As we begin a new year, I thought it would be good to discuss my thoughts on how 2024 was for Baldi's Basics development and how I plan on tackling things in 2025!
2024
In 2024, I managed to release five major game updates, starting with 0.4 and ending with 0.8. Though there were a few delays, I managed to stick pretty close to the plan on releasing a new major update every two months, and I'm very happy with how that worked out!
That said, going into 2024 I explained that my plan was to essentially just work on stuff and then release whatever was finished when it came time to release a new major version. Despite my intentions however, I often didn't end up developing things that way. Instead I often found myself trying to cram certain features into the game in time for updates or working on new features that were so time consuming they were all I had been able to work on between updates and so they had to be completed within that time frame or else I'd have nothing to push whenever the next update was due to release (This mainly happened with 0.7's field trips). For better and for worse this led to occasional crunching.
Near the end of the year I did experience a bit of burnout, but now that I've had some time to reflect on things I feel that burnout stemmed more from lost development time (Largely due to some IRL issues such as mice and carpet beetles showing up in my house around November which I, admittedly, allowed to distract me from my work way more than I should have) and the stress I felt as a result of falling behind.
2025
With those lessons learned I'm making some lifestyle tweaks going into 2025 to help me work more a bit more consistently than in 2024, put less unnecessary pressure on myself, and make better use of my spare time so I can better recharge my batteries for work hours. I'm pretty happy with my work/life balance, but I think it will be even better in 2025!
To get more specific about Baldi's Basics Plus plans though, I want to outline my plans for the next couple of major updates and then discuss some changes I'll be making to my approach to updates afterwards.
0.9
As I took off work for most of December, I'm just now getting back into the regular development cycle. Instead of pushing 0.9 into the beginning of March to give it a full two-month development cycle however, I still plan on releasing it in about a month from now to maintain a two month gap from the release of 0.8. With that in mind, 0.9 will be mostly, if not entirely, focused on bug fixes. The list of known issues has gotten quite large and I don't want my desire to add new content to overshadow the need to fix bugs, and now seems like a good time to squash them. So, while 0.9 will not be very exciting, it will still be a very important update.
0.10
Version 0.10 however... Well, I'm not going to get into specifics, but my hope is to make this a relatively large update! There's some new content I have planned that I've been very excited about for a while, and I think things are likely to line up to allow me to finish it all in time for 0.10. All I'll say about the update right now is that, if all goes according to plan, conveyor belts will return, but as part of something that will totally change the game. Make of that what you will!
0.11 and Beyond
Once I finish 0.10, my plan is to change up the way I develop updates. As I mentioned above, I ended up falling into some needlessly stressful development habits in 2024. In 2025, after version 0.10 is released, I'm going to more closely stick to my plan of just releasing what is finished when it's time to release new major updates, without worrying about the size of updates. I will still plan on releasing a major update every two months, but to better achieve this goal I will be breaking up the time between updates into two types of development: Immediate and future.
Immediate development time will be focused on developing smaller, self-contained pieces of content that, once finished, can immediately be queued for the next update. Future development time, on the other hand, will be spent developing stuff that is not planned to be released any time soon, or stuff that may take longer than a single update period to finish.
So, once version 0.10 releases, I'll spend about a month working on relatively simple, new content for version 0.11, while the next month will be spent working on stuff such as new/reworked game systems, end-game stuff, secret levels, etc., much of which will not appear in the game until the 1.0 release. This pattern will continue as long as I keep releasing early access updates.
With this development pattern, I believe I'll be able to more consistently provide cool new stuff for each major update, while also getting a chance to work on stuff that will allow me to get closer to wrapping up the game. I still have no idea what version 1.0's release date will be, but for the first time since I started this project I feel like I can see a tiny bit of light at the end of the tunnel... In fact, if all goes well I hope to have an internal build that closely represents the structure of the finished game by the end of the year. This does NOT necessarily mean that I will be close to finishing the game, just that I hope to have reached a point where I can start a new game, play through all the planned levels, and reach something of a real ending. This build would still be crammed full of placeholders and be missing a ton of content, but I'm reaching the point where I think having a complete structure to build off of and refine is important. To be clear, this goal is entirely an internal one. This hypothetical build would not be released publicly or as part of the early access, it's just a development milestone.
I also plan on making some real attempts to get some other folks involved in the project this year. There are certain aspects of the game I know I'll need help with and I'm also still interested in seeking out a publisher. I've already got some concrete plans regarding this this year, so here's hoping I can find some help and speed things up even more!
Conclusion
Just as last year, I think 2025 will be a super exciting year for Baldi's Basics Plus! I hope you all will look forward to what's coming. Thank you all for the support and patience, without which I'd never be able to do this.
Version 0.8.1 is available now!
Merry Christmas everyone!
This update is just a quick patch fixing a few major issues that were introduced in 0.8, mainly issues with certain functions not being called when exiting rooms via vents.
However, due to popular demand, I've also re-added the time limit test option from the pre-releases as a challenge option which you can find in the game settings menu! On top of that, I've also added two additional challenge options! One which disables the map and one which causes item slots to disappear when using items. Think of these as a little Christmas gift! If you've been looking for some extra challenge, these settings will definitely help.
Added new challenge options accessible in the game settings menu.
1 Minute Limit: Sets the time limit on every level to one minute. Hurry up!
No Map: Completely disables the map. Pay attention!
Shrinking Inventory: When using an item, you will lose a slot for the rest of the level. Think carefully!
Bug Fixes
Fixed Strict mode being labelled as "Intense"
Fixed a bug that caused room exit functions to not be called when a player/NPC/entity exits a room via vents.
This fixes the game staying muted when leaving a library via a vent.
This fixes Chalkles continuing to charge when leaving the room via a vent.
Fixed missing captions for the time out bell.
Fixed walls forming inside the pillar in the special hall formation with the pillar, which could trap players inside. There are still some generation issues with this pillar, but players should no longer be able to get trapped if they end up inside (Except in very rare cases where lockers or other objects trap the player).
That's it for this update. I hope you all have a merry Christmas!
Version 0.8 is available now! + New Principal Plushie!
Hello everyone! I'm happy to announce that Baldi's Basics Plus version 0.8 is available now!
