Friday Night Funkin'

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Friday Night Funkin'
FNF-Logo.svg
Developer(s) The Funkin' Crew Inc.
Director(s) PhantomArcade [1] [2]
Designer(s) PhantomArcade
Programmer(s) ninjamuffin99
Artist(s)
  • PhantomArcade
  • evilsk8r
Writer(s) PhantomArcade
Composer(s) Kawai Sprite [3]
Engine HaxeFlixel (OpenFL, Haxe)
Platform(s)
ReleaseTBA
Genre(s) Rhythm
Mode(s) Single-player

Friday Night Funkin' is an upcoming open-source [lower-alpha 1] rhythm video game released on Newgrounds in 2020. [4] The game is developed by a small group called The Funkin' Crew Inc., which consists of Cameron "ninjamuffin99" Taylor, David "PhantomArcade" Brown, Isaac "Kawai Sprite" Garcia, and evilsk8r. The game shares some gameplay features with Dance Dance Revolution , PaRappa the Rapper , and the "Dance Contest" minigame from Club Penguin , and borrows aesthetic influences from Flash games. [5] The game has been credited with driving users back to Newgrounds, a site whose popularity peaked in the early 2000s.

Contents

The game revolves around the player character, Boyfriend, who must defeat a variety of opponents in singing and rapping contests in order to continue dating his love interest, Girlfriend. Gameplay involves hitting notes with timed inputs while avoiding running out of health for the duration of the song. [6] [7]

The game was initially created for the Ludum Dare 47 game jam on October 5, 2020. [8] An expanded demo was released on November 1, 2020, with updates continually released in the following months. A full version of the game backed by Kickstarter, titled Friday Night Funkin': The Full Ass Game, is in development. [9]

Gameplay

The game's main playable character, Boyfriend Boyfriend-2.png
The game's main playable character, Boyfriend

Friday Night Funkin' is a rhythm game in which the player controls a character called Boyfriend, who must defeat a series of opponents in order to continue dating his significant other, Girlfriend. The player must pass multiple levels, referred to as "weeks" in-game, containing three songs each. Each week, the player faces a different opponent, though some deviate in structure from this via the inclusion of multiple opponents. During gameplay, the opponent will sing a pattern of notes (represented as arrows) which the player must then mirror by using the arrow keys or the W, A, S, and D keys. Some songs introduce more complicated patterns, with the player's pattern sometimes varying from the opponent's or both singers engaging in a duet.

For each week, the player has the option to select one of three difficulties: Easy, Normal, or Hard. As the difficulty increases, the speed of incoming arrows increases, and the patterns of arrows become more complex. The player's high score for each week on each difficulty is tracked and shown in the top corner of the week selection screen. [3] [6] The game contains two different modes of play: a story campaign in which songs are played linearly, and a "free play" mode which allows for free selection of any of the game's music tracks. [6]

Development

The logo used for the Ludum Dare Prototype version of the game Friday Night Funkin' Ludum Dare Prototype logo.svg
The logo used for the Ludum Dare Prototype version of the game

In October 2020, game programmer ninjamuffin99 began work on a game for the Ludum Dare 47 game jam. He asked artists evilsk8r and PhantomArcade to help him with the project, as both had experience in game development as well. A composer known as Kawai Sprite was also added to the team in order to create the songs featured in the game. The game was quickly assembled using a pre-made flash-to-haxe pipeline.

The prototype contained only a handful of music tracks and lacked menus. Despite its rudimentary design, the prototype received unexpected success, leading to many requests for a full game. In response, ninjamuffin99 stated that he had plans to expand the game. [8]

The team would later update this demo on November 1, 2020, which added several additional menus and options as well as Week 2, a new level. Interest in the game increased, with it quickly growing in notoriety on Newgrounds as it had received significant attention via platforms such as YouTube, Twitter, TikTok, and Twitch.

Week 7 was released as a timed exclusive on Newgrounds. [10] Due to the increase in traffic on Newgrounds, the site crashed. [11] The game ended its updates following Week 7, with the developers instead focusing on working on the full game, titled Friday Night Funkin': The Full Ass Game. [12] Its soundtrack has been made available on Bandcamp and Spotify. [13]

Kickstarter

In April 2021, the developers announced plans to launch a Kickstarter project later in the month to turn the demo into a full game. [9] On April 18, a Kickstarter project for the full version of the game was released under the name Friday Night Funkin': The Full Ass Game and reached its goal of $60,000 within hours. [14] The Kickstarter ultimately raised over $2 million. [15] In February 2022, IGN reported that Friday Night Funkin': The Full Ass Game was one of the most funded Kickstarter projects of 2021. [16] The full game is planned to include a mobile version for Android [17] and iOS, remixes of the songs intended to be more difficult to play, online multiplayer, and multiple new levels. [18]

