The “New Hair” Build

Usually, I will refer to an update as either a “Bug-Fixing” build, or a “Quality-of-Life Improvement” build. The latest update contains 7 bug fixes and 10 QoL improvements, but more importantly than that, this build changes something that hasn’t changed in over seven years: the protagonist’s appearance!

From now on, Yandere-chan will use a new hairstyle. Check it out:

Why is it changing? Three main reasons:

1. I think the new model looks a lot better.
2. Her previous hair model was purchased from a game asset store. Because she was using a hair model that absolutely anyone could purchase and use, Ayano always felt like a “retextured store asset” instead of feeling like a unique character. Having an original hair model helps her feel like a character with distinct identity, rather than giving the impression of a model plucked from a store one day.
3. The majority of the official artwork that has been created for Yandere Simulator over the past few years has depicted Ayano’s hair with a very specific length and shape that was subtly – yet significantly – different from the design of her in-game model. With this update, her in-game hair model is now consistent with the way that most of the game’s official artwork is drawn, which helps the character feel like she has one cohesive design, instead of separate 3D and 2D designs.
4. I’ve been staring at the same model for over seven years, and I need to see something change or else I’m going to go insane.

At first, it was a little difficult to adjust to seeing the new model in-game – it was almost surreal to see the main character’s appearance change after seven years of remaining the same – but I became accustomed to it very quickly. After letting it “sink in” for a bit, it has started to feel “right” – even more right than the previous hair – and now I distinctly feel that I prefer it this way.

As mentioned above, Ayano’s hair isn’t the only thing that changed in the latest build. Click “Continue Reading” to learn what else has changed, and also see a cool render of New Ayano!

Fixes and Changes

• Yandere-chan will now drop whatever she is holding in her hands before performing the “add poison to bento” animation (because it’s weird to do that animation with something already in her hands).
• Fixed bug that would cause the player to lose the ability to interact with the garbage bag box in the tutorial if it was dropped and landed upside-down.
• Fixed bug that prevented the “Main Menu” option from working on the game over screen if the player got a game over in the stalker’s house or the asylum.
• Fixed bug that would cause a teacher to glitch out if the player activated a radio next to a teacher that was teaching class, and then attended class.
• Adjusted the “drug addict in asylum” voice lines to all be the same length, instead of having drastically different lengths.
• Fixed bug that prevented the player’s cursor from being locked to the game window while inside of the protagonist’s home.
• Fixed bug that caused a club leader’s armband to remain visible after their corpse had been hidden with a garbage bag.
• Edited the pamphlets around the school that featured smartphones, since they wouldn’t have applied in 1989.
• Fixed bug that caused bullying graffiti to be visible on a student’s desk during the 1980s Mode tutorial.
• “Hair down, no ponytail” is now one of Ayano’s hair options when debug commands are enabled.
• The microphone in the Light Music Club in 1989 now looks different than it does in 202X.
• Fixed typo in the 1989 VHS Filter settings menu (“Aberration” was misspelled).
• The gym uniforms in 1980s Mode now look dfiferent from the ones in 202X.
• Updated the hairstyle of Himari (202X gardening club girl).
• Updated Ayano’s appearance for the first time in 7 years.
• Added many more stocking options to the Pose Mode menu.
• Updated Witness-chan’s hair. She’s very pretty now!

I hope that you like Ayano’s new hairstyle! To mark the occasion, here’s a render of her new hair, re-creating the pose from the very first piece of promotional artwork for Yandere Simulator that was ever created!