Real-World Buildings Without Breaking the Bank
How we replaced expensive API calls and a 40GB database with 4.6GB of compressed files on object storage — serving millions of real-world places for pennies.
Behind the scenes of building Retropolis — game design, technical deep dives, and development updates.
How we replaced expensive API calls and a 40GB database with 4.6GB of compressed files on object storage — serving millions of real-world places for pennies.
How a fire-and-forget analytics setup revealed that one of our most elaborate features was being ignored — and what we did about it.
How we turned our Discord server into a feedback loop, QA pipeline, and automated ops dashboard — with a bot called Milo at the center of it.
Running a closed beta isn't about finding bugs. It's about discovering what you got wrong before it's too late to fix it.
How we designed Retropolis so that every game system is both a mechanic and a piece of the world — and why that interconnection is what makes the game feel coherent.
Welcome to the Retropolis development blog. We're building a cyberpunk location-based strategy game, and this is where we'll share the technical journey.