—Hello again proggers—

Rewrite the story, thanks again Claude. Baked the bird game into it, replaced the UI because it looked too rough and like golden, and added hold notes. Then made the hold notes actually work. Strong distinction between those last two steps, as usual.

a note you can hold down is much more useful when you can see how long to hold it

Cat or dog? hold notes, actually working

Okay let's get into it~

—Yap—

Big follow-up to devlog #9. The bird game now has its place in the story, the narrative details are clearer, the interface has a softer indie-band look, and the rhythm sections support visible hold notes. One key-release quirk is still hanging around.

—The Great Suffering—

1 — The Story Details Are Clearer

Revised the story to clarify that Mara is Eli's roommate and that Eli dies on April 2. The narrative material now states those details more clearly.

2 — The Bird Detour Is In The Story

Added the sequence where Mara goes to update the calendar, plays the bird game instead, goes to bed, and gets scolded at the next practice. The minigame from devlog #9 now belongs to the actual story flow.

3 — Less Golden, More Indie Band

Replaced the ornate interface with a softer indie-band look. Buttons now say what they do instead of showing placeholder text, which is a pretty useful quality for a button to have.

4 — Hold Notes

Added notes that must be held down, including judging the start, early releases, and completion. Added examples to the song so the mechanic has something to play against.

5 — Hold Notes, Actually Visible

Made holds appear as long ribbons and connected them to keyboard releases and pausing. One remaining quirk: releasing an arrow key can end the hold even if its matching WASD key is still pressed.

—FAQ (no one asked these but they are here)—

Q: What is a "progger"?
A: A human programmer. You. The one who finished adding hold notes and then started making hold notes usable.

Q: Is the bird game part of the story now?
A: Yes. Mara plays it instead of updating the calendar, then deals with the fallout at the next practice.

Q: Do hold notes work with pausing?
A: Pausing and keyboard releases are connected to the hold-note handling now.

Q: Is the hold input completely sorted?
A: There is still the arrow/WASD overlap quirk: releasing the arrow can end a hold while the matching WASD key remains down.

—This is the end*—

*end for now, overlapping key releases permitting

HOLD!!!

Historical note: These dates and session boundaries were reconstructed. Hours are retrospective work estimates inferred from the development changes and timing. Overnight gaps and inferred breaks are excluded; this is not measured activity.