Highway Blossoms 1.3.1 and 1.3 — Now in French!
Hello, everyone!
Highway Blossoms 1.3.1 and 1.3 have just been released, with a brand new complete French localisation! Massive thank you to the French translation team — Kinxil, Asazuna, and Nono!
These updates also fix a few minor issues that were either reported by the community, or were found in testing.
We’ve also optimised and reduced the game’s install size by 98 MB (6%) with no quality loss!
As always, thank you all for continuing to support Studio Élan…!
〜 Karen/あけみ (akemin_dayo)
A message from Kinxil, our French translator
Je suis très heureux de partager avec vous la traduction française d’un jeu que j’affectionne tout particulièrement, Highway Blossoms (incluant le DLC Next Exit et ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)).
C’est mon premier projet de traduction et, n’étant pas du métier, il comporte probablement son lot d’approximations. Mais il a été fait avec amour, promis !
J’espère que vous apprécierez autant Highway Blossoms dans sa version française que j’ai apprécié cette aventure
Highway Blossoms 1.2.5 — Maintenance Update
Hello, everyone!
Highway Blossoms 1.2.5 has just been released, which fixes a few minor issues.
As always, thank you for continuing to support Studio Élan!
〜 Karen/あけみ (akemin_dayo) and adirosa
Changelog for 1.2.5:
On PC, it targets Ren’Py SDK versions 8.1.3.23091805 〜 7.5.3.22090809.
- Certain trophies will no longer unlock simply by opening the preference pane. You have to unlock them the intended way now.
- Made a certain Goofball Mode feature easier to find in the UI.
- Merged changes and improvements made in common code shared with other Studio Élan games.
- Improved graphical sharpness and presentation on the Holo Deck when launched via Holo Gaming Mode (gamescope). (※ Specifically, the game will now always launch in fullscreen mode if launched from Holo gamescope. Running the game from the KDE desktop environment is unaffected by this change.)
- You can now scroll CGs with the keyboard in the CG viewer by holding down the arrow keys instead of having to rapidly tap them.
- Made various other internal refactors and improvements.
※ Newer copies of the Gold Rush Edition physical PC release will be using 1.2.5 going forward, instead of the previous 1.2.
Highway Blossoms 1.2.4 — Holo Deck compatibility fixes and more!
Hello, everyone!
Highway Blossoms 1.2.4 has just been released, which fixes all known compatibility issues with the Holo Deck!
It also fixes a few minor issues that were either reported, or were found in testing.
As always, thank you for continuing to support Studio Élan!
〜 Karen/あけみ (akemin_dayo) and adirosa
Changelog for 1.2.4:
On PC, it targets Ren’Py SDK versions 8.1.3.23091805 〜 7.5.3.22090809.
- Fixed all known crashes that were affecting the Holo Deck when the game was run from Game Mode in Holo.
- Fixed all known UI layout issues that were affecting the Holo Deck when the game was run from Game Mode in Holo.
- Fixed a crash that could occur in Marina’s Thoughts if the user loads the gallery pages in a very specific order.
- Fixed a visual anomaly that would occur at the end of the OP.
- Fixed an issue that could potentially cause videos to not play in certain very specific circumstances.
- Fixed an issue that could potentially cause certain strings to not be localised.
- Made various other internal refactors and improvements.
Highway Blossoms 1.2.3 — Maintenance Update
Hello, everyone!
Highway Blossoms 1.2.3 has just been released, which fixes a few issues of varying severity!
Of particular note, this release fixes the “FTFont NoneType” crash that was affecting certain users — thank you to everyone that reported and helped test this elusive issue, as we were completely unable to reproduce this on our local testing environments without your help! And our apologies for all the inconvenience that was experienced.
Thank you all for remaining patient, and as always, thank you for continuing to support Studio Élan!
〜 Karen/あけみ (akemin_dayo) and adirosa
Changelog for 1.2.3:
On PC, it targets Ren’Py SDK versions 8.1.3.23091805 〜 7.5.3.22090809.
- Fixed the infamous “FTFont NoneType” crash that would occur only for certain users when attempting to draw a text box.
- Running Highway Blossoms 1.2.3 at least once will apply modifications to your persistent save data in such a way that downgrading back to any version that was previously affected by the crash (1.2.2 〜 1.2) will now work on system configurations that were previously crashing.
- ※ Note for people running downgraded versions: Fully deleting your persistent save data while on an affected version above will cause the crash to come back until 1.2.3 or newer is run at least once again to fix up your persistent save data.
- Fixed a crash that would occur if the user navigated to Marina’s Thoughts, then to either the CG Gallery or the Guest Art sections in that specific order.
- Fixed the wrong item name being used for the “Miner’s Journal” (as “Hiker’s Journal”) in Marina’s Thoughts.
- Fixed a typo in the “Cassette” item (as “Casette”) in Marina’s Thoughts.
- Made various other internal refactors and improvements.
Highway Blossoms 1.2.2, 1.2.1, and 1.2 — Major bugfixes, ARM support, and more!