This update brings a mix of different new features, the biggest of which is the new time limit! Each level now has a time limit and when that runs out the school begins to shut down and the game begins to get harder. Lights will go out, Baldi will begin to get faster and Principal of the Thing will send you to detention if he sees you in school after-hours. You'll still have plenty of time to explore each level, just be sure you're not wasting it!
Thankfully, if you ever do find yourself taking too long to complete a level, there's another new mechanic that will come to your aid: You can now hide in the dark! If you stand on a cell that is as dark as possible, you will become hidden, and NPCs will not be able to see you. You'll need to take advantage of dark areas if you want to survive as Baldi gets faster and faster!
This update also includes an upgraded advanced map that allows you to place markers. These markers are not only visible on the map, but also at the corresponding location in the level when viewing the quick map. With these you can mark the location of important points like the storage locker, an area you used WD-NoSquee on, a room you left an important item in, etc. You could also use them to plan a route or to note the status of a structure. The possibilities are endless!
The last big new feature of this update is a new structure: Vents! Vent entrances can now be found in some rooms in level 3. Any entity that enters these will get sucked in, pulled through a series of ducts and then dropped through an exit in the ceiling somewhere else in the level. Vents are a great way to quickly traverse large distances in a level, but beware! Other characters can also wander into vents or follow you in if they are chasing you! If you're inside a room with a vent on the ceiling, keep your ears opened. You might just hear slapping coming out of the vents, in which case... get out of there!
Alongside the new structure I've also made several improvements to the level generator. Halls no longer generate with unfair dead-ends or bottlenecks, and I've streamlined the systems used to generate structures in order to pave the way for future structures. I've also made several tweaks to level generation parameters to try and reduce the frequency of empty areas appearing levels.
Those are all the major changes in this update, but before getting to the changelog I want to announce that Makeship and I have partnered once again to release a new Principal of the Thing plushie! You can check it out here.
Principal of the Thing was a very challenging character to transform into a plushie, but I'm very happy with the design I and the team at Makeship ended up with! It will be available to purchase until December 28, so if you want one be sure to grab it before the deadline. As Principal of the Thing once said, "No buying the Principal of the Thing plushie after the deadline in the halls!"
With all that said, I was hoping that this update would be much bigger, especially since it was delayed. My apologies to anyone who was expecting more in this update. Unfortunately life got in the way quite a bit and my productivity took a hit. To be honest, I feel like I may finally be experiencing a bit of burnout as well, but considering this is probably Baldi's Basics Plus' most productive year I guess I shouldn't be surprised! Because of this I will be taking most of the rest of December off and getting back to work, hopefully refreshed, in January. Version 0.9 will be mostly if not entirely dedicated to bug fixes as the list of known issues is getting pretty big and since that will be a good way to warm back up after my break. I'll post a status update around the beginning of January to discuss my 2025 plans beyond version 0.9! As always, I thank you all for your patience.
Now, on to the changelog. Please note that no new features will be covered by a spoiler bar, so don't continue if you don't want to know what the new structure is!
Additions
Added time limits. When time runs out, a special event activates which causes changes in the game and level. Each level has its own time limit. Level 1 = 5 minutes, level 2 = 7 minutes, level 3 = 9 minutes. The time out event does the following:
Baldi begins to get faster and faster over time.
The player will become permanently guilty for being in school after-hours. If Principal of the Thing sees the player in this state, he will chase them and send them to detention.
Individual lights in the hallways begin to dim until all have dimmed.
Principal of the Thing will turn out the lights in rooms with the exception of rooms with incomplete activities. Rooms with bonus questions do not count as incomplete activities.
A new music track will play. This track is a placeholder created using Microsoft Music Producer.
Added timers to elevator areas that display time remaining in a level.
Added decorative items and an exit sign to elevator areas.
Open elevators now act as light sources. When all notebooks have been collected and all elevators re-open, they will light green to make them easier to find.
Players can now hide by standing in cells that are as dark as possible.
Added map markers. Map markers can be placed by clicking the new map marker buttons on the advanced map and removed by clicking on placed markers on the advanced map. Map markers can be seen at their corresponding position in 3D space when viewing the quick map.
Added a new structure: Vents!
Vents generate in levels as an entrance in a wall connected to an exit in the ceiling elsewhere in the level via a series of winding ventilation ducts.
Any entity that enters a vent entrance gets sucked in and pulled through the ducts, eventually being ejected out of the exit point.
Vents apply a reverb audio filter to any entities with propagated audio while inside.
When the player is outside vents, entities with propagated audio will have their audio propagated from the vent entrance or exit, depending on how close the entity is to either.
When the player is inside vents, the player will hear the audio of all entities with propagated audio that are currently inside the vent regardless of position.
When the player is inside vents, they will hear audio outside the vents from the position of either the vent entrance or exit, depending on how close they are to either.
When any entity hits a turn while traveling through vents, a metallic bang sound will be produced. This can be heard from both the entrance and exit of a vent regardless of the position of the entity that triggered the sound's position in the vent.
When the player exits a vent, the exit will make a noise Baldi hears.
Added new Play Style option. This option controls how lives work.
Normal (Default): You start each level with three power tubes.
Arcade: You start with three power tubes, but do not get any more each level.
Strict: You only get one power tube per-game. Lose once and that's game over!
Changes
Made several changes to the level generator.
Halls now generate more intelligently and avoid forming dead-ends and bottlenecks.
Structure generation has been reworked and streamlined.
Swinging doors should now generate such that there is only one per-hall.
When controllable lockdown doors are added to a level, there can now be more than one.
When roto-halls are added to a level, there can now be more than one.
Some structures that were previously only generated in halls, such as storage lockers and vending machines, can now also generate in rooms at pre-determined safe positions.
Phones can now only generate in rooms.
More plants now generate in levels.
Level size in Hide & Seek levels is no longer random. As a result, levels are a more consistently compact with less wasted space.
No special halls are placed before hallways are generated. Now, special halls are only placed after halls are generated (Previously, special halls were placed both before and after). This prevents issues with inaccessible areas of levels being generated.
There are likely other small, unintended changes due to the structure rework.
Activities can no longer be completed if a room is not powered. This means bonus questions cannot be answered if Principal of the Thing has turned off the lights in the room. If a room is not powered, all lights on the Math Machine will be off and it will not indicate that it is clickable.
Changed advanced map interface. It now features on-screen zoom and scroll buttons, marker buttons and a timer display. The on-screen size of the map display has been reduced to make room for these new buttons.
