- Bug Fix(?): Merry Bad END - 16 February 2026
Hey! Long time no see. Turns out Merry Bad End has been broken for around two years? I suspect the issue has to do with GameMaker changing how it handles Steam's API, although that shouldn't have retroactively broken it ... but I digress. You now only need one bad END to trigger the achievement, so you patient achievement-hunters can finally get that 100%.I'd like to fix it properly, but I think I'm going to need to update the whole game to the latest GameMaker edition, and that's going to be a Whole Thing and there are some other fixes I'd like to make if I'm doing that, so for now this'll have to do.The way the code works, you'll need a save that has at least one bad END as-yet unachieved. (If you don't want to start fresh, you can email me at [email protected], I have one handy.) As soon as you achieve the END and return to the void, the achievement...won't pop, for some…
- Retrace Side Story is Out + New Game on Kickstarter! - 18 August 2021
Hello everyone! We'd like to announce three things today: Retrace is on sale again! If you've been waiting to pick up the game, now's a great time to. If you've already played Retrace and loved it, we appreciate your reviews too! We've published a side-story featuring a certain character from the game, answering some questions and providing a new perspective. It's called A Heartfelt Confession. We're working on getting it into a Steam-friendly format, but for now you can check it out for free in-browser at that link! If you already follow our Twitter at @SpiderLilyGames, then you already know that we've been working on the studio's next game titled Schrodinger's Catgirl. While the game isn't an outright horror game like Retrace was, you'll find strong characters and narrative with a dash of humor in it as well. The Kickstarter campaign for it begins today, so we'd like to ask you to che…
- Major Content Update! [Update-update: 17/4] - 15 April 2021
Hello, everyone! Let's get right into it! New content! That's right! If you've played the game, you may recall a certain door you couldn't enter close to the end of the game, one shining with golden light. For this and that reasons, it was closed to you, but now you can explore it at your heart's content! New secrets and conversations await you! Achievements...Less borked?! Well, Steam achievements were generally okay, but the in-game achievement tracker was notoriously finicky. It should be more reliable now. Bug and polish fixes! The Library softlock on Owen's route should be thoroughly squashed, and we took care of some weird sprite behaviour in cutscenes. You might still notice some odd things here or there, but the experience should be a lot smoother! We hope both those of you who've completed the game and those playing for the first time will enjoy the extra content! Incidentally,…
- Cursed Brooches and Console Releases - 22 February 2021
It's been a while, everyone! I hope you're all doing okay. Let's get right into it... There were a few cases of the Miowen end not triggering because the Brooch item was entering the inventory before the cutscene where Freya receives it. I'm going to be honest, I have scoured the code and I cannot find any reason why this would be happening, but there is now a safety check in place that should take any illicitly-obtained brooches from your inventory, should you somehow acquire one. If you still encounter this bug, I would be greatly, greatly appreciative if you would go into your C:/Users//AppData/retrace folder, grab the retrace.save file and send it to [email protected]. Seriously, this is keeping me up at night. Game's haunted. The "Gore" setting button now changes colour as well as position to indicate whether it's toggled. Onto more exciting news, Retrace will be availa…
- Update: Fast Forwarding! (and some bugfixes) - 14 July 2020
Update time! This is a really exciting one...! Fast forwarding is here! Just press the "F" key and you'll toggle fast forward mode on and off! It'll skip through dialogue, pausing at choices! I really thought coding this would be beyond my skills, but it seems I improved even in the time since release. I'm really glad I could bring you all this feature, because I know it's something a lot of people have asked for. If you run into any problems please let me know! Bug fixes The infinite knife has been defeated! No longer softlocked if you retrace to Owen's starting room after beating the puzzle. A door in Claire's route that wasn't working, is working again Gore button now has a slight red filter to better indicate when it's set to "true". A certain CG that didn't have its own window, now has one! There's a known bug that happens in the Lucen path, to do with being sent to get something t…
- Patch Notes: 1.1 - 28 June 2020
Hello, everyone! There's even more of you since we last spoke! I hope everyone's enjoying Retrace! Today, I'm bringing you ... version 1.1! Now with a shiny new feature! In-game Achievements are here! Find them in your Diary, on the last tab. Click on any that you've successfully obtained to see their name and description! The first time you open it, the game will attempt to update any that you've already unlocked on your current save. However, due to the way the code was originally written, the Gold and White ends, as well as the achievements "Until I Return" and "Retraced Days", weren't saved internally. "Until I Return" can be triggered if you have a save that's currently in the second half of the game, but the other three will need to be completed again. I'm really sorry about that! There's also now a counter underneath the "Merry Bad END" achievement tracking the number of bad ends…
- Post-release update (and bug fixes) - 28 January 2020
