Fortune Avenue News

Hello everyone!

It's with immense pleasure that I announce a major update for Fortune Avenue. Since many of you are playing Fortune Avenue, I've received lots of feedback, a big thanks to Mark (he'll know who he is) for his high-quality emails that have greatly contributed to improving Fortune Avenue!
v0.44.0 adds content, stabilizes the game, fixes some minor issues and above all makes the game even more chaotic and unpredictable!

[h3]Bug Fixes[/h3]
First and foremost, sometimes when you opened the options during gameplay, it would crash Fortune Avenue. I'm sorry for this bug, and thanks for reporting it. Thanks to you, I was able to fix it and now accessing the options is no longer an issue!

Another small problem concerned an animation. Indeed, when a player pays another player, cards can change the recipient of the payment, but the animation didn't take the cards into account - this has been fixed.

Let's talk about online play now, since the next fixes relate to synchronization bugs. It was impossible to cancel a festival, which led to desynchronization - the issue is fixed. When a player lost or abandoned the game, depending on how the stars aligned, all their hotels might not be properly removed. Or worse, the game could get stuck. No way to advance the game. So I fixed the first problem and added a safeguard that forces the game to progress if it gets stuck. Sometimes, when a network issue occurs, the game can roll back, but visually it didn't show. For example, a player who had actually lost would find themselves back at their previous position alive and well, but with a tombstone avatar. This rollback is necessary to get things back on track, but visually it didn't match the board data. So from now on, player statuses update dynamically based on their state.

A final fix concerns other players' names and avatars not loading properly. It was minor, but needed fixing.

[h3]Camera and Interface[/h3]
The camera... did you know you can configure the camera? Well now you do! You can make it completely static, but to do that, the options need to be understandable. A player pointed out that some naming was ambiguous, so I made adjustments, and now it's better according to your feedback!

Let's talk about some annoying things now. When you need to pay rent and don't have enough money, a panel appears asking you to sell your properties. Previously you had to click on the hotel to select it, now you can click on the small panel above it. It's not much, but it's a game-changer!

Speaking of game-changers, in-game tooltips. Some were hard to read, so I redesigned their layout and it's better now. It's readable and above all, easy on the eyes!

[h3]Other Changes[/h3]
Controller support has been overhauled. Some of you reported a very annoying problem. Playing Fortune Avenue with a controller connected made mouse use impossible. Or, connecting a controller to a Steam Deck made it vibrate constantly... I was able to reproduce all these issues, and they should be fixed! Sorry for these bugs...

Let's talk a bit about optimization. When making Fortune Avenue, I had in mind making it run on very low-end configurations. PCs with barely 8GB of RAM and integrated graphics. Yes in 2025, 8GB of RAM is low. Anyway, I worked on texture compression so the game runs better, more stable even on small configurations. While I still can't get the game running on a TI-89 (for those who get the reference), this new version greatly improves performance!

[h3]New Rules[/h3]
4 new rules make their debut. And these are rules that will shake up your games for sure! First, the most dangerous rules. They're linked to each other, so you must choose between adding a bankruptcy space to the wheel of fortune and adding a victory space to the wheel of fortune! Quite the dilemma! In one case, when you spin the wheel of fortune, if you land on the bankruptcy space you immediately lose the game. And in the other, if you land on the victory space you instantly win the game! Don't worry, I made some adjustments so this impossible choice only appears late in the game.

The third rule you can vote for is also a bit nasty. It changes the helicopter's behavior. The rule is called: "Eat the Rich". You've guessed it, the helicopter starts chasing players who have more than 1 million dollars instead of chasing the poorest. I tested it, and it's genuinely funny.

The fourth rule is more situational, as it brings all monopolies back into play. It's simple and effective for turning a game around!

[h3]New Cards[/h3]
2 new anarchy cards have been added. The first allows triggering a new vote immediately. I think it's cool and it breaks the game's rhythm! The second lets you choose a player who will skip their next turn. Fortune Avenue gets a bit meaner with this kind of card, and I like it.

There are also 2 new chance cards added. The first lets you play again immediately. And that's cool, while the second card lets you reset the tax counter to 0. You know, when you land on taxes the first time you pay 30,000, then 60,000 the second time, 90,000 the third time etc., well that gets reset to 0, and you'll only pay 30,000.

One important thing to know is that Fortune Avenue only gives cards that impact the game. So if your tax counter is at 0, you won't get the card that resets the tax counter. I did this because it keeps the game dynamic. Having a card that changes nothing makes you lose a turn and inevitably slows down the game and creates frustration.

[h3]An ELO System[/h3]
From now on, and only for online games, Fortune Avenue will calculate your ELO. It's displayed on the main screen and at the end of the game if you play online. Otherwise, nothing is shown. Adding an ELO system was quite complex, and after many tests, it's proven successful, the calculations work properly.

