itch.io

Thank you so much! We're touched to be the first (hopefully of many!) VN devs that get your support. 

OBSCURA is a pay-once game. When you buy the game in early access, you're also buying access to all the future updates,  which in this case is Chapter Three for all the characters. Those updates are automatically pushed to the game on Steam (and if you connect your Steam and Itch accounts in your settings then you can get the Steam key that's bundled with your purchase), and I believe also the Itchio app. If you're using the desktop site, you'll need to manually download updates when they happen, either by accessing the download page via the link at the top of this page or through your Itch library. But either way, you will not need to pay a second time to get those updates!

The guide is up on Steam as well, but it is age-gated and Steam is very very bad at communicating this. You'll need to go to your account profile, then adjust your store preferences to allow Community content for games that contain "Frequent Nudity or Sexual Content". We think the fact Obscura has this tag is extremely silly and wouldn't have applied it ourselves, but since Valve decided we need it, all Community content (including the guides) are completely hidden from you until you change your store preferences.

Ooh, that's an interesting error. It looks like it has to do with us doing a version update of Ren'py between version 2.0 and 2.5. One of the base files is different between versions, and it's causing the conflict. 

Did you delete the old build before downloading the new one? If not, I'd try deleting everything and then downloading the new build fresh (there should be a button taking you back to the download page at the top of the Obscura web page), as something may have happened with the new files and old files merging to cause this. 

If you want to back-up your saves first, it only takes a minute to dive into the files. It looks like you're using the Mac version, in which case you should* be able to go into the Obscura.app file, then go Contents > Resources > autorun > game > saves, and just copy the files in there and paste them somewhere else (I use a back-up folder in my documents, but as long as they're elsewhere it doesn't matter where). After deleting the old build and downloading the new one, you can paste your files back into the saves folder (same path). If there's no save folder, just start a new game and save on the first screen, then you can replace any files in the save folder with your original saves.

*I unfortunately have no experience with Macs, so if there's issues with these instructions I'd recommend looking up info about backing up Ren'py saves on Mac, you'll definitely find better troubleshooting than I can offer.

Hello!

Is the CG showing in the game, but not in the gallery? Or are you having trouble finding the CG scene? If it's the former, that's a new bug. If it's the latter, you may be making choices that lock you out of the CG scene, like deciding that what Keir's done is unforgivable, or just not hitting the needed number of affection points.

Right now getting the game done is the primary goal, but once it's complete an Android build is definitely something we would like to do.

Yup. If you go to the game's About page (it's an option in the main menu), you can see the game's version number. If it's 2.5 (or higher, if you're checking after an update), then you've definitely got Francesco's second chapter. Francesco's second chapter should just start immediately after hitting the neutral or good ending in Chapter One, so if that's not working then there's something up. Are you loading a save that isn't moving forward? Where is that save?

If you've redownloaded the files since the update (you should have 2.5 somewhere in the file name), you definitely do have the new content! The new chapter continues directly off the first one, so try loading a save from Francesco's route or playing through it (the skip button can get you through content you've already seen very quickly, if you need to replay stuff).

If you don't have the 2.5 version, you can go to the Obscura main page and there should be a bar at the top of the page telling you that you've already bought the game. The download button will take you to the download page, of course, where you should have access to the newest files.

Buying the game in Early Access on here or on Steam will mean you'll get the rest of the chapters as they release (you may need to manually re-download the game if you're getting it here on Itch), so no worries on that front.

The demo save data does carry forward into the main game (provided it's all on the same device, I should say!), so you should be able to continue playing without issue. If you're download the game files here on Itch, you won't need to fold onto the demo game files afterwards. Ren'py saves the game data in two places on your computer, and the demo and main game both check the same folders for save data, so everything carries over.

