Disclaimer: This is more of a rant than a dev blog, but I need to vent before starting my development process. So, don’t expect much from this 🙂

It’s been a long, development process for ShapeTangle. I have finally got to a point where I can submit the Android build confidently.

There was a big decision that I made for this release which I am sort of regretting now – removing achievements.

I removed achievements to align with the iOS version. After updating macOS to a BETA and upgrading Xcode, I hit a major iOS development block. There may be fixes, but I lack time and patience to troubleshoot now. For now, I’ll focus on perfecting the Android version.

Silent Release

I did something that I promised myself I would not do when I started making this game – I release the game to the world silently. What does this mean, I hear you ask – well it means I released it without telling a soul.

There is a method to my madness, and the main reason is just being fedup with iOS and the amount of trouble I have gone through trying to get Game Center to work for it. So I released the Android build.

A beautifully Neglected Engine

I truly love Godot. What the team has achieved is simply remarkable. Having used major engines like Unity and Unreal, Godot stands out with its clean, intuitive design. It’s not just the interface but also the elegant simplicity of its coding that impressed me. I never expected to learn it so quickly. My first experience, guided by the GameDevTV tutorial series Complete Godot 4 2D: Code Your Own 2D Games In Godot 4, was incredibly smooth—I highly recommend it (note: this is not sponsored).

There are, unfortunately, some downsides to starting a production game in Godot though. Namely, PLUGINS!

The plugins for Godot are significantly outdated, particularly in critical areas such as iOS and Android. While Android tends to present fewer problems than iOS, both platforms should be much easier to work with. The documentation is frustrating because it is difficult to read and follow, often lacking clarity and assuming extensive prior knowledge of terms and concepts.

They improved the plugin system in Godot with the new version 2 plugin system. However, I still struggled to create a working plugin for iOS. Please sort it out!

The bumps

I have had a few bumps since releasing the game on Android – my fault – I couldn’t afford to keep the VPS I was using for the privacy policies and this is why I decided to create this new website, with a cheaper hosting option.

The Privacy Policy

I am adding the privacy policies today and adding the admobs file to the website. Google requires this to process payments.

It’s my first time doing this for a production game, so hoping it will be an easy process.

That is all I have to say in this post, but might be back later.

Thanks for reading.