[08.07.26] A Hopeful Harvest (Updated)

Hello everyone. Somehow, another week has flown by.

Once again, I’d like to share some updates on what the inZOI team has been working on. We’ve had a lot going on this week. In particular, we’ve been spending a great deal of time revisiting some of the systems we developed last year that were still somewhat rough or incomplete, and improving them one by one so they work as intended.

Recently, we’ve been putting a lot of effort into improving the baby system. Previously, babies and adults used completely different systems, which resulted in many functional issues and also limited how richly babies could be represented. This time, we’ve integrated the baby system into the same underlying structure used for adults.

Now, as babies grow, if there is a small child’s bed available, they will move to it on their own and go to sleep. Once your child starts walking, please make sure to provide them with a bed of their own. This will allow them to sleep longer and more comfortably.

We’ve also made improvements to genetics and family photos, although there were limitations to how much we could improve the genetics system. There is a fundamental issue behind this: the base facial data for male and female Zois is different. We are currently considering whether we should unify this underlying data so that inherited facial traits can be passed down consistently regardless of gender.

We’ve also improved vehicle behavior so that when Zois travel by car, they can continue driving all the way home. In addition, we’ve further enhanced the system that automatically changes Zois into outfits appropriate for the location they are visiting.

There are still so many things on our improvement list this month that I’m a little concerned we may not be able to deliver the update as quickly as we would like. Once the update date has been decided, I’ll make sure to let you know in advance.

Today in Korea marks Ipchu (입추), the traditional beginning of autumn in 2026. It is supposed to signal that summer is passing and autumn is beginning, but we are still experiencing heat that feels very much like the middle of summer.

Even so, the seasons are slowly changing, and the crops in the fields are surely beginning to bear fruit. I hope inZOI, too, can make it through this summer in good health and continue growing into something even better.

See you again next week.

-Kjun


Kjun’s Reply to Your Comments

Hello everyone.

Today, instead of sharing several different updates, I’d like to focus on just one topic: outfit changing.

inZOI has a variety of outfits designed for different situations, such as sleepwear, workout clothes, and swimwear. However, you may have felt that the rules for when Zois change into these outfits—and when they change back—haven’t always been very clear. So today, I’d like to explain the new rules as simply and clearly as possible.

To be frank, we hadn’t established a fully unified outfit-changing system in the past. Instead, we often handled each situation individually as the need arose. This led to unintended outfit changes. For example, if a Zoi started exercising at a gym, they should ideally remain in their workout clothes until they leave the gym. However, performing another action in between could sometimes cause their outfit to change.

To address these issues at a fundamental level, we have rebuilt the overall rules for outfit changing.

Zois will change their clothes according to the situation

What we’re preparing is a system where Zois automatically change into clothing appropriate for their current situation, then return to their everyday outfit once that situation ends. This will be provided as an Experimental Feature.

For example, currently, when a Zoi starts swimming in the ocean, they change into swimwear. But the moment they step out of the water, they immediately change back into their everyday clothes. This often creates awkward situations where a Zoi is still at the beach but is the only person walking around in everyday clothes. This experimental feature is intended to reduce situations like this.

Until now, the rules for changing clothes differed depending on the location or interaction. As a result, Zois sometimes changed clothes when they shouldn’t have, or remained in a special outfit when they should have changed back.

We’ve now unified those rules.

Let me explain by following a Zoi through a typical day.

In the morning, the Zoi wakes up wearing sleepwear—the same sleepwear they changed into when they went to bed the night before. Simply waking up does not immediately change their clothes. They might drink some water or look out the window while still wearing their sleepwear. Once they take a shower and come out, they finally change into their everyday outfit.

The everyday outfit they choose depends on the temperature that day. Everyday clothes, summer clothes, and winter clothes are treated as a single group. When the weather is hot or extremely hot, the Zoi will choose summer clothes. When it is warm, mild, or cool, they will wear everyday clothes. When it is cold or extremely cold, they will choose winter clothes.

From this point on, whenever I say that a Zoi “returns to their everyday outfit,” I mean that they return to the appropriate outfit from this group.

Now dressed for the day, the Zoi heads to the gym.

