Seclusa News

Hello! This update fixes some issues, adds a few things, and lays the groundwork for some future (more substantial) updates.

Patch Notes for Demo 0.9.6:

[h3]Additions & Tweaks[/h3]

• Removed various 'Help' popups and redistributed any crucial information to other parts of the game to be delivered in a more intuitive way.
  
• Lots of small changes to the game's fonts and general UI in preparation for an upcoming localization update.
  
• In Photo Mode, you can now continue to orbit the camera while time is frozen with the Processing menu open (click and drag anywhere outside of the Processing menu).
  
• You can now close the Pause menu with the 'back' button/key ('B' by default).
  
• Made the card/pack tilt feature a little more responsive while opening packs of cards.
  
• Added the ability to immediately buy another pack at the end of opening one (if you don't have any left).
  

[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

• Removed (another!) debug key that found its way into the public build.
  
• Fixed some bugs where input glyphs could disappear when unpausing the game.
  
• Fixed a bug where you could take a photo while the Processing menu was closing, and the menu would show up in the photo.
  
• Fixed a bug where the Daily Tasks couldn't be shown via your Inventory while the Photo Processing menu was also open.
  
• Fixed a bug that could freeze the game if you tried to cancel a rebind immediately after clicking a rebind slot.
  
• Fixed a bug where a few inputs wouldn't register as remappable.
  
• Fixed a bug where the game could lock up in certain situations if you quit to title, then resumed your save.
  

Hello! We have a small-ish update for the demo to address a few issues...

Patch Notes for Demo 0.9.5:

[h3]Additions & Tweaks[/h3]

• Added a 'quit to title' option from the pause screen.
  
• Changed the mouse input glyphs to be more clear and readable.
  
• Made some tweaks to the smoothness and consistency of the camera movement.
  
• Slight tweaks to the cat's behavior/animations.
  

[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

• Fixed an issue with 'negative mouse acceleration' while using the photo camera or sitting in a chair.
  
• Fixed an issue where higher framerates could result in lower look sensitivity.
  
• Fixed a bug where the wrong input glyphs (or none) would show at certain parts of the game.
  
• Fixed a bug where the 'help' button for the Camera Upgrades menu wouldn't work at the Lodge.
  
• Fixed a bug where save files wouldn't always load the correct jigsaw puzzle art.
  
• Fixed some other bugs with the save/load system.
  
• Fixed a bug where a debug key slipped into the public build (whoops!)
  

You may have to re-adjust your 'camera sensitivity' setting in the Options menu due to some of the changes!

Also, there are still known issues with the Daily Tasks and how they interact with the save/load system, but the Daily Tasks in general will work a little differently in the full game, so it's an issue that will be solved a bit further down the road. In the meantime, they work fine, but don't always load correctly when playing a previous save.

Hello!

We have a few things to cover in this post!



First, even though Seclusa is yet to release, we're still happy to be a part of the Earth Appreciation Festival, which just started today. You can check out the festival here!

We also have a new trailer! Well, it's really just an updated reworking of our old trailer, which had a number of things that have since been dramatically changed or outright removed from the game (ah, game development). You can check it out below, or over on our store page.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

And finally, we have another update for the demo with a handful of cool, new additions-- notably, saving and loading! It should be noted, however, that saved progress in the demo won't transfer to the full game. It's mostly for those that want to check out everything in the demo, but over multiple play sessions. (It's also a way for us to test the save/load system in the wild to make sure it's bug-free before the full release, so if you have any issues, please let us know!)

...I think that's all for now, so I'll leave you with the update notes!


Patch Notes for Demo 0.9.4:
[h3]Big changes[/h3]

• Saving / Loading has been implemented.
  
• Added a helper tutorial when you've gone into photo mode for the first time.
  

[h3]Smaller changes[/h3]

• Opening the menu for customizing the cat now zooms into the cat for a closer look.
  
• Wildlife now does a much better job of avoiding each other while moving around.
  
• Completing a job now 'consumes' the photo used for that job.
  
• Swapped out the 'Complete a Puzzle' objective for a different one.
  
• Added a 'confirm' button for changing to a new time via the Time Change menu.
  
• Slightly reduced the amount of cursor tilt the cards had while viewing them.
  
