WEEK 18: Main Menu Overhaul | UI Improvements Plus

From the Developer

This week's update is releasing earlier than usual because several important fixes needed to be addressed as soon as possible. Expect a large update next week!

While adding new features is exciting, fixing major mistakes and improving the overall player experience is just as important.

Thank you as always for your patience, bug reports, Steam reviews, and suggestions. Every report helps improve PLAYNESE during Early Access. :)

Main Menu Improvements

New Intro Song

・A new opening theme has been added using traditional Japanese-inspired instruments.

・A new song in the main 1-1 classroom added.

Improved Kanji Display

The Main Menu text display has been updated:

Before:

• All kana readings were displayed, which could become visually confusing.

Now:

• Furigana is displayed only above kanji characters.
• A few furigana didn't pick up among the hundreds of sentences and will be added in next week's update, also making it impossible to get the same sentence twice when shaking for a new phrase. Roumaji up to date.

This creates a cleaner look while still helping learners read difficult Japanese words.

Menu Sound Improvements

Updated menu interactions:

• The "NANI" sound effect now only plays once when selecting the meaning button.
• The volume has been reduced to 50%.
• Added a new おみくじ (Omikuji) button sound shake effect.
• Added new menu details:
• Chalk
• Eraser
• White chalk dots

The Bible

Added:

• Complete English translations for the Book of Genesis.

More English translations will continue to be added over time.

Anki Idle Updates

JLPT N4 Auto Idle Vocabulary Expansion

The JLPT N4 Auto Idle Anki system has been expanded.

Added:

• 111 new vocabulary cards
• Total cards increased: 510 → 621 cards

Bug Fixes & Improvements

Thank you to everyone reporting issues!

Fixed many menu overlapping issues

Many menus were incorrectly overlapping due to certain menu settings. These will still be improved on using a different layout in future updates.

So these issues have now been fixed. But...

If you notice any remaining UI problems, please report them on Discord so they can be fixed.

Fixed School Hallway Scorecard Issue

Fixed an issue where the school hallway scorecard was giving incorrect extra points due to a kanji scoring script error. I'm sorry!

The scoring system has now been corrected.

Thank You!

As always, thank you for supporting PLAYNESE during Early Access.

Your Steam reviews, suggestions, Discord reports, and feedback continue to shape the future of the game. Next week will bring a larger update with more new content.

よろしくお願いします！

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