Changelog

The third major update to oath, including a new expansion, ending and more.

Dive!

This update introduces a new mechanic, which opens up a vast new area to explore - diving! By talking to someone in the city, you might be able to get your hands on some diving equipment.... With that, you'll be able to dive down into the new deep blue patches in the ocean!

• Collect diving equipment by completing a mini quest in the Coast map!
• Once you can dive, you'll soon find out there's some secrets underwater... including a way to get into a whole new underwater city?!
• Making your way into the city, there's a multitude of quests available to you, building towards... something....
• Experience the true ending to the game by completing all of the new quests... collect all 10 new achievements too in the process!
• Diving includes brand new music by guest composers catstem and imyzuli! WIth 4 different catstem tracks playing while you explore different diving spots, and a track by imyzuli in the main city!

• Being underwater changes how everything looks and feels too - you'll move a bit slower while you swim around, but all your textboxes and even the entire screen will have a water-y feel!
• Explore the new city, with quests taking you all around, and even back up and down from the surface too!
• Look out for a new unlockable interior for your house as well! Give it a fitting underwater theme.

Graphical Overhaul

With this major update and the combined release of the physical edition, a bunch of previous areas have been given some touchups!

• The most obvious, the main menu has a new effect - instead of just the star and character moving when you move your mouse, the entire scene will move in a 3d effect!
• Along with that, once you complete the true ending, your main menu will gain a little star in the corner denoting completion!
• All of the RPG areas from the story mode have a fresh coat of paint - giving them all slightly more detail to bring them more in line with the graphics from later in the game.
• The original Town map has also had some slight changes - added shadows in areas to make depth more apparent, especially on buildings, as well as slight building details and new zebra crossings that previously only appeared in the Coast map
• Some textures have also been fixed - with slight errors in previous builds now gone. An example of this is the zebra crossing texture now being a pure white, while before it was slightly tinted purple by accident.

Quality of Life

A major part of this update was improving the general feel and quality of the game! There's been a lot of changes made specifically to cater towards nitpicks, small annoyances or other details which should make the game both run and feel better!

• The bottom of screen quick menu has been removed completely. Prior builds only included a few shortcuts that can be accessed with the main menu anyway, and the quick menu was causing issues when using a controller due to it being auto selected in the RPG sections. After some deliberation, the menu was removed completely due to being redundant.
• NPCs that walk around have had their hitboxes reworked! In prior builds, they would have abnormally large hitboxes that would both stop them from being able to walk into tight areas, as well as stop the player from walking past or around them. Their new hitbox allows the player to walk basically right through them, making sure they never get in your way - they will still stop if you're infront of them though so you can talk to them! (the only exception to this is a singular NPC at the coast, due to their massive hitbox being apart of their personality.)
• Places in the story mode where you would walk over a certain point and dialogue would repeat again and again, including walking left and right, now only display once, showing again if you restart the story completely. This speeds up walking around in story mode as you are no longer stopped by text you've already seen when backtracking.
• An option has been added to the menu below the controls and info - a reset button! Clicking reset will not only delete all your save files, but also all data saved by the game as well, completely wiping the game clean. This will not delete your steam achievements - however, if connected to the internet, it will also reset your data on any other devices due to cloud sync. In a similar fashion, due to oath syncing with other versions (i.e. downloaded elsewhere other than steam), resetting the game will reset any version of the game you have on hand, not just the Steam edition. Be careful!
• Game size has been reduced! The new update will reduce the games size on your PC - from ~ 2.2GB down to ~1.9GB! While a 300MB-ish reduction might not seem like too much, a reminder that this is after adding all the brand new content from this update! (As a direct comparison, removing all the new content from this update, the game would be around 1.5GB in size - that's 800MB in optimization + now another 500MB of brand new content in this update!)

