202X Tutorial Update

Hello! I’ve just released a new build. This build contains a pretty important addition – a tutorial for 202X Mode. Hopefully, this will help new player become familiar with the game’s systems, resulting in more people having a good first experience with the game.

In my previous blog post, I talked about how I was so proud of the tutorial that I was considering uploading a video to my main channel to show off the entire sequence. In the end, I weighed the pros and cons, and decided that it would probably be better to not upload a video to my main channel. Instead, I’ve uploaded a 20-minute-long video about the tutorial to my secondary channel. If you would like to experience the tutorial firsthand, then consider this your “spoiler warning.” But, if you want to watch it instead, then check it out below:

I was originally planning on releasing the pre-tutorial cutscene with no background audio at all – just dead silence. CameronF305 volunteered to create sound effects and music for the cutscene, and pulled an all-nighter to deliver it in time for the build! Also, he did the music for the tutorial, as well! Thank you, Cam!

The 202X Tutorial is the “star feature” of the latest build, but there are a lot of other significant things in the new build, as well. to hear about all of them, click Continue Reading!

202X Tutorial Updates

The first thing I should mention is that the 202X tutorial may expand in the future. I designed the system to be “modular” – in other words, I can easily “plug in” more tutorial sequences without having to overhaul anything about the system. If new players are struggling with certain aspects of the game, I will add more “scenes” to the tutorial list. And, if players find bugs in the tutorial, then, of course, I’ll fix them.

Actually, there was something else I wanted to mention. The last scenario, “Final Test,” involves navigating a short “obstacle course” full of enemies without getting spotted:

It was fun to set up this obstacle courses. It reminded me of the stealth maps in old games like Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions:

I am a little interested in the idea of giving the player a “level editor” that would allow to set up “Stealth Challenges” exactly like the “Final Test” tutorial…but it’s not a very high priority idea. It depends on how much interest the community expresses after playing the tutorial. If people are saying, “Wow, that was fun, I want more mini-missions like that!” then I might consider what I can do in order to deliver more experiences like that.

Ryoba Monologue Renders

In 1980s Mode, whenever you move from one week to another, you will hear Ryoba perform a “monologue” where she talks about her next rival. Up until now, those monologues did not feature visuals; they were just white text on a blue screen, mimicking the screen that would be displayed by an 80s VCR that was not playing a video. It was a valid reference to the 80s, but it wasn’t very pretty to look at. For a long time, I’ve wanted to replace those screens with actual visuals…and now, they’re finally here!

The story of 1980s Mode is now told through over 50 “renders.” I feel that this significantly punches up the production values of 1980s Mode! Now it feels much more like a real story mode, and not just a mode that exists for testing the 10-week system.

Some of the visuals aren’t perfect, and might get tweaked in the future. Some of the monologues have fewer visuals than others, and might get additional visuals in the future. So, if anything looks weird, don’t worry – I’ve already made the same observation, and I’ll be asking a render artist for help.

New Visuals for the “Senpai meets Amai” cutscene

One of Yandere Simulator’s volunteers felt like improving the environment where the “Senpai meets Amai” cutscene takes place – and, boy, is it an improvement!

I feel like it still needs a few additions – all the green grass is dominating every camera shot a bit too much, there really ought to be some bushes or something – but aside from that, I’m very happy with the new look-and-feel of the scene.

Actually, as part of the process of creating all of the necessary models for this scene, the volunteer made many of the models that I would need in order to start building a “small town” environment. With just a handful of additional models, I might actually be able to make the “skeleton” of a small town environment for the game. I’m excited by this idea! It’s not top priority, but if those models do get made, I don’t think I’d be able to resist the temptation to prototype a small town…

New Animations

In this build, many of the game’s oldest “placeholder” animations have finally been replaced with higher-quality versions. So many animations in this build were replaced that I’m probably forgetting a few, but off the top of my head:

• Ayano’s “minimum sanity laugh animation” is so old that it was one of the very first thing to be added to the game back in 2014! Seriously, it was like the 4th or 5th thing I ever added to the game! It looked horrible, and a replacement was long overdue. In this build, it has been replaced with a new one that looks much better. It might get another upgrade in the future; if it’s an important feature and the player will be seeing it a lot, then it should be as high-quality as possible.
• If a student witnesses you commit murder, then on subsequent days, that student will give the player a “Don’t talk to me! I know what you’ve done!” speech. Previously, students would perform a simple “pointing finger” animation while giving that speech. As of now, students will now perform a much more elaborate animation (including lip sync) when giving their speech.
• Previously, the animation for “washing blood off of a murder weapon at a drinking fountain” was a really crappy 2-second looping animation. As of now, that action has a proper, smooth, natural animation. Also, it is now a 5-second long process, since the act of cleaning murder evidence should require a short time investment from the player.
• If the player hits a rival with a stink bomb in the middle of an event that they can’t dynamically exit and re-enter, the rival enters a “standing in place until the smell goes away” animation. Previously, this animation was a really crummy placeholder. As of now, the animation has been replaced with a much better one.
• Previously, when Chigusa was posing for a photoshoot, her photographers would perform an idle animation instead of a “taking photos” animation. The photographers will now perform an “impatiently waiting” animation when she is not present, and a “photographing” animation when she is posing.
• The “Sewing” animation – used by Ayano when customizing a uniform for Kokona, and used by Hazu when he’s in the Sewing Room – has been replaced with a higher-quality version.
• Female students now perform a short “Looking left and right for the source of the distance” animation when investigating a disturbance.
• Female students now perform a short “Huh? What was that weird sound I just heard?” animation after hearing a weird sound nearby.

