RYT Public Launch 9


Hey y'all, update 9 is here and ready for public launch It's got some fun moments and a very special boy, so go check it out Now, I will say, I'm sure most of you are aware about what's going on with Itch and the world at large right now. If you aren't, well, censorship is on the rise and it's starting to hurt independent artists like myself. As such I hope you can understand that I have set the content filter to be permanently on for this update, and until things calm down. This isn't the end of that kind of content, but I need to see how things are going before I can make any further changes. Please, if you can, now is the most important time to support your favorite artists and writers of all kinds of content.

Thank you, and I hope you enjoy the update. This post will be mirrored across both RYT pages

This update includes:
- 29k new words
- One new sprite + new chat sprites
- Android template updating (Again) (WIP)
- New UI Overhaul
- 2 New pieces of menu art
- 1 New track

Thank you so much for waiting! Don't forget to check out the discord if you haven't already!
https://discord.gg/QXBdjr7P3Q 


Please support me on patreon, to get the fastest updates on new content
https://www.patreon.com/cryptiddog

May our roads again cross!
https://twitter.com/CryptidDog
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https://cryptiddog.itch.io/roadsyettraveled

Files

RoadsYetTraveled-9-pc.zip 474 MB
Aug 03, 2025
RoadsYetTraveled-9-mac.zip 469 MB
Aug 03, 2025
RoadsYetTraveled-9-android.apk 482 MB
Aug 03, 2025

Get Roads Yet Traveled

Comments

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when I updated all my saves got deleted...my 75h of work gone T-T is ight tho

The day select option helps a lot.

(+6)

I know hes of the corporation, and religious figure but holy hell, i melted every time he called MC "Comet"

(+6)(-1)

I also swooned for Rhyss, but couldn't get past his official title 'Director of internal affairs'  nope, that's the kind of title for someone who is called in to make problems vanish. x3

(1 edit) (+2)(-1)

Yupppp!!!

I secod that 

thought id dup this here as i wanted to share something new that i thought might be important to see
(+5)

I'm a bit disappointed about that decision because that means stuff I have / haven't read will be hidden and open the door for more stuff to be removed you say you aren't changing the story but that was part of the reason I started playing this no hate I have sadly just lost interest because of this Decision so I wonder how much of it now hidden

(1 edit) (+3)

That is sadly part of a fear that many people will have. People reading the itch version will always second guess everything. When one scene ends, was the scene experienced in its entirety or was some dialogue and images removed? They will have to wonder, was a sentence taken out or was an entire paragraph taken out? Did we see all of the cuteness from Marruk or were we deprived of some of the cuteness? While it was made clear from other replies that the story is going to be told the way it was always going to be told, that can still be an area of nuance. For example, an anime that does a faithful retelling of the story from the manga, will often have a lot of content cut out compared to the manga. While you will still get an understanding of the story, if you go back and read the manga, you will still often find dialogue that reveal little things about a character that while not very important to the plot, it works to add more substance to a character. Other times it can be smaller details that contribute to world building where the anime may skim over in order to maintain pacing to have a strong showing for the first 12 episodes.

One of the issues that has lead to such widespread overreaction (itch initially delisting all NSFW including simple strong language and violence), is because the responses from Stripe used terms that are subjective in nature. There is no telling if their definition of adult content was narrowly defined as what was seen in in the game mentioned be collective shout (a game which both platforms quickly removed long before the censorship campaign ever started), or if they defined it more broadly where anything more extreme than Mario Cart is considered prohibited.

While my example is more extreme to convey the concept, since there are many ways to interpret the verbiage, it will be impossible to understand how far the content filtering/ censorship goes, and due to how VNs often work, it can be difficult know what is missing, and that will create a sense that something is missing with many scenes, even if nothing is actually missing between the censored version and the uncensored version.

One potential workarounds will be to clearly indicate when something is censored, but that will then interrupt the flow of the story and change the overall experience. Imagine watching a serious movie and in a scene, the actor pauses a conversation they are having, and looks at the camera and then states that on the 29mm T 1.8 lens on the ALEXA mini LF is not fully centered of the focus ring and that will lead to uneven wear on both the focus ring and follow focus module. Something like that will change the whole vibe and feeling of the movie.


