Hey Yesterbyrians!

We just released our first major patch for the game that improves multiple aspects of the game and fixes some smaller issues.

To highlight a few things from the patch: Overlapping conversations should be a thing of the past now - for the most part at least. Also, we included more icons which should help understand why certain interactions are unavailable at the moment. Zek now has a bit more time to take care of everything before he absolutely wants to leave. And Laul no longer has to practice in the dark - he now has fairy lights around his trailer!

You can find the full patch notes below.

We hope you continue to enjoy the game!
The Osmotic Studios Team

Patch #1 - Patch Notes (1.0.1+31125)

Note: Beware of major spoilers below!

Gameplay

Improvements

• Important dialogs are now delayed while another important dialog is ongoing in the vicinity to prevent them from overlapping.
• Guidable characters now always wait a while for player input after finishing something they were tasked with by the player if the player has them still selected.

Fixes

• Fixed an issue which could cause effects like moods or need changes to be wrongfully removed or persisting indefinitely.
• Fixed ongoing interactions (e.g., cooking, digging) being aborted in rare cases after loading a savegame.
• Fixed an issue where characters would move around twice as fast as intended.
• Fixed an issue where characters would stutter on the ledge of the stairs of Laul's trailer.
• Fixed an issue where characters kept walking with the stairs climbing animation indefinitely after loading a savegame where a characters was currently climbing stairs.

Storylines and interactions

Improvements

• The player can now check on River with Conny after the gathering, similarly to the others, as long as River did not check on Conny before. Checking on River or being checked on by River is now required for the corresponding achievement.
• If Conny walks home immediately after the gathering, River will now only check on her while she is no longer at her house.
• Removed a slight delay when the player is able to talk to Conny directly at the accident site.
• River is now able to pay Zek even if she did not make a decision regarding Melville after his breakdown.
• River now tells Angela that she "messed it all up" based on how Jasper briefed her instead of the state of the lodge boat progress.
• River is now more worried and her "impact" and "recognition" needs are now negatively impacted by Eli's "message" about the budget cuts.
• River may now show Angela’s photos to Pia on her own if she is no longer guidable.
• When Jasper tells River she has to reduce costs, River now suffers a great loss of "impact" need satisfaction and gets angrier.
• If Jasper is not sitting when he’s approached by Blanche about how it went at the mortuary, they will both keep standing and face each other instead of Blanche sitting down alone.
• Jasper now stops searching Melville and confronting Zek or River about Melville's whereabouts if River already told him Melville left the project.
• Provided a bit more time before Jasper ends choosing a driver or waiting for Galya and drives himself.
• When Conny goes to the window to watch Angela go to the beach during the epilog, the player-controlled camera is now restricted to an area around the window (instead of being unrestricted) to prevent accidentally moving the camera away from the house.
• Improved the camera movement away from the campfire before Conny goes to the accident site during the epilog.
• Axel now moves a bit away from Conny after they get up from the couch after watching the zero episode.
• Pia will now definitely conclude work on the cemetery if it is done, regardless of the time of day.
• Pia will now definitely give up on the cemetery if it isn't done before the third day of he Boat Lodge construction at 5 p.m., regardless of where she is.
• Pia no longer wakes up Leigh to complain about or thank her for the flowers.
• Zek will now become "committed" to enforce concluding his storyline at the end of the respective day instead of the start. Additionally, Zek will now ignore time of day or Bodhi sleeping to rent a room from him if he has become "committed" to do so. This change gives the player more time and agency on the respective day to fulfill Zek’s wishes themselves.
• Zek can now text Galya to come to the clinic and help him learning first aid. This should provide more opportunities for Zek to complete the first aid course even if Galya is no longer guidable.
• Zek will no longer become “committed” to ask Melville for money if he is about to get paid by River for his Boat Lodge work.
• When Zek performs with his guitar in public, the player is now notified.
• Zek is no longer able to start to play the guitar in public while it's dark or raining.
• Prevented Zek from playing the guitar at the campfire while Melville is getting drunk there.
• Melville now immediately accepts helping to dig when he's asked after the sculpture is complete.
• Melville can no longer be interacted with while he is selling the car or returning from the bus stop.
• Galya offering help to Axel after having spotted him digging no longer gets disrupted by her being tasked to check on Axel first.
• Examining and analyzing the sheep each now take 2 h instead of 3 h. This allows Galya to complete each task in one go.
• Leigh now closes the wardrobe after taking the suitcase out.
• Leigh no longer approaches Conny about the series or to give her the zero episode VHS while she is "committed".
• Bodhi will no longer do anything related to hacking Angela’s notebook if he made the decision to leave Yesterby.
• When Laul fails to give the camera to anyone, he will now put the camera on Angela's grave instead, letting his wish fail and making him non-guidable.

