Hey, everyone!
Today is officially January 1st, 2025, meaning that another whole year has gone by with me here on gamejolt!
Honestly, time goes by super fast, and 2024 was exactly the proof of this! I can honestly remember finishing up the script for Whisker’s Initiative in January as if it were yesterday, it’s super crazy how fast it all zoomed by. I thought it would be appropriate to start the year off by reflecting on 2024, whilst also looking at what’s to come in 2025!
Let’s start off strong, shall we?
I WILL NOT BE JOINING ANY NEW PROJECTS ANYMORE
Yup, sorry, but it’s true. Apparently, it’s very hard to find a screenwriter that works for free, which is why I was being constantly bombarded with DMs asking me to work for ‘em, but it’s true. I won’t be joining any new projects starting today, and this isn’t anything new…I announced this a couple months prior.
Though I’ve managed to keep a somewhat stable balance between my real life and my time working on projects, I’ve come to notice that joining too many projects for free will lead to me getting burnt out by being so overwhelmed with things to do. I know this is something that I will inevitably experienced soon as an adult, but I don’t want to waste away my teenage years with this same stress and anxiety. I want to live my teenage years properly, because these are my last years before I’m thrown into a life filled with stress and perfection.
So, starting today, I will not join any new project. This is it, I think my current list of projects is just fine and balanced out, and I do not wish to destroy that balance.
So…what projects am I working on, anyway?
Happy Memories - @JR-man_ (Co-Director, Writer)
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2: Reconstructed - @AverageFranDev (Co-Director, Producer, Writer, Voice Actor of… ;))
Welcome to Bon’s Burgers: Together Forever - @The_Hollow_Knight_205 (Writer)
DarkInk Arkham Series - MaxAttack, CodeMcFrosty (Autistic DC nerd, Writer)
After Night at Bobby’s 2 - @YettyDev (Writing Support)
Nightfall at Freddy’s - @AverageFranDev (Writer)
Welcome to Jumper’s - @N1ceNToasty (Writer, Project Consultant)
Showplace Terrors - @BuddyTechCeo (Co-Director, Lead Writer and Local Moral Support Fellow)
Dulcia Somina - @Sim_Naum (I don’t remember)
Matthew’s - @RexozArts , @FrenneticGoat_Studios (Producer, Lead Writer and Project Consultant)
Celebration at Freddy’s - @mimic_program_one (Writer, Project Consultant)
…and many unannounced projects!
REFLECTING ON 2024
I’m going to be honest, 2024 might have been my best year yet.
Irl, things got way better for me than I expected. I felt as if my friendships were way stronger this year than they were the previous, and I’ve officially returned to properly hanging out with the boys! Not only that, but this year just made me realize how much I actually value life as a whole and the concept of living to your fullest. I’ve come to realize that my current teenage years are sacred, and I have decided to use my time as a teenager wisely and properly enjoy it before heading to money-land.
Discord wise? Kind of in the middle. On one hand, I made a lot of new friends this year, some of which I can confidently say may be some of my best pals! (Check em out in my bio) I’ve began and continued production on several of my projects, all of which are shaping up to be exactly what I wanted and more! It’s my most productive year yet, 100%. On the other hand, though, I realized that someone whom I met and I considered to be a friend may have actually not been a friend after all, and was really using me and most people they knew for projects. It was honestly an extremely said realization, and, although I tried to warn others about it, I seem to be the only one in the ring who realized this. Due to this, I decided to cut all ties with this very person and all of his projects, instead rather focusing on being around people I care about and who care about me (hopefully!)
So, yeah, realizing that was kind of rough, but the whole year aside from that was 100% my best and most productive year yet, and I hope 2025 somehow tops it as my best year!
WHISKER’S INITIATIVE
Imagine spending half the year shooting a horror film only realize it actually kinda sucked so you have rewrite it and start shooting again next year?
Yeah, that’s kinda what happened with WI this year.