Overall it complicates things in ways that seem unnecessary considering that other VNs, including ones with lots of NSFW content are back to posting uncensored updates with no negative impact to their listing.

(+4)

it's probably because this one is where you could pay if you wanted but now it can't be but I do wonder how many scenes are censored this game had some intense parts some scary scenes, some sad or depressing parts, and a little bit of explicit stuff I don't know what this content filter blocks I'm just disappointed not even mad because scenes like that I found interesting even one of the explicit scenes I thought was a bit funny and I don't know if mastercard or visa are at a point where they are willing to let nsfw content be something you can buy so it will probably be a while before those scenes are added back like I said no hate to the creator I just not as interested as before I don't know those are just my thoughts

For the pay what you want model, I think a good workaround for itch to implement would be a content creator tipping option, where you are not specifically buying anything from them, but instead you are donating some money to them as a thank you for being awesome.

(+1)

They have that already, the author is having to self censor in order to keep that open.

(1 edit)

Technically, a self censor path would allow a full restoration of all monetization options. Though depending on the extent, it could change the story. For example, what if they made a E rated version of Doom: The Dark Ages? 

I was thinking of having it nowhere near the download page. The idea is establishing a clear decoopling such that no aspect of new payment processor TOS additions can apply, thus making it so that until the situation is resolved, there will be at least some transaction path open through the platform for one time donations. 

Then once itch gets a better understanding of any restrictions thhe payent processor has, or better yet, if the protests work in reversing it all, then they can revert everything to how it was before. 

The only thing that changed is the scene where the MC masturbates in the shower thinking about porn on his laptop has him lying in bed thinking about the movies on his laptop instead of porn. Everything else is the exact same. The movies instead of porn scene already existed in the vn since a sfw version has always been developed parallel to the rest of the story.

(1 edit)

like I said I didn't know what scenes were hidden and I don't  know what scenes will be hidden in the future  I  always played the nsfw version and that was the scene I thought was a bit funny because of how the mc reacts but part of were my disappointment comes from is how vague all of the  policies I have read from Mastercard Visa and PayPal are I'm pretty sure horror things are included and this game has horror elements and I don't know if that stuff can be taken out of the story so it then can be monotized again another thing is it will probably be a long time before this stuff could be added back and new stuff added Mastercard and Visa have both said that they allow legal content while actively blocking stuff so it might be soon but it will probably be months or a year or two before this is reversed

(+4)

A question since you are saying that RYT is going to be told the same way it always was going to be told. Does that mean you are still working on the scenes that would need to be censored? Or will they be left behind until you figure out a path forward and then we will need to wait for them to be done after that move?

I am considering joining patreon, and if the scenes are still going to be worked on even if we don't see them immediately as they show up, then I would definitely join.

(+5)

Yes I am still working on those kinds of scenes. Nothing is changing about the story, its just a matter of where and how I can post it.

(+2)

Thanks for the answer! I hope you are doing well and resting enough since I am sure this has caused a lot of stress.

(+4)

Ouch the content filter is going to make this feel less like a romance and more like an awkward friend zone slice of life story, well... to me anyway...  Still I'd like to thank the author for entertaining me even if I'm grieving over potentially never getting the scene with Marrowyn I've been waiting years for. :(

(+1)(-4)

RYT is going to be told the same way it was always going to be told. Nothing is going to change for the characters or the plot, but while I'm working on finding a platform to distribute the different versions of the project I will have to keep those specific scenes left out. They are not deleted or gone, I have them saved on my computer, let alone the previous versions you can still grab from Itch or Patreon. Until projects can be re-indexed and shared freely they cannot be monetized on itch and RYT is my livelihood, so I hope you understand.

(+2)

I do understand that you must do what is best for you, and I hold no grudge nor make any demands for change on your part... I just needed to express my dislike for the content filter.

(1 edit) (+2)(-1)

Thank you!

P.S. Old Captain Behl sprite was more lively and adorable IMHO.

