Starting with adding and removing coins
After the first menu version, I moved on to Dalo’s coins. I wanted rewards and spending to form a clear part of the experience, rather than scattered numbers on different screens. I began with adding and removing coins, then gave items identities and names, following the approach I had used for shared card data. The aim was to avoid a special condition every time I added a new skin or background. An item should have clear information that the other systems can work with.
Rewards have their own data
I also defined rewards and challenges as data. Each achievement can have its own reward without requiring me to rewrite the receiving process. In Dev Log 11, I showed daily login and weekly streaks too. That version allowed a reward for each day, which could be coins or a cosmetic item. At that stage, receiving a skin only saved its ownership; the part that applied the appearance was not fully connected yet. That distinction matters in the project’s story: building a foundation is different from finishing every screen around it.
Connecting the economy flow
The next step was connecting these parts. By Dev Log 13, currency and item management, achievements, daily login, weekly streaks, cosmetic ownership and coin purchases formed a shared flow. I kept each cosmetic’s visual definition separate from its economy definition. The appearance describes what should be displayed; the economy definition describes how the item appears in the shop and what it costs. This separation made adding content more a matter of configuring data than repeatedly changing the shop system. Prices from a development stage should not automatically be treated as the game’s final prices, though.
The player should understand the change
From the player’s perspective, I care about making a change understandable: why did I receive coins, how much changed and what can I do with them? Coin movement and sound can make that moment more enjoyable, but should reflect the recorded outcome. After completing the main economy flow, I therefore returned to the interface and customization to make those connections visible. This stage moved Dalo from a playable table toward a collection with rewards and more choices. Reward balance still needs examination through actual experience. The Dalo page describes the broader development path.
