Before I continue with the blog post, I’d like to remind you that I’ve been posting never-before-seen concept art and sneak peeks of upcoming content on my Patreon for the past 26 days, and I’m going to continue doing so until I hit 30 straight days of Patreon posts!
Hello!
Yandere Simulator is having a crossover with another indie game! The official announcement regarding the release of the crossover is coming soon. It might cause a lot of new players to come and check out Yandere Simulator for the first time!
Because it’s possible that a lot of new eyeballs will be on Yandere Simulator in the near future, I want to make the game as presentable as possible so that it makes a good impression on all the newcomers. Usually, I only update the game on the 1st and 15th days of every month – but the current build has some embarrassing bugs in it, and the crossover announcement is probably happening before July 1st, so I’m just going to go ahead and release the July 1st build a few days early, right now, on June 28th.
This is fine by me, since the next task I want to work on is really complex, and might take multiple days of work to be implemented. I probably wouldn’t be able to finish it by July 1st, so I really don’t mind releasing July 1st’s update today.
To read a list of everything that was added, changed, fixed, or improved in the latest build, scroll down past this absolutely gorgeous illustration of Supana Churu by blue_nori_snow!
Hold up, hold up, hold up. I’m not done showing off blue_nori_snow‘s art. Look at this!
That is a lot of characters! It must have taken so long to draw them all! And they’re all absolutely adorable! Ahh! I love blue_nori_snow‘s artwork so much!
Okay, onto to the changelong…
Depth-of-Field Improvements
For a long time, the game has had two big problems with depth-of-field:
- If the player changed the screen resolution at runtime, the depth-of-field effect would make everything appear super blurry and out-of-focus. This should no longer be happening.
- The depth-of-field effect would cause the game to look super blurry at certain screen resolutions (basically, anything higher than 1280×720). This should no longer be happening.
If you were avoiding playing the game at a high resolution, or if you were disabling the depth-of-field effect because of the blurriness, give it a try; the previously-existing problems should finally be gone now.
Save File Loss Prevention
Your “Reset Week” save data is stored in the same folder that Yandere Sim is installed in. If you download a new build of Yandere Sim, it won’t have your “Reset Week” save data anymore, since all of that data was located in the previous folder.
A lot of players updated their game and then used the Reset Week feature thinking that it would restore their save data, only to learn that it reset them back to Week 1. This was very disappointing and frustrating for a lot of players! So, to prevent this from happening anymore…
From now on, new builds of the game will not contain any “Reset Week” save data. Attempting to use the Reset Week feature will simply summon an error window telling you how to find your previous Reset Week save data and transplant it to where you have currently installed Yandere Simulator.
(I have a feeling that a lot of people will take a screenshot of this error window and say “Help! What do I do?” even though the answer is written right there. Sigh…)
Map Updates
The map screen is now a stylized pink-and-white depiction of the school, rather than a cluttered 3D model where it’s impossible to tell where anything is because of the overload of detail.
The labels on the map screen now dynamically resize so that even if the map is fully zoomed out, all of the labels are still legible and readable.
Also, there are now more labels on the map screen. Hopefully, these additions will assist new players in learning where everything is.
Unfinished Content
A new feature is coming to the game soon – the ability to sabotage something connected to the school rooftop to make it fall and crush whoever is below it.
This feature isn’t 100% finished yet (missing sound effects, missing polish) but you can find the object on the rooftop and test the feature. It isn’t “official” or “finished” yet, so it doesn’t have much purpose in its current state, but you may find amusement from testing it out.
Changes and Improvements
- If the protagonist ran nearby a paranoid character – like Sonoko – the character would enter a “suspicious of protagonist” state where the player was not able to talk to them. This confused a lot of players who didn’t understand why they weren’t able to talk to Sonoko after alarming her. From now on, talking to a student will snap them out of the “suspicious of protagonist” state, so that it is possible to talk to Sonoko even when she is “Hmm…”-ing at you.
- If Moeko burst into flames while putting out a fire in the barrel behind the boys’ shower building, the nearby delinquent girls wouldn’t see it, since Moeko would be slightly outside of their cone of vision. This looked pretty bad, so from now on, a burning student’s scream will reach further, to guarantee that Moeko’s death alarms the nearby delinquent girls.