• Smoothed out the photo camera's panning controls a bit.
  
• Various visual improvements throughout the game.
  

[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

• Fixed an issue with the photo camera clipping through the grass in certain situations.
  
• Fixed grass clipping through zebras while lying down.
  
• Fixed some issues with UI elements under aspect ratios other than 16:9.
  
• Fixed a bug where deleted photos weren't being dumped from memory.
  
• Fixed a bug where certain vegetation at the Savannah could become overexposed.
  
• Fixed an issue where completing a job wouldn't refresh the remaining jobs slots with an updated tally of your qualifying photos.
  
• Fixed some issues with the display resolution dropdown menu.
  
• Fixed an issue where gamepad input wasn't working with scroll bars on some menus.
  
• Various other small fixes and tweaks.
  

Hello!

We've been busy over the last few months making some substantial overhauls to Seclusa, many of which have found their way into a big update for the demo.

While the game isn't too fundamentally different, there are some new features and mechanics that we'd like to quickly highlight here.

[h3]

• Cards

[/h3]


This is one of those features that has appeared and disappeared from various iterations of Seclusa over the past couple of years, but now we're bringing it back for good!

You'll be able to earn packs of collectible cards by completing various in-game goals and tasks (or just by purchasing them with credits). We're planning to have a fairly large collection in the full game to work toward.

[h3]

• Objectives

[/h3]


We've overhauled our previous 'Objectives' mechanic to be...well...much more interesting! Instead of the same time and weather goals per species, each level now has its own set of objectives to work toward in addition to a global set that spans the entire game.

These objectives encompass a variety of mostly non-photography things you can do throughout the game.

[h3]

• Compendium

[/h3]


We've also implemented a simple wildlife compendium to help keep track of the various species you'll come across.

[h3]

• Jobs

[/h3]


You'll now have access to a Jobs Board, which gives an endless, dynamic supply of photography requests from various conservation groups. Like just about everything else in the game, these can be completed entirely at your own pace. (It is, however, limited in functionality for the demo!)


[h3]...and a number of other notable changes:[/h3]

• Leveling up is now simpler and more streamlined.
  
• Added a new mechanic for customizing the cat.
  
• You can now sit in the outdoor chairs at the Savannah level.
  
• Distant 'ambient' wildlife now populates outdoor levels.
  
• New animations for the zebras.
  
• Improved the elephant's model with more detail and variety.
  
• Overhauled most menu screens.
  
• Increased your starting photo storage.
  
• The in-world camera model has been complete redesigned.
  
• Various UI improvements and tweaks to make things generally more readable.
  
• Performance improvements.
  
• ...and lots of bugfixes!
  

[h3]

• Seclusa's Wildlife

[/h3]
One additional point to touch on is that we're currently in the middle of rewriting and overhauling how most of the wildlife behavior works in the full game, aiming for a more organic and interesting experience while you're hanging out at various locations. These changes aren't in the current version of the demo, but will be updated in at some point!

[h3]

• Release Update

[/h3]
As a final note, some may have already noticed that we've changed the release date on our Steam page to Q2 2025, which is a small delay from our previous plans. We're still not quite at a point where we can confidently determine the specific date, but we're pretty certain that it will be late April or early May.

We'll have more concrete plans in this regard over the coming month or so as we ready a final trailer, which will likely also contain the announced release date, so stay tuned for that!

In the meantime, if you've already played the demo, it might be worth jumping in again to see what's changed, and if you haven't yet tried it, we hope you'll give it a shot!

Patch Notes for Demo 0.8.2:

[h3]Tweaks[/h3]

• Smoothed out lighting transitions at the lodge during certain times of day.
  
• Small changes to how Daily Tasks are displayed.
  
• General optimizations and performance improvements.
  

[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

• Improved wildlife pathfinding and collision to prevent some of the erratic behavior and clipping from previous versions.
  
• Fixed a number of issues relating to the display of controller glyphs.
  
• Fixed compatibility issues with DualSense controllers (and probably DualShock as well, though they haven't been specifically tested).
  
• Fixed some issues relating to having multiple controllers plugged in simultaneously (the game should work fine, but this still isn't advised as there could be undesirable results relating to glyph display and input rebinding).