Hotfix for an issue some Steam Decks have with Renpy games which would cause the game to randomly freeze up for a minute

This is a maintenance release. It doesn't add any new game content.

Changes in this build include:

• Game engine updated from Renpy 7.5.1 to 7.5.3
  

Fixes a crash which would occur if you chose to watch Love From Beyond while playing Misa's route. This patch does not contain any other changes

This is a maintenance release. It doesn't add any new story content to the game.


Updates to the game

• updates splash screen
  
• added version number to main menu
  
• updated game engine from Renpy 6.99.13 to 7.4.11
  
• re-coded all sprites to take advantage of updated game engine. This removes around 1,000 unnecessary image references
  
• updated settings screen to split settings into three sections
  
• added setting to save on quit, and automatically load last save when starting the game. Defaults to disabled
  
• added setting to disable the colored outline around character dialog. Defaults to enabled
  
• added setting to add colored outline to character name when they speak. Defaults to disabled
  

• the game is now in separate depots for Mac, Windows 32 bit, Windows 64 bit, Linux 32 bit, and Linux 64 bit. This shaves around 100-130MB off the install size.
  
• implemented cloud saves
  

Sable's Grimoire, my new visual novel, has now been released on Steam!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/717850/Sables_Grimoire/

Sable's Grimoire is a fantasy visual novel which takes place in a magic academy setting, and centers around the main character's interactions with a variety of demi-humans (monster girls) as he works towards his goal of becoming a renowned researcher.

Sable's Grimoire is mostly comedic. There are some elements of romance, and the occasional depiction of violence, but overall it is a light-hearted game about befriending demi-humans and helping them to resolve the issues they face while attending Amadronia Magic Academy.

The full game is 350k words, contains 13 endings, ~50 choices, and much more.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/717850/Sables_Grimoire/?snr=1_5_1100__1100

Today I am pleased to announce that the demo for my upcoming visual novel, Sable's Grimoire, has been released on Steam!

Sable's Grimoire is a fantasy visual novel which takes place in a magic academy setting, and centers around the main character's interactions with a variety of demi-humans (monster girls) as he works towards his goal of becoming a renowned researcher.

Sable's Grimoire is mostly comedic. There are some elements of romance, and the occasional depiction of violence (not in the demo), but overall it is a light-hearted game about befriending demi-humans and helping them to resolve the issues they face while attending Amadronia Magic Academy.

The full game is expected to launch in July, and is significantly longer than my other games. The demo is 35k words in length (~3 hours, depending on your reading speed), with the full game clocking in at over 10x that length (spread across multiple different routes).

Development is ongoing, but nearing completion. Progress updates will continue to be posted at https://twitter.com/ZetsubouGames

http://store.steampowered.com/app/717850/Sables_Grimoire/?snr=1_5_1100__1100

Today I am pleased to announce that the demo for my upcoming visual novel, Sable's Grimoire, has been released on Steam!

Sable's Grimoire is a fantasy visual novel which takes place in a magic academy setting, and centers around the main character's interactions with a variety of demi-humans (monster girls) as he works towards his goal of becoming a renowned researcher.

Sable's Grimoire is mostly comedic. There are some elements of romance, and the occasional depiction of violence (not in the demo), but overall it is a light-hearted game about befriending demi-humans and helping them to resolve the issues they face while attending Amadronia Magic Academy.

The full game is expected to launch in July, and is significantly longer than my other games. The demo is 35k words in length (~3 hours, depending on your reading speed), with the full game clocking in at over 10x that length (spread across multiple different routes).

Development is ongoing, but nearing completion. Progress updates will continue to be posted at https://twitter.com/ZetsubouGames

Achievements are now working again.

I issued an update a few days ago (~12MB) which meant achievements could be earned, but unfortunately this didn't appear to work for achievements which were already earned before that update. I've just now released another update (~33KB) which should perform a one-time re-grant of any achievements you've already earned.

Even if you've already uninstalled Sickness, the re-grant should still be possible, as long as you didn't remove all of the save/persistent data for this game from your computer.

The save/persistent directory can be found as follows:
Windows: %APPDATA%/RenPy/
OSX: ~/Library/RenPy/
Linux: ~/.renpy/
You probably wouldn't remove these files on your own without knowing it, but if you use cleaning or special uninstaller software on your computer, you might unknowingly remove it.

