The Showtime Theatre [BETA] - Updates/Devlog
This is the The Showtime Theatre’s developer log, this is for mostly post-release information including updates, bug-fixes, etc. (May include large updates/milestones in development or any changes following play-testing sessions.)
Please note that not all information regarding updates, changes and/or bug fixes will be shared to avoid in-game spoilers.
If you’re looking for more information about The Showtime Theatre, feel free to check out it’s GameJolt page. Simply give “The Showtime Theatre” a search and it should be the very first result.
03/20/2024 - Pre-Release Beta v0.1119
Been a while since I’ve updated this devforum, so this is a semi-large update for all the big steps in development.
Minigames
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Bunker Down!: Currently bunker down is fully functional, including gameplay, winning, losing, etc. Only thing needing done is the tutorial phone-call or audio tape. (Still working on that.) As well as the model for the enemy you’ll be facing. At the moment they’re being represented by a snippet of concept art as the character themselves is yet to be modeled.
The game will most likely be placed after the first night and will last as long as it takes to beat it. The game can also be accessed by the Extras menu through the minigames tab, meaning the player doesn’t need to keep resetting their progress to access the minigame.
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Pizza Patrol: Another arcade minigame I’m working on is known as “Pizza Patrol” in which an 8-Bit rendition of one of Showtime Theatre’s mascots must collect slices of pizza to form a whole pizza pie while avoiding being shot by aliens. (Insane premise, I know.) The minigame itself is quite unique and ground-breaking for Roblox, being completely 2D like the rest of TST but having actual collisions with in-game UI objects, so basically I’ve built a 2D game engine within a 3D one which may not sound to exciting but I am very proud of it. May need some work on the performance side of things but it works perfectly at the moment. (Excuse the lack of a proper map at the moment, just working out the technical side of things and where exactly in the game this will be.)
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Quality of life Changes: The rest of the game has gone under some changes as well, adding some more quality of life changes such as:
— Loading Animation: The loading icon in the menu has been updated to an animated hourglass, simple yet charming addition.
— Extras Menu Jumpscares: Clicking on the jumpscares viewer within the extras menu will bring it into full-screen mode.
— New Backgrounds: The menu has gotten 2 new backgrounds depicting both the prize-store and secondary show-stage.
— Slight Camera UI changes: the camera system has had some slight changes, the 2 arrow buttons have been slightly moved in to remove the amount of useless space between them.
— Donator Rewards: Added 3 donator rewards to go with the 3 donator gamepasses. Including a Chezburger, can of Bloxy Cola and a Gravity Coil. They all make their iconic sounds!
(There is also a can of bug spray for potential bug-finders.)
03/20/2024 - Pre-Release Beta v0.1070
This update has a lot of good progress, but I specifically will mention the post-night minigame “Bunker Down!” down bellow.
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Bunker Down!: The first made post-night minigame in which players must shoot down bombs that are falling over a group of military bases. The goal of the minigame is for the player to beat the highscore. (Lore explanation is that the game is in “Testing Mode” and will automatically end once the highscore is beat.) Sounds easy until you got to remember that this is a FNaF fan-game, you must multi-task and fend off an animatronic character at the same time. Simply looking at the mascot with a flashlight will “scare” them off.
(Screenshot depicts the main menu of “Bunker Down!” it has 2 buttons, isn’t too complicated and is easy to navigate.)
(Screenshot depicts the gameplay of “Bunker Down!” note the missing base in the middle and the dropping bombs.)
(Screenshot depicts the “Prize-Store” located in between the security office and the arcade. This is where the “Bunker Down!” cabinet is situated.) -
There are also 2 achievements to go along with this minigame, first of all the “Dedicated Defender” which could be pretty difficult (at least it was for me,) the goal of this badge would be to beat the highscore without taking any damage to your bases. The second badge “Measly Milestone” is a lot more easier to get as it only requires you to die with LESS than 1000 points.
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Fixed even MORE scaling issues with UI.
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Fixed UI acting bizarre when spam-clicked.
03/20/2024 - Pre-Release Beta v0.1014
This update mostly focuses on replay-ability. So as a good way to achieve this is to include a few badges, here’s a few newer ones.
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All-Nighter: Achieved if the player completes night 1 to 6 in one sitting. Resetting data or starting a new game will reset this value meaning it’s still possible to do even if they’ve passed the required nights or left.
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Master Inspector: Achieved if the player inspects 20 items within the office in a single night.
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Mash From The Past: Achieved if the player inspects the Sony Walkman within the office, it is of course the Monster Mash potion music.
None-Badge related changes.
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Jumpscare Overhaul: I’ve decided to change how the jumpscares work as before hand the amount of frames changing in quick succession would not run to well in the Roblox engine. Moving forward the jumpscares (as well as any other long animation) will be created using the new VideoFrame feature. Unfortunately this comes with some downsides mostly revolving around cost. I’ve listed a bunch of pros and cons regarding this change.
Pros:
– Longer Animation: Video can be a lot longer than animations, I won’t need to upload as much assets for one animation. (Possibly between 1 to 5 seconds.)
– Simplicity: Instead of a using huge list of images, I’ll only need a simple 2 line code snippet, significantly reducing the size of the script and the affect on performance.
– Better Quality: Video could look a lot better than the separate images as I can render the video within the game-space itself, meaning I don’t need to limit the animation to be just the animatronic.
– Reduced Loading Times: The game won’t have to load each frame of the jumpscares (even the 1 & 1/2 second animation would warrant 36 images.)
Cons:
– Cost: The main reason why this choice will be difficult to adjust to. For only one animation even if it’ll be 5 seconds long will cost R$2000 to upload.
– Hard to tie in with gameplay: The animations may not sync up well with the gameplay as it might look slightly different. Although I may have a fix for it. (While somewhat complicated should work well if executed properly.)
03/15/2024 - Pre-Release Beta v0.998
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Data Reset Feature: The player can now hold the DELETE key in the Settings Menu for 5 seconds to reset their in-game data. This includes the current night as well as night milestone rewards (Extras Menu/stars/endings etc.)
Don’t worry there is fail-safe just in case you somehow accidentally hold the delete key for 5 seconds! The data reset will NOT save if you leave the game while on the settings menu. Leaving out of the settings menu/pressing ‘MANUAL SAVE’ will save the data reset.
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Camera Ambient Sounds: The cameras now have ambient sounds for each of the 9 rooms. Swapping cameras will also change what audio the player can hear. As well as random sounds that play through-out the office sequence. With the Main-Stage occasionally playing cartoonish jingles, Arcade playing video game sounds and the Secondary-Stage playing annoying laugh tracks… Haha! The player can also hear audio from other neighboring rooms. (For instance the jingles mentioned earlier can be heard from the PlayZone which is left to the Main-Stage.)
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Fixed more scaling issues regarding the camera UI.
03/14/2024 - Pre-Release Beta v0.990
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Change to Extras Menu access: Small yet important change to how the Extras menu is access, before the game would require the player to just simply own the night 5 badge to get into the Extras menu, which worked for a time but made it tricky in cases where the player would DELETE the badge from their inventory.
Instead it now uses the Datastore to save a value that allows the player to access the Extras menu, the reason I didn’t do this earlier in development was due to the fact I created the Extras menu before there was a working saving feature.
TL:DR - You still get the badge but it’s no longer needed to access the extras menu meaning you can safely delete it from your inventory. -
Fixed problems regarding saving data for new players.
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Fixed game audio & enemy functions from continuing despite the game already being over or the player already being dead.
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Fixed camera audio still being audible despite the camera being off. (Stage & Arcade room jingles.)
03/13/2024 - Pre-Release Beta v0.989
Playtester(s) @z1skrr
Post play-testing session. Updates, changes & bug-fixes.
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Badge Confetti: Badge rewards now cause confetti to be shot out on screen when certain achievements are unlocked. (Notably achievements that aren’t gained from reaching certain milestones such as beating a night or joining the game for the first time.)
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Straight to the Menu: The blurb that was shown after the loading bar and before the intro has been removed.
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Tucker’s behavior change: Tucker Tail-Wagger now no longer kills the player after disabling a certain amount of cameras as it wouldn’t happen often during gameplay. (For now.)
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Rocky’s Camera Appearances: Rocky Wolf now has a pose for each room he can appear in outside of his stage.
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Bunker Down’s updated look: The arcade game that was shown off in this Youtube video known as “Bunker Down” has recieved a little bit of a face lift, adding some extra details to hopefully make the game more enjoyable and responsive. (Tank shell tracers, plane, better contrast between gameplay elements and background.)
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Camera date change: The datestamp in the corner of the camera system has now changed to June instead of July to better reflect recent changes in the planned story.
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Fixed “New Recruit” badge not being awarded to new accounts.
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Fixed custom night ending text from bricking the entire 6:00 transition, causing a soft-lock.
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Fixed office audio playing despite the office sequence being over.
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Fixed animatronics still moving even after the game had ended.
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Fixed game not saving upon beating the first stage of every night.
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Fixed some UI scaling issues.
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Fixed performance issues regarding Tucker Tail-Wagger’s camera appearances.
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Fixed Extras Menu pop-up widgets from deactivating when they’re not supposed to.
03/11/2024 - Start of Devlog
Start of the Devlog:
The beginning of The Showtime Theatre’s devlog.
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The Showtime Theatre’s devlog is created and is now linked in the game’s description.
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The link to the devlog has also been shared on the game’s GameJolt page.