Made changes to shaders to improve lighting in darkness. Textures no longer become totally black and there is now a much more noticeable increase in contrast in dark areas.
All three Hide & Seek levels now use the same lighting method in order to accommodate lights going dark once the time limit has expired.
Removed the detention HUD element that displayed detention time and replaced it with a timer that sits above doors in the principal's office.
Detention no longer uses real seconds and time counts down at 1.25 times the normal speed.
Cloudy Copter's wind will now affect other Cloudy Copters (This scenario is currently only possible via modding).
Removed
Conveyor belts have been temporarily removed as they are in the middle of being reworked. They will return in a future update!
Bug Fixes
The elevator gate can no longer be seen in the playground in the endless medium map.
Fixed Mrs. Pomp crashing if there are inaccessible classrooms when she tries sending the player to a class.
New Known Issues
Getting flipped due to Gravity Chaos starting or ending while traveling through a vent causes the camera to move outside the vents.
The lighting of entities traveling through vents appear to flash frequently due to using the grid-based lighting system.
Due to the way vents can crisscross, entities can occasionally be seen clipping through the walls of vents.
Time limit ticking and bell sounds are missing captions.
Pre-release Changes
Thanks to everyone who played the pre-releases and offer feedback! I was able to fix a lot of issues and oversights with vents and some other new features thanks to y'all.
Updated Baldi's placeholder time out line with finalized line.
Added sound effects to vents.
Added above mentioned audio mechanics to vents.
Fixed NPCs being able to see the player (And Principal seeing the Bully) while in vents.
Fixed Dr. Reflex being able to hammer entities while inside vents.
Fixed Mrs. Pomp being able to grab and drag the player while inside vents.
Fixed being able to see entities traveling through vents the player is not in.
Fixed vent exits being able to generate in Playgrounds.
Fixed vent entrances being able to generate in the principal's office and in playgrounds.
Updated and re-enabled pre-made maps.
Fixed vent exits being able to generate over lights.
Fixed being able to see lockdown doors and elevator gates inside vents.
Fixed room functions triggering when entities are traveling through vents.
Fixed issue where vents would sometimes generate with a segment near the end that reverses 180 degrees in order to ensure it connects to the selected destination point.
Fixed an issue which allowed vent exits to generate too close to vent entrances.
Fixed levels generating with inaccessible areas.
Slightly reduced time limits (Okay but actually after testing these adjusted time limits I felt they were a tad too tight, particularly level 3 without a map, so I meant to set them back to where they were but forgot WHOOPS. Hope this update isn't too hard!).
I think that's everything. I hope you all enjoy version 0.8!
Version 0.8 Status Update
Hey everyone!
I hope y'all are doing well. I'm back with a new status update all about version 0.8 of Baldi's Basics Plus! Let's start by discussing a couple new features that will be in the next update.
Play Style
This first one is pretty simple, but I think it will be an addition welcomed by many of you. I've added a new play style option that allows you to change how lives work to make for a harder or easier experience. The options are:
Normal - You start each level with three power tubes (This is how the game has worked since launch).
Arcade - You start with three power tubes, but do not get any more each level.
Strict - You only get one power tube per-game. Lose once and it's game over!
If you've found the game to be a bit too easy, or are looking for a more typical roguelike gameplay experience, this option can be adjusted to your liking! Normal helps balance the sometimes unfair chaos of the game by giving you a chance to learn levels and adapt accordingly, arcade still offers some leeway, but makes losing much more punishing, and strict won't let you have any second chances. Choose whichever option you think makes the game more enjoyable!
Note that this option won't impact the power bonus. The power bonus will be based on the number of attempts it takes to beat a level. So on the Arcade setting for example, if you go into a level with one power tube and beat it on your first try, you'll still get a 3X power bonus.
With that explained, let's talk about a much bigger new feature coming in the next update.
Hurry Up!
Recently I asked on Twitter what y'all's average times were per-level. I wanted to know to help balance a mysterious new feature. Well, I'm ready to reveal what that new feature is!
Time Limits
Yep, in version 0.8 you'll want to make sure you don't spend too much time in a level because school is only going to be in session for so long! This is a feature I've been planning on adding for a long time and I think it will add a good sense of urgency to the game. Finding good places to hide will still be important, but you won't want to hide forever!
With this new feature, once the game begins, you'll be able to see how much time you have via a timer near the elevators. I also plan on making the time viewable via the map. As time runs out, the Baldi TV will occasionally notify you as well. Once the clock hits zero, school is out! Things will start changing fast!
First off, Baldi will begin speeding up over time. The longer you stick around, the harder it will become to avoid getting caught! Principal of the Thing will also try to send you to detention for being in school after hours. Even after getting sent to detention for this reason, you will remain guilty in his eyes so be sure he doesn't see you again!
Lights Out
Characters aren't the only things that change when school is out though. The level changes as well! As soon as time is up, lights in the hallways will start dimming, and the Principal of the Thing will turn out the lights of rooms he exits. Things will get pretty dark fast, and you'll need to take advantage of this if you want to survive as Baldi gets faster and faster!
How can you take advantage of the lights going out? Well, this update will add a new mechanic that allows you to hide in dark areas! If you are standing on a tile that is as dark as possible, you'll become hidden and NPCs will not be able to see you. You'll need to find dark spots to survive and finish the level as Baldi begins reaching terrifying speeds.
In the future I plan on adding more content that utilizes lighting, but for now this is all I've implemented. To accommodate these changes I've also slightly reworked the lighting system to make super dark areas easier to see in. There is now a much more noticeable contrast when objects are in dark areas, and the minimum brightness is now limited so not everything becomes pitch black.
I may adjust lighting further to ensure things don't get so dark it's too hard to see.
I might add more effects for when you run out of time, but for now this is what I've implemented. In my testing I've found that trying to survive after time has run out is super intense, so it should be a lot of fun for those rounds that take a bit longer to beat than usual! Of course, I'll try to balance the time limits to make sure there is still time to thoroughly explore levels, you'll just have to be sure not too much time is wasted.
Level Generator
Aside from those new features, I've also dived back into the level generator to tackle several issues that have been on my to-do list for a while.
