Hey everyone, it's-a-me... Reiwa Man! Wait, can I say that? ... probably not right?

Today a brand new update has been applied to Nippon Marathon 2: Daijoubu and there's so much to cover I'm going to close my mouth and let you dive right in...

Our goal is to make sure NM2 can be enjoyed at 60fps by as many players as possible, with that in mind we've taken some time to fully optimise the lighting, memory handling, texturing and more. We've coupled that with a Linux dedicated build too, here's the effect:

• Steam Deck Users: Now get a better looking game at TWICE the framerate of a solid 60fps!

• All users on all graphics settings should see a performance increase

• Linux users are now welcomed into the Nipponverse!

• LOW and MEDIUM graphics settings have more consistent environment lighting

That's a pretty big visual improvement and performance is better too!

We know you wanted it, so here it is! Every contestant now comes with a minimum of 4 colour choices, we'll be adding more in the future too.

I think the new black and red Zenbei is my favourite - moe moe kyuuuuu!

Finally we're all able to enjoy a 3-stage marathon! Scores and popularity are carried across to the next stage, this is the best way to enjoy NM2

The cup's emblem features elements from all three stages

Each main contestant now reacts to their current situation with unique facial animations. For example they grimace when hit, look down upon the world with awe when flying a pineapple balloon and grin like Cheshire cats when waving to the crowd. Check it out:

(`･ω･´) It's nice to see the contestants being so expressive now （´∀｀）

A brand new feature where every snapshot is saved to the COLLECTIONS area of the main menu. A total of 108 images are kept and you can even export them directly to steam from the COLLECTIONS menu. Now there's no excuse not to post your favourite shots!

Awww, precious memories....

Lots of users asked for more info for the awards/badges at the end of each stage, so we've implemented a fun new version which we think is really neat! Quite a few new awards have been added too, but we won't spoil them.

What's next... Cucumber of Time? Tears of the Mushroom? Don't sue me!

We've added a new UI feature where the item you just collected is shown beside your player so you don't have to check the top of the screen, also the icon animates to the left or the right to indicate which hand (and therefore which shoulder button) the weapon has been assigned to. It's a really neat little upgrade and we think you'll like it!

Nishibori is dual-wielding the cucumber!

Whoa, just reading that made me tired and sweaty! But wait, there's still more! The full patch notes are at the bottom of this post.

That's A LOT of new stuff... but we know you're craving new stages, L.O.B.S.T.E.R MODE, trolley bowling and online play. So, we'll start working on one or more of those right away!

After I left the Onion Soup HQ I realised that lately I've been spending so much time driving the NNBC News Toyota Hi-Ace or travelling the Yamanote line in search of scoops that I have become a little tired. Then I remembered I'd been asked by the devs to pass along this message:

"Hello, some of our long-standing Discord friends have been aware of my health issues for a while now, but I think as you're invested in an Early Access product you have a right to know this stuff. I won't go into too much detail but a few years ago I suddenly developed Fibromyalgia - It SUCKS.

Having fibro means life suddenly becomes Dark Souls but someone removed all the bonfires!! It also comes with loads of crappy features such as chronic pain, chronic fatigue, memory problems, depression and loads more. The fun part is you don't have any idea which symptoms are going to try to ruin your day at any given moment.

Being a dev and having fibro is particularly difficult, long hours at the desk become quite painful and concentration/fatigue and memory problems make coding sometimes impossible. I've learned to live with it for the most part, however recently I had a change of meds and it's really shook things up. So, I just wanted to say please bear with me if there's a bit of a delay in updates while I do some self-care.

I'll be sure to let you know any time there's likely to be an interruption to development due to health, but believe me, we are 100% committed to making NM2 the best darn game we can possibly make and your support remains really helpful both in terms of income and in helping us stay positive!" - Andy/Hazuki

Today we're going to start with a bunch of screenshots showing off the new facial expressions, check 'em out!

Shock!

Exhaustion!

Determination!

Surprise!

Anguish!

Pain!

For today's Discord Disco we listen to feedback directly from ふーにゃ,  one of our Discord members who ever so kindly tested the Linux build of NM2. Here was their findings:

All Linux builds are daijoubu. Nobara OS environment, 200 frames per second, WQHD quality, everything is great! The auto-snap photo feature for star scenes in the collection is a welcome addition. Never miss a laughing moment again. Even if taking screenshots is a hassle or you miss the timing, it's still great.

But of course, some useful feedback was also given, such as the duration the subtitles stayed on screen was too short, being able to delete screenshots and the countdown seems to be missing from the rounds!

H_hazuki responded:

Wonderful feedback thank you!! 200 FPS is very good news, I am happy that the linux verison is working nicely. We'll let you add stickers like love-hearts, effects and also manga 'sounds' like "ゴゴゴゴゴゴゴゴ". Subtitles disappear a bit too quickly - that's useful feedback, I will add this to the list of things to fix. Gold Snuguru is more daijoubu "At the start of a stage, the “Daijoubu” (or “3‑2‑1”) countdown was completely gone" I have not yet seen this bug but I will look out for it, it should definitely not be missing!

Why not jump in and try all these new updates immediately, whilst I try to find the keys to my Toyota Hi-Ace... I think I might have left them on the Yamanote train.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3358880/Nippon_Marathon_2_Daijoubu/

If you know any Korean fan translation groups who might be interested in helping with Nippon Marathon 2, please email Andy at https://andymadin(a)onionsoupinteractive.com

Until next time, stay DAIJOUBU! - Reiwa Man

• Revamped award system for the score screen (previously badges)

• Contestant Colours

• Added animated facial features for all main contestants driven programmatically by game logic

• Added subtitles for contestant voice lines when winning a star or winning a game

• Every snapshot or photo taken in photomode is now automatically saved to disk and can be viewed in Collections

• Dedicated Linux version!

• Cup Mode - Hungry Romance Cup - Stages can now be played with cumulative scores and extra excitement!

• Decreased loading time when returning to main menu by a huge amount!!

• Made Direct3D 11 the default as D3D12 was causing crashes on too many hardware configs

• Optimised the low graphics setting for Steam Deck so locked 60fps is now possible!

• Optimised lighting for better performance and consistency across quality settings

• Improved the marathon select UI to incorporate Cup Mode

• Added a menu at end of race allowing players to Return to Marathon Select or Return to Main Menu

• Added higher quality stage screenshots for loading screens

• Added popularity percentage to score calculation screen

• Added new weapon collect icons over the contestant to help quickly identify the new weapon and the hand it is in

• Fixed contestants getting stuck on weapon spawns

• Avatars at the top of the screen no longer turn to eliminated (greyed out with red X) when passing the finish line

• Fixed bug where players could still use the menu during the loading screen

• Fixed the bug where contestants would get stuck at the podium unable to pose

• Finally found and fixed the bug where contestants be sometimes soft-locked at the final checkpoint

• Matched shiba inu speed more closely to the player

• Changed podium scaling behaviour to prevent podiums going offscreen during a cup

• Improved Darwin's face geometry and skin shading

• Added cooldowns for most of Sora's commentary lines to avoid repetition

• Updated localisation on the main menu control hint bar

• Sora can be interrupted at the end of a round allowing the winning contestant to speak

• Shadow resolution for most lights now based on quality setting

• Snapshot camera now sometimes has a random tilt applied for more variety

• Shortened the time octopus attack time on the freighter for better playability

• Improved the area immediately after the crow battle in Shika Shika Deer Town

• End of race fanfare song "Your Goal in Life" now plays during the winning celebration