- Previously, using the Masking Tape to create bodybags would “use up” the Masking Tape, meaning that the player would no longer be able to use the Masking Tape for anything else, such as creating tripwire traps or the “frame-for-murder cardboard box.” From now on, using the Masking Tape to create bodybags will no longer “use up” that item.
- Chigusa’s suitor can now walk through the other boys who simp – I mean, admire her. This is so that Chigusa’s suitor can never get “stuck” when trying to pathfind somewhere important (such as the matchmaking area) while Chigusa is surrounded by her other simps – I mean, admirers.
- Crouching is no longer an insantly-get-sent-to-the-guidance-counselor offense. An authority figure will now have to witness you crouching (or exhibiting other annoying behavior like giggling) 5 times before sending you to the counselor.
- The “Make Senpai Reject Osana” scheme now instructs the player to use the Internet to put incriminating photos onto Osana’s phone, instead of taking panty shots using Osana’s phone.
- The act of lockpicking now lasts for 5 seconds, involves an animation, and is considered suspicious. (There are two animations, one for doors and one for the nurse’s cabinet.)
- The photographs that hang on the main corkboard in the Photography Club were extremely outdated. They have been replaced.
- Rivals’ portraits will now appear onscreen during the courtroom phase where the judge is reviewing what happened to them.
- Most players probably won’t notice, but the End-of-Day Results window now has a gradient, instead of being a solid color.
- Sonoko will no longer get distracted by the player’s footsteps or push the player when she is busy with an event.
- The “Friends” option on the Week Select screen will no longer automatically befriend the rival girls.
- There is now a unique animation for washing a weapon at a basin (as opposed to a drinking fountain).
- Students who follow Chigusa will now stop moving when the player is talking to Chigusa.
- From now on, Ryoba’s club accessory will be disabled when she puts on a swimsuit.
- It is now possible to work a part-time job twice in one day on Sundays.
- Improved student pathfinding around the pool photo shoot cameras.
- Characters’ mouths now move during the courtroom sequence.
- Updated Kyoshi Tachikawa’s portrait.
Fixes
- When a student is vomiting into a toilet in a bathroom stall, the player is not meant to be able to interact with the stall door behind the vomiting student. This is in order to prevent the “open/close door” prompt from getting in the player’s way when the player is trying to drown a vomiting student. However, due to a bug, this feature wasn’t working properly. This bug has been fixed.
- If the player died due to stepping into an electrified puddle of water while simultaneously being pushed by an invisible force (the barrier that prevents entry to the boys’ shower building or the girls’ shower building while naked) the player would enter a “dead and alive at the same time” or “able to walk around while at the game over screen” state. This bug has been fixed.
- If the drama club is shut down, drama clubmembers still practice acting – they just never visit their clubroom, and head directly to the gym stage. However, if a memorial to a dead student was occupying the gym stage, ex-drama clubmembers’ routines would break, and they would try to walk into a locked clubroom. This bug has been fixed.
- If the player pushed a student from the school rooftop, the corpse was discovered, and the cops were called, but then the player disposed of the corpse before the cops could arrive, the Stats screen would say “Police have discovered 1 corpse at Akademi” even though the corpse was never found. This bug has been fixed.
- If the player stood next to a wall while using the “Girly” Persona and dropped an object, the object would clip through the wall. This will no longer happen when using the “Girly” Persona. If any more Personas result in objects clipping through walls, I will fix the problem as the reports come in.
- If the player chose the Expel or Rejection schemes at the “scheme corkboard” after talking to Info-chan for the first time, the scheme progress for Monday would work properly, but the scheme progress for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday would not track properly. This bug has been fixed.
- If the player sent a mind-broken slave to kill a target and then handed the mind-broken slave another weapon, it would be possible to instruct the mind-broken slave to kill a different target. This was completely unintentional, and has been fixed.
- If the player framed Osana for stealing Sakyu’s ring, reported her to the counselor, and then killed Sakyu, the player would still get a “the counselor returned Sakyu’s stolen ring to her” text at the end of the day. This bug has been fixed.
- If the player killed a student who was carrying a severed limb inside of a garbage bag, that student would not drop the garbage bag upon death, making it impossible to properly dispose of that severed limb. This bug has been fixed.
- If a Heroic student tried to have a struggle with the player while the player was sitting on a bench, the player would remain in the bench-sitting animation while the physical struggle was taking place. This bug has been fixed.
