Archive

Category: Dev Diary

Description:

The behind-the-scenes development diary for the games and apps I build at Mad Chaos Software, starting with Floor Is Lava and Polymatrix. A day-by-day, mostly-nightly account of building each one from the first idea to launch on Google Play. Features real bug hunts, design decisions, playtesting feedback, and the occasional reflection on building software with AI.

BeStreak: Developer Diary | Monetization Plans, a Feature Profile and a Privacy Policy (May 12, 2026)

May 12, 2026. Morning until 1:15 a.m.. Get BeStreak on Google Play What a paid version could look like I’ve been using my PB Tracker…

BeStreak: Developer Diary | A Failed Import and a Missing Chest (May 11, 2026)

May 11, 2026. Morning. Get BeStreak on Google Play The JSON that would not load I started working on the PB Tracker app. I tried…

BeStreak: Developer Diary | Swipe, Voice Notes and My First APK (May 10, 2026)

May 10, 2026. 9:20 p.m. into the early hours. Get BeStreak on Google Play Two features I wanted From 9:20 p.m. I was back working…

Floor Is Lava: Developer Diary | A Real-World Playtest at McDonald’s (May 9, 2026)

Saturday, May 9, 2026 Get Floor Is Lava on Google Play Four games, one stable A stocktake across everything I’m building: Sky Finder mostly built,…

BeStreak: Developer Diary | A Stable Build at Six in the Morning (May 9, 2026)

May 9, 2026. 3:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m., then evening. Get BeStreak on Google Play Three sub-tabs In the last three hours I worked on…

Floor Is Lava: Developer Diary | Drawing a Line Under Development (May 8, 2026)

Friday, May 8, 2026 Get Floor Is Lava on Google Play A line drawn under development A short but important entry; the first time I…

BeStreak: Developer Diary | One Long Prompt: Sessions, Calendar, BMI and BMR (May 8, 2026)

May 8, 2026. Morning to late evening. Get BeStreak on Google Play A comprehensive prompt It took me until 11:30 a.m. to write out the…

Floor Is Lava: Developer Diary | Balancing Power-Ups With the Platform Configurator (May 7, 2026)

Thursday, May 7, 2026; approx. morning to 11:45 p.m. Get Floor Is Lava on Google Play Balancing the power-ups by spreadsheet logic Fixed the teleport…

BeStreak: Developer Diary | Moving to Firebase and the Black Screen Bug (May 7, 2026)

May 7, 2026. Afternoon until midnight. Get BeStreak on Google Play The best candidate for Google Play I figured I’ve got a few games and…

Floor Is Lava: Developer Diary | Lance’s Train Track Mode Idea (May 6, 2026)

Wednesday, May 6, 2026; approx. 10:15 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Get Floor Is Lava on Google Play Morning bug pass Working on the bad guy’s…

Floor Is Lava: Developer Diary | Fixing the Watch-Ad Coin Bug, Version 100 (May 5, 2026)

Tuesday, May 5, 2026; approx. 4:30 p.m. to 12:10 a.m. Get Floor Is Lava on Google Play The Firebase piggy bank bug A bug that…

Floor Is Lava: Developer Diary | The Bad Guy Enemy and an Online Leaderboard (May 4, 2026)

Monday, May 4, 2026; approx. 11:30 a.m. to past midnight Get Floor Is Lava on Google Play The bad guy Today’s headline feature: a recurring…

Floor Is Lava: Developer Diary | Vine Swings and the Story Mode Coin Bug (May 3, 2026)

Sunday, May 3, 2026; approx. 12:40 p.m. to 12:45 a.m. Get Floor Is Lava on Google Play Vines, and a two-to-three-minute rule Testing yesterday’s build…

Floor Is Lava: Developer Diary | Ice Platforms and the Story Mode Concept (May 2, 2026)

Saturday, May 2, 2026; approx. 5:00 p.m. to 11:50 p.m. Get Floor Is Lava on Google Play Ice platforms, finally built A two-hour programming session,…

Floor Is Lava: Developer Diary | Debugging Sheets and Mobile Fixes (May 1, 2026)

Friday, May 1, 2026; approx. 10:00 a.m. to 3:10 a.m. Get Floor Is Lava on Google Play The debugging sheet Claude’s latest build had no…

Floor Is Lava | Developer Diary: Day 3 | Ice Platforms and the First GitHub Push (April 30, 2026)

Thursday, April 30, 2026; approx. 1:57 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Get Floor Is Lava on Google Play Playing it back Between transcription work I sat…

Floor Is Lava | Developer Diary: Day 2 | Multiplayer Modes and Bug Fixes (April 29, 2026)

Wednesday, April 29, 2026; approx. 8:40 a.m. to 11:05 p.m. Get Floor Is Lava on Google Play Showing Lance the finished game This morning, around…

Floor Is Lava | Developer Diary: Day 1 | Lance’s Idea Becomes a Game (April 28, 2026)

Tuesday, April 28, 2026; approx. 4:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. Get Floor Is Lava on Google Play Lance’s idea The afternoon started with paper. Lance…

BeStreak: Developer Diary | Logins, Email Codes and the First Thought of Other Users (April 16, 2026)

April 16, 2026. Morning. Get BeStreak on Google Play Why it needed users I worked once again on the Personal Best Tracker app, the PB…

BeStreak: Developer Diary | The Personal Best Tracker Is Born (April 15, 2026)

April 15, 2026. About 9:30 p.m. to after midnight. Get BeStreak on Google Play Three improvements Tonight I worked on the Personal Best Tracker app….

BeStreak: Developer Diary | A Twenty Minute Gym App Becomes a Phone App (March 16, 2026)

March 16, 2026. Evening, at a cafe and then at the gym. Get BeStreak on Google Play Turning a web page into an app The…