This is a very small update (version 0.9.1) adding a few items and fixing a few bugs.
☆ House plants
New plants in pots can be bought at “Shoujo Mart” and used for house decoration:
wild rose
mikan tree
orange tree
Mikan and orange trees will produce fruits (it takes two days for fruits to grow). All plants require watering, or else they will lose all leaves after three days. Watering can be done using a watering can or a water gun.
☆ Other additions and improvements
New recipe: gyoza.
Fixed a minor issue with the Ferris wheel rotation speed.
Fixed a bug that allowed to walk outside of Akihabara map limits using escalator slopes.
Fixed a bug that prevented obtaining ingredients during the maid cafe mini-game if you didn’t have enough money.
Fixed a bug that allowed to walk into cafe kitchen while not in the maid cafe mini-game mode.
A rack with fruits is added into cafe storage (for usage during maid cafe mini-game).
Fixed a bug with sound of walking in shallow water sometimes not being replaced correctly with regular walking sound (when getting out of water).
Note: due to house customization update, some furniture in your apartment room may be placed in different slots if you load a saved game from earlier version of the game.
☆ Akihabara map release
Akihabara map is designed after real UDX area in Akihabara, Tokyo. The map includes JR Akihabara train station, UDX complex, Dai Biru, Akiba bridge, Times Tower, Fujisoft building, Yodobashi-Akiba, and several smaller buildings.
Near JR station there is a new UFO catcher with kaomoji cushions (4 designs), which can be used for house decoration.
Gachapon capsule machines and kissing simulation platform are moved to Akihabara map. There is one additional gachapon machine with 4 new panties (kaomoji prints).
☆ Maid cafe part-time job
Now you can earn additional 10,000 Yen per day by taking part-time job in the Neko Cafe (either in Akihabara or in the school map). Required cosplay items (maid dress and maid headpiece) can be bought at the clothes store.
Your task is to serve 5 customers within a limited amount of time (you’ll have 5 minutes to cook and serve an order). All ingredients for cooking, stove, and the recipe book are available in cafe after starting the mini-game. Your reward will depend on quality of food you deliver. If you miss an order and customer leaves, or you serve wrong food, you’ll get a score penalty.
Other cafe improvements: all orders, both yours and those made by NPCs, are now displayed at cafe order screens. Waitress NPC now can serve food to other NPCs (this will happen if you cancel or finish the mini-game with some NPCs still waiting for their orders). Cafe now has music playing inside (can be turned on/off by interacting with audio speaker).
☆ House customization update
The bathroom in player’s apartment that was always locked in previous versions is open now and can be used to place additional house customization items (1 curtains slot + 5 regular slots). If you start a new game there will be a bathtub and bathroom sink already installed there.
Kitchen is removed and replaced instead with 5 additional house customization slots. Kitchen stove and kitchen sink now come as house customization items (you’ll get them at start of a new game).
All these new items (bathtub, bathroom sink, kitchen stove, kitchen sink), and a new wooden bookcase can be bought in “Shoujo Mart” store.
☆ Other additions and improvements
New snack: banana (sold in Shoujo Mart).
All gachapon capsules and prize boxes now can be viewed in 3D mode and placed on item racks.
Two Yandere Simulator UFO catcher machines are combined into one (prizes are the same – figurines and T-shirts).
Quality and quantity of multi-use food ingredients (e.g., soy sauce, tofu) are now displayed correctly.
Quality of all food ingredients now affects quality of the final recipe. E.g., if you use 50% quality rice and 100% quality salmon, you’ll get 75% quality sushi. The final quality is calculated as an average value of all included ingredients (and can be further affected by optional ingredients and cooking time).
Fixed a bug that prevented removing balcony curtains.
Note: due to implementation of new features, if you load a saved game from version 0.8.18, all items you had in item racks/wardrobe will be gone. Only items in equipment slots and inventory will be carried over to this new version.