As soon as they enter the gym lot, they change into workout clothes. They remain in those clothes while they are at the gym, and once they finish exercising and leave the lot, they change back into their everyday outfit.

In the afternoon, they visit a swimming pool.

When they arrive at the pool, they change into swimwear. Even after getting out of the water and relaxing on a sunbed, they remain in their swimwear. They only return to their everyday outfit once they leave the pool lot.

So, in simple terms:

While a Zoi remains at a location, they keep wearing the outfit appropriate for that situation. Once they leave, they return to their everyday outfit.

This return happens when they begin leaving the lot or start another type of transition, such as going home, going to work, traveling through the World Map, or entering a building.

At night, when the Zoi gets into bed, they change back into sleepwear.

And with that, their day comes full circle.

There are a few exceptions

When exercising at home, Zois will not change clothes.

If a Zoi does yoga or uses exercise equipment at home, they will simply exercise in whatever they are already wearing. We made this the one location-based exception because having Zois constantly change clothes even inside their own homes could feel unnecessarily inconvenient.

Zois you are directly controlling also behave a little differently.

A Zoi under direct player control will not automatically change clothes simply because they arrive at a particular lot. Otherwise, they might change into swimwear just because they walked through a beach or briefly stopped by a swimming pool to use the restroom.

Instead, directly controlled Zois will change clothes when they actually begin a relevant interaction, such as swimming or exercising. Their clothes will not change simply while you are moving them around using WASD controls.

If you don’t want automatic outfit changes

We’ve prepared two options.

If you only want to exclude a specific Zoi, you can turn off “Use Situational Looks” in that Zoi’s autonomy settings.

If you want to disable the feature for the entire game, you can turn off “Automatic Situational Outfit Changes” under Settings → Experimental Features.

The individual Zoi setting always takes priority. If “Use Situational Looks” is disabled for a particular Zoi, that Zoi will not automatically change clothes even if the Experimental Feature is enabled.

If you disable the Experimental Feature itself, Zois will immediately return from any outfit they are wearing under these rules to their original outfit, and the previous outfit-changing behavior will resume.

This feature will be provided as an Experimental Feature and will be enabled by default.

What will remain unchanged

School uniforms and work attire are not affected by this change.

They will continue to work as they do now: Zois will change into their school uniform when it is time to attend school and into their work attire when it is time to go to work.

You will also still be able to manually change a Zoi’s clothes through wardrobes or the Zoi menu as before.

Costumes and Character Studio are also unaffected by this change.

Closing

Since this is an Experimental Feature, your experiences while actually playing with it will be extremely helpful in determining how we develop it further.

If you encounter any awkward situations, or moments where you think, “I wish my Zoi wouldn’t change clothes here,” please feel free to share your feedback with us.

We’ll continue refining the system based on your feedback.

I’ll be back again with another development update.

Thank you.

30 Likes

Wow​:laughing::laughing::laughing: August update gonna hit, this content makes a big diffrence am so excited and on the MISTIRIOUS OBJECTS camera, make up kit, Idol carpets and award truphies only points to CELEBRITY LIFE.

Oh, thank you for this information we hope to see more

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I’m in love with the game, I can’t say more! Haha You can tell the care and effort you’re putting into it.

One question though, is there a way to make it so that when a Zoi comes out of the sea they don’t put on their everyday outfit right away? It’s a bit jarring because if you want to keep enjoying the beach, sunbathing and stuff, they’re constantly changing clothes…

I’d encourage you to check out this link I posted for the future, it would be something fun

Shopping in stores

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KJun and the Inzoi dev team, I think you guys have really outdone yourselves with these updates. Fundamentals first was needed!! I think making the decision to focus on the fundamentals is what will really turn this game around! I love it, and omg we finally get walking babies!!!

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AAAH I got invested in the movie xD who is the killer?

The toddler waking is the cutest thing ever!:psycat_3: I love it! and I’m so happy about the new poses and on top interactive poses? I’m beyond happy! :custom_heart:

I can’t wait for the game future, I love the game and I know with time I will only love it more, thank you :psycat_blush:

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@Kjun Hello Kjun :blush:

Thank you for this update. I’m especially encouraged to hear that the team is revisiting genetics and considering unifying the underlying male and female facial data so inherited facial traits can transfer more consistently between genders.

