Week 52: 2025 Retrospective

It’s that time again! Like every year, this is the hardest document to write. Why? Because I have to summon my memory, summarize a whole year of life, and face the ghost of “Past Me” and what he expected.

New Strategy: Starting this year, I’m writing my retrospective in Week 52 strictly. This way, I can clear my head and actually have fun on New Year’s Day! 🥂

🦄 The Theme: Unity

If 2024 was a learning year, 2025 was the Unity Year. I spent almost the entire year building different projects in Unity. I also rebuilt my blog, and the new design is definitely attracting more eyes. 👀

Let’s dive in! 👇

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🧐 The “Old Habits” Check-in

Looking back at what I started in 2024—did it stick?

• 🇹🇭 Thailand Nostalgia: I left Thailand, but I definitely still miss it—the food, the weather, the language. I still practice Thai occasionally, though it’s rare.
• 🗣️ Languages: Last year was Russian and Estonian. This year, I tackled German! I also visit a Japanese café now and then to keep my Japanese sharp.
• 🎙️ Podcast: Okay, let’s be real—no one listens to it. 😂 But, I am still updating it! I integrated it into my website this year, though I have a master plan for an even better integration coming up.
• 📉 BFEdev: I stopped practicing on that site. Honestly? The AI wave is overwhelming, and I’ve pivoted hard to Cursor and Python for machine learning projects.
• 📱 Mobile Dev: Also a “no.” I had to prioritize language studies and new tech. Although… if you count VR headsets as mobile devices, then yes, I developed quite a few things! 🥽
• 💪 The Weight Battle: The goal: 80kg. Last year, I hit it easily (with some anabolics). This year, I got to 78kg purely through working out! …Until a heavy cold knocked me down to 74kg. 📉 But we move on!
• 🎨 Tattoos: Zero time to practice tattoo skills. Just couldn’t fit it in.
• 🇪🇪 Estonia Life: I’m fully in study mode here. I secured some scholarships this year, which means a shiny new Mac Mini is in my future! 🖥️

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🏆 What I Did in 2025

Expectations vs. Reality

The Wins ✅

• Unity Mastered: I majored in Unity this year. The website tutorials were amazing.
• GameJams & Hackathons: I was busy! 🏃
  • Global GameJam 🌍
  • Godot XR GameJam 🕶️
  • TalTech Spring GameJam 🌸
  • Tallinn Valencia Hackathon 💻
  • Note: I missed GameDEV.js and JS 13K because I shifted focus to longer-term projects in the second half of the year.
• XR Development: Created several XR games across Unity, Godot, and Web.
• Museum Marathon: I visited 21 museums inside Tallinn and 2 outside! Still have 23 left to conquer in the city. 🏛️
• Travel: Attended an Erasmus+ project in Germany. 🇩🇪
• Game AI: Dove deep into many game AI projecrs, leaving genetic algorithms, GOAP, Perlin noise, crowd simulation, and GIS still working in progress.

The Job Hunt 💼

I found a job! It was part-time and unpaid, but valuable. My perspective has shifted, though. Tech in Estonia is still growing—let’s call it the “2nd or 3rd team” globally. It’s charming, but not comparable to the massive tech ecosystem in China. If I stay here for work, I might have to accept a slower tech pace or continue freelancing/working for myself.

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🔭 Expectations for Early 2026

1. German Exam: 🇩🇪 Passing the exam on Jan 8th.
2. Hardware Upgrade: Buying that Mac Mini with my scholarship. 🍏
3. Erasmus+ Portugal: 🇵🇹 Starting Jan 26th. It’s about GIS, so I need to polish my Perlin noise and GIS knowledge ASAP.
4. The Thesis: Finishing it around April. 🎓
5. The Big Choice: Deciding whether to stay in Europe or return to China. 🛫

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🧠 Tech Talk: XR & AI

The State of XR 🕶️

XR is in a weird spot. The “Metaverse” dream feels far away because the hardware isn’t quite there yet.

• The Future: Apple defined the “spatial screen.” VR headsets will remain niche for gamers, but VR/AR glasses will eventually thrive once the price drops.
• Interaction: I’m betting on sEMG bands (muscle-sensing bands) combined with smart glasses. That’s the final form: lightweight visual + intuitive control.

The AI Dilemma 🤖

At the start of 2025, everyone thought AI would steal jobs. Reality check: Companies are laying people off not because AI replaced them, but because they ran out of money trying to make AI smarter.

• The Quality Gap: In smaller tech markets (like here), AI output might be “good enough.” But for top-tier tech, it falls short.
• The Risk: AI code is risky. Look at Next.js—everyone used the React Server Component feature until severe flaws were found from v12 to v15. If AI writes the code, who is responsible for the flaws? We saw internet services break down multiple times late this year. We need to wake up to this in 2026.

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🍿 Life & Entertainment

Health 🩹

I caught the heaviest cold of my life this year. Throat hurt for a month! It’s ironic—I worked out tons, built muscle, and even tried winter swimming. My theory? Maybe I grew so much muscle that my body didn’t have enough energy left to maintain my immune system? 🤔 Either way, no proper snow this December is nice for my recovery!

TV Series 📺

TV was slow at the start, but October brought the heat:

• Rehearsal
• All Her Fault
• Slow Horses 🐎
• Stranger Things
• Pluribus
• Sweetpea

Movies 🎬

Not a huge year for new releases, mostly watched older stuff:

• Ne Zha (哪吒)
• The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru
• The Litchi Road (长安的荔枝)
• Post Truth (保你平安)
• 1944
• Now You See Me 3

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🌟 The Yearly Pick

Mermaid Graph 🧜‍♀️

I wanted to pick the Cursor editor because it helped me so much. But honestly? It’s more of a search engine than an AI editor; I still need VSCode to do the real work.

So, the winner is Mermaid. As I’m writing so many academic papers, a scriptable chart language is exactly what I needed. It’s a lifesaver!

See you in 2026! Merry Chrisrmas and Happy New Year! 🎄🎆