Hello, everyone!
We’ve just released a major update to Highway Blossoms!
… In fact, we released three versions in rapid succession just now — 1.2.2, 1.2.1, and 1.2! (※ More on this below.)
Our apologies for the large delay in getting these versions out — various external factors beyond our control prevented us from properly releasing these updates, despite them being feature-complete for the longest time.
This release fixes many long-standing issues of varying severity including achievements / trophies, vastly improves controller navigation support, and adds native Apple Silicon (arm64 / AArch64) support for macOS, as well as ARM Linux (arm64 / AArch64, armv7) — notably including Asahi Linux (arm64e / Apple Silicon)!
All that being said, we thank you all for remaining patient, and as always, for supporting Studio Élan across these many years!
〜 Karen/あけみ (akemin_dayo) and adirosa
Changelog for 1.2.2:
※ This is the most recent version.
On PC, it targets Ren’Py SDK versions 8.1.3.23091805 〜 7.5.3.22090809.
- Fixed an issue where the font path validator could potentially cause a crash when reading values from some users’ persistent save data.
Changelog for 1.2.1:
※ This version combines Highway Blossoms 1.2 with changes and improvements made in common code shared with Heart of the Woods 2.1.3.
On PC, it targets Ren’Py SDK versions 8.1.3.23091805 〜 7.5.3.22090809.
- Merged changes and improvements made in common code shared with Heart of the Woods 2.1.3.
- Fixed an issue where the patch validator would erroneously assign the wrong version number to a specific version of a certain patch.
- Highway Blossom now officially supports Ren’Py SDK version targets 8.1.3.23091805 〜 7.5.3.22090809.
Changelog for 1.2:
※ This is the version that is used in the physical PC releases that are currently being sold on our webstore and were offered as backer rewards on Kickstarter.
On PC, it targets Ren’Py SDK versions 8.1.0.23051307 〜 7.5.3.22090809.
New features
- Added a detailed README found in the game directory — please give it a read!
- Added a macOS DMG background. It is also available as bonus content in the game directory.
- Of particular note, the DMG background artwork used for the physical “Gold Rush Edition” release is also included for everyone to enjoy!
- Apple Silicon (arm64 / AArch64) is now natively supported on macOS, without any need for Apple’s Rosetta 2 x86_64 translation layer!
- Added native support for ARM Linux (arm64 / AArch64, armv7) — notably including Asahi Linux (arm64e / Apple Silicon)!
- Vastly improved controller support as well as general keybinds for both controller and keyboard. A full list of all bindings can be found in the Help menu.
- Updated the Help screen to be more complete.
- Controller bindings are now always displayed for easier reference.
- Clarified and localised all controller button names.
- Completely reworded many of the binding descriptions.
- Made the Super Secret Ability™ and 「DUWANG」 mode easier to discover from the Help screen.
- Added all new bindings introduced in 1.2, in addition to documenting existing ones that were previously not included.
- All videos are now encoded using the VP9 (libvpx-vp9) codec, muxed into MKV containers. Audio quality in videos have also been improved, as we now use lossless FLAC audio tracks for your listening pleasure.
- This also fixes an issue where the audio track in the OP/ED videos would play faster than Mariah driving her RV for some people with very specific Linux system configurations.
- Added a brand new Studio Élan bootlogo in the same style as our other games!
- Added updated OP and ED videos.
- Made changes to how Unified builds are generated to facilitate for easier conversion between Unified and macOS Standalone builds.
- Updated the developer console UI.
- Added missing transitions to some scenes.
- Updated some UI assets.
- Updated all fonts to the latest versions.
- Created proper iconsets and updated the game icon across all locations.
- The large text size option is now enabled by default on the Holo Deck.
- The game now supports arbitrarily high framerates for super smooth animations!
- Added a patch API and content compatibility validator that runs at boot for certain user-installed patches and mods.
- Added a proper bundle identifier: com.vnstudioelan.highwayblossoms
- ※ This will be our standardised bundle identifier format going forward for all of our games.
- Added all missing Info.plist keys to the macOS app bundle.
- Assets for the upcoming controller UI have been added.
- Our new controller buttons (which will be used in all mainline Élan games going forward) are slightly modified versions of Nicolae (Xelu) Berbece’s controller buttons, which are CC0-licensed (※ public domain).
- You can obtain a fresh copy of the original unmodified assets here: https://thoseawesomeguys.com/prompts/
- ※ If you’d like to use the exact files and/or naming scheme found in our games, feel free to do so.
- Highway Blossoms now officially supports Ren’Py SDK version targets 8.1.0.23051307 〜 7.5.3.22090809.
- ※ Note regarding older Ren’Py SDKs that are not listed here: By virtue of Highway Blossoms using the new unified MelanieKit framework, there is some compatibility with Ren’Py SDK runtime versions older than 7.5.3.22090809, down to 7.3.5.606, just like Heart of the Woods. However, this will only get you as far as the menu — trying to go ingame will lead to a crash.