I made a detailed proposal about this earlier this year because I think CAZ presets and genetics ultimately need to be designed as one connected system:

CAZ Presets & Genetics System — Unified Proposal

My proposal goes into facial inheritance, blending, modular presets, genetic history, custom colors, and a more scalable preset architecture, because I think solving that foundation could open the door to a much stronger genetics system.

I also really welcome the new hairstyles and the attention being given to face presets in the video. My preference, though, it would make more sense to expand CAZ with more new presets and additional preset controls across all existing default presets rather than visually revamping the defaults themselves. More starting options and greater control would expand what creators can make without unnecessarily altering the existing foundation, while providing greater long-term value than subjective cosmetic revisions to presets that players are already using.


I do have one major request: please make sure revamping the current face presets or unifying the male/female base facial data does not alter existing custom Zois, saved presets, or Canvas creations. :double_exclamation_mark:


I don’t know how inZOI internally stores a completed custom sculpt, so I don’t want to assume that changing the base presets will automatically affect existing characters. But if any part of a custom sculpt is evaluated relative to its original preset, base face, or underlying morph data, replacing or remapping that data could potentially change a Zoi’s facial proportions without the creator touching anything.

The video says that many existing face presets are being “revamped,” but it is not clear whether that means entirely new presets are simply being added, existing preset slots are being visually revised, or the underlying data of current presets is actually being replaced.

We already went through a version of this problem with the v0.8.0 age-based facial changes. Existing Zois developed different jaw, head, and facial proportions, and creators who had spent hours sculpting their characters saw their work change underneath them. After players documented the problem, the team acknowledged that some facial settings were being applied too heavily and began readjusting the transitions.

Previous facial-morph / legacy sculpt discussion:

That experience is why I strongly believe legacy protection should be built into this new preset/genetics work from the beginning rather than added after existing Zois are affected.

If existing presets are substantially rebuilt, could their current versions please remain available as legacy data while revised presets receive new versions or IDs? Existing saved Zois, custom presets, and Canvas creations could then continue referencing the facial data they were originally created with.

If the future unified male/female facial system requires existing characters to be migrated, an optional “Convert to New Facial System” or “Preserve Legacy Sculpt” choice would also be extremely valuable rather than automatically migrating every existing Zoi.

Most importantly, if an update will change existing preset geometry, facial morph behavior, slider interpretation, or the underlying male/female facial data, please tell us beforehand exactly what is changing and whether existing saved Zois and Canvas creations will be affected.

Even when the underlying sculpt itself is not intentionally changed, we have recently seen how undocumented CAZ rendering and appearance changes can still make completed characters look noticeably different due to shader changes and updates.

I’m genuinely excited about where both of these systems are heading. I just hope that progress can happen without retroactively changing the facial data that existing creations were built on. New systems should expand what we can create while preserving the work players have already spent hours or days creating.

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Hello Kjun and team. Thanks a lot for the newest update​:four_leaf_clover:

I like a lot of what is shown here, especially the work on babies, genetics and some of the older systems that were left rough or incomplete. That is exactly the kind of work I was hoping to see from the “Fundamentals First” direction.

At the same time, I still have this growing feeling that inZOI sometimes starts polishing systems before the foundation underneath them is stable enough.

A new movie for the cinema is a nice detail. More animations, interactions and little pieces of content are nice too. I am not saying those things should never be added, or that every developer on the team could simply be reassigned to autonomy or simulation programming.

But when so many core systems still feel unfinished, inconsistent or disconnected from each other, seeing increasingly fine-grained additions can feel a little backwards.

For me, the biggest priority of a life simulator should still be the simulation itself: autonomy, relationships, memories, personalities, family behavior, reactions to events, consequences, and all of those systems actually influencing one another in believable ways.

I would much rather have one cinema movie in a game where my Zois behave like people with persistent relationships, memories and personalities than ten cinema movies in a game where the surrounding life simulation still struggles to create convincing stories on its own.

That is probably the best way I can describe my concern: it sometimes feels as though the team is already applying the fine polish while the underlying structure is still being stabilized.