Anyway, it was the previous update which broke achievements in Sickness. Moving to a new build environment, with an updated version of the underlying engine, meant that not only was the last update huge, it was also missing the libraries this game uses to sync Steam achievements (they're optional additions, not something built-in). These have now been moved to the new build environment, and I certainly won't be making this mistake again. (Though hopefully no more fixes are needed for Sickness at this point regardless)

Achievements are now working again.

I issued an update a few days ago (~12MB) which meant achievements could be earned, but unfortunately this didn't appear to work for achievements which were already earned before that update. I've just now released another update (~33KB) which should perform a one-time re-grant of any achievements you've already earned.

Even if you've already uninstalled Sickness, the re-grant should still be possible, as long as you didn't remove all of the save/persistent data for this game from your computer.

The save/persistent directory can be found as follows:
Windows: %APPDATA%/RenPy/
OSX: ~/Library/RenPy/
Linux: ~/.renpy/
You probably wouldn't remove these files on your own without knowing it, but if you use cleaning or special uninstaller software on your computer, you might unknowingly remove it.

Anyway, it was the previous update which broke achievements in Sickness. Moving to a new build environment, with an updated version of the underlying engine, meant that not only was the last update huge, it was also missing the libraries this game uses to sync Steam achievements (they're optional additions, not something built-in). These have now been moved to the new build environment, and I certainly won't be making this mistake again. (Though hopefully no more fixes are needed for Sickness at this point regardless)

TL;DR: a patch has just been made live. It's pretty big (because the engine was updated too).



The last update to Sickness introduced a bug which made Sara's good ending inaccessible. Worse, it spoiled another route... for a character who may not have even shown up!

Unfortunately, bug reports and support requests have always gone to Sickness' publisher rather than me (the developer) personally. For the same reason, I haven't been checking the discussions, as they would always identify any issues and pass them along to me. Which worked great... until it didn't.

I was made aware of this bug about 20 minutes before the patch went out, when someone reached out to me directly via Twitter. I was able to find and fix the bug fairly quickly, and it's a very minor change. The bug was caused by a behavior of the Renpy engine I didn't know about with regard to "from _call" statements... not that anyone asked.

While the fix itself is very minor, however, the patch is not. I kept the version of Renpy with which Sickness was made for a year and a half. After the last update, I removed it in favor of the newest build of the engine. The patch I just released was made with this new version of the engine, which means things that haven't been changed within the game still need to be reuploaded because they were recompiled with the new engine.

Anyway, so this doesn't happen again, I've updated the support details for Sickness. They should now lead to me directly rather than going through Sickness' publisher. Please send any bug reports via email or twitter, as I do not tend to check Steam discussions.

I hope it doesn't sound like I'm trying to throw the publisher under the bus, but I thought you deserved a proper explanation rather than me just saying "Fixed!" and moving on.
I should have kept a closer eye on things, but I grew complacent after having someone else deal with these matters in my place for such a long time. This is my mistake, and I apologize for the lack of communication.

TL;DR: a patch has just been made live. It's pretty big (because the engine was updated too).



The last update to Sickness introduced a bug which made Sara's good ending inaccessible. Worse, it spoiled another route... for a character who may not have even shown up!

Unfortunately, bug reports and support requests have always gone to Sickness' publisher rather than me (the developer) personally. For the same reason, I haven't been checking the discussions, as they would always identify any issues and pass them along to me. Which worked great... until it didn't.

I was made aware of this bug about 20 minutes before the patch went out, when someone reached out to me directly via Twitter. I was able to find and fix the bug fairly quickly, and it's a very minor change. The bug was caused by a behavior of the Renpy engine I didn't know about with regard to "from _call" statements... not that anyone asked.

While the fix itself is very minor, however, the patch is not. I kept the version of Renpy with which Sickness was made for a year and a half. After the last update, I removed it in favor of the newest build of the engine. The patch I just released was made with this new version of the engine, which means things that haven't been changed within the game still need to be reuploaded because they were recompiled with the new engine.

Anyway, so this doesn't happen again, I've updated the support details for Sickness. They should now lead to me directly rather than going through Sickness' publisher. Please send any bug reports via email or twitter, as I do not tend to check Steam discussions.