The guide is up on Steam as well, but it is age-gated and Steam is very very bad at communicating this. You'll need to go to your account profile, then adjust your store preferences to allow Community content for games that contain "Frequent Nudity or Sexual Content". We think the fact Obscura has this tag is extremely silly and wouldn't have applied it ourselves, but since Valve decided we need it all Community content (including the guides) are completely hidden from you until you change your store preferences.

If you buy the game on Steam, updates will be downloaded automatically, yes! If you get it here on itch.io you will need to download updates manually, but you will always have access to the download page via your library. 

And the updates are free, yes. You won't need to pay again for Francesco's second chapter, or any of the third chapters.

When you get the option to escape to the church or stick around, you need to pick the "leave" option instead, that's the path that leads to Oleander and Francesco.

Well, never say never, but also probably not. While Vesper, the MC, has a fairly strong personality, there are a lot of things about them that simply aren't important for the story we're telling, and their appearance is one of those things. We're happy to leave that space open for them to imagine the MC with whatever appearance they like.

1. You can get the game here on itchio if you like, of course! It's the same as the Steam version, and all future updates will be free and come at the same time. The main difference is that Itch doesn't support regional pricing, so if you're using a currency other than USD then Steam may have a better price for you. You can also buy games on Steam and mark them as "private", which does prevent others from seeing it's in your library or that you're playing them, if that's your concern. There's a dropdown menu in the shopping cart page to choose that option.

2. Each route is going to have three chapters, so the story will be done after that! We can't promise we won't add to the game after that, but that should just be fun bonus material, if we're feeling like it. That said, all the routes currently have very intense cliffhangers in Chapter Two, so if you want to avoid that then I'd suggest wishlisting the game or following us here on Itch and waiting for it to be finished.

Hi! Thank you for the offer, but we're not looking for translation or localisation at this time. We're waiting until our script is completely locked before we even think about that.

Nope, just go to the download page (there should be a link at the top of the page saying you've already bought the game if you have, as well as access to the download page in your library, and in the email from when you bought the game) and you can download any and all updates.

Chapter One, the demo, will be free forever, but the rest of Obscura is going to remain a commercial product. The early access label is describing that the paid portion of the game is still in progress, but when it's complete the price will actually be going up to reflect that it's a complete product, not down. 

Thanks for playing! Francesco's second chapter is in the works right now, so we hope you have fun with him when the time comes! 💙

As for getting your Steam key, if your itchio and Steam accounts are linked (and the emails of those two accounts match), you should be able to return to the download page and get your key. There should be a link to the download page in a grey bar at the top of this page, saying that you've already bought this game. If not, there should also be a link to the page in an email from itchio after you made your purchase. Follow one of those links back to the download page and the Steam key redemption option should be there.

If things still aren't working for you after that, you'll need to reach out to Itchio's support. As it stands, we have no control over the backend that makes Steam key distribution possible, we only have the power to add or remove keys.

The executive order that's currently being discussed would, as written, not protect adult games at all, unfortunately. It's focused on a right-wing bugbear where extremist organisations (that they agree with, mind) lose access to banking services. But people clogging up call centres for payment processors is making an impact, so if you've been doing that in the past, please continue 😊

Hi, sorry for the delay! The Steam and Itchio versions of the game are completely identical for the moment, and unless we're forced to change that by Steam or Itch's adult content policies, we'll continue keeping them the same. 

If you buy it here on Itch you do get access to a Steam key as well (as long as you've connected your Itch and Steam accounts), which will work for unlocking the game on Steam.

Android is a "would be nice to have" for us, but not a high priority at the moment, since it would require us to redo the UI to work for mobile. Sorry about that.

Certain types of achievements (the ones where you need to do multiple events) will have the Steam achievement pop-up to show you've made progress on that achievement, even if it hasn't been granted yet. I'm not entirely sure how to stop Steam from showing the "progress" version of the achievement pop-up, but I suspect that may be the source of the confusion here.

The ending guide is just up on Steam's guide section. You may need to adjust your Store Preferences to allow it to show mature community content.

Hi! Thanks for the love, we're so glad you're enjoying Obscura! 

