Update 0.3.2 - Quality of Life Features #1
[h3]Hello everyone! đź‘‹[/h3]
It is time for another update - version 0.3.2!
It may seem odd to emphasize time in bold, but in just a few seconds, you'll see that this update is all about time.
Let's jump in!
In this update, I’ve decided to tackle some Quality of Life (QoL) improvements you've been requesting for a while now, and I felt that the time was right to address them. There are two new main features coming with this update. The first is Time Control, specifically the first part of it — Pause.
There were two ways that I could've approached this. The first was a traditional pause that completely freezes the game, while the second was a time pause that lets you continue building, customizing, and managing your mall. The second option was the better choice since it aligns with how many other games in the genre work.
The only thing left now is the ability to speed up time, which will be addressed in the future as well!
While not directly tied to time control, this new tool is also related to time—it saves a lot of it! With the Eyedropper Tool, you can easily duplicate objects without much hassle. Previously, if you wanted to create the same object that's already in you mall, you had to search for it in the construction menu, build it, then enter the Material Designer of the original object, and with the Paint Tool paint the new object. Quite a journey!
With the Eyedropper Tool, you just eyedrop the original object, and now you can build as many identical copies of the object as you want, including materials.
While working on Time Control, I also took the opportunity to fix an issue with customers getting stuck on grass and escalators. Moments of euphoria from making progress quickly turned into despair while debugging and fixing these problems :)
Hopefully, most of the edge cases have now been taken care of, and if you ever notice your customers zooming across the map back to the spawner, that’s because they were stuck somewhere and couldn’t navigate back to a walkable area.
In update 0.2.4, I reverted back to Shader Model 5 from Shader Model 6. The technical details are not important, but this switch resulted in great improvements in stability for many people. What I haven't noticed until recently is that this change indroduced some micro stutters and decrease in preformance with large malls - namely 80's Dream and Sunny Skies.
I've made some adjustments, and the performance should now be a lot smoother for huge malls with shadows enabled, especially during camera movement. Depending on the situation and your system, you might see a 10-30% boost in performance.
Thank you, everyone, for your support, and I will see you in the next update! ❤️
- Milan, Developer
[h2]Additions & Improvements[/h2]
[h2]Small Changes[/h2]
[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]
[h2]Available Now[/h2]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1223530/
It is time for another update - version 0.3.2!
It may seem odd to emphasize time in bold, but in just a few seconds, you'll see that this update is all about time.
Let's jump in!
Time Control - Part 1 ⏳
In this update, I’ve decided to tackle some Quality of Life (QoL) improvements you've been requesting for a while now, and I felt that the time was right to address them. There are two new main features coming with this update. The first is Time Control, specifically the first part of it — Pause.
There were two ways that I could've approached this. The first was a traditional pause that completely freezes the game, while the second was a time pause that lets you continue building, customizing, and managing your mall. The second option was the better choice since it aligns with how many other games in the genre work.
The only thing left now is the ability to speed up time, which will be addressed in the future as well!
Object Eyedropper Tool
While not directly tied to time control, this new tool is also related to time—it saves a lot of it! With the Eyedropper Tool, you can easily duplicate objects without much hassle. Previously, if you wanted to create the same object that's already in you mall, you had to search for it in the construction menu, build it, then enter the Material Designer of the original object, and with the Paint Tool paint the new object. Quite a journey!
With the Eyedropper Tool, you just eyedrop the original object, and now you can build as many identical copies of the object as you want, including materials.
Stuck Customers
While working on Time Control, I also took the opportunity to fix an issue with customers getting stuck on grass and escalators. Moments of euphoria from making progress quickly turned into despair while debugging and fixing these problems :)
Hopefully, most of the edge cases have now been taken care of, and if you ever notice your customers zooming across the map back to the spawner, that’s because they were stuck somewhere and couldn’t navigate back to a walkable area.
Shadows Performance Optimized
In update 0.2.4, I reverted back to Shader Model 5 from Shader Model 6. The technical details are not important, but this switch resulted in great improvements in stability for many people. What I haven't noticed until recently is that this change indroduced some micro stutters and decrease in preformance with large malls - namely 80's Dream and Sunny Skies.
I've made some adjustments, and the performance should now be a lot smoother for huge malls with shadows enabled, especially during camera movement. Depending on the situation and your system, you might see a 10-30% boost in performance.
Thank you, everyone, for your support, and I will see you in the next update! ❤️
- Milan, Developer
Full Patch Notes 🔧
[h2]Additions & Improvements[/h2]
- Time control added: Pause Time.
- Eyedropper Tool added.
- Shadows performance optimized (10 - 30% FPS uplift based on different situations and settings).
[h2]Small Changes[/h2]
- Customers get teleported to spawn when stuck on grass or unable to move.
- Right mouse button is now used to exit Paint Tool (instead of UI button).
- Custom cursors added for Paint and Eyedropper Tools.
- Controls UI: right mouse button keybind added for Paint Tool.
[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]
- Fixed: Customers getting stuck on escalators.
- Fixed: Customers getting stuck on grass.
[h2]Available Now[/h2]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1223530/