Dead Detention (Rescribbled) News

Dead Detention is part of Steam's Zombies vs. Vampires Fest 2025! To celebrate, you can grab the game for 70% off throughout the week long event! You can also grab the soundtrack for 20% off, too.

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Thanks for playing!

More soon,
Jack

Dead Detention Version 1.3 is out now. This is easily the biggest update yet! It adds stronger arts and crafts visual theming, new visual effects, atmospheric audio, hard mode improvements and better pacing in Episode 5.

The game is also 60% for the next two weeks, and the soundtrack is 20% off.

[h2]Patch Notes[/h2]
[h3]More Arts and Crafts Theming[/h3]
Scissors

• When characters die, they're now cut up by scissors.

UI

• Added sticky tape to window titles, crosses and other elements.
  
• Added bulletin pins to the morality icon, inventory slots and the episode select.
  
• Added popsticks to the plot token icons.
  
• Added staples to the window description box.
  
• Paper particles spawn from clicks in the title screen, and from buttons in-game.

Transitions

• The black cardboard now tears in and out instead of fading.

Intro

• Redesigned the intro screen to have lots of crafting materials.

Overlay Effects

• Paper particles now spawn and blow around the screen.
  
• A depth overlay effect scrolls over the screen.

[h3]Atmospheric Audio[/h3]

• Atmospheric audio loops now play in the background beneath the music.
  
• Loops include: a classroom, fire, a helicopter, night time, wind and bike riding.

[h3]Emotion Particles[/h3]

• Particles will emit from characters where they're showing certain emotions. (ie. skulls when they're bitten.)

[h3]Lighting[/h3]

• A proper lighting system was added, adding a subtle lighting overlay for certain scenes, locations and times of day.
  
• Added a glow to Dr. Okaby's visor and zombies that are on fire.

[h3]Episode 5 Refinement[/h3]
Improved pacing

• Sora and Naomi ring the bike's bell when they show Max.
  
• Max now runs up to Sora before helping her up.
  
• Added narration of Max and Sora running through the city.

Final Boss Microgames

• Added new sprites for the boxing minigame, showing the final boss.

[h3]Visual Refinement[/h3]
Scribbles

• Added scribbles and impact lines to Max tripping.
  
• Improved the colours and lining of Max using his phone.
  
• Improved the exclamation bubbles on multiple scribbles.
  
• Several other little tweaks and improvements to the scribbles.

Character Poses: Max

• Made his face goofy when he's yawning or checking his phone.

Character Poses: Naomi

• Improved her face slightly.
  
• Made her angry when holding the bat.
  
• Made her eyes closed when smiling or holding the broken bat.
  
• Made her face goofy when he's shocked.
  
• Improved her laughing and scared poses.

Character Poses: Dr. Miller

• New eyes.

Character Poses: Ryan

• New eyes.
  
• Improved closed eyes, and added more shading.

Character Poses: Teacher

• Added an angry frame.

[h3]Microgames[/h3]
Visuals

• Added crayon textures to more sprites.

Time Limits

• Each individual microgame now has a specific time limit.
  
• Hard Mode time limits are now tighter.

Controls

• When playing with button/gamepad controls, the cursor now hides when playing all microgames that don't require it.

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• Fixed a hitstop performing when losing a life in the rhythm minigame that could cause the music to go a touch out of sync with the notes.

Thanks so much for playing, and I hope you like the update! The game feels so much nicer and fun to play now :)

More soon,
Jack

Version 1.2 of Dead Detention is out now! It features a detailed polish pass across the entire game; mostly focused on refining lots of the visuals. It also features new microgames, more accurate achievement icons, new Steam branding, and other neat improvements. The game is also part of the "Visual Novel Fest" Steam Festival - which just kicked off - and is 40% off for the next two weeks!

[h2]Patch Notes[/h2]
[h3]Episode 1[/h3]
Microgames

• Updated "Thinking 1" microgame: Made the placement of lightning bolts further apart.
  
• Updated "Running" Boss Minigame: It now only gets faster once, until it repeats in Episode 5.
  

Visuals

• Added a yellow, patterned background to all the times Max gets an idea.
  
• Improved the shading on Max when he erases from the blackboard.
  
• Added heart bubbles to Naomi hugging Sora.
  
• Made Max fully blue when grabbing Sora.
  
• When Sora escapes from Max's grasp, Max is now silhouetted, with a different scribble shape.

[h3]Episode 2[/h3]
Microgames

• New Microgame: "Open." A circle grows and shrinks; click at the right time to fill the bar.
  
• Updated "Targets" Boss Minigame: Added a pattern to the background and made it brighter.

Visuals

• Improved Max grabbing the entrance door + made the zoom in greyscale.
  
• Added scribbles to the background of Max's smiling/frowning face. It also later zooms in and turns to color, with an added sound effect
  
• Improved the eyes on the Zombie breaking into the computer lab + set a new scribble outline.
  
• Improved the "BONK!" text when the zombie is hit.
  
• Added "SNAP!" text when the bat snaps.
  
• Added more scribbly outlines when the teacher is bitten.
  
• Improved the door outline when Max is reaching for the handle + made it greyscale with a glowing yellow key.
  
• Added shadows to Naomi while grabbing the fence.

[h3]Episode 3[/h3]
Microgames

• Updated "Boxing" Boss Minigame: Improved the sprites of the boxer; made the hurt frame red, redid the charge frames, plus some other tweaks.

Visuals

• The looting scribbles were all refined; the items were repositioned on a higher level + changed the scribble shape + made the background more greyscale.
  
