…So it’s been a while.

Hey there! It indeed has been a while since I’ve last posted a proper update on Hack’s Custom Night. The first thing you’re probably wondering is…

WHY DID YOU TAKE SO LONG??

None of my absence or silence of this game was ever intentional, as it all seamlessly blended onto me when things were changing in my life last year. I don’t wanna go over too many details, but for a very long time, I’ve been in a very dark spot floating aimlessly with no sight in any difference happening up until last year changed everything. While I was planning on May 2024 Devlog as text article and/or video, I’ve slowly taken a step back on the game without realizing as I’ve grown more connected to people that mean a lot to me, slowly changing my priorities overtime and reflecting on myself and the project.

It’s also by the fact that I realized that creating devlogs take so much time out of a day or so to make. As much as I don’t want to leave anyone in the dark, I also don’t want the game to slow down in development just for making updates. Making one each month ended up being too pressuring for me to handle, and I wanna see if there’s a way I can make updates more efficient without sacrificing a lot of time for it.

Overall though, I feel it was much needed for me as I would’ve been stuck in limbo on whether the project should continue or not due to an overwhelming amount of stress and pressure. I’m in a much better spot from how last year changed me by making me grow more as a person and learn more management techniques over time. I definitely do not want to work on Hack’s Custom Night nearly everyday as I was originally doing for a very long time, as I have more things to look forward to than just the game. That being said, let’s go over some recapping…

Going over the tidbits again…

New game engine??

In case you don’t know, Hack’s Custom Night has changed game engines from Clickteam to Game Maker! It was a major risk for me to perform the jump knowing I would have to reprogram all of my work, but ultimately, it was greatly worth it in the end as I have MUCH more capabilities than ever before.

If I were to give every reason to why I did this change, we would be here all day. But to bring the point across, Clickteam Fusion kept crashing on me nearly every single session while having performance issues with the game, which made it difficult for me to stick to it due to the quality scope of the project, making it less worth the risk. For what it’s worth though, I am happy with what I have accomplished within that program, but I won’t be going back to it for a very long time…

Needless to say though, despite taking weeks to get used to the engine, the game engine change wasn’t as bad as I would’ve expected. In fact, it made things so much easier for me working on HCN! In fact, it’s significantly better with more capabilities I was given that Clickteam couldn’t do. I can create proper pause menus, real loading screens, and live programming so I don’t have to recompile the game as much!

Where is the Legacy Demo…?

During the last quarter of 2024, ever since I’ve briefly announced the game engine change, I wasn’t sure what to do with all the work done in Clickteam over YEARS of development in that engine, and I didn’t want you or the audience to wait for the game any further. So I’ve decided it would be best to pitch a Legacy Demo with no updates, patches, or any polish by creating a poll for it, and a good majority of you have voted that you do want to play that! So… what happened to it?

Unfortunately during 2024, the roster had changed significantly to the point where releasing the demo would feel jarring to put out knowing there are people who aren’t associated in the project anymore. It doesn’t sit right with me so I’ve scrapped the idea of the Legacy Demo for the time being, unless people are okay with unbalanced changes towards the game. However, knowing my current impressions of the Clickteam engine, I don’t know if the legacy demo will ever happen, so it’ll very likely never reach the light of day. However, it isn’t all gloom and doom!

What’s new about the game ever since??

Ever since last year, I’ve made quite a couple of small changes after feedback from more casual testers of the game to make it a more enjoyable and streamline experience.

I’ve changed up the progression and completion aspect of the game to make it flow more smoothly than it being a mindless grind. From the start, I knew having a Custom Night being the main campaign wouldn’t be anyone’s cup of tea as they would want the game to decide for them. So I’ve redesigned some game modes to not only give the player a sense of objective, but to also help them learn more about the gameplay mechanics. AI LV presets are no longer simple presets, they are now purely designed as a learning curve with various threats.

The AI LV cap is lowered down to 10 instead of 20! As iconic as it was, the level amount felt arbitrary to make as a standard to reach. In addition, going up to LV 20 made more casual players afraid to increase the difficulty. They would increase the AI LV by very small numbers after each playthrough, which would make strategy building and game progression much slower. For the time being, 10 is the right number to aim for. This doesn’t mean that the characters are any weaker for capping at 10, as I have scaled their difficulty for what was originally at LV 20.

