They moved the menu options around a bit. It’s nice.
The problem is that I’m doing these mass updates automatically, via Steam’s API. As far as I know, there’s no way for me to write code to add release notes. I’d have to go in to each and every game, copy and paste in the release notes, and submit patch notes, a few hundred times.
I’ve posted about this on the Steamworks developer forum. If there’s a way to do this, hopefully someone there can tell me what it is. But, until then, mass releases like these with minor changes just won’t be able to have release notes.
As for what’s in these updates, yes, indeed, we’ve added keyboard shortcuts, and improved controller support on Steam Deck. New in ChoiceScript: Keyboard Shortcuts, Disable Touch-Slide Controls
I did that to improve the experience on Steam Deck. The Steam Deck’s screen is about 3.7 inches tall (9.4cm). Showing the title of the game on every screen consumes precious vertical screen space.
(Plus, it’s very rare, almost unheard of, for other games to have the title of the game large and visible on screen at all times, even other interactive fiction games on Steam.)
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Is there still a(nother) way to see that information in the game? Especially the author’s name? I know there are games I’ve only tried because I knew the author.
Not the easiest to find unless you’re looking. Need to go menu-> view the credits and it loads a webpage with the game details on it.
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That sucks. 
Thanks!
I’m surprised to hear that you were using the author’s name inside the game itself to make a decision. Can you help me understand how this would work? (It sounds like you’re deciding whether to try a game based on the author’s name?)
The author’s name is always visible in the game description on each game’s store page (on Steam, iOS, Android, and our web site).
On Steam, you’d see the author’s name on the store page before you decide to try the demo, and every Steam demo starts with the game’s description on its first page, which includes the author’s name.
I figured that once you’d purchased the game, you’ve already decided to try it, and so you’d no longer need that information on every page of the game. Is that not how it works for you?
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On Steam’s store page, you do not see the author’s name.
The only place the author’s name is shown is in the screenshots of the old-formatted pages.
Also, here is the first page of a random demo I opened up on Steam:
We’re looking at Drag Star, right?
This is the store page:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1016630/Drag_Star/
When I download Drag Star Demo and open it fresh, I see a description of the game:
It looks like you’ve clicked the “Play Now for Free” button? And so you’ve skipped past the game description, and are now on the second page (the first page of the game itself). But if you restart the game, the description should come back, including the author’s name. Is that what you see?
But note that the game description only shows up on the demo. If you actually buy the game, then the first page of the full game is the first page of the game, in this case, the page starting with “You made it. You friggin’ made it” with the author’s name no longer visible.
Once you’ve paid for the game, I figured you no longer needed to be convinced of how awesome the game is; I just wanted to get out of your way and let you play.
So I guess I have two questions:
- Is it working the way I thought it did?
- Did I design it the way y’all want it to work?
Hmm, I may have not explained myself correctly. What I meant was playing a game I really liked, and then googling the author’s name for more games. Real life example:
I played Pon Para, and really loved it.
I checked the author’s name on top of the page.
Googled “Kyle Marquis”
Got some of his other games.
I would not have done this if the author’s name wasn’t visible as I played, because it would never have crossed my mind to do it. I NEVER go to a game’s store page after I buy it (for any game, not just COG games), unless I want to buy someone a copy as a gift, or there’s new DLC.
EDIT: Speaaaaaking of which, are there any other games by the author of The Fog Knows Your Name? It’s my understanding the author came out as trans after it was released, so I can’t even search by author name.
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I restarted Steam, and the store page does now show the author’s name.
I actually downloaded the demo fresh on Steam and launched it on a fresh install. It is unclear to me why my “description of the game” is different than yours.
Edit: I checked Nola is Burning as well, and I’m not seeing the author’s name in either location with this title:
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The name you see in the game’s credits today, Yeonsoo Julian Kim, is the correct name for Googling.
Yeonsoo is a prolific game designer! http://www.yeonsoojuliankim.com/?page_id=356
They’re also working on another game for us, called “Undying Fortress.” https://forum.choiceofgames.com/t/upcoming-choice-of-games-releases-2023/129220
Undying Fortress: In progress. By Yeonsoo Julian Kim, author of The Fog Knows Your Name. A dark epic fantasy quest through a necromancer’s fallen tower. Slay the undead with your ancestral sword, uncover the secrets of the past, and sway the fate of the empire!
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That’s good to know, thank you for your time for replying!
Would it be possible to create a topic here on forum dedicated to these mass updates, so that we can keep track of them?
Playing on a pc I didn’t have that problem, but, yeah, I see the problem with the Steam Deck’s smaller screen. I tought of that layout as a sort COG’s signature but if I had a Steam Deck I’d be happy with this update.
So I guess it’s working fine, only thing I think would be nice - maybe it’s only my personal taste and I don’t know if it’s actually easly achievable - is separating just a bit more the paragraph of text and menu/settings buttons. Now I feel like they’re a bit too close to each other and that the text doesn’t stand out as before.
Kindly note that I don’t want to criticize the update, just expressing how I feel about it!
Thanks! (the Steam store page is still deadnaming them)
Awesome! I’d say “wishlisted”, but no store page yet. 
Re: the title/author header on Steam, I’ve created a new thread to discuss my current thinking on what to do there.