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)!
  • ※ Note for ARM Linux users: You will not be able to earn Steam achievements / trophies while running native ARM Linux builds of the game, as Valve currently only provides an x86_64 version of the Steamworks dynamic library for Linux (libsteam_api.so).
    • ※ If you run the x86_64 build of the game via a translation layer such as Box64 or FEX, Steam achievements / trophies should work as expected.
• 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 Steam 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

• Completely rewrote Steam achievement / trophy functionality. Issues fixed by this change are listed below.
  • Fixed all known issues related to difficulties earning achievements / trophies.
• 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.