Hey Fuzzies.

Today is the 16th of August 2024. 8 days ago, FuzzBoob's DE 1.2.0 should have released.

I want to talk about the timeline of what happened, what is going on, and what will happen going forwards. 

For the TL;DR, please look at the bottom of this blogpost.

((ALSO for those who don't know, Part 2 has been split up and is called "Remixed"))

Why am I making this?
I'm getting disgusting messages & DMs, such as "I'm going to r*pe you if it doesn't come out tomorrow".


I'm going to get personal with the explanations. If you want to know where the update is, i'll explain.

-The 8th of August-

Internet Trouble.

The first update for FuzzBoob's DE Remixed was ready.
It contained 2 gameplay remixes.

Development on a new AI system had started, but was relatively unfinished.
It wouldn't harm the release if it was left in alongside the old system.

Lets build the g-

No internet.

I check my app and see that its an issue in the area.

However, after the issue resolved, I had no internet.
I contacted my ISP and they said they'll be sending a Virgin Engineer (I use Virgin Media) to come help.

So, what can I do?

I continued working on the update.

Coding isn't that hard for me, so doing it without internet was pretty fine.
If i wasn't going to have any internet, surely I can reach the second deadline of the 11th of August.
...right?

They came and went over the next few days. The issue had to be with an update that was pushed, which broke my modem.

-The 11th of August-

"wait a minute this is actually really complex"

OKAY so maybe remaking the AI system is more difficult than I first thought.

I would like to explain here how my process in game development works.

Let's separate this into pieces:

What is the old system?

When FuzzBoob's Definitive Edition was being made, I was still using Unity Engine. Right until Unity decided to fuck over developers with their awful pricing scheme.

(Baka Mitai joke that was added into Unity Definitive Edition, before that version was ditched. It has never been released.)

So, it became a rush to learn the Godot engine, learn how to code in GDScript, and recreate the whole game.

Some of the more complicated code such as the AI system was coded in a way where:
It's efficient
But not reusable.

There is an AI manager class, where each AI is hard-coded into the class.

How it worked:
Every frame, the game will count up for each non-disabled animatronic.
Once it reached the animatronic's time limit, it'll then call a function. In the example above, the function is:
_FreddyAI()
And there are different update modes, such as:



These are mostly Unused. The only used one was AiMode.UpdateAI

And in there, I just wrote the behaviour as is.
Freddy is in her regular route? Send her to next place after the cameras drop.
Foxy has progressed to the final stage? While waiting, we'll see if the player checks her run.

There is no code reusability. Lets say I wanted to create an alternative freddy AI, I would have to copy and paste the code.

If one had a glitch, the other one would too.

The script is about 700 lines long, just a bit over. 

What does the new system need to do?

I need it be a class, that can be inherited from. 

What this means is that if there is a bug in the main AI system, I would only need to change the one class and the bug will be fixed for every AI.
I want to be able to easy add new characters efficiently and without breaking the game.

Also, I would need the system to dynamically load characters in and out of the game.

Is this new system necessary / Can the old system not be used?

It is very necessary. With each new character on the old system, the more difficult it would be to maintain, update or reuse.
The old system can't dynamically load characters in.

Currently, for most people, the game runs very well on web, pc, and android. 
Adding new AIs to the night shift with the old system would mean additional ram would be used, even if the new characters are not selected or in. This could stop people from being able to load into the night shift.

Dynamically loading them in would then lower ram usage, and keep the game working for everyone. 
Loading time into the nightshift may increase, but its either slightly longer load times or not being able to play the game.

What does the new system accomplish?

The new system will:
- Keep the AIs centralised, allowing for scalability -
- Reduce Ram Usage compared to other AIs -
- Ideally keep less powerful systems to play the game -
- Easier maintainability for me -

How long would it take to make this new system?

well.
fuck.

It's only one aspect right? Can't take longer than a day, right?

-The 16th of August-

Reality check

I have made a lot of progress.
Bonnie is 100% working.
Chica is 100% working.
Freddy is 90% finished, but 100% working.
Foxy is 20% finished.

I make good progress, and people would ask me "Where is it."
I want to be optimistic, it feels so close. So I would give a day in which I believe it will be released. Wednesday! Thursday!

But I'm failing.

No matter how close it feels, something always comes up.
like...

Changed the jumpscare logic? Well, its referenced in all these other scripts that you now need to update.

3AM? Time manager needs to have updated AI references and code to accurately amend the time.

Blackout? Oh, the code needs to be amended so that the correct jumpscare plays depending on the character.

Something isn't working? Quick, play the game for half an hour trying to replicate the issue, spend the next hour diagnosing the issue, and try again to make sure it doesn't appear.

You want to dynamically load new characters to each room? Ah yes, first you need to create a room class, then add features to each room that can load selected assets into it if or when necessary. But you also need to now rework the character interactions and the easter egg manager, and everything else that was room-based.

More and more and more. It isn't just about quickly reimplementing a new AI system, it is about reworking how the game fundamentally functions, so the additional content can be added. It took me a month to do that when making this game in godot.

I am to blame for this, it is my fault. Everything seems so simple on the surface.
I am not releasing an unfinished mess.

My patrons have been forgiving, but I need to also give them the art that they are paying for. I have been focusing as much time as I can into this one game.

I have been updating this in my Pudding's Bakery Discord server.

Moving Forward

This has been getting too much for me, and the boiling point has been the awful messages and DMs.

The Remixed update will therefore not have a release day until the code is finished.
(The update may still release either this month or early next month, but I can't promise an exact day).

This is so I don't give your hopes up. If I finish it, I can then promise the release day.

I'm going to work on creating a healthy work schedule. One where I can meet the needs of my games and my patreon, rather than waking up and working all day, only taking breaks to meet daily needs. 

I will also try to be more professional and not promise days that I cannot meet. I'm new to this, and it's been a difficult learning curve.

I will add additional gameplay remixes to the game too, to try make up for this.

TL;DR:

had internet problems, so worked on the AI
the animatronic's AI system being changed sounded easy, but is very difficult with explanations why.
people are sending me horrible messages / DMS.

I need to stop working most waking hours, and adopt a healthy routine.
no promised release day but I think it will release this month or early next month.
and I will add extra gameplay remixes as an apology.

Sorry,
- Pudding