☆ House customization
Now you can customize most of interior furniture and decorations in your apartment room. House customization is done by interacting with a panel next to wardrobe and placing items in slots on a map of your room. Most house customization items can be bought at Shoujo Mart store. These items include:
item racks for putting items on display
PC desks
fridges
dining tables
recycle bin
Event items: Christmas tree and a wreath, Jack-o’-lantern
wall clocks
curtains and blinds
PCs
By default, your apartment room will have one PC desk with a PC, a dining table, and a wall poster with basic cooking instructions. You can remove these items and/or add any number of other house items as long as there are empty slots remaining. Item racks and PC desks take two slots, all other objects occupy one. In total, there are 25 house customization slots in your room. Collectible items (e.g., pine cones and mini-figurines) now can be placed on display on the dining table. The default Japanese style dining table now can be replaced with a European one (with chairs).
Fridges have 9 item slots + 1 slot for a collectible item on top. All food and cooking ingredients not stored in fridges will lose 30% of quality overnight, so you should put all food in a fridge before going to bed.
☆ Improved camera controls
Improving camera controls was one of the most requested features by many players. Now, when you rotate camera, instead of stopping at obstacles, it will attempt to slide along walls and other surfaces to avoid obstacles and continue rotation. This is an experimental feature, and it may be changed in the future depending on feedback.
☆ Other additions and improvements
Perimeter fence in the Summer Town map is redesigned.
Improved 3D models and preview images for several food items (better shadows and higher quality textures).
All food and food ingredients items now can be viewed in 3D mode. Since IDs of several food items were changed, they will appear as deleted in your inventory (if you load a saved game). Put such items into recycle bin and get new ones from Shoujo Mart store.
Improved textures for school desks.
New 3D model for mini-grill.
Better interaction triggers for several chairs and benches. Now you can sit down at PC desks and school desks both from left and right side.
Fixed a minor bug with head jittering if you looked at your pillow from a certain angle when it was placed on some chairs/benches.
The map was redesigned to make it more realistic and detailed. The beach area is removed and replaced with a new lazy river and several pools. Floating objects placed in the river will float along its path. You can sit on any single and double swim ring, inflatable dolphin (which now can be carried and dropped), when they are placed on any water surface. Swim rings now can be controlled and used to swim in any direction. Water slides have new sounds and additional water animation. New 3D models: deckchairs, passages over the river, rocks, sign boards, wooden platforms, mushroom pool fountain, cafe tables, administrative buildings, and a few smaller objects.
☆ New clothes
Maid dress and maid headband (sold in the clothes store).
☆ New food
Omurice, ketchup.
☆ Other additions and improvements
Seashells that formerly could be collected in the Summer Town map now will spawn in the shrine map instead.
Additional interior details and improved textures for the Neko Cafe.
Waitress NPC will now greet you when you enter cafe.
Fixed a small issue with incorrect placement of ice cream and kakigoori in hands.
Characters now will look at food (on table) while eating.
Improved weight painting for long and mini skirts.
Now you can earn additional 5,000 Yen per day by taking part-time job in the Shinto shrine map. The task is to sweep all fallen leaves on the shrine grounds. Required items: broom (can be obtained for free on the part-time job spot) and miko dress (can be bought in the shrine shop). Broom is operated the same way as tennis racket/water gun.
☆ Gameplay changes
All dating activities (and other actions affecting your skills) now deplete a new “stamina” stat of your character, which is used to limit amount of available actions per day. Stamina is restored only by sleeping and proceeding to next day. All dating activities now have an infobox showing reqiured amount of stamina and affected stats. All Summer Town rides are now classified as full dating activities and affect stats accordingly.
☆ New omamori effects
Omamori and omikuji now work differently: positive charms will prevent corresponding skills from decreasing and add +1 bonus point on top of what you gained through skill increase. Negative charms will cancel gained skill increase and additionally decrease corresponding skill by 1 point.
Love omamori/omikuji now don’t affect relationship score directly, but affect instead a new “social” skill, which goes up or down after each conversation date.
Money omamori/omikuji are not changed and work the same as before: they decrease or increase prices in all shops and don’t affect any character stats.
