diff --git a/CMake/logging.cmake b/CMake/logging.cmake
deleted file mode 100644
index 268ad27b4..000000000
--- a/CMake/logging.cmake
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
-set(SPDLOG_LEVEL_TRACE 0)
-set(SPDLOG_LEVEL_DEBUG 1)
-set(SPDLOG_LEVEL_INFO 2)
-set(SPDLOG_LEVEL_WARN 3)
-set(SPDLOG_LEVEL_ERROR 4)
-set(SPDLOG_LEVEL_CRITICAL 5)
-set(SPDLOG_LEVEL_OFF 6)
-set(LOG_LEVELS "SPDLOG_LEVEL_TRACE;SPDLOG_LEVEL_DEBUG;SPDLOG_LEVEL_INFO;SPDLOG_LEVEL_WARN;SPDLOG_LEVEL_ERROR;SPDLOG_LEVEL_CRITICAL;SPDLOG_LEVEL_OFF")
-set(LOG_LEVEL SPDLOG_LEVEL_TRACE CACHE STRING "The spdlog level that prints will be logged out. Overridden to SPDLOG_LEVEL_ERROR on Release builds.")
-set_property(CACHE LOG_LEVEL PROPERTY STRINGS ${LOG_LEVELS})
-if(NOT LOG_LEVEL IN_LIST LOG_LEVELS)
-    message(FATAL_ERROR "LOG_LEVEL must be one of ${LOG_LEVELS}")
-endif()
-set(SPDLOG_ACTIVE_LEVEL ${${LOG_LEVEL}})
-set(LOG_LEVEL_GAME_PRINTS ${SPDLOG_LEVEL_OFF})
-
-add_compile_definitions(
-    LOG_LEVEL_GAME_PRINTS=${LOG_LEVEL_GAME_PRINTS}
-    SPDLOG_ACTIVE_LEVEL=${SPDLOG_ACTIVE_LEVEL}
-)
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 9608da56f..c6c6788b1 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@ set(CMAKE_OSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET "10.15" CACHE STRING "Minimum OS X deployment ve
 project(Ship VERSION 9.1.1 LANGUAGES C CXX)
 include(CMake/soh-cvars.cmake)
 include(CMake/lus-cvars.cmake)
-include(CMake/logging.cmake)
+set(SPDLOG_LEVEL_TRACE 0)
+set(SPDLOG_LEVEL_OFF 6)
+set(SPDLOG_MIN_CUTOFF SPDLOG_LEVEL_TRACE CACHE STRING "cutoff at trace")
 
 option(SUPPRESS_WARNINGS "Suppress warnings in LUS and src (decomp)" ON)
 if(SUPPRESS_WARNINGS)
diff --git a/libultraship b/libultraship
index 17a0b7939..a8bdcab36 160000
--- a/libultraship
+++ b/libultraship
@@ -1 +1 @@
-Subproject commit 17a0b7939bd05f5e617cef89457ca43774fc9a9f
+Subproject commit a8bdcab363571038bb71f195f21ec3e9033a220d
diff --git a/soh/CMakeLists.txt b/soh/CMakeLists.txt
index 711dd8cb2..b0630e841 100644
--- a/soh/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/soh/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -337,13 +337,15 @@ if (CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Windows")
 				"ENABLE_DX11;"
 			">"
 			"$<$<CONFIG:Release>:"
-				"NDEBUG"
+				"NDEBUG;"
 			">"
             "$<$<BOOL:${BUILD_REMOTE_CONTROL}>:ENABLE_REMOTE_CONTROL>"
 			"INCLUDE_GAME_PRINTF;"
             "F3DEX_GBI_2"
 			"UNICODE;"
 			"_UNICODE"
+            SPDLOG_ACTIVE_LEVEL=${SPDLOG_MIN_CUTOFF}
+            LOG_LEVEL_GAME_PRINTS=${SPDLOG_LEVEL_OFF}
 			STORMLIB_NO_AUTO_LINK
 			"_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;"
             NOMINMAX
@@ -354,7 +356,7 @@ if (CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Windows")
 				"NOINCLUDE_GAME_PRINTF;"
 				"_DEBUG;"
 				"_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;"
-				"ENABLE_OPENGL"
+				"ENABLE_OPENGL;"
 			">"
 			"$<$<CONFIG:Release>:"
 				"NDEBUG;"
@@ -363,7 +365,9 @@ if (CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Windows")
             "F3DEX_GBI_2"
 			"WIN32;"
 			"UNICODE;"
-			"_UNICODE"
+			"_UNICODE;"
+            SPDLOG_ACTIVE_LEVEL=${SPDLOG_MIN_CUTOFF}
+            LOG_LEVEL_GAME_PRINTS=${SPDLOG_LEVEL_OFF}
 			STORMLIB_NO_AUTO_LINK
             NOMINMAX
 		)
@@ -371,33 +375,35 @@ if (CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "Windows")
 elseif (CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME STREQUAL "CafeOS")
 	target_compile_definitions(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE
 		"$<$<CONFIG:Debug>:"
-			"_DEBUG"
+			"_DEBUG;"
 		">"
 		"$<$<CONFIG:Release>:"
-			"NDEBUG"
+			"NDEBUG;"
 		">"
-        "F3DEX_GBI_2"
-        "SPDLOG_ACTIVE_LEVEL=3;"
+        "F3DEX_GBI_2;"
 		"SPDLOG_NO_THREAD_ID;"
         "SPDLOG_NO_TLS;"
 		"STBI_NO_THREAD_LOCALS;"
+        SPDLOG_ACTIVE_LEVEL=${SPDLOG_MIN_CUTOFF}
+        LOG_LEVEL_GAME_PRINTS=${SPDLOG_LEVEL_OFF}
 	)
 elseif ("${CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_ID}" MATCHES "GNU|Clang|AppleClang")
 	target_compile_definitions(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE
 		"$<$<CONFIG:Debug>:"
-			"_DEBUG"
+			"_DEBUG;"
 		">"
 		"$<$<CONFIG:Release>:"
-			"NDEBUG"
+			"NDEBUG;"
 		">"
-        "F3DEX_GBI_2"
-        "$<$<BOOL:${BUILD_REMOTE_CONTROL}>:ENABLE_REMOTE_CONTROL>"
-		"SPDLOG_ACTIVE_LEVEL=0;"
+        "F3DEX_GBI_2;"
+        "$<$<BOOL:${BUILD_REMOTE_CONTROL}>:ENABLE_REMOTE_CONTROL>;"
 		"_CONSOLE;"
 		"_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS;"
 		"ENABLE_OPENGL;"
 		"UNICODE;"
-		"_UNICODE"
+		"_UNICODE;"
+        SPDLOG_ACTIVE_LEVEL=${SPDLOG_MIN_CUTOFF}
+        LOG_LEVEL_GAME_PRINTS=${SPDLOG_LEVEL_OFF}
 	)
 endif()
 ################################################################################
diff --git a/soh/soh/OTRGlobals.cpp b/soh/soh/OTRGlobals.cpp
index 222c7ad8c..c6e2ac4b8 100644
--- a/soh/soh/OTRGlobals.cpp
+++ b/soh/soh/OTRGlobals.cpp
@@ -292,10 +292,17 @@ void OTRGlobals::Initialize() {
         OOT_NTSC_JP_GC, OOT_NTSC_US_GC, OOT_PAL_GC,     OOT_PAL_GC_DBG1,   OOT_PAL_GC_DBG2,
     };
 
