Steam News28 April 20262mo ago

Dev Diary #5: The Alleyways Ahead

And so... the game is out. Two weeks slide by. Several hotfix patches later and here we are. To start, a massive thanks for everyone who has given my game a deep dive.

In this update6

Full notes

Full Moves Of The Diamond Hand update

Read the full published notes in a cleaner layout. The original post stays linked below.

What changed

1 fix2 additions4 changes0 removals

Gameplay
Balance
Performance

fixedAnd so... the game is out. Two weeks slide by. Several hotfix patches later and here we are.

addedSmoothing Out The SeamsThere's been some discussion around the "Work In Progress" signage I put in the game where I clearly wasn't able to implement the next steps of quests or areas. Some people appreciate the realness of it, others feel like it breaks their immersion. Since those quests and areas are going to be added to anyway, I'm going to address this by taking down some of the more obvious sign-posting and weave in smoother, thematically appropriate barriers, locked doors or guard rails.

changedBalance - Putting Brakes on the Grind (slightly)This is how I make conditions in the game. Lots and lots of JSON entries. This keeps the whole process fluid and easy to search and traverse.

addedBalance - Putting Brakes on the Grind (slightly)I was genuinely not expecting players to find ways to go wild with grinding in the game, but with the music busking (and plants performing), I now realize this was possible from the get-go. I'm fine with players doing this. Still, there are certain ways I want the game to push back more deliberately on dedicated grinding for its own sake, The low-hanging fruit here, and it's been suggested in multiple places, is to simply make the "encore" performances of the music busking just get permanently harder. If you succeed in playing through a whole performance, the audience gains a permanent buff, like "Raised Expectations" or "I Heard That One Before." Perhaps, I'll make up a whole new set of written options for performing - but I have a lot to write as it is, and the buff is the more efficient way to achieve the same thing, gameplay wise.

changedBalance Pt 2 - Stray Thoughts and ConsiderationsI need something to make recycling more enticing again - perhaps cloth will simply be... more expensive.

changedBalance Pt 2 - Stray Thoughts and ConsiderationsLaundry dice will have an effect similar to sandwiches - they must be re-rolled (a spin cycle takes time).

Moves Of The Diamond Hand changes

fixedAnd so... the game is out. Two weeks slide by. Several hotfix patches later and here we are.

addedThere's been some discussion around the "Work In Progress" signage I put in the game where I clearly wasn't able to implement the next steps of quests or areas. Some people appreciate the realness of it, others feel like it breaks their immersion. Since those quests and areas are going to be added to anyway, I'm going to address this by taking down some of the more obvious sign-posting and weave in smoother, thematically appropriate barriers, locked doors or guard rails.

changedThis is how I make conditions in the game. Lots and lots of JSON entries. This keeps the whole process fluid and easy to search and traverse.

addedI was genuinely not expecting players to find ways to go wild with grinding in the game, but with the music busking (and plants performing), I now realize this was possible from the get-go. I'm fine with players doing this. Still, there are certain ways I want the game to push back more deliberately on dedicated grinding for its own sake, The low-hanging fruit here, and it's been suggested in multiple places, is to simply make the "encore" performances of the music busking just get permanently harder. If you succeed in playing through a whole performance, the audience gains a permanent buff, like "Raised Expectations" or "I Heard That One Before." Perhaps, I'll make up a whole new set of written options for performing - but I have a lot to write as it is, and the buff is the more efficient way to achieve the same thing, gameplay wise.

changedI need something to make recycling more enticing again - perhaps cloth will simply be... more expensive.

And so... the game is out. Two weeks slide by. Several hotfix patches later and here we are.

To start, a massive thanks for everyone who has given my game a deep dive. Whether you've streamed it, written about it, told your friends, whatever - it's been a thrill and an honor to present you this work, even in its emerging form. I honestly had no idea how long you all would spend in its streets, alleys and hidden passages. You've shown me the myriad ways you can push and bend the systems to your will. To the degree that you've been able to really lose yourself in this space and just enjoy it is deeply gratifying to hear.

So what's next? The roadmap lays out a clear path, but it's broad-strokes, and doesn't account for emerging issues or opportunities. There's a lot of specific work to do between now and the Chapter 3 release. So... where to start?

Steam post image This is how I write my dialog. A straightforward JSON editor with custom syntax highlighting. It gets fed into a script which knows to look for the keywords and jumps around from there.

Smoothing Out The Seams

There's been some discussion around the "Work In Progress" signage I put in the game where I clearly wasn't able to implement the next steps of quests or areas. Some people appreciate the realness of it, others feel like it breaks their immersion. Since those quests and areas are going to be added to anyway, I'm going to address this by taking down some of the more obvious sign-posting and weave in smoother, thematically appropriate barriers, locked doors or guard rails.

Balance - Putting Brakes on the Grind (slightly)

This is how I make conditions in the game. Lots and lots of JSON entries. This keeps the whole process fluid and easy to search and traverse.

I was genuinely not expecting players to find ways to go wild with grinding in the game, but with the music busking (and plants performing), I now realize this was possible from the get-go. I'm fine with players doing this. Still, there are certain ways I want the game to push back more deliberately on dedicated grinding for its own sake, The low-hanging fruit here, and it's been suggested in multiple places, is to simply make the "encore" performances of the music busking just get permanently harder. If you succeed in playing through a whole performance, the audience gains a permanent buff, like "Raised Expectations" or "I Heard That One Before." Perhaps, I'll make up a whole new set of written options for performing - but I have a lot to write as it is, and the buff is the more efficient way to achieve the same thing, gameplay wise.

Balance Pt 2 - Stray Thoughts and Considerations

I need something to make recycling more enticing again - perhaps cloth will simply be... more expensive.
Laundry dice will have an effect similar to sandwiches - they must be re-rolled (a spin cycle takes time).
The cost curve for higher dice scores may need to be spaced out a little more. We'll see.

Dice Duels

This is coming along. That's all I can really say about it for now - after more playtesting I'll be able to really talk about it!

Building 18

The next big area. Currently it exists in a raw, emerging form, but that will also change.

Support Notes

Feel free to keep the bug reports coming. My cadence for patch releases remains steady. Re: quality of life suggestions, I hear them all and think they're all great! Some are more urgent then others, but overall you should expect to see QoL enhancements trickling in through out the whole EA process. It really comes down to priority, or if I see an opportunity to weave them into the current content I'm working on.

See you soon!

-Cosmo D

Source

Steam News / 28 April 2026

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