INTRODUCTION
Hey, SilverSpringing here! In case you're unaware, I'm the lead developer of Clicky, and I made substantial progress on the game this year. Some of you may have noticed that I've pushed back the release date to Q1 2026. Unfortunately, the first version of early access isn't ready to release quite yet, but I hope to fill you all in on what's going on behind the scenes from now on, right here on Steam!
SHINY NEW FEATURES
Earlier this year, I migrated the game from a version of GodotSteam to a newer version of Godot with support for C#, another programming language used in the Unity game engine. This was for a couple other reasons concerning optimization, but mostly because I wasn't quite satisfied with how MIDI playback sounded in the native GDscript MIDI player I was using beforehand.
Unfortunately, there aren't any versions of GodotSteam that support native C# usage, so the migration came with the catch of me having to write my own way to interface with the Steam API. I'd like to think I did a good job, though!
I also took this opportunity to start with a clean slate and use the new version of the editor to integrate a couple cool new features.
I decided to add support for Steam Input, meaning the game will be playable with controllers and on Steam Deck (That is, if I programmed everything correctly...) upon launch!
Using MeltySynth and NAudio, and after following this handy tutorial, I was able to add an optimized real-time MIDI player for all sorts of reasons that will be useful in the future (eg. speeding up music during certain gameplay sequences).
Oh, speaking of gameplay...
RETHINKING GAMEPLAY
Lately, I've been mulling over my initial plan for the gameplay loop of the computer sections of Clicky, and how I can potentially make them more fun, yet structural and organized.
For the longest time, I always imagined that you would have to search through folders to find glitched files, which you would then need to delete in order to progress within the level, with characters sidetracking you and hindering or advancing your progress. Simple as. However, the closer I get to this idea being playable, it always seems less fun and chaotic than I want it to be.
As an additional issue, with the way the level generator currently functions, it mostly generates levels that have either too many or too little files with no in between. I thought making folders generate less often would fix this issue, but it only seems to have made the output lean somewhat more towards one side as opposed to being an actual solution.
I've recently been considering having folders be premade, randomly selected and then placed into levels for the sake of better design, so I'll likely be spending the rest of 2025 planning out and prototyping a new level generator as well as other things related to file structure.
SCRAPPED SONGS
I think I should also take this post as an opportunity to be transparent about another aspect of the game's development, that being songs that won't make it into the first version of early access. Clicky, as a game, has been in development for a long time and has changed quite radically since the game's inception in Q4 2022, and the inception of the idea itself even further back. I've wanted to make this game for a long, long time.
The following songs were made by smileysqueak, who has been the main composer for the game since around the first or second quarter of 2023. I offered him a choice to work on one of my two active projects I had going on at the time, and he picked this one! It's still surreal to me that I get to work with him on my dream game.
Without further ado, here are a handful of unused tracks dating as far back as 2023! They aren't very representative of the state the game is in now, so hey, have them as a treat! I figure it'd be better to show them off than to keep them rotting on my SSD forever.
Song | Intended Use | Reason It Was Scrapped |
|---|---|---|
Played when idling during computer levels. | While music normally playing in the background during computer levels was a neat idea on paper, in practice it was kind of distracting, so the idea was subsequently scrapped. I briefly reused this track for the first iteration of the overworld, but that ended up being scrapped with both a narrative change and the move to Godot. | |
Used for an older version of the tutorial. | Scrapped with the move to Godot and the retooling of the tutorial in March 2025. Squeak also wasn't super proud of this one. | |
Played on the results screen shown between computer levels. | While I liked this song, Squeak opted to remake it and push the boundaries of what he knew about MIDI music as far as he could go to make it better. I personally requested he keep the motif! | |
Played during the final results screen after the last level in a gameplay session. | Scrapped due to a gameplay style and structure change. There probably won't be a final results screen until 1.0. | |
Played in the options menu. | I liked this track, but it didn't feel options-y enough to me. Squeak composed a remix of the new title theme after some feedback. | |
Played during the first boss fight. | As the character this theme was for changed, I felt it didn't really fit with their personality or motives anymore, and this song was scrapped as a result. | |
Played during the final boss fight in extremely early versions of the game. | Scrapped with a massive narrative and story change to try and orient the game away from the horror genre. As such, the character this was intended for no longer exists. |
CONCLUDING STATEMENT
Thank you for reading this far! I hope you enjoyed me rambling about what's been going on behind the scenes. :)
2026 is looking to be a pretty good year for Clicky! I'm currently looking to release the first version of early access in Quarter 1, using March 31st as my deadline. I think this will incentivize me to work a little harder, as I've been going through a bit of a personal programming slump recently.
As always, thank you all for your support! I'm very excited to introduce you all to my dream game, and your sharing and wishlisting means so much to me. <3
See you soon! Or whenever I decide to do another one of these. Whichever comes first!
– SilverSpringing, December 2025