A new sports omamori (affecting “sports” skill of your character) is available in the jinja map.
☆ Other additions and improvements
Fixed a small issue with walking outside of school map limits.
New road signs in apartment, school, and Summer Town maps.
More accurate rain detection (for girlfriend). Pillow now also declines outdoors activities during rain.
Money tab is now hidden by default and shown only in inventory/shops/status screen.
Your character’s status window now can be accessed through a cogwheel button in the top-left screen corner instead of the in-game smartphone.
Fixed a minor issue with NPCs occasionally pushing characters during dates.
Fixed a minor bug for kissing mini-game (when played without pocky).
Tennis court in the school map now can be used to play a tennis mini-game with your girlfriend. Tennis rackets can be obtained in the gym storage (you’ll need just one). Since accurate tennis mechanics requiring intercepting high-speed balls on the fly would be impossible to implement using current game engine, the rules are simplified: both players have a task of keeping the ball on the opposite side of the court during a 90 seconds match.
Scores awarded after completing the mini-game depend on your girlfriend’s personality. If she is into sports, she will love challenge, so you should try to win for best scores. If she is not into sports, you should try to lose on intention to avoid disappointing her.
Tennis mini-game is also available in pillow dating mode, giving the same scores.
☆ Other additions and improvements
A new overlay shader for higher quality road and ground markings (all roads, tennis court, gym, sports field, pool).
Fixed a few minor navigation issues (Summer Town and school maps).
Fixed a minor water gun operation issue (when used on the run under rain).
Basket ball (school map) and beach ball (Summer Town map) now can be carried and thrown (similar to swimrings), bounce, and have a component for floating (if placed in water). New body animation for throwing balls.
Hitting your girlfriend with a tennis racket or water gun will now cancel her “kiss” mood (if present).
This is a small update fixing and improving a few issues.
One new NPC in the school map: a girl running in the sports field. After completing the field track ten times, she will buy a drink and go towards map exit point.
Two new uwabaki shoes (in the clothes store).
New guardian statues of stone squirrels in the Shinto shrine map.
Improved textures and UV maps for all tights and socks (better shadows and seams).
New snacks: yakisoba pan (Taiyaki shop and Summer Town takoyaki stall), choco nuts ice cream, azuki ice-cream (vending machines).
Schoolgirl NPCs now can actually buy and consume drinks and snacks in shops.
In the Shinto shrine map, when all NPCs return to the bus, it will depart and ride away.
Fixed a bug with tomato kissing simulation not starting in some cases.
Rotation speed during walking is slightly increased.
Fixed a water gun aiming issue (when used in "tank controls" mode).
New schoolgirl NPCs were added to Shinto shrine and school maps. They will walk around, make purchases in shops, and take photos. In the shrine map NPCs will also perform traditional Shinto prayer in front of the main building. This was done to make locations more lively and realistic. More NPCs with different behavior patterns will be added in future updates.
☆ New food
Dekopon (sold in Shoujo Mart). Banana and strawberry crepes (sold in Taiyaki shop).
☆ Other additions and improvements
Fixed a small texture error for green school jacket.
Improved meshes for "Sandals A" (all colors).
Shinto shrine map now has music (can be turned on and off by interacting with audio speaker, or by changing music setting in the in-game smartphone).
New model of a city bus (in Shinto shrine and Summer Town maps).
☆ Translations
Thanks to contributors, Turkish language is now available in the language selection menu (60% complete). All game languages, apart from English and Russian, are managed by volunteers, so their availability and completeness depend on whether there are people willing to help with languages they know. If you know some language and want to help translating the game, please contact me by email.
There were no major updates for Shoujo City 3D in a few months, so I wanted to show a small preview of what I’m currently working on.