• Added a scribble pattern to the background of Max's hurt fingers.

[h3]Episode 4[/h3]
Microgames

• Updated "Rhymth" Boss Minigame: Fixed the timing issues introduced in the previous update.

Visuals

• Moved the plot token paper behind the fence.
  
• Added a scribbly background to Max sleeping + changed the outline shape.
  
• Replaced Max waking up with a close-up of his eye + extended this sequence with black and white versions of these visuals.

[h3]Episode 5[/h3]
Microgames

• New Microgame: "Dialing 2." Press to shoot a triangle to hit the correct icons.
  
• New Microgame: "Lift." Complete the puzzle by pressing the pieces to spin them.
  
• New Microgame: "Running 3." Press the correct colored running icon several times.

Visuals

• When they kill zombies together, the background now turns orange after all the zombies are defeated.
  
• Improved Naomi's color and outline when using the flamethrower.
  
• Removed the original scribble of Max holding Sora; it now only shows the pop-stick version, and it raises once Max completes the "Lift" microgame.
  
• Refined the landed helicopter silhouette; added stars, trees and nicer colors.

[h3]Characters[/h3]
Max

• Added two new crying frames that are used in Chapter 5.

Naomi

• Made her face goofy while she's looking at her phone.

Dr. Okaby

• Made his frown more pronounced.

[h3]Other Improvements[/h3]
Audio

• Some sounds, like for the helicopter, play later once the scribble is fully transitioned in.
  
• The title theme now fades out first when starting the boss rush.

Achievements

• Added silver, gold and diamond trophy sprites; reflecting the Steam achievement icons.
  
• These are displayed both on the achievement screen and when popping the achievement.

Menus

• The game now fades out before exiting.

Updated Steam Branding (Note: this change was set live a few weeks early.)

• New zombie-themed Steam branding.
  
• New soundtrack album art.
  
• New soundtrack "screenshot." (An album mockup.)

Thanks for playing, and I hope you enjoy the update! You can also check out my much, much, more serious game "Faye Falling" here, plus follow me on twitter (to see when my next game is (finally) announced!) here.

More soon,
Jack

Version 1.1 of Dead Detention is available now! This first major update features many improvements, fixes and tweaks. The biggest update is the improved performance - which fixed several issues with the texture pages. It plays so much smoother now. Check out the full patch notes below:

[h2]Patch Notes[/h2]
[h3]Improved Performance[/h3]
Many sprite groups have been reorganised, and some larger ones placed onto separate pages, lessening or removing the small load times or freezes when they'd display. These include:

• Characters
  
• Scribbles
  
• Microgames
  
• Windows
  
• Main Menus

[h3]Main Menus[/h3]

• Changed the new game button to display Naomi instead.
  
• Updated all the Episode select buttons to display different scribbles that cover the whole sprite.
  
• An error sound plays when trying to select a locked episode or locked extra.

[h3]Character Design Refinement[/h3]
Max

• Shaded face on closed eyes pose.
  
• Improved bragging pose.

Sora

• Improved face on bat pose.
  
• Shaded face on broken bat pose.

Dr. Miller

• Shaded face on closing eyes pose.

Dr. Okaby

• New laser visor design.
  
• Added a smile pose.

[h3]Music[/h3]

• Increased the volume of the song "Sora's Promise."
  
• The complete soundtrack is also now available on bandcamp.
  

[h3]Bike Crash Sequence[/h3]

• A rock on a pop stick now animates in, replacing the original awkward crash scribble.

[h3]Final Boss Sequence[/h3]

• Fixed a continuity error: made the final boss miss their top half instead of their head in their death scribble.
  
• The "Erase" microgame now repeats as a call back to Episode 1.

[h3]Ending Sequence[/h3]

• Added a line boil animation effect to the Good and Sad ending frames.

[h3]End Credits Sequence[/h3]

• Redesigned the end credits, adding scribbles above each credit.

[h3]Trip Sequence[/h3]

• Max now shakes after tripping in Episode 1.

[h3]Rhythm Minigame[/h3]

• Notes now move and spawn taking the current fps into account.

[h3]Scribble Improvements[/h3]
Episode 1

• New outline for the Max sleeping scribble.
  
• The zombie Sora kills is now frowning + added a striped background pattern.

Episode 2

• The zombie chasing the group is now making a goofy face + is bleeding from under their shirt.
  
• Added impact squiggles all around the teacher bite scribble.

Episode 4

• Animated Max's sleeping scribble + made it black and white, like the intro sleeping scribble.

Episode 5

• Improved Naomi's thinking scribble.
  
• New Naomi idea scribble.
  
• When Naomi starts the fire, that whole scribble now turns orange.

Episode 6

• Fixed one of the flashback frames using an old version of a scribble.
  
• Replaced the carrying flashback frame after the good ending to one with Max and Naomi.
  
• Improved the grave scribble with added shadows and shading.

Thanks so much for playing!

If you enjoyed this weird little game, make sure to leave a review, too - it really helps with Steam’s algorithm! I'm also planning to release another visual novel game this year, but that one will be much more serious and dark in tone...no goofy scribbles! (And much more blood and death, YAY.)

Happy (late) New Year,
Jack

Minor Fixes and Improvements

• Lowered texture page size for faster sprite loading
  
• Fixed "Dai" surname inconsistencies in the character bios
  
• Wrote a different final dialogue line to better reflect the themes of the story
  

Balancing

• Made the boxing minigame
• slightly* easier in hard mode