Version 0.0 is here!

Version 0.0 contains a whole lot of stuff, so I'll have to break it down into more detail. But first, I just want to make sure everyone knows that Version 0.0 will probably corrupt any saves of Chapter 2 — though other saves of yours may be affected with missing images, stuff like that, they will not crash the game, which saves of Chapter 2 might.

Alright, now for the big improvements in this update! Chapter 2 (renamed to "Scaredy Mouse" as the old name "The Black Spot" no longer fits) has been almost completely replaced with a new mystery that's based on the old one, but has an entirely new solution that makes a little more sense. The mystery's backgrounds — which are five years old now — have been completely replaced, and the mystery has been updated in general to fit with the rest of the game — no more 2D evidence, for example.

I updated some sprites!

• Mouse
• Lucha
• Mane
• Pierre
• Harron
• George
• Rustle
• Zheng
• Beth has a new expression

The first and third chapters have also been updated:

• Revised the backgrounds for the apartment interiors! Now the wall texture doesn't look pixel-y, there's more light. I also updated the exterior, but that snuck into last week's Release
• New second floor hallway background
• Top three detectives appear in silhouette when George talks about them

The chapters "The Plot" and "The Man Who Was Invisible" have been updated!

• The background now scrolls past when the characters are on the train platform
• Added Ashdown to the "Jenter Jumps" CG
• Ashdown and Woes final CG has been updated with better lighting and actual hands for Ashdown!

The chapter "Beth" has gotten new backgrounds!

• Revised Romi's apartment
• Revised the subway train

The options menu has been updated:

• The "transition" buttons have been given new icons that make more sense
• New text speed slider
• New labels on auto-time and text speed sliders showing which end is "slow" or "fast"
• "Unlock all chapters" button now appears unlocked after you unlock them

The extras menu has also been updated:

• New music room, now it's no longer in options
• New sprite gallery! Select a character and view all their expressions!
• New backgrounds gallery! Select a location and view all the backgrounds!
• Gallery bug fixed (I hope)
• One new CG (Appears in Chapter 61 "Beth")

I updated a few other CGs as well:

• Catscratcher looking at Killersoul CG from Chapter 59
• Ashdown's shock from Chapter 47
• Ether running from Chapter 79
• Updated all CGs from Chapters 1, 2 & 3 with the revised backgrounds

Other small improvements:

• Fixed the skeleton's obtrusive multicolored teeth on Chapter 39's titlecard
• Changed the train station background in Chapter 29

The Trigger Chains have been redesigned — perhaps they are a little TOO easy now, but I'd rather that than have people quit the game in frustration (which I had several people tell me they did). Broken Minds is the game with the horribly frustrating mini-games — not Methods!

And of course, the last two Interviews and Behind-The-Scenes article are included as well. There's still some stuff I haven't gotten to — but this is the bulk of it!

Thanks to some attention from the Isolation Giveaway, I'm happy to say that Methods has now been downloaded one thousand five hundred times!

Thanks for downloading the game. I hope it helps keep you busy during self-isolation.

And because I updated the sprites in the game, I can finally make THIS!

A recreation of my old novel cover! I have included a high quality version in the Press Kit, which you can download and print out! Every single character is included — except for variations.

I also just launched a new Twitter account specifically for Methods. You can follow it @MethodsVN! I'm currently forming a plan to create content for it to help market Methods as it heads toward the Steam release.

So what remains to be done to improve the game? Well, the next update — "Version 1.0" — is probably going to have less content than this time around. However, there are still many important changes I'd like to make, like revising and adding more CGs and backgrounds. There are actually two features that I planned but did not implement yet — A "mystery selection" extra, and the option to skip mysteries. I also did not have time to play through the whole game, so there may still be small things like characters making the wrong expression, typos, some stuff that needs to change now that Chapter 2 is different, etc.

I still haven't made the adjustments I wanted to make regarding the soundtrack either. But mostly, Version 1.0 will be about "meta" content — a new trailer, figuring out Steam achievements, and submitting the Steam page for review.

Two "improvements" that I'm leaving on the cutting room floor are the text history feature, and adding crowds to backgrounds. I realized that Methods doesn't really need a text history screen when rollback does the job just fine, and because the game is broken up into very short chapters it's hard to be completely lost. A text history screen is much more useful for VNs that go uninterrupted for very long periods, so that you can check back a few conversations to make sure you didn't miss anything.

I cut the crowds idea because it would be a nightmare to re-render all those backgrounds, and it would require either drawing full bodies for a LOT of detectives, or making different-looking silhouettes — or, as I had been thinking, abstract color blobs, basically — but most importantly, it would get in the way of seeing the backgrounds, which I think would be a shame. I'm always impressed when VNs actually show crowds in a crowd scene, so hats off to to anyone who puts in the work — I just don't think it's the right fit here. Imagination will have to suffice!

As for what comes after next week, generally, since it's not related to Methods I'll just link to the blog post I made on my website about it: http://lockedonstudios.wixsite.com/lockedon/single-post/2020/04/14/Methods-is-Do...

In short, I'll be working on an update for Broken Minds next, and then two Scratch-related projects, only one of which (The Evolving World: Catalyst Wake) is going to wind up here on itch.io. More details soon!

Until next time!

— LockedOn.