Extra

There's also a couple miscellaneous features added into this update as well:

• 2 brand new NPCs in the original town! These two are both moving NPCs, adding a bit more life into the original town that it was lacking compared to the Coast. Both NPCs also give you an indication of the Coasts existence, and how to get there!
• New main menu music! Getting sick of hearing the same track every time you open the game? Now, whenever you reboot the game, there will be new music depending on what you've accomplished! Each act in the story mode will change the music if you quit during said act, as well as each ending also having unique main menu music. Basically, whenever you change the look of the main menu, whether from a code or unlocking an ending or achievement, upon reboot you'll be greeted with a new menu track!
• 20+ new cameo rooms and artists! Like previous updates, another batch of new cameos have been added, all with 3 songs and a room! All characters added in the raid update that did not have their own cameo room specifically also now have one too. The artist hallway has been updated to include all the new cameos for you to check in game! You can also see a list of all cameos in the guide section here on Steam.

Bugfixes

There's been various bugfixes this update, including a major accidental oversight from the last update.

• If playing on a prior build, do NOT buy and customize your house before doing the raid update battle content. Due to a single line of development code being left on, customizing your house before playing the raid battles would automatically unlock the raid battle reward - the raid house interior. This would then be able to lock players out of getting the achievement for beating all the machines, due to the game thinking you had already due to having the reward unlocked. This update fixes this issue! Do note that if you have done this in a prior update, you might need to reset your game in order to get the achievement.
• Along with the graphic overhaul, the main menu has been fixed when using codes to change its appearance - due to the ordering of assets, after a certain point in game you would be unable to change the appearance of the main menu using certain codes. This fixes that, allowing swapping no matter how far into the game you are.
• Some NPCs had incorrect textboxes - using the players instead! This has been fixed.
• Some music would not play even though there was a screen notification stating a new song is playing - this is due to the song having an incorrect filename. This has now been fixed, and all ingame music should play correctly.

IMPORTANT! Please note - due to how save files and data works within the game, loading saves from prior versions of the game have the potential to not work or crash the game. Please be careful when using old save files. Savefiles made on this version of the game, as well as autosaves, will work without issue!
Thank you for your continued support! A short sale will be running along with this updates launch as a thank you. Plus, the game is now available physically on disc! The physical edition comes with 2 CDs - the EP and game soundtrack - along with the game itself on a separate disc. You can get a copy here! The physical edition will also sync to your Steam copy - booting up the game on Steam will cause any achievements you got on the physical to auto unlock! Your progress will also carry through. The reason behind releasing the game on disc now is because I believe with this update, the inclusion of the true ending, and all the polish and QoL changes, the game is now fully completed. I know I said similar last update, but this time I really mean it! Once again though, that doesn't mean minor updates/bugfixes or even something like a prequel or standalone expansion is out of the picture - maybe someday! Thank you again for supporting my game <3 Feel free to use the discussion tab on Steam for any questions / queries / help / bug reports, and they'll be gotten to ASAP!

As of this post, version 4.17 (internally v17.4) is the latest update.

[ 2024-12-07 22:12:27 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changelog

The second major update to oath, including some tie-in content to the new vai5000 song, re:raid

Battle!

This update opens up a brand new building teased in the previous update - head to the top of The Coast map to find the building previously barred off is now open! Go inside to be greeted by a large room with... machines?

• The re:raid battle area includes 7 machines for you to fight and defeat!
• Figuring out how to beat all 7 nets you a brand new interior for your house as well as an achievement for your efforts!
• Each battle has a special stats that make approaching each one slightly different! A hint to each battles special traits is included with some flavor text below their stats.
• Each of the new battles includes a song by the artist that plays while you fight! Some of these artists are brand new to the game, and all returning cameos have a brand new song included.

• Certain battles will reward you with healing items you can use to strategize with! Enemy attack power uses a varied algorithm so that no two attempts at a fight are the same - collect a healing item to turn the tide in your favor?
• The defend mechanic is a high risk high reward system - generally speaking defending from an attack will reduce the damage taken to a minimal level, letting you survive a strong attack! However, sometimes your defense will fail and you'll take double the damage! Conversely, you might even heal some damage while defending... Be careful using it!
• A version of re:raid that is longer than the version as of writing on streaming platforms is also available to listen to in game! It might be helpful to your battles too....

