Securing the Brand
First devlog entry: Domain registration, project archival decisions, and strategic pivots
TODAY'S FOCUS
Purchased my first .com domain with the brand name I'm building: "anotherNRE". NRE stands for Null Reference Exception - started as a joke, but it represents the iterative nature of building systems. Also created a personal email tied to the branding, since business email is out of reach due to financial constraints. What matters is securing the brand identity.
WHAT WENT RIGHT
Academic Success
Got High Distinction on Assessment 1 and Assessment 2 for the SDBT framework project. The three-birds-one-stone strategy worked: portfolio piece, coursework requirement, and foundation for future game development. The project served multiple purposes while teaching me genuine AI architecture principles.
The formation generator for "Cubes Fight Back" scenario is coming together. Academic constraints forced me to document architectural decisions I might have made intuitively, which improved the technical depth significantly.
WHAT SUCKED
Unity GC Reality Check
Discovered the hard way that Unity's garbage collection poses serious scaling threats for the modular architecture I built. The Dictionary-based blackboard that enabled flexibility was causing allocation spikes that would break at higher agent counts. Classic performance vs. flexibility trade-off hitting me in real development.
KEY DECISIONS
Archiving the SDBT Framework: Made the tough call to archive the custom behavior tree system. The performance constraints combined with project timeline pressures meant I needed to choose between perfecting the architecture or shipping a game. Decided to pivot to a third party tool, leveraging existing tools to focus on game experience rather than reinventing AI foundations.
This represents a "buy vs. build" decision favoring speed and proven solutions. The SDBT project taught me architecture principles and gave me portfolio content, but continuing it would delay getting a playable game to potential supporters.
PERSONAL / META
Identity Shift
Starting to feel less like a random student, more like a tiny game studio. Still broke, still hungry, but at least I own my name now. Having a domain and email address with my brand makes this feel more legitimate than just another university project.
The financial constraints remain real - every technical decision gets filtered through "can I afford this" and "will this help me get funding faster." But there's something powerful about owning your own domain. It's a commitment to building something lasting.
NEXT UP
Finish Assessment 3 for the SDBT project. Document the performance findings and architectural lessons learned. This becomes portfolio content regardless of the archival decision.
Pivot to game development using a third party tool. Focus shifts from AI architecture experimentation to gameplay experience and getting something playable to potential supporters.
Build basic website around the anotherNRE brand. Need a home for the technical work and a way to start building community around the game development journey.