-    context->InitLogging();
-    context->InitGfxDebugger();
+#if (_DEBUG)
+    auto defaultLogLevel = spdlog::level::trace;
+#else
+    auto defaultLogLevel = spdlog::level::info;
+#endif
+    context->InitLogging(defaultLogLevel, defaultLogLevel);
     context->InitConfiguration();
     context->InitConsoleVariables();
+    Ship::Context::GetInstance()->GetLogger()->set_pattern("[%H:%M:%S.%e] [%s:%#] [%l] %v");
+
+    context->InitGfxDebugger();
     context->InitFileDropMgr();
 
     // tell LUS to reserve 3 SoH specific threads (Game, Audio, Save)
@@ -320,15 +327,6 @@ void OTRGlobals::Initialize() {
     context->InitCrashHandler();
     context->InitConsole();
 
-#if (_DEBUG)
-    int defaultLogLevel = 0;
-#else
-    int defaultLogLevel = 2;
-#endif
-    Ship::Context::GetInstance()->GetLogger()->set_level(
-        (spdlog::level::level_enum)CVarGetInteger(CVAR_DEVELOPER_TOOLS("LogLevel"), defaultLogLevel));
-    Ship::Context::GetInstance()->GetLogger()->set_pattern("[%H:%M:%S.%e] [%s:%#] [%l] %v");
-
     auto sohInputEditorWindow =
         std::make_shared<SohInputEditorWindow>(CVAR_WINDOW("ControllerConfiguration"), "Configure Controller");
     auto sohFast3dWindow =
diff --git a/soh/soh/SohGui/SohMenuDevTools.cpp b/soh/soh/SohGui/SohMenuDevTools.cpp
index f9e113b55..288d002f2 100644
--- a/soh/soh/SohGui/SohMenuDevTools.cpp
+++ b/soh/soh/SohGui/SohMenuDevTools.cpp
@@ -11,6 +11,12 @@ static const std::unordered_map<int32_t, const char*> logLevels = {
     { DEBUG_LOG_OFF, "Off" },
 };
 
+#ifdef _DEBUG
+DebugLogOption defaultLogLevel = DEBUG_LOG_TRACE;
+#else
+DebugLogOption defaultLogLevel = DEBUG_LOG_INFO;
+#endif
+
 static const std::unordered_map<int32_t, const char*> debugSaveFileModes = {
     { 0, "Off" },
     { 1, "Vanilla" },
@@ -110,10 +116,11 @@ void SohMenu::AddMenuDevTools() {
         .Options(ComboboxOptions()
                      .Tooltip("The log level determines which messages are printed to the console."
                               " This does not affect the log file output")
-                     .ComboMap(logLevels))
+                     .ComboMap(logLevels)
+                     .DefaultIndex(defaultLogLevel))
         .Callback([](WidgetInfo& info) {
             Ship::Context::GetInstance()->GetLogger()->set_level(
-                (spdlog::level::level_enum)CVarGetInteger(CVAR_DEVELOPER_TOOLS("LogLevel"), DEBUG_LOG_DEBUG));
+                (spdlog::level::level_enum)CVarGetInteger(CVAR_DEVELOPER_TOOLS("LogLevel"), defaultLogLevel));
         })
         .PreFunc([](WidgetInfo& info) { info.isHidden = mSohMenu->disabledMap.at(DISABLE_FOR_DEBUG_MODE_OFF).active; });