A big new update for Steel Century Groove is out now!
This patch contains a bunch of quality of life UI improvements, particularly focused on custom music. Some of the highlights are: enabling/disabling individual built-in tracks, mixing/matching custom music with built in music, a custom music menu UX redesign, a new universal setting to make battles last until the end of the song, and an option to hide your replica Tenzerks.
It also adjusts the UI to make sure the text is all big enough on big screens and the Steam Deck, meaning that the game is now officially Steam Deck Verified!
Please note: the default has changed for how custom music is shuffled with built-in music for battles. Before, if any custom music was enabled, all built-in music would be disabled. Now, they will be shuffled together, but you can go the Built-In Soundtrack section at the top of the custom music and disable any or all of the tracks to no longer be played in shuffle.
Thank you to everyone who's played the game and left feedback or reported bugs! And especially those who helped test this update on the beta branch. I'm currently hard at work on the next update, 1.6, which will add an Arcade Mode that lets you jump directly into the rhythm game without playing through the story. Look out for that on the beta branch in a few weeks.
Here's the full patch notes for version 1.5:
Gameplay
Added a "No Gameplay" Win Condition for Freeplay/Rematch battles where you can just watch the Tenzerks dance without needing to hit any notes.
Added a overall option in the settings to make battles last until the end of the song. This will also allow you to fill up a second bar after you win, and to press a button to end the battle early after winning.
Made it more clear where to go next to get to the endgame content in Haus Infinity after completing the game post-credits.
When repeating a challenge level you've already beaten in Endless mode, a random song will now be picked rather than using a consistent song for that level.
Ms. Magnets now automatically engages the player.
Slightly increased the brightness of dark cave areas.
UI
Added a description box to explain the options on the Freeplay/Rematch menu.
Added a new user interface design for the custom music menu and music selection menu, with pagination and better performance on large music libraries.
Added a prompt to let you know that you can cancel the custom music menu's scan folder operation
Added new shuffle options for custom music only or built-in music only to the music selection menu.
Added options for mouse & keyboard users to sort tracks by columns to the custom music menu and music selection menu.
Added the ability to enable and disable built-in tracks in the custom music menu. By default, battles will now shuffle a mix of custom and built-in music, but you can return to the old behavior by turning off all built-in songs in the custom music menu.
Improved the speed of the custom music menu's refresh/scan folders operation.
Increased the font size on some menus to make them more readable on the Steam Deck
On the steam deck, the default custom music folder will not be used anymore (the one in AppData), since it's confusing to find. If you were using this folder, you can add it back using "Add Folder".
Renamed the "Paints" menu to "Styles" and added a "Hide Replicas" option (specified on your lead Tenzerk)
The custom music menu now ignores hidden files (files ending with mp3/ogg/wav but starting with a period)
Updated the image for the "Official Lover" achievement (this applies to all branches/versions of the game)
Tweaked the size of icons on the opponent upcoming moves list
Added a better default location for the Add Folder button on the Steam Deck or Linux/Proton. Unfortunately, there are still some issues with navigating this emulated file widget, and it's best to use the sidebar for navigation.
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue where players could get stuck if they opened the menu and saved while on the Upgrade Chip menu in Haus Infinity (during the New District City story). If you have a broken save, this update will also allow you to proceed.
Fixed an issue where endgame paragon levels could sometimes fail to save.
Fixed an issue where the endgame Tenzerk purchase menu would charge you Simchips even if you declined the confirmation popup.
Custom music tracks that fail to generate any notes from the analysis process will now be deselected and marked as failed in the menu.
Fixed a crash when try to analyze custom music on a system with certain python global environment variables set.
Fixed a rare crash when leaving a battle.
Fixed an issue in the custom music menu where enable/disable all wouldn't work properly when a folder had invalid custom tracks.
Fixed an issue where sometimes beat pips wouldn't show up for the Aedonix Tenzerk when the song had very few non-beat notes.
Fixed an issue where the save/safe travel buttons would be temporarily disabled after returning from the options or custom music menu.
Fixed collision issues with the spotlights in Haus Infinity and with mushrooms in the cave areas.
Fixed issues where gamepad input could fail when using multiple gamepads
Fixed an issue where the music selection screen would display incorrect text when the track had no artist
Fixed an issue where pressing and holding B on in the in-game menu would cause it open and close rapidly.