Swan Song is a traditional Yume Nikki fangame created for Dream Diary Jam 7 by scummbag, now updated for Dream Diary Jam 8.

=====Game Instructions=====
Sleep in the bed to enter the dream world. Wake up from your dreams with the "Wake Up" action in the "Effects" menu.

Collect Effects and Mementos scattered around the dream worlds. Effects allow you interact with the dream world in unique ways. Mementos are story-related items; collecting them is necessary in order to make progress.

Additionally, do not neglect to interact with the other guests of the hotel. Some of them might inspire imagery in the dream worlds that may or may not assist in the collection of Effects and Mementos.

The game can be saved by sitting at the desk in the real-world hotel room.

=====Controls=====
Arrow keys:	Movement
Z/Space/Enter:	Confirm/Interact
X/Escape:	Cancel
Shift:		Run
PageUp:		Effect Action
PageDown:	Alternate Effect Action
F4:		Toggle fullscreen
F3:		Display the game at its native resolution
F2:		Show FPS
F5:		Reset the game (not recommended)



=====Questions=====
Q: Why is the game's file size so big?
A: RPG Maker MZ's fault. The 200MB+ NW.js app runtime is required to run any RMMZ game (same applies to RPG Maker MV games). There isn't much I can do about it.

Q: The game's pixel art looks weird in fullscreen, how do I fix it?
A: Press F3. The game will be scaled down to its native resolution. The game should still be fine on 1080p, 1200p and 768p monitors when scaled down, but I can't attest to the effectiveness of this solution on 1440p or 4K. Regardless, it's worth a try.

Q: I can't find [x] effect.
A: Some of the effects do blend in with their surroundings. All of the effects are out in the open and none of them move around, so it's mostly a matter of interacting with everything.

Q: What do the pedestals with the glasses on them mean?
A: It's a simple puzzle involving one of the effects found in the same area. The symbols on the pedestals should guide you to the places you need to go. If you're having trouble finding one of the liquids in particular, remember that interacting with other hotel guests in the real world can cause minute changes in the dream worlds. Some NPCs show up only occasionally, but the one you need to talk to to find that specific liquid appears on a fairly frequent basis.

Q: Does the game have an ending?
Maybe one day. For the time being, once you've found six effects and four mementos, you've completed what's currently available. Thanks for playing.



=====Contact=====
For bug reports, questions, and any other information related to Swan Song, please leave a comment on the game's itch.io page:

scummbag.itch.io/swan-song

For matters unrelated to Swan Song, I can be found on tumblr: 

a-scummbag.tumblr.com



=====Credits=====
---Main credits---
scummbag - Art, game logic, plugin programming
*MP* - Music and sound effects
PorcelainPlanetarium - Music

---Plugin credits---
Team VisuStella (Yanfly, Arisu, Olivia, Irina)
Galv
ScsWinter
Arthran
Community Lighting contributors
Coelocanth
Hudell
scummbag

---Additional resources---
Screaming Brain Studios Seamless Sky Backgrounds



=====Version History=====

---Version 1.1 "Dream Diary Jam 8 Update"---
> New Additions
* A handful of new dream worlds, pretty much doubling the size of the game from its original version
 * Some of the "new" dream worlds are significantly expanded versions of areas from the previous jam that were quite small
* 3 new effects
* 1 new memento
* A few new events scattered around the dream worlds (and one in the real world)
* The protagonist finally has a wake-up animation
* New windowskin

> Graphical Adjustments
* A few tilesets, character sprites, and other graphics throughout the game have been updated to look nicer

> Bug Fixes / Technical Stuff
* Haha apparently the RPG Maker MZ Corescript never actually got updated to version 1.8.0 like I said previously. I'm okay with this, though, because some helpful folks in the Dream Diary Jam 8 Discord server found a few bugs in 1.8.0. I'll just stick with 1.7.0



---Version 1.04-bugfix---
* At some point between versions 1.03 and 1.04, the map transfer from the waterpark to the stairs down to the cold pit got screwed up; the player appeared a single tile above where they were supposed to and were stuck in the wall unless they woke up. I don't know how this issue happened in the first place, but it's fixed now



---Version 1.04 "Pre-Jam Update"---
> New Additions
* Pressing [Page Down/PgDn] with the Glass effect equipped now gives a written description of the glass's contents
* Various areas in the game have had some extra decoration added (glowing mushrooms world, hospital garden, electricity world)
* Footstep sound effects now vary in pitch

> Gameplay Adjustments
* A certain real-world NPC vital to game progression is now more likely to appear when waking up
* There is now a distinctive sound heard when speaking to a real-world NPC that causes changes in the dream world
* It's now easier to collect water from the floor fountains in the waterpark area
* A certain event in the hospital area must now be seen in its "normal" state before ever trying to show its "alternate" state
* Wake-up sequence has been made slightly faster

> Graphical Adjustments
* The wonky animated aurora borealis sprites have been removed in favor of a much prettier static parallax background
* The city area how has a trail of spilled fluid leading to the alley, hopefully making it more clear that the alley exists
* Tilesets, character sprites, and other graphics throughout the game have received small touch-ups and improvements
* The ambient light color in the cold pit has been brightened ever so slightly, so it's no longer pitch black down there (still very dark though, you'll want the Spotlight effect)
* The ambient light in the real-world bathroom is no longer an eerie red glow being emitted from nowhere
* The RPG Maker level gauge behind the pause menu's effect counter has been removed
* The in-game instructions now highlight the fact that waking up and speaking to real-world NPCs is important (I'm still trying to work out how that could be better conveyed to the player; if you have any ideas, please share them!)
* The game has a new logo! I suck at logos but this one is better than the last one, at least in my opinion

> Bug Fixes / Technical Stuff
* An esoteric bug involving the Glass effect has (seemingly) been fixed. After emptying the glass in the waterpark area, the game would register it as empty, but the player's sprite would sometimes still display the glass filled with whatever liquid they previously had it filled with. I've added multiple safeguards and done a ton of testing; I *think* it's fixed, but I'm still paranoid.
* Large maps should now be significantly less laggy on low-end machines. The cause for this was the "VisuStella Events Move Core" plugin, which apparently causes ridiculous amounts of lag on maps with lots of events. All functionality provided by that plugin has been seamlessly reimplemented with other plugins, and a performance boost has been noted in affected maps.
* Fixed a graphical issue involving the screenshake effect when punching an NPC with the Boxing Gloves in the city area.
* Fixed some broken minor NPC interactions
* Fixed a collision issue or two
* RPG Maker MZ has been updated to Corescript version 1.8.0 (nothing seems to be broken)



---Version 1.03---
* Fixed yet another game-crashing bug (thank you to the DDJ7 Discord server members who brought these to my attention!)



---Version 1.02---
* Fixed another game-crashing bug



---Version 1.01---
* Fixed a game-crashing bug



---Version 1.00---
* Initial release for Dream Diary Jam 7