Post by kanamureika in Bugs & Stuff comments

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Hello! I recently got your game, and so far I'm really loving it! However, I didn't notice it until I checked some Let's Play videos, but like another user in this thread, I encountered the same issue of not seeing any backgrounds at all. I am able to see the text boxes and texts though, and the bgm and voices are perfectly okay, though the background I have the whole time throughout playing is nothing but a blank gray screen. Also, as I continued reading the text, I got to a loading screen, and I think the game froze... the hourglass on the bottom right corner isn't spinning like it should be, but the audio is still playing in the background. I can't really exit the game as well since I am in full screen mode, and pressing esc on my keyboard doesn't seem to help, so I'm pretty much just stuck on the loading screen ;-;

Not sure if anyone has encountered that issue with the loading screen, but I haven't encountered this issue with any previous loading screens until now. As for the blank backgrounds, I've actually had that happening since I launched the game and got to the title screen.

Idk what's the cause of these issues, but hopefully you can help me (and any other players who encountered this issue) fix this issue?

I'm currently playing on the Windows Full Version, Castor's route, and to be specific about the frozen loading screen, I would say it's after where the MC wakes up from oversleeping? I don't exactly remember haha. As for the blank backgrounds, it started right when I got to the title screen and started a new game.

Thank you so much for looking into this issue, and I hope you have a great day!

Melancholy Marionette2 years ago

Hey hey! Thanks so much for playing the game :3 I'm glad you were enjoying it so far even if it wasn't functioning the way it was supposed to >.<

Unfortunately, I'm not even going to be able to look into this for you at the moment because the code for the version of the game you're currently playing no longer exists. So I'm sorry about that :( I don't know if you're aware of the big update I'm currently working on for DD, but yesterday I finished the complete revamp for all existing content.

Because I originally made what's currently available of the game as part of a jam, I only had 1 month to learn how to use Unity and Nani (cos I got it just before the jam, prior to that, I was using Tyranobuilder). As a result of the deadline + my inexperience with the new engine, my code was incredibly messy. Too messy to work with going forward now that I've learned a lot over the last couple of years. So I decided to rewrite all of it, along with making many tweaks and additions to the existing story content.

Once I release the big update, anyone wishing to continue playing will need to start over because I've changed so much that old saves and the old version of the game won't work.

Changes include: A brand new title screen with new original theme track, redesigned menus, a new introduction section where the player can pick their name + pronouns, a personality system, new backgrounds, more choices (including some timed ones), around 100 new lines of dialogue for Castor/ia (to account for responses to all the new choices), and various additions to Castor/ia's existing story content. Then there's also gonna be two more characters introduced + new story content for Castor/ia :3

If you wanted to check out my little progress updates, I post them on Twitter cos itch recommendeds only posting bigger updates here since it will send emails out to followers, and no one wants to be spammed x3

As you say, a small handful of people seemed to have that issue with backgrounds not loading, and I never managed to gather enough information to figure out why. They're only png files, so it's not like they're weird files or anything >.< But there was also an issue for some people where they couldn't get past the the title screen because instead of loading the video background, it loaded a black screen for them. I managed to fix that for people at the time by making an alternate version where the title screen just has a static png background rather than the video one, but I didn't want to have to keep releasing two versions with different title screens going forward. So as part of the upcoming update, I made a title screen that's animated from within the game, rather than using a video background, which should hopefully work for everyone.

With any luck, whatever the issue is with backgrounds not loading for you will be fixed automatically with all my changes to the code in the new update :3 But if not, I'll have to send you a development build and get you to send me all the error logs your computer generates to hopefully be able to figure out what's causing them to not load.

I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing the reason it will have frozen/crashed for you is because of some sort of conflict trying to access resources (like the backgrounds) that aren't there. Cos something like backgrounds missing is bound to cause other issues further down the line :(

As I mentioned, the revamp of existing content is now complete, but I won't be releasing the update until I've got the new content in there too. I'm aiming for the end of spring, but you never know what might go wrong, haha.

I'm sorry I can't be more helpful in fixing it for you now though >.< It's impossible for me to even try since that version of the game is now defunct and non-existent in an editable form. I didn't keep any backups of the old code just because I knew I'd be changing so much I wouldn't have a use for it anymore. I just hope that it all works as intended for you when I manage to release the update :3

kanamureika2 years ago(+1)

It's totally okay! I understand your situation. Working on a game by yourself is no easy job, so take as much time as you need to work on any future updates, and make sure to get plenty of rest (we all want to make sure you're doing perfectly well each and every day)! ^^ I'm no tech wizz myself, but hearing about all the hard work you've put into this game certainly sounds exhausting, though your determination to continue working on it for everyone to enjoy is quite admirable!

And ooh, all those changes in the new update sound interesting! I'll definitely keep an eye out for them hehe. And I'll follow you on Twitter too to check out the latest news! I'm really looking forward to see how much potential and growth goes into DD (and even your other works)! I feel like they'll be a big hit in the future XD

I'm excited to see any new content you release, so I wish you all the best, and I will support you all the way on your journey with this game's development >:3

Melancholy Marionette2 years ago

Thanks so much for being so understanding and patient :3 It means the world to me to have such amazing supporters. It certainly is slow going working solo, haha. It would be easier if I could clone myself so I could work on different things at the same time x3 I have been trying to make sure I get at least 7 hours of sleep most nights, which is more than I used to, haha. When I'm participating in jams, I often get by on 3-5 hours per night for the duration of the jam, and I know that's kinda unhealthy >.< It's a little difficult for me to get out of jam-mode, haha, but I'm trying to set a healthier pace while working on DD :3

If there's one thing I do have, it's a whole bunch of determination x3 It might be slightly insane, but I'm also hoping I might somehow manage to release my older on-hold project CiQ later this year as well just because I feel awful that the writing is pretty much finished for the whole thing, voice acting was completed for the demo/full common route, sprites were redrawn by an amazing artist, and an awesome video editor put together character intro vids, and yet it's all just frozen in time >.< I put it on hold because there was very little interest in the project, and knowing I wouldn't be able to afford to get the whole thing fully voiced really killed my motivation because I love hearing voices breathe life into my characters so much :3 But it seems such a shame to have the whole thing shelved for so long >.< If I sell enough of my clothes, I might be able to at least afford partial VA for it, haha. So I'm thinking I might try and get an update or two for DD released, and then push myself to actually complete CiQ and get it out there in the wild :3 Then it won't keep popping up in my head to haunt me every now and again xD That's where clones would come in handy again though, cos I could work on DD while my clones finish putting CiQ together x3

I really hope I can manage to pull off the vision I have in my head for DD eventually though :3 It's gonna take time, but I'll keep at it :D

Still, though, I'm sorry again for how useless I've been in regards to helping with your particular problem >.< I hate it when I'm powerless to fix stuff. Part of the reason I switched engines was in the hope that fewer weird bugs like that would pop up, but nope, they still happen x3 I'm really hoping it will work as intended for you straight outta the box once I've got the update out. But if it doesn't, we'll definitely have to get to the bottom of it! And even if I can't figure it out on my own, the dev of the engine I use with Unity has a huge support section on Discord, so as long as I have error logs, the community should be able to help me figure it out :3

Thanks again for everything! I really appreciate it ^-^

itch.io

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