Worldwide Rush News

[p]Hi everyone![/p][p][/p][p]Thank you all again for playing the game and leaving feedback. At this point I believe we have a clear plan for several months. We will share progress as always, detailing what we are working on.

Our plan now is to have an update on September 25th focusing on the main pain points that people are experiencing. These are:[/p]

• [p]Performance[/p]
• [p]Hub managers[/p]
• [p]Company buyout and competition[/p]
• [p]Mass edit options[/p]

[p][/p][h2]Performance[/h2][p][/p][p]The main thing that people find frustrating and we aim to fix first is performance. I got many problematic saves to test performance on and the core issue was always the same. Few cities that are far bigger than the rest take too long to update, and other threads are stuck waiting for that update to finish. This is due to the amount of vehicles and indirect passengers. At some point it seems that there is a hub created that can connect to almost every city within the 6 stops limit, which makes passengers search for a path for too long, especially when the path solution can be 1000 iterations later.[/p][p][/p][p]The first step is to optimize the path search algorithm further. This is live in the bugfix update. For me at least, the performance is improved 3x times for the problematic saves. But the problem is postponed instead of fixed entirely.[/p][p][/p][p]The second step will be to change how our multithreading job system works. Currently we have 2 separate thread job groups in the update loop to prevent information dependency. First, we update all cities with vehicles inside and fireworks, then we update vehicles, AI and managers. This system cannot reach 100% CPU utilization, limiting possible performance. In the worst cases, where there is a single bottleneck city, people are reporting CPU usage as low as 20%, with the game struggling for performance. A solution here will require too many changes and testing for a bugfix update.[/p][p][/p][h2]Hub Managers[/h2][p]Hub managers need more tools to control them and specify what they can and cannot do. For example, specifying a budget, vehicle types, and if they can buy roads or rails. We will also add further refinements on how they make decisions.[/p][p][/p][h2]Company Shares[/h2][p][/p][p]Company buyout is not satisfying and is too cheap. We are planning to add a company shares system that will allow you to buy it out bit by bit, maybe adding some control options once you have most shares. This should also help with being bought out, making it not instant with a chance to buy back your shares.[/p][p][/p][p]Moreover, there needs to be some sort of screen once a company or a hub is bought by force, allowing players to decide on what to do with it.[/p][p][/p][h2]Mass Edit Options[/h2][p]This is about upgrading, buying or selling multiple vehicles in a route or a hub. Easier management of multiple hubs and their managers is also on the to-do list.[/p][p][/p][h2]Mid and Late Game[/h2][p]Lastly, I wanted to mention the late game. We are aware of the late-game complaint that there is not much to do. We will work on a solution in the coming updates, allowing the player to transition to some sort of macromanagement if they wish to.[/p]

[p]Bugfixes:[/p][p]- Fixed AI building ships in non port cities[/p][p]- Fixed color resetting in the new game UI with Asian languages[/p][p]- Fixed connect country task progress flunctuate[/p][p]- Fixed vehicles stopping for too short and not boarding potential passengers[/p][p]Changes:[/p][p]- Improved performance[/p][p]- Made trust transfer to company that buys another company[/p][p]- Made country trust transfer to company that buys another company[/p][p]- Made trust notifications with hub cities to appear only after the 55% threshold[/p][p]- Added a back button in the first-time UI[/p][p]- Added hubs inflation cost to company buyout value[/p]

[p]Bugfixes:[/p][p]- Fixed plane upgrade/downgrade not accounting for plane range correctly[/p][p]- Fixed UI scale resetting on launch[/p][p]- Fixed roads and rails building at -180 and 180 longitudes[/p][p]- Fixed in some cases vehicles disapearing when being upgraded[/p][p]- Fixed in some cases Hub managers and AI ignoring plane range[/p][p]- