Hello everyone!It looks like I'm due to write up a new status update, so let's jump right into it!
If you didn't hear, there is a Beans plushie from Makeship available now! There are only a few days left to grab one, so be sure to check it out soon if you'd like one. You can find it on Makeship's website here:
https://www.makeship.com/products/beans-plushie
It's hard to believe, but a couple days ago Baldi's Basics had its eighth anniversary! I didn't have anything lined up to celebrate, but I did see a lot of awesome fan art for which I'm very thankful. It means a lot that so many of you have stuck around after all this time and that many new fans keep showing up despite how old Baldi's Basics is getting. I can't properly express how much of a blessing it is that I can keep working on this project full time and I'm incredibly thankful to God and to all of you for making that possible. As development continues I will keep trying my best to make a game that will be worth the wait!While I didn't have any big anniversary plans this year, I did recently start an official Baldi's Basics archive which includes several pre-1.0 builds of Baldi's Basics Classic! I will occasionally add more builds to the archive, but for now you can check out what I've uploaded here:
https://basically-games.itch.io/baldis-basics-classic-archives
As discussed in the previous status update, Baldi's Basics Plus version 0.14 has now released and brings several QOL improvements, bug fixes and balance changes to the game. Since then 0.14.1 has also released and I am currently working on more improvements that are being queued up for 0.14.2. The plan is to continue releasing 0.14 sub-versions on occasion to keep improving the game's state in early access while I continue working on version 1.0 exclusive content.I do want to again clarify something I've said previously that I've frequently seen being misinterpreted/misunderstood. 0.14 was the last scheduled major early access update. Emphasis on "scheduled". There very well may be a 0.15 and beyond if it makes sense to do so. The only difference now is that I am not beholding myself to a specific early access release cadence. On that note, I also want to emphasize that 0.14 is not even close to representing the planned 1.0 release. Some people seem to think that version 1.0 is just going to look like 0.14 with a bit more content slapped on, but I can assure you that version 1.0 will be a hugely substantial update!That leads me the next topic...
Progress on the 1.0 horizontal slice has been going very well. Over the past couple of months I've been toggling between early access development and h-slice development every week. In fact, the h-slice is finished!.. Is what I would be saying if every feature turned out as great as I imagined it would.For the most part, everything I've implemented for the h-slice has turned out great, but there is one sub-set of features that I've had to reevaluate as A) I've struggled to click every aspect of it into place and B) The ideas I've tried out for this thing are not turning out to be as fun as I'd hoped. I will be exploring a new approach that I think will work better. As a result I'll be working on the h-slice a bit longer before I can consider it finished.This isn't a bad thing! One of the reasons for doing the h-slice is to implement ideas and make sure they actually work before fully fleshing them out. Finding things that don't work and revising them is all part of the process.Aside from that, I have implemented some really cool stuff that I'd love to show you all, but I have to restrain myself since it's stuff that will be even cooler if it's saved as a surprise, so it will have to wait. That said, here's a screenshot of the h-slice that I can show you:
I can't go into details regarding the search for a publisher at this time, but I can at the very least confirm that there has been some movement in this area since the last status update. Currently I'm feeling very optimistic that we will end up with a good publisher! As I've mentioned before, announcements will be made once everything is finalized and planned out. Until then details will have to be kept under wraps.
I think that covers everything! As usual I will post another status update in a couple of months. Until then I will be hard at work on Baldi's Basics Plus 0.14 sub-versions and the h-slice!Thank you all for your support and patience!