Spider Land news & patch notes

The news is that there is no news. Not for Spider Land, at the very least.

Or perhaps the news is that I won't be updating Spider Land ever again (fingers crossed). They say you should never say never, but I'm saying never.

A million thanks to every beautiful soul who played it. A billion thanks to everyone who left a review.

If you're reading this and haven't reviewed the game, go do that now, pretty please. I don't care if it's a negative review. I just like seeing the numbers go up.

Now, the future... That's why we're really here.

If you weren't aware, I'm releasing a new game in two days. You hear me? TWO DAYS!

It's called Calamity Cait, and just like Spider Land, it's free. Zero dollars. It's also a visual novel. If you're reading this before it's released, go wishlist it! And if you're reading this after it's released, go play it!

If you'll allow me a moment to gush over my own work... I'm quite proud of Calamity Cait. It took me way too long to make, and I didn't particularly enjoy making it, but I sure as hell enjoy playing it, and that's what's most important. My hope is that you'll enjoy it too.

It's a game about a lot of things, but there is no gratuitous violence, so if you enjoyed Spider Land for that reason and that reason alone, steer clear. BUT if you enjoyed Spider Land for all its other qualities, chances are you'll enjoy Calamity Cait too.

Okay, that's enough from me. A trillion thanks to everyone who bothered to read this. I'd shake your hand if I could.

Ciao!

Version 1.1 of Spider Land is here!

Spider Land is getting an update! And it's a good one. I've added support for controllers (meaning you can now play it on Steam Deck!) There's a new font size selector (found in the settings menu). There's also many smaller changes, which won't change your life, but patch notes are fun to read, so read away.

Patch notes:

• Added support for controllers.

  • For the time being, just Xbox controllers.

  • Tested on Steam Deck as well. It's very playable, however the lower resolution does lead to some occasional visual artifacts.

• Added a text size option (find it in the settings menu.)

• Rewrote and/or polished almost every scene.

  • Trig Point's meeting with the Loner has been completely rewritten. My intention is for it to better integrate with the overarching narrative, which was not the case beforehand.

  • Many sections of dialogue and narration have been adjusted or smoothed out. Most of the changes are very small in isolation, but as a whole, the text should read better. Less clunkiness!

  • Silly spelling and grammatical errors have been corrected. Peak, peek, same thing right?

• Reduced the file size of the game by roughly a third. Storage is expensive!

  • This was mostly done by compressing some unnecessarily large textures and audio files, so you shouldn't notice a visual difference in the game.

• Improved performance! Graphics cards are expensive!

That's the gist of it. If you find any new bugs, feel free to besmirch my name.

And while I've got you here, I'll provide a quick update on the future. What am I doing? Where have I been this past year?

Well, I'm working on a new game. At the time of writing this, it's called Calamity Cait. That may change. I have a bad habit of changing titles. Spider Land had five different titles over the course of its development.

Here's a screenshot:

It's still a little while off. Rest assured, once it's ready to go, you'll hear about it. And if you're asking why it's taking so long, stop asking that. Play some other indie games in the meantime. There are so many to choose from. Some of them are even better than Spider Land, or so I've been told. Truthfully, I don't pay any mind to such baseless rumours.

Thanks for reading and thanks for playing.