heya. thanks so much and i'm glad you're liking the smoother look and feel to the Revamp. it was needed and I'm glad i'm doing it so it's always rewarding to hear when others are enjoying it as well :)
and no worries on the question. honestly i appreciate the interest. plus, it's been forever since there was an update because this next update ended up being a ton of surprise work. so i'm finishing up the update now. should be out on patreon and subscribestar within the next week hopefully. so i drop it on those 2 sites first for those that donate to the project. then 3 weeks after that, i'll drop it here on itch for free and it'll go up on the other two sites for free as well... soooooo i'll say ballpark like a month for free here (give or take but hopefully a few days less than a month)
So this isn't an error we've seen before and (bare with me here because I hate when I get answers like this) but double check first to make sure you have enough space on your phone. The second thing to check first off is to make sure you dont have any previous version of it on your phone (if you've played before) and then maybe try and redownload. I have seen people get wonky downloads that bugged out for no reason then they did a redownload and things worked fine. so space, delete current or any previous ones then redownload. hopefully, that doesn't sound like a garbage answer because that's not my intention but if you could double check those things first, then we can go from there. the discord link is above too, if you haven't joined, you can pop on there too and we can trouble shoot in real time vs waiting on chat responses. if you do pop on there and i'm working (cause i usually say hi to everyone) just tag me and let me know who you are and we can try and help :)
also, real quick. not sure if you read other comments here but occasionally, we'll get a report from android users that the phone asks for permission to access pictures. this isn't on all devices and i'm honestly not sure if it's a device or a manufacturer or what. but some phones will ask for picture access. this does NOT mean it's accessing YOUR pictures. because the game files and CGs are jpg images, that means they're pictures. so while that permission seems super sketch, it's actually asking permission to access it's own pictures. i'm big on privacy and i completely understand why that prompt looks sketch. your pictures and privacy are safe as long as you download from here or my patreon (official sites) .if you dont see that permission thing, just means you have one of the phones that it doesn't ask. if you're still worried about it or whatever, again, hop on the discord and ask about other people's experiences. i like transparency :)
also, sorry it took me so long to respond. that's super frustrating when you're waiting cause shit wont work
depending on which version you play: yes. if you have no sound then you’re playing the original, while it’s the full story, the quality in that version was severely lacking and I was quite literally learning to make a game in real time with each update.
Instead of that copy, I’d recommend the Revamp copy. It’s way better. At this point, the old version isn’t even comparable. The Revamp has sound, licensed music and thousands more pictures, way better quality. It’s just way better. The only way I would recommend playing the original is if you get to the end of the current Revamp update and can’t wait for me to finish; some people jump over to the original to finish it up. But yeah: play the Revamp copy instead
oooh. ok. well that means everything i just said was completely not helpful at all and probably almost insulting so ignore all that and let's start over.
Hi. first off, thanks for reading and going through the revamp version. I'm glad you liked it enough to want to keep going. So if you're playing the original version, the quality isn't even comparable. At the time, I had zero experience so the beginning of the original is really bad and progressively gets better. doing this also costs a ton of money and i was in grad school at the time so my budget for this project was crap and i was working on an old hand-me-down computer that was around 12 years old. So the CG quality was crap cause i didn't have the hardware, the school was empty cause i couldn't render more than 3 characters at once, and there was no budget to license music.
by the time i got to the end (chapter 9 and 10), I'd had enough donations to upgrade my rig so i had better hardware. you'll also see depth of field start to be added in around chapter 10 i think. i was just learning and trying things as i went. by the time i got to the end tho, i was really happy how the project turned out and i'd learned a lot but the beginning didn't do any of it justice. so i started the Revamp (there will only be one revamp, i'm not going to keep doing it over and over forever)
in terms of sound and music, by the end i did have a bigger budget but it felt weird to suddenly just have music and noises outta nowhere. so i saved that for the revamp as well. the original is completely silent. you'll still see audio controls but that's only because they were baked in by default.
a lot of old school fans still like the original just because they followed the project for a long time, hung out in the discord, and got to watch it and me evolve over time. there's a lot of memories there and i think it's fun to see the world evolve just like the characters do. but it's also super inconsistent outside of that interpretation.
hope that's a better answer to your question and i'm really sorry if the first one was a shit answer. hope you enjoy the last 2 chapters. they're very long and A LOT happens.