New are too tough. She's surely seen some shit...


...And Rhyss are really nice character...

(+3)

What an evil cliffhanger other than that great update loved seeing this new and intriguing character also liked seeing more of the captain and her new sprite looks really cool also the new text box looks great

(2 edits) (+4)

Given the recent subsequent rule changes is there still a need for content filter to be permanently on? From the looks of the page as well as other VNs, it seems that is no longer needed given the recently added exception to the rules. It seems like it should still be fine to support you on Patreon and other crowdfunding platforms. This is one of the best VNs on the platform, and it is sad to see any changes made due to actions from an anti-free speech organization.

They allow for NSFW versions to be made available without risking being deindexed, thus the only current restriction at the moment seems to be using itch to directly sell an NSFW version through itch and Stripe. If payments are instead being done on other platforms, e.g., early paid releases on Patreon or other platforms, then it does not violate the the latest set of rules on itch. This effectively means that Early release content can still be sold via other platforms and so long as the paid version is also hosted off-platform.

The initial overreaction by Itch and the gradual pullback was a fear response since changing payment processors can take weeks, and that would mean the business having no income at all for weeks. They are now in the gradual pullback phase and there is a good chance of things going completely back to normal as there is now a much larger public outcry against the censorship astroturf campaign from collective shout. 

Overall in my opinion, the additional censorship doesn't seem necessary given the current structure of your VN listing on itch.

(+4)(-1)

first of, I like Rhyss, they are a really interesting character, kinda sus and a bit criptic, but who in this damn station isn't? (Tucker words, and i agree with him)

second, do not censor this, I know this will be easier, no doubt, but giving in to censorship is not a good option in the long run. Since you have two pages you can try to keep the more bland version on the other page, just to be safe but allow us to decide for ourselves on this version. Also, I did read news of itch rowling back the shadowban (bullying companies work, who wou've thought)

third, and not less important, thank you for this update, its been a delight getting to explore this universe, and I love every single line of dialogue, even the ones accompaniedby eldrish beings inside mascot uniforms. 

(+4)(-6)

RYT is going to be told the same way it was always going to be told. Nothing is going to change for the characters or the plot, but while I'm working on finding a platform to distribute the different versions of the project I will have to keep those specific scenes left out. They are not deleted or gone, I have them saved on my computer, let alone the previous versions you can still grab from Itch or Patreon. Until projects can be re-indexed and shared freely they cannot be monetized on itch and RYT is my livelihood, so I hope you understand.

Also, the shadowban isn't gone, so

(1 edit) (+2)

https://fvn.li/

Hope this helps; maybe you can upload the full version here.

(+8)(-2)

Agree with the other comment about censoring the VN yourself, I feel like it's the wrong move and I myself don't think I'll be reading any further updates if it's censored.

(+4)(-6)

RYT is going to be told the same way it was always going to be told. Nothing is going to change for the characters or the plot, but while I'm working on finding a platform to distribute the different versions of the project I will have to keep those specific scenes left out. They are not deleted or gone, I have them saved on my computer, let alone the previous versions you can still grab from Itch or Patreon. Until projects can be re-indexed and shared freely they cannot be monetized on itch and RYT is my livelihood, so I hope you understand.

(+10)(-1)

Self censoring empowers and validates the pro censor hate groups, i get why you did it and i dont blame you but still its worth mentioning.

(+4)(-7)

RYT is going to be told the same way it was always going to be told. Nothing is going to change for the characters or the plot, but while I'm working on finding a platform to distribute the different versions of the project I will have to keep those specific scenes left out. They are not deleted or gone, I have them saved on my computer, let alone the previous versions you can still grab from Itch or Patreon. Until projects can be re-indexed and shared freely they cannot be monetized on itch and RYT is my livelihood, so I hope you understand.

(+1)

I understand the position you are in, its terrible im not blaming you for your choice. I really hope that those pro hate censor groups and the near monopoly status card processing companies get a big dose of legal consequences by very angry governments.

Is it for everyone or just one guy

(1 edit) (+5)

Was a damn good read, but it left me wanting more. 😭

I'll have to wait for chapter 10