4. What's your favourite part of game development - Hannah
Day four of the 30-Day Game Dev series
Hannah Moon
4/21/20251 min read
What's your favourite part of game development
My favourite part of game development has got to be that moment where everything finally starts to come together. It’s never a straight line and nothing ever works exactly how I imagined it on the first go, but when all the little pieces start aligning and the game actually starts to feel like the vision in my head? That’s the best.
When I was building the first level of Fractured Library, I started with a super basic map. No weather, no lighting, just some general set dressing. It was… fine. Playable, but flat. Since the goal in that part of the game is to find shelter from the rain, I decided to add a rain effect and instantly, the mood started to shift.
Then I added lighting. I darkened the scene overall and made it even moodier as you head deeper into the forest. That’s when things really started to click. And finally, I brought in sound. Ambient rain, little interaction effects, and suddenly, it felt right. Like a real space.
It took a lot of trial and error to get there, tweaking settings, trying different ideas, layering things bit by bit, but seeing it all come together into a playable first level felt like such an achievement. That’s the magic moment for me. When all the pieces stop feeling separate and become something whole.
