Methods: The Detective Competition News

I'm very excited to finally announce something that's been in the works for a really long time — as far back as 2014, back when Methods first started. You may not believe this, but Methods was actually originally conceived as a dating simulator.

However, without a solid foundation for a story, it just wasn't that interesting, so I started adding more mystery elements. Soon, every character was turned into a detective of some kind, and instead of a matchmaking competition, it became a detective competition.

I've decided to add a new game mode that takes Methods back to its dating sim routes. Introducing... Dating Sim mode.





Dating Sim mode adds over 430K words to Methods. It's the largest update to a game I've ever made. Why so much dialogue, you ask? Because in Dating Sim mode, you're actually able to pair up any two characters. And when I say any, I mean ANY.



This means that yes, there are 6724 combinations for you to explore! Will you ever stop playing Dating Sim mode? Probably never. It's taken me a really long time to write all of this. I've been working on it nonstop in every spare moment I have. I write it instead of eating. I write it instead of sleeping. All to deliver on the promise of being able to pair up any two characters! But don't worry, I made it into a special "challenge" for myself — the fasting/no-sleep writing challenge! If Gandhi can do it, so can I, right?? (Gandhi was not able to complete a dating sim during his fast, which is unfortunate).



In Dating Sim mode, you manipulate people to fall in love with you by buying them things. Just like real life! A new menu, the "Gift Shop", lets you purchase gifts with "Love Points". You get Love Points simply by finding routes.

But watch out! In a unique twist on dating sim mechanics, the character you're trying to pursue can ALSO gift you things — and depending on your reaction, it could ruin the entire dynamic and you'll have to start over!

Many more surprises lie in wait in this mode — like I said, it took FOREVER to write, so I hope you'll try it when it launches on April 31st.

Until next time!!

— LockedOn.

Thank you to everyone who has downloaded Methods! I've been blown away by the amount of support the game has received. ːroelheartː

The Steam Awards are here, and I'd be extremely grateful if you would consider Methods for the "Outstanding Story-Rich Game" category — it helps raise awareness about the game!

Thanks again!

— LockedOn.

Happy Halloween everybody!

The latest update to the game just includes some typo fixes in the Chinese translation, and it also includes the missing Garden interview.

But more importantly, I have a special announcement! Methods Keychains are coming soon! Here's a sneak peek of Set One!!





The first set includes Hackett, Haney, Nell, 772, Mellie, Ashdown, and Roel, and if you get all of them, you just might get a secret extra character!

I will have more information about where to purchase them in the future!

Finally, here are some characters dressed for the holiday. Enjoy!







Until next time,

— LockedOn.

The full Chinese translation of Methods has finally been released!





This project went at lightning speed, and was completed in a little over a month. Though the biggest news here is the full translation, this version of Methods not only has additional bug/typo fixes for the English version, but two new extras — the requested character design gallery and title gallery, and it turns out there was a missing interview as well, which has been added. So whether you want to read the Chinese version or not, it's worth downloading this new version!

Now I'd like to give the opportunity for the Master Translators of the game to say a few words about the making of the Chinese version.

Listera says...

We really finished this whole localization project in only a month??? This must be the most amazing thing I've been through!
As the one that has initiated this project, I'd like to thank every volunteer that has joined us. It was your contribution that turned impossibility to possibility. Of course, I'd love to deliver my deepest gratitude to Vita and Whisky, who has accompanied me all the way through this marathon translation project. Without you and your devotion, I couldn’t possibly complete the Chinese version of Methods: The Detective Competition on my own, or with such high quality and efficiency.
Hope you all enjoy Methods in Chinese!

p.s. I'm working on something called How To Write Conver's Anagram and When to Quit Writing It, should be out very soon, hope you'll like it.

Vita says...

I'm very honored to have worked on this project with my best friends! It was such an amazing experience - turns out collabs can be fun and super productive as well!
One of the most attractive aspect of the game is the title screen designs, and I'm so happy to see them having their own gallery now! With the help of Mr. LockedOn, we managed to translate all of the 100 title cards. I'm still amazed at the sheer quantity and quality of them, and I wish you can appreciate them along with the rest of the game as well!
Hope you enjoy the jokes and stuff, and don't remember to click on the "Rope on a Stick" in Chapter 77!

Whisky says...

I've invested all my music theory knowledge in this localization project already, ha!
Also there were times when I teared up right away as I'm translating the part when my favorite character got framed into her failure. I guess it was truly a project that we've invested our time and emotions in.
Jokes aside though, a lot of things are going on in the world out there, but there's us chatting about the translation, or life in general, through the voice chat, from different parts of the world and time zones. These were the things that made this summer truly special for me.
Hope you guys enjoy the Chinese version of Methods, GLHF!


---

Working with them was great, easily the best experience I've had working on Methods. Though I can't read Chinese, I know that their translation of the game is not only representative of the source material, but elevates it, because of the passion they brought to the project. Every step of the way they demonstrated that they knew the characters inside and out, and understood completely what my vision of the game is.

I hope you enjoy the translation!

Best,

— LockedOn.

I'm very excited to announce that a full Chinese translation of Methods is on the way! The new demo version of the game contains the translation of the first ten chapters!

The translation effort is lead by Listera Tsou, Vita Zhang, and Iris "Whisky" Wu, with assistance from Dawn, Grit, jameslimer, Liua, Membryne, Xixi, 第一大关, 花花, 九墨, 栗子, 两颗星, and 路维.

You probably weren't expecting Methods to be translated into another language — I certainly wasn't. It's a huge game with over 140K words and lots of jokes and wordplay. I had previously been forced to turn down offers to translate the game because I simply can't afford to. So how did this come about?

Almost exactly a month ago, Sound of Mystery, a Chinese Let's Player, contacted me about Methods. He was playing through the whole game on bilibili, which is like a Chinese niconico, which is... kind of like Twitch, I guess? He was translating the game into Chinese as he was playing it, which was super impressive.

This stream of his has sparked a lot of excitement around the game in his community.

It wasn't long after that that I was contacted by Listera, who volunteered to translate the game into Chinese. Though I was a bit skeptical that it would be possible for such a huge game, there really wasn't any reason to say no, so I handed some files Ren'Py had generated off to her. Around two days later, she had formed a team with 14 other people, just by posting about it on Sound of Mystery's stream.

I'm happy to say that we're already about 50% done with the translation!





I've personally re-arranged the translated chapter titles, bios, and re-rendered backgrounds, to make sure the experience is as seamless as possible. I'm really happy to work with such a great team of volunteers, the progress they're making is incredible, and I'm extremely grateful for their generosity, in helping the game find a wider audience.

Currently the demo has a bug where switching from Chinese back to English can cause the fonts in English to mess up. I'm looking into how to fix that, in the meantime, restarting the demo will fix the problem.

Along with the full translation, the next version of the game will include a lot of typo fixes, grammar errors, adds little bits of dialogue here and there to patch over plot holes, things like that.

Until then!

Best,

— LockedOn.