Happy day before Halloween! I figured it was time to make at least some kind of post talking about things regarding the future of the SHOWMAN'S games so I'm not leaving you all in the dark too much, hehe.

Pneumonia really kicked me around and it's honestly scary to think about in hindsight, but I've been doing so much better for quite a long while now! Very happy that's over, though I'm kind of cautious because I tend to overthink a lot (especially how I feel physically).

Update on SHOWMAN'S: The Shadow.

A while back I had been working on the models for The Shadow, but I've actually decided to put a little pause on the game's development for a reason. While I do have the gameplay mechanics written down for myself, I still want to revise those ideas because I want to ensure the game is fair and balanced, not to mention I also really want to make sure it's fun and engaging like the first game.

That isn't the only reason why I'm pausing The Shadow's development, however.

Addressing the mysterious radio.

I'm not really going to address it, but I'll give you some hints at what it even is.

• It's part of the SHOWMAN'S series.

• I consider it a side chapter as it focuses on a part of the story that the other games will not have the time to focus on.

• Initially this game was a "maybe" project, but after some deeper thinking, I realized this game was just as important to make as the others.

• It could possibly be my scariest game yet. I've had some very interesting ideas for its gameplay that I'm looking forward to working on.

• "Jack".

This game, at the moment, is my current focus. I'm very interested in this one and I think a lot of you will like what I've got in store for it. It's also giving me some extra time to think more about The Shadow so I can further improve it. This game will likely come out before The Shadow as well.

However, development hasn't exactly started, but I can see it happening in the coming months.

The current situation.

Something I realized is that I really, really do not want to keep using the old models from SHOWMAN'S: The Awakening. I have improved so much since I first made the animatronic's models in November 2023 and I don't want the quality to clash. Now that I'm using (likely) Range Engine, I can make my models look a lot nicer and higher quality, and not worry so much about them slowing the game down anymore. It's a huge difference.

Basically, I'm remaking EVERYTHING from SHOWMAN'S: The Awakening. Animatronic models, human models, even the locations seen in the game. This is to improve everything and also make it more suitable to work with in a better engine.

And another reason why I'm doing this is that the "secret radio project" and The Shadow both require stuff from The Awakening to appear, so I kind of have to do all this work lol. The good news is that it all goes hand in hand, so once I've done it all, it'll make working on all of those upcoming SHOWMAN'S projects a lot easier.

I've also been taking advantage of this to give a lot of the characters some nice updates and even some redesigns. Johnny and Harry specifically are getting some pretty big redesigns and fit in so much more with the overall theme of Showman's. They're not the only example but I would say they're the most drastic one. Their personalities, voices, and roles in the band remain totally unaffected, and I'd say they still don't stray too much from their original designs either. I love all of these redesigns so much and I really hope most of you do too!

And while this is a LOT for me to do, I have it all written down. I know what I'm doing and I honestly feel really good with doing it! It's just gonna take some time.

SHOWMAN'S: The Awakening - Update 2.0

This is a backburner project. It won't be a major focus and will probably be developed in almost total silence until it's nearly ready to go.

Since I'm remaking pretty much everything from The Awakening so they can make appearances in my other two projects, I'll only have very little left to do for a completely updated version of SHOWMAN'S: The Awakening asset-wise.

While I call it a "2.0 update", it'll technically be a full-on remake made in Range Engine. Not only will everything be better in quality, but the game should even run a little better. There are no major additions or changes currently planned at the moment, aside from all the models being far more improved obviously. I'm also calling it a "2.0 update" to keep expectations realistic.

The only new feature I have plans for is actually subtitles for the cutscenes, phone calls, and important dialogue! Dialogue such as the animatronics in the hallways and vents will be excluded. Range Engine's text objects work far more than Blender's old game engine's, allowing me to do this with a lot more ease.

A lot of my hard work on the animations for the current version of SHOWMAN'S: The Awakening will be saved too. The redesigns of the animatronics all share the same rigs, making it very easy for me to take those animations and put them onto the new models. Anything involving the humans will be redone as they are planned to get much better models that'll require them to be made almost from scratch.

Whenever 2.0 is finished and ready to go, it'll be released on The Awakening's game page, which will also get updated to include new screenshots and new (but very very similar) cover artwork.

Worry not, the original 1.0 version will still be available to download on the game's page as well!

I don't think this will be a hard thing to make once I have everything I need for it, but again, it's a backburner project and not my focus at the moment. The side chapter and The Shadow are my current focus, but I imagine this updated version of The Awakening will be something I'll go to when I feel up to doing it at any time.

This will undoubtedly have a much smoother development than the version of SHOWMAN'S: The Awakening that's currently out there. That game was a nightmare because I reskinned Phobia into it. A ton of the programming is five years old and an absolute mess.

As you can see I'm a little busy at the moment.

I'm taking my time with this stuff though, no rushing is being done and I'm trying my best to make sure I'm happy with it, and so far, it's going great, even if a bit slow.

Maybe I'm a little insane to do all this, but it's become clear to me that I really do love these games, and that I do want to make them. I love doing all the worldbuilding and storytelling, and I'm happy there's a nice amount of you that I can share it with. I'm not aiming for perfection, I'm just having fun making some spooky little FNaF fangames right now.

I very much appreciate all of your kindness, support, and patience, and I'm excited for you all to see what I've got in store!