The baby-system changes shown here actually demonstrate why foundational work matters so much. Reworking the underlying system can improve many things at once instead of adding another isolated feature on top. I would really like to see that same philosophy applied even more strongly to autonomy, relationships and the broader life simulation.

The smaller details can always make an already strong simulation richer later. But they cannot replace the strong simulation underneath them.

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I understand your concern very much. I don’t really understand many things about game development, to be honest, but I do think it seems like they’re heading in the right direction to improve those systems you describe, since over the last few months they’ve mentioned that their intention is to connect everything together. But I suppose in the end there will be several departments or teams that can work on various things until everything becomes more polished. I see both things as feasible.

Besides, I suppose including those details makes people get hooked, become more curious, and keep playing. Since when it comes to systems, people value or appreciate those details when you play, and if they don’t include new mechanics or details, players can get bored and ultimately they’ll want to reach a final launch as complete as possible so they can move forward…

But I agree with you on greater cohesion within the game, especially on this:

But we’ll have to have faith and patience that they’ll achieve it… They’re a good team and you can see they’re committed to achieving things that seem crazy to me :smiley:

6 Likes

I completely understand your point, and I do agree that different departments can work on different things at the same time. I also don’t expect, for example, an artist or animator to suddenly start fixing autonomy or relationship systems just because those systems need more work.

And I do have faith that the team wants to improve these things. I think some of the changes shown here, especially the more foundational ones, are genuinely encouraging.

My concern is more about the overall prioritization and direction of development.

There are still bugs and broken behaviors in the game that have existed for months, including some that can have a pretty significant impact on gameplay. At the same time, many of the core simulation systems still need considerably more work and cohesion. So when increasingly small details and additions keep appearing alongside that, development can sometimes feel a little scattered from a player’s perspective.

I absolutely understand that new content and little details help keep Early Access interesting. I don’t think development should stop adding everything until the game is completely fixed either. There needs to be a balance.

But right now that balance sometimes feels off to me.

And I think Early Access is exactly the time to voice concerns like this. Patience and constructive feedback aren’t mutually exclusive. We can appreciate the team, believe in what they are trying to achieve, and still point out when the development priorities feel difficult to follow from the outside.

Ultimately, I really want inZOI to succeed, which is why I care so much about seeing the foundation become stable and interconnected first. Once that foundation is strong, all of those smaller details will make the game even better. Right now, though, it sometimes feels like everything is being worked on at once without enough of it reaching a truly solid state.

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@kjun Hey Kjun! I have a recommendation for the game. I think there should be like a singing career where you can be really famous (like the sims 4 ) but even better. You can add meet and greets and concerts that would be so fun!

You’re right and I agree with you. I’m telling you, I don’t have experience in video games and even less in development, I’ve only played life simulations​:grinning_face:. And yes, I think this kind of feedback is really necessary because there are people who see things that others miss…

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Hi Kjun! The babies’ improvements look great, and I’m totally in love with the new walking animation :heart_eyes:
Can’t wait to see what you’re cooking for the celebrity and actor career that I think you’re teasing in the video :eyes:

I was thinking about the development of InZoi this morning, and I was wondering if you plan to develop the lives of the other Zois of the town, especially the friends, colleagues, and neighbours of our Zois.
Let me explain myself: for now, the other townies don’t get to marry, have kids of their own, or develop their careers. This feels unnatural, especially for the close friends of our Zois. I’d love to see my townie friend get married, have relationships, have kids who could play with mine, etc, so it would feel more like real life. This is something key to giving the most life-like experience in a life sim game. The Sims 4 didn’t have this either, but I think most of the players were using the MCCC mod, which allowed them to develop all of these things in-game.
I guess it could be a mess or too difficult to make if it’s done to every single townie, but it would be perfect if it could be developed only for the Zois who have a strong relationship with our Zois (if they have the friend tag or the colleague tag, for example).
I don’t know if this topic has already been discussed or if it’s already on the plans, but I think it could change the game entirely and everybody would enjoy this a lot!!

Thank you for your time reading my comment! And thank you for putting all of your care and effort into developing InZoi; it’s impressive how it has improved since the EA release!! :folded_hands: :pink_heart: Kudos to the team!

