Hello all, and welcome to a large post I've decided to make that should address the current state of Strange Journey Log's development, and the future for the game. So sit down for a moment and read through this post if you'd like.
First of all, if you have no idea what Strange Journey Log is, it is a FNaF Fangame made by me that aims to combine several games into one. Featuring aspects from various indie games such as Five Nights at Freddy's, Baldi's Basics, Undertale, many more games and many more to come!
If you want to learn more about the game, check out the game page!
Now, what's been going on? Where's the next update? Well, I'm happy to announce that the development has been going smoothly and efficiently ever since the last update, Purgatory, earlier this year! I did have to take lengthy breaks from the development at some points to clear out my mind after very vicious development cycles that involved me spending over 6 hours a day, multiple days in a row, to try and knock out a new addition from the to-do list, but besides that the development has not been too rushed. I don't want to get burnt out from working on the game.
Fun fact, this is the longest time I have spent developing a single game, EVER! In case you didn't know, the game was established back in early 2023, but proper development besides the main menu never begun until October 2024. That means the game has been in consistent and constant development for over a year now!
I seriously want to thank each and every person who followed, liked, contributed to and played the game over the last year! I wouldn't be at the point I am if it weren't for every single one of you!
The game is at 56 followers as of writing this post, but I aim to reach 100 at some point, and hopefully exceed beyond that threshold in the future.
Now for the actual game. What have I made in the last 5 months? Well, don't worry, I've made a heck ton!
Version 0.2, the current released version of the game features 2 bosses, those being Night 3 Foxy from the normal route of the game and Night 7 Stuffed Freddy from the Stuffed route of the game. Would you like to take a guess at the number of bosses that will be featured in version 0.3?
4? 5? 6 maybe? No! 10!
If you've paid attention to my posts on Game Jolt over the last few months, you would have spotted this post showing an Undertale battle screen.
https://gamejolt.com/p/yep-this-will-be-in-version-0-3-gaming-freddy-frostbear-wrayduc2
This post was no joke, there is an entire new route featured in version 0.3 of Strange Journey Log, that being the "Dismantle Route". This route follows you dismantling the animatronics through Undertale battles, with every dismantled character applying a new modifier to your campaign until eventually you must face off against the [REDACTED].
This section of the game was equally as tiring to make as it was exciting. Capturing the feeling of Undertale while staying true to Strange Journey Log was a fun sequence to code in, and I also tested my code optimization skills while developing this part of the game. Fun fact: This ENTIRE SECTION OF THE GAME was coded in a SINGLE SPRITE. It took me about a month to implement all of the Undertale section into the game, but it was very much worth it!
Besides the Undertale section, there is another new route that has been added to the game, that being the Forest Route. This route takes place in - you guessed it - a forest, where you must survive 2 exciting challenge levels named "Mask Mayhem" and "Pitch Black". After the 2 challenges, there is a chase sequence, which was coded using the Simple 3D extension for Turbowarp, which I had zero prior experience using up until making this part of the game. After the chase, there is a final boss battle in which the lucid Bear5 challenges you to a night! And let me say, this boss battle is VERY interesting...
https://gamejolt.com/p/who-s-gonna-be-hunting-this-trophy-when-version-0-3-drops-kdsmixvp
Utilising the Simple 3D extension to make this section of the game was incredibly exciting, as I taught myself how to use the engine to implement a dark forest into the game as well as an entity to chase you while you [REDACTED]. I also think having this section in the game will be an incredible feature for players who haven't seen 3D be used in Scratch/Turbowarp as they will be completely caught off-guard when their game flips into 3D.
This section of the game was made much more recently than the aforementioned Undertale section. It is one of the most recent additions to the game.
By the way, if you are a part of the FNaF Scratch/mods community, I highly recommend joining this Discord server! I am active quite often here and post a lot more updates for my game's development while there, plus it is a very welcoming community! https://discord.gg/SJupMGGbF9
Now there is one more boss section I need to talk about, that being the reworked final level for chapter 1 of the campaign. The current state of level 1-7 is a 10/20 mode, featuring the FNaF 1 cast and some others all at maximum difficulty. This is ok, but I wanted to try something different. There is now a boss in place, which I will not spoil! Enjoy this when you play the game!
And finally, about playing the game. You're likely wondering: When is the update releasing? And to that I must say: I'm not sure.
You see, I am an Australian developer. Australia has a new social media restriction being put in place for under 16s in December. In case you didn't know, I am 15. I'm turning 16 in June next year, which means the restrictions will affect me for 6 months. This wouldn't bother me too much, since the restriction is mostly just temporarily disabling accounts on certain sites. I know already that YouTube is a part of the restriction, but that's fine. I don't often post there and when I do it is usually a clip that I upload onto YouTube so that I can then upload it onto Game Jolt. But that's the thing: Game Jolt. I'm not sure whether or not Game Jolt is featured in the restrictions, but there are two potential outcomes here:
Game Jolt is included, and my account is disabled until June 2026.
Game Jolt is excluded, and my account is fine.
In the latter scenario, Strange Journey Log version 0.3 will likely be releasing early 2026, so that's cool!
In the other case, however, the release of the update might have to be delayed by ~6 months. This is obviously horrendous, so I'm just hoping the restriction doesn't involve Game Jolt.
There is one workaround that could work if this account gets disabled for 6 months: I could make another user a collaborator on the game page beforehand so that they can upload the build of the game at the intended release date. I will likely be doing this if this account is disabled, so don't worry! Release for version 0.3 should be early 2026 either way, unless something really bad happens!
Of course, no guarantee for what happens here, just letting you know what could occur!
That just about wraps up the post, but first I would like to quickly explain the future plans for the game's development.
The game is intended to feature 4 chapters, with the full release of chapter 1 being version 0.3. However, I don't know the true limits of both my computer and the Turbowarp engine, but both seem to be holding up well thus far.
There is currently over 60,000 blocks in the game. Yeah, I know, absolutely insane, right? This is just for chapter 1 out of 4, which would imply the game is 25% complete, right?
I'd say closer to 30%. Chapter 1 will likely be the biggest chapter in the game as it didn't have any limits for me to hold it back to, hence it's incredible size.
The gameplay for future chapters will also likely be different, so look forward to that!
I want this game to be one of the (or the) biggest FNaF fangames ever developed with Scratch/Turbowarp! I'll strive to reach that goal!
Once again thanks to everybody who has helped me come this far, and thanks to you for reading through this post! Keep your head up for future updates and have a great day! 
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