oath News

[p]Thank you for all the recent support! There's been an uptick in players from China recently, and multiple requests for a properly localised version to be made.[/p][p]And so....[/p][h2]Simplified Chinese is now available![/h2][p]As an English solo dev, I've had to resort to machine translation for this edition - I know it's not the best and will probably have a bunch of errors as well as parts of my story which are incorrectly interpreted. However, I wanted to get across something more accessible then using Google Lens or hard to use modding tools for the growing audience in China, so I hope this new build suffices![/p][p][/p][h3]\[UPDATE][/h3][p]A new version has just been pushed live as well - this update fixes some leftover English that was missed in the translation, as well as translates the video portions of the game! I went back and edited each of the 3 main video sections so that they also include localized text. Some additional images were also translated that were passed over on initial release. I will keep trying my best to improve the localisation for you all![/p][p]\[UPDATE 2][/p][p]A small bugfix patch has gone live that introduces a fix to various bugs related to variables and save/loading. It is recommended to stick to one language build of the game, and if swapping, completely uninstall and reinstall the game to make sure no errors are encountered.[/p][p][/p][h3]The DLC is included in the base game?![/h3][p]For all the players on the Chinese build, you will have access to the DLC immediately when you install the game - no need to install the DLC separately. Originally, the reasoning behind the DLC being separate and not just a major update was so that players can decide if they want to experience the new story and aesthetic, or stick to the base game - as well as distinguish the two as separate stories.[/p][p]This makes oath and the oath: there is a you that remains DLC two separate packages, as far as Steam is concerned - meaning each update I have to do parity between the two and port things over the different builds, which is pretty difficult! Doing this for the translation would've been extremely slow and made this take a lot, lot longer to get out - for that reason, the DLC is now just included into the base package for all players in China. Installing the DLC separately is still possible, but you won't see any changes when you do so - it'll all be the same!![/p][p][/p][h3]Thank you!![/h3][p]To all the players who have picked up the game, thank you again and I hope you've enjoyed my work! To all my new players, especially any reading this post from China, please enjoy the game and I hope this translation helps you better understand my story and world I've made. [/p][p]Thank you so much for your support! As always, please use the discussion tab if you need to report anything vital, I look over all posts when I can

[h2]Changelog[/h2][p]Happy new years! This update goes back and reworks the base game of oath, so that QoL features added in the free DLC are also present in the base build as well, when you don't have the DLC installed![/p][p] [/p][h2]Story Unlock Revamp v2[/h2][p]A lot of players don't find the majority of the games content - with them stopping once they reach the end of the 'story', and not investigating further to unlock the bulk of the actual games content....[/p][p]Originally, the unlock for this was very obscure, with lots of digging around needed to find - this was when this content was still relatively small and seen as a bonus and not the bulk of the game. With the prior update to the base game, this was changed so that if you try play the story again, it now unlocks![/p][p]However, I've seen that even this didn't really work... a lot of players would just go "oh well, that's it!" - not helped by the button being named "home". I also assumed players would see the vast amount of unfound achievements and consider there more to the game than the 15 minutes of the story button, but nonetheless apparently not....[/p][p]To help more players actually play majority of the game, two new changes have been made: [/p]

• [p]Home is now renamed to Epilogue - this should clear some confusion and also guide you naturally to the new content, with the obvious assumption that it continues on the story. The button will still change name after full completion, but at that point, it no longer needs to be called epilogue either![/p]
• [p]Epilogue now unlocks as soon as you finish the story - no more vague "maybe you missed something..." - a little immersion breaking of a message too in hindsight. The game will auto-unlock the epilogue, but also still trigger the additions of the previous update, meaning that the 2nd run will kick you out early and give you the achievement. It is also still possible to unlock the epilogue through the secret route in your first playthrough, and the secret route is still needed for all achievements.[/p]

[h2]Achievement Changes[/h2][p]Two of the achievements have been reported as buggy, which have been fixed prior in patches - but only applying to the DLC build. This has been backported to the base game so one of the two achievements should now properly work no matter the build you play, and the other achievement has been removed entirely.[/p][p]Why? Well, the achievement in question was Oracle - which required you to visit each of the 40 or so artist rooms. Doing so is a bit tedious and really doesn't need an achievement, I prefer it now as a fully optional thing to do which unlocks things like the bonus music game-wide and just the fun of finding artists you care about or want to visit instead of being forced to go to all of them - increasingly frustrating if you accidentally missed one and now have to figure out which. Also, with the update of more rooms later in development, it was weird how only half of all rooms counted to the achievement, so now it's just more uniform with it being a fully optional thing untied to any achievements.[/p][p][/p][h2]New QoL Changes [/h2][p]There's been some major changes to both the base game and the DLC with this update:[/p]