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I agree with you on this. At the same time, I do think that adding new features during Early Access is important. It gives players new things to test, and it also gives the developers opportunities to discover new bugs and problems before the game is fully released.

However, I sometimes have the same feeling that development can seem a little scattered. There are still important bugs, existing features, animations, and systems that need more work and refinement, while new things continue to be added.

For me, it’s not about saying that new features shouldn’t be added. It’s more about making sure that the things we already have are also given enough attention, especially when they have problems that affect the quality of the experience or even gameplay.

For example, I’m happy whenever we get new animations, but I also wonder whether some of the existing animations that still look unnatural will be revisited. The animation where two characters are supposed to hold hands is one example that comes to mind. The interaction is there, but the animation itself still doesn’t look very natural. It’s great to see new animations being added, but will some of the older ones that already have noticeable problems also receive another pass?

The same applies to bugs and gameplay behaviors. For example, there is the issue where tables can sometimes be completely cleared when we don’t intend to do that, and this can even interfere with certain careers. That’s not just a small visual bug anymore; if it can prevent or disrupt gameplay, I think it’s fair for players to wonder how issues like this are being prioritized compared to new features.

The upcoming vacation feature is another example, although in a different way. I’m happy that we’re getting vacations, but it also raises some genuine questions for me about how deeply this new system will be connected to the rest of the simulation. These aren’t things I’m asking just to demand more features; I’m genuinely wondering how the system will work, because I don’t think these aspects have really been addressed in the communication about vacations so far.

For example, when our Zoi leaves for another city, will time continue to progress normally in their home city while they’re away? And what happens to the other Zoi who stay at home? Will they continue living their lives normally, going to work, doing their activities and aging while we’re away, or will they essentially be put on pause until we return? How will this work in order to keep the simulation coherent?

If we leave during summer, will it still be summer when we return, or will the season have progressed during our absence? Will the vacation destination follow the same passage of time and seasons?

And what about the people we meet there? If our Zoi meets someone during their vacation and develops a relationship with them, will they be able to continue talking to that person after returning home? Could they maintain a long-distance relationship? Could that relationship eventually give our Zoi a reason to move there, or make them want to return to that city specifically because of that person?

I don’t know whether these systems will actually work this way, and that’s precisely why I’m wondering about it. I haven’t really seen these aspects explained in the communication about vacations so far.

These details may seem small, but I think they can make a huge difference in a life simulation. They are the kind of connections that can make a feature feel like a natural part of our Zoi’s life rather than an isolated activity.

And that’s something I feel applies to many existing systems as well. Sometimes we already have the basic feature, but it still needs more depth, more consequences, better animations, bug fixes, or stronger connections with other parts of the simulation.

I absolutely love InZOI and I’m very excited about its future, so I’m not saying this from a negative perspective. I just sometimes feel that the game is adding another layer of polish or another new feature while some existing systems could still benefit from a deeper rework and stronger interconnections.

For me, the real strength of InZOI could come from how all these systems interact with each other, rather than simply from having a large number of individual features. That’s what could make the simulation feel truly alive and coherent.

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I agree with your points. And I really don’t mean the criticism in a bad way. We are here because we love inZOI and see the potential in it. I really want to see it succeed which is why I think that this type of feedback is also important​:four_leaf_clover:

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many thanks to the team and Kjun, when I saw the baby running I was sooo happy! I’m excited about everything new :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

You can turn off the automatic clothing change feature for each Zoi individually. However, you won’t be able to change their clothes manually afterward; you’ll have to switch the toggle back to “on” first. It’s a bit cumbersome, but it prevents your Zoi from changing into their everyday clothes at the beach.

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Exactly! It’s an interaction that I love and at the same time it seems like it was done just to get by. Still, I use it because I find it interesting, and when I discovered that you can swim on the beach holding hands, my mind was blown haha

I have the same doubts, and yet I’m looking forward to trying it, since I have a family I haven’t brought to Chaya because of the current feature. Since my Zoi has a business and babies :smiley:

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I think so too! and I love this feedback! I doubt he’ll take the criticism the wrong way. Personally, I really liked it, since it gives us an opportunity to dive deeper into the game and mechanics or features that are truly necessary :smiling_face:

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Hey! Thank you so much, I hadn’t noticed that :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: