News Tower News

[p][/p][h2]GREEETINGS NEWSBEARERS! [/h2][p] [/p][p]The smell of spring is in the air, trees are gathering their strength, preparing for a coming bloom... But we do not care much about that! What we want is more print! More sales![/p][p][/p][p]We come today with a new round of bug fixes and quality of life improvements, but we can already tell you, something bigger is in the print! Stay tuned![/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• [p]A competitor stealing your sales node on the calendar will now properly impact your sales when overlapping your perception.[/p]
• [p]Reporters on the Hiring Board will once again have proper skill balance until new skills like Photography are unlocked.[/p]
• [p]Resupply Desk has been renamed to Transporter Desk.[/p]
• [p]Blue tutorial boxes that point to an object or employee in your tower would previously appear in front of the Settings menu when open. This has been fixed.[/p]
• [p]The French translation for "Print an informational newspaper" has been adjusted to prevent confusion. People could interpret it as a "neutral" newspaper.[/p]
• [p]A bug where sometimes the lighting (too dark) situation would not update correctly after moving a wall has been fixed.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some first week Introduction text still referring to an old reporter name that was changed.[/p]
• [p]Fixed Take A Loan tutorial triggering even when the player has a lot of money.[/p]
• [p]Fixed affiliation quests (where one Faction makes an appearance in a quest of another Faction) being able to spawn even if the player never tried a quest for the Faction it spawns at.[/p]
• [p]Fixed final Distrusted quest for High Society requiring ads to be printed spawning even though the player may not have ads unlocked. It will now fall back to a mutable quest in this case.[/p]
• [p]Fixed Eleventh Hour trait ("If an item is at least 50% done on the last hour of Sunday, it will be complete before the end of Sunday.") not working due to using an incorrect value for measuring production progress, thus never triggering the effect.[/p]
• [p]Fixed resources in Dumbwaiters not counted towards supply count or low resource monitoring. This also affects automatic resource ordering, which should kick in less often if you still have a lot of resources going around in Dumbwaiters.[/p]
• [p]Fixed Chairman Kingsland not having a standing variant for quests.[/p]
• [p]The deformation of character bodies in the game is now fixed to be disabled outside of the camera view.[/p]
• [p]Fixed window lights not being rendered for players using D3D11 on Windows machines. Also fixed an issue where they were rendered for the wrong floor.[/p]
• [p]Food and Meal sprites are no longer rendered over the fridge door when put in the fridge.[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue where circular lights were infinite in range, meaning you could place one to light up an entire floor..[/p]
• [p]Fixed the Continental Connector trait using the icon of the Ad On trait.[/p]
• [p]Some postcard texts in various languages overflowed the postcard boundaries. This has been fixed.[/p]
• [p]The icon for the General on the score screen was the same as the Mafia. This has been fixed as well.[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Quality of Life improvements[/h2]

• [p]Item Control for Dumbwaiters and Storage Cabinets. This feature is similar to what was already available for Transporters. It allows you to select the types of items that are allowed to be transported (or stored). This allows for greater control of the flow of resources and chain items in your tower.[/p]
• [p]Blue hints for Classic, Lowrise and Highrise. A new feature is now available to help players better understand new and existing mechanics without needing them to go through a new Introduction game. This can be fully toggled off using the new “Show Hints” setting. Note that turning it on again will delay them until after the next print![/p]
• [p]The missing news of 1938 has been translated and added in this update![/p]
• [p]The "Editor Enabled" checkbox beneath a Story File in the newsbook now remembers the last used value (per game)[/p]
• [p]The cook now stops cooking meals at the Canteen Kitchen when there are 10 or more items in its output.[/p]
• [p]Implemented a Disable Risk Cinematics setting. When the setting is turned on, players no longer experience the cinematics where the camera follows a car/truck associated with the triggered risk[/p]
• [p]Some time estimations have been slightly corrected visually to better match how long tasks feel to complete when monitoring them. The actual durations have not been changed.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Thank you all so much for the love and care for the game. We are committed to make it one of the best tycoon-management game ever. [/p][p]Join us on discord and X to follow all the news about News Tower! [/p][p][/p][p] [/p]