Fixes

• Fixed being able to disrupt Conny setting the table in the prolog.
• Fixed the game showing a grayed out "Bury" interaction at the time capsule hiding spot if Conny no longer had the time capsule.
• Fixed Conny being able to tell Leigh about having finished watching the TV series regardless of the time of day.
• Fixed River asking Conny or Zek to hang outnot being shown as related to "empathy" and "chill" needs.
• Fixed River potentially waiting for Bodhi forever if she was present during Bodhi hacking Angela's notebook but did not explicitly "wait around" for him to complete the hack there.
• Fixed River being able to tell Jasper that Melville is no longer working for the Boat Lodge if Jasper confronted her about this himself already.
• Fixed a wrong dialog line from Zek if he was paid by River after the Boat Lodge construction was concluded, but the meeting hadn’t taken place yet.
• Fixed an unavailable "help with construction" interaction showing for Zek while he was the main worker on the lodge boat construction.
• Fixed Zek being able to accept work at the Boat Lodge if he already accepted to substitute Melville after his breakdown.
• Fixed Zek being able to ask Jasper for a commendatory letter if he already applied for the management job for which it was intended.
• Fixed Zek being able to say goodbye to Melville before he had found a job.
• Fixed Zek becoming "committed" to say goodbye to Melville before he had found a job.
• Fixed a wrong dialog line between Zek and Melville while working on the lodge boat when they were already working on the windows.
• Fixed a situation where Zek was not able to accept substituting Melville at the Boat Lodge if he hadn't worked at the Boat Lodge before.
• Fixed Melville being ok with Zek leaving before he had found a job.
• Fixed Melville being able to be disrupted before he can sit down to get drink at the beach, which could cause the drinking to be skipped entirely.
• Fixed Melville being able to wake up the same day he fell asleep drunk on due to his drinking being erroneously disrupted, causing events to occur earlier than intended.
• Fixed Melville stating that he needs to supervise Zek with the sculpture when Galya asks to help Axel dig before Zek ever took over from him.
• Fixed a wrong dialog line when Galya checks on Zek before he becomes guidable and he already apologized to Conny.
• Fixed Galya asking Bodhi about Leigh’s dreams sometimes not showing as temporarily unavailable (but instead disappearing completely) after he had just been asked.
• Fixed Galya being able to ask Henrietta about the bar venue regardless of the time of day.
• Fixed Galya being able to check the integrity of only one instead of all buildings for the bar venue.
• Fixed Galya’s alignment when checking the abandoned buildings for the bar venue.
• Fixed Leigh not being blocked for other dialogs while she comments on Conny sunbathing.
• Fixed an unavailable "sunbathing because it’s raining" interaction being shown while it wasn't raining but the sunbathing was unavailable because of other conditions.
• Fixed Laul being able to talks to Torm about River and Zek when it didn’t make sense.
• Fixed Laul's wish to check on Conny not disappearing after asking her about herself or suggesting to give the camera to another character.

