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Research Story News

✨ Research Story 1.0 Release Date!✨

[h2]Hello Researchers![/h2]

[h2]Research Story 1.0 will be releasing on July 21, 2025![/h2]

View the annoucement trailer below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RwPrAlJjOE
[h2]Public Beta on July 7[/h2]
We're planning to make the 1.0 release update available in a public beta branch on July 7 for interested players, and use the final two weeks to catch and fix as many bugs as possible. Players who own the game will be able to opt in. More details will be shared when that happens!

[h2]Our Early Access journey[/h2]
Early Access launched on 21 Feb 2023, and it's been over 2 years since then. We've added so much to the game, much more than I first planned! Partly due to the expanded scope, development for Early Access took longer as well.

That said, with the story epilogue, marriage, and some end-game content as part of the 1.0 launch update, I believe Research Story is in a good place for full release and has plenty of content and fun for players to discover.



[h2]A BIG thank you to everyone![/h2]
I want to thank everyone for being part of our journey throughout Early Access! Research Story will not be what it is today without the community's love and amazing support.

Many of you have patiently shared your feedback, suggestions, and bug reports on the Steam forums, and more have shared them through the Google Forms linked in-game. Some of you made detailed guides and videos, and others kindly answered community questions. Reading your lovely and sometimes funny comments always put a smile to my face! 😊💚 Finally, seeing your awesome reviews for the game gives me so much encouragement that the game's on the right track.

I'm really happy that you enjoy Research Story, and I hope that you'll continue to enjoy the 1.0 update very soon! 💕

[h2]Into the future[/h2]
Right now, I'm focused on the preparations for 1.0, and admittedly have not planned (much) for what comes after that! What I can promise is that I'll continue supporting the game the best I can. You know me, I try to respond to all of your comments, feedback and bug reports as much as possible.

After the dust settles, I'll look into more community feedback and see how it goes from there. I'll likely start by working on upgrading my game build to fit the latest version of Gamemaker Studio (the game engine that I use) so that I can tap into more features (specifically, borderless fullscreen and audio input changes on runtime should be available after upgrading). I'll also look into whether I'm able to support Mac/Linux, as I know we have some players on those platforms. These may take weeks or more - it's hard to say. I'll do my best!

Talk soon! In the meantime, if you have any questions, feel free to ask them~
Miki 🤍

Patch v0.13.16

- Optimisation: Reduced game launch load times by reworking where additional fonts are loaded.

Thank you for playing Research Story!
Miki 🤍

Hotfix v0.13.15.5

- Fixed player setting for 'Time pauses at 2AM' Gameplay Option not saved after relaunching game.

Miki 🤍

Hotfix v0.13.15.4

A quick bugfix for changes in previous patch:
- [Controller] Fixed a crash when using Gameplay Options.

Miki

Patch v0.13.15

Several polishing changes in v0.13.15:

[h3]Controls[/h3]
Hotbar + Toolbox controls & UI
- Items are now automatically held when selected. You can still 'keep' items into your bag.
- Added 'Hold hotbar items automatically' toggle in gameplay options. Default is on, though for the most of Early Access (before v0.13.15), the default has been off.
- A held item is kept when opening the toolbox/equipping a tool.
- [KBM] Toolbox closes when clicking to equip a tool.
- [Visual] While trowel has a crop, hotbar items will have lowered opacity (since they can't be used).
- [Visual] Added cross icon and lowered opacity when tool is not being used (i.e. when the player is holding an item).
- [Visual] Recoloured toolbox. Image for Toolbox tutorial is also updated.
Dev note: Since the above changes how the game feels to play, I thought to share more about the reason behind the change.

Now and then, I get feedback regarding the controls for hotbar/tools in the game. I think most of it stems from the fact that Research Story gives permanent tools a separate inventory from all the other obtainable items, which is different from how several well-known games in the genre do it. While this has its own perks (tools don't take up the usual bag inventory/you won't forget them in a chest), players may find it more cluncky and unfamiliar. I've given it a lot of thought throughout development, and without re-doing how the game handles tools/bag inventory, I've tried to further improve this aspect of the game.

If you prefer the previous controls, you can toggle 'Hold hotbar items automatically' in Options > Gameplay to Off.
Dialogue
- [Keyboard] Dialogue options can now be cycled through with up/down or up/down arrow keys.
- [Keyboard] Interact/Enter can be used to choose an option.

[h3]General Changes[/h3]

Creature Pen
- Adjusted collision box for adding Feed to creature pen trough.
- Added white outline to trough when hovered over.
- On rainy days, creature pens now have a leaf shelter for creatures (purely cosmetic). The leaf shelter can be opened/closed.

Creature UI
- Animal portraits are better centered.

Furniture Interaction
- The Stone Bathtub can now be entered to regenerate Energy.

Options
- Added 'Time pauses at 2AM' gameplay option. Default is Off.

Misc
- Fish bait is also shown in the fishing rod above player's head when switching to Fishing Rod.
- Adjustments to several NPC cutscenes: the player will return to where they entered the map instead of where the cutscene ended.

[h3]Fixes[/h3]
- Fixed a typo in Theo's Yellow Heart cutscene.
- Fixed a typo in Let's Make Some! (11) notice.
- Fixed being able to place items in hotsprings.
- Fixed a misalignment of player customisation in a cutscene with Vallee in the Puzzle Cave.
- Fixed a misalignment of player customisation that can happen during Spring/Autumn Festival cutscenes.
- Fixed held item being drawn above player's head during certain Hangout Activities.

More of such small adjustments to come as we prepare for 1.0! ^_^
- Miki