March 30th Big Build

Hello! I’ve got a really big build for you today. How big? 20 gameplay changes, 39 bug fixes, 4 new tasks for students, and a pretty significant update to one of the game’s previously-existing features!

Want to read a full list of everything that changed in this massive new build? Then scroll down past this beautiful illustration by Denzel Adobas!

Magazine Update

In order to perform the “Matchmaking” elimination method, the player must learn what physical traits and personality traits a rival is attracted to. This information is obtained by searching through the rival’s bookbag for a magazine full of hot guys, and learning which guys the rival is interested in.

Previously, this was achieved by simply reading some text:

However, that was boring, lacked creativity, and had very low production value. From now on, instead of simply reading some text that describes what is inside of the magazine, the player will actually get to see the inside of the magazine:

Instead of reading about hearts that the rival has drawn in the magazine, the player player now has to actually look for the hearts, and take note of what traits those boys have. Additionally, the player will be able to turn the page and see two hairstyles that the rival might be attracted to:

This kind of change – upgrading a feature from plain text to actual detailed images – represents the level of improvement and quality I want to bring to many of the game’s other features. I know that you’re probably eager to see me move to the next phase of the game’s development – crowdfunding, other rivals, etc – but, to me, the most important thing to do is to make these kinds of improvements all over the game first, before moving on to the crowdfunding stage.

There is also another “big” addition to the latest build that you might be interested in: 4 new “Tasks”, one for each member of the Martial Arts Club (except Budo, who already had a Task). I’ll let you know right away that these Tasks currently lack voiced lines. Several voice actors auditioned for each character, but in the end, I wasn’t completely satisfied with any of the auditions, so for now, the characters lack voices. It’s not a high priority to give them voices right now, so the characters may be unvoiced for a long time.

Of course, this new build contains a lot of other changes, as well as a huge number of bug fixes. Here’s a list:

Changes

• If a student witnesses a character being electrocuted in a puddle of water, and the player was witnessed throwing a car battery immediately before the electrocution, the student will be aware that the player just deliberately killed someone, and will react according to their Persona (apprehend the player, take a photo of the player, etc).
• Originally, debug commands and easter eggs were unlocked by typing the word “debug” in the Extras menu. This functionality was changed a while ago. Debug commands and easter eggs are nwo unlocked by typing the word “debug” while at school. The “Congratulations, you completed the demo!” text has been updated to reflect this.
• From now on, any rival who is not present at school will have a silhouette portrait instead of a fully colored and detailed portrait. This is to reflect the fact that the protagonist isn’t meant to know who her next rivals are until they actually appear at school.
• A lot of players didn’t understand that Ayano’s mode ends after Week 1 and that completing the “Amai Challenge” does not advance the game, so I have added a screen that explains this which will appear anytime the player ends a day on Week 2 of Ayano’s mode.
• It is no longer possible to gossip about faculty members. As a mechanic, it wouldn’t make sense. There is no reason to gossip about them, and they wouldn’t be as emotionally/psychologically susceptible to gossip as a student would be.
• Senpai will now speak a different line of dialogue when witnessing bizarre behavior from Yandere-chan (like creating a trap with a water cooler) because his previous line of dialogue didn’t suit most situations.
• Student Council members and teachers now dismantle the water cooler tripwire trap if they encounter one, since part of their their job is to keep an eye out for misbehavior and pranks.
• The protagonist now automatically changes her shoes when entering/exiting the school building. This feature was inspired by a mechanic in Pokemon Legends Arceus.
• The “chibi Yandere-chan running” animation at the bottom-right corner of the loading screen now depicts Ryoba instead of Ayano if the player is in 1980s Mode.
• The “Create Tripwire Trap” prompt will now appear red, to communicate to the player that it is a suspicious action that will alarm anyone who witnesses it.
• The color of every female character’s panties is now randomly chosen at the start of the school day.
• It is no longer possible to conceal a mop, a bucket, or a water cooler inside of a bookbag.
• The photographs in the Photography Club are now different in 1989 than in 202X.
• The pipe wrench has been moved from the storage room to the pool’s pump room.
• Updated Info-chan’s hair model and the outfit she wears in the Amai cutscene.
• The headmaster’s lips move when he talks now, in both 202X and 1989.
• It is now suspicious to walk around school carrying a car battery.
• Loading into the school scene is now 10 seconds faster!
• Added stockings to Sakyu and Inkyu.
• Updated Sakura’s hair model.

