Saltlight Cove — Devlog https://saltlightcove.com/blog.html Notes from building a town-builder that never asks you for money to keep playing. en The bug that was never an iPad bug https://saltlightcove.com/blog/the-bug-that-was-never-an-ipad-bug.html https://saltlightcove.com/blog/the-bug-that-was-never-an-ipad-bug.html Mon, 17 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Thought bubbles kept vanishing on the iPad. The screen size had nothing to do with it. The houses that were supposed to be rocks https://saltlightcove.com/blog/the-houses-that-were-supposed-to-be-rocks.html https://saltlightcove.com/blog/the-houses-that-were-supposed-to-be-rocks.html Mon, 17 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Two little stone cottages had been sitting in the sea for weeks. Nobody put them there. The icons that only existed on my Mac https://saltlightcove.com/blog/the-icons-that-only-existed-on-my-mac.html https://saltlightcove.com/blog/the-icons-that-only-existed-on-my-mac.html Sun, 16 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Six buttons rendered perfectly in every screenshot and were blank on the phone. The one that survived explained why. The crop nobody could cook https://saltlightcove.com/blog/the-crop-nobody-could-cook.html https://saltlightcove.com/blog/the-crop-nobody-could-cook.html Sun, 16 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Scallops looked right and read right. The economy audit found what playtesting would not have. The splash screen that could never work https://saltlightcove.com/blog/the-splash-that-could-never-work.html https://saltlightcove.com/blog/the-splash-that-could-never-work.html Sun, 16 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Every idea we had for the launch screen was impossible. So we stopped using it. Ask for a sheaf, not a plant https://saltlightcove.com/blog/ask-for-a-sheaf-not-a-plant.html https://saltlightcove.com/blog/ask-for-a-sheaf-not-a-plant.html Sat, 15 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000 Fifty-odd item icons, generated. The trick was describing the harvest, not the crop. The day touch stopped working https://saltlightcove.com/blog/the-day-touch-stopped-working.html https://saltlightcove.com/blog/the-day-touch-stopped-working.html Sat, 15 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000 A bug that only existed on the phone, and the four wrong answers before the right one. Less reading, more pictures https://saltlightcove.com/blog/less-reading-more-pictures.html https://saltlightcove.com/blog/less-reading-more-pictures.html Sat, 15 Aug 2026 09:00:00 +0000 The game played like a settings app wearing a farm. So we took the words out.