In what's likely to be the last major update for some time, Burden of Truth Version 1.1.2 brings a whole host of fixes and improvements to help smooth out the experience for first time and returning players! Many of these issues were discovered thanks to HawkZombie, who played through both Burden of Proof games on his Twitch streams (with me cringing at all my development mistakes in the chat). If you're curious about the antics that were had in those streams, you can watch the full playthrough here!
On that note, it has been so incredible to see everyone's reaction to the game all of the playthroughs online. Thank you so much to everyone who gave it a try! Hopefully these changes do well to future-proof the experience, so without further delay...
Version 1.1.2
Updated 3D model importer to Blender 4.5 LTS
Improved several cutscene character animations
Improved several cutscene particle effects
Improved several character dialogue animations
Fixed continue icon bob animation looping issue
Updated several cutscene audio effects
Optimized static level geometry in Bridge Canal level
Decreased fog density in Bridge Canal level
Fixed gamepad UI scroll not accounting for framerate
Added additional evidence description details in Chapter 3 Trial 3
Added additional evidence description details in Chapter 3 Trial 2
Added additional dialogue to an investigation in Chapter 3 Trial 2
Added alternate answers to puzzles in Chapter 3 Trial 1
Added alternate answers to puzzles in Chapter 3 Trial 2
Added alternate answers to puzzles in Chapter 3 Trial 3
Fixed a typo naming the wrong location in a Chapter 3 Trial 3 cross examination
Fixed a typo in the word "typo" in the README
The largest change internally has definitely been upgrading to Blender 4.5 from Blender 3. This was done mainly to keep my tools consistent as I needed to fix a crashing issue while modeling vehicles for my next game (more on that later!) and maintaining projects with so many different Blender versions would become a chore. Unfortunately, the FBX exporter changed between Blender 3 and 4 which meant that my materials got all jumbled up. The long and short of it is that I had to manually verify and correct the material order for every level object in the entire game, one by one. And all of that for essentially no visual change on the player's end, it was purely to make my life easier down the line .-.
But that work has completed and now my dev tools are (mostly) crash-free! That's a win in my book! Along with this, while I was inspecting each model, I was able to optimize a few of them and do some cleanup now that I essentially know the full layout of each level and know what isn't seen.
Next up, while watching back let's play content of Burden of Truth, I couldn't help but feel that some of the cutscenes lacked in general quality compared to the polish of the opening cutscene. While I didn't want to redo them completely (partly because preserving the original vision is important to me), I did shuffle around some of the music audio timings, increase the quality of some particle systems, and did an additional keyframe pass on some animations. The result is that characters move just a tad more smoothly in these cutscenes and the scenes flow very slightly better than before, while leaving basically every shot intact.
A few UI fixes made their way into the patch as well! Somehow I noticed that the bob of the "text advance" icon didn't always move with the same timing, and tracking it down led me to a minor math mistake in my animation code. I don't think anyone would ever notice if I hadn't mentioned it, but I replaced it with a different solution and now we are one step closer to perfection. Additionally, I fixed a problem with scrolling menus on gamepad (this is possible with the right stick) which caused the scroll amount to be tied to framerate. After the fix, no matter what framerate you run the game at, you will be able to navigate menus at the same speed as everyone else.
There are a whole bunch of new "alternate answers" across the entire game which were based off of proposed solutions made by Twitch streamers and YouTubers. When someone presents a piece of evidence to solve a puzzle and is able to justify their answer enough for it to make sense, I generally see that as a sign that the game should interpret that answer as valid, even if incorrect to progress. Adding these alternate answers means the player doesn't get punished and is rewarded with unique dialogue. Many of these little branches also have funny lines and secrets, and since there are a LOT of them in the game now, I'd be curious to see if anyone can uncover these hidden dialogue gems ;)
Finally, there were a couple of puzzles I adjusted that went beyond just adding alternate solutions. I've noticed that a particular puzzle in Chapter 3 Trial 2 has caused people to feel confused after solving it because the solution required a lot of logical leaps and speculation. To avoid spoiling the answer, I will just say that it has to do with the cleaning of the walls in the dining room. Reading that has probably invoked a painful cringe for a few people who remember clearing this puzzle. I debated for some time whether I really wanted to add more hints, because doing so would make the puzzle "easier" and sort of ruin the challenge of it. But I believe I've come up with a compromise that still leads players down the right path without outright stating what the answer is. That compromise is to add an additional element (and dialogue mentioning it) to an existing piece of evidence which gives players a chance to wonder how it is relevant, ultimately leading them to realize that it relates to the solution. And while this may take away some of the difficulty for this puzzle in the end, my philosophy for the series is that I'd rather it be too easy than too difficult, because even solving something easy can make you feel like you've overcome a great challenge with the right spectacle. While this sort of change only affected a few puzzles (mainly with additional evidence details), it's still a bit scary to alter the experience. However, I'm confident that my approach to these changes should have retained the thrill and core challenge behind each courtroom question, and I'll be curious to see how new players react to it!