[p][/p][h3]The Early Days and the "First Spark"[/h3][p][/p][p]Interviewer: To start, how long have you been working on News Tower? When did it go from just "doodling" to a real project?[/p][p]Jan-Maarten: It’s difficult to put an exact date on it because the first spark of the idea was quite a long time ago. Around 2017, I was working alone from home and put together a rough pitch deck and some art to communicate the concept. By the end of 2018, the studio was founded, and we really started in 2019.[/p][p]At first, I only worked on it one day a week while focusing on another game for Gamious, Turmoil, but it quickly became clear that if we wanted this to work, it had to be my full-time focus. In total, it’s been about six or seven years of development, though not all of it was full-time.[/p][p]Interviewer: It’s a big "baby" now; it has grown quite a bit, wouldn’t you say?[/p][p]JM: It’s funny because my daughter was born in August 2018. She doesn’t know a life where I’m not working on News Tower—she’s seven now. It’s a reminder that you can only do so many projects like this in a lifetime when they take seven years. The goal was always to create an "evergreen" tycoon game that we could keep updating for multiple years.[/p][p][/p][p]Early concept of the building and layout system[/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][h3]The Anxiety of Early Access[/h3][p][/p][p]Interviewer: Moving on to the first launch day, the Early Access launch. How did you experience it? Were you confident, or was it a process of trial and error?[/p][p]JM: I’m an anxious person by nature, so it was scary. We had some confidence because we won the Indigo Prize, but reaching Early Access meant we finally had to deliver a functional game, not just an exciting idea.[/p][p]We were not sure what to expect, but the numbers were actually quite nice, we hit over 1,150 concurrent users on Steam. People joined the Discord and gave great feedback, which helped a lot. We really wanted, together with the community, to create the best experience. However, we also made mistakes. For example, our Steam Next Fest demo was way too janky, I think we even had a last-minute bug that prevented half the players from getting past the intro. Partnering with Twin Sails Interactive gave us the professional framework to better manage last-minute risks. Now that the game is live, we feel a duty to do right by our players. We’ve shifted our focus toward long-term stability, ensuring things like save compatibility remain seamless, even as the game evolves beyond its more forgiving Early Access time.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p] Early concept of the building and layout system[/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][h3]Highs and Lows of Development[/h3][p][/p][p]Interviewer: Instinctively, what were the best and worst parts of the Early Access phase for you?[/p][p]JM: The high was definitely the launch, the influx of players, both in game and on Discord was amazing.[/p][p]The low point came about three-quarters of the way through Early Access. We realized that creating news and quest content required so much manual labor that we couldn't provide everything we promised. I spent two or three months doing nothing but intense work in Excel putting news items together, and because of that I couldn’t help with assets programmers needed. That was really difficult, it felt like it would never end.[/p][p]We eventually decided to change the roadmap and postpone some features from the 1.0 release. I felt like I was betraying the community, but the workload was just not feasible. On a personal level, it was also tough because my wife was pregnant and I was working nights and weekends out of a sense of ownership.[/p][p][/p][p]Complete Roadmap from EA launch until 1.0[/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][h3]Lessons Learned and Growth[/h3][p][/p][p]Interviewer: People usually don’t realize how long game development needs, especially if you are not a triple A studio. On a human level, how has News Tower changed you?[/p][p]JM: It taught me to let go. I’m a perfectionist and a control freak, but you can’t maintain that and ever finish a project. I had to learn the mantra: "Make it exist first, and perfect it later".[/p][p]I also learned that you can't please everyone. Especially in Early Access, it’s often better to show a rough sketch and let people play with it rather than waiting for a "perfect" version. I feel like a much better designer and illustrator now because of the mistakes we made.[/p][p]Interviewer: And it is important to accept your own limitations, I would rather be great at a couple of things rather than being Ok at all of them. Someone else will balance it out.[/p][p]JM: Exactly, and that is what I am the proudest of, News Tower really is a team effort. Some of us are better coders, some better illustrators, and we integrated their vision of design too.[/p][p]Interviewer: Would you say they are your work-family in a sense?[/p][p]JM: Definitely, most of us don’t have a gaming background. So we had to learn to know each other in order to work better together. Accept each other's skills and annoyances, no-body is perfect, but we grew from this and are a tight team now.[/p][p] [/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p][/p][h3]The 1.0 Launch and the Future[/h3][p][/p][p]Interviewer: What was the difference between the Early Access launch and the 1.0 launch?[/p][p]JM: 1.0 was even more scary. As the date approached, that voice in the back of my head started saying, "Maybe everyone who wanted News Tower already bought it in Early Access. It’s going to fail". Even after the launch went well and we saw high player counts, I would hyper-focus on negative comments in the Steam forums.[/p][p]Interviewer: It’s often hard to maintain perspective because most people enjoying the game are simply playing it, not posting about it. Reading through negative threads can be discouraging, but you have to remember that those voices don't always reflect the experience of the silent majority.[/p][p]JM: Exactly! My nature is to focus on that and worry that "people are going to find out the game isn't as good as we think it is". But now, that anxiety is being replaced by pride. It feels like our "baby," and we want to make sure it has a long and happy life.
We have a small but awesome team to do just that![/p][p][/p][p]As it is a project dear to us, we really want to keep on updating the game in the months to come with one update here in February, and a really cool announcement later in spring![/p][p] [/p][p] Livestream of the dev team for the 1.0 launch[/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p]Bonus picture: Part of the team did a small trip to New York to receive the Best Hidden Gem New York Game Awards![/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[p]Hello mogul-to-be, we're happy to announce we are joining Twin Sails Interactive Publisher Week! [/p][p]Starting from January 22nd until February 5th, News Tower is on sale with a 25% discount![/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p][p]Check it out![/p]

