Penko Vox: Japanese

Controller fixes: - Quit the game from the main menu (with a confirmation). - Type in your own language with a controller: questions to Penko Sensei and the pocket translator open an ABC keyboard (Steam's keyboard on Steam Deck and Big Picture), and you can switch between kana and ABC anytime. - Kana practice can now be drawn with the controller: move the pen with the left stick and hold A to draw. - New Credits & licences screen in Settings, thanking the open-source projects Penko Vox is built on. - Smaller install: temporary files are no longer included.

Steam Deck & Controller - Screens Fit Every Display: Start and launch buttons (Kotoba Islands, Voice Call, Kana, Vocabulary) now stay on screen on Steam Deck and scaled displays, no more scrolling by touch to find them. - Smoother Controller Navigation: Everything on a screen can be reached with the D-pad, the right stick scrolls lists and pages, menus no longer jump sideways at the end of a list, and choosing a menu takes you straight to its main button. - No Accidental Presses: The first press on a new screen now only shows where you are, it never activates something by surprise. - B Goes Back: Leave chats and voice calls with B. - Button Guide: A short guide (Select, Back, Type, Menu, Scroll) appears on each screen when you use a controller. - Kana Keyboard Redesign: The controller kana keyboard now docks to the side so you can read the conversation while typing, fits smaller screens, and its guide is translated into all 8 languages. - Character Creator: Fits small screens; your name field is selected first and Start confirms. - Gamepad Layout Tip: On Steam Deck, if Steam is sending mouse controls, the game now explains how to switch to the Gamepad layout. Voice Calls - Fixe

New: Kotoba Islands RPG - Explore a Retro Open World: A large, retro-style 2.5D world of towns, routes, beaches and shrines to explore, with your own customizable character. - Talk Freely With Every Resident: No dialogue menus. Talk to anyone in your own Japanese and they answer live using the offline AI. Residents remember you and what you've told them, and greet you differently as you become friends. - Live a Little Life: Take on odd jobs, earn and spend yen, shop at the konbini, befriend animals, and collect stamps in your travel passport. - Interact With Anything: Examine objects, use vending machines, sit at a kotatsu or pet animals by typing what you want to do, text-adventure style. - Learning Tools Built In: Tap any word for its dictionary entry and audio. Each line has listen, slow listen, translate, literal and grammar/nuance buttons. Translations stay hidden until you ask, so you read first. A notebook adds a pocket translator and Penko Sensei. Romaji and furigana can be toggled on or off. Conversations & Scenarios - Smarter Scenario Characters: Every scenario has been overhauled with distinct personalities (mentor, cheerful, formal). Replies are shorter and mor

- Real-Time Voice Input (Speech-to-Text): Added offline microphone voice input directly into conversational roleplay scenarios with improved stt, allowing players to speak Japanese out loud. - Offline Neural Voice Synthesis: Overhauled the Japanese Text-to-Speech engine, generating natural Japanese spoken audio directly on CPU with less latency while remaining offline and without external API calls. - Upgraded Local AI Dialogue Engine: Overhauled roleplay scenarios with local on-device LLM inference and a dynamic AI Director that guides scenario progression and adapts to your chosen JLPT level. - Interface & Window Clean-up: Removed desktop application menu bars across platforms for an immersive, borderless gaming presentation. - Steam Deck Runtime Optimization: Enhanced offline container and library paths for smooth, reliable execution in Steam Linux Runtime on Steam Deck. - Additional Note: For audio input on Steam Deck be sure to increase mic volume to get the best quality.