As I mentioned at the beginning, HawkZombie on Twitch recently completed both Burden of Proof and Burden of Truth on his Twitch channel. If you want to watch the chaos unfold from the beginning, start here:
Additionally, I received some incredible fanart from Green in our Discord server, who was inspired by Kate Flocking's design and created this awesome poster:
Thank you so much! It is extremely humbling to see that my designs have moved people enough to create their own interpretations! I hope to continue making interesting characters and stories for as long as I can. As I was inspired by artists who created awesome games and movies before my time, it's an honor to think that about the fact that Burden of Truth could inspire some of the next generation of creators to tell their own courtroom stories. I'm always happy to see fan creations and content featuring my world, so don't hesitate to share them if you enjoyed the game!
You might have read above that this is the "last major update" for the game, so you might be wondering... why?! The main reason is that I feel the experience is largely complete and I'm happy with how it has turned out! Of course I will always keep an eye out for bug fixes and logical alternate answers to add, but I imagine I won't be super inclined to make a ton of changes that aren't necessary.
While I am tempted to fix some of the inconsistencies and jank (looking at you, cutscene animations!) now that I have taken a step back from the project and had time to review it, there are a few reasons why I don't generally go this route:
I like to keep my games as intact/close to the original release for preservation's sake. This is partially why Burden of Proof still looks the way it does even though I'm capable of much higher quality games nowadays!
I often prefer to make use of feedback and things I've learned about gamedev in my next project to demonstrate growth and keep my mind on something new rather than endlessly updating one thing forever. This is also a better use of my time as someone who is trying to make a living from releasing regular content and trying to find new audiences to play my games.
On that note, those of you who have reached the end of the game know that Burden of Proof 3 is planned to be made and will continue the story that was left off in BOT. I have also said in the past that a Burden of Proof Remaster/Remake is not off the table, and something I'm interested in doing eventually, but only when I can justify it financially. For now though, I need a break from the series, and a break from visual novels in general! That's why I'm working on something completely new...
For about a year now I've been working on a game idea that I was eager to tackle before I even finished building Burden of Truth. While I don't want to give too much away before the official announcement, I will say that this journey has been even more difficult than usual and has required a lot of technical investment to realize, but I believe I'm finally breaking into the meat of the game development-wise. For starters, this is an action game, which has a ton of requirements and hurdles I haven't tackled since Iron Reckoning released back in 2020. I've also been trying my hand at targeting higher-end hardware and experimenting with features such as raytraced global illumination, physically based atmospheric effects and cloud systems, high-quality water rendering, and realistic terrain. A lot of the work that has been done up to this point has involved the creation of complex custom tools, such as a ground-up water simulation shader, a node-based procedural terrain generator, and a spline-based object placement tool.
Some of these projects took up months in their own right, but now that I have a grasp of the visuals I'm going for and have a solid foundation of gameplay to build upon, I've been able to focus more on writing the story, designing the characters, and am beginning to put together levels. What will follow now is a big visual push to bring me closer towards a trailer, which I'm hoping to release before the end of the year if I'm able. So now I bring you these very early screenshots demonstrating some of the tech I've mentioned, though be aware that I've only just started to piece together the environments and have a lot more detailing and object placement to do before it resembles my vision for the final game.
If you've read my update post on Bluesky, you'd know that I've been struggling immensely with the lack of creative time due to financial concerns. I've already soared far past my expected timeline for being able to announce what I've been working on (I originally wanted a trailer by like April of 2026... whoops) and having as many ideas as I do, it's difficult to come to terms with all the projects I can't make because I want to actually see one through to the end. But I have been clawing back some time and things are looking just a tad more hopeful for the coming months, so I'll now be able focus on some of the fun gameplay stuff, finishing up the story writing (it is nearly complete!), and putting together the actual content of the game in-engine. I hope you will keep an eye out for the announcement, whether it's later this year or early next year, and I'm so excited to finally be able to share what I've got in store!
Though it may be a few years before the Burden of Proof story continues again, I want to thank all of you for your support and patience as I work through the challenges of being a niche artist in a society that rewards people for their popularity. I do hope you'll stick around as I've got a lot to share when the time comes to reveal my next project, and you can stay updated on the latest news over on my Bluesky!
We've also got a Discord server where you can hang out, discuss your theories about Burden of Truth, or ask questions directly to the development team! I'm so happy with how the community has grown lately and there have been so many BOT-related memes and fanart that made me proud to have inspired the people who played the games!
I appreciate all of the kind words and feedback I've gotten this past year since the game released, so if you have a chance, leaving a review here on Steam would help a lot! I've got more updates planned for the Shinogi Chess Club series which I can hopefully get to soon, and am thinking about doing more behind-the-scenes videos about my development process on the Burden of Proof series, but nothing is quite set in stone. For now, I am mainly focused on the new game which, despite being in a different genre, will have all of the "RobProductions staples" with a heavy focus on characters and story.
Do stay tuned soon for the exciting reveal, and thank you so much for playing!
- Matt