Behind The Scenes #3 — Discord, Languages & A Fresh UI Refresh

After MIDI management and the gameplay overhaul, today I want to focus on what makes Winken feel more connected, more accessible, and visually fresher.

What's Coming Next

A quick reminder of what the next update will cover:

• The MIDI Files management and reworking of the audio system. ✅

• The game will now support MIDI Controllers on MAC systems. ✅

• The reworked gameplay flow — Play / Levels split, new scoring, leaderboard from the main menu, XP and rank system, Titles. ✅

• The UI/UX refresh: Menus, Score, XP, Game Modes... redesigned to be simpler, smoother, and to give you more freedom in how you play. 🎯 (today)

• Multi-language support: 12 languages will be supported. 🎯 (today)

• The new community features — Discord integration, score sharing. 🎯 (today)

Community & Discord

Winken has always been about the community as much as the game. This update brings us closer.

Discord ↔ Winken Linking

You can now link your Discord account to Winken directly from the game. Why bother?

• You earn an exclusive community badge on your profile. 🎖️

• It opens the door to future community features I'm cooking up.

• A Discord button now sits in the main menu — one click to the server.

→ Link your Discord account in seconds

Share Your Score

Finished a great run? You can now share your score directly to Discord when a song ends. Brag a little. You earned it. 😏

→ Share your score to Discord

12 Languages

A huge request from many of you, especially non-English speakers — Winken now speaks 12 languages. Pick yours in the settings, and the whole game adapts.

You can also choose whether or not to display your country flag on the leaderboard. Show your colors, or stay anonymous — your call.

UI / UX Refresh

Almost every menu in the game has been redesigned to feel cleaner, smoother, and more pleasant to use:

• Settings Menu — Complete visual and functional redesign.

• Ending Menu — Redesigned with new animations and detailed performance info.

• Profile — New profile header + an openable profile management window.

• Steam Portrait — Now displays in-game when available.

• Loading Screen — Visual refresh.

• Local Music Loader — A proper loader interface for your local files.

• Update System — The game notifies you when new updates are available.

• Improved Calibration — Clear instructions to sync with the audio beep and visual note hit.

Bonus: Quality of Life & Fixes

The update also brings a lot of invisible improvements:

• Auto Performance Detection — Winken adapts the configuration to your hardware.

• Systematic Tooltips — Every option now has a clear explanation.

• User Management — Reset or delete your user data, full control.

• Fixed a critical memory leak on 21:9 screens.

• Fixed note alignment on various screen resolutions.

• Offline mode now properly handled.

• Training mode — various fixes and a cleaner interface.

How To Stay In The Loop

That was the last dev update before the beta. Next one: the beta test opens for everyone. Get ready.

• 👀 Follow this page to be notified of the next dev updates and the beta test launch

• 💬 Join our Discord for daily behind-the-scenes posts and direct chat with the community →

https://discord.gg/q4M8nNwwuh

Thanks for being part of this journey. Winken wouldn't be where it is without you.

Love & Music ! ❤️

— Ludwig