1998: The Toll Keeper Story News

[p]Hey everyone![/p][p]We're pushing a small QoL update today regarding item interactables and save files.[/p][p]Here's the list of changes that we hope will improve your experience:[/p]

• [p]Make the bills on the cash register & UV lights immediately draggable.[/p]
• [p]Add another auto-save point in the game: Adding to the daily save (every morning), the auto-save is now also triggered when Dewi's shift is over (every evening).[/p]
• [p]Add more save slots (up to 30).[/p]

[p]We saw that some players' initial reaction when interacting with the UV lights and the cash register is to drag them immediately, only to fail to do so in the previous version. Bills on the cash register & the UV lights are now immediately draggable.
[/p][p][/p][p]Previously, the auto-save only triggered on each new day (in the morning). We saw that some players were taking a break after finishing the diary (before the auto-save is triggered), which caused them to lose their progress. We add another save point to prevent this from happening again. We also add more save slots (ex, the behavior is closer to checkpoints) to accommodate the double save point and also for you to be able to load further save points. [/p][p][/p][p]Bug Fixes[/p]

• [p]Fix some localization[/p]
• [p]Fix a bug that causes the music volume to be unbalanced [/p]

[p]We're continuing to monitor all feedback and bug reports. Thank you for playing 1998: The Toll Keeper Story![/p]

[p]In this Devlog, Roderick (Game Designer) and Ruth (Composer) are going to talk about the audio development in 1998: The Toll Keeper Story [/p][p][/p][h3]The Making of Sound and Music[/h3][p][/p][p]Hello![/p][p]I’m Roderick, and I want to share a bit of the process behind the making of the Sound and Music in 1998: The Toll Keeper Story.[/p][p][/p][p]The ideas in designing the audio of this game start with the job of a toll-keeper itself, which looks mundane and monotonous. So, only have a sideroad ambience as the main background is what we decided. This idea goes along quite well with our SFX and UI concept to give unique vintage sounds to each interaction in the game.[/p][p]Then we have the idea to add a radio in the game. At first, this radio will be the main world-building media for the game as we planned to add several breaking news to be played on the radio. Unfortunately, in our test sessions, we found it was very easy for testers to miss out the contents of the news, and it also felt too disruptive to the gameplay. With this, we go back to newspapers to be the main media for world-building in this game.[/p][p][/p][p]So for now, the radio only serves as a music player to accompany Dewi as she goes through her day in the booth. Although nearing the final phase of the game development, there was an idea to make this radio feel more alive, but sadly, there was not enough time for us to implement it. But I hope we can add this idea in one of the future updates.[/p][p]As for making the music, I was working with multiple incredible artists and composers who successfully brought the uniqueness of Indonesia’s late 90s music to this game, both on the radio music and also the VN-style BGM for the night session. It was very fun making the music for this game, since the main references are music I grew up with: Indonesian 90s hits.[/p][p]To share more about the music in this game, Ruth will share her story of composing the amazing cinematic scene.[/p][p][/p][h3]Composing a Painful Memory[/h3][p][/p][p]Hi everyone![/p][p]I’m Ruth, one of the music composers for 1998: The Toll Keeper Story.[/p][p][/p][p]I was entrusted with writing the music for Cinematic Day 15 and the cinematic ending of the game. At first, I was very honored, but also totally freaking out since I had to depict and embody the historical tragedy of 1998 through my music. On top of that, it was a challenging task because the music had to help conclude the game and hopefully deliver its message to the players.[/p][p]During the writing process, I spent about 50% of my time watching documentaries and reading articles about the 1998 incident. Since I wasn’t born yet when it happened, I wanted to make sure I had an accurate understanding of what took place. That research enabled me to write music that could effectively convey the story and the inspiration behind this game.[/p][p][/p][p]For the cinematic happy ending, I think that was the hardest one to write compared to the others. I needed to show how the character has moved on from the past, while also capturing the fact that the memories and pain don’t just fade away easily. The pain might linger or gradually recede with time, but I personally believe that through Dewi’s eyes, there’s a better future ahead.[/p][p][/p][p]To portray such humanity and loss, I decided to use organic elements, such as breathing sounds and vocals incorporated in the music. From those core elements, I expanded the idea by incorporating orchestral instruments mixed with electronic/synth elements to create a deeper ambience for the audience to step into Dewi’s world.[/p][p]That’s all I have to share about my process of composing the music for the cinematics. Hopefully, this gives you a glimpse into the thought process behind it. Most of all, I hope the players can feel the range of emotions I aimed to convey through the collaboration of storytelling, gameplay, animation, and music.[/p][p]Thanks!.[/p][p]
[/p]

[p]Hello everyone!