One issue, which I've now successfully solved, is eliminating dead-ends and bottlenecks in hallway generation. In previous versions of the game it has not been uncommon for huge, unpredictable dead-ends to form in levels which can unfairly end a round. Another issue was bottlenecks, where certain areas of a level could only be accessed via a single hallway. I created a new algorithm to more intelligently generate halls and avoid these issues. This will allow me to, in the future, be intentional about dead-ends generating in levels and better balance the risk involved with them.
Another issue, which I am currently working on, is that of open areas. When a level is generated the game scans it for open areas. Open areas are any parts of a level that have a 2x2 or larger group of cells connected to each other. Rooms are mainly where open areas are found. In order for NPCs to be able to navigate these spaces and avoid colliding with objects in them, the game generates a NavMesh and other data which makes this possible.
The blue grids are NavMeshes which have been generated in open areas.
The issue with the way this has worked in previous versions is that this data is only generated once when the level is first generated. If the level layout changes to change the shape of an open area (For example, it multiple portal posters are placed next to each other) none of that open area info is updated.
So, I'm currently reworking this system to make it possible to update this info as the level layout changes and to optimize it so that this can be done with very little performance impact. It's proven to be pretty challenging, but I've made good progress and I'm pretty confident I'll be finished with this soon. Perhaps not in time for 0.8, but this is high on my priority list for now.
Aside from that I'm also improving the way structures (swinging doors, conveyor belts, roto halls, etc.) are generated/loaded to pave the way for new ones! I really want to get some new structures in the game for 0.8 to really spice up the level generation since it's been a while since that aspect of the game has seen any new content. With that said...
Slowing Down
I've decided to delay the next update by a month. I plan on resuming the two month schedule again afterwards, but for a number of reasons I feel like it will be best to give 0.8 some more time in the oven. So the plan now is to release 0.8 in early December.
My main reason for delaying the update is that, due to how much time has been spent working on technical aspects of the level generator, I haven't had much time to actually create new content. I don't want 0.8 to just be the time limit and a new option so my plan now is to try wrapping up all the technical work I'm doing by the end of October and spend the entirety of November creating new structures and other content for the game.
Another reason for the delay just comes down to the fact I probably won't get a ton of work done in December due to the holidays, so it makes sense to crunch a little bit at the end of November to wrap up a big update and then be able to relax in December. With that in mind, 0.9 (Which will likely release at the beginning of February) will probably be focused on bug fixes since the list of known issues getting quite large and that will be a good way to warm back up after taking a short break.
Oh, and just a note since there seems to be some confusion regarding version numbers; Baldi's Basics Plus is using semantic versioning, so after 0.9 will come 0.10, 0.11, etc. I wanted to clarify this since I've seen that some people think 0.9 will be the last early access version of the game. I don't currently know what the last early access version will be, but it will be well beyond 0.9!
Conclusion
I think that pretty much covers everything that's going on regarding version 0.8 at the moment. I hope the delay doesn't come as too big a disappointment, but I will try my best to make sure the wait is worth it!
Version 0.7.1 is available now!
Hello everyone!
Baldi's Basics Plus version 0.7.1 has just released! I've been hard at work on 0.8 since 0.7 launched, but I made some time for a small patch as well. This patch makes several QOL improvements to the game based on feedback from 0.7. Thanks to everyone who has shared their thoughts!
Most notably, I've added a new option for players who might not want to play field trip minigames, but don't want to miss out on items. For quite a while I've considered the fact that not everyone is going to enjoy having to learn separate minigames in order to not miss out on any good items, so I've come up with a compromise. This is something I had intended to implement for 0.7, but just didn't quite have the time to. This new feature is the ability to give Johnny your bus pass! He'll go on the field trip in your place and bring back a random selection of three of the available minigame items. If you do this, you'll miss out on a potential perfect bonus, and Johnny may not select the same items you would, but the option is available now if you'd rather skip the field trip!
Another neat new thing: I've added Steam Timeline/Recording support to the game! Steam has a new game recording feature in the works. Currently it is only accessible if you are using the beta Steam client, but it's a great way to record and review gameplay sessions. Now that Baldi's Basics Plus supports this feature, if you look through your recorded footage through Steam, the video timeline will clearly indicate where gameplay occurs vs. menus, the current game status at any given time (Such as the level you are on and how many notebooks you have), and it will highlight wins, losses and high scores! So if you've played for a while and want to review some gameplay highlights, it will be easy to find, clip and share specific moments.
Added the ability to give Johnny a Bus Pass when a field trip is available. He will go on the field trip in your place and bring back three randomly selected items.
Added Steam Timeline/Recording support. Steam Recording is currently only available in Steam client betas. Whether you are currently using the beta, or wait for the feature to release officially, Baldi's Basics Plus will indicate useful information on your recording timeline to make it easier to find specific moments from your play session.
Changes
In Pick-Quick-Nic, the round indicator text color has been changed to green.
In Pick-Quick-Nic, the round indicator will now say "Final Round" on the final round, and "Bonus Round" followed by the number of bonus rounds that have been played if the player manages to go beyond the final round.
When playing minigames in Hide & Seek, there is now text if you lose indicating that you could have earned items if you had won the minigame. If you win, but do not get a perfect bonus, there is now text explaining that you can now pick three items.
When playing Campfire Frenzy in Hide & Seek, there is now an indicator showing how many tosses are left until the game is finished.
Bug Fixes
Fixed field trip entrance ambience not being affected by volume settings.
Fixed field trip minigames being in scoring mode while accessing them in Explorer Mode.
Fixed a bug that caused the grade bonus to not award the same amount of YTPs as displayed on the results screen.
Fixed a visual issue where the elevator screen would zoom a bit more than it was supposed to for one frame at the end of the animation.
Fixed an error that would silently occur due to banana trees spawning bananas in an invalid location.
Known Issues
Balloons occasionally clip into objects.
NPCs will often not try to flip themselves when they are oriented opposite the player during Gravity Chaos. This can lead to strange NPC behavior.
NPCs will occasionally appear to turn-around when entering open areas where a hallway bridges between two different parts of that open area.
Lockdown doors near spawn can be seen snapping into the open position at game start.
Dr. Reflex can squish NPCs even when they do not match his orientation during Gravity Chaos.
Captions are more likely to stack on top of each other and become hard to read due to the new sound propagation system. I plan on finding a way to prevent captions from rendering on top of each other.
