Twenty milestones. Four phases. A sequential execution graph from the first DirectX 12 pixel to a real, operating company in Catalonia.
First pixel rendered by your engine via DirectX 12. A psychological milestone as big as the technical one.
Vertex/index buffers, MVP matrix, depth buffer. You "got" the 3D pipeline.
Input via GLFW, FPS-style or orbit camera, correct delta time. The engine becomes interactive.
A real asset (not a hardcoded cube) with texture applied. The asset pipeline is born here.
Debug UI with FPS, controls, real-time values. The engine becomes a usable tool.
Albedo + normal + metallic + roughness, one directional light. Visuals stop looking amateur.
Light scene graph or ECS (EnTT), multiple entities, hierarchical transforms.
Shader hot-reload, material pipeline, working asset manager.
YouTube channel or technical blog with at least 6 publications. Technical marketing begins.
Not an engine tech demo — a concrete application. Something you show and people understand.
Shadows (shadow maps), multiple lights, image-based lighting. Visuals reach "real engine" territory.
Engine compiles on a clean machine via CI (GitHub Actions), produces a distributable executable.
Diploma, Catalan industry network, final project integrated with Canary.
Someone uses Canary for something real. External validation.
Someone pays you to do something with Canary. Revenue is no longer zero.
Company legally exists, under Ley de Startups. CIF, business bank account, accountant.
Corporate client, €10k+ project. Typically digital twin or industrial visualization.
You can leave the day job. Canary is your main work.
No longer solo. Usually a complementary technical profile first, commercial later.
Multiple clients, processes, commercial pipeline. The startup is genuinely open — operationally.