[p][/p][h2]GREEETINGS NEWSBEARERS! [/h2][p] [/p][p]As we're hitting the holiday seasons, we too wanted to bring gifts to you all! [/p][p][/p][p]First of all, a little reminder that, beside our ongoing Leaderboard contest, we also launched a giveaway. Running until January 1st, all you have to do is take part and boost your chances to win one of those sweet vinyl of the soundtrack of the game. [/p][p] We also wanted to take a moment and thank you all as we reach 3,000 reviews! This is a huge achievement and helps the game get the visibility it deserves![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2]Let it print, let it print, let it print! ❄❄❄[/h2][p][/p][p]We came bearing in-game gifts! More items to customize your tower with some Christmas Spirit! Find those items and more in our detailed patch-note below:[/p][p][/p][p][/p][h2][/h2][h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]

• [p]Fixed “Print x the most” requirement still considering European and Quest tags. They will now only consider the 6 base categories[/p]
• [p]“Print x the most” will now result in more items being added in the news pool with the requested tag[/p]
• [p]Fixed Boycott risks not working correctly when triggered from calendars[/p]
• [p]Fixed Boycott risk popup sometimes showing an ad deal was lost even though the boycott was dodged[/p]
• [p]Fixed the calendar view on the prognosis board sometimes not showing the tooltip for events on the far right side[/p]
• [p]Fixed top Perception rules displaying incorrect count and bonus sales[/p]
• [p]Fixed an issue that could prevent the “Brain Drain” achievement from unlocking[/p]
• [p]Fixed a couple desks having sitting idle animations when the desk has no chair[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where telegraphers would be unable to go to the bathroom or grab a snack during the weekend (Saturday/Sunday), causing them to all go when Monday rolls around, when you actually need them to work[/p]
• [p]The "Place above the fold" quest requirement could sometimes ask for a tag that wasn't present in the pool. The algorithm has been adjusted to handle this and this should never occur anymore[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where the automatic ordering of resources like paper, food and coal did not cost anything[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Transport AI Changes[/h2]

• [p]Employees that support floor assignments, such as Transporters, now will only idle on floors that are included in their assignments[/p]
• [p]In previous versions, once you had at least one transporter that could handle articles, your production staff would not, or rarely, transport articles themselves. This hard lockout is no longer the case, but transporters are preferred to handle the work if they can[/p]
• [p]A bug which could sometimes lead to pneumatic tubes not being used has been fixed[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Quality of Life improvements[/h2]

• [p]Addition of a “Disable Screen Shake” setting[/p]
• [p]Addition of new keybindings to navigate your tower more easily:[/p]
  • [p]Page up: Navigate up floors (zoom sensitive)[/p]
  • [p]Page down: Navigate down floors (zoom sensitive)[/p]
  • [p]Home: Navigate to street level[/p]
  • [p]End: Navigate to top floor[/p][p][/p]

[h2]Other improvements[/h2]

• [p]Dragging and dropping employees now resets a small timer which prevented them from relieving themselves or eating[/p]
• [p]Individual stories of a news item can now be prioritized ahead of time on the story files[/p]
• [p]Addition of European news in 1935[/p]

[p][/p][h2]New content / Christmas update[/h2]

• [p]Added 5 new wallpapers:[/p]
  • [p]Blue Tile Wallpaper[/p]
  • [p]Checkered Wallpaper  [/p]
  • [p]Green Panel Wallpaper[/p]
  • [p]Reindeer Wallpaper  [/p]
  • [p]Snowflake Wallpaper  [/p]
• [p]Added 3 new objects:[/p]
  • [p]Christmas Tree [/p]
  • [p]Christmas Wreath [/p]
  • [p]Christmas Lights  [/p]

