March 2026 Update

by Bobby Smith - Written on April 29, 2026

Happy April, everyone!

I hope you have had a good first quarter and are having a great start to the spring. Spring here in the central valley has been a lot of back and forth weather. Swapping from feeling like winter to late spring week by week. But enough of that, lets get on to the month.

Website Thoughts and Updates

This month has been a quiet one for the website. No new additions or changes. I am hoping to get the RSS Feed working sometime in the next few months, but no timetable on that. I do feel like I want to do some sort of update to the website page layout. The website is feeling a little sterile. Something to think about.

Blog Posts of the Month

This month we had a total of one post out. This was the February 2026 update. I'm glad I've stayed consistent with the Monthly Updates. They give me a good roadmap of where I have been and the progress I've been making.

Blog Posts From March

March 16 - February 2026 Update

Current Projects

Small Combat

This month was a very good month for Small Combat. I really got a lot done and it is starting to look like a true game. Functionality is coming together. One thing that took me a lot of time to figure out was a modified turn management system that interacts with the player controllers. Initially I had a polling system where each player checked to see if it was their turn. This ended up being just so cumbersome and faulty. I ended up going with a signal based system where the turn manager send signals to the player controllers when it is their turn. Players tell the turn manager when turn states change because of them. Overall I'm very happy with the progress I have so far.

Quick rundown of what I've done this month on it.

Turn Management System - Built the core turn management with phases, player turn handling, and game start logic
Deployment System - Created deployment zones, deployment UI, and the ability for players to place their forces on the map
Platoon & Unit Framework - Implemented the platoon entity system, unit factory, HQ platoons, and unit selection mechanics
Movement System - Developed movement functionality including path calculation, movable tile detection, and tile highlighting for player actions
Player Interface & HUD - Added unit information displays, movement points tracking, notice notifications, and integrated various UI elements for player feedback

Small Combat Screenshot, taken March 30, 2026

What I've Been Reading

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
by Donald F. Glut

This month, I finished the novelization of Star Wars Episode V The Empire Strikes Back by Donald F. Glut. It was a wonderful novelization that really felt like it captured the feeling of watching the movie in the theatres. It probably helps that I've seen the movie far too many times. One thing that I thought about when reading the novelization was what sort of role these novelizations played in the media landscape when movies were not easily accessible at home, due to lacking things like vhs/dvd. I was thinking that novelizations would allow you to relive the movie anytime, anywhere. Something I have loved about diving into the past with this journey is seeing the little inaccuracies that changed from the time Glut was given the script for the movie and the movie being released. I'm glad they did not make Yoda a tiny, blue man with long white hair in the theatrical release. Overall I can recommend this novelization.

To Infinity and Beyond: A Journey of Cosmic Discovery
by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Lindsey Nyx Walker

I've started reading the book "To Infinity and Beyond: A Journey of Cosmic Discovery" by Neil deGrasse Tyson, Lindsey Nyx Walker midway through the month. Its a really good breakdown of astronomy and space starting from the earth and moving outward. By the end of the month, I finally left the Earth/Moon system. One thing that I really love about it is the use of breathtaking pictures and aside sections that break down or add little knowledge tidbits to what is being covered in the chapter currently. Very much like a textbook. I can easily recommend it.

1984 by George Orwell

As my last book of the month, I'm slowly making my way through "1984" by George Orwell. The classic dystopian take on a authoritarian crushing world. Sadly, it was feeling a bit topical because of the sad push several countries are taking toward authoritarianism recently. It is an interesting read, but one that I need to take slowly.

Magazines

Game Informer: Issue #375 - Finished - Key Takeaways: 007 First Light and adventure games
Lucasfilm Fan Club #1 - Finished - Key Takeaways: Interesting 10 year tribute to Star Wars

What I've Been Playing

This month was a good month. I mixed up what I was playing because everything else started feeling a bit stale.

Played through a game of Dune: Spice Wars. I really enjoyed the slow pace of this game. I was doing very good as Atreides, dominating a lot of the map, but in the end I was assassinated by House Corrino. A bit thematic.

Dune: Spice Wars screenshot, taken March 12, 2026

This month I also saw they started a Burning Crusade Classic server in World of Warcraft. I was never a big WoW head, but when I did play it in middle school it was this time period. I spooled up a Female Draenei Paladin named Aderessia for the fun of it. I've never played a paladin or much of the Draenei, so its been a fun experience so far. About 1/2 the way through the starting zone, Azuremyst Isle.

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Classic screenshot, taken March 30, 2026

I did jump onto the Esoteric Ebb bandwagon soon after its release. It has been an interesting experience. I've never played a fantasy rpg like it. You are much more introspective and the character you talk to the most is the world and yourself. Yourself being the personification of your varying stats to figure out who you are and where you stand in the world. It's an interesting time. But, I have a hard time sticking with it for more than 30 minutes at a time.

Esoteric Ebb screenshot found online

For my last tracked game I started Severed Steel. Its a fast paced fps that deals in slow motion, advanced traversal, destructive terrain, and disposable weapons. Its a fast paced time that doesn't waste your time, but requires you to get into its headspace. I can really recommend it.

Severed Steel screenshot found online

Other small, untracked ventures... I played through the Probably Cause campaign in the Combat Mission Shock Force 2 Battle Pack. It was a fun, small scale campaign where your biggest goals were subdued and you tried to keep your small motorized platoon alive. I also played a bit of Counter-Strike Source with bots. And that was a great time.

The hour total was 13.8 hours in total.

Dune: Spice Wars - 6.3 Hours - Finished 1 Game as Atreides - Lost
Esoteric Ebb - 3 Hours - New
Severed Steel - 0.5 Hours - New
World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Classic - Aderessia Draenei Paladin (lv1-9) - 4 Hours - New

Life

This month was a very busy one with work and family.

Went to see Shen Yun in Sacramento. Which was a spellbinding dance performance put on to showcase the culture and mythology of historic China. I can highly recommend it.

I went to lots of crab feeds with family put on by various groups up and down the central valley. Lots of great food and great company. And somehow the taste and experience of crab never looses its charm.

I did go to my first astronomy meetup put on by a local Astronomical Society towards the end of the month. That really did open up my eyes to astronomy again after not really thinking about it since I was kid. Ended up spending a few night outside looking at the moon through my childhood telescope.

Looking Ahead to April

Now for the look ahead. As of writing this April is almost done. Keep an eye out for the next writeup in May for more on April. Hoping to get that out much faster than this one did.