The Clown's Forest

## Story

You play as Michael, an 18-Year-old College Student, who had gone camping with his friends over the weekend, although, unfortunately for them, it turned from a peaceful getaway to a fight for survival.

A Clown from the nearby closed-down amusement park is hunting them down through the forest, they say the Clown lost his mind when the amusement park started losing investment and customers. On the closing day of the park, the clown snapped and kidnapped kids and adults one by one, never to be seen again.

The Clown eluded capture and has been hiding out in the forest ever since... kidnapping those that stray too far into the forest at night.

Can you rescue your friends? or will you die trying?

## Development

The Clown's Forest started development in Late March 2022 as part of a Competition hosted by a few friends. After the competition was canceled, lead developer SilentWraith, continued development as he saw potential in the game, the story, and the characters. After a little under 4 months, The Clown's Forest was released on July 19th 2022. The game unfortunately released in a buggy state, which was fixed by subsequent updates over the course of the next couple weeks. In mid August, Wraith had started development on the 2.0 Overhaul Update which added the cut character of Carl Smith, as well as expanding the story of Michael, and Blitzo, as well as adding new locations, puzzles, threats, and much much more!

The 2.0 Overhaul update was released on December 23rd 2022 as a free content update for existing owners of the game. The Clown's Forest's price was raised from $1.99 to $4.99 as a result of the overhaul update's content.

## Cast

The Clown's Forest Cast
 Blitzo the Clown /
Jonathan Longhurst
 Diane Flynn
 Carl Smith
 Jerome Masterson
 Paul Davies
 Lucy Longhurst
 David Brown
 Oliver Brown
 Therapist

## Trivia

* The Clown's Forest's initial name during development was "The Camp Clown"
* The Titular Clown was supposed to be a fellow camper, and friend of Michael
* The name Blitzo wasn't introduced to the Clown until the 2.0 Overhaul Update.
* Michael Longhurst was planned to die in the true ending of the game, but was changed late in development
* Paul and Diane didn't used to be a couple before the 2.0 update.
* The Game took 4 months to develop
* The Game was initially released on Gamejolt, Itch.io, and Steam.
* The Game is no longer on Gamejolt or Itch.io
* The Game was mostly made by one person. Using purchased assets.
* Voice Acting was supposed to release in the 2.0 Overhaul Update, but is subsequently delayed to release sometime in 2023
* The Game was planned to be the only game in the series. This changed after the release, which prompted the 2.0 Update's development.
* The Game was built in RPG Maker MZ
* Michael's fears were based off the Lead Developer's Fears.

## Cut Content

* Combat was planned, but was removed part-way through development.
* There was a secret ending coded for 1.0's release, but was inaccessible, and was removed in the 2.0 release.
* An Attic Location was planned, but removed late into the 2.0's Update Development.
* The Caves were supposed to be longer in the 2.0 Update.
* Hartown Amusement Park was supposed to be explorable but was cut due to lack of assets.
* There was a Cut Bossfight at the end of the game where Michael takes down Blitzo. It was coded but was removed due to complications with coding.
* There was a 5th camper planned (Ultimately added in the 2.0 Update)

## Sequels

***The Clown's Forest 2: Waking Shadows*** was planned and started development in January 2023. Powered by RPG Maker MZ, it follows Michael,and James, 1 day after the events of The Clown's Forest 1. It is due for release for early 2024

***The Clown's Forest 3: Shadows of Blood*** was planned in August of 2022 to also be made in RPG Maker MZ. Due to the Assets and scale being an issue for the engine, it was then moved to be developed on Unreal Engine 5. The Project is still in planning stages.

***The Clown's Forest: Tokens of Insanity*** is an in-development spin off which started development in mid March 2023. It is the first game in the series to not feature Michael as a Playable Character, it follow's Jonathan Longhurst who is trapped in his own mind, being pursued by threats, while having to collect the Hartown Amusement Park Arcade Tokens. The game is being developed in Unreal Engine 4 and is planned for release sometime in 2024.