Reception

Modding

Friday Night Funkin' has an active modding community due to its open-source release, allowing for the implementation of fan-made content. [5] [19] [20] As a result, the full game will receive mod support using the Polymod framework. [21] [22] [23]

Notes

  1. ↑ Friday Night Funkin' is licensed under the Apache License 2.0, per the game's license file, and it is described as "fully open source" by its developers in the readme file included with the game. However, the repository's readme file states, "IF YOU MAKE A MOD AND DISTRIBUTE A MODIFIED / RECOMPILED VERSION, YOU MUST OPEN SOURCE YOUR MOD AS WELL", implying a copyleft requirement. From May to August 2021, the license file simply stated "if u make mods, open source them, lol!"; the Apache License 2.0 was used prior to May. In a tweet, ninjamuffin99 stated that it gets "iffy" when non-code assets are used commercially. Since January 2023, the license file simply reads "SORTING OUT LICENSE STUFF!!! BRB LOL!".

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References

  1. ↑ "Funkin.me".
  2. ↑ "Funkin.me".
  3. 1 2 Sears-Allen, Diamond (May 17, 2021). "Bust A Move On Your Keyboard In Friday Night Funkin'". StudyBreaks. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  4. ↑ Watts, Rachel (July 15, 2021). "Friday Night Funkin' is the DDR beatboxing game driving players back to Newgrounds". PC Gamer.
  5. 1 2 Wery, Jackson (January 29, 2021). "Friday Night Funkin' Fondly Recalls Flash Games". TechRaptor. Archived from the original on February 3, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 Cheeda, Saim (April 27, 2021). "10 Things You Need To Know Before Starting Friday Night Funkin'". Game Rant .
  7. ↑ Williams, Leah J. (May 13, 2021). "Friday Night Funkin' Is The Internet's Latest Toe-Tapping Obsession". Kotaku Australia. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
  8. 1 2 "Friday Night Funkin". ldjam.com. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
  9. 1 2 Davies, Patrick (April 2, 2021). "Kickstarter launched for Friday Night Funkin'". 100 Mile House Free Press . Black Press. Archived from the original on April 2, 2021. Retrieved April 5, 2021.
  10. ↑ Knight, Kyle (April 19, 2021). "How To Play Week 7 Of Friday Night Funkin' – FNF Guide". Dual Shockers. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  11. ↑ Cohen, Skylar (April 19, 2021). "Friday Night Funkin' Week 7 Reveal Crashes Newgrounds". Game Rant. Archived from the original on April 25, 2021. Retrieved May 15, 2022.
  12. ↑ Ranta, Chris (April 22, 2021). "When is Friday Night Funkin Week 8?". The Click. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  13. ↑ Castillo, Alejandro (March 4, 2021). "Friday Night Funkin: cómo jugar y descargar gratis en PC el juego musical de moda". MeriStation (in Spanish). Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved March 4, 2021.
  14. ↑ Wery, Jackson (April 18, 2021). "Friday Night Funkin' Drops Week 7". TechRaptor. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  15. ↑ Barnewall, Chris (May 18, 2021). "Newgrounds Demo 'Friday Night Funkin' Raised $2 Million On Kickstarter". UPROXX. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  16. ↑ Dinsdale, Ryan (February 24, 2022). "Kickstarter Funded a Record Number of Games Projects in 2021". IGN. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
  17. ↑ "Twitch".
  18. ↑ Davies, Patrick (February 2, 2022). "100 Mile House developer, 22, raises millions for Friday Night Funkin' video game". Vancouver Island Free Daily.
  19. ↑ Davies, Patrick (November 21, 2020). "South Cariboo game designer reaps success". 100 Mile House Free Press . Black Press. Archived from the original on November 27, 2020. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  20. ↑ Holland, Naquan (February 26, 2021). "Iconic PaRappa the Rapper Level Modded Into Friday Night Funkin'". Game Rant. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  21. ↑ Allen, Joseph (April 8, 2021). "Friday Night Funkin' Is Getting Polymod Support Soon". TechRaptor. Retrieved April 19, 2021.
  22. ↑ Lee, Julia (January 8, 2021). "TikTok's algorithm led me to an amazing rhythm game". Polygon . Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
  23. ↑ Costa, Thomas Schulze (February 26, 2021). "Conheça Friday Night Funkin', jogo de música que virou febre!" [Discover Friday Night Funkin', a music game that has become a rage!]. TecMundo (in Brazilian Portuguese). Archived from the original on February 27, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2021.
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