Changes, Additions, and Quality-of-Life Improvements

• Previously, whenever Ayano/Ryoba went into first-person view, I was disabling their hair models and accessories so that their hair/accessories wouldn’t block the view of the first-person camera. As a result, if the player ever looked in a mirror while in first-person mode, Ayano/Ryoba would appear bald. I figured out a smarter way to prevent the hair from blocking the camera, so from now on, you will be able to see Ayano/Ryoba’s hair when looking into a mirror in first-person mode.
• Previously, all 1980s Mode club leaders used the exact same dialogue. As of now, some club leaders – the drama club, occult club, and art club – now have unique dialogue. The plan is to eventually have all of them speak unique dialogue. (A volunteer is writing the new dialogue for me, so it won’t take any of my time away from development. I’ll continue to update the rest of the 1980s club leaders with unique dialogue as more writing comes in from the volunteer.)
• The Stats screen of 1980 Mode (accessible through the Calendar screen) lists the number of times that Ryoba has alarmed her classmates, been seen with a weapon, and been seen stained with blood. Previously, those numbers would go up any time that Ryoba was witnessed, even if the witness died immediately afterwards. As of now, those numbers will only go up if the witness is still alive at the end of the school day.
• It is no longer possible to save the game while a Rival Event is taking place. This might be disappointing, but it’s necessary in order to prevent certain bugs from being possible. The ability to save the game during Rival Events may return after more rivals are added to the game, and the script for rival events is updated so that it’s possible for the game to jump back into an event at any stage without problems.
• If the police were called to school after Osana was murdered using the Pool Elimination method, the text “The police were unable to find any murder weapons” would appear. This text was a little silly, since the murder weapon was obviously the heavy weight that Osana’s hair was tied to. This text has been adjusted if the police arrive at school under those circumstances.
• Previously, if the player annoyed Senpai by rapidly turning a radio on/off in his presence, Senpai would give the player a game over after just two on/off cycles. This was too harsh. So, as of now, the player will get a game over after annoying Senpai with 5 on/off cycles.
• The 3D model for the musical instrument case in the gymnasium was replaced a long time go, but the old model was still present in other places in the game (the faculty room and the End-of-Day sequence). Those old models have now been replaced with the new one.
• Previously, if the player crafted stink bombs, the stink bombs would spawn in the form of a box with branding on it. That was silly, so from now on, the spawned stink bombs will take the form of a balloon filed with stinky liquid.
• Previously, when the player got a game over during the 1980s Mode rhythm minigame, the game over voice line would address Ayano by name instead of Ryoba. A new voice line has been added that uses Ryoba’s name instead.
• The character “Kokoro” stops being a “gyaru” if all of the other gyarus are dead. As of now, she will also stop being a “gyaru” if all of the other gyarus are any combination dead, kidnapped, or imprisoned.
• Previously, reading a manga on Sunday morning would end the day and advance to Monday. Now, reading a manga on Sunday morning will simply advance to Sunday night, allowing you to read manga again.
• The “Sneak Panty Shot” collision box has been adjusted to reduce / eliminate the possibility of the game failing to acknowledge that the player is taking a valid panty shot.
• Once again, I’ve upgraded some of the visuals in the opening cutscene. I added a “shards of glass” visual theme that I’ve wanted it to have for a long time.
• “Fragile” students will no longer report Ayano’s murder to the police, since they promise not to tell the cops what they saw.
• From now on, if Pose Mode is active, characters will no longer run the “turn and look at Ayano” code.
• Updated the texture for the drum set in the 202X Light Music Club.
• I’ve updated the text on the title screen to say “Revision D”. What counts as a “revision” is kind of arbitrary, but I feel that the game has made a large enough leap forward to justify designating this build as a milestone in the game’s development.

