I’m hard at work re-factoring the entire game world in C++ with GDExtension. This overhaul isn’t just about cleaner architecture—it’s about unlocking the performance and flexibility the project needs to truly come alive. I’m especially looking forward to rebuilding the world on top of this new foundation and seeing my kids dive back in, testing the new systems firsthand and experiencing the performance gains for themselves. Refactoring at this scope is how we keep Cobblestone Legacy positioned as a flagship example of a large scale Godot project built on C++.

I’m still a couple of months away from internal family playtests, but the progress has me hopeful for the project’s future. The idea of sitting back and watching my kids plot heists, trade supplies, and laugh their way through emergent chaos on the new systems keeps me motivated through the long refactor sessions.

In parallel with development, I also took a big step on the business side of things: last week I officially founded Emergent Realms Incorporated. That meant handling everything from registering for tax status to opening bank accounts and filing the paperwork that will support Cobblestone Legacy as it grows. At this point, I’m just waiting on a couple of final documents before creating the Steam Workshop page. It’s surreal to see this project grow from a family hobby into something with a real company standing behind it.

With the heavy engineering lift behind us, summer 2025 was the season of content. The mission: transform Cobblestone City from a static sandbox into a living simulation brimming with personality. Multithreaded AI, systemic quests, and action-driven crafting all clicked into place—thanks to the groundwork laid in earlier posts and the continued push to prove that multithreaded AI in Godot can anchor a family-built large scale project.

By spring 2025 our cozy prototype had evolved into a bustling sandbox—procedural districts, hungry NPCs, and two adventurous kids often roaming opposite sides of town. The frame rate, however, told a different story. Heavy AI loops and pathfinding tasks pushed GDScript beyond its comfort zone. To keep Cobblestone Legacy alive and growing as a truly large scale Godot project, I dusted off 20-year-old C++ muscles and embraced Godot’s GDExtension pipeline.

By October 2024, Cobblestone Legacy no longer felt like a humble solo experiment. The idea of exploring the city together refused to leave the dinner table. Turning a single-player sandbox into a shared world was daunting, but the motivation—letting my children collaborate (and occasionally compete) in the same space—made the leap irresistible and reinforced the heart of this devlog: I’m building this large scale Godot project for my kids.

In the summer of 2024 I set out to build a game for my children. What started as a bedtime-story side project quickly snowballed into Cobblestone Legacy—a rogue-lite sandbox survival RPG about grit, discovery, and hope in a procedurally generated city. This first entry looks back on the spark that ignited the project, how the earliest Godot 4.4 prototypes took shape, and why positioning the work as a large scale Godot project matters for the journey ahead. If you want a broader snapshot of the vision, the Project Overview expands on the pillars this devlog introduces.