Game features roundup

Hi! First off, Chapter 14 is taking shape nicely. Release early in September and early access at the end of August is still the plan.

I wanted to make this post more useful, so I've decided to highlight a few handy features available in the game. Some of these are default Ren'py features, some are unique to Shard of My Soul. You might know most if not all of them, but here's a quick refresher just in case:

1. Hide interface

Want to see the scene without the textbox in the way? Press 'h' or click/tap 'Hide' in the quick menu at the bottom of the screen to hide it. Press 'h' or click or press anywhere to bring it back.

2. Rolling back and forward

You can revisit earlier dialog blocks or scenes using mouse scroll wheel, 'Page Up' or clicking 'Back' in the quick menu. Then you can roll forward using 'Page Down' or scroll wheel (or advance the regular way).

3. Skipping dialogs and scenes

This can be useful if you're playing the game for the nth time and want to skip through familiar scenes or conversations. Hold 'Ctrl', press 'Tab', or click 'Skip' in the quick menu to fast-forward. Next click stops the skipping. By default, the game skips only through the dialogs you've already seen in-game, but you can enable skipping through the unseen text in Preferences.

4. People

This screen lists all important characters that you've encountered so far. You can access it from the menu during game ('Esc' on PC, tap 'Menu' on Android).

5. Investigation

This screen shows the history of Kat's investigation, broken down by chapter. You can access it from the menu during game ('Esc' on PC, tap 'Menu' on Android).

6. Investigation board

This is a visual aid that shows the progress of Kat's investigation — great for getting a sense of the bigger picture. You can access it from the menu during game ('Esc' on PC, tap 'Menu' on Android).

7. Named saves

You can name your save files! Learn more about this feature here.

8. Autosave

The game autosaves regularly. You can find the autosaves on the 'A' page in the Load menu. Helpful if you forgot to save the game at the end of the current last chapter.

9. Save file locations

Each save has its own file.

• On Android:

  Save files are stored at this path:

  Android/data/com.iridescenttaste.shardofmysoul/files/saves

  The path can vary depending on your Android device. If you want to delete a save, you also have to delete it from sync folder at the same path.

• On Windows:

  Ren'py keeps saves in a persistent user data folder. So if you want to fully delete a save file on Windows, you have to delete it from the game folder in the installation:

  ShardOfMySoul/game/saves

  and also from:

  %APPDATA%/RenPy/ShardofMySoul-1662049741

  (and also from sync folder in there).

• On Linux:

  Persistent like on Windows, but the folder is:

  ~/.renpy/ShardofMySoul-1662049741
  

• On Mac:

  Persistent like on Windows, but the folder is:

  ~/Library/RenPy/ShardofMySoul-1662049741

10. Disable chapter summary

If you are bothered by the chapter screen and menu at the beginning of each chapter, you can turn it off in Preferences. You’ll still see day counters, but not the chapter counts or chapter summary menu.

That's it. Have a nice day!