There is no indication for when entities are about to become unsquished.
It is possible to see out of bounds while being rotated by a gravity flipper while squished.
On some screen resolutions, it is possible to see a gap through some elements on the elevator screen.
Some NPCs are very annoying when they are squished.
Wind and conveyor belt audio is not propagated.
NPCs will occasionally end up wandering into an area they should be fleeing from.
Dr. Reflex can sometimes get his hammer early while being pushed around by outside forces or when he is not able to find a path to his clinic.
NPCs can collide with other entities through walls, triggering their effects.
Math Machine balloons can rarely get stuck behind the diagonal math machine.
Principal, under some circumstances, can maintain his fast speed after using the principal whistle.
Arts and Crafters' echoes while attacking don't always match his orientation during the gravity event.
A seed is displayed when playing pre-made maps.
Held sprite objects, such as the math machine balloons, can be held into other areas such that their lighting noticeably changes.
Mrs. Pomp doesn't wander around class rooms in pre-made maps. She just stands in a corner.
Certain sound effects are delayed while the environment is frozen (Such as when Mrs. Pomp is asking the player to come to her class).
Maps from saved games of Hide & Seek from older versions of the game will fill out the areas found from the previous play session, even if it doesn't match new level generation.
Principal doesn't open office doors during detention while fleeing from a tape.
During the flood, hall swinging doors do not open, while swinging doors that lead into rooms do open.
AudioManagers playing multiple sounds in different mixer groups at once causes volume conflicts.
NPCs occasionally getting stuck in walls/objects.
One-way swinging doors can generate on top of standard swinging doors.
Cloudy Copter's wind can pass through solid objects like lockdown doors.
Placing an alarm clock in a doorway prevents the door from being clicked.
Gotta Sweep can navigate through locked standard doors but will not open them.
The Test can spawn close to the player.
Version 0.7 is available now! + New Dr. Reflex Plushie!
Hello everyone! I'm happy to announce that Baldi's Basics Plus version 0.7 is available now!
This update is entirely focused on bringing field trips back to the game so that now you can go camping again! Field trips work a bit differently now, though. You will now be able to find the bus in The Pitstop before level 3, and you'll need to bring a bus pass with you if you want to take a ride to the field trip! You can find the bus pass on level 2, so make sure you grab it!
When you go on a field trip, you'll be able to pick one of two minigames to play. When you win a minigame you'll get items that you can bring back with you. With a little bit of practice, you can even earn a perfect bonus of 250 YTPs!
As before, each minigame also has a score based variant and a high score table, so you can compete with others!
That's about it for the update, but before I move on to the changelog, I'm also excited to announce that I've teamed up with Makeship again to make a Dr. Reflex plushie! You can check it out here.
I worked closely with the team at Makeship to make sure all the details were just right and I couldn't be much happier with how it turned out! It will be available to purchase until September 28, so thiiiiiink fast and get it before then if you want one.
Now, on to the changelog:
Additions
Added new field trip format.
Field trips now have 3D, explorable hub areas.
Each field trip now has two minigames to choose from.
Winning a field trip minigame spawns in eight items that the player can pick. The player can pick up to three of these items.
Playing a minigame perfectly rewards the player with a perfect bonus of 250 YTPs.
Re-added camping trip.
Added new minigame Campfire Frenzy: Keep the fire roaring by launching fuel into it. Watch out though, not all fuel is good for the fire!
Added new minigame Pick-Quick-Nic: Be quick to pick a bite to eat before Baldi's appetite gets the better of him! Don't take his favorite food though!
Added a tutorial for each minigame. Tutorials can be accessed by clicking on a Baldi that is standing nearby a minigame area.
Added new music for minigames.
Added the Bus Pass item. This item must be in your inventory when clicking the bus door to go on a field trip.
Changes
You now must click on the bus door to go on a field trip, rather than just walking up to the bus.
The bus sprite has been updated to a rendered 3D object that better matches the game's style. Baldi finally gave the bus back to Joe after "borrowing" it for six years.
The bus now has collision.
Items can no longer be used in The Pitstop. This prevents several bugs from occurring.
The Pitstop now gives the player unlimited stamina.
Pre-release Changes
Made several small difficulty tweaks to Pick-Quick-Nic.
The round where all food appears and Baldi is only thinking of one item now has slightly more reaction time.
Hotdog bomb and pizza bomb rounds now have slightly more reaction time.
Slightly reduced the difficulty curve in normal (Non-scoring) mode.
Reduced the frequency of hotdog rounds relative to pizza rounds in normal mode.
Fixed a Pick-Quick-Nic issue where occasionally on round 2 all plates would unintentionally contain valid food.
Made food in Pick-Quick-Nic easier to click by making the plates valid hotspots as well.
Fixed the campsite ambience not being affected by volume settings.
Camping Baldi now has an animated mouth controlled by the volume of his voicelines.
Fixed an error that would be logged when entering the field trip entrance room in The Pitstop when no field trip is available.
I think that's everything. I hope you all enjoy version 0.7 and look forward to version 0.8!
Version 0.7 Status Update
Hey everyone, in this status update I'd like to discuss the new version of field trips that will be added in version 0.7 of Baldi's Basics Plus! Camping will be the first to be re-added, with the farm to follow in a future update, and then brand new ones on occasion after that. Before we can head out though, first you'll need to find...
The Buss Pass
The buss pass is a new item that will be added in version 0.7 which will be required to go on a field trip. One will always be found in level 2, so if you want to go on a field trip be sure you find it and take it with you to the next level! You can get some big rewards from field trips, so it will be worth the effort.
Once you reach The Pitstop for level 3, you'll find Baldi outside waiting to take you on a field trip! If you have a bus pass in your inventory, you'll be able to click on the bus door to be taken to a field trip hub area.
Field Trip Hubs
The field trip hub areas are freely explorable spaces where you'll be able to find minigames to play and take a break from the main game. You'll also be able to find and talk to Baldi who will explain how each minigame is played, which will make instructions less intrusive than they were in the previous iteration of field trips.
Many of you missed when field trips offered 3D spaces to explore, so for some time I'd been thinking of a way I could bring that element of the old field trips back, and this seemed like a good solution! While the minigames themselves won't take place in the hubs, these spaces still provide a nice change of scenery from the rest of the game.
