First off, thank you for your patience. I owe you all an apology, both for the delayed release and for the lacking communication during this process. An unfortunate trait I share with many big-name studio heads and CEOs is a tendency to put my entire foot in my mouth, so I’ll keep it short. The review is finished, and we’re moving forward.
The pre-release version has been expanded to include more content and updates, much of it based on player feedback.
What’s New:
Story Progression: The narrative continues! I wanted to include more content due to the delay; this won’t negatively affect the length or content of later releases.
New Backgrounds: The train station and café backgrounds have been replaced with new artwork.
Music Playback: Replay music you’ve unlocked in the “Extras” menu.
Improved Readability: Menu font colors have been adjusted for better clarity.
Accessibility Settings: These have been moved to its own submenu.
Fullscreen Notebook: A fullscreen option has been added to the in-game menu.
Quick Access Notebook: Pressing the “N” key in-game will open the pop-up notebook.
Route Balancing: Minor adjustments for smoother progression and lighter requirements.
Live2D Improvements: Minor improvements to Live2D animations.
Writing & Visual Polish: General adjustments.
Narrative Adjustment: Removed Olivia’s negative reactions to scheduling trips when she’s unavailable.
If you experience issues with your save files, reach out and I’ll do my best to resolve it!
Regarding Mature Content:
The mature content that was under review is not included in this chapter, it will be introduced in the next release. Unfortunately, it will remain censored on Steam while in Early Access. For those who don’t mind minor spoilers: One character was a victim of human trafficking as a teenager. This is not explicitly shown in-game . More details to come with the next update.
Known Issues:
Controller support: General gameplay works with controllers, but text input lacks keyboard support. This is coming; however, the notebook function will feel tedious as-is once it’s implemented. I’m exploring options to make writing entries less of a chore when using a controller.
Performance: Multiple Live2D models onscreen can cause slowdowns, especially when the pop-up notebook is open. To mitigate: the quick menu button defaults to the full screen notebook when any models are onscreen. The pop-up notebook can still be opened with the “N” key regardless of models being onscreen.
Live2D Mouth Animations: Nami’s frowning and serious expressions in particular don’t behave as intended. It’ll be resolved in a later update, it’s just a lower priority.
Next Update:
When will the next update release? February! Why isn’t there a specific date? I’m hesitant to commit to one while working solo and now part-time, February is a safe timeframe. Once I can return to full-time development, updates will have a reliable schedule.
Ongoing Updates and Communication:
I’d love to hear how you’d prefer updates and communication to work moving forward, specifically the frequency, format, and content, so I can focus on what people actually want to see (if anything 😊).
Communication may still be lighter than I’d like in the coming weeks, but I’m excited to finally get things moving again.
Thank you again for your continued support! Happy Holidays!