☆ Akihabara UDX map
This is how a new Akihabara map currently looks like (50% complete as of December 2018). It will be released in the first half of 2019. There are no outsourced or store-bought assets in this map, all 3D models and textures are created from a scratch by me personally, so it will take a while as yet to prepare everything required (and that’s why there were no major updates in a while).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQNIxJWWvIc The map is an accurate recreation of the real UDX Akihabara area in Tokyo, and includes the Akiba bridge, Dai Biru & UDX complex, JR Akihabara train station, and surrounding area. Alongside with the main Chuo Dori street (where most anime, manga, and game shops are located) this place is a well-known Tokyo landmark for all anime fans, and for decades contributed to shaping anime and otaku culture in Japan. The map was also prominently featured in ai sp@ce MMO (which was the original source of inspiration for Shoujo City), so recreating it always was one of my main goals for this project. You can check the actual map here:
From now on this is a pure yuri game. Originally I planned to add an option to play as a male character, but this feature is cancelled, due to these reasons:
Most people who asked to add males didn’t want as much to play as males, but rather wanted to have an option to date males. This is by far more complex feature to implement (compared to just choosing to play as a girl or a boy) and would require not only new assets for characters and clothes, but deep reworking of many game mechanics, animations, dialogues, and gameplay ideas.
Realistically speaking, full implementation of “play as a boy” feature would extend game development time by about one year, and full implementation of all gender dating options (girl x girl, girl x boy, boy x girl, boy x boy – that’s what most actually asked for) would require about two more years of work on top of what is planned already. So the final game would be released in 2022 instead of 2020, at best.
I don’t think I can keep people interested enough to actively follow development of this project for that long. This game is quite an ambitious project for one person already, and since it never gained any wide popularity and recognition after initial release, there isn’t any chance already that at some point in the future it becomes popular and profitable enough to expand development team. Whatever development goals I set, I will be the only person to carry them out, so I should concentrate on what realistically can be achieved by one person. Otherwise there would be a high probability that this game joins the vast mass of “good concept, never properly executed” other Early Access games with ever slowing down development progress and ever dropping interest from players. And never finished.
Long story short, I think it’s much better to have a complete game with smaller scope than to keep dragging development for years and risk having it never finished.
☆ 2019 development goals
There are a lot of things to work on as yet. Here are the most important goals for 2019:
Adding NPCs in all areas with different behavior and more interaction options with NPCs.
Improving girlfriend’s AI and behavior patterns so she acts more realistic.
Adding more interaction options with one’s girlfriend (including school clubs).
Most importantly, building clear and logical gameplay based on improving one’s skills and completing dating activities, so that players have real goals to achieve throughout gameplay and can finish the game. While the game visuals improved a lot compared to the first alpha release in 2017, gameplay didn’t do the same progress. That needs to be worked on.
The final version of the game is scheduled for release for summer of 2020 (hopefully).
Finally, I want to thank all people who decided to support this project by buying Steam (or premium mobile) version of the game. Every purchase is a direct contribution towards the future of this project. It is alive and keeps developing thanks to you.
In addition to kissing while standing and sitting on the ground, now it's also possible to kiss while sitting on benches.
When your girlfriend is in a mood for a kiss, sit on any bench and wait until she moves closer to you. After that, press action button to start the pocky/kissing mini-game. If you date a pillow, sit on a bench with pillow in hands to start the mini-game.
The pocky/kissing game has a new selection menu. Now you don't have to place a pack of pocky in hands to play the pocky game. Instead, when you use action button on your girlfriend, there will be a new menu to choose between pocky game (if you have pocky in your inventory) and direct kiss (unlocked after level 50 for girl, and available at any level for pillow).
Pillow doesn't have an option for pocky game, only for direct kiss.
☆ Other additions and improvements
Fixed several minor weight painting issues for shirts and dresses, clipping issue for tall boots (when used with tights). Old boots will be unusable after this update, so if you had them in inventory, put them into recycle bin, and buy new boots.
Christmas decorations in all locations.
One new hair style.
In addition to squirrels, seashells and pine cones now can be exchanged for money at Shoujo Mart.
Improved textures for various road and building elements in all maps (pavements, railings, stairs, utility poles, pillars, floors).
Fixed an issue that didn't allow to cancel a Ferris wheel ride if you had a water gun or swim ring in hands.