Development Update 5/22/25

Here's what we've been up to this week:

• Focus-Based Timeline Decisions
  We’ve implemented focus-based mechanics for most of the major timeline/story splits. Players will now trigger different narrative branches depending on whether they look at or look away from certain objects or entities.

• Custom Widget-Based Loading Screens
  We’ve replaced our old baked MP4 loading screens with fully asynchronous, widget-based ones. This is a big upgrade in terms of both quality and smoothness.

• Alternate Path Optimizations
  Continued optimizing the alternate path introduced last week. We’ve already seen a ~50% performance boost here and are aiming to wrap this up in the next few days.

• Spatial Audio Improvements
  Major optimizations to our binaural (spatial) SFX. By layering in some custom culling logic on top of Steam Audio’s core system, we’ve significantly reduced the CPU load.

• Finalized the Prologue Script
  Final tweaks and iterations are done and we’ve officially locked in the full Prologue script. We’re extremely happy with how these are turning out w/ Max Howarth.

• Tailored Graphics Settings
  Added more granular options under the “Tailored” graphics setting. These new tweaks should help stabilize framerates across a wide range of supported GPUs.

• Expanded GPU & CPU Testing
  Continued hardware testing for the Prologue build. We've expanded to include more Nvidia 30- and 20-series cards, along with a broader range of AMD GPUs. This is to fine-tune the “Tailored” settings and identify any hardware-specific issues.

• Ending Animations
  Progressed further on the final animations for Smile and Mime in their ending scenes respectively. Just a few more days left!

• Remaining Asset Work
  Continued working through the last batch of 3D and 2D assets needed for the Prologue build. We’ve added three new models this week.

• Bug Fixes
  Knocked out about 7 bugs this week. That’s fewer than our usual 30-ish, but that’s actually a good sign! This means we’re closing in on the end and addressing the last of the more obvious/common issues.

Upcoming Focus:

• Debugging & Optimization
  Ongoing optimization and debugging with our core team to polish the Prologue build.

• Final Asset Completion
  Finish off the last remaining 3D and 2D assets still blocking parts of the Prologue.

• Wrap Up Ending Animations
  Complete the final animation work for Smile and Mime.

• Playtesting Prep
  Get the polished Prologue build into the hands of a new round of playtesters for rough playtime estimates, performance benchmarks, and final polish feedback. (still in progress, we’ll let you know when it’s time)