Okay, first, let's go through the fixes! The achievement "Merry Bad End" is no longer bugged, but does now require one extra end that was missing (eight in total now). Various instances where the wrong text would play have been fixed The items for the Magpie puzzle no longer respawn Lucas no longer follows you during the dungeon section of his route, preventing him from getting stuck. We're still working on preventing other NPCs (*cough* Mia *cough*) from getting stuck, so please accept our apologies while we do! With a team as small as ours, it was pretty much inevitable that there would be bugs we couldn't find between us on release, but we still deeply regret that you all had to see them, so from the bottom of our hearts, we apologise, and thank you for your patience and reports! We didn't end up writing a release devlog, mostly because Els got stressed out and busy with the actual b…
- Release Date Announcement! - 13 November 2019
Hello, everyone! Lead dev Els here with your November update on Retrace! It’s quite a big one! First off, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who pre-ordered so far! Your support means the world to us. You’re probably wondering something like, “When will I actually get the game?”, so I’m excited to say I have an answer! The release date for Retrace can finally be officially announced! It’s ... There’s a few reasons for that date. In the first instance, we really wanted to release in October because it’s a spooky game and it seemed appropriate. But it became clear that in order to do that, we’d have to crunch quite significantly, and I wasn’t willing to put the team through that, nor to risk releasing the game too early and having it be buggy or unpolished. But the thing is, as I’m sure everyone reading this already knows, all the big studios release their games in November and De…
- Update: Oct-Nov - 2 November 2019
This is going to be a short update because we're all super busy with the final bug fixing push. You might think, "how many bugs can there possibly be?", but with a game that has so many choices and possibilities, we really have to test everything thoroughly before we can show it to you. So please cheer us on! Here's the approximate completion amount for the game! Script (English): 100% Script (Simplified Chinese): 100% Art: 99.5% (one CG remaining) Content implementation: 100% Bug testing: About 90%. That last one's hard to quantify, but to put it simply, if we can get past this one complicated section, everything else will be smooth sailing. Also, we visited EGX last month, and since then, we've reached 1000 wishlists! Thank you so much! We won't let you down, everyone! Don't forget to follow our Twitter as well! You'll be able to see even more updates, and maybe even a special giveawa…
- Demo update: Simplified Chinese support added! - 30 August 2019
我们很高兴能够宣布：Retrace时间回溯将在发售时支持简体中文！当然了，现在您也可游玩简体中文版本的试玩版！十分感谢中国玩家的耐心等待。希望你们能够尽情享受该游戏的乐趣！ We're pleased to announce that Retrace will be available in Simplified Chinese at launch, and you can now play the demo in Simplified Chinese as well! To our Chinese fans, thank you for your patience and we hope you enjoy! This update also includes a lot of fixes. We had to work hard, but the variable tracker (turns out in a game where you're constantly rewinding time, there are a lot of variables to track!) is a lot more robust and reliable now, so please enjoy this lovely and elegant death game even more~
- State of the Game: July! - 18 July 2019
It's been about a month, so I thought I'd share with everyone where we're at! Backgrounds finished! Starting CGs...?! We finally finished adding all the backgrounds to the game! There are some really special and beautiful environments for you to explore that aren't available in the demo, so we hope they'll be a special surprise~ And that means we're starting on CGs! I am under strict instructions from @rustorange not to post even the storyboards so that we can maintain the mystery, but I used my special talent as a writer and programmer to give you a sneak peek...! https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F34740732%2F3969b4d2b5d2788059d42aec58ec193c78433c40.png Yeah...! By the way, the more you support the development of the game via Ko-fi, the more wonderful paintings we can add. I feel awkward asking, but I wouldn't just ask for money without giving anything…
- Demo Patch 0.5.1 is here! - 13 June 2019
Thank you to everyone who's played so far! Because of your helpful feedback, we've made some quick changes to make the demo even better! Added SFX for picking up objects and making choices! Made certain game aspects like saving clearer Added 'return to title' to the Menu Added option to retrace to the Library after seeing its cutscene Please continue to share and wishlist, and thank you again! As we keep finalising assets, the demo will continue to get better and better, so watch this space...!
- Retrace Demo Out Now! - 12 June 2019
It's here...?! The Retrace Demo is out now on Steam and Itch! We've been working really hard to bring you this taster of what's to come in the full game! Here's what you need to know: You'll be able to play through Lucas' Path. Retrace is not like a normal visual novel -- reaching an END is not the full experience! That will become clear when you play it, but rest assured, you won't be spoiling the full experience just by playing the demo! Will you be able to bring your save over? ... Maybe. But there will be some extra content in Lucas' path on the full game, so you'll probably want to replay it anyway!
- Devlog: Resurfacing from the Development Ocean - 16 May 2019
Hello, friends! Goodness, it's been quite some time, hm? Or if this is your first time reading one of our devlogs, hello and nice to meet you! My name is Els, I'm the lead developer on Retrace, and I've been just a taaaaad busy making the game and left devlogging to one side. But no longer! Let's see where we're at, shall we? New Trailer First off, check out our sweet new trailer, courtesy of @GaryJKings! Hopefully it'll give you a good taste of what's to come. EGX, Norwich and Beyond ...? Thanks to everyone who visited us at EGX Rezzed! It was so great to meet you all! We received some great feedback and really kind comments, and we're even more pumped up to bring you an amazing game! We'll be at Norwich Games Fest on the 31st of May and 1st of June, and we really hope to see some more people there! After that, will we be at more events...!? Only time will tell, so watch this space!!)…
