Hello there, welcome to the November 2023 Devlog of Hack's Custom Night!

Last time, I have showcased Hack's mechanic in action, featuring small details of him roaming around the office, in which you can check out here. This month, I have quite major progress to showcase regarding character mechanics. I was able to implement six characters into HCN! Although it may not sound like much, it is a huge accomplishment over what's to come in future development.

Back in the June 2023 Devlog, I've talked about how HCN's character AI system is more dynamic and unique than how other FNaF fangames are programmed. To this day, it holds up as I can still simply implement the characters.

The only challenge to making the system work is making it flexible, as nearly every character's AI is more or less unique to each other based on type, subtype, and their behavior itself. Not to mention, all art assets have to be intricately implemented with bigger attention whether if it's an idle frame or an actual animation, it's a lot of work for something so simple. Some characters showcased in this devlog were more difficult to deal with due to how their presence had to function. As of right now, I have gone through (at least most) major bugs of the system, so there shouldn't be a lot of trouble programming future characters for a while. However, by the time I am typing this down, a few major bugs came up that messed the character assets display, because of this, the characters affected will be replaced with mockup screenshots instead of video showcases. That being said, let's look over who's been done!

Twig (he/they/bit/click)

First up, we have "Twig", created by @twig-sprigs! He is a computer virus composed from a bunny and a lizard from an unfinished video game project! He likes to play with the environment around him for the fun of it.

For his mechanic, he plays a role of a window popup appearing in the tablet at any time! Now you might be thinking, "haven't I heard of this mechanic before?" And to that I say, you are absolutely correct! This mechanic was in quite a couple of fangames in means of tampering or ending your run. However in HCN, he is a little different...

Twig is capable of spawning multiple popups at once based on his Aggression Level. If you are playing on Normal Mode, he will gradually get worse during each hour. When a popup is finished being downloaded, instead of ending your run, he will stack up one noise meter, with the addition of slowing down the tablet's performance! For the time being, stacking can be endless, though I may cap the debuff down to five times.

As you can see in this video, Twig is capable of releasing multiple popups at once during his spawn rate. Keep in mind that Twig is only spawned manually for showcasing purposes, but can be capable of that ability.

Ace (she/they)

Next, we have "Ace", created by @CreepyAce8! She is a very small orange fox who is lazy most of the time they're around, but can have high energy and tantrums at any moment.

(Fun Fact: By the time of this post being made, Ace is the shortest of all characters, being 1'0".)

Ace is another doorway character that only approaches to through the left side of the office. However, due to her miniature nature, she can easily sneak through the cameras when she isn't being looked at. When she reaches to your doorway, she can slowly peek her head out without any sound cues. Using the light on her will cause her to peek faster as to catch the player off guard.

Tar Bunny (they/it)

Next, we have "Tar Bunny", created by... TarBunny. They are a creature made out of squishy tar-like substance with little to no origin on how they were made. Tar Bunny is only here to exist with no life goals or motivation on what they do.

Tar Bunny resides in the Party Room 01 camera, sleeping in peace with the record player accompanying them. To keep them at bay, you must keep the record player wind up to avoid potential chaos. You can also use the "Global Record" tool to wind the record without having to view the camera, but not only it winds slower, it requires one usage bar of power.

Tar Bunny's Aggression Level will affect the following aspects. If the music box is a quarter level or lower, Tar Bunny can wake up from his bed easier. In Normal Mode, the record player will wind down faster each hour. otherwise it'll always be at a consistent speed.

Star (she/they/it)

Now we have "Star", created by @Staruri! Star is created by code, cursed to live through technology due to an incident. She is silly, smug, and can be lazy, though she does like to mess around with others, as she can phase into reality only for a short time.

Star's job is to make your night more difficult, there'll be a chance she'll appear on your current camera while viewing the monitor. Unlike other stun characters, you are required to close your tablet instead of switching cameras as soon as possible. Otherwise, Star will jumpscare you outside of the tablet, breaking the current camera, disabling it for the rest of the night while breaking your ventilation.

Satori (she/they/it)

Next we have... "Satori", created by @Staruri! Satori, like Star, is created by code. Unlike her however, she is a huge trickster and can be evil towards anyone around her. She can bring surprises unlike other characters...

Satori is one of, if not, HCN's biggest distractors. She can fool and distract you at nearly every way during your run. Satori can be at your camera, doorway, your view, your window, your vents, your tablet, and can be very loud... She has no consistency in when she'll be in your way, but one thing for sure is that her Aggression Level will severely make your run more irritating...

Unfortunately. due to a visual function bug while creating the devlog, Satori doesn't have gameplay footage to display her presence. Besides Satori missing a couple of randomization paths, she is fully functional to be included in the night. I hope the screenshots help depict on her presence...

Seren (she/her)

Last, we have "Seren", also created by @Staruri! Seren, like Star and Satori, is also created by code. However unlike the two of them, Seren has no time limit being outside of her screen, so as long as she has a source to come from. She is very playful and likes to give surprises with no malicious intent.

Seren won't be in the tablet, but she can appear at either left or right doorway when using the doorway light. If you see her, you must keep it on until she goes away, otherwise she will surprise you with a pie at your face!

Like Satori, Seren doesn't have any gameplay footage at the moment to be showcased in realtime due to the visual function bug. The only thing that hasn't been done for Seren is her jumpscare, as I do want to improvise on how her jumpscare keyframes were sent to me by Staruri. Hopefully down the line of development, I'll be able to get the jumpscare segment done!

That is all I have to showcase for this devlog! Needless to say, for characters simply appearing here and there, it's no easy task to make their presentation standout. Stuff like visual effects, animation composition, functionality, and game design fitting to the characters take up so much time, even when you've split up some of your work with your team. Traditional animation being the prime example of taking up so much time, as a jumpscare for each character takes up roughly around five hours to fully create!

For what HCN has right now, there are now 7 characters overall programmed and implemented to the game! Seeing the game being this far makes me personally excited to see how the finished product will be formatted. Besides being slightly worried about the reception in this day in age of the FNaF community, I do hope this game does wonders in making you, the player, have a great experience in playing the game.

Well uh... I suppose that's it. lol

I hope you all have a great day/night! See you in the next devlog!

— Hack 💜