Bug Fixes

• The protagonist can’t put on a mask in front of witnesses, because if the witnesses knew it was the protagonist, the disguise would be pointless. So, a “You can’t do that, there’s a witness” message appears onscreen if the player tries to put on a mask with witnesses present. However, there was incorrect text in this message. That incorrect text has been fixed.
• Shima’s Task involves asking the player to use a pipe wrench to fix something. But if she saw you carrying the pipe wrench, she would react negatively and damage your reputation. From now on, she won’t react negatively if she knows that you’re currently working on the wrench task.
• When the player eliminates their rival, the “End of Day sequence” provides a brief summary of Senpai’s reaction to the elimination. If the player eliminated Osana using the “Frame for Murder” method, the “Senpai reaction” text was incorrect. This bug has been fixed.
• A student is only supposed to have green outlines in Yandere Vision if they have been photographed. However, a bug caused a student to have green outlines if the player apologized to the student, even if they had never been photographed. This bug has been fixed.
• It was not meant to be possible to save the game while a student was in a “reacting to murder” state, but due to a bug, it was possible to save the game while in one of those states (the “cowering in fear in classroom” state). This bug has been fixed.
• If the player kidnapped any rival using the Betray method, Osana would be wearing her school uniform in the “wakes up tied to a chair” cutscene, but would be wearing rags if the player walked into the basement to look at her. This bug has been fixed.
• If the player attempted to take a panty shot while too close to a wall, getting the “Camera’s view is blocked!” error message, and then tried to take a valid panty shot, the game would not acknowledge the valid panty shot. This bug has been fixed.
• If the player reached Week 9 or 10 while any member of the Photography club had a grudge against them, the members of that club would behave strangely (magnetically sticking to the player). This bug has been fixed.
• Fixed bug that caused the 1980s Mode Calendar screen’s “Stats” screen to identify a rival as murdered even though she hadn’t been eliminated yet if the playthrough had begun through the Week Select feature.
• If the player killed Osana using the fan decapitation method, there was a bug that would cause Senpai to describe Osana’s death as a “murder” rather than a “freak accident.” This bug has been fixed.
• If a delinquent was beaten up and then found a corpse, they would react to the corpse as if they just saw the player commit murder, even if the player was nowhere nearby. This bug has been fixed.
• Fixed bug that would allow the player to climb up onto tables by performing an action that would change the size of the protagonist’s character collider while between a wall and a table.
• Fixed bug that would prevent characters from pathfinding properly if they were investigating a suspicious noise near the dumpster, after the dumpster had been moved from its usual spot.
• The “Tell a suitor what to change about his appearance” window was not forgetting to reset its checkmarks when the player moved from one suitor to the next. This bug has been fixed.
• Fixed bug that would make Osana slide across the ground at running speed while performing a walking animation if one of her events began while she was searching for a lost phone.
• Fixed bug that would cause the game to display the text “Retrieve Carry” instead of “Retrieve (the name of the object)” when trying to receive a clothing item from a bookbag.
• Fixed bug that would cause severed limbs to teleport out of the cello case if the player dropped an object near the cello case while severed limbs were inside of it.
• Fixed bug that would cause a student to freeze forever if the player aimed a camera at their face while the student was running to their locker to check for a note.
• Fixed bug that would allow the player to duplicate clothing by following an extremely long series of steps that is just way too long to even bother typing out here.
• Fixed bug that would cause a student to perform a “changing shoes” animation at a meeting spot if they agreed to a meeting before they changed their shoes.
• Fixed bug that would allow the player to move around during the confession sequence if the protagonist was laughing while the confession sequence began.
• Fixed bug that would cause buckets to clip through walls if the player performed the “dip mop into bucket” animation while standing too close to a wall.
• Fixed issue that prevented the game from properly darkening the edges of the screen when entering the delinquent beat-em-up minigame in 1980s Mode.
• Fixed bug that would cause the game to think that there were severed limbs present at school even if the player had disposed of all severed limbs.
• Fixed bug that allowed objects to clip into the stairs leading up to the school pool if the player dropped an object too close to those stairs.
• Fixed bug that would prevent time from stopping while the player was putting a note into a locker if the action was being done in Mission Mode.
• Fixed bug that would cause a character’s corpse to poke through a garbage bag if the “Low-Detail Students” graphical setting was activated.
• Fixed bug that would cause camera rendering errors if the player stood in the parts of the zen gardens with the tall bamboo shoots.
• Fixed bug that was causing muddy footprints to appear in one of the zen gardens in 1980s Mode (it’s only for a task in 202X Mode).
• Fixed bug that would cause crafted objects to float in midair if the player dropped them in the spot where they were crafted.
• Fixed bug that would cause a non-functional button prompt (the “Tag” prompt) to appear during the Student Memorial cutscene.
• Fixed bug that caused the came to refer to a bandana as “piercings” in the 1980s Mode “Matchmaking Results” window.
• Fixed bug that prevented the “teacher counter-attacks when the player tries to attack her” feature from working.
• Fixed bug that was assigning the wrong texture to one of the meshes inside the teahouse in 1980s Mode.
• Fixed animation errors with the “trembling in fear, legs shaking” idle animation for male characters.
• Fixed some incorrect numbers in the Timeline at the end of the 1980s Mode “True Ending” cutscene.
• Fixed bug that was preventing the “Titan Mode” easter egg from working properly.

Closing Thoughts

Man, what a huge update! Glad we’re starting off 2023 the right way. I’m relieved to finally have the tutorial task out of the way; I’m looking forward to finally being able to move on and tackle the next item on my checklist. I’m not ready to announce exactly what it’ll be, but I can tell you this: the tutorial was probably one of the largest and most ambitious items on the checklist, and I think that all of the other checklist items will get done much, much faster – so if you thought that progress was looking kind of slow for the past 2 months, don’t worry, I think it’s about to speed up.

Thank you for following the development of Yandere Simulator!