I hope it doesn't sound like I'm trying to throw the publisher under the bus, but I thought you deserved a proper explanation rather than me just saying "Fixed!" and moving on.
I should have kept a closer eye on things, but I grew complacent after having someone else deal with these matters in my place for such a long time. This is my mistake, and I apologize for the lack of communication.

It's horribly late, but here it is: the final new content update for Sickness.

This update focuses on one of Suoh's friends from high school, who was briefly introduced during the Misa extra. The new content covers events prior to the beginning of Sickness, and shows off a very different side of Sara in particular.

With this, development on Sickness has finally come to a close. Any new updates will only be to address bugs or typos. My efforts will now be devoted to releasing new visual novels instead.

Trading cards! Something else that's horribly late. To be honest, I thought these were released over a year ago. This was an oversight on my part, and it will soon be rectified. The trading cards have been submitted for approval by Valve, so I hope to have them out as soon as they are approved.

In case you missed it, I released another game earlier this year. While it's not without conflict, it's certainly far more light-hearted, and you can guess the genres/content by the title: http://store.steampowered.com/app/628920/Tomboys_Need_Love_Too/

I've also released another free game just today. It's a short, comedic game revolving around an android who is responsible for deciding the fate of mankind: http://store.steampowered.com/app/657050/Humanity_Must_Perish/

Finally, I've started development on my next game. I expect to have a demo ready by the end of this year, and I plan on releasing the full game around June 2018. I'll post an announcement here when the demo is out, but for the time being you can receive news about my next game by following me on Twitter, where I will soon start posting information, sprites, screenshots, and so on: https://twitter.com/ZetsubouGames

It's horribly late, but here it is: the final new content update for Sickness.

This update focuses on one of Suoh's friends from high school, who was briefly introduced during the Misa extra. The new content covers events prior to the beginning of Sickness, and shows off a very different side of Sara in particular.

With this, development on Sickness has finally come to a close. Any new updates will only be to address bugs or typos. My efforts will now be devoted to releasing new visual novels instead.

Trading cards! Something else that's horribly late. To be honest, I thought these were released over a year ago. This was an oversight on my part, and it will soon be rectified. The trading cards have been submitted for approval by Valve, so I hope to have them out as soon as they are approved.

In case you missed it, I released another game earlier this year. While it's not without conflict, it's certainly far more light-hearted, and you can guess the genres/content by the title: http://store.steampowered.com/app/628920/Tomboys_Need_Love_Too/

I've also released another free game just today. It's a short, comedic game revolving around an android who is responsible for deciding the fate of mankind: http://store.steampowered.com/app/657050/Humanity_Must_Perish/

Finally, I've started development on my next game. I expect to have a demo ready by the end of this year, and I plan on releasing the full game around June 2018. I'll post an announcement here when the demo is out, but for the time being you can receive news about my next game by following me on Twitter, where I will soon start posting information, sprites, screenshots, and so on: https://twitter.com/ZetsubouGames

Hey all, just a quick announcement this time.


This is the second last planned update to Sickness, and although it’s smaller than the previous update in terms of additional writing, it contains 2 new endings, one new music track, several new Cgs, and even a few old Cgs which have been updated (the demo included).


There’s also a new title screen, some unlockable “extras” in the CG gallery, and a couple of minor updates to existing dialogue.


The new routes are only unlocked once you’ve played through the main game and gotten a “good end”. There are then some new choices added on subsequent playthroughs.


The next update will be bigger, at least in terms of wordcount, and will be the final addition to Sickness. It should be ready Q1 2017.

Hey all, just a quick announcement this time.


This is the second last planned update to Sickness, and although its smaller than the previous update in terms of additional writing, it contains 2 new endings, one new music track, several new Cgs, and even a few old Cgs which have been updated (the demo included).


Theres also a new title screen, some unlockable extras in the CG gallery, and a couple of minor updates to existing dialogue.


The new routes are only unlocked once youve played through the main game and gotten a good end. There are then some new choices added on subsequent playthroughs.


The next update will be bigger, at least in terms of wordcount, and will be the final addition to Sickness. It should be ready Q1 2017.

This is the first of the three updates mentioned in the last announcement. I thought it would take longer than this, and it was intended to be much shorter... but hey, there you go.

First, while I call it a new route, whats actually being added to Sickness is an unlockable extra. After youve finished the main route youll be able to play through certain key events (and several side events) as Misa, meaning well finally get to hear whats on her mind while seeing a little more of whats going on behind the scenes. Many events are purposely omitted, however, so if its been a while since you played the main game, there may be a few moments where you feel like youve missed something.

