Fourth update is up !

Note : as per usual, old save files should not be compatible, better start fresh !

Remember that the tutorial bits can be skipped, and you also can set the message speed in the settings if you want to speed past the beginning of the story.

What's new ?

New content, new features were the focus for this release.

Story wise, we proceed with the story arc, this time focusing mostly on Clem and leaving Jade at her shenanigans. This will also provide the opportunity to meet a couple of new characters !

Improving FaceGram

At the core of this update, new features in our main social media app.

My end goal for this game is to provide an immersive social media experience. Working towards this, I've implemented a bunch of stuff to improve interactivity in this app.

Until now, it was a glorified Clementine profile display, but each character now has its own profile to browse with its own specific details and hidden clues. 

That also means I had to improve navigation : clicking on characters commenting on a publication, for instance, shall bring you to this character's profile. Likewise, characters mentioned through their @ handles in publication are detected as such and can be clicked to navigate to said profile.

Friend lists also get expanded : they are a bit more than a cosmetic number, they now hide real interconnected profiles and thus provide a gameplay element to discover new pieces of information.

On the technical side

A bunch of bugfixes, mostly following feedback received here. Keep it coming !

Some consistency fixes, notably for the character customization : changes of the PC's own gender or changes in the different characters names should be better reflected everywhere in the app (though sometimes needing a reload !)

I've started working a bit on the performance side. With the story expanding, the conversations start getting pretty long with a bunch of pictures and that was causing performance issues in the messaging app.

I've implemented virtualization that fixes it though it might sometimes cause some minor scrolling offsets when new messages are added to the conversation.

Performance will however be a whole subject down the line as I know there are several areas where a bunch of improvements can be made, though requiring some time-consuming work. I want the app to be snappy and responsive !

What's next ?

New content is still the main focus. Even as a truncated beta build, I want the game to be a self-contained social media simulator that feels like you can browse several apps and find new stuff everywhere.
That also means progression, since watching new content get published is a core part of the social media experiment.

Down the line, I wish to have a very organic progression and a steady flow of new content throughout the game.

In order to reach these goals, I will have to populate the different apps with a bunch of content : random selfies and pictures, but also a bunch of text publications that add to the immersion, provide context and tell stories.

The release cycle will most likely remain the same for the next couple of updates : continuation of the story with new content,

some new features facilitating gameplay elements, and some filler content on the side as time allows.

To get early access to the content, see some WIP artworks and most importantly, if you want to support my work and keep this project alive, feel free to become a Patron !