Hi, everyone. Welcome to this developer's diary.

This week, we started with a drama of political correctness censorship against our fellow Chinese developers because they are using "Males" and "Females" in their Oblivion Remake localization mod, and got labeled as "discriminating against LGBT" on Nexus, and banned. You can check previous announcements and the developer's diary from last week for more details.

It's something unthinkable 20 years ago, before Oblivion was remade. Let me tell you this, if something you can freely express in China and you cannot say it in the US, you can imagine how fucked up the First Amentament is, and what kind of dystopian America has become.

The world needs a better mod site that does not censor people because of their culture, tradition, and political views. Thus, to support such a movement to create a censor-free world, this week, I have been working with DEGMods to create a better mod experience for everyone to enjoy here in NEOLITHIC.

DEGMods is built upon a censorship-resistant technology that has some similarity to blockchain. Even the site's owner cannot entirely remove the mod once it's submitted there.

You can now directly visit the DEGMods from the game. It's an additional choice to our Steam Workshop integration. I can show you the source code for how I am doing this.

It's using the Windows API. Thus, it's a universal solution for all Windows games.
More details on this API can be found on Microsoft's official website
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/shellapi/nf-shellapi-shellexecutea

And yes, we are likely once again the first game in China or maybe even the world to offer such first-party support for the mod site. Because I believe in freedom of modding, this is built into the core of this game. You can mod every aspect of this game. I hope more game developers will join me in this to empower players to create their own unique experience.

Compared to the old Steam Workshop system. You no longer need to go through all the tedious steps to go to Steam Workshop (which is unfortunately also blocked by the Great Firewall of China) to subscribe to mods and ask the game to find those mods by calling functions of the Steam API.
You can now directly put any mod you downloaded from anywhere into the game's "Mods" folder. Each mod can have its own folder, and no file conflicts are possible. And all of them will be loaded into the game automatically. In case you want to solve any mod override issues. You can still manually set up the loading order. The default mod loading order is now like this: Steam Workshop Mods -> Mods in the local Mods folder -> Any mod paths you set up.
You also no longer need to purchase this game to use those mods.
Generic mod support is also in the game's demo version. (Only Steam Workshop requires you to purchase the game.)

A few of the game's mods have been uploaded there.

You can find cheat mods.
You can find NSFW mods.
You can find that video about the Shanghai Lockdown.
You can find those faith mods to allow you to worship Gabe or chaos gods. (I totally support your religious freedom. :D)
You can also find a mod that reverts the game's gender option from the current six back to two.
Wait a second. Why do we get a mod like that here?
Before someone starts to shout homophobe or transphobe or something like that.
Know this, given the recent drama. We have more players than ever who are against LGBT, all thanks to the censorship action I just mentioned above. And I still affirm my stand on my "live and let live" policy that keeps six gender options in the game as default. However, I cannot stop people from making a mod that switches the game back to the two-gender version.
Actually, I kinda support that, the action of making a mod itself.
Because I believe all people must be able to have their unique experience of this game. Modding is an expression of freedom. That's why we have likely the best mod system in all RPG Maker games.
I know some of you disagree with me on many matters.
Some of you disagree with my "live, and live" policy.
Some of you disagree with my support for Ukraine.
Some of you disagree with my support for Israel in October 2023
Some of you disagree with my support for India recently.
Some of you disagree with my support for Donald Trump. (But, seriously, what other options do we have if we want to save the world from more games that get infected with the Sweet Baby virus?)
You do not need to agree with me. You can totally mod the game to whatever you like. Just like someone just did to make a two-gender mod. I am totally fine with that. It's your game. You can decide how to play that. The two-gender mod is the most upvoted mod on DEGMods right now (I thought the NSFW might be. I was wrong.). Well, I guess people just made their points through their actions very clear.

Meanwhile, since we are already here, let's keep digging a bit deeper into this drama.