I'm Dodick Zulaimi Sudirman, COO of GameChanger Studio. In 1998: The Toll Keeper Story, I mainly supported Riris on marketing the game.[/p][p]This time, I want to share the story behind how we approached the marketing for a game as sensitive and personal as 1998: The Toll Keeper Story. Marketing this game wasn't just about showing off features. It was about building a community and carefully communicating a difficult theme.[/p][p][/p][h3]The Initial Reveal (April - May 2025)[/h3][p]Long before our main launch push, we had to find the right voice for the game. Our social media plan for April and May was built on a two-pronged strategy. First, we focused on community engagement, asking our followers direct questions like, "What's the scariest moment you've faced during a crisis?". Second, we started building the world of Janapa, piece by piece.[/p][p][/p][p]On April 30th, I sent out the first press release to our media list. The response was immediate and overwhelming. By May 2nd, the posts were live, and coverage began to flood in from local media like The Lazy Media, GGWP.ID, Diorama.id, KotakGame, and Duniaku. Soon after, Tempo (local and English), Detik, and even international outlets from China, Russia, Thailand, Malaysia, and Brazil picked up the story.[/p][p][/p][p]The results were explosive.[/p]

• [p]One of our Instagram reels hit 1.3 million views.[/p]
• [p]Our Instagram followers shot past 5,000.[/p]
• [p]Most importantly, our Steam Wishlists skyrocketed. Riris had set a target for the end of May, and we hit 3,832 wishlists by May 19th—almost double our goal.[/p]

[p]This initial data was crucial. We saw that our posts performed best on weekends, so I immediately adjusted our social media schedule to post three times a week: Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday.[/p][p][/p][h3]Our Second Push on our 12th Anniversary (June 2025)[/h3][p]After that initial boom, we knew we had to scale up. In early June, Kamila joined to focus on marketing. Our first major beat together was our studio's 12th anniversary later that month. We knew we had to make it special. [/p][p][/p][p]Riris along with the team, decided to structure the announcement around two key pillars which are a major collaboration reveal where Si Juki would be a recurring cameo driver in the game and fans appreciation by hosting a giveaway with Steam Keys to thank our "Changer Fans" for their long-time support.[/p][p][/p][h3]Building the Community (July - Sept 2025)[/h3][p]We needed a central hub for our players. Our goal, as Riris set it, was to grow our new public GameChanger Studio Discord server to 300 members before the Steam Next Fest demo in October.[/p][p][/p][p]To do this, we started planning weekly events and digital activities. We decided to stream our games on the Discord server, including the latest 1998 demo. We also launched competitions, such as a propaganda flyer design contest and a "Letters for Dewi" event.[/p][p]Beyond digital events, we also planned in-person activities. Yosi, our UI artist, came up with a great idea for our booth at Indonesia Game Week (IGW): a "Lomba Dekorasi Diary Dewi" (Dewi's Diary Decoration Contest), where visitors could design a diary page and win prizes.[/p][p][/p][h3]More Social Media Push (Sept 2025)[/h3][p]Riris planned our posts in weekly themes, focusing on the why behind the game. We didn't just want to show gameplay; we wanted to build the world of Janapa. For example:[/p]

• [p]We posted the in-game headlines to explain why the students were protesting.[/p]
• [p]We shared assets of in-game propaganda flyers, explaining that in 1998, these were the "social media" for both sides.[/p]
• [p]We posted the "Demokrasi Mati" (Democracy is Dead) graffiti, showing how the city itself was reacting to the crisis.[/p]

[p][/p][p][/p][h3]The Final Push (Oct 2025)[/h3][p]As we got closer to our October 28th launch, our strategy shifted to press outreach and final preparations.[/p]

• [p]Press Keys: We decided to send the full-game Steam Keys to local and SEA media around October 10th-13th. This was before the public demo, giving them plenty of time to play and write their reviews under embargo. [/p]
• [p]International Outreach: We got support reaching audiences outside of Indonesia and Southeast Asia from our PR partner. We also had a regional publishing collaboration with CC Games for China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macao.[/p][p][/p]

[h3]Launch & The Reviewer/YouTuber Wave (Oct 28 - Nov 4)[/h3][p]Launch day, October 28th, arrived. The first reviews hit, like Screen Hype and Kakuchopurei. Both reviews became a huge morale boost. One by one, more reviewers posted their reviews on their sites.[/p][p]During the week of the game's launch, we were glued to our screens watching YouTubers and VTubers pick up the game. It began with channels like Wendika and Christopher Devin. Then Droomp posted his video, getting frustrated trying to find all the endings. [/p][p]Then, the big one came, Windah Basudara. The whole team was watching. This was followed by Eno Bening and PokoPow. The community engagement was massive, with players like Snake9 and Christopher Devin actively hunting for the "Best Ending."[/p][p][/p][p]The results on Steam were immediate. We hit 50 reviews and a "Very Positive" rating by October 30th, and just two days later, we passed 100 reviews. Our mobile launch was also a huge success, hitting the Top 5 in the "Top Paid (New)" chart.[/p][p][/p][h3]Closing Thoughts[/h3][p]Marketing 1998 has been a journey of its own. It was a massive team effort, from Riris's high-level strategy to the entire team's active participation.[/p][p]This devlog series itself is part of that effort. As we were navigating the launch, the rest of the team was already busy writing the devlogs on different aspects of the development. Thank you for reading and for following our journey.[/p]

[p]Hello everyone!

