LastLook: Release Candidate

Last night, I came home from work, sat down at my computer and finally reached a milestone I've been working toward.

LastLook reached Release Candidate 1.

My first Windows application is officially in beta testing.

For those unfamiliar with it, LastLook is a portable Windows utility designed to help people find forgotten files and data before wiping, replacing or retiring an old computer.

Getting it this far meant chasing down all those little things that become big things when you actually try to release software. Removing unnecessary scanning limits, cleaning up scan details, fixing preview behavior and making sure everything worked as a portable Windows executable.

And now? It's in the hands of Hypnotitron and KhaoticRage, waiting for them to find everything I missed. Because apparently writing software isn't frustrating enough. Now I get to wait for someone else to break it. LOL.

Getting LastLook this far got me thinking about how I ended up here.

I was writing code on a Commodore 64 back in the early 80s. Hell, the original Salvage Run was a C64 project. Then came web design in the late 90s and early 2000s. Somewhere along the way, life happened and coding took a back seat.

This morning, I got curious and looked at my development folder. On October 24, 2025, I started working on a game because my brother dared me to make one. I opened Godot and got to work.

R.I.P. CybrThugs: Tap Out. I'll come visit you eventually. Probably.

In less than a year, I've released Neon Chain, built Salvage Run and gotten LastLook to Release Candidate 1. Three projects, two games and my first Windows utility. And here's the funny part: only Neon Chain was built with Godot. What started as a dare to make one game somehow turned into developing software using entirely different technologies.

Somewhere in the middle of all that, Lonely Ranch Games became an actual business.

And I'm doing all of this while working a full-time job. I come home and write code. I spend most of my days off writing code. And when I'm not writing code, my brain is coming up with another game, another application or another ridiculous idea that apparently needs to exist RIGHT NOW.

Through all of it, VantaQueen keeps me fed (I'm now 25 pounds heavier than I was a year ago), makes sure the Jolt Cola is stocked and cold, puts up with my ridiculous hours and somehow manages to deal with a brain that apparently doesn't believe in sleep. I don't think I'd have accomplished nearly as much without her.

October 24 will mark one year since I accepted that stupid dare. One year. Three projects. An actual business. Not bad for a 54-year-old gamer.

Thanks, Hypnotitron. Asshole. LOL.