Introducing the Dawn of the Woking Dead! :D
Since some people are demanding more equality during this week's drama. (And they are not making their own mods.)
So, I now give them a new type of zombie:
The Woking Dead

Because let's not discriminate, the zombification in Queensmouth shall affect all people, including woke people. Each of them can also be turned into pets if a player wants, just like all other zombies, because that's equality. Their genders are always nonbinary unless you use a gender-changing potion on them.
And, sure, we shall also have the LGBT flag:

But, you know what. I cannot actually promote this flag.
Because it's illegal in China, it's actually a crime in about 65 nations in the world. Including Hamas-controlled Gaza, only Middle East nations that do not consider homosexuality a crime are Turkey and Israel. Can someone explain to me why some Woke people support Hamas over Israel? I just can't understand why they support someone who wants to kill them if they have a chance. :)

That's another point. Today, they can censor people in the US and Europe. Tomorrow, they will come to Asia, to Japan, to China, and to Korea. Should they succeed, we will no longer have anime. Then, ironically, Muslim nations may be the last bastions to stand against them. We may need to retreat to the UAE or Saudi Arabia to continue this fight. May Allah forgive our sins. :)
Thus, it's better to stop them right now before it's too late. We can form a United Front against it and put our differences aside for a moment.

But, for now, fear not.
Because with the appearance of the Woking Dead, the survivors in the Junkyard House in Queensmouth also received some updates.
They are now their own faction, independent of the survivors in the Police Station

Yes, even in a zombie apocalypse, we shall have two parties. It's better than one. :D
One thing that is certain here is that those conservative/right-leaning/anti-woke/Republican survivors should have more firepower than their democrat counterparts in the police station.

They now also have a gun shop and someone who can modify your guns here.
The price depends on your relationship with them. The more they like you, the cheaper it will get.
And....
They also post random quests to give rewards to anyone who can kill the Woking Dead.
Instead of money, they will pay you a lot of ammo. (Since, storywide, they are the only people in this town who still know how to make ammo from gunpowder and other things they can find in the Junkyard.)

(If you think those descriptions are too hateful, you can blame Elon Musk's Grok AI for that. I actually didn't know how to write mission descriptions for those. So I went to ask for some suggestions. :D)

Special thanks to the video "Dawn of the Woke Zombies" made by The Babylon Bee on YouTube.
I drew a lot of inspiration from their video to create those dark comedies.

Other than all those dramas, we also got some relatively "normal" updates this week.
Since we just finished a large part of the story in the Grand Library(which encourages people to be their most authentic self, thanks to Nietzsche, so that people will not get turned into the Woking Dead. )
Now, we also get some relatively small, procedurally generated random quests in Egypt.

In the Oasis Teahouse, you may find people who need someone to unlock chests they found in the desert; you may find people who need someone to identify unknown historical objects; you may even find someone who gets stuck in some dangerous ruins and needs you to bring them Butterfly Wings to rescue. All those missions can have different difficulty levels reflected in their narrative texts.
That shall bring a lot more replayability in this area.

That's for this week. Stay true to yourself, and we shall secure a future in which people are not censored because of their language, culture, and tradition.
Yes, we used to be great.

The full update log of this week:
20250426
English
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[Mod]Using mods is now much easier. You no longer really need to use Steam Workshop or manually set up any paths in any text files. You just need to dump your mod into the new Mods folder in the game's folder. The game will automatically load all mods at the start of the game.
[Mod]Loading order: Steam Workshop mods -> Mods in the game's mod folder -> Mods manually set in SteamWorkshopAdditionalPath.txt (It supports mods even on another machine in your local network.) In case of mod conflicts, the latter will overwrite the content of the one loaded earlier.
[Mod]Local test has been done on one of everyone's favorite NSFW mod. Everything works great.
简体中文
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【Mod】使用Mod现在更加简单了。你无需通过Steam工坊或者手动配置路径。你现在可以直接把Mod的整个文件夹丢到游戏根目录下新出现的名叫Mods的目录下。游戏在启动时会自动读取这个文件夹里的所有Mod。
【Mod】读取顺序：Steam工坊的Mod -> 游戏本地文件夹的Mod -> 通过SteamWorkshopAdditionalPath.txt手动配置路径的Mod（甚至支持局域网中安装在其它电脑上的Mod。）后加载的Mod会在有冲突时覆盖掉之前加载的Mod的内容。
【Mod】已经对大家最喜欢的某个NSFW Mod进行了测试。一切均可完美运行。

