto-upgrade to the biggest ship in the demo even if you hadn't unlocked it yet.Credits: It was about time to rearrange the credits screen.Player Weapons: Final cut for the weapons that can't be used in this demo, and another small rebalance of weapon prices and even DPS.Upgrades > Weapon Shop: Fixed a few small bugs around the items in the weapon shop.Story & World > In-game Menu: If you are using both a visual filter and scanlines, some parts of the in-game menu were invi…
- Demo v2: Week 6 – Arcade Mode balance nearly there - 9 March 2026
I thought that I'd balanced all the weapons, ships, and enemies, but trying to make the Arcade Mode experience as seamless as possible proved me otherwise!In the end, I'm replaying each act and then changing weapon stats, ship HP, and shields, and then trying again... and again!Of course, I'm trying NOT to make too many major changes, as this will break Story Mode's balance for sure. So it's well... a balancing act!As is right now, I'm pretty happy with Arcade Mode's difficulty and playability. I will still make another few runs just to be sure, and then I will get back and test the Story Mode once again to see if the recent changes broke something or not.And talking about breaking things: while I was trying to balance the final boss fight at 3-10 (and failing), I noticed that the main reason was one pretty old bug — when hitting an enemy bullet with yours, the "bigger" one should absor…
