STONKS-9800: Stock Market Simulator News

[p]Hey everyone!
New big update is here — a mix of things I promised, and a few extras that snuck in along the way. Thanks again for all your support and ideas — this project has grown a lot thanks to you![/p][p][/p][previewyoutube][/previewyoutube][h2]What’s new:[/h2]

• [p]You can now open your own charity foundation! It’ll collect donations and support good causes... or help you quietly lower your taxes and move money around. Depends on how you want to play it.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]There's now an art market, where you can invest in paintings and sculptures. Some of them can gain a lot of value over time — or not. It's a gamble![/p][p][/p]
• [p]New Prestige stat that tracks your overall status — from real estate to art to stocks. Right now it’s mostly for achievements, but I’ll be using it more in future updates.[/p][p][/p]
• [p]A new pachinko machine has been added — good luck![/p][p][/p]
• [p]New setting: you can now choose to auto-stop time at the start of weekdays, weekends, or every day.[/p]
• [p]Stock market days now end based on your total influence in a company (not just how many shares you bought). Should help a lot with big companies.[/p]
• [p]Also, the money display system was updated — now supports amounts way bigger than a trillion.[/p]

[h2]Company management:[/h2]

• [p]Expense sliders are now easier to use.[/p]
• [p]Projects now give your company more reserve cash.[/p]
• [p]Added a Stats tab to help you track company progress over time — and prep for future features.[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Fixes & tweaks:[/h2]

• [p]The “invite to shareholder meeting” checkbox now works again.[/p]
• [p]Red X case in the UFO machine is now counted properly.[/p]
• [p]UFO machine sound now respects your volume settings (sorry if it was loud before 😅).[/p]
• [p]Tons of smaller fixes — including some missing localization lines that are now back.[/p]

[hr][/hr][p]That’s it for now! Some stuff I originally planned for 0.8 still needs time, but I’m aiming to finish it all by the end of the year — including mod support, a real tutorial, and tasks from your board of directors.[/p][p]Thanks again for sticking with me — I’ll keep building![/p]

[p]A smaller patch this time, mostly focused on community-requested features and general improvements. Thanks to everyone for your feedback and support![/p][p][/p][p]Company Management:[/p]

• [p]Mergers and full buyouts are now separate actions with their own dedicated menu[/p]
• [p]New salary adjustment panel for your employees[/p]
• [p]Department view now shows icons for required character traits[/p]
• [p]If you run a large industrial company, you might now see your own brand cars on the market[/p]
• [p]If your company exceeds the staff limit, Amy will automatically fire the weakest employees to stay within the cap[/p]

[p]Friendship & Contacts:[/p]

• [p]New achievement + fixed some achievement icons for Steam[/p]
• [p]If friendship is 40 or more, you can now invite a character to hang out downtown (not just the bar)[/p]
• [p]Close friends are now more likely to call you instead of random contacts[/p]
• [p]You can now ask friends about the company they work at; these tips may also appear randomly in the bar[/p]
• [p]Some rare events now give fewer new contacts[/p]

[p]QoL Improvements:[/p]

• [p]You can now switch between text input fields using Tab (without weird character bugs)[/p]
• [p]When playing with a gamepad, a virtual keyboard now appears when selecting a text input[/p]
• [p]"Back" and "Continue" buttons now have hotkeys during character creation[/p]
• [p]Your car’s condition is now displayed as a percentage on the Home screen[/p]
• [p]Scrollbars are more visible for long messages, with improved controls and a tooltip[/p]

[p]Stock Market:[/p]

• [p]New bulk buy option: x500 shares at once[/p]
• [p]Market won’t react as strongly to small trades anymore, making it harder to artificially inflate stock prices[/p]
• [p]Time is no longer spent when adjusting (but not confirming) a stock order[/p]

[p]Balance Changes:[/p]

• [p]Karaoke is now judged by performance percentage instead of points, making it easier to win[/p]
• [p]Building upgrades are slightly more expensive, but max-quality buildings are a bit cheaper overall[/p]
• [p]Pachinko ball physics are now a bit more random[/p]
• [p]Trying some improvements to AI behavior in poker[/p]

[p]Fixes:[/p]

• [p]Fixed UI glitches in the fishing mini-game[/p]
• [p]Fixed bug where you could scroll other sections during character creation[/p]
• [p]Fixed issue where closing a contact screen during a phone call would freeze the sound[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where the day wouldn’t end after visiting certain locations (like the arcade or karaoke), which could result in your car’s condition going into negative values[/p]

[p][/p]

Less car crashes

- The chart now remembers your settings (excluded companies).
- Your company staff can now also be sorted by experience level.

- Now the place in the influence ranking will be indicated correctly in Chinese.
- Fixed crash when playing in Japanese, where one line of text was missing
- Fixed a crash in the car menu
- Fixed a possible crash when pausing karaoke