20250427
English
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[Localization]Restored the localization keys for "Male" and "Female" that were removed when we expanded the gender options to 6.
[Localization]In Chinese localizations, "创意工坊"(Workshop) is now specifically renamed to Steam Workshop to make it clearer, as we are going to support DEG Mods now, providing more choices for people to get mods.
[Menu]Various locations you can previously get mods from the Steam Workshop can now also lead you to DEG Mods.
[Menu]Various locations previously had the options of the "Steam Workshop" changed to "Get Mods," and then, you can choose which mod site you want to get mods from.
[Mod]The Scene_PassportMaker class is now better organized, allowing making gender related mods eaiser.
简体中文
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【本地化】重新加入了本地化文本中的【男性】和【女性】用词，这些用词曾经在我们把游戏的性别扩展到6种时被移除了。
【本地化】中文文本的【创意工坊】现在被改名为了【Steam创意工坊】以便让内容更加明确。因为我们现在开始将会支持DEG Mods的Mod。
【菜单】各种此前你可以从Steam工坊获得Mod的地点，现在也可以把你带去DEG Mods。
【菜单】各种此前名为【Steam工坊】的选项，现在变成了【获得Mod】的选项。 随后，你可以进一步选择从哪里获得Mod。
【Mod】Scene_PassportMaker菜单的代码结构优化，让制作性别有关的Mods更加容易。

20250428
English
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[Menu]Added a tip entry to remind people that everyone can change all kinds of EXP receiving rates in this game. (Someone complains that leveling up life skills is too slow.)
[Menu]Increased the background opacity of the tips window to make text clearer.
[Guide to Monster Hunting]Added the entry for Long-Dead Roman Soldier
[Guide to Monster Hunting]Added the entry for Undead Russian Soldier
[Guide to Monster Hunting]Added the entry for Plague Mushroom
简体中文
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【菜单】加入了一个帮助提醒，告知大家可以随时改变游戏中各种经验值的获取速率。（有人抱怨生活经验升级太慢了。）
【菜单】提高了提示窗口的不透明度，让文字更便于阅读。
【怪物狩猎指南】加入了逝去千年的罗马士兵的条目。
【怪物狩猎指南】加入了俄罗斯亡灵士兵的条目。
【怪物狩猎指南】加入了瘟疫菇的条目。

20250429
English
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[Guide to Monster Hunting]Added the entry for Aphrodisiac Mushroom
[Guide to Monster Hunting]Added the entry for Psychedelic Mushroom
[Quest]Identify Historical Object now indicates where you can find the person who needs your help.
[Quest]Identify Historical Object can now have its difficulty dynamically changed at runtime.
[The Oasis Teahouse]Added a mission board.
[The Oasis Teahouse]The mission board here now gives random "Identify Historical Object" missions. They are usually harder than the ones in the Bazaar.
[The Oasis Teahouse]Added a dialog option for the bartender. You can ask him if there are any jobs. He will guide you to the mission board.
[Wiki]Updated the quest page.
简体中文
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【怪物狩猎指南】加入了催情菇的条目。
【怪物狩猎指南】加入了迷幻菇的条目。
【任务】【鉴定历史文物】任务现在会在任务说明中写明在哪里可以找到需要你帮助的人。
【任务】【鉴定历史文物】现在可以动态改变难度。
【绿洲茶馆】加入了一个提供随机任务的公告板。
【绿洲茶馆】这里的任务公告板现在会提供随机的【鉴定历史文物】任务，难度会比巴扎的高。
【绿洲茶馆】为酒保加入了一个对话选项。你可以询问是否有工作。他会让你去检查任务板。
【维基】更新了任务页面。

20250430
English
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[Quest]New Random Quest: Unlock the Desert Chest
[The Oasis Teahouse]The mission board here now gives random "Unlock the Desert Chest" quests.
[Quest]New Random Quest: Emergency Extraction
[The Oasis Teahouse]The mission board here now gives random "Emergency Extraction" quests.
[Wiki]Updated the quest page.
简体中文
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【任务】新任务：解锁沙漠保险
【绿洲茶馆】这里的任务公告板现在会提供随机的【解锁沙漠保险】任务。
【任务】新任务：紧急撤离
【绿洲茶馆】这里的任务公告板现在会提供随机的【紧急撤离】任务。
【维基】更新了任务页面。