Minigames
Once in a hub, you'll be able to freely explore and find not one, but two minigames to play! By offering two per-field trip, you're less likely to end up getting forced to play a minigame you don't like. Each time you go on a field trip, you'll be able to play one of the two available minigames and if you win, you'll be given a large selection of items from which you'll be able to grab up to 3, and if you win without making a single mistake, you'll be rewarded with a Perfect Bonus of a few hundred You Thought Points! Item loadout in screenshot is subject to change
Each minigame is a 2D affair as in the previous iteration of field trips, but I'm putting a greater emphasis on keeping minigames fast paced, simple and fun. In particular, each field trip will have at least one minigame which only relies on using one button, which not only forces me to think more creatively about how the minigames should play, but it also ensures there will always be a more user friendly option for people using a controller or touch pad which can make moving the in-game cursor harder than intended. That said, I plan on keeping minigames that use the cursor relatively simple as well. No more mazes or anything else that requires complex movement!
I want to mention that this video by Masahiro Sakurai was really helpful in getting me to reconsider what makes for a fun minigame and to put a focus on one button minigames. To anyone who is interested in game dev, check out his channel if you haven't! He has made a ton of great videos on the topic.
As before, each minigame will have two modes. An in-game mode when you are playing Hide & Seek where the minigame will last about a minute, as well as a scoring mode accessible when playing the Field Trips mode. The scoring mode of each minigame allows you to try and set high scores and in many cases only ends once you make too many mistakes!
Now that I've given an overview of the new field trip system, let's take a quick look at one of the two minigames that you'll be able to find at the campsite!
Campfire Frenzy
Campfire Frenzy is a fast-paced one-button minigame where you'll have to keep a campfire lit by launching fuel at it. Different objects will be tossed into a launcher from the side of the screen and, if it's fuel such as a log, you'll click to launch it into the fire. If it's not fuel, you'll have to wait until another object is tossed onto the launcher to take its place. If you fail to launch proper fuel into the fire, or launch something that isn't fuel, the fire will die a little, and if it goes out that's game over! It sounds pretty simple, but it gets hectic quick when the speed increases and when multiple objects get tossed at the launcher at once!
Conclusion
That's about it for this status update! I'm trying my best to take the lessons learned from the first two iterations of field trips to make something that will be a solid addition to the game. At this point, even if it's not perfect, I'm confident it will be good enough for me to safely say that this will be the final iteration of field trips and that I won't be reworking them again! Which is a relief to be sure, because I hate thinking about time spent working on stuff that ultimately ends up getting scrapped.
Currently, the plan is to launch the 0.7 pre-release on September 2, then the public release on September 9! Oh, and speaking of the pre-release, I now have a Patreon which you can find by clicking here! Anyone who joins will also be able to access the pre-releases, so if you missed out on the $30+ Kickstarter tier and would like to try out pre-release builds, check it out.
That's all for this status update! I hope you all enjoy the new camping field trip when it releases in version 0.7!
Version 0.6.2 is available now!
Hey everyone! A small patch was released today which fixes a few small bugs. Mainly, the water supply has been cleaned of the mysterious pink elixir Baldi spilled into it and whirlpools are back to normal. Here's the full changelog:
Bug Fixes
Restored a missing depth buffer shader that made whirlpools appear pink.
Fixed the inventory item sliding animation being tied to the frame rate.
Fixed the staminometer needle sliding speed being tied to the frame rate.
Fixed the exit sign in the pit stop not billboarding.
Version 0.6.1 is available now!
Hello everyone! Baldi's Basics Plus version 0.6.1 is available now! This update fixes several bugs that were in the game. Thanks to everyone who reported bugs as many of these would have been missed by myself! Here's the full changelog:
Changes
Propagated sounds are no longer audible if they are coming from silenced cells (For example, when WD-NoSquee is used). Note that non-propagated sounds, such as the sound that plays when entering a locker or Chalkles' laugh, will still be audible for now.
The Library now silences all cells inside so they behave the same as an area covered by WD-NoSquee.
Merry-go-rounds now fluctuate in direction and speed. This should prevent NPCs from getting stuck on them.
If a save file is corrupted or lost, the game will now search the save folder for existing files and recreate the NameList file based on its findings. This check will help prevent files from being excluded from the name list due to errors.
The save & quit poster in The Pitstop now clarifies that save and quit is for Hide & Seek only. Entering the save & quit room in explorer mode will just quit the game without saving.
Updated the contents of the crazy vending machine to include more items.
Shader variants are now used to control whether or not sprites billboard.
Tile materials now do not use alpha clipping shaders unless one of the tile textures has transparent pixels.
Bug Fixes
Fixed Diet BSODAs not saving in the inventory or storage locker when saving and quitting a game.
Fixed the HUD not returning to full brightness when exiting a hidden state.
Fixed NPCs getting stuck in the ground due to whirlpools... Probably.
Fixed an error which could occur when trying to load a corrupted NameList.lst file, which would cause the file select screen to cease functioning and essentially lock players out of the game until the file was manually deleted. The game should now be able to recognize when the NameList file is corrupted and replace it with an uncorrupted file.
Fixed whirlpools pulling on entities through one way colliders that the entity cannot pass through.
Fixed some main menu sounds not playing after completing a challenge map.
Fixed the grappling hook motor audio volume not being affected by volume settings.
Fixed a bug where the world wouldn't render if the player unpaused the game on the same frame the pause screen transition finished playing.
Fixed a visual issue that would occur when opening the advanced map while viewing the quick map.
Fixed the hand icon sometimes not disappearing when finishing/losing a level with it active.
Fixed the inventory saying "Nothing" when first spawning after loading a saved game even if an item is highlighted.
Fixed some playground variants not having any chance to get apple or banana trees.
Fixed a potted plant that was clipping through the wall in one faculty room.
Fixed the pickup that appears for the party event disappearing when the event is over if it has been collected and swapped with another item.
Several characters now override caption colors to make sure they are consistent.
Fixed the "*SNAP*" caption for the grappling hook being green.
Fixed the open save folder button not working on MacOS. NOTE: Since logs and save files are stored in two different locations on MacOS, this button will open two folders, the save folder and the log folder.
Fixed Mrs. Pomp's stomping sound playing rapidly for a few moments when she is teleported.
Fixed Baldi's sprite not immediately changing to his slap sprite as soon as he becomes dangerous again after being in a safe state.