Fixes

• Fixed bug that would cause the gym uniform / school swimsuit clothing options to disappear from the protagonist’s locker if those items were bloodied, cleaned, and then worn while inside of the locker room.
• Fixed bug that prevented the game from properly updating the color of the liquid inside of a water cooler if the player was using a jerry can or a paint bucket to add liquid, instead of using a bucket.
• Fixed bug that would prevent Osana from realizing that her phone was ever stolen if the player stole it from the locker room and then put it on her desk before Osana had finished taking her shower.
• Fixed bug that would cause a stream of notifications to cascade down from the top of the screen if the player tried to pick up a bottle of poison while already holding that type of poison.
• Fixed bug that prevented the game from acknowledging that the player had selected an item to bring from home to school, if a memorial service was held for a dead student that morning.
• Fixed bug that would cause a Cooking Club member to perform their “carrying plate” animation instead of their “running” animation if they were meant to be running away from a corpse.
• Fixed bug that would prevent a character from entering their “electrocuted” animation if they were electrocuted while returning a dropped object to the place where they found it.
• Fixed bug that prevented the Psychology stat from strengthening the effect of the player’s torture if the player selected the 4th menu option when torturing a kidnapped victim.
• Fixed bug that allowed the player to request a martial arts club practice match with a martial arts club member who was not present in the club or ready for a practice match.
• Fixed bug that would cause characters in 1980s Mode to change their routines as if they were on Week 1 of 202X Mode if the player saved their game and then loaded their game.
• Fixed bug that would cause Raibaru to leave the area if the player took a panty shot in front of her while she was watching Osana talk to Senpai at the beginning of the day.
• Fixed bug that caused a rival’s bookbag to permanently disappear if the player loaded a save file that was made after a rival had set their bookbag down at their desk.
• Fixed bug that would cause Osana to walk around while deceased if she was killed by a car battery electrocution during her morning “put bentos on desk” event.
• Fixed bug that prevented electricity from being able to jump between puddles if the starting puddle was created by causing a leak under a drinking fountain.
• Fixed bug that caused a mind-broken slave to freeze in place permanently if the player was sent to the counselor after telling the slave to go kill someone.
• Fixed bug that caused club leaders and student council members to levitate through the school in a sitting pose after their club meeting on Friday ended.
• Fixed bug that caused a character kneeling in front of Osana’s corpse to mourn her death to stop mourning her death if they were splashed with water.
• Fixed bug that would cause the protagonist’s face to disappear if the player saved and loaded the game while the protagonist was wearing a raincoat.
• Fixed bug that would cause a bucket to permanently believe that it had brown paint inside of it if the player added brown paint and then removed it.
• Fixed bug that prevented the day from moving forward from Sunday to Monday if the player ended Sunday by torturing a prisoner in their basement.
• Fixed bug that causes tarp bags to go flying off in different directions at high speeds after a corpse had been dismembered above a tarp sheet.
• Fixed bug that would cause the player to get stuck in a “dragging” animation if they sacrificed a corpse to a demon while dragging the corpse.
• Fixed bug that prevented the game from acknowledging whether or not the player was using a keyboard at the “Rival Sabotage Progress” screen.
• Fixed bug that prevented a character’s outline in Yandere Vision from changing after that character became a witness of suspicious behavior.
• Fixed bug that prevented the water cooler from being identified as a “suspicious object to be carrying around”, as it was supposed to be.
• Fixed bug that caused the “Physical Stat Too Low!” text to float over a bucket even if there were no heavy weights inside of the bucket.
• Fixed bug that would cause Senpai to freeze in place if the player was holding a bucket while Senpai noticed the player misbehaving.
• Fixed bug that would cause Horuda to perpetually perform her “shy hand-wringing” animation even after being electrocuted to death.
• Fixed bug that prevented the “Spill” button prompt from being removed from a bucket after the player had dropped the bucket.
• Fixed bug that caused Ayano’s “tying Osana’s hair around a heavy weight” animation to not align properly with Osana’s hair.
• Fixed bug that would cause the protagonist to throw a mop if they pressed the “E” key or “A” button while holding the mop.
• Fixed bug that would cause rivals in 1980s Mode to freeze in place permanently if a save was loaded in 1980s Mode.
• Fixed bug that allowed the player to send a mind-broken slave to kill a target who was not present at school.
• Fixed bug that allowed the “Send to locker” and “Ask task-related question” prompts to overlap one another.
• Fixed bug that prevented Nemesis from being able to play a “killed from behind by blunt weapon” animation.
• Attempted to fix a bug that would cause Ayano to become frozen after exiting the Matchmaking minigame.
• Fixed bug that would let a Cooking Club member continue walking around after being electrocuted.
• Fixed bug that allowed the player to electrocute Ui Tunesu during the tutorial.
• Fixed bug that caused a stack of papers to clip into the headmaster’s laptop.

Model Changes

Recently, a lot of new 3D modellers and 2D artists have volunteered to assist me with Yandere Simulator! Thanks to their assistance, I’ve been able to update various models and textures. Dozens, in fact! If I listed every model/texture that was updated in this build, it would nearly double the length of the blog post!

Some of the changes are huge – like Ayano, Taro, and Ryoba’s hair models being replaced – but a lot of them are actually very minor, like the Kaobook and Nozama logos in Yandere-chan’s web browser being changed. Actually, one of the most significant changes in this update is the headmaster getting a new character model, which I’m very, very happy with!

Over the next few builds, a few dozen other models and textures are going to be completely replaced, as well, mostly hair models in 1980s Mode. Just wanted to give you a heads-up about it so that it’s not a surprise when it happens! And if you think, “Hey, wait, I don’t like these new hair models as much as the old ones!” then don’t worry. Hair models will continue to be tweaked, updated, and improved over the next few weeks until they all rise to the standard of quality that you’ve come to expect of the game.

Anniversary?

Hey, tomorrow is Yandere Simulator’s 8th anniversary! Whoa, that’s a big deal! I’ll be writing a blog post about it. Hope you’ll find it insightful!