20250501
English
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[Furniture]New Furniture: LGBT Flag. (I am not promoting any LGBT ideology. It's illegal in China.)
[Enemy/Pet]New Enemy: The Woking Dead. (Can be turned into pets. They are always Non-Binary in gender unless you use a gender change potion on them. The dark power does not care about their ideology. They turn them into zombies equally like other people.)
[Loot]Added an item drop list for The Woking Dead. (Of course, they can drop LGBT Flags)
[Queensmouth]The town now has a lot of Woking Dead. (It's a very diverse town, according to the lore.)
[Shopping]Bob's Grocery now sells LGBT Flags. (Only in the 2020s timeline. Such flags were not a thing back in the Cold War timeline.)
[Shopping]Certain Shady Merchants in China now sell LGBT Flags. (Once again, because it's illegal.)
[Wonderland Travel Agency]Any zombie-themed random location may now have the Woking Dead.
[Guide to Monster Hunting]Added the entry for the Woking Dead.
简体中文
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【家具】新家具：LGBT旗帜 （我并没有宣扬LGBT意识形态。这种事情在中国是违法的。）
【敌人/宠物】新敌人：觉醒僵尸 （可以变成宠物，性别总是非二元性别，除非你使用性别转换药水。黑暗的力量不在乎它们生前的意识形态。所有人都可以被平等地转化为僵尸。）
【掉落物】为觉醒僵尸加入了物品掉落列表（显然，它们会掉落LGBT旗帜。）
【王后镇】该地区现在有很多觉醒僵尸。（毕竟，根据设定，这是一个很多元的小镇。）
【购物】鲍勃的杂货店现在会贩卖LGBT旗帜。（仅限2020年代的时间线。冷战的时候并没有这种东西。）
【购物】疁城某些贩卖非法物品的商人会贩卖LGBT旗帜。（因为，这是非法的。）
【奇幻之地旅行社】所有以僵尸为主题的地点现在可能出现觉醒僵尸。
【怪物狩猎指南】加入了觉醒僵尸的条目。

20250502
English
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[Relationship]Queensmouth Survivors are now split into two factions, the one in the Police Station and the one in the Junkyard House.
[Relationship]The quest "Wrong Side of History" gradually increases your relationship with the survivors in the Junkyard House.
[Junkyard House]Added more flags of the United States.
[Junkyard House]Expanded the room on the right side.
[Junkyard House]Added a new NPC who can sell and modify guns for you in this location. The price will change based on your relationship with those survivors.
[Junkyard House]When you buy weapons, this NPC's dialog changes based on your relationship with those survivors.
[Wiki]Updated the Gun Modification page.
[Quest]The Junkyard Defense quest now increases your relationship with those survivors.
[Junkyard House]Selling a lot of fertilizer to allow the survivors to make gunpowder now increases your relationship with those survivors.
[Junkyard House]The location now has a random mission board.
[Quest]New Quest: The Hunting of the Woking Dead. (It can improve your relationship with those survivors. And they can pay you a lot of ammo.)
[Junkyard House]The mission board now gives random "The Hunt of the Woking Dead" quests.
[Wiki]Updated the mission page.
简体中文
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【关系】王后镇幸存者现在分为两个阵营，警局的那个，以及垃圾场小屋的那个。
【关系】任务【历史的错误一边】现在会逐渐增加你和垃圾场小屋的幸存者的关系。
【垃圾场小屋】加入了更多的美国国旗。
【垃圾场小屋】右侧的房间扩展。
【垃圾场小屋】加入了一个新的角色在这里贩卖枪械以及帮你改造枪械。价格会随着你和这些幸存者的关系而变化。
【垃圾场小屋】当你购买武器时，该角色的台词也会随着你和这些幸存者的关系而变化。
【维基】更新了枪械改造页面。
【任务】垃圾场防御任务现在会提高你和当地幸存者的关系。
【垃圾场小屋】贩卖大量的肥料让幸存者们制造火药现在会提高你和他们的关系度。
【垃圾场小屋】该地点现在有了随机任务公告板。
【任务】新任务类型：猎杀【觉醒】僵尸
【垃圾场小屋】该地点的任务公告板现在会提供随机的猎杀【觉醒】僵尸的任务
【维基】更新了任务页面。

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