• [p]Better item pickups: Before, no matter the version you played on, items in the world would stay present after picking them up. This was due to restrictions in how the maps worked, but this has been solved during work on emerald and backported to oath. Things such as the vinyl record or the diamond ring will now disappear on pickup as if you had actually... picked them up![/p][p]The scuba suit seller has also been moved slightly to be better visible to the player.[/p]
• [p]Graphics adjustments and additions: A bunch of slightly broken graphics have been fixed - from things 1 pixel off, the wrong colour, or with other errors. The diamond ring item mentioned above has also been changed to have a new sprite to better fit it being... a ring, as well as had the wall moved so it's easier to spot as somewhere you can go to. A small animation has also been added to the elevators and train rides as well, and the star above the key in the story has been made red to better indicate to players that there's something new here. The art menu screen has also been fixed.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]QoL Changes from DLC[/h2][p]Some changes have been made to the base game, majority coming from the DLC:[/p]

• [p]Improved base game graphics:[/p][p]every single room and map from the base game has been revisited and slightly updated, mainly with some shading updates. The main cities also have a little bit extra detail - not too much that it's unrecognizable, but enough to polish up some edges!![/p]
• [p]Bumping into walls is more obvious - you won't do a walking animation if you are walking into a solid object, and a "bump" sound effect will play.[/p]
• [p]Fixed menu (aimed at steam deck):[/p][p]While playing on steam deck, I noticed the settings menu seems to scale slightly differently to desktop. To fix this, the buttons in the settings menu are now slightly smaller, with a redundant option removed in order to both declutter and fix this issue[/p]

[h2]Graphics Overhaul[/h2][p]As mentioned, the graphics of the game have been overhauled in a couple areas to breathe new life into as many aspects as possible:[/p]

• [p]Animated tiles: A lot, and I mean a lot of the games graphics are now animated. The best example of this is when swimming underwater, all the coral will move in the water around you! Smaller examples include the flames of torches now actually moving like fire, water and shorelines rippling, and grass and posters moving in the wind. I feel this adds a lot more life to the game! This was in the DLC before, but now is present in the base game[/p]
• [p]Updated textbox: one of the main characters has a new textbox to help distinguish when you (the player) are talking/thinking versus when they are talking to you. A small change but should help out for any confusions[/p]
• [p]Updated level of detail: mentioned slightly above (coming from the original post about it in the DLC) but the base game has been considerably changed graphically. There's now more detail present in all areas of the game, with new sprites, and shading added to make the earlier areas consistent with the graphical style of the later ones. [/p]

[p][/p][p]Thank you for playing my game! I'll do my best to continuously update and improve the game if anything such as missed bugs get found or large QoL features can be added.[/p][p][/p][p]PLEASE NOTE: Uninstalling the DLC will not work correctly due to how the game files are set up - with DLC files overriding the base game files to save your disc space, uninstalling the DLC through steam will remove all the new files, but keep any overwritten ones! To truly go back to the base game (while unadvised), you need to fully uninstall the game as well as remove the DLC checkmark. Swapping back and forth might cause unintended bugs as well, so it's not advised.[/p][p][/p][p]PLEASE REPORT ANY BUGS IN THE DISUCSSIONS TAB! With this big of a rework to a lot of vital parts of the game, there may be some bugs introduced or missed - if you get any errors that cause a crash or other bugs, please post it in the discussion tab with a copy of the error message if you can! This will help me patch out any unintended stuff super quick![/p][p]Known bug(?): mentioned with the paragraph above, DLC files stay even when playing base game once you remove the DLC - I'm unsure if the latest update installs some of these DLC files incorrectly or if its purely due to me downgrading my build. I'm currently testing this but if you have never installed the DLC but now have a new-looking main menu, please report it as a bug! [/p][p][/p]

[p]As mentioned in the 1 year anniversary post, I've been working on a brand new game using the same underlying base as oath - a free, shorter experience called 'emerald' that ties into the song and music video of the same name by myself and maji*! [/p][p]And... it's out now! [/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]Go check it out! It's a free game so it's a bit smaller than oath is, especially now after all the updates and expansion, but it should still take you around 2-3 hours to see everything the game has to offer.[/p][p]emerald is also available entirely in Japanese too! The translation is machine-done, so there's totally going to be parts that are misconstrued or even maybe nonsensical (I really hope not though!!) but it's generally a test at adding a completely localised version of a game build, and I hope it lets more people enjoy the game! [/p][p]If you enjoyed oath and are looking for something new, give it a play! I hope you enjoy!
As a bonus, oath is on sale for two days to celebrate the release.[/p][p]I made emerald free as a thank you for all the love and support on oath, and so that more people would get to try it out! However, the soundtrack this time will be available on Nov 7th as a paid 'DLC', so if you wish to support, that's the best way to do so - outside of just sharing the game around! Thank you![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]While working on emerald, I managed to figure out how to implement true animated sprites, which are present all over the new game! Initially I planned to release emerald first, then retroactively go back to oath and re-vamp a bunch of the graphics! However, I was so excited with this new addition I almost immediately went right back and created the update... So the new graphic update is out now!![/p][p][/p][p]you will need to download and install the FREE expansion to oath if you haven't already (oath: there is a you that remains) - and honestly, I don't know why you wouldn't've - it adds a ton to both the base game and a new story all for free... But if you have the DLC installed or if you now download it, the entire game will be updated with 1000s of new animations for sprites! Some of my favourites are the underwater section being super lively with all the new swaying corals, as well as vending machines subtly glowing and water coolers having little bubbles. I hope the update makes the world feel much more alive, with all the new small motion added!! [/p][p]I remember one of the earliest comments back near release being that the fire in the story sections halls should move, and at the time I agreed but wasn't able to implement it. Well, it's in now! All the fire now dances around and it's awesome. I hope that person one day sees it too!!

