# One more song — journeys, earned cards & a creator editor

Published 17 September 2026 on the Keystreak devlog.
Canonical URL: https://keystreak.app/devlog/one-more-song/

In the [first post](https://keystreak.app/devlog/the-website-is-live/) I wrote that playing a single song worked, but the bit that ties one song to the next didn't really exist yet. That's been the main focus of this update. There's now a first implementation of that loop in the development build, alongside an editor for making your own journeys.

The question behind most of the changes is fairly simple: you've finished a song, so what makes you want to play another one?

## A smaller goal in front of you

The journey now has chapters. For the built-in songs, the default is five songs per chapter, with a one-star clear on four of them opening the next. Clearing all five earns the chapter badge.

That leaves a little room for a song you haven't quite figured out yet. You can move forward, find something else to play, and come back for the badge when you're ready. These numbers are a starting point for testing; I want to see how the pacing actually feels before treating them as settled.

At the end of a run, the results show your chapter progress and offer a next song directly. You can replay, head back to the journey, or keep going without another trip through the menus.

## The card still has to earn it

There was something important in that trip back to the "song wall": seeing your song card change. The animation is a big part of what makes a new tier feel earned. It would be a shame to make continuing smoother and have the reward happen somewhere you never see it.

So instead of heading back to the wall, the actual card now upgrades on the results screen.. The next-song button is there alongside it. When you return to the wall, the card keeps its new appearance without replaying the "ceremony". 

![Results for the Tiny test song, showing its Celestial card, the Unplayed to Celestial tier change, chapter progress and a Play Hot Cross Buns button.](https://keystreak.app/devlog/media/journey-earned-card-results.webp)

*A real capture from the development build, using a four-note test MIDI called Tiny. This is the card after its upgrade; the full transition is animated in-game, still needs a fair bit of work when it comes to balancing it etc.*

## Player-made journeys belong in the game

People bringing their own songs, arranging them and building journeys for others is what could keep the game fun beyond what it ships with.

There's now an early version of the in-game journey editor. You can add songs from your library or import MIDI, put them in order, group them into chapters, set the clear requirements and badges, and add a title, description and credits. Drafts save locally, and you can playtest them without awarding progress to your profile.

![The in-game Journey Editor showing a saved Community test journey draft, title, creator credits, description and an Add Song control.](https://keystreak.app/devlog/media/journey-creator-editor.webp)

*The editor during testing. Song arrangement and chapter controls continue below this part of the screen.*

A journey can be exported by the user as a file. Another player can bring that file into Keystreak, review it and install it. From there it uses the normal song wall, progression, card rewards and next-song flow. It should feel like another journey to play.

The first version handles sharing through files. An in-game community catalogue etc might be something to explore? Well beyond scope for now..

## Back to the 25-key problem

The [last post](https://keystreak.app/devlog/scores-are-per-keyboard-now/) ended with the challenge of making arbitrary MIDI work across different keyboards. There are now some more tools for that: track roles for playable notes, accompaniment or exclusion; manual hand assignments; and previews of how an arrangement fits different keyboard sizes. The original source notes are retained while you refine it. But the challenge isn't entierly solved yet.

There's also an estimated difficulty, with an override for the creator. It's a first estimate, and automatic hand detection is still future work. Fitting notes inside a keyboard's range is something I'll keep testing mechanically; whether the result makes musical sense and is fun needs actual playing.

## What needs testing next

The automated harness now takes a journey through editing, playtesting, exporting, installing in another profile, earning a card tier and continuing to the next song. Save handling also got some attention, including separate content and profile files and backup recovery.

That helps catch broken transitions and lost data. The next questions need people: is the next goal clear, can someone make and share a journey without help, and do they want to play another song when the results appear?

That's the part I'm most interested in finding out more about now. The first sense of a loop is in place; there will be a fair bit of playing and adjusting before I know if it feels right (and a lot fo work on visuals & balance). Also, an 88 keyboard needs buying.

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Keystreak devlog - Notes on building Keystreak: what changed, what broke, and what is being built next.
Keystreak is a rhythm game that teaches piano, in development for Windows and macOS: https://keystreak.app/