This update is called Cold Lemon because, like a cold lemon, it's very refreshing. Here's what's new! Goal Indicator
The map now has a little exclamation point icon that appears in the areas you need to go. When you're required to click on a "Talk" icon to proceed in the story, it changes accordingly. Feel free to deviate from the path, as the indicator only shows you the quickest route through the game. Wheel of Fallacies Hint System The hint system will now indicate when you've selected the wrong fallacy, instead of just telling you when you've missed a fallacy. Initially, I was going to remove some fallacies to make this minigame simpler overall. But I realized that that might be throwing the baby out with the bathwater. With this improvement, the entire game is much less frustrating. Slippers in the YPDA About halfway through developing this game, I had a panic attack: in Japan, people wear slippers indoors! It had somehow slipped my mind, so I frantically added slippers and bathroom slippers in every location, and updated the sprites to wear slippers as well. However, I went a bit too overboard, and added slippers to the YPDA's porch. What I somehow didn't realize was that you wouldn't wear slippers in an office building — just at home. "Duh!", to use a 90s expression. Oh well. I've since removed the slippers from the YPDA. However, I left the slippers in Uzumaki's office, because the floor in his meeting room is covered in tatami mats. Arrows Since there was some confusion about where to go when the game requires you to leave your location, I made it so that the forward arrow wiggles so that it's more obvious that you need to press it. As part of this, I added a new angle to Noa's apartment that focuses directly on the window, instead of the center of the image being focused on the couch (which makes it way easier to know what to do). CGs
I added Noa's parents to her apartment while you're able to look around. I also updated/redrew some CGs at the "Detective's accusation" section. Uzumaki Route Fix The detectives never addressed why the autopsy was "poison and a heart attack" on the Uzumaki is Guilty route. I've since changed that, but in doing so, I also changed the cutscene to reflect the new version of events. In the original, Uzumaki was shown to have played a sound on a cassette that caused Noriko's pacemaker to malfunction, and then smear lipstick on Hiroki's lips, but that had a few flaws. Why would Hiroki die just from having the lipstick smeared on his lips? In the new, simpler version, Noriko dies by panicking at being shot at (remember, she has a heart condition), and Uzumaki feeds Hiroki a pink poisoned chocolate, leaving a stain on his lips that the detectives thought was the lipstick. Noa's Backyard I modeled an entirely new backyard. It's still a big field, but now there are buildings and a road behind it, so it doesn't seem like Noa lives in the middle of nowhere. The ambulance is also no longer still there. Uzumaki's Computers The original interface on the computers was based on (and used some icons from) Windows 3.1, which was released in April in 1992. However, I don't know if that was the case in Japan. But more importantly, apparently Microsoft's guidelines about using screenshots of their software is that they can't be modified. Since I have to modify screenshots to serve the story, I decided to just make my own interface from scratch, inspired by Windows 3.0. Also, Reiwa's computer and Uzumaki's computer have different windows open on them, whereas before they were both the same. Internet References Removed I wanted to reference the internet as part of the mystery, but there wasn't much to the internet back then. I've updated it so that Takuma talks about books instead. Other Changes
• Changed the final Logic Train infoboxes to be less confusing. Now it's clear that you're "breaking" the logic of Takuma's argument.
• Fixed a flowchart goof where it didn't actually show you the right way to be innocent on "bad" routes.
• Noa now solves/tampers with the lipstick clue in a way that makes more sense.
• Noa now has a "reading letter" expression, so that it's clear that it was in her possession when Ume asks for it later. I also updated the Puppet Theater minigame to include this.
• Takuma no longer discusses his brilliant theory about how toxic paint chips from the ceiling landed in a glass of water that Hiroki drank.
• Noa's body was flipped the wrong way in the "alone" ending, so I re-rendered it.
• I ran the entire script through spell check (which I actually hadn't done yet). Hopefully there aren't any more spelling errors. There are a few other things that I mentioned in my last post that aren't in this update. I decided not change Ume's motive theory, change the phones to beepers, or add dialogue to further explain the fire at Noa's house. I was initially going to change Ume's motive theory because it really is nonsensical. However, that is also kind of the point — it's supposed to be initially wrong. If I rewrote it, it would essentially be the same, just a different crazy explanation. So I kept it in, even if it is a bit confusing.
The amount of work it would take to change the phones to beepers was simply too much to really justify it, especially since I found a document online that said that cell phones were in Japan in 1992 (just not in widespread use). I added some lampshading to explain that Noa and Hiroki have state-of-the-art phones. I tried adding exposition to the scene after Noa jumps out of the window (and it's actually still there in the code if you take a look), but I felt it ruined the flow of the scene. Plus, all you really need to know is that Noa went to the hospital, which is something she mentions right afterwords, so it wasn't really necessary.
Mirrors of this post are on itch.io, GameJolt and Steam. ---
Now that I've finished this update, I can get back to working on Pageturner 3! Hopefully I will be able to put together a Games Update either later this month or next month. — LockedOn.