School Atmosphere

The 3 atmospheres. February 21st, 2016.

“	The final game won't be this dark all the time...unless you want it to be.	”
	— YandereDev, "Eavesdropping, Notes in Lockers, and Faking Suicide".

The School Atmosphere is an important feature in Yandere Simulator that determines how characters at Akademi behave after certain events.

Depending on Ayano's actions, the School Atmosphere will change, and by extension, the difficulty of overall gameplay will be impacted.

If Ayano commits murder and doesn't dispose of the corpses, or leaves other forms of evidence, the School Atmosphere will decrease. Characters will have their cone of vision increased, and will give increased reputation penalties, should they see something suspicious. In the future, students may lock their lockers if they become paranoid, not allowing you to use certain game mechanics like note writing or stealing phones, affecting the difficulty and your strategy in gameplay.

Stages of School Atmosphere

High Atmosphere

High School Atmosphere at the school front.

High School Atmosphere in the hallway.

This is the default and normal School Atmosphere. Students during high School Atmosphere all have a short range of sight, and will give Ayano a lower reputation penalty of ten points if she is caught committing a crime, inappropriate, or suspicious act. When passing by Ayano, they will overlook her sanity, uniform, and any weapons visibly held unless she is within their cone of vision. They will react to screams only from short distances, making it easier to commit murder. High School Atmosphere is between 100 and 70%.

Medium Atmosphere

Medium School Atmosphere at the school front.

Medium School Atmosphere in the hallway.

Students during the medium School Atmosphere will notice weapons and criminal activity faster than in high School Atmosphere. Ayano's reputation drops by fifteen points when caught doing criminal activities. Students will react to screams from longer distances, making it slightly harder to murder students. The medium School Atmosphere is between 69 and 21%. Students are more aware, but not yet fully paranoid. Sleuths from the Photography Club (and the Newspaper Club in 1980s Mode) will also start investigating around the school in Middle School Atmosphere and can take pictures of murder or criminal evidence like a Phone Addict, making murder more difficult.

Low Atmosphere

Low School Atmosphere at the school front.

Low School Atmosphere in the hallway.

When School Atmosphere is 20% or lower, the environment is much darker, making it hard to see from a distance. The music is warped and off-beat. Students are very paranoid at this stage, will react more quickly to dangerous situations, and will react (become scared) to Ayano's footsteps. Ayano's reputation drops by twenty points when she is caught doing criminal activities, so it will take longer to regain a positive reputation. Every student will refuse to do a favor for Ayano, meaning Ayano cannot ask them to follow her, distract another student, or tell them to go away because of the low school atmosphere. It may be possible in the future to hear thunder sound effects in this atmosphere. Security cameras and metal detectors will be installed if a faculty member or Student Council member had been killed earlier (the day before).

If the Demonic Ritual has been completed, the School Atmosphere will automatically be at 20%.

“	At its lowest point, the school atmosphere can resemble a horror game. After all, at its core, Yandere Simulator is a horror game...where you are the monster.	”
	— YandereDev, "Eavesdropping, Notes in Lockers, and Faking Suicide"

Paranoia

Inkyu Basu and Sakyu Basu acting paranoid. February 21st, 2016.

Midori Gurin acting paranoid. February 21st, 2016.

Paranoid students during gossiping period. February 21st, 2016.

Paranoid students during gossiping period. February 21st, 2016.

Paranoid students during gossiping period. February 21st, 2016.

Paranoid NPCs are constantly looking around, thus increasing their range of sight. They are continuously trying to spot the criminal. When caught in criminal activities, Ayano's reputation decreases dramatically. Students will also react to bloodstains, weapons, and other suspicious activity from far distances, making it very difficult to murder a student without being caught. Students will also be inclined to inform teachers about suspicious evidence (like weapons stained with blood and bloodstains on the floor), which could increase the speed of the police's arrival and increase the difficulty of the game.

Teachers are also programmed to be paranoid during the low School Atmosphere. As of some update, they are no longer afraid at Low Atmosphere. The majority of the students and teachers in school will be affected, with the exceptions of Kuu Dere, Hazu Kashibuchi, Toga Tabara, Osana Najimi, Raibaru Fumetsu, Tsuruzo Yamazaki, Shin Higaku, Budo Masuta (unless the club disbands), Miyuji Shan, Uekiya Engeika, Kaga Kusha, Itachi Zametora, Kyoshi Taiso, the Sleuths, the Student Council (Except in 1980s Mode), the Delinquents, the Teachers, and the Bullies.

In the future, footstep sounds will make it much harder to sneak up on a paranoid student. Ayano will have to either crouch or crawl up to them to stay undetected. There may be different paranoid animations as well, depending on the level of atmosphere.