Character behavior and balancing

Improvements

• Eating a snack now satisfies slightly more "hunger" need.
• The cooldown for eating a snack now drops off if a character is in the critical "hunger" need range.
• Characters are no longer forced out the lodge boat area after Jasper briefed River for the meeting.
• River now always accepts Conny's requests to hang out if she isn't "committed" already.
• River can no longer ask Bodhi to hang out when he intends to leave Yesterby.
• River being briefed to continue the Boat Lodge by Jasper will now satisfy her "recognition" need and her "impact" needs greatly.
• Cooking will now satisfy River's "empathy" need much more slowly. In addition, River no longer starts cooking based on her "empathy" need.
• Blanche and Jasper no longer talk about River while she is in hearing range.
• Conny can now perform her routine interactions like sewing or writing while she is "withdrawn". However, she will still refrain from doing so on her own unless she is tasked by the player.
• When she is “withdrawn”, Conny now comments on being selected by the player only if she is visible after a short delay (so she does not start to comment while being off-screen).
• Axel now goes to sit on the couch in case there are no other interactions he can do. This prevents rare situations where he kept standing around or doing what he was currently doing because there were no alternatives.
• Pia now stops crying if Axel lies down to sleep.
• Slightly shifted need limits for Pia's "preservation" need so that she feels no longer "distraught" if the level is maxed out.
• Zek now ignores hunger (i.e., the "hungry" need disappears) while he is sculpting, making his anger a bit more easy to control.
• Zek no longer asks River to hang out if he is supposed to work on the Boat Lodge between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
• Zek no longer wakes Melville to ask about Cemre's office.
• Being accepted for the management job will now boost Zek's happiness and reduce his worry greatly.
• Melville no longer visits Cemre's grave before the funeral.
• Galya’s "health" need is now satisfied faster while eating healthy food and dissatisfied slightly faster while eating junk food.
• Leigh no longer feels "bored" before the funeral since that seemed inappropriate.
• Laul's "inspiration" need now becomes dissatisfied much faster.
• Laul no longer tries to greet Melville while he is already speaking.
• Henrietta now goes to bed at 11 p.m. at the latest to prevent downtimes due to her staying up late

Fixes

• Fixed the main lodge boat worker being forced to leave the boat construction site before it was upgraded to its finished state, which could cause them to leave the boat construction site and then trying to enter it again repeatedly.
• Fixed Melville or Zek being able to tidy up the dining table while someone else was eating.
• Fixed Jasper getting stuck in rare cases when trying to sit down on a certain spot on the couch.
• Fixed Zek waking up at night to look for Conny if Galya’s thread was tied (making her guidable) before midnight.

Visuals

Improvements

• Laul's trailer now has outside fairy lights.
• Bus doors now open and close when characters are about to enter or exit.
• Improved various animations to loop more smoothly.
• Moved dirt heap at Angela's grave.

Fixes

• Fixed overlapping meshes at Galya's stairs.
• Fixed camera being able to clip into the closed wharf or River’s house in some spots.
• Fixed Henrietta’s blanket animation being triggered too late in some cases when entering and exiting the bed repeatedly.

Audio

Improvements

• Decreased number of simultaneously playing sounds by culling sounds that we’re actually inaudible.
• Made reverb for most buildings (especially greenhouse) more subtle.
• Made the ambience gradually fading in when the camera moves out of Angela’s house at the end of the prolog.

Fixes

• Fixed music playlist after the funeral ignoring 1.5 minutes of silence between the music tracks.
• Fixed suitcase sound being played too late when the suitcase is placed or removed.
• Fixed wardrobe closing sounds being offset.
• Fixed Galya's abrade animation sound not stopping properly when she stops working on the pews.

Interface

Improvements

• Added a larger variety icons to the Interaction menu to make it clearer why an interaction is not available at current. Additionally, these icons are now shown in red to make it clearer they signify a violated condition.
• Prevented the "Buildings" tutorial panel from triggering if the followed character just entered a building and the building was about to auto-open.
• Prevented the "Follow" tutorial panel from triggering while the follow-cam was already active.
• The "Fast forward" tutorial panel is now closed after 5 seconds at the earliest, but it will now also be closed when fast forwarding is currently impossible due to a notification being present.

Fixes

• Fixed the location icon for Melville's house showing up in the overview screen of some of Zek's needs.

Text and localization

Improvements

• Shortened some interaction display names in German for conciseness and consistency.

Fixes

• Fixed some text / voice acting inconsistencies.
• Fixed some spelling mistakes.
• Fixed wrong display name for "sheep" (plural) in German.