Summer Scent v0.6.3a - Android.

I'm publishing today an Android build for v0.6.3. 

However, it comes with a warning and a clarification.

It must be pretty obvious that Android builds aren't my priority. I've always considered Summer Scent to be a PC game first. Mac and Android builds are just a courtesy and a bonus offered with the PC version of the game. The first reason for this is that I simply have no way to offer proper support for these two platforms. Be it by lack of hardware or knowledge, I simply cannot guarantee that I will be able to consistently produce, and maintain Mac and Android builds.

Nothing has changed on that front, especially after the problems I had producing Android builds, and I don't see my point of view changing anytime soon.

As of today, the demand for an Android build might be growing but it's still marginal. For v0.6.2, the last time I released a proper Android version, less than 5 % of the downloads were Android builds.

Steam doesn't sell Android games and there is no proper store for that kind of visual novel. And distributing APKs without any guarantee or secure environment is ground for trouble.

Even if Renpy offers a direct compilation into an Android build, it doesn't mean that you don't need specific developments in order to adapt your game for the Android platform. Making a proper mobile game is a technical challenge due essentially from an ui standpoint, furthermore complicated by the wide variety of devices and versions of the operating system. Android's fragmentation is a nightmare in itself.

Talking specifically about Summer Scent and v0.6.3, to produce that build, I had to use a more recent version of the Renpy engine which isn't 100 % compatible with Summer Scent. It comes with a lot of issues. I fixed the more problematic ones so that the game can be played. But several features are missing and there are several issues with the interface. I'm also not sure that your previous saves will be compatible with the new engine. If it is playable,  I'm not sure it's enjoyable.

I could probably make a better build, 100% functional with all features and a proper mobile-oriented interface but it would mean investing weeks of work into it.

In the end, making a proper Android build would mean essentially means investing time into coding and maintaining a second game.

For me, it's not worth it.

However, if possible, I will still continue to make half-assed, low-effort, mostly broken, android builds as I've been told that most players out there just don't care about the features and just want to browse the story.

But starting now they will only be available here, on Patreon and their link will be prefaced with a warning.

"Summer Scent is a PC game. Mac and Android build are a courtesy and a bonus offered with the PC version of the game. I have no way to offer proper support for these two platforms and cannot guarantee that I'll be able to produce them in the future. They may disappear at any time.

Also, the Android version is mostly broken."

The download link to the Android release has been added to the v0.6.3 release post: here.