This week has been an exciting one, with plenty of progress made on the Menphys Coping Card game. A lot of the updates focus on refining core systems and adding new layers of interactivity to enhance the player’s experience.

One of the key updates has been the introduction of “states-of-being.” These add nuance to the player’s emotional journey by modifying how primary emotions are experienced in each zone. While primary emotions represent the core feeling—like anger or anxiety—the states of being act as intensifiers, gradually draining the player’s emotional energy and pushing them toward more intense emotions. This dynamic adds depth to the gameplay and challenges players to manage their emotional state carefully.

The states-of-being health and player emotion bars now respond to these changes. They reflect the player’s emotional energy and the intensity of their state-of-being, while also orienting toward the camera to ensure they’re always visible. This makes them both functional and immersive, keeping players engaged in the moment.

On the technical side, I’ve made big improvements to the AR toolkit. Plane detection is now faster, with obsolete planes being merged or removed for a cleaner environment. The visuals for plane detection have also been improved, giving the AR experience a polished, professional look.

With coping cards now playable—allowing players to draw actions and receive responses—the next step is implementing the states-of-being system to act directly on the player. This will tie together the emotional and gameplay mechanics, making the experience even more dynamic and impactful.

This week’s progress has been all about building on a solid foundation. The early planning and architecture work really paid off, making it easier to focus on refining features and adding new ones without running into major roadblocks.