[p]The new objects, the Reindeer and Snowflake wallpapers may be obtained in Christmas themed news during in-game December months. The Blue Tile, Checkered and Green Panel wallpapers may be obtained from random object rewards from news and/or the calendar.[/p][p]The Christmas Tree is moody and will only show itself in full Christmas glory during in-game December months![/p][p][/p][p]One last mention, as the Steam Winter Sales are about to begin, News Tower will once again be 20% off until January 5th. It's the perfect gift I am telling you! As a reminder the Sales will start today December 18th on 10AM PT and run until January 5th.[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink]Thank you all so much for the love and care for the game. We are committed to make it one of the best tycoon-management game ever. [/p][p]Join us on discord and X to follow all the news about News Tower! [/p][p][/p][p] [/p]

[p][/p][h2]GREEETINGS NEWSBEARERS! [/h2][p] [/p][p]Just like our printers, we never stop working to improve the game and bring you the freshest updates.[/p][p][/p][p]Today we're coming down with a new list of multiple fixes along with some improvements to the AI/pathfinding system.[/p][p][/p][p]But before giving you all the juicy news, a quick update on the Leaderboard contest that is running until January. [/p][p]Considering the fact that for each leaderboard, scores can vary depending on if you play in Introduction/Classic, Highrise or Lowrise mode, we decided to bump the number of winners from 4 (1 per leaderboard category) to 12 winners! (3 per leaderboard category, 1 per gamemode Intro/Classic, Highrise and Lowrise) [/p][p][/p][h2][/h2][h2] Major Fixes:[/h2]

• [p]The chances of two scoops appearing behind a Choose a Path branch have been reduced to almost zero[/p]
• [p]Fixed Art Collector achievement being impossible to obtain due to 2 paintings being in the same calendar row and too far apart[/p]
• [p]Fixed some calendar events rewarding objects never being generated on Endless calendars.[/p]
• [p]Now truly fixed Turkish capital letter i not being rendered for people with Turkish system settings.[/p]

[p][/p][h2] Minor Fixes/Tweaking:[/h2]

• [p]Fixed a bug where if your perception was completely left or right, you might not get the reward that is on the calendar. [/p]
• [p]The automatic ordering of paper at the start of the week has been improved. It is immediately tuned to what your projected sales are instead of growing along during the week.[/p]
• [p]Quality stars were maxed at 3 per reportable. This is fixed.[/p]
• [p]Utility employees now have a slightly slower decrease of nutrition and toilet stats.[/p]
• [p]Fixed High Society lady becoming a nurse in "The Price Of Privacy" story.[/p]
• [p]In certain cases, it was possible that the ordering of coal wasn't unlocked yet, while you already got a tutorial about the power. This is now fixed.[/p]
• [p]Fixed wrong ad categories at 16 ads. For example, some of them were marked as a Politics category but actually contained a Society tag and so on. Now all tags match the category.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a possible error when trying to click through the recap[/p]
• [p]Fixed tolerant employees complaining about stuff they're tolerant of. [/p]
• [p]Fixed Darkroom not supporting drop targets directly on the desk for its items (e.g. you can drag an item directly onto the desk now instead of the popup UI)[/p]
• [p]Patch for typesetting machines not having audio attenuation[/p]

[p][/p][h2] Pathfinding/AI:[/h2][p]The transportation AI has gotten some significant improvements. Decision making has been tweaked using community feedback and by thorough analysis of towers that were made by the community. Many small tweaks to prioritization, pathfinding and other decision making have been made. Some key points are: [/p]

• [p]In some cases if you had specific assignments for employees, they wouldn't do anything. This has been fixed.[/p]
• [p]Production employees are smarter about taking care of their own items, even when there's a pile of work at their desk.[/p]
• [p]Smarter production employees relieve some stress from regular transporters, which benefits the rest of your tower.[/p]
• [p]Regular transporters are smarter about helping production employees out with their items. They will attempt to but only if it's necessary for a higher throughput. [/p]
• [p]Task "predictions" have been improved, since they are used in making transport assignments, this will benefit the entire system.[/p]
• [p]You will see less "waiting" next to dumbwaiters and tubes because of better predictions.[/p]
• [p]Bugs that could lead to hangs have been fixed[/p]

[p] Due to the system's complexity and the huge variety of possible tower layouts, it's nearly impossible to find a best size fits all solution. However, we do feel like this is a big step up from previous versions and would love to get your feedback, which we will monitor and use to keep improving on this part of the game. Thanks![/p][p][/p][h3]To summarize:[/h3][p][/p][p]The transportation AI has been improved, based on thorough analysis of a lot of towers you (the community) has provided.[/p][p][/p][p]Thank you all so much for the love and care for the game. We are committed to make it one of the best tycoon-management game ever. [/p][p]Join us on discord and X to follow all the news about News Tower! [/p][p][/p][p] [/p]