HOME (OFF Fangame) cannot begin new game

[DraconicNEO]

I'm trying to play the OFF fangame known as HOME however when I try to begin a new game I cannot get past the initial dialogue, it simply throws me back to the title screen. Selecting the new game option does the same thing but if I select continue after being thrown back I get stuck on a black screen with the ability to open the menu but with no character.

I tested both on version 1.0.4 from Gamejolt and also the memorial version, both have identical behavior.

I'm using the Flatpak version of EasyRPG version from the website: EasyRPG Player version 0.8.1.1 “Stun - Patch 1”

Here's the log from trying to run the game:

[2025-08-20 00:37:21] Debug: EasyRPG Player 0.8.1 git@7d0c9a8 (flatpak-CI, 2025-07-31) started
[2025-08-20 00:37:21] Debug: =================================================================
[2025-08-20 00:37:21] Debug: CLI: 
[2025-08-20 00:37:21] Debug: Clock: StdSteady steady=true period=ns (1 / 1000000000)
[2025-08-20 00:37:21] Debug: Seeded the RNG with 1755675441.
[2025-08-20 00:37:22] Debug: SDL2: RendererInfo hw=true sw=false vsync=true
[2025-08-20 00:37:22] Debug: SDL2: Detected format (0) SDL_PIXELFORMAT_ARGB8888 : rank=(2)
[2025-08-20 00:37:22] Debug: SDL2: Detected format (1) SDL_PIXELFORMAT_ABGR8888 : rank=(2)
[2025-08-20 00:37:22] Debug: SDL2: Selected Pixel Format SDL_PIXELFORMAT_ARGB8888
[2025-08-20 00:37:22] Debug: Controller 0 (Steam Deck) added
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: Detected encoding: ibm-5348_P100-1997
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: Game and Save Directory:
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: 1: [Native]  -> /run/media/deck/838a5bea-feba-43f3-9ba2-11a6c38589a6/Emulation/roms/easyrpg/HOME
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: Loading game A New HOME
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: Game does not need RTP (FullPackageFlag=1)
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: EXEReader: EXFONT resource found (DE 0xde240; 0xe1688; len 0x2168)
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: EXEReader: VERSIONINFO resource found (DE 0xde4c0; 0xec10c; len 0x274)
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: RPG_RT information: version=1.0.8.0 logos=1 code=0xc8e00 cherry=0x0 geep=0x0 arch=x86 easyrpg=false
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: Engine configured as: 2k=false 2k3=true MajorUpdated=true Eng=false
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: wine prefix not found: "/home/deck/.wine"
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: wine prefix not found: "/home/deck/.wine" [6x]
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: Adding /home/deck/.var/app/org.easyrpg.player/data/rtp/2003 to RTP path
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: RTP is "Official English" (675/675)
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: Patch configuration: Ineluki Key Patch
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: Actor 2: Removing item 130 (of type 7) from equipment slot 3 (needs type 3)
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: Actor 3: Removing item 27 from equipment slot 1 (Not equippable by this actor)
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: Actor 3: Removing item 60 (of type 2) from equipment slot 3 (needs type 3)
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: Actor 4: Removing item 28 from equipment slot 1 (Not equippable by this actor)
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: Actor 8: Removing item 130 (of type 7) from equipment slot 3 (needs type 3)
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: Cannot find: Font/Font
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: Cannot find: Font/Font2
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: Cannot find: Logo/LOGO1
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: EXEReader: LOGO1 resource found (DE 0xde0e0; 0xde6d8; len 0x11ae)
[2025-08-20 00:37:28] Debug: Resolution changed to 320x240
[2025-08-20 00:37:30] Debug: Starting new game
[2025-08-20 00:37:30] Debug: Loaded Map Map0382.lmu
[2025-08-20 00:37:30] Debug: Tree: Splash Screen < Introduction < Home
[2025-08-20 00:37:43] Debug: Loaded Map Map0381.lmu
[2025-08-20 00:37:43] Debug: Tree: Title Screen < Introduction < Home
[2025-08-20 00:37:59] Debug: Actor 2: Removing item 130 (of type 7) from equipment slot 3 (needs type 3)
[2025-08-20 00:37:59] Debug: Actor 3: Removing item 27 from equipment slot 1 (Not equippable by this actor)
[2025-08-20 00:37:59] Debug: Actor 3: Removing item 60 (of type 2) from equipment slot 3 (needs type 3)
[2025-08-20 00:37:59] Debug: Actor 4: Removing item 28 from equipment slot 1 (Not equippable by this actor)
[2025-08-20 00:37:59] Debug: Actor 8: Removing item 130 (of type 7) from equipment slot 3 (needs type 3)

[florianessl]

I had a quick look at it: This game makes use of the "BetterAEP" patch to implement its own custom titlescreen.

In RPG_RT, the built-in vanilla title is skipped & the game boots up to a near-perfect reimplementation which is actually built on an in-engine map:

Here, the "Continue" & "Quit" functions are handled via custom patch routines which are not yet emulated by the EasyRPG Player, so those only work in RPG_RT. (See open issue #1182 - an implementation for the BetterAEP is currently WIP)

But the game still works in this state:
When loading the game via the EasyRPG Player, you are still seeing the original screen which is skipped by RPG_RT before seeing the game's custom title map & thus have two select "New Game" twice to actually boot up.

[DraconicNEO]

Thanks I was able to get it to work, this is an annoying issue though, especially since I found nothing online on what to do. Hopefully this gets resolved eventually.