The extra clocks in at just over 45,000 words, making it more than 1/3rd of the length of the main game, and bringing the total word count of Sickness up to roughly 183,500 words. Who knew Misa had so much to say?

Many of the events being covered are already present in the main game, and there are no choices to be made, but there are new scenes littered throughout the extra for which Suoh is not present, or has no knowledge of. There are also 4 new CGs, 1 new sprite, 4 new music tracks, and a few new backgrounds as well.

Also, this extra is mostly light-hearted, with more focus on comedy and romance rather than blood and gore. It centers around Misas relationships with others and her personal growth rather than her job, so if Sickness was more gritty than youd like, you may enjoy this extra more than the main game.

Second, the sale. I wanted to have one sooner (for Valentines Day) coinciding with the release of Saras route, but I misunderstood the regulations surrounding Steam sales, so that didnt happen. And this time, when the next update was ready, the timing coincided with Steams Anime weekend sale, making the updates sale a bit redundant. Im bad at this, arent I?

Oh well. I wasnt going to delay the update because of poor timing. This just means the sale for Sickness will last 11 days instead of 7. Ill worry about getting this sale business right next time.

More importantly, further progress on Sickness. By this point, the inconsistent backgrounds from the initial release have been replaced. Although the backgrounds still present werent all done by the same artist, and there are some differences in style, theyre far more consistent and appealing (at least to my unartistic eye) than they were before.

Finally, the next two updates. Although this extra was completed earlier than anticipated, the next big update might not be ready until late 2016 or early 2017. This is because I will be working on other games, mostly other peoples games, and also because I will likely need to find a new CG artist.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the new extra. I do not have any plans to do something similar for other characters, but I wont rule it out. So wait with baited breath for the next announcement, and look forward to new routes and development.

This is the first of the three updates mentioned in the last announcement. I thought it would take longer than this, and it was intended to be much shorter... but hey, there you go.

First, while I call it a “new route”, what’s actually being added to Sickness is an unlockable extra. After you’ve finished the main route you’ll be able to play through certain key events (and several side events) as Misa, meaning we’ll finally get to hear what’s on her mind while seeing a little more of what’s going on behind the scenes. Many events are purposely omitted, however, so if it’s been a while since you played the main game, there may be a few moments where you feel like you’ve missed something.

The extra clocks in at just over 45,000 words, making it more than 1/3rd of the length of the main game, and bringing the total word count of Sickness up to roughly 183,500 words. Who knew Misa had so much to say?

Many of the events being covered are already present in the main game, and there are no choices to be made, but there are new scenes littered throughout the extra for which Suoh is not present, or has no knowledge of. There are also 4 new CGs, 1 new sprite, 4 new music tracks, and a few new backgrounds as well.

Also, this extra is mostly light-hearted, with more focus on comedy and romance rather than blood and gore. It centers around Misa’s relationships with others and her personal growth rather than her job, so if Sickness was more gritty than you’d like, you may enjoy this extra more than the main game.

Second, the sale. I wanted to have one sooner (for Valentines Day) coinciding with the release of Sara’s route, but I misunderstood the regulations surrounding Steam sales, so that didn’t happen. And this time, when the next update was ready, the timing coincided with Steam’s Anime weekend sale, making the update’s sale a bit redundant. I’m bad at this, aren’t I?

Oh well. I wasn’t going to delay the update because of poor timing. This just means the sale for Sickness will last 11 days instead of 7. I’ll worry about getting this sale business right next time.

More importantly, further progress on Sickness. By this point, the inconsistent backgrounds from the initial release have been replaced. Although the backgrounds still present weren’t all done by the same artist, and there are some differences in style, they’re far more consistent and appealing (at least to my unartistic eye) than they were before.

Finally, the next two updates. Although this extra was completed earlier than anticipated, the next big update might not be ready until late 2016 or early 2017. This is because I will be working on other games, mostly other peoples’ games, and also because I will likely need to find a new CG artist.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the new extra. I do not have any plans to do something similar for other characters, but I won’t rule it out. So wait with baited breath for the next announcement, and look forward to new routes and development.

