Thank you to everyone who has provided feedback since the 1.2.0 release! This hotfix addresses critical performance issues that were causing freezes on some systems, along with several bug fixes reported by the community.

Major Optimizations

• Save System Caching: Added game state caching to prevent repeated disk reads. This eliminates 60-300ms freezes that were occurring on slower storage devices during high score checks.

• Object Pooling: Implemented pooling for explosion sprites (15 pre-allocated) and footprint sprites (50 pre-allocated). Previously, the game was creating 600-1200+ objects per shift - now these are recycled efficiently.

• Reduced Particle Count: Explosion VFX particles reduced from 400 to 100, significantly reducing draw calls during border runner sequences.

• Resource Preloading: CharacterGenerator, gib textures, and explosion spritesheets are now preloaded at startup instead of blocking during gameplay.

• Frame-level Optimizations: Vehicle spawner no longer calls get_children() every frame. Viewport calculations cached per frame instead of per missile.

Save Compatibility

• Fixed save file errors for players upgrading from v1.1.x. The game now properly handles save files that referenced the old game_state.gd location, with automatic backup and recovery for corrupted saves.

Tutorial Fixes

• Fixed stamp tutorial marker being visible when it shouldn't be (now hidden by default, only shown via debug command)

• Fixed "Skip All Tutorials" option not properly marking all tutorials as completed, which was causing tutorials to replay when transitioning from tutorial to Shift 1

• Fixed stamp position update affecting the wrong node

Visual Fixes

• Fixed type mismatch errors that could occur during perfect stamp celebrations

• Fixed potential nil access during celebration particle animations

Stats and Achievements

• Fixed duplicate achievement/stats calls at shift completion (was incrementing total_shifts_completed twice)

• Reduced redundant Steam API calls from 4 to 2 per shift completion

• Updated game icon

• Added new screenshot

• Updated cutscene visuals

This update includes a comprehensive performance audit that identified and addressed critical issues causing app hangs, particularly on laptop hardware. If you were experiencing freezes or stuttering in v1.2.0, this update should significantly improve your experience.

As always, thank you for your feedback and support!

- Lost Rabbit Digital Development Team

A personal note from the developer:

My son Kobi was born 25 weeks premature in late November 2024, weighing barely 1 pound. He arrived ON the original release date for Spud Customs, and I'd been delaying the launch week after week as we entered the hospital leading up to his arrival.

Finally I decided to release what I could muster the willpower to finish for Spud Customs v1.0.0 while we were settling into the neonatal intensive care unit in early December.

Now, over a year later, he's grown from 1 pound to over 20 pounds. Last week he graduated from the NICU to the PICU, and we're still waiting for his lungs to be strong enough for a home ventilator so we can finally go home. During the quiet hours at the hospital in recent months, I've been working to bring Spud Customs closer to the vision I had before life took this unexpected turn.

A lot of the new content reflects feelings that mirror my experiences this past year. Viktor's rooftop grief, Murphy's sacrifice, the old queer couple's erasure, and the helplessness when faced with fighting a cold and uncaring system.

I watch every Spud Customs recording that pops up online, and I'm grateful to each of you who've taken the time to experience my strange potato world.

Over 2,000 people have played Spud Customs and joined us on this journey. Thank you for your feedback, your patience, and your interest in our little story of potato redemption (or armageddeon, if you're one of the chaos agent players).

I hope this game can bloom even a fraction as much as Kobi has.

This update is for you.

• Border Chase - Catch contraband items as they try to slip past with satisfying punt animations

• Code Breaker - Crack codes with Wordle-style position-specific color feedback

• Document Scanner - Scan and verify documents under pressure

• Fingerprint Match - Match prints to catch imposters

• Stamp Sorting - Sort stamps at lightning speed

• UV Scanner - Reveal hidden details with improved feedback

• Completely redesigned interactive tutorial with shader-based highlighting

• Click-to-continue flow for better pacing

• Improved panel positioning and readability

• Tutorial progress indicator

• Fixed tutorial progression blocking issues

• Updated story art and character artwork

• New minigame visual assets

• Audio-reactive bloom effects on the main menu

• Parallax mouse background effect on main menu

• Dynamic scene visuals with progressive poster display

• Brown/gold themed UI throughout for visual consistency

• 7 new custom music tracks for dramatic story moments

• 4 new background music tracks added to the rotation

• Dynamic music switches during narrative sequences

• Improved NPC audio

• Better audio levels throughout

• Comprehensive controller support with visual glyphs

• Tabbed Help Menu accessible from pause (includes Controls, Gameplay, and Lore)

• Social media links (Discord, Steam, Twitch) on main menu

• Language selector in main menu

• Improved shift summary screen for story mode

• Load game confirmation dialog

• Minigames now appear more frequently as you progress through shifts

• Improved law receipt with expired document notes

• Bloom intensity reduced by 50% for better document readability

• Fixed gameplay bloom being too high after cutscenes

• Switched passport and rules labels to Noto Sans font for better legibility across all languages

• Increased text sizes throughout for improved readability

• Passport dates now display with localized month names in all 29 languages

• Unified narrative summary window borders with level select UI styling

• Connect your Twitch channel to have viewer names appear on potatoes!

• Auto-collects viewer names from chat

• Murphy's Sacrifice - New "Protocol HARVEST" sequence with Murphy badge memorial scene

• Viktor Storyline - Full subplot with rooftop grief narrative

• Chaos Agent Path - New story path allowing players to sabotage both sides

• Sasha Ending - Now requires 3+ pro-Sasha choices with subtle hints throughout

• Improved QTE narrative system with visual pane for story images

• Enhanced loyalist path with dialogue fixes and better choice continuity

• In-Game Achievement Viewer - New panel accessible from pause menu showing all achievements

• Toast Notifications - Achievements now display a toast when unlocked

• Expanded achievement set tracking gameplay milestones and story paths

• Fixed achievement tracking - all achievements now unlock properly

• Integrated Sentry SDK - Crash reports now automatically sent (anonymously) so I can fix issues even when I can't reproduce them

• Fixed missile freeze bug that could lock up gameplay

• Fixed multiple runtime errors during startup

• Fixed volume interpolation errors

• Fixed shader compilation issues

• Fixed shift quota bug when skipping tutorial on new game

• Fixed shift summary screen being skipped when player strikes out

• Fixed stamp bar not closing when shift ends

• Fixed passport stamp positioning detection

• Fixed stamp overlap detection

• Fixed document dragging issues during tutorial

• Fixed game progression bug when replaying earlier shifts

• Fixed shift summary spacing issues

• Fixed credits display issues

• Fixed end message UI

• Fixed passport text overflow with better font sizing

• Fixed cutscene and menu bugs

• Improved text readability throughout

• Fixed untranslated help menu keys

• Fixed malformed CSV translations

• Added missing translation entries

• Improved translation tooling

• Fixed translation gaps for achievements panel and score values

• Fixed Korean translation for continue dialog and version label

• Fixed Score Attack and loading screen translations

• Added localization support for tutorial system and passport labels

• Added localization support for level select and story choices

• Complete EventBus architecture refactor for better stability

• Reorganized project assets for maintainability

• Improved logging system

• Better Steam integration checks

• Updated splash screens with refreshed visuals

• Sentry integration for anonymous crash reports

There's more in the works. Thank you for believing in Spud Customs, and thank you for being part of this journey. Every potato you've stamped, every border runner you've caught, every choice you've made, it all matters.Now get back to work, Inspector. The border won't guard itself.

- David (HeartCoded)