This game hit way too close to home. Some of the situations were so near to actual experiences I had that I actually began to relive those experiences, which wasn't always a good thing. Anyway, this is a beautiful game and I hope Aaryn continues to make heartfelt games that are likely to send me back into therapy. And like many other commenters here, I created an account just to recommend this game.
heya, first off thanks for posting and extra thanks for taking the time to make an account just to post. those always mean a lot to me so thank you. i'm glad the game touched on experiences that felt real to you--obviously it sucks not all those experiences were good and many of them weren't great in the game either. i like conflict in stories but i think there needs to be a purpose in that and i do like seeing the growth that comes after. i also think some of those uncomfortable moments in game make me personally appreciate the good moments even better. i wish you closure and peace in all experiences and thank you again for reading and just taking time to let me know you enjoyed it <3
I just finished reading straight!?. I am overwhelmed right now. Tears and smiles, heart wrenching and honest. I have never been so effected by a story before, I almost feel like I know these people. I couldn't put it down, I felt myself saying, just one more chapter. I want to thank you Aaryn for this beautiful work of art. I am a Zack and this story made me feel like I too have a chance. Keep writing and sharing your work and again, thank you.
aww, thank you so much. i was honestly pretty overwhelmed by the end myself so you're not alone. i'm glad it was a page turner (mouse clicker...) and it kept you engaged to the last sentence. thanks so much for your energy and for riding this whole emotional rollercoaster with me <3
I went into this game completely blind, and all I can say is WOW!!!
It honestly blew me away. I don’t even have the words to fully describe how powerful the experience was. The way it dives deep into each character’s emotions it was so raw and so real, it left such a lasting impression on me. There’s so much depth and nuance that I wish more VNs explored characters this meaningfully (I honestly had to do some self-reflecting after that...). It’s the kind that stays with you long after you finish it. (Literally speaking as I played this like a week ago and it still feels fresh in my mind) Thank you for creating something I didn't think I needed in life.
I’d do anything to experience it all over again for the first time. To go back and reread it without knowing what’s coming and to feel those emotions hit me raw and unfiltered again. It’s one of those rare stories that makes you wish you could forget it, just so you could read it all over again.
thank you so much for such a beautifully written comment. I'm seriously glad you enjoyed the story. i've read this about 10 times so far and it made me smile every time-- but then i totally forgot to respond, lmao. my bad! but thank you for reading and i really appreciate your post <3
I too created an account just to leave a comment. This game... hits in a way I wasn't expecting. Made me feel things that I have buried. Went into it looking for a fun little game to horn me up, tbh. That quickly changed as I became invested in the characters immediately. They feel SO real. So anyway thank you for creating such a beautiful game. It really needs to get picked up by a movie producer - it is the most perfect love story ever.
thank you so much. it's always amazing when people take the time to make an account just to leave a comment. I seriously appreciate you taking the time to do that. not only did it make me smile but it also helps the project gain traction here. I'm so happy that you enjoyed the story and thanks so much for the kind words <3
Thanks for the response! I thought chapter 7 was the end, then realized there are 10 in the original DL, so I was happy to see more of the story. Do you have a Discord link that works to join? It says 'unable to accept invite' when I try the one above.
Hello, how's it goin Aaryn. I hope you have been doing well and have been continuing to follow your passion. I know you may not remember me but I just wanted to send best wishes as you continue to accomplish your goals. My therapeutic work has benefitted from this story by helping me reflect on myself and consider what my patients may be going through. Again just wanted to say hello and I hope you're still going strong.
heya :) yeah, i'm pretty sure i remember you. i think we nerded out about psych theories and stuff. I'm humbled you'd come back after talking before (i can't remember when it was but probably like a year or two I think). but i appreciate the continued reflection and i'm glad it still holds up to the scrutiny of somebody else with experience in the field. i also appreciate the best wishes and i wish you same as well. i'm sure you're doing good work and the people you work with probably appreciate you, too-- even tho clients/patients don't always say so :)
Thanks and yes im doing my best to keep an open environment and encourage them to consider what they want from their lives. I also remind them to accept their current limitations but never be afraid to grow past them if they are willing to put in the work. So many are already something special but allow social views or expectations to downgrade all they have done to make it this far. Not everyone is meant to climb a mountain but it doesn't mean your achievements are meant to be downplayed when you know how hard you worked. Love yourself. Be proud of who you are. Be patient with yourself. Allow yourself to be vulnerable when you need a moment. Being strong means working through your pain. Not avoiding as if its something to be feared.
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Really loving the revamp of this game. the flow is so nice as well as the improvement and new animations.
