Walk of Life News

[p]Happy new year![/p][p]The gang at Porcelain Fortress is back in the development mines, hard at work on the next update which will be hitting your game later this month. As we mentioned in the previous dev blog, we are working on a bunch of stuff, but one that we didn't really talk about was clarity. [/p][p]There's still a bunch of not-so-intuitive stuff in our game and we're working on making things more clear, especially for newer players. Our inventory was an incredibly well hidden feature until we added the role specific backpacks to the interface, and now we're overhauling the character sheet to be better looking as well as more informative.[/p][p][/p][p]Behold! This is the new character sheet (along with a brand new player avatar!) where you will find everything you need to know about your equipment, your traits as well as the role you're playing. Depicted here is the unreleased Drifter role, along with a short description of how the role functions.[/p][p][/p][p]The Drifter is the mysterious stranger who shows up at the workplace, turns things around, and then vanishes as quickly as they arrived. The role rewards the player for working for short spurts at a job before getting fed up and wanting to find a new one. As an added bonus, after getting fed up with a job, the perks from that job will linger for a while, allowing the Drifter to have multiple job perks at the same time. Neato![/p][p]But back to the character sheet![/p][p]Your equipment will cover your transportation method and clothing, while items will be stuff such as fish and lottery tickets which take up space in your inventory. The various traits you accumulate throughout the game will show up on the right along with a description for each of them.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Many people have found scoring to be a little confusing in their first games, so we've added a tab to the character sheet where you will find a handy score guideline, detailing the ways you can get score throughout the game. Fishing and Stocks have made their way under the 'Other' section next to the Pets, but it's unlikely we'll sort scoring out for those systems for the next update.[/p][p]That's it for now! LATERS.[/p]

[p]Hohoho![/p][p]Consider this your holiday card from Porcelain Fortress before we stuff ourselves full of the seasonal foodstuff that makes this time of year so very merry. We're taking a little break over the holidays, but here's a quick peek at what you can expect in the fast approaching updates.[/p][h3]Longer Games[/h3][p][/p][p]Walk of Life's most requested feature by far is the option of longer games, oftentimes by players who like to play the game by themselves and find it frustrating when their journey through life is cut off short. We hear you guys loud and clear, and are planning on allowing for 50 round games in the coming update. [/p][p]We're also looking at the possibility of adding a marathon mode where the game's end is determined by factors other than rounds, but you'll have to wait a bit longer for that. Let us know in the comments if you have any expectations to what a mode like that could look like.[/p][h3]PVP[/h3][p]Many players have been disappointed with the lack of direct player interaction in the game, and we are working on implementing a system where you can start messing the plans of other players in a more direct way. [/p][p]This game mode will of course be optional, so those of you that prefer a peaceful coexistence with your fellow players needn't worry. The PVP system will be released in chunks, but the first few weapons in your armory should be arriving shortly.[/p][h3]Bot Difficulty Settings[/h3][p][/p][p]When the game launched, our bots were pretty dumb, and would often get stuck in a loop where they spent entire rounds just washing their hands. We corrected this behavior by putting them through robot school, where they passed with flying colors, and may have become a bit too smart, especially for newer players.[/p][p]We'll be adding difficulty settings to the bot players soon so you can tune it to how hard you'd like to stomp, or be stomped by (if that's your thing - we're not juding.), our bots. The option of adding multiple bots and bots for online is also in the works, but is a bit further off. Stay tuned![/p][h3]New Roles[/h3][h3][/h3][p]We've been pleasantly surprised with how well the four roles in the games have landed so far. While perfect balance is very hard to attain in a game with as many variables as Walk of Life, every role is performing quite well.[/p][p]There are several roles on the drawing board, but we don't want to release any of them until we think they're up to par with the ones in the game right now. A new role will be hitting the game in the next update: the Drifter. More on this mysterious stranger soon![/p][h3]Just More in General[/h3][p]This is a pretty broad category, but we're working on more of pretty much everything. More life events, more global events, more quests, more items - you name it! We want this game to be absolutely packed with silly stuff to make your games memorable, and the next batch of content will be hitting the game with the next update. [/p][p]We've already said too much. Go enjoy your holidays, we'll be back with more intel in January![/p][p][/p]

[p]A small update, mostly featuring bugfixes.[/p][p]Changelog:[/p]

• [p]More clarity in the Location Info Box! Now showing score information and more![/p]
• [p]Stocks should now recover faster after a Economic Meltdown global event.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where after pressing Deposit in the bank the Info Box would display some weird text.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where stock prices were not correctly saved, which could cause weird behavior after loading a game.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where the Senior Role would not receive their pension after rejoining an online game.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where the host in an online game could have different scoring outcomes than clients.[/p]
• [p]Avatars are now correctly stored in save games.[/p]
• [p]Fixed it so text better fits Role Cards and the Scoring Machine in languages other than English.[/p]
• [p]Fixed some missing localization strings.[/p]

[p]Ahoy![/p][p]We're back with another content update! There are plenty of new things to keep an eye out with the new patch, but here are a few highlights!

