Shale Hill Secrets - Episode 7 Released to $10+ patrons!

Hello guys!

We are delighted to announce that the seventh episode of Shale Hill Secrets is now available to download on Windows and macOS and Android.

This release is another big one, containing a lot of fleshed out story and of course multiple special scenes with animations. Story wise, there are still many things we are yet to learn about this university and what is going on inside it - despite that, we seem to be learning more and more with each episode. It's time to start getting to the bottom of these crazy things going on.

We hope you all enjoy this episode, and please read below for some information on a new exciting feature that comes with this release!

New Profile System

With this huge episode, we are also very excited to bring you guys a new feature that we hope will improve your experience while playing SHS. We are talking about a new save profile system.

From now on, you will be able to create different save profiles to play Shale Hill Secrets. This means that if you want to replay the game and make different choices, you don’t need to rely on creating dozens of in-game saves anymore. Now, you can just create different profiles to seek different paths inside the game.

How does this work?

It is very simple and probably not that different from other games that use this kind of system. The game comes with a “Default” profile. This one has the records of everything you did so far in Shale Hill Secrets, including all your in-game saves, choices, etc. To avoid accidents, it cannot be renamed or deleted.

On the other hand, you can duplicate the default profile. This way, you can use it as a base to create new profiles and replay just the parts you are interested in, changing what you want without messing around with your “main gameplay”. Alternatively you can create a completely fresh profile that will have no progress at all, starting from Episode 1 enabling you to start completely fresh in another playthrough.

To manage your profiles, just click over it – from now on, you can see it on the main menu, in the lower-left corner of your screen. You will also find it in the “Save/Load” screen. Just go to the top right of the screen and click "Manage Profiles".

There, you will find all the tools you need to Load, Create, Rename, Duplicate or Delete your profiles.

We have been thoroughly testing this new tool over the last few weeks and, so far, it seems to be working fine. Nevertheless, it doesn't hurt to ask: if anything weird happens during your gameplay, please, contact us using the appropriate channel within our Discord server.

Game Install Instructions

IMPORTANT: Do not play previous builds (0.1.x, 0.2.x etc). Always play the latest build available (it contains all the episodes). Since we are constantly improving the engine, executing a previous build after you've run a newer one could corrupt your progress.

Itch App

Please consider installing SHS through Itch App instead of downloading it using your browser. Itch App will automatically keep the game up-to-date through smaller patches (as Steam does, for example), which comes handy as the game gets bigger over time.

Shale Hill Secrets Episode 7 v0.7.1

Full Download Here (Windows 64-bit, macOS, Android)

Having issues with in-game errors?

Try to install the game using the itch app https://itch.io/app instead of downloading it through the browser.

Having issues with your progress/saves?

Some players have reported that their progress/saves have disappeared after installing Episode 7. Although we haven't been able to determine yet what caused this terrible inconvenience, we created a backup file (attached to the post below) that will unlock all the episodes and allow Episode 7 to be played.

To use the backup, go to Settings > Backup > Load Backup and select SHS_Backup.shsbackup

On macOS, Finder can sometimes get stuck when using this option. Use Mission Control (F3) or press command+tab to regain control of the file selector.

Patreon Authentication

The game requires direct access validation using your Patreon account. Your subscription must be active for the API to recognize it. If you pledged and canceled it right afterwards, the validation process could fail. Please re-enable your pledge (you won't be charged again) and try again.

If your browser doesn’t open when clicking “Login with Patreon to play this episode!”, please check your system default browser settings and make sure your preferred browser is selected.

If the authentication process doesn’t work, please make sure to whitelist Shale Hill Secrets in your antivirus/firewall settings. Also, log out and log in from Patreon in your browser. Whitelist our domain in your ad blocker/security extension in your browser can also do the trick.

Windows

Download the file below, extract the zipped file to a location of your choice and then run the Shale Hill Secrets executable. The game should open straight away after this. Do not try to run the executable without unzipping it first or you’ll get an error message! Do not mix these files with previous releases! This release contains all the episodes.

macOS

Double click Install Shale Hill Secrets.dmg. Then, in the window that opens, drag and drop the app to the Applications folder.

If the DMG file doesn't open, this means Gatekeeper could have quarantined it. It can be fixed by running this command in Terminal:

xattr -d com.apple.quarantine $HOME/Downloads/Install_Shale_Hill_Secrets_v0.7.1.dmg

Android

Your device needs to be able to install APKs outside of the Play Store. If it isn't, you need to enable that option first.

After downloading the file, open the APK and select "update". Don't uninstall the previous version or you might lose your progress.

Support

Report any bugs or issues to #bug-reports or #typos in our Discord channel. Please do not post bug reports here in the comments section of this post - It’s hard to track and difficult to give proper assistance. If you don’t have a Discord account, please send us an email instead to support@love-joint.com. Please also feel free to leave some feedback in #constructive-feedback on Discord or down below in the comments.

Developed by Love-Joint

Ricky | Producer, Code, Engine
AW | Plot, Writing, Direction
G.A. Corman | Writing
Mr. Vargas | Character Design, Art
Zed | Marketing, Art
Luke | Marketing, Art, Animations
NiRo | Former Character Designer, Art
In Memory of Palmer.

—

Stay foxy,
The Love-Joint Team.