I'm sure you get this a lot, but when is the next update released here on itch? Can't wait for next one
heya. thanks so much and i'm glad you're liking the smoother look and feel to the Revamp. it was needed and I'm glad i'm doing it so it's always rewarding to hear when others are enjoying it as well :)
and no worries on the question. honestly i appreciate the interest. plus, it's been forever since there was an update because this next update ended up being a ton of surprise work. so i'm finishing up the update now. should be out on patreon and subscribestar within the next week hopefully. so i drop it on those 2 sites first for those that donate to the project. then 3 weeks after that, i'll drop it here on itch for free and it'll go up on the other two sites for free as well... soooooo i'll say ballpark like a month for free here (give or take but hopefully a few days less than a month)
My android is telling me that it's not able to package download , could you tell me what that means and maybe how to fix it
So this isn't an error we've seen before and (bare with me here because I hate when I get answers like this) but double check first to make sure you have enough space on your phone. The second thing to check first off is to make sure you dont have any previous version of it on your phone (if you've played before) and then maybe try and redownload. I have seen people get wonky downloads that bugged out for no reason then they did a redownload and things worked fine. so space, delete current or any previous ones then redownload. hopefully, that doesn't sound like a garbage answer because that's not my intention but if you could double check those things first, then we can go from there. the discord link is above too, if you haven't joined, you can pop on there too and we can trouble shoot in real time vs waiting on chat responses. if you do pop on there and i'm working (cause i usually say hi to everyone) just tag me and let me know who you are and we can try and help :)
also, real quick. not sure if you read other comments here but occasionally, we'll get a report from android users that the phone asks for permission to access pictures. this isn't on all devices and i'm honestly not sure if it's a device or a manufacturer or what. but some phones will ask for picture access. this does NOT mean it's accessing YOUR pictures. because the game files and CGs are jpg images, that means they're pictures. so while that permission seems super sketch, it's actually asking permission to access it's own pictures. i'm big on privacy and i completely understand why that prompt looks sketch. your pictures and privacy are safe as long as you download from here or my patreon (official sites) .if you dont see that permission thing, just means you have one of the phones that it doesn't ask. if you're still worried about it or whatever, again, hop on the discord and ask about other people's experiences. i like transparency :)
also, sorry it took me so long to respond. that's super frustrating when you're waiting cause shit wont work
good evening, i have a question, is normal that the game not sound?
depending on which version you play: yes.
if you have no sound then you’re playing the original, while it’s the full story, the quality in that version was severely lacking and I was quite literally learning to make a game in real time with each update.
Instead of that copy, I’d recommend the Revamp copy. It’s way better. At this point, the old version isn’t even comparable. The Revamp has sound, licensed music and thousands more pictures, way better quality. It’s just way better. The only way I would recommend playing the original is if you get to the end of the current Revamp update and can’t wait for me to finish; some people jump over to the original to finish it up. But yeah: play the Revamp copy instead
Yeah i finish the revamp already and i wanted more so im playing thr old one, im in cap nine already
oooh. ok. well that means everything i just said was completely not helpful at all and probably almost insulting so ignore all that and let's start over.
Hi. first off, thanks for reading and going through the revamp version. I'm glad you liked it enough to want to keep going. So if you're playing the original version, the quality isn't even comparable. At the time, I had zero experience so the beginning of the original is really bad and progressively gets better. doing this also costs a ton of money and i was in grad school at the time so my budget for this project was crap and i was working on an old hand-me-down computer that was around 12 years old. So the CG quality was crap cause i didn't have the hardware, the school was empty cause i couldn't render more than 3 characters at once, and there was no budget to license music.
by the time i got to the end (chapter 9 and 10), I'd had enough donations to upgrade my rig so i had better hardware. you'll also see depth of field start to be added in around chapter 10 i think. i was just learning and trying things as i went. by the time i got to the end tho, i was really happy how the project turned out and i'd learned a lot but the beginning didn't do any of it justice. so i started the Revamp (there will only be one revamp, i'm not going to keep doing it over and over forever)
in terms of sound and music, by the end i did have a bigger budget but it felt weird to suddenly just have music and noises outta nowhere. so i saved that for the revamp as well. the original is completely silent. you'll still see audio controls but that's only because they were baked in by default.
a lot of old school fans still like the original just because they followed the project for a long time, hung out in the discord, and got to watch it and me evolve over time. there's a lot of memories there and i think it's fun to see the world evolve just like the characters do. but it's also super inconsistent outside of that interpretation.
hope that's a better answer to your question and i'm really sorry if the first one was a shit answer. hope you enjoy the last 2 chapters. they're very long and A LOT happens.
thanks again for playing <3
This game made me teary eyed but I keep coming back to replay it. I can't wait for the remake, you did an amazing job!