General improvements and bug fixes
- Fixed an issue that was preventing the self-voicing accessibility (AX TTS) feature from working correctly.
- The current version of the game is now shown in the top left corner of the preference pane.
- Completely changed how fonts work. This fully fixes the rendering of bold, italics, and bold italics which were all previously rendered incorrectly.
- Use the correct name for Source Han Sans / 源ノ角ゴシック.
- Use the correct name for OpenDyslexic.
- Fixed an issue where some character facial expressions would not display correctly.
- Fixed some text formatting issues.
- Fixed some minor typos.
- Fixed an issue where the developer console would not be able to be opened using the standard ` key.
- Corrected previously-incorrect DPI values.
- Removed persistent save data that was previously erroneously included.
- Fixed inconsistent line endings.
- Fixed a crash that would occur upon reaching the end of Desert RV mode.
- Fixed a crash that would occur upon reaching the end of the game if the player modifies the game to restore some old content.
- Fixed an issue that would cause Joseph’s headband to erroneously show when it should not.
- Updated and improved 3D camera framework.
- Improved the Super Secret Ability™, making it faster by 2 seconds.
- Made various improvements to EXTREME MODE (Desert RV Mode).
- Fixed an issue where the bootlogo audio could possibly end up being muted in certain cases.
- Fixed an issue where HIGH SPEED FLOWER BLOOM would not appear when it should.
- Added a font path validator that makes sure the font path in persistent data is correct.
- Re-centred and re-aligned certain UI elements that were previously incorrectly aligned.
- Adjusted and improved padding on UI elements.
- Sped up some UI transitions.
- Fixed an issue where the auto mode delay value can sometimes default to an incorrect value of 0 (instead of 15), leading to auto mode effectively not working.
- Improved text legibility of many UI elements.
- Allow keyboard / gamepad cancel button to work as expected in all applicable areas.
- Made many improvements to the save screen / load screen UI layout.
- Save screen / load screen pages now properly end at the correct maximum page value bounds, instead of continuing on forever.
- The save screen / load screen pages now wrap around when you hit each end.
- Disabled the autosave pages in the save screen to prevent players from accidentally overwriting their autosaves.
- Fixed the date formats used in save data.
- Fast-skipping will now always show a confirmation prompt.
- Improved developer console layout.
- Improved the appearance of the accessibility self-voicing overlay.
- Updated credits.
Localisation improvements and bug fixes
- Fixed an issue where some strings and dialogue in the Simplified Chinese (简体中文) and Russian (русский) localisations would erroneously display completely empty.
- MelanieKit warning screens are now fully localisable.
- Noto Sans JP is now used for Japanese (日本語) support. Source Han Sans / 源ノ角ゴシック is also available.
- Source Sans 3.046R is now used for Cyrillic support, used in the Russian (русский) localisation.
- Fixed all known lines that would erroneously still appear in English despite having another localisation enabled.
- Fixed an issue where certain lines would have incorrect formatting whenever a non-English localisation was enabled.
- Fixed an issue where the error handler would not render correctly when using the Traditional Chinese (繁體中文) or Simplified Chinese (简体中文) localisations.
- Fixed a UI layout issue in the Help screen when using some localisations that have longer strings for the bindings.
Scene-specific improvements and bug fixes
- Fixed a typo in Scene 02.
- Fixed incorrect formatting in Scene 05.
- Fixed a potential crash in Scene 10c.
- Fixed inconsistent capitalisation in Scene 15a.
- Fixed inconsistent wording in Scene 20.
- Fixed inconsistent capitalisation in Scene 22b.
- Fixed inconsistent capitalisation in Scene 24b.
- Fixed inconsistent capitalisation in Scene 26b.
- Fixed a potential crash in Scene 26c.
- Improved word choice in Scene 26c.
- Improved word choice in Scene 36.
- Fixed a text layout issue in Next Exit Scene 01.
- Fixed a scene layout issue in Next Exit Scene 10.
- Fixed a missing comma in Next Exit Scene 14.
- Fixed incorrect formatting in Next Exit Scene 17.
Changes that affect modders and dataminers
- Highway Blossoms (as well as all mainline Élan Ren’Py games going forward) no longer excludes plaintext scripts from the build archives! (There was never much of a point in doing so anyway, considering that unrpyc exists ;P)
- Added the ability to open the README, game data root directory, and game root directory from within the game itself. Look inside MelanieKit for the relevant URL schemes.
- Wondering where some defines went? They’ve probably been moved inside MarinaKit.
- Highway Blossoms now uses MelanieKit, just like Heart of the Woods.
- Rearranged many assets internally and removed all erroneously duplicated assets.
- Removed unused font assets.
- Changed the way how unused, non-canonical cut content content is stored. This means that you can no longer view cut content the old way.
- ※ To get around this, you can set the console variable showNonCanonicalCutContent = 1 while ingame. Please note that this is an unsupported configuration!
- Made various internal improvements to the codebase, including large-scale refactoring.