I’m Yosi, the UI Artist for 1998 : The Toll Keeper Story. After highlighting the visual art on the aspect of characters, environments and animations,we'd like to show you how we design the user interfaces,  which players will interact the most while playing the game.[/p][p][/p][p]The keywords for designing the UI in 1998 are "Vintage" and "Analog," meaning that the UI needed to have the old aesthetic of a 90s office desk. This is reflected in the color palettes being mostly brown and in the analog sound effects, like the sound of an old mechanical keyboard or the sound of a receipt printer[/p][p][/p][p]Even though brown was the dominant color palette, we make use of more contrasting colors to highlight important elements inside the UI, like the color red for inspecting, reporting, rejecting drivers, The colorful variations of money and green to let the cars through.[/p][p]
Immersion was also a major factor when designing the UI. We want players to feel as if they’re working inside the toll booth, even while role-playing as Dewi. [/p][p]
To simulate Dewi’s daily work of handling multiple tasks at once, we made the multiple rules and guide papers floating windows that the player needs to organize on one screen, immersing them in the hectic work-life of a toll keeper. This was a risky move because it could overwhelm the player with information. To handle this, some windows close automatically. For example, the rule page closes itself after an inspection (we assume the player won’t check the rules again after inspecting a vehicle). This mechanic greatly reduces the clutter on the screen.[/p][p]
Another way we increased immersion was by changing the UV light. In earlier iterations, pressing a button would reveal all fake bills instantly. This made counterfeit bill checking too easy and had little impact on the player. With that in mind, we overhauled the UV light, making it a cursor with a smaller light radius that the player must physically pick up and shine on each bill individually. This increases player satisfaction when they discover a counterfeit bill and, in turn, increases immersion.[/p][p][/p][p]The UI also serves as a way to tell the story and build the world through the newspaper. We designed it by referencing old 90s Indonesian newspapers, adopting their color palette, fixed-column layouts (to fit old printers), and how pictures and illustrations were styled. We wanted the newspaper to feel as authentic as possible but still quickly deliver information to players.

To streamline the information, we only highlight the headlines, using scribble-square fonts as a placeholder for the detailed news articles.[/p][p]In some cases, we also needed to consider the player's quality of life, sacrificing some immersion so that the player could enjoy the game long-term.[/p][p]
A simple case is how we denominated the money values to single and double digits (5 and 10) to make in-game counting easier, even though our reference, Indonesian bills, is in the thousands.

For bigger changes one example is the gate opening button , it previously was a slider. A slider should have the effect of direct player movement affecting the game world; however, in testing, the slider was a hassle to play with because of its small size and it became tedious after 10 in-game days of sliding the same lever. Finally, we decided to make the gate opening button a "hold" action instead, and it's also upgradeable later in the game to make it open faster and with a hotkey.
[/p][p]One revamp we also did was the cash register window. Previously, it was a full-screen view that visualized Dewi’s office desk and the cash register in detail. After testing, we found that some players also wanted to view the conversation with the passing drivers. To fix this, we changed the cash register view to a 1/3-screen view that slides up from the bottom. This solution solved the problem while maintaining the immersion and flow of gameplay.[/p][p][/p][p]All this big revamps was only a small glimpse of change we made, there’s also a lot of back and forth for simpler elements because how rapidly we test the game and iterate it. All buttons have gone through color, shape and position changes because of this. Some buttons just felt too far apart or could cause misclicks because of its position, that's why we have to change them several times. but it is for the sake of a better quality product. [/p][p][/p][p]With that, we conclude the Devlog behind User Interface and visual arts of 1998 The Toll Keeper Story. Achieving the quality that we put in the game was no small feat, compromises have to be made so that we may deliver a visually great game that tells a very personal story while immersing the player into the world of Janapa.[/p][p]
[/p]

[p]Hey everyone![/p][p]We're pushing out another hotfix today to address some major issues you've reported. Thank you for your patience and your bug reports; they really helped us track these down![/p][p][/p][p]Hotfix V1.0.6 - 6 November 2025[/p]

• [p]Prevent toll income from having a negative value[/p]
• [p]Fix a bug that causes a penalty when giving the right amount of change[/p]
• [p]Fix a bug where some events are not triggered if the dialog is skipped[/p]
• [p]Fix a bug that causes newer save files to fail to overwrite older save files.[/p]
• [p]Handle render texture fallback on some devices.[/p]
• [p]Fix some localization[/p]
• [p]Fix a bug that sometimes causes the game to break when rejecting/reporting a driver.[/p]

[p]We're continuing to monitor all feedback and bug reports. Thank you for playing 1998: The Toll Keeper Story![/p]