Hello!
Today's post will be a bit different, as I'd like to tell you about my current struggles and plans for the future months.
Some time ago, I decided to participate in the upcoming Steam Summer Next Fest. I applied, wrapped up all important tasks, and sent my game build for review by Valve team. Build verification is a standard procedure; Steam uses it to ensure that the game delivers on what’s promised on its store page and that it launches correctly.
But that’s where some problems began...
After the first review, my game was rejected. According to Steam, a game cannot require players to set up anything outside the game, such as creating external accounts or downloading additional tools. Additionally, in-game payments must be integrated with Steam's microtransaction system.
These are fair requirements—Steam wants to ensure every game is playable immediately after installation, and I fully understand why these rules exist.
On the other hand, this makes the core value of my game—being a customizable hub for external services—very difficult to implement, if impossible. But I’m not giving up on the project. On the contrary, I’ve prepared a plan to rework how customization works in a more standardized, Steam-friendly way.
Let me share the plan:
1. Create a basic, built-in AI system with no setup required
The idea is to fulfill the requirements for the game being playable right after the installation. I'll try to make the basic model to be included in the game build so users won't need to do anything to be able to chat with Unity-chan right away. I'm going to improve the no-speech option to make it more fun as it may be more popular option now.
2. Add support for mods - easily moddable text-gen and speech
To bring back the previous functionalities without any issues, I’m going to ensure that replacing the game's text-generation AI will be simple. I’m also looking into Steam Workshop integration, so anyone interested in modding can do so easily.
3. And while I’m working on making the game moddable...
...I’ll also consider what most people want from a desktop mascot: the ability to switch the character! As a bonus, I’ll prepare the game to allow relatively easy replacement of the AI context, the 3D character model, and Unity-chan’s graphics. This way, the game will be fully ready for both AI and visual content mods.
With all that said, you see that there is quite a lot of work to do. My goal is to fulfill those tasks, prepare a demo version and be ready for the Autumn Steam Next Fest!
I hope I was able to make the current game situation of the game clear, and I'll give my best to turn these difficulties into even better experience of the game.
If you'd like to ask me about more details, you can visit my Discord Server here!
UC:DC Discord Server
Until next time!
Jacopo
