Hello! Uh... oh my god, I haven't updated the itch.io devlog since November??? Uh... oopsies!!!

If you'd like smaller, more immediate updates on Nocti you can follow my gamedev tumblr!

Long story short, two yanfly plugins stopped talking to each other and I took it as an opportunity to refactor the game while porting the assets and code to a new RPG Maker file. That has been going well. Ive also decided to add in an area that's not 100% finished but the way it's structured means that doesn't matter.

Porting the events has given me time to think about the story of Nocti and helped solidify where i want it to go. Its also made me realize that said story, the real "meat" of the game, is found by poking and prodding and showing effects to NPCs. This fits excellently with Nocti's theme but isn't everyone's cup of tea.

In an attempt to mitigate player frustration (and get people to see the stuff I've spent ages on) I've added features to hopefully make finding interactive objects easier.

The in game manual is there to explain the exploration/YNFG genre game loop and basic controls to new players. Interaction Indicators will either highlight objects when you hover over them or when you walk by, based on if the mouse controls are on or off. The symbol also changes to match the type of interaction.

Highlight Objects puts a white, slowly pulsing border on collectable or important objects like Effects and Orbs. Exit Arrows shows the location of more ambiguous transfer points on maps. These options are all off by default, but if you need a little help getting around or need extra clarification they're there for you.

I've tried my best to make as many accessibility options as possible given RPG Maker's limitations, so I hope someone can put them to good use.

There's also a character that serves as a diegetic Universal Hint System, but they aren't immediately present. There are currently two ways to unlock them early, and I changed the dialogue of the item for the easier method to make it clearer you are doing the right thing.

As a final note, I found out the Nocti has an article on the new YNFG wiki, but it is super out of date, mixing stuff from the Jam entry and the current build. I feel weird editing it myself as the creator, but I don't know how big of a following this game has. I don't advertise much, and it's been a long time since an update... If it comes down to it I'll update it myself but for now I'm sending out a call to action.

Thanks for everything! I guess I haven't mentioned it here on Itch, but I Promise the update is coming soon. I hope you enjoy it when it's finally out.