What about when you play against bots? Bots always have the same ELO, and it never changes, so you can't cheat to get infinite ELO - you'll be limited by the bots' ELO.

For now, ELO is calculated but doesn't affect matchmaking yet since there aren't enough players. But everything's ready and I just need to flip a switch to enable ELO-based matchmaking. We just need more players!

There you have it, that was a huge chunk! I'm very proud of the work accomplished, I thank you tremendously for leaving reviews on Steam, it helps get more players! For those wondering, there are already over 1,200 of you who have played Fortune Avenue, and I thank you!

The next update will focus on customization - dice, tombstones, but also adding new cards and new rules. By the way, if you have ideas or suggestions, please comment - I'd be delighted to read them and add them to the game!

Thanks everyone
Xavier aka Binogure

[h2]Changelog[/h2]
[h3]New Rules[/h3]

• If this rule is adopted, a victory space is added to the wheel of fortune. The player who spins the wheel and lands on this space instantly wins the game
  
• If this rule is adopted, a bankruptcy space is added to the wheel of fortune. The player who spins the wheel and lands on this space immediately goes bankrupt.
  
• If this rule is adopted, the helicopter begins chasing the richest player if they have more than 1 million dollars
  
• If this rule is adopted, all monopolies come back into play

[h3]New Cards[/h3]

• An anarchy card allows you to instantly trigger a new vote
  
• An anarchy card lets you choose which player will skip their next turn
  
• A chance card lets you take another turn immediately
  
• A chance card resets the number of times you've landed on the taxes space to zero.

[h3]Controller[/h3]

• When a controller is connected, it's impossible to play with the mouse (fixed)
  
• Controller detection is not always reliable (fixed)

[h3]Optimization[/h3]

• Texture compression for VRAM. We've reduced VRAM usage from 500 MB down to 250 MB.

[h3]Ranking System[/h3]

• A new ranking system has been implemented. Each player starts with 1000 points. After each game, based on the number of players, if the player wins or loses the game their points are adjusted. This is the implementation of an ELO system.

[h3]Interface[/h3]

• Renamed camera management options
  
• When selling properties, you can now click on the properties panel
  
• Translation adjustments for better understanding
  
• Added a tooltip on the button that allows you to hide or show a panel
  
• Added a button to show/hide rules currently being voted on.
  
• Some text was not visible in Czech
  
• When you hover over player names, you can see their latency.
  
• Tooltips have been redesigned to be more readable

[h3]Fixes[/h3]

• Opening the options panel while playing could crash the game (fixed)
  
• When a card changes the recipient of a payment, the game shows the wrong recipient (fixed)
  
• When a player leaves the game, it could cause desynchronization, and hotels could reappear (fixed)
  
• When canceling a festival, it wasn't canceled for everyone (fixed)
  
• When a player is desynchronized, the game will properly resynchronize them
  
• In the lobby, sometimes the game didn't properly load other players' names or avatars

Hello everyone!

It's already been two weeks since Fortune Avenue was published. You've given me quite a lot of feedback and suggestions!
Among them are the addition of a global leaderboard, or the ability to choose your dice! All of this is coming, don't worry, it's in the pipeline!
But first, I'm delivering a finely-tuned version that further stabilizes Fortune Avenue.

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]
There are quite a few fixes, so hold on tight! Some cards had rendering issues that caused them to not display correctly, or not at all. This would result in players losing their turn. Other cards (not the same ones, of course) had synchronization problems, which could generate network issues. But rest assured, these problems are rarely visible since Fortune Avenue has a recovery mechanism that helps it land on its feet when such errors occur.

For our streamer and influencer friends: Fortune Avenue had the annoying tendency to crash when you used OBS. With a brand new build and the right environment variables, this problem should be resolved!

For our free software enthusiasts, or at least Linux users: Some fonts weren't rendering very well, and characters could be replaced by curious hieroglyphics. This problem has been fixed, and now you see all text as you should.

One last bug involves the World Cup synchronization. In fact, each player was storing the World Cup value in their own corner. This meant that, from time to time, this value could become desynchronized between players. So I added several network messages to strengthen the synchronicity of the World Cup multiplier, and after testing for many hours... It works!

[h2]Additions[/h2]
They aren't numerous, but they're there nonetheless! Some of you have trouble navigating the options. The tabs on the left aren't visible enough. So I added some juice. Because I wanted to do it, but it also helps you see the buttons. Your vision is ALSO based on movement. So buttons that move - boom, you see them!