Playable Cameos

Every single artist featuring on the new single, re:raid is now playable in game!

• All 9 featured artists, across all variations of the track are now able to be used as a playable skin to playthrough the RPG sections of the game!
• Joining the vai5000 skin, inputting the name of any of the featured artists as your own name in the story mode will switch your skin to that artist until story mode is restarted!
• You can check what artist you are playing as by the small icon on the main menu with your current skin.
• Skins work both in the story mode RPG sections as well as the Epilogue - Including both the City and Coast maps! Note you will not be able to enter the re:raid battle arena while playing as an alternate skin
• A new karaoke song is available! Playing as one of the new cameo skins will allow you to sing a brand new song at the karaoke bar... including some familiar sounds and graphics!
• A tenth special playable skin is also included.... Unlocked by a secret code...

List of playable skins:

(As of update 3.14 - More playable skins have the potential to be added in the future.)

• vai5000
• swazy*
• rubyred
• crusafix
• aftrr
• tsuyunoshi
• zayok
• crusey
• 8tsukii
• nujioh
• Kazuma Kiryu (City only. Access to special events and locations.)

Game Soundtrack

As you might've seen, the in game soundtrack is now available on Steam!

• This soundtrack includes songs created specifically for the game, not including any cameo music or full releases.
• The soundtrack is a standalone addition to your library! Using Steams integrated soundtrack system, you can play the soundtrack directly from/in Steam. You also do not need to own the game to download the soundtrack!

Available Here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3235100/oath_Soundtrack/

Bugfixes and QoL

Various bugfixes have been made that fix multiple issues introduced within the last major update.

• Game crashing on entering the new area very rarely has now been fixed
• Loading a save into the eimi demo map and going to the bottom right will no longer crash the game
• The NPCs in the hotel now have their correct dialogue. An upstairs NPC was incorrectly labeled with repeated dialogue, and a downstairs NPC did not have any unique dialogue
• Numerous clipping issues have been fixed. Areas that look solid but allowed the player to walk through them unintentionally have been removed, including near the cafe and the train tracks near the vinyl.
• However, the out of bounds glitch in the subway has been kept - doing this now has an expanded intentional area.
• Multiple signs in artist cameo rooms have been fixed to not crash the game or display the wrong text.
• Multiple songs in cameo rooms now have corrected notification text
• Added credits and controls pages to the settings menu! Accessible from the settings menu at any time, you can now view the game controls as well as the credits / information page!
• We've updated the storepage too! It now reflects the latest updates and delves deeper into the game as a whole - plus it now has animations!

Thank you again for your support! To celebrate the release of this update, plus just over a month since launch, a weeklong sale for the game will start October 14th! This update marks the last major planned update - there are currently no plans for future updates outside of bugfixes, but there is still the potential that I'll add brand new updates - both small and large - in the future if there's anything cool I would like to add! If I have the time for it, a full on story expansion / prequel isn't out of the picture, but it might be a while before this update ever comes to fruition... Keep an eye out! Feel free to use the discussion tab on Steam for any questions / queries / help / bug reports, and they'll be gotten to ASAP!

As of this post, version 3.16 (internally v16.6) is the latest update.

[ 2024-10-13 23:36:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

Changelog

The first major update for oath, including a brand new expansion to the epilogue

To the Coast!

The major addition in this update is a brand new area, accessible after finishing the main game and parts of the epilogue! This new map doubles the size of the epilogue, with tons of secrets to find!

• Access the new map by interacting with the taxi once you've explored the epilogue a bit! More lively than ever, meet NPCs that move around the map, have quests for you, and interact with the current time of day!
• The new Coast map is a lot more vertical, with 3 tiers to its world - a vast beach at the bottom, and elevated buildings near the top
• Multiple new buildings you can enter, with events, secrets and more

• Theatre: go to the theatre to watch the music video for suffocate, from the EP + more!
• Your House: Follow one of the new questlines to gain access to a new place to call home! You can customize your new house with multiple different interior styles, which you can unlock around the map! Go explore to find them all....
• Cafe: Check out the cafe! It's only open from 9 am to 5 pm, and not on Sunday though...