Hi all, we have finished off our second free to play visual novel Wander no more and its out on greenlight now! Give it a vote and help us get it on steam!
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=629116077

Hi all, we have finished off our second free to play visual novel Wander no more and its out on greenlight now! Give it a vote and help us get it on steam!
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=629116077

The announcement may be late, but the update was on time, and that's what matters. ;)

The Valentines day update introduced some new scenes heavy on romance, a new good ending, and generally

added more pleasantness to the otherwise vile world of Sickness.

The additions and changes include:

-1 new route, which results in a good end, and covers a new romance

-10,000 words added, bringing the total word count to 138,500 words

-3 new CGs, 2 of which have variations

-1 new variation of an existing CG

-1 CG (and its variation) have been updated

-5 new music tracks

-8 existing backgrounds (+ daytime variations) have been replaced

Replacement backgrounds will be added incrementally from this point on, as there are still a few inconsistent

backgrounds that need replacing.

That was the plan from the beginning, but since this update was ready so soon after release, the new

backgrounds were instead packed into the update.

There are also 3 more big updates planned. They will each take longer than this update, however, so it will likely

be a few months before the next route is added.

I haven't decided on the order yet, but most likely:

-Update 1 will be an unlockable extra. Rather than adding new content to the main game, it will essentially be a

side story, covering many events for which Suoh is not present, and revealing information he never becomes

privy to.

-Update 2 will include a new route, and at least 2 new endings. It will also change certain important events early

on. It's difficult to elaborate any further without providing spoilers.

-Update 3 will include 2 new characters, and will have a very big focus on the back stories of Sara & Suoh,

answering many questions about their past. This update will once again contain at least 1 new route, with at

least 1 new ending. It's also a bit bigger on romance, so... perhaps Valentines Day 2017?

The announcement may be late, but the update was on time, and that's what matters. ;)

The Valentines day update introduced some new scenes heavy on romance, a new good ending, and generally

added more pleasantness to the otherwise vile world of Sickness.

The additions and changes include:

-1 new route, which results in a “good end”, and covers a new romance

-10,000 words added, bringing the total word count to 138,500 words

-3 new CGs, 2 of which have variations

-1 new variation of an existing CG

-1 CG (and its variation) have been updated

-5 new music tracks

-8 existing backgrounds (+ daytime variations) have been replaced

Replacement backgrounds will be added incrementally from this point on, as there are still a few inconsistent

backgrounds that need replacing.

That was the plan from the beginning, but since this update was ready so soon after release, the new

backgrounds were instead packed into the update.

There are also 3 more big updates planned. They will each take longer than this update, however, so it will likely

be a few months before the next route is added.

I haven't decided on the order yet, but most likely:

-Update 1 will be an unlockable extra. Rather than adding new content to the main game, it will essentially be a

side story, covering many events for which Suoh is not present, and revealing information he never becomes

privy to.

-Update 2 will include a new route, and at least 2 new endings. It will also change certain important events early

on. It's difficult to elaborate any further without providing spoilers.

-Update 3 will include 2 new characters, and will have a very big focus on the back stories of Sara & Suoh,

answering many questions about their past. This update will once again contain at least 1 new route, with at

least 1 new ending. It's also a bit bigger on romance, so... perhaps Valentines Day 2017?

Hey everyone check out Unwonteds newest addition Catch Canvas
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/unwonted/catch-canvas

Hey everyone check out Unwonteds newest addition Catch Canvas
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/unwonted/catch-canvas

Due to time and cost constraints, Sickness launched with several backgrounds that don't match the others.
Now that Sickness has been released, these backgrounds will be phased out one by one over the next couple of months and replaced by new backgrounds to provide a more consistent experience in terms of style.

Once all of the inconsistent backgrounds have been replaced, work on new routes will begin, including more "good ends", choices involving who to spare/kill, and a couple of new characters.

Due to time and cost constraints, Sickness launched with several backgrounds that don't match the others.
Now that Sickness has been released, these backgrounds will be phased out one by one over the next couple of months and replaced by new backgrounds to provide a more consistent experience in terms of style.

Once all of the inconsistent backgrounds have been replaced, work on new routes will begin, including more "good ends", choices involving who to spare/kill, and a couple of new characters.

Hi everyone,
Today i am happy to announce that Sickness is out on steam!
http://store.steampowered.com/app/413870/

Hi everyone!
The demo for Sickness is finally out so everyone who has been looking forward to it please try it out!
http://store.steampowered.com/app/431420/