Containcorp News

Originally posted by Friday

Welcome to Forensic Friday 68! We've shifted to a fortnightly schedule, and boy, has it been a busy couple of weeks. We've been tying up loose ends with category C intake, introducing new art assets, and sorting out staff hiring. Fashioncorp is back in action with a focus on managing clothes for NPCs. Category C onboarding is now a thing, complete with a complex workflow involving processing, erasure, and alignment. We've also got new art assets like medical equipment and communication consoles, all in our signature retro-future style. Gangs now have a proper place in the game, and we're revamping the traits system to add more depth. Plus, we're working on implementing a staff hierarchy and sprucing up our Patreon rewards. It's been a whirlwind, but progress is definitely being made. Stay tuned for more updates!

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Originally posted by Friday

Hey everyone,
This week's been quite a ride! We've been diving deep into NPC behaviour, making some significant strides in how they interact with their environment. First off, we've implemented a traffic system where vehicles actually follow the rules of the road. It was a Herculean effort involving machine learning and some creative task delegation, but we got there.

On the NPC front, they now have the ability to head home when they're tired. It's a small detail but adds a touch of realism to their routines. The real meat of our NPC development, though, is the introduction of memory mechanics. This ties into our Category C Onboarding system and the mental system, allowing NPCs to create and recall memories based on their experiences. It's a fascinating mechanic that could lead to some truly emergent storytelling.

In addition to all this, I've been working on refining our anomaly classification system, making sure our case files are up to date with the latest changes.

Overall, progress is steady, if not a bit slower than anticipated. Development always throws curveballs, but we're adapting and pushing forward. Until next time!

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Originally posted by Friday

Hey readers! David here with another Forensic Friday, this time coming to you a bit later than usual – Forensic Sunday, Forensic Monday? You know the drill! This week, we're keeping it short and sweet because we hit a small roadblock, or as I like to call it, a redirection. It turns out, the initial vehicle implementation wasn't up to par, leading us to spend a week on a complicated solution before realizing a simpler refactor was needed. This setback has slowed us down, but it's all in the name of improvement!

Currently, I'm guiding a new developer, which means my time isn't solely dedicated to blazing through features. It's an investment that will pay off, but as with any learning curve, it takes time. On the bright side, we've seen a significant speed-up in UI implementation, a task well-suited for parallelized work.

Here's what I've been up to this week:

Existing Category C Menu:
I've been working on giving Category Cs their own menu, packed with information about cycling. This process involves wiping and restoring memories, creating cycles. Through the UI, players can decide when to cycle them, introducing a unique element to the game.

Sprites for Pumps:
Pumps finally have sprites! After two years of being represented by beds, they're getting the artistic love they deserve. There are some graphical issues with the pipes that need addressing, but they're on their way to their final form.

Case Closed:
This case file might be a bit light and a tad late, but development is a slow and steady race now. Between mentoring the new dev and other commitments, the focus is on persistent and continual work. Containcorp is a long-term project, and even after the initial release, we anticipate 5+ years of development. It's not about fixed release windows or sales milestones; it's about the grand scheme and where the game is headed.

Thanks to our readers, the journey becomes a bit smoother. So, thank you! Time to file this case away, have a great week, and catch you in the Discord server on Monday for Mythological Mondays, and next Friday for the next Forensic Friday. Hopefully, the shuttle bus hurdle is behind us!
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Originally posted by Friday

Hey there, readers! David here, a bit late, but that's the Plasmarc Studios way! We've had a mix of good and not-so-good news this week. On the bright side, we're making progress with the Hiring NPCs and Category C Onboarding features. However, we've got a few tickets left after our second two-week sprint of the year, but fear not – we're unofficially working on weekends to catch up.

Let's dive into what's been cooking this week:

Saving and Loading:
I've spent most of the week revamping the game's save and load feature. It's not entirely perfect yet, but the underlying architecture is solid. Now, the game auto-saves, and you'll see a nifty icon indicating it.

New Manager Architecture:
For the tech-savvy folks, I refactored the Manager architecture, giving them a defined lifecycle to avoid race conditions or weird dependencies. This might sound a bit technical, but it ensures a smoother ride for development.

Shuttle Bus Advances:
The shuttle bus feature has been a bit challenging but is making great progress. We even have a new sprite for the shuttle bus – feedback is welcome! The final touch is getting NPCs to actually use the bus.

Category C Onboarding:
This is part of Batch 3 development, and this week I worked on the Intake menu. You can now intake volunteers (Category C) based on your daily intake size. It's a neat addition that adds some simplicity to the game.

New Road Design:
Not the most thrilling news, but we've updated the road design. The road markings now feature a solid straight line, and we think it looks better.

That's a wrap for this week! It might not be the longest blog, but that's the weekly drill. We're aiming to finish Batch 3 by the end of January, so stay tuned. Join our Discord server if you haven't already to keep up with our roadmap. Time to close this case and see you in the next one!
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Originally posted by Friday

Hey folks! David here, kicking off the first Forensic Friday of the year. We're pumped to share that our progress this week suggests we might just finish the game by the end of 2024 – fingers crossed! We're aiming to release it by 2025, and with 12 feature batches to go through in 52 weeks, the numbers are in our favor. Of course, delays can happen, but we're committed to giving it our all.

This week, our focus was on wrapping up the hiring process. The UI for viewing staff shortages is ready, and we've added the final touch – a shuttle bus to transport NPCs to and from the site. It works based on assigned schedules, ensuring NPCs get picked up and dropped off as per their timetable. No video yet, but stay tuned!

Can Erdogan, our fantastic composer, has blessed us with a draft for "Drafts in Motion," a contextual piece for building and constructing in the game. Can explains the creative process and plans for making it an extended track.

In other news, the Anomaly Poll winner is S-0200, "The Puppeteer." Big thanks to those who voted! Check out Mythos Monday for the case file and a new poll.

Wrapping up, it's been a steady start to the year, and we're optimistic about the game's release. Reflecting on four years of dedication to the project, we're considering a long vacation post-release. Let's file this case away and look forward to what's next!
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