Vibrant City Flash News (Patch Notes 0.9) (Patreon)

By Viv Alvarez

Hello fellow trueclashers,

I know it’s not me you’re expecting to hear from, but Zak is busy preparing Chapter 3 and I jumped at the opportunity to maybe get a few spoilers ahead of this week’s launch (May 15 for tier 3+). This will kind of be a devlog — I got all the worthy notes for you AND got to try firsthand what’s coming this week. So bear with me, I’ll try to make it worth it.

— Word Count —

Let’s be honest here, we all know Zak is a workaholic <.<

Normal patches were supposed to be around 15k words, with bigger ones coming around 20k. Now… to celebrate the fact Trueclash just turned 1 and to thank you all for the wait while the visual updates were in progress, the end of Chapter 2 is getting over 35k words of new content — more than double a normal patch — and over 40k total when including the visual updates. It’s… a lot.

One thing that stands out is the amount of variations this patch allows. The integration of dedications is a true Ace in the cards and creates a ton of new decisions you can make, different ways to explore the world, interact with its characters, make first impressions, etc. I haven’t fully explored every route yet, but I keep finding new interactions and little surprises.

And how fun is Fashion Dedication? I never thought it would be something I would choose but I’m loving judging everyone I meet <.< Yes Adrian, I’m looking at you

I feel like dedications make the world feel alive, now we can gather more information and discover little tidbits of the Trueclash world that let you feel more and more immersed in character. You shape how Ren is and, in return, you also shape everything around you.

— Memory Log —

Mark has been working closely with Zak on the Memory Log and it’s looking good. Knowledge about the world and characters still needs to be added to the log but you can already see how the system is going to work. This is still a work in progress for future patches.

We gave priority to the Gallery Log and we’re happy to say it’s fully operational! You can now check CGs, easily identify each route at first glance, and quickly see what you’re missing through the use of color.

It’s easy, intuitive, and it will certainly help us hunt down and discover everything. I just discovered I was missing something BIG about the new content when Zak shared the memory log with me (2 minutes ago!!!). I’ll try to sneak a little hint around here before the editors above snatch it away… I’ll just say it’s something secret… hmmmm… final… and maybe a little divisive.

(Yes, it’s another secret ending!)

Now hold onto your beer, mate, because I have to go and try it out.

— What’s Coming —

Now for the fun part.

As you know from a previous patch, this will not be the end of Season 1 yet. This update will walk you through the end of the night after the fight.

There’s three special moments that I would like to highlight:

The Conversation with Diego

This picks up right where we left off last patch. You’ll finally be able to go and speak with Diego after his fight and crash with Matt.

I would personally advise you to try different combinations here. As always, there’s a lot more than it may seem at first. On my first run I kind of sped through the conversation because I was feeling hurt but later I got fully stuck in the moment with our latino king.

There’s tension, jokes, serious moments, some flirting, and even a little Nurse Ren — all the good stuff!

A Special Moment with Lucas

Got to be honest — this one got me emotional and it was my favorite moment in the update.

Lucas is the BESTEST BOY FOREVER EVER.

Jokes aside, it’s such a simple moment but it got me tearing up and feeling all warm and fuzzy inside. There’s something about Lucas that makes me want to hold him and protect him at all costs.

Some Time with Harry

For our Harry fans — who am I kidding, for everyone — the night will end with the opportunity to spend some time with Harry in what I can best describe as the funniest night yet.

I’m not going to say much and I’ll be watching your discussions unfold because I’m VERY curious about your reactions. You’ll be able to explore some (toxic, cof) new environments in a fun and safe way, and even interact with a new character right beside Harry.

The sounds and visuals are the cherry on top of an already fun night. We may even end up needing new emojis in the Discord after this one ;)

— Bugfixes —

Thank you everyone for keeping our Otter friend occupied. He was surely getting bored and all the extra enrichment helped him immensely — he loved it!

A lot of bugfixes were made and we appreciate all the help you’ve been giving us identifying all those little things that escaped us.

And that’s it!

Just a few more days and you’ll finally be able to go back to Vibrant City and spend more time with our special people. I’ll keep exploring in the meanwhile and I can’t wait to discuss the next patch with you all and see your reactions.

Thank you so much for all your support and love throughout this journey. It’s been a year and we will forever cherish every moment and the community that was built around this project.

It’s been a year… and what a wildly magical year it has been <3

See you (very) soon,V.