Sleuths

Main Article: Sleuth

They are generally not threatening if the School Atmosphere is high, but the more it lowers, the more dangerous they get. When School Atmosphere is low (starting when the atmosphere is 80% or lower), sleuths will start to be on the lookout for any criminal activity, by checking in on every student. If they catch Ayano committing any crimes, they will take a picture and immediately send it to the police, resulting in an instant Game Over. If Ayano is part of the Photography Club, they will not suspect her of being the murderer, so they will stay away from her.

Restoring School Atmosphere

To restore this feature back to normal, Ayano must not perform any suspicious activities, which helps the School Atmosphere over time. After about a week without suspicious activity, School Atmosphere can come back from 0% to 100%.

There are two ways to raise the school atmosphere. The first method is framing a student or rival. When someone is framed and arrested, the School Atmosphere will increase by 50% as most students believe the killer has been caught. The second method is exclusive to 1980s Mode. If Ryoba is in the Newspaper Club, she can write a newspaper which will raise the school atmosphere.

There will be no way to restore school atmosphere if the player murders one of the Student Council members. This will result in Megami Saikou (Kocho Shuyona in 1980s Mode) installing security cameras and metal detectors at school and always leaving school atmosphere to 0%.

Each day, the school atmosphere will increase by 5%. School Atmosphere will also carry over from week to week.

Starting Screen

The calendar will change as the School Atmosphere drops. At normal School Atmosphere, the calendar shows a bright sun with a bright pink background at 100%. As School Atmosphere declines, the sun in the calendar becomes more overcast and the pink background will start to turn gray. It will also make the white sun turn into a gray, dark cloud.

In 1980's Mode, at normal School Atmosphere, the calendar shows a bright sun with a blue background at 100%. As School Atmosphere declines, the sun in the calendar becomes more overcast and the blue background will start to turn dark gray. It will also make the white sun turn into a gray, dark cloud.

Atmosphere at 100%.

Atmosphere at 80%.

Atmosphere at 60%.

Atmosphere at 40%.

Atmosphere at 20%.

Atmosphere at 0%.

1980's Mode Atmosphere at 100%.

1980's Mode Atmosphere at 80%.

1980's Mode Atmosphere at 40%.

1980's Mode Atmosphere at 40%.

1980's Mode Atmosphere at 20%.

1980's Mode Atmosphere at 0%.

Loading Screen

The icon of Ayano/Ryoba will change as School Atmosphere drops. When atmosphere is 51% or above, a small pink Ayano/Ryoba running with a knife will be displayed. When atmosphere is 50% and below, a small, bloody Ayano stabbing a deceased Rival-chan will be displayed. In 1980s Mode, Ryoba stabbing a deceased Sumire Saitozaki will be displayed instead.

Normal School Atmosphere.

Low School Atmosphere.

1980s Normal School Atmosphere.

1980s Low School Atmosphere.

Decreasing School Atmosphere

Each student that goes missing without explanation decreases atmosphere by 10%. Each discovered body decreases atmosphere by 20%. Killing a Student Council member locks the atmosphere at 0%.

The player can also manually change the School Atmosphere by pressing the A key in the debug commands. Pressing it will have the feature go through a cycle. It changes the School Atmosphere to 50%, then 0%, then 100%, and it repeats.

Bugs

• In some old builds, if there is an interruption to the rival confession scene on Friday (Such as a body being found), the game will immediately restart to Monday and the School Atmosphere will be set at 0%. When arriving at school though, the School Atmosphere will be at 100%.

Trivia

• School Atmosphere was implemented in the September 1st, 2015 Build.
• When fog was tested for School Atmosphere, it severely decreased the frame rate. The fog also clipped into walls. This couldn't be fixed, so it was eventually removed.
• In future builds, the Kaobook page for Akademi may get negative comments/reviews if the School Atmosphere is low.
• While School Atmosphere may affect gameplay, it will not affect any of the final game's endings.
• As of the June 1st 2018, the Sleuth persona has been implemented into the game, fitting the description of a student trying to "snap a photo of the killer."
• There won't be any storms in low School Atmosphere because the rain would wash away the blood for Ayano. Low School Atmosphere is meant to be disadvantageous. This idea may have changed since then, as it may now rain in the game in the future.
• In the future, it might be possible to disable School Atmosphere with a cheat code, but it would disable all achievements, collectibles, rewards, and challenges.
• The students will always be shaking in low School Atmosphere, except when performing any action that requires physical movement.
• Murdered teachers will lower the School Atmosphere more than murdered students.
• If a town is implemented, YandereDev says that it would make sense if they had two different kinds of Atmospheres.
• In Lovesick Mode, the atmosphere is always 0%.
• At low atmosphere, when the player is bloody and carrying a weapon, students will automatically think that the player is a murderer.

Gallery

Metal detectors at low school atmosphere.

Security cameras at low school atmosphere.

Original photo of high School Atmosphere from "Eavesdropping, Notes in Lockers, and Faking Suicide".

Original photo of medium School Atmosphere from "Eavesdropping, Notes in Lockers, and Faking Suicide".

Original photo of low School Atmosphere from "Eavesdropping, Notes in Lockers, and Faking Suicide".