Did ya miss me? ;)

You've read that right, we're officially back in development! Some of the more eagle-eyed followers may have noticed daily changes to the game page. To those who missed the transformation, the game page has been entirely redone! New header, thumbnail, teasers, screenshots, the works!

So, what happened? Why come back to this project after over a year of silence?

In all honesty, it was release of Security Breach. My personal thoughts on the game aside, it got people talking about FNaF again. I found myself talking to people I hadn't spoken to in ages, watching people stream fangames and talk about them. It reignited my interest, and I had time to reflect on my own work.

Turns out, my old work wasn't very good. I was quick to identify a lot of issues with FE:S in the state I left it, both artistically and gameplay-wise.

So, I got to work. The game was entirely redone from a visual standpoint, with a new map, new renders, and new graphics. The animatronic's AI, which was inefficient, slow, and caused lag for many playtesters, was entirely rewritten for each character, and many characters had their mechanics adjusted. Several other systems were rewritten to be more efficient, and the game was bumped up to 60 fps instead of the old 30. Playtester feedback to the game has been overwhelmingly positive, and I'm excited to share it with you. As of writing, the game has been in development again for exactly 5 months, completely in secret.

Q: What's done for the game right now?

The game is currently entirely playable from nights 1 to 6. There are a small amount of placeholder assets in use right now, but this is farther than the game has ever been. When I stopped development, the game was a single night with every character at max AI, and it was riddled with issues. To go from that, to a fully playable experience, has been truly gratifying.

Q: What's left?

The game still needs its post-game content, which involves a decent bit of asset creation. No spoilers though. ;)

Q: When is it releasing?

We've got a bit of a ways to go before I consider the game done. However, I can say with confidence that we're looking at a release this year, assuming all goes to plan. There's always a chance that something will go horribly wrong, and that this bit will age horribly. But, if that happens, I'll probably just release whatever I have done and call it a day.

Q: Can I beta test?

Beta testing is completely private for now. The team currently stands at around 25 testers strong, and each of them have been giving some fantastic feedback. The small changes they suggest really add up into creating a better experience overall. I'll keep you guys posted if anything changes.

That's all for now. Enjoy the new teasers and gameplay screenshots, and stay tuned! ;)

Thanks for sticking with me! - Mikel