Prerelease patch 0.12

This patch is focused on usability and performance improvements, based largely on early feedback from the /r/SteamDeck community. A big thank you to everyone who took the time to test the game on Deck and share their thoughts ❤️

While I haven’t had enough time to implement all suggested changes yet, this update includes several important fixes and improvements that came directly from that feedback.

Controller layout updated

One of the most noticeable changes in this patch is an update to the controller layout. The face buttons have been adjusted to better align with common controller and community standards. The A button is now used for Continue and Next actions, while the B button is used for Cancel and Go Back. This change improves consistency and makes the game feel more natural when played with a controller (as on Steam Deck).

Challenges menu

The Challenges menu has also received attention in this update. The menu now automatically selects the first challenge when opened, improving ease of navigation and making it clear how the menu works.

Performance

In addition, a performance issue specific to the Challenges menu has been resolved. It was discovered that text elements with full transparency were still being processed by the rendering system, causing off-screen challenges to be rendered invisibly and unnecessarily consuming resources.

This rendering logic has now been optimized by checking text opacity before performing color-based draw calls. As a result, invisible text is no longer processed, leading to improved performance in the Challenges menu and better performance overall in menus that contain opaque or hidden elements.

More improvements based on community feedback are planned for future updates. Thanks again to everyone who helped test Hiragana Flashcards and contributed feedback.