Fixed fog rendering onto some UI elements.
Known Issues
I have read all the bug reports posted on the Steam forums for version 0.6! If you reported a bug that wasn't fixed and don't see it on the known issues list, I have probably noted it internally but have not listed it here due to it being low priority. That, or it's working as intended.
Note that many of the issues listed here have been reported by players, but I have yet to reproduce them myself, so the accuracy of them might vary.
Balloons occasionally clip into objects.
NPCs will often not try to flip themselves when they are oriented opposite the player during Gravity Chaos. This can lead to strange NPC behavior.
NPCs will occasionally appear to turn-around when entering open areas where a hallway bridges between two different parts of that open area.
Lockdown doors near spawn can be seen snapping into the open position at game start.
Dr. Reflex can squish NPCs even when they do not match his orientation during Gravity Chaos.
Captions are more likely to stack on top of each other and become hard to read due to the new sound propagation system. I plan on finding a way to prevent captions from rendering on top of each other.
There is no indication for when entities are about to become unsquished.
It is possible to see out of bounds while being rotated by a gravity flipper while squished.
On some screen resolutions, it is possible to see a gap through some elements on the elevator screen.
Some NPCs are very annoying when they are squished.
Wind and conveyor belt audio is not propagated.
NPCs will occasionally end up wandering into an area they should be fleeing from.
Dr. Reflex can sometimes get his hammer early while being pushed around by outside forces or when he is not able to find a path to his clinic.
NPCs can collide with other entities through walls, triggering their effects.
Math Machine balloons can rarely get stuck behind the diagonal math machine.
Principal, under some circumstances, can maintain his fast speed after using the principal whistle.
Arts and Crafters' echoes while attacking don't always match his orientation during the gravity event.
A seed is displayed when playing pre-made maps.
Held sprite objects, such as the math machine balloons, can be held into other areas such that their lighting noticeably changes.
Mrs. Pomp doesn't wander around class rooms in pre-made maps. She just stands in a corner.
Certain sound effects are delayed while the environment is frozen (Such as when Mrs. Pomp is asking the player to come to her class).
Maps from saved games of Hide & Seek from older versions of the game will fill out the areas found from the previous play session, even if it doesn't match new level generation.
Principal doesn't open office doors during detention while fleeing from a tape.
During the flood, hall swinging doors do not open, while swinging doors that lead into rooms do open.
The speed at which items slide in and out of the inventory can be inconsistent. This does not affect the responsiveness of using items.
AudioManagers playing multiple sounds in different mixer groups at once causes volume conflicts.
NPCs occasionally getting stuck in rooms.
One-way swinging doors can generate on top of standard swinging doors.
Cloudy Copter's wind can pass through solid objects like lockdown doors.
Placing an alarm clock in a doorway prevents the door from being clicked.
Gotta Sweep can navigate through locked standard doors but will not open them.
The Test can spawn close to the player.
Some users have reported getting regular BSODAs from Diet BSODA machines. I have not been able to reproduce this. If someone finds a way to reproduce this or can record it happening, please let me know.
Version 0.6 is available now!
I'm happy to announce that Baldi's Basics Plus version 0.6 is available now! This is a few days earlier than expected, but I'm going to be pretty busy with some IRL stuff for the much of next week so I figured it would be best to release this update now.
The biggest change in this update is the introduction of the tentatively named Pitstop. This is a small area that loads between levels/attempts where you can buy items, manage your items in the new storage locker and, in version 0.7, go on field trips! Johnny's store, which is now a 3D room, can also be visited in endless mode, where you'll be able to spend the YTPs you earn on items. The store will restock every so often so make sure you check in when you're in a pinch!
Unfortunately, as development of a third (And final) version of field trips is underway, I had to strip the game of the previously available camping field trip. My apologies for the inconvenience. My plan is to finish up this new version of the field trips in time for 0.7. Hopefully, the third time will be the charm and the changes I'm making will be a lot more fun and please everyone!
This update also includes a new item, the Diet BSODA! Diet BSODA is mostly the same as regular BSODA, except it only lasts three seconds. Since normal BSODA is a pretty overpowered item I wanted to find a way to balance it without ruining it, so I decided a good solution would be to introduce a weaker version of the item and make the original much rarer. Now you will find Diet BSODA about as often as regular BSODA showed up, while normal BSODA is harder to find, but more precious as a result. I'm hoping this change will make the game a bit more challenging without totally undermining existing strategies!
Aside from those changes I've also made several improvements to the interface and HUD. In particular, I've added several sound effects to certain interactions that were previously silent and polished out a few small quirks that I'd never been fully satisfied with. The game now offers players more feedback when they interact with it!
With all that said, here's the full changelog:
Additions
Added the (Tentatively named) Pitstop. This is a small rest area which loads between levels or before a level reloads after losing a life. In the Pitstop you can:
Visit Johnny's store and buy items with YTPs inside a new 3D store.
Manage items in the storage locker.
Save & Quit
In the near future, go on field trips.
And in the further future, even more cool stuff!
Johnny's Store can now occasionally have items on sale at a randomized discount.
Johnny can, once per-game, lend a hand by letting you by an item if you are 100 YTPs or less short of being able to afford it.
Johnny's Store now appears in endless maps, and you can buy items with the YTPs you've earned. It starts out closed but will open once five notebooks have been collected, and will restock every five after that.
All YTP values are multiplied by three in endless order to easily afford items.
Johnny can now be robbed.
Added several new sound effects where previously there were none. These sounds are:
Notebook pickup
Item pickup
Clicking menu items
Using the dirty chalk eraser
Inserting a tape in the tape player
Using the swinging door lock
Earning YTPs
Unique sounds for picking up 25, 50, and 100 YTP items
Added the Baldi TV to the HUD to replace the event announcement text that would appear at the bottom of the screen. Now, when an announcement needs to be made, a TV screen will lower from the upper left corner of the screen and display relevant information. Usually, it shows Baldi speaking as he announces an event or tells the player that all the notebooks have been collected.
Added a tooltip box to the HUD which can appear to show item descriptions while in Johnny's store.
Added the storage locker.
Appears in a random location in the halls of every level as well as the Pitstop.
This locker can be opened and you can place up to three items inside, which will carry over from level to level. The contents are saved every time you finish a level or leave the pitstop, but will reset to how they were previously when you lose a round, just like the inventory does. You can use this to save more valuable items you've found early in the game for later without using up inventory slots.
