Rivers of Astrum [v.0.2.1] (2024) (Eng) [Ren'Py] [LInux] [Paper Tiger]

v0.2.1

- Support Galleris and in-game Choice benefits have been implemented, as well as an option added to the main menu screen to input supporter codes.
- Support Codes will change with every release. And will be handed out to supporters privately.
- All of the game's animations have been upgraded to 60 FPS! ... Save one. This one has been upped to 40FPS. If I'm being honest, I'm not pleased with the state of most of the animations. At some point I hope I can remaster them, so to speak. But not at the cost of development time. I'll endeavor to get smoother ones moving forward :)
- An opening animation has been added to the game as well, as I'm sure you'll notice. This is a work in progress.
- All dynamic messages displaying relationship changes have now been centered on the screen.
- Relationship Changes will be displayed in specific colors, indicating the degree of loss/gain. These colors are displayed in the "About" screen, in the Changelog section, in-game.
- Many User Interface elements changed/updated. This brings us pretty close to the final form, but I always expect they may need to change or be tweaked in the future.
- Tutorials on game-specific features have been added to the introduction overview (that plays once upon starting the game). It's all pretty straightforward, but you never know.
- The primary focus of 0.2.1 was to polish the user interface, and implement supporter benefits. This was accomplished, but it's worth nothing, that THERE IS NO CONTENT UPDATE FOR THIS VERSION. The story will not move forward until the next release, which is already approaching the halfway point.
- Known Issue: Implementing the code changes for supporter benefits did cause a few "collateral damage" typos, nothing that affects gameplay, but the few you will run across may be a little obnoxious. I've cleared out the ones I've located for the next update, but feel free to report any you find, incase I missed them!

- Known Issue: Due to the nature of the way the game code had to change to implement supporter benefits, it is highly unlikely that saves from previous versions will work. Moving forward, I will make save game compatibility a top priority. This should be the *last* time anyone has to start over. Apologies for the inconvenience.

- As of now, the game exceeds the standard file limit allowed on itch.io. I've emailed itch.io support to request an increase to this limit, but until they respond (assuming they'll say yes), I simply cannot post new versions there. The last version available on itch.io at the time of writing this, is version 0.2.

v0.2
- Changelog added to the "About" screen. All of these notes will appear in-game as well.
- Added 879 Renders and 4 animations, concluding Chapter 1 of Kim's story, and bringing gameplay time to approximately 2.5 hours.
- Versioning: Moving forward, the version plan is solidified. Welcome to version 0.2!
- Bad Ends are officially in place. There are currently several. For those who leave them on, encountering a bad end will give you the option to retry the segment that got you there. At which point the choices that led to the bad end will be colored in red. Anyone who chooses to play without bad ends on will experience a more linear, "canon" version of the scenes in which they take place.
- The relationship system is now in place. Certain actions will affect the characters' relationships with each other. You will receive an on-screen notification when this happens. The relationship of any character - relative to any other character - can be viewed in their respective character screens.
- The morality system system is also now in place. Certain actions will increase or decrease a character's morality level. This will influence available choices, and outcomes of choices, in later updates. Any character's morality level can be viewed on their respective character screen as well.
- Players now have the ability to mute character voices individually. These voice toggles are located in the "RoA-Specific Options" section of the preferences screen. They default to "On". So, any voices highlighted are - in fact - muted. If the character's name is grayed out in the preferences list, then they will speak their voiced lines.
- The "Graphic Violence" content filter was renamed to the "Blood / Gore" filter, to more accurately represent the content that it filters out.
- All nsfw sounds, as well as all other voices, are now appropriately attached to the Voice channel, so that they can be turned off.
- The fight scene in Vex's library has had its transitions adjusted for players with epilepsy.
- As of now, Amaya is the only character not voiced. Finding an actress for her has been troublesome, but I will continue the search!
- The User Interface has been updated. This is a preliminary version! It will be changed during the next QoL update.
- Known issue: In one animation with Dax, his body hair is a bit ... twitchy. This will be corrected in the next update.
- Known issue: One of Kim/Cara's animations in the store room has a slight jump at the end of the loop. This will be corrected in the next update.
- Known issue: Certain areas are missing music that I intended to populate with such. This will be corrected in the next update.
- Known issue: There is at least one scene that I'm aware of where the content is not filtered correctly. This will be corrected in the next update. If anyone finds any other bugs, please let me know! All feedback is good feedback! :)

v0.0.1
- Content Filters added. All content can now be toggled on/off as desired. (PLEASE make use of this!)
- Overhauled the demo content to fit into the content filters.
- Overhauled 80% of the demo renders, and included several more choice-based branches in H scenes.
- Character Screen added. (It's pretty barebones for now, but will be built up more in future update)
- Voice Acting added. The three main characters are now fully voiced:
I leave it up to the Voice Actors as to what they're comfortable voicing. Any NSFW scenes they choose not to voice, I attempted to fill with stock sounds.
- Pseudo Animations added. *All* of these are place holders intended to provide a simulated animation until such time as full 60 fps animations are added. For now, they're simply some frames blended with transitions, but for what they are I think they're quite good :)

v0.0.1a
Initial Release
The demo currently consists of approximately one hour of gameplay.
There are some known issues with the UI that are still being addressed ...
primarily with the start screen and the location of the text buttons.
Outside of that, any feedback would be greatly appreciated.