And the last small addition concerns the helicopter. It's a special case, but I wanted to mark the occasion. When you vote for rules that boost the helicopter, the viewing screen will ignite! Basically, the small TV in the bottom right will become red hot!

Thank you for your time and for reading my silliness.
The next update should add more content!

Until then, take care of yourselves
Xavier aka Binogure

Hello everyone!

More and more of you are playing Fortune Avenue and that's really great! Especially since you're giving me such relevant feedback!
As a result, I've worked really hard to deliver as much content as possible so you can enjoy Fortune Avenue to the fullest!

[h2]Visual and Ergonomic Improvements[/h2]

There has been quite a bit of work on this. In fact, I've changed the colors of the buttons on the main screen and added icons to better distinguish between online and offline game modes. So when you play in offline mode, Fortune Avenue's colors change to become more orange. Meanwhile, when you play online, the beautiful yellow remains until you launch the game. At that point, the background will turn purple. I've implemented small color codes so that at a glance you can see what state the lobby is in. It was quite simple to do, but it was necessary.

Still on the interface side, when you arrive on the game board and let's say one of your colleagues is taking longer than expected to load their game. Then Fortune Avenue will display a panel explaining that everything is fine, and that the game will start as soon as everyone is connected. Once again, it was simple to do, but necessary.

And the last two interface changes concern gameplay readability. First, you'll notice very quickly that the scenery and surroundings of the board are less bright. This allows you to focus on what really matters, the flow of the game. But additionally, when you hover your mouse, or cursor if you're playing with a controller, over a player's username, all properties belonging to that player will be highlighted on the board. It's super convenient for knowing at a glance what's happening on the board!

[h2]Lobby System Improvements[/h2]
In Fortune Avenue, when you want to play alone, you have the option to play against bots. And these bots are quite strong. Each bot has a personality. So you might see one bot buy back a property, while another bot won't. This is due to the bots' aggressiveness parameter. And I took a certain pleasure in modulating this aggressiveness so that the bots don't all play the same way, making the games more lively.

But the bots are still very strong! Too strong perhaps for some? So I listened to you, and now you can adjust the difficulty of the bots. There are only two difficulty modes. The difficult mode, which is the current mode. And the easy mode. In easy mode, bots don't organize World Cups. They never buy back hotels, and they never build 5-star hotels. When they take a plane, they make somewhat questionable choices. I had the bots play against each other, and the difficult bots absolutely destroy the easy bots.

Rest assured, if you find yourself disconnected from a game, a difficult bot will take your place. Just to cover for you until you reconnect.

So, this is a major update, as it modifies the interface, but also allows you to create more enjoyable games.
Thank you for your time,
And I wish you great games!
Xavier aka Binogure

Hello everyone!

What a launch?! With more than 300 sales in 48 hours, that's not bad at all! Thank you to all of you who purchased the game and are playing it, it's wonderful! I want to see the Fortune Avenue community grow, more and more! Though, we still need more players. Even if 300 of you bought the game, you're not all playing at the same time. So, I've contacted the press and influencers to ask them to talk about the game, or even play it to bring in more players!

I hope this strategy will work, but in the meantime, here's the first major update for Fortune Avenue!

[h2]Bug Fixes[/h2]
Some users, especially on Windows, encountered crashes while playing Fortune Avenue. But not just simple crashes, the game completely froze the computer. And that's not great. Having experienced this bug myself, I was able to fix it. And after 2 hours of gameplay on an old machine, I'm confident enough to tell you that the bug is fixed!

Another quite annoying bug has been fixed. At the end of a game, if you lost before others, a panel offers you to return to the main menu or continue watching. The fact is that if you clicked on "Return to main menu" the game would stop responding. Not that it had crashed, but the interface became completely unreachable, forcing you to violently close the game to restart it. This annoying bug came from a very silly mistake on my part that I fixed quite easily.

[h2]Small Addition[/h2]
So, you start a game with friends online or locally. You're having fun, at least I hope you're having fun. And like all good things that come to an end, the game finishes. Until now, Fortune Avenue simply offered you to return to the main menu to create a new game. Well, with this version, the "Play Again" button has been added to the end-of-game panel. This is super convenient and allows you to restart a game with a single click while keeping the configuration.

[h2]New Translation[/h2]
This is where it gets significant. I would have liked to add it for the demo, but due to lack of time, I couldn't do it. But fortunately, everything is back in order, as Fortune Avenue is now available in German. It wasn't easy to add this new language, and some typos may have slipped into the translation, but normally the entire game is functional and everything works really well.

I've also gathered quite a bit of your feedback, and thank you to everyone who has already left a review on Steam, it really counts and helps to highlight Fortune Avenue even more, allowing us to find even more new players!

Thank you for reading. And I wish you a good game!
Xavier aka Binogure