diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 679e6c8..bc2bb24 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ $ ./build/ouros
 ```
 For control on debugging: 
 ```bash
-$ ./build/ouros --debug 0b00111111
+$ ./build/ouros --debug=0b00111111
 ```
 where each bit in the mask corresponds to a debug level, in order: unused, unused, fatal, trace, error, warning, notice, and info. `0b1111111` enables all debug messages. 
 
diff --git a/src/engine/Engine.cpp b/src/engine/Engine.cpp
index 99b4567..9d337c2 100644
--- a/src/engine/Engine.cpp
+++ b/src/engine/Engine.cpp
@@ -34,8 +34,7 @@ void Engine::exec() {
     };
 
     VkInstance instance;
-    VkResult result = vkCreateInstance(&instanceCI, nullptr, &instance);
-    if(result == VK_SUCCESS) {
+    if(vkCreateInstance(&instanceCI, nullptr, &instance) == VK_SUCCESS) {
         utils::debugPrint(__FUNCTION__, __LINE__, "Vulkan instance successfully created.", utils::DebugLevel::Info);
     } else {
         utils::debugPrint(__FUNCTION__, __LINE__, "Error creating Vulkan instance", utils::DebugLevel::Error);
diff --git a/src/engine/Engine.hpp b/src/engine/Engine.hpp
index 8100683..a82459a 100644
--- a/src/engine/Engine.hpp
+++ b/src/engine/Engine.hpp
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ public:
 
 private:
 
+    // might get rid of this
     void init();
 
     // TODO: smart pointers probably would be smart
diff --git a/src/utils/utils.hpp b/src/utils/utils.hpp
index 2d8ad4d..5e01151 100644
--- a/src/utils/utils.hpp
+++ b/src/utils/utils.hpp
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ namespace utils {
 
     static void debugPrint(const char* function, int line, std::string message, size_t debugLevel) {
 
-        if(!(debugMask >> debugLevel)) return; // then ignore this debug level
+        if(!((debugMask >> debugLevel) & 1)) return; // then ignore this debug level
 
         std::cout << "[ " << std::left << std::setw(16) << function << ": " << std::right << std::setw(4) << line << ", " << std::left << std::setw(8) << debugTypeStrings[debugLevel] << " ] " << message << std::endl;
         // TODO: add timestamps 
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ namespace utils {
             std::cout << "Unsupported debug key." << std::endl;
         }
         debugMask = static_cast<uint8_t>(std::stoul(value, nullptr, 2)); // interpret a string as a uint
+
     }
 
 }
\ No newline at end of file