Before we get started: we'll be taking down the demo today. We feel it has served its purpose and the gap between the game and the demo has gotten too big with newer versions for it to be an honest taste of the game.[/p][p]Now onto the new stuff![/p][h3]New Role - The Senior[/h3][p][/p][p]The Senior may be a bit past the prime of their life, but this old slugger still has a couple of tricks up their sleeves. What the Senior lacks in movement speed and work efficiency, they make up for with pension checks that arrive every couple of rounds! Try the unique Complain action in various locations to make the most of the Senior's grumpy old energy![/p][h3]Education System Revamp[/h3][p][/p][p]The education system was feeling a little lackluster, so we've added a new mechanic to spice things up. Upon finishing a tier of education, you'll receive a diploma which you can use to choose between one of two unique traits. These traits have various effects, ranging from increased movement speed to reducing the attribute loss from eating at Clucker's. If you don't feel like selecting either of the traits offered, you can always pawn the diploma, but keep in mind that other players could buy it themselves![/p][h3]New Global Event - Economic Crash[/h3][p][/p][p]When the economic crash global event begins, several effects take place. First, every player loses their job. Secondly, the job office will only offer jobs from tiers 1 and 2. Thirdly, the prices of everything at the Mall and Clucker's will go up and stocks will plummet. Finally, a soup kitchen will be available in the Park to offer players in need free food, but keep in mind that the queue is quite long![/p][h3]New Job Perks[/h3][p][/p][p]Some of the workplaces that were missing a perk have received one. Working at Moo Moo Mart will allow you to nab one free lottery ticket per round, the Mall has a lost and found box you can rummage through, and the Academy has a complimentary coffee for the staff. Try out the new perks and discover new strategies! Lost and found meta incoming?[/p][h3]New Score Screen[/h3][p][/p][p]Finally, the score screen has received an overhaul and is now presented in the style of a game show! Say hello to your new, omnipotent late-night host![/p][p]There's a bunch of other changes which you can find in the notes below! Now get out there and have some fun!
[/p][h2]PATCH NOTES
[/h2]

• [p]New Role: The Senior! Collect your pension, yell at clouds and complain about the taste of the water at Cluckers.[/p]
• [p]Role Update: Adventurer! Level up to get new Traits.[/p]
• [p]New Global Event: Economic Crash. We're gonna party like it's late 2008.[/p]
• [p]New Education System. Completing a course line allows you to now choose a new Trait to boost your play.[/p]
• [p]New Job Traits. Getting a job at the Academy, Moo Moo Mart or the Mall now rewards you with sweet traits, making those locations extra enticing to work at.[/p]
• [p]New Score Screen! I'm not going to lie, it looks pretty awesome.[/p]
• [p]Bot update: Bot now interacts with Pets, Global Events, Transports[/p]
• [p]Added thematic decorations to the Location UI.[/p]
• [p]We now show a nice visual when you get a new Trait.[/p]
• [p]Game now remembers your avatar choices from previous games.[/p]
• [p]Reduced clutter of Location UI.[/p]
• [p]Updated localization for all languages.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug with the clock not syncing correctly sometimes when rejoining an online game.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where the first time you entered a location, if you were unemployed and the game was not in 16:9 aspect ratio or in windowed mode you could trigger a bug by hovering over the edge of the screen, over the clock.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where you could join an empty online game shortly after the owner left the lobby. This would cause all sorts of problems if you then tried to play that game.[/p]
• [p]Fixed a bug where the game could freeze in online after the event cards.[/p]
• [p]Now correctly syncing location panel scroll view state in online games.[/p]
• [p]Score for quests reduced[/p]
• [p]Higher tiers of education require furniture[/p]
• [p]Flash sale discount increased[/p]

[p]Howdy![/p][p]Three blogs? In one week? Is this some sort of ablogalypse? No! We're just excited to tell you what's coming up! Today we'll be revealing the next role you'll be getting your hands on:[/p][h3]The Senior![/h3][p][/p][p]Out of the first five roles that were visible within the game, we've received the most requests from people that just can't wait to get their grubby hands all over the senior. This wrinkly old maverick may be a bit past the primetime of life, but they've still got some tricks up their sleeves. [/p][p]The senior is the first role in the game that sports a notable downside. The senior moves slow. Real slow. Choosing your pathing for each round is going to require some planning, or you'll end up finding yourself running out the clock without having eaten for the round. The senior is also not much for working, as work takes a lot more time than it does for the young whippersnappers.[/p][h3]Pension Checks[/h3][p][/p][p]Thankfully, the Senior has a rather enormous ace up their sleeve in the form of Pension Checks, which will arrive every two rounds. These checks are absolutely huge and will feel like you're practically winning the lottery on a regular basis. Since working is not a great use of your time, these huge pension checks can help you interact with systems such as education, pets, the stock market and buying furniture without having to spend time working.[/p][h3]Complaining[/h3][p]The Senior also has access to a new action called Complain, which has unique effects based on where its used. If you complain at the Landlady, you will reduce your next rent payment, but if you complain at the job office, you'll permanently increase the cash granted from your pension checks! The senior can only complain once per round, and can't complain in the some location two rounds in a row. Try to find the best places to complain each round to get the most out of the role![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]The senior is being released with an experimental stamp as we think it's a little undercooked compared to the other roles, but we hope you have fun with it regardless. There are some wrinkles we won't be ironing out, as the senior would cease to be a senior if we did, but let us know what you think when the patch drops, which will be any day now![/p][p]Until next time![/p]