More Cameos...

Found all the artist cameos? There's a lot! Well- now there's even more to find! All 20-ish new rooms are accessible from the get-go, but there's a new artist hall to make your life easier as well!

• 20ish new cameos! None of these count towards the 'oracle' achievement - only the artists present in the artist hall do
• Once you find all the artist hall artists (and unlock the oracle achievement), you'll gain access to a new artist hall containing all the new cameos!
• The artist hall signs now tell you if you've visited a room before - perfect for keeping track of which artists you need for the achievement! There's also a sign at the end of the hall that will help you with your progress

Plus more!

Multiple quality of life improvements, plus extras have been added!

• New playable character skin: you can now play as vai5000 by inputting that as your name! You can play through all the RPG sections with this skin. (Please note, while this skin can access the new area, the other secret playable skin cannot. It can however access areas unique to it.)
• Main Menu Quality of Life: along with a few new secret main menu versions, accessible by inputting your name as various things, a little sprite of your currently selected player skin is now in the bottom left corner. This now makes it easier to tell if you're using a skin, and which one! This will be even more helpful later down the line with more potential playable skins in later updates...
• 6 new achievements: there's 6 brand new achievements to find! All achievements are related to the new Coast area, with some being easy to find (visit the new area), while others will require you to really search around and collect things you find!

• Sound Adjustment: various in game sounds have been slightly edited so that they are levelled better. Less sound effect jumpscares now! You can also modify the volume of music and sound effects separately in the settings menu
• More demo compatibility: some players realized that due to how the eimi demo (a standalone completely unique area, check it out if you haven't!) communicates to the main game, created saves in the demo allow you to access the special demo map while playing oath. Originally, doing this would result in crashes and other issues - but now there's unique dialogue for doing this! The game will no longer crash when you load any saves from the demo, and will actively scold you for doing so.
• Quest Autosave: many variables in-game save automatically, regardless of whether you use a save file. This allows them to persist across multiple saves, Story and Home, and be used to customize things such as the main menu. This functionality also makes its way into the new quest in the Coast - doing parts of the quest will permanently unlock their corresponding features, and even if you do not save your progress with a save state, your quest progress will be remembered.

Bugfixes

Tons of small bugs and other details have been fixed in this (and some previous) updates!

• Hitboxes have been modified in some areas allowing tiles that should be walkable to now be actually walkable
• Music playback in some of the secret artist rooms were incorrectly assigned, this has now been fixed
• Music playback from vending machines in the epilogue was broken before this update - their original functionality has now been restored! Once you've gotten the oracle achievement, interacting with vending machines across the map more than once will switch the maps music to a song from a member of the music scene.
• Some users reported crashes that logged missing labels when talking to a cameo artist. This issue has been determined to be from an older build, and is fixed in this current update
• Static areas such as elevators and trains would show the default player skin when riding them. These have been updated to include custom graphics depending on the player character
• Moving NPCs have 2 known 'issues' - some might note that their hitboxes can sometimes be a bit odd/large. They're just big boned. A solve for these hitboxes is being worked on, but for the time being just move out of their way. Another NPC is also able to potentially corner you and pin you down, fundamentally resulting in a softlock. This is a feature - if softlocked, please return to the menu. Your quest progress is automatically saved regardless of using the save function

Thank you so much for the support on oath! Keep an eye out for more new updates down the line, including minor updates + at least one more major update coming mid October to coincide with another special release... Feel free to use the discussion tab on Steam for any questions / queries / help / bug reports, and they'll be gotten to ASAP!

As of this post, version 2.13 (internally v12.2) is the latest update.

This small patch includes a vital bugfix that would stop players from being able to access new content. Please check your game is up to date before launching.

[ 2024-09-17 10:45:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

UPDATE NOTES

• Artist cameo rooms now will tell you if you've visited them prior when in the large artist hall! This should make it easier to keep track of what artists you haven't seen yet for the achievement
• Minor bugfixes and text errors have also been fixed

[ 2024-09-03 05:24:47 CET ] [ Original post ]