For the majority of the game’s development, every “big milestone” has usually been a new feature. Stuff like:
- Added the Rejection elimination method.
- Added a Student Council to the school.
- Added Osana and released the demo.
However, at this phase in the game’s development, the goals I’m trying to accomplish are much different in nature. Now it’s stuff like:
- Gathered player feedback and used it to improve the overall experience of the demo.
- Identified flawed game mechanics and replaced them with improved mechanics.
- Made the corpse disposal process less tedious and more fun for the player.
I can tell you when an elimination method is “finished”; it’s finished when the feature is 100% functional. However, there isn’t a clear finish line for stuff like “gathering feedback” or “improving the overall experience” or “replacing flawed mechanics.” All of these things are subjective, and every day, I identify another new thing that I’d like to improve, replace, or add. As a result, it’s difficult to predict when this phase of the game’s development will “end.”
My next goal is straightforward: I want to improve Raibaru as a game mechanic. I have a list of things that I hate about Raibaru, and I want to go down that list and fix every problem. I can already tell you the biggest challenge that I’m going to face: Raibaru needs to become “less unfair,” but at the same time, “Just run up to Osana and stab her” cannot become a valid strategy. This means that, while changing some aspects of Raibaru, I’ll also have to change some other aspects of the game to keep it balanced. So, instead of just tweaking some aspects of Raibaru, I’ll have to tweak the overall experience itself.
This is probably what my next video is going to be about: my intentions when I put Raibaru into the game, the reasons why I failed to achieve the results I wanted, and what I’ve done lately to fix Raibaru and improve Osana’s week in general.
At the same time, while I’m working on this, I will also be working on a few other things – stuff that I’d like to keep secret so that it can be a big surprise when it’s unveiled.
The adjustments I want to make to Raibaru – and the big surprises I have planned – will require me to make a series of pretty significant changes to the game. It could take a little longer than usual for the next build to come out. That’s why I wanted to release one more “Bug-Fixing Build”; if you have to wait a few weeks to get the next build, I want to make sure that the latest version of the game is as stable as possible. And for that reason, I hope that today’s update is the most stable version I’ve ever released!
Ever since the release of Osana, I’ve been featuring Osana-centric fan art in my blog posts. It was a very fun tradition, but it’s a little unfair to all of the other artists who have been drawing amazing artwork that doesn’t involve Osana! So, as of today, the Osana-only tradition will be ending.
To see a list of everything that was changed or improved in the latest build, please scroll down past this gorgeous artwork by Kodoki-san!
Fixes, Changes, Additions
- Fixed bug that would prevent the game from acknowledging Osana as eliminated if she was framed for murder and then put to sleep in the gym storage room’s musical instrument case.
- Fixed bug that was preventing Yandere-chan’s hair from being dyed blonde during Osana’s “walk to school with Senpai”, after the player had dyed her hair earlier in the week.
- Fixed bug that would prevent a martial arts club member from being able to properly return to their club routine after being splashed with water and changing their clothing.
- Previously, the “Evidence Warning” window would only refer to class, even in circumstances where the player was not attempting to go to class. This has been fixed.
- Bonus Study Points (gained either by studying in the library or skipping days at the Calendar screen) now accumulate and can be used the following day at school.
- Fixed bug that would cause the photographs flashing onscreen during the intro animation to flicker back and forth between being blurry and being in-focus.
- Fixed bug that would cause Raibaru’s routine to not update correctly if Osana was killed and disposed of while Raibaru was in the martial arts clubroom.
- Fixed bug that would prevent the poison button prompts over Raibaru’s bento from disappearing after poison had already been put into her bento.
- Fixed bug that would cause a student to run to their club’s changing booth for no good reason after realizing that their phone was missing.
- Fixed bug that made the wrong error message pop up when the player attempted to place the “Pool’s Closed” sign at an invalid time of day.
- Fixed bug that allowed Yandere-chan to freely run around after getting tazed by the Headmaster if she was tazed while “Faking Reaction”.
- Once again attempted to fix that really weird bug that would cause the game to launch at the smallest possible resolution (144×1).
- Fixed bug that caused Raibaru to think that Yandere-chan was eavesdropping even if no conversation was taking place nearby.
- A wooden training dummy is now present in the martial arts club. Why? You’ll probably learn why in the next build!
- Fixed bug that allowed the player to take off the cello case in circumstances where it would be clipping into a wall.
- Finally fixed that “SNAP Mode teleports you to the rooftop” bug. Sorry it was in the game for so long…
- Updated the text that displays when updating your Physical Education stat.
- The dolls in the sewing room that represent various YouTubers and volunteers are going to be updated to be more detailed. A new doll has been added to the doll table, to represent what the updated dolls are going to look like. If you are a YouTuber who regularly plays Yandere Simulator, you might see yourself appear on the doll table in the near future!