I know, a bit of a shocker. “Whisker’s was bad?! How?!” Well, it’s actually a bit more complicated than that. The film wasn’t bad at all…it just wasn’t what I wanted. I shot around 75% of the film, and I wasn’t exactly liking how it was turning out. It checked most of the boxes I wanted, but the manner in which the story was told wasn’t what I liked, and I thought certain elements could be further improved on (cinematography, editing and scriptwriting).
Thus, to further improve on the current script, me and my buddy @The_Hollow_Knight_205 spent a whole week penning a new draft of the script, which will (hopefully) turn into the final film! Along with that, the voice cast is near full completion, and a new musical composer has been selected who is set to begin work soon! (Not announcing anything yet, ofc)
Unlike the previous version of the film (which I’ll now refer to as V2), V3 requires only one or two shots to be made in blender, meaning that almost everything is set to be made fully practically and irl (and yes, this film does not contain any distorted faces). Its tone is now a much more surrealist, akin to the works of Lewis Carroll and Alexandro Jorodowsky. It’s going to be a very interesting film, and I’m excited for you folks to see it.
Oh! And one more thing…
It’s releasing in July ;)
UNANNOUNCED FANGAME PROJECT
As most of you were made aware of from several teaser posts from me and @AverageFranDev , we’ve both been developing a project related to Five Nights at Freddy’s. We haven’t specified what it exactly is, but this post is gonna shed some light onto what it is…
This project is actually incredibly ambitious, considering what we’re aiming for. Now, I want to create a distinction between “big” and “ambitious”, because most folks actually think it’s one and the same. An “ambitious game” strives to do a lot with what it has, whilst a “big game” tries to be as big as it can be. For example, a game that isn’t particularly big but is certainly ambitious is “Popgoes”. Here’s another example, a fangame that isn’t ambitious but is still definitely big is “Final Nights 3”. Got it? Alright, let’s get on with it.
The game is incredibly ambitious due to everything we set to achieve with this project, its storyline and its quality. Countless documents, models, concepts and music pieces have been made so far. Keep in mind, the amount of progress made is insane, considering this project began production in Late September. This project looks like it will be something similar to what people have been used to for the past 2-3 years in the surface, but in all actuality, it’s something fresh and new. Trust me, you’ll know why I say it looks familiar once it’s announced, but it’s much more once you actually peak into the rabbit hole we are working on.
In terms of writing, this is probably one of the most coherent, character-driven and lore rich storylines you’ll ever see in a FNaF fangame project. It’s satisfying, has some actual characters in a fangame for once, and has very rich and satisfying themes that should hammer home to everyone in the FNaF community (especially to those who have been here since the beginning). You’ll see rich worldbuilding, where the player can feel immersed in the environment they’re in, in what town and world this fangame project is set on. It’s got rich character arcs, with characters and protagonists the player actually cares about, who go through character arcs and proper development as the storyline progresses.
In terms of gameplay, the fangame project borrows some old ideas from official FNaF games and completely revamp them. It’s point and click office gameplay maximized to its full potential, and the different ways it’s done so is fascinating. Sure, sometimes it’ll be very generic. But sometimes it’ll be a survival strategy game, or sometimes it might be a terrifying twist on the tower defense genre.
Then in terms of visuals…well, I can confidently say FNaF has genuinely never looked this real before. And it’s not like your JR’s or anything like that, no. You could actually see these events happening in real life due to how realistic everything looks like and feels like.
I don’t know when this could release. My best estimate is early-mid 2026, and, although it’s a new field for me (I’ve never managed a team this big), I’ll make it, and it’s been super fun so far! I can’t wait for us both to show you guys what we are doing :)
CONCLUSION
Welp, 2025 is shaping up to be a huge and probably my most successful year yet! Though it looks to be a bit scary with all these new challenges, I’m more than ready to overcome them, and I am genuinely super excited to start off the year strongly!
Thanks to those who stuck with me in this amazing 2024. I’ll see you guys next year.
Love,
Radio Pontoons.
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