There are other changes made to balance the gameplay itself, but I feel we would be here forever going over every bit of it. In short, the game is slightly redesigned to be less complicated and overwhelming, while it also keeps you on your toes. In addition, this devlog is probably way too large to fit in the details so I don’t wanna stray too far. lol

Wait… Hack’s Custom Night is different now?

Ever since Hack’s Custom Night started development, I felt very inspired by Ultimate Custom Night as the premise to me is very unique for its arcadey and tense gameplay. I wanted to make a game similar to that of my own with a lot of people as being part of the collaboration. It gets very frustrating a lot during development to get things done, however I truly believe the end product would be something truly special. And it shows whenever I showcase the game to my friends or people to other communities that the feedback I was given often is how the game is very unique and charming to be its own thing. After a lot of thinking, consideration, and feedback from the people around me, I’ve decided that…

Hack’s Custom Night is going to become a game of its own!

That’s right! It, while still being inspired, will no longer be tied as a FNaF fangame. It will be a product of its own while still being a personal passion project for how much polish and consideration I still have such a strong interest in the project. I will give a header that this does mean the possibility of the game having a price tag, but I wanted to do so to help support those who have contributed so hard on this game with me, while also accommodating with the amount of work and time I’ve placed onto it. Regardless, I am very excited and invested to hear and watch others’ feedback of the game, as it’s personally more valuable than money can afford.

Okay okay… can we see it?

Sure! Here is a preview of a threat named Gabriel, owned by BloopyBlooCurse! She drew EVERYTHING of him in the video including animating an ENTIRE jumpscare sequence! Massive props to her for helping me throughout the project so far, as without her, I wouldn’t be able to progress far in the game. Support her by commissioning him on Ko-Fi! Gabriel’s mechanic is as follows:

"When he enters the office from the Side Vent, immediately wear the TV Head to fool him. He'll get fooled faster the longer you look at him. If he's in the office, continue wearing the TV Head or keep your tablet up until he leaves."

Another preview I would like to showcase is a secondary threat owned by EmmaPond101! You may have seen Emma’s mechanic twice from other devlogs, but she’s here again with her new sona, Nyx!

"She'll crawl through the Side Vent camera from the Party Room. When she enters the office, immediately wear the TV Head to fool her, then watch her to make her go away. Failing to look at her long enough will cause her to check up on you."

What should we look forward to??

My current plan this year is to release a demo for Hack’s Custom Night in late-Q3 or early-Q4 of this year! However, it won’t just be released on GameJolt, it’ll be released on itch.io and possibly have a Steam page! The main event though (if that’s being developed) is releasing the demo at the SAGExpo 2025! A yearly online games expo where a variety of video games from indie developers post their builds. I hope to share the game with more audiences than what I have now, as I love making the game accessible as it can be.

What is the demo going to include??

The demo will include the following without revealing too much of the game:

• 22 Characters

• 20 Night Levels

• Custom Night (ofc)

• and Achievements!

As silly as it sounds, there was going to be more characters included in the demo, however I had to maintain from spoilers a lot of what the game has to offer. >v>;

Any conclusion?

Overall, I am very happy where the game stands now in terms of development and the build. I’ve learned so much over the years in how to balance working on the game while maintaining my health together. I’ve been able to enjoy life better thanks to some friends I’ve met in recent years.

I also want to start sharing the game around social media a lot more than just creating devlogs here. My idea is to create video-formatted devlogs, potentially YouTube Shorts, and share short-term showcase posts in my Bluesky and Tumblr! I feel it would help promote and share the game to a wider audience knowing how mainstream it can get.

In terms of whether I want to continue posting devlogs monthly is something I am not 100% sure on. I may potentially change it to be bi-monthly or stay where I am now, I simply do not want to stress out on making these updates that also costs development time. We’ll see next month!

For now, here are things to summarize on what you can look forward to:

• Hack’s Custom Night Demo (est. Late Q3 or Early Q4 of 2025)

• Miniature Updates on my Social Media (via Bluesky!)

Besides that, I hope you all enjoy going through the devlog, and I apologize for the long wait and absence. I promise everything this project has to offer will be worth it!

Hope you all have a good day/night!

— Hack 💜