Hi everyone! We’ve been hard at work since Akash launched, tracking down and fixing a couple of annoying bugs that slipped through our tired fingers. We don’t have a single update being released, rather it has been a series of small updates (600 kB to 15 mb) which include a number of small fixes: [list] [*] Fixed an issue where certain spoken lines were not spoken (some things are NOT better left unsaid). [*] Fixed an issue where the relationship select menu would not appear when using chapter select (we promise this wasn't some sort of attempt at a clever mini game.) [/list] Additionally, we have made sure to improve certain performance metrics at lower quality settings. If you’re running a lower end system beneath the minimum recommended specifications, running the game at low or very low will disable V-sync, and should allow the game to run better on these systems (V-Sync is used to prevent screen tear, however it can be resource intensive for lower end systems). Frame rate is still [b]capped [/b]at 60 fps for high, very high, and ultimate settings, as V-Sync is enabled. Next: we’ve clarified how Akash uses system resources. Our foliage engine, which makes the trees and grass sway dynamically in the background is probably the biggest draw on system resources, along with ambient occlusion, paint filtering, and depth-of-field blur. We’ve made sure to disable shadowing at the lowest levels to decrease system load. Changing the graphics options will also affect the depth of the paint filter applied to the background visuals (the lower the depth, the less the overhead). This is most apparent when looking at the grass in the main menu.[b] Remember, you need to confirm your settings with the button at the bottom of the graphics menu before your changes will be visible[/b]. This will apply all your changes at once. The following is an example of the game running on the highest available settings on a Surface Book 2 with both an integrated GPU and a mobile 1060 processor, set to an internal resolution of 1080p. Average frame rate is a v-synced 60 fps. GPU utilization remains fairly consistent across different scenes, dipping lower during indoor and peaking during outdoor areas. GPU load peaks at during outdoor scenes at 79% on this system (which, fun fact, has over 100 hours of play and editing time accumulated for Akash alone), and this is while running other processes (including capture and image editing tools) which add additional GPU overhead: [url={STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/35639313/559566c70be5f91c8210ca6c1ff49ecfc7c1f4a3.png][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/35639313/9ddc1121451e7ed37b15f8b2135f649664854ea8.png[/img][/url] [url={STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/35639313/31acc1339175010ea2df4b12db851bce5ee88776.png][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/35639313/a4b617e10c056ea83e96cec5e6f0c00f91962e32.png[/img][/url] [url={STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/35639313/f7c4aa4faec3c4e103a15614c448b66401d870af.png][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/35639313/0b54e5893f0d8332c6d109230eefdd4fbc122777.png[/img][/url] [url={STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/35639313/e0be6474ef82b81e7d4a2da7838a834b8d872aa2.png][img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/35639313/f1e4a24d257efdf0a7ce992662cf2ad7e7ab61b8.png[/img][/url] If you’d like additional graphical options, please, let us know in our discussion groups. Feedback will help us grow the game because it helps us determine the need to commit resources to making additions, as we are a very small group (only 3 people) so we generally have to triage between features and fixes. If it's something that's important to you, we'll do our best. Because visual novels are not traditionally dynamic and 3D, we also realize this is new territory for a lot of players, hence our decision to keep the visual options simple. Though our minimum recommended requirements are conservative, most modern PCs should be able to run Akash with few issues, save for more energy-efficient ultrabooks. (Another fun fact: Akash was originally developed with the PS4 in mind, which today equates to a mid-range 2013 consumer laptop). Based on Steam's hardware survey, the majority of players should be able to tweak the available settings to have a fairly smooth experience. But, as with many things this is a process, and like other games, we think Akash will change over time as its community grows on steam. As always, thank you for your time, and for playing our game! [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/35639313/02978c45c194b3059b418a760de01b5edf273698.png[/img]