thank you so much! i get teary-eyed too so it's not just you. hope you enjoy the revamp!! thanks for reading <3
This game hit way too close to home. Some of the situations were so near to actual experiences I had that I actually began to relive those experiences, which wasn't always a good thing. Anyway, this is a beautiful game and I hope Aaryn continues to make heartfelt games that are likely to send me back into therapy. And like many other commenters here, I created an account just to recommend this game.
heya, first off thanks for posting and extra thanks for taking the time to make an account just to post. those always mean a lot to me so thank you. i'm glad the game touched on experiences that felt real to you--obviously it sucks not all those experiences were good and many of them weren't great in the game either. i like conflict in stories but i think there needs to be a purpose in that and i do like seeing the growth that comes after. i also think some of those uncomfortable moments in game make me personally appreciate the good moments even better. i wish you closure and peace in all experiences and thank you again for reading and just taking time to let me know you enjoyed it <3
I just finished reading straight!?. I am overwhelmed right now. Tears and smiles, heart wrenching and honest. I have never been so effected by a story before, I almost feel like I know these people. I couldn't put it down, I felt myself saying, just one more chapter. I want to thank you Aaryn for this beautiful work of art. I am a Zack and this story made me feel like I too have a chance. Keep writing and sharing your work and again, thank you.
aww, thank you so much. i was honestly pretty overwhelmed by the end myself so you're not alone. i'm glad it was a page turner (mouse clicker...) and it kept you engaged to the last sentence. thanks so much for your energy and for riding this whole emotional rollercoaster with me <3
will there be a part 2? or a continuation of the straight story in the future?
I went into this game completely blind, and all I can say is WOW!!!
It honestly blew me away. I don’t even have the words to fully describe how powerful the experience was. The way it dives deep into each character’s emotions it was so raw and so real, it left such a lasting impression on me. There’s so much depth and nuance that I wish more VNs explored characters this meaningfully (I honestly had to do some self-reflecting after that...). It’s the kind that stays with you long after you finish it. (Literally speaking as I played this like a week ago and it still feels fresh in my mind) Thank you for creating something I didn't think I needed in life.
I’d do anything to experience it all over again for the first time. To go back and reread it without knowing what’s coming and to feel those emotions hit me raw and unfiltered again. It’s one of those rare stories that makes you wish you could forget it, just so you could read it all over again.
thank you so much for such a beautifully written comment. I'm seriously glad you enjoyed the story. i've read this about 10 times so far and it made me smile every time-- but then i totally forgot to respond, lmao. my bad! but thank you for reading and i really appreciate your post <3
I too created an account just to leave a comment. This game... hits in a way I wasn't expecting. Made me feel things that I have buried. Went into it looking for a fun little game to horn me up, tbh. That quickly changed as I became invested in the characters immediately. They feel SO real. So anyway thank you for creating such a beautiful game. It really needs to get picked up by a movie producer - it is the most perfect love story ever.
PS- The Discord link doesn't work for me :(
thank you so much. it's always amazing when people take the time to make an account just to leave a comment. I seriously appreciate you taking the time to do that. not only did it make me smile but it also helps the project gain traction here. I'm so happy that you enjoyed the story and thanks so much for the kind words <3
Thanks for the response! I thought chapter 7 was the end, then realized there are 10 in the original DL, so I was happy to see more of the story. Do you have a Discord link that works to join? It says 'unable to accept invite' when I try the one above.
we've had a few random users have that issue before. we purged some stuff so if you wanna try again, give it a shot :)
Hello, how's it goin Aaryn. I hope you have been doing well and have been continuing to follow your passion. I know you may not remember me but I just wanted to send best wishes as you continue to accomplish your goals. My therapeutic work has benefitted from this story by helping me reflect on myself and consider what my patients may be going through. Again just wanted to say hello and I hope you're still going strong.
heya :) yeah, i'm pretty sure i remember you. i think we nerded out about psych theories and stuff. I'm humbled you'd come back after talking before (i can't remember when it was but probably like a year or two I think). but i appreciate the continued reflection and i'm glad it still holds up to the scrutiny of somebody else with experience in the field. i also appreciate the best wishes and i wish you same as well. i'm sure you're doing good work and the people you work with probably appreciate you, too-- even tho clients/patients don't always say so :)
Thanks and yes im doing my best to keep an open environment and encourage them to consider what they want from their lives. I also remind them to accept their current limitations but never be afraid to grow past them if they are willing to put in the work. So many are already something special but allow social views or expectations to downgrade all they have done to make it this far. Not everyone is meant to climb a mountain but it doesn't mean your achievements are meant to be downplayed when you know how hard you worked. Love yourself. Be proud of who you are. Be patient with yourself. Allow yourself to be vulnerable when you need a moment. Being strong means working through your pain. Not avoiding as if its something to be feared.