- If the player started a sparring match with the Martial Arts Club, it was possible for the player’s sparring partner to walk away in the middle of the match if certain conditions were met. This should no longer be possible.
- If the player joined the delinquents, it would not be possible to participate in the delinquents’ club activities on any day of the week except the day when the player joined the delinquents. This bug has been fixed.
- The text “The police conclude that the victim’s death was not a suicide, and was most likely a homicide” would appear during situations where the victim’s death was obviously a suicide. This bug has been fixed.
- If the player attempted to use the “conceal in tarp bag” feature on a decapitated student, 6 tarp bags would spawn, even though only 5 bags should spawn if there is no head to wrap up. This bug has been fixed.
- If the player entered the loading screen while anything was happening that would make the gamepad vibrate, the gamepad would vibrate throughout the entire loading sequence. This bug has been fixed.
- If the player saved and loaded the game while a student was posing for a photograph, that student would not be able to return to their routine upon reloading the game. This bug has been fixed.
- If the player alarmed a student while wearing a mask, the “Ryoba alarmed her classmates” counter would increment, even though the witness shouldn’t have known it was Ryoba because of the mask.
- If the player saved and loaded the game while a confession was taking place, characters would not properly return to their routines upon loading the game. This bug has been fixed.
- If the player attempted to giggle while crouching while the “Yandere Vision” effect was fading out, a “No giggling allowed!” notification would appear. This bug has been fixed.
- If Otohiko tripped and fell, he would still be able to instantly react to any of the player’s misbehavior. From now on, he can only react after he has finished standing up.
- If the player dismembered a body, the body parts would have a “water splatter” texture overlay instead of a “blood splatter” texture overlay. This bug has been fixed.
- Fixed bug that would cause all challenge icons to appear in the pause screen in the protagonist’s home even if the protagonist hadn’t activated a single challenge.
- If the player dropped a weapon bag while in the “Mythical Cherry Tree” zone, the weapon bag would float in midair near the running track. This bug has been fixed.
- Kokona’s Drama Club accessory (a rose) was missing from her hair in the “Kokona asks Ayano to participate in the school play” cutscene. This has been corrected.
- Fixed bug that would prevent the game from being able to move past Sunday if the player attempted to end Sunday by working at a part-time job.
- If the player disabled bloom in the settings menu, the bloom effect would be disabled at school but not in the town. This bug has been fixed.
- If the player used the Reset Week feature, the game would not reset the current suitor’s stats. This bug has been fixed.
- If the player started a Mission Mode “Multi Mission”, their save data would be reset. This bug has been fixed.
- Fixed graphical problem with Ryoba’s eyes in the street scene. (The problem was only visible at nighttime.)
- Fixed bug that caused Jokichi to stand directly in front of Chigusa during her pool photoshoot.
- Fixed bug that would cause Senpai to permanently appear at school in “low poly” form.
- The robot girl’s textures were not displaying properly. This bug has been fixed.
- Fixed a typo in the profile of teacher Kaho Kanokogi.
- Fixed typos in the Part-Time Jobs menu.
Miscellaneous Framerate Improvement
Usually, a change to a single line of code in a single script does not have a massive impact on framerate. However, when that script runs on several hundred different game objects on every frame, every line of code matters.
I’ve made a change to a certain script that may have resulted in higher framerate. I’d be interested in hearing if you observe a noticeable framerate improvement in the latest build.
What’s Next?
As always, I’m going to keep it 100 with you: I’m really disappointed with my progress over the past 2 months. In April I knocked like 5 items off of the pre-crowdfunding checklist, and then over the past 2 months I barely made any progress on that checklist. This is something I feel immensely ashamed of – especially because I was hoping I would complete the checklist within the 1st half of this year…but, June is almost over, meaning that we’re almost past the halfway point of the year, so there is pretty much no way for me to hit that goal.
I’m hoping – not just hoping for it but planning on it, really – to complete as many checklist items as possible in July. I want to redeem myself in my own eyes by making as much progress as possible next month. With that said, it really depends on whether or not there are a bunch of critical bugs in this build, and I have to spend a sizable chunk of July just fixing the various issues that are going to be reported. I really hope that’s not going to be the case…but, we’ll see.
On a more positive note…there is currently an plan to get several YouTubers and game developers into a stream to play a certain multiplayer game together in the near future. If everything works out, I’ll be one of them. I hope you’ll look forward to that!