Generally speaking, and I know i've said this prior, but this is likely the last major update to oath - there wasn't ever intentionally going to be another update, but adding this felt like something I had to do! If theres any other really cool things I discover later down the line, maybe there will be another update to oath (and maybe emerald too?) but for now I hope you enjoy the complete and definitive experience of oath! [/p][p][/p][p]Thank you so much to anyone that's picked up a copy of the game, and I hope you enjoy my new game, emerald![/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[h3]PLEASE NOTE! this bugfix applies only to builds of the game with the there is a you that remains DLC expansion installed. Please go download it if you haven't! the DLC improves the base game + adds bugfixes to the main base content as well, and is seen as the complete package.[/h3][p]The DLC is completely free to download, and while the download size is big, it should only take ~1GB more actual space on your drive - it just replaces a lot of older files.[/p][p]Get the DLC expansion here: [/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]BUGFIX NOTES:[/p][p][/p][p]Hi![/p][p]This patch aims to fix some slight bugs players might've been experiencing in relation to some achievements, as well as reduce lag![/p][p][/p][p]- lag when transitioning between areas in the DLC overworld has been massively reduced! I came across some new tech while making a different project, and it worked here so it's been implemented![/p][p][/p][p]- The "Oracle" achievement has been made easier to get. Some users report it not unlocking even once visiting all rooms. There seems to have been no error code-wise, I'm assuming players must've accidentally missed a room - however, I've decided to make the achievement slightly more lax. It'll unlock just shy of all rooms, which should hopefully alleviate edge cases where you miss just one or two![/p][p][/p][p]- One of the ending achievements / areas was apparently bugged - even after going through a segment near the end of the game, returning here incorrectly did not reset the room back to normal for unknown reasons (it worked in earlier builds!) The fix implemented forces a reset to this variable, and should solve this issue. If you revisit this area in game now, your next visit should be reset to normal! Hopefully!! This will make getting some achievements easier and potentially be unintentionally soft locked away.[/p][p][/p][p]Thanks for the support as always, I'm working hard on emerald right now! I hope you enjoy it when it releases![/p]

[p]It's been 1 year since oath's release![/p][p]One year back when I released the EP / game, I didn't imagine it to become the size it now is, or resonate with so many people - over the months after release I ended up adding 3 substantial major updates to the main game, then basically adding a sequel through the free DLC to tie into my album. [/p][p]Over the last year my game, which I thought might at most get 20, 30 people picking it up, has had over 1500 sales and lots of love from both people I know and people just stumbling across the game. If you've given it a chance, whether you've played 15 minutes or 20 hours, thank you for playing my game.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]A 40% discount for this week![/p][p]In celebration, the game's 40% off for the next week in case you or anyone you know hasn't yet given it a go - the same discount the game had on release 1 year back! It should be live soon from this announcement - starting ~ Sept. 4th!![/p][p][/p][p]A new VIP remix out now[/p][p]I've also releases a VIP remix of my song superstar which I released with Niomi at the end of last year - me and stephie styled it up to be more oath-like in sound and had a fun time with it!

You can listen to it here![/p][p][/p][p]And finally...[/p][p]I'm working on something new!![/p][p]I'm currently working on a brand new game, which will tie into it's own release. It's built on-top of oath (I guess you could call it an oathlike haha) and will be a decent bit smaller/shorter.[/p][p]BUT! It'll be completely free! Check it out when the steam page goes live probably in around a month from now, with the game releasing in exactly 2 months![/p][p][/p][p]It's got a brand new story and a new little area to discover, so I hope you'll enjoy it when it releases![/p][p]Unlike the there is a you that remains expansion DLC, this game will be completely standalone - this way it won't overwrite oath itself or bloat oath - but you can totally see it as a smaller standalone expansion.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Thanks again so much for the love! Happy 1 year anniversary to oath