Fresher game reactions, less talking about the last wave

Why this update

While testing a tower-defence session, I caught the companion talking about a wave that had already passed. Some remarks were based on an older screen observation, and a long response could fall further behind while it was being spoken.

This update tackles those sources of delay. It limits reuse of older observations and checks freshness again before queued speech starts.

What changed in v0.29.1

• Fresher gameplay observations. Older screen observations now need a fresh look within your existing screen-awareness limits, or the companion skips that comment.
• Stale remarks can be dropped before speech starts. A second freshness check catches comments that became outdated while the voice was being prepared.
• Shorter reactions. Gameplay instructions now ask for one brief remark about a new detail, with less repetition and fewer fast-changing numbers.
• Keep playing without having to answer. Leaving a gameplay comment unanswered no longer counts as a negative signal for adaptive chattiness.
• More natural game-screen requests. Requests such as “look at the map” can trigger a screen look when a game is detected and screen sharing is enabled.
• Screen snipping stays within reach. The snip and close buttons stay visible when the companion stands at the edge of the screen.

Try it with your next game

Install the latest Windows build, open Settings → Customise, and choose the screen awareness and chattiness that suit you. Keep Quiet off when you want your companion to speak first. You can keep playing without replying to every comment.

Your screen-sharing choices, Pause, Quiet and existing usage limits still apply. A skipped comment can be the right outcome when a fresh look is unavailable. Cloud screen looks and speech can use Sparks according to your settings.

Response timing and screen understanding still depend on your model, hardware and settings. Live gameplay tuning continues.

If a remark still arrives late, tell me the game, your chosen model and settings, and what was on screen when the remark began. That helps me tune the next update.