The ending guide has been updated already. If your file is labelled for version 2.1 then all the new info is in there (I just downloaded the file for myself to be sure).

It'll be in the Steam community hub (the guide hasn't been updated for the newest content yet). If you don't see the guides, check your mature content settings. Steam now seems to default to hiding community hub materials for games that are flagged as mature, even when you already own the game.

It'll be in the Steam community hub (the guide hasn't been updated for the newest content yet). If you don't see the guides, check your mature content settings. Steam now seems to default to hiding community hub materials for games that are flagged as mature, even when you already own the game.

Hi! Thanks for asking! So Steam gave us a high age rating for sexual content (which we think is very silly, Obscura is mature but there's no explicit sex in the game right now), which got us geoblocked in Germany and China. We disputed the rating, but Steam stuck to their guns, so there isn't much left for us to do at the moment. Sorry.

The good news is that you can buy the game here on itchio, and at the time of writing the exchange rate really favours the Euro, so the game is actually a little cheaper here than on Steam. You can also redeem a Steam key here with your purchase that should work like normal; you'll just need to connect your Steam and itchio accounts, which you can do on itch in your account settings.

The free version contains Chapter One for each of the love interests and is basically a demo of the game. The paid version currently has Chapter Two for Cirrus and Keir, and will eventually have all three chapters for each love interest. When you buy the paid version here or on Steam you get access to the two new chapters plus all future chapters as free updates.

Three chapters per love interest 😊

Hi! We're currently working on getting Oleander's second chapter out, and then Francesco's right after that (Chapter Two should hopefully be done this year, so long as no one gets struck by a meteor!). Then we'll shift production towards getting everyone's third chapters out. I wish I could give you a more specific answer, but since we only work on Obscura in our free time, it can be hard to give any specifics that we'll be confident in.

Hi! Thank you for the offer, but we're not looking for translation or localisation at this time. We're waiting until our script is completely locked before we even think about that.

Not quite yet! Mugi needed to do a few more quality control checks and the shipping time to get stuff to her got really long, for some reason? We've got a date in mind to open the shop now, we'll announce it in a little while!

We're can't really talk about discount specifics due to Steam's rules, but I can confirm that we plan on discounting the game whenever an event comes up (if you check something like SteamDB, you can see our historical trends of games on sale, which may help!). Seasonal sales, some events, the Otome Game Celebration that just happened, all good reasons to have a discount for a little while!

You'll need to take any issue like that to Itch.io's support team, there's nothing we can do on our end.

It is exactly the same game. On Steam, it uses a version that includes PC, Apple, and Linux files, so it's slightly larger, but the in-game material is identical.

Yes, you can buy the game through this site. If your itch.io and Steam accounts are connected, you'll also get a Steam key that should work like normal on Steam.

To the best of our knowledge (and I did email itch.io's support about this) getting the game on discount shouldn't block you from getting a Steam key. They did mention that some people have their Steam account and itch.io account attached to different email addresses and that can cause problems, but unfortunately that's not something I can help troubleshoot. Here's their troubleshooting page on Steam keys to double-check, and if that doesn't help then I suggest emailing support (there's a link to that in the final section of the troubleshooting page).

And thank you for the praise! Hopefully you can get the key matter solved on your end, but we're grateful you'd even consider buying the game twice 💙

I'm not sure what you mean by "raiders tutorial"? But there is a guide for the endings and achievements, it's the pdf file here on itch.io.

The guide is on Steam in the community tab already. It lacks the pretty formatting, but otherwise it's basically the same.

You only need to pay once, future chapters are included in the price.

Steam keys are just a way to get a game from Steam without needing to go through the purchase process directly on Steam. If you'd prefer to play OBSCURA on Steam, I'd recommend buying it there to reduce the potential for complications. The only exception is for people in Germany and China; OBSCURA is blocked for sale on Steam in those countries, so you'd have to buy the game on itch.io.