When it closes, it makes a loud noise Baldi hears.
If you walk away from it while it is open, it will close on its own.
Using it will get you in trouble with Principal of the Thing for looking in other people's lockers. The player will remain guilty until the door is shut, even if they are seemingly away from the locker (For example, if a wall is between the player and locker but the player hasn't moved far away enough for it to close itself).
Added the Diet BSODA. This behaves similar to BSODA, but the spray only lasts three seconds.
Added Diet BSODA vending machines.
Added a skip button to the elevator which will skip the pitstop and load the next level if the player so desires.
Changes
Made several improvements to the HUD.
The staminometer needle no longer snaps to it's correct position when the stamina value makes a big jump. Instead, it quickly, but smoothly, slides to the intended position.
When items are collected or lost, the item can be seen quickly sliding in and out of the inventory.
The notebook counter in the top left has been simplified to just the notebook count and an icon, rather than displaying the text "#/# Notebooks. The icon plays a small animation when notebooks are collected.
Improved the YTP information display when gaining or losing YTPs. Now, a display rises from the bottom of the screen and the amount of YTPs being earned will fall into the display. The display will then add up the earned YTPs before lowering off screen again. This display also lifts up while in Johnny's store so you can see how many YTPs you have.
Many HUD elements will darken to indicate when you are in an "invisible" state. When invisible, NPCs cannot see you.
Field Trips no longer load in levels. When they return, they will be accessible in the Pitstop.
Updated the textures for red and blue lockers.
The fan favorite "nothing" item, which now appears in empty storage locker slots, now has a question mark sprite assigned as its large icon.
Made big optimizations to light generation allowing light data to be recalculated at runtime with no noticeable performance impact. With this improvement, light will now respond to changes in the environment. For example, when placing a portal poster, light will now propagate through it.
The Dirty Chalk Eraser cloud now sets the player as invisible in addition to preventing NPCs from seeing past it.
WD-NoSquee has been overhauled such that it now creates a quiet zone when used and can be used anywhere, rather than needing to be used on specific objects. This quiet zone spreads about five cells out from the cell it is used on and all sounds made within it will not be heard by Baldi or any other characters. The quiet zone is signified by sparkles that appear and lasts for five minutes.
The order and timing of random events is now independent of the seed, and will be different on every attempt of a level. The selection of random events to be used is still dependent on the seed, however.
Changed the event start notification sound.
Changed the Math Machine correct and incorrect sounds.
Changed the countdown voice for the Test Procedure event.
The payphone now plays a coin drop sound when using a quarter on it.
Tweaked some event timing parameters.
Added to and tweaked some info in the credits.
Reduced flood ambient volume.
The vending machines found in faculty rooms can now be randomized to other types of vending machines.
Regular BSODA is now much rarer, with Diet BSODA being about as common as regular BSODA used to be.
Bug Fixes
Fixed a typo in one of Johnny's captions.
Corrected a typo in licenses.txt.
Actually fixed the flood ambient sound playing at normal volume for the first frame. It now fades in properly.
Fixed being able to buy the map again for a floor it has already been purchased for.
Fixed several objects in the playground rooms not being culled properly.
Fixed the inventory saying "Nothing" when spawning even if an item is highlighted.
Fixed an oversight that made it impossible to get in trouble for using BSODA.
Fixed gum floating in place when the object it collided with is moved or disabled. It will now disappear if this occurs.
Fixed Chalkles' audio cutting out when flying outside the room the player is in.
Pre-release Changelog
Fixed a bug where, if a level ended while the Baldi TV static sound was playing, it would continue to play indefinitely.
Added a poster to the Pitstop signifying where to Save & Quit.
Known Issues
Note that many of the issues listed here have been reported by players, but I have yet to reproduce them myself, so the accuracy of them might vary.
Balloons occasionally clip into objects.
NPCs will often not try to flip themselves when they are oriented opposite the player during Gravity Chaos. This can lead to strange NPC behavior.
NPCs will occasionally appear to turn-around when entering open areas where a hallway bridges between two different parts of that open area.
Lockdown doors near spawn can be seen snapping into the open position at game start.
Dr. Reflex can squish NPCs even when they do not match his orientation during Gravity Chaos.
Captions are more likely to stack on top of each other and become hard to read due to the new sound propagation system. I plan on finding a way to prevent captions from rendering on top of each other.
There is no indication for when entities are about to become unsquished.
It is possible to see out of bounds while being rotated by a gravity flipper while squished.
On some screen resolutions, it is possible to see a gap through some elements on the elevator screen.
Some NPCs are very annoying when they are squished.
Wind and conveyor belt audio is not propagated.
NPCs will occasionally end up wandering into an area they should be fleeing from.
Dr. Reflex can sometimes get his hammer early while being pushed around by outside forces.
NPCs will occasionally get stuck on the merry-go-round.
NPCs can collide with other entities through walls, triggering their effects.
Math Machine balloons can rarely get stuck behind the diagonal math machine.
Principal, under some circumstances, can maintain his fast speed after using the principal whistle.
Whirlpools that spawn behind a closed elevator gate still pull on the player, and this can cause the player to get stuck if there are multiple whirlpools.
Dr. Reflex's sprite rarely getting tilted when pushed by multiple outside forces at once.
Holding the quick map open while opening the advanced map causes a small visual issue.
Arts and Crafters' echoes while attacking don't always match his orientation during the gravity event.
A seed is displayed when playing pre-made maps.
Held sprite objects, such as the math machine balloons, can be held into other areas such that their lighting noticeably changes.
Mrs. Pomp doesn't wander around class rooms in pre-made maps. She just stands in a corner.
Certain sound effects are delayed while the environment is frozen (Such as when Mrs. Pomp is asking the player to come to her class).
Maps from saved games of Hide & Seek from older versions of the game will fill out the areas found from the previous play session, even if it doesn't match new level generation.
Principal doesn't open office doors during detention while fleeing from a tape.
During the flood, hall swinging doors do not open, while swinging doors that lead into rooms do open.
NPCs can rarely end up stuck in the ground after the flood event. (A potential fix for this is lined up for a future update).
The speed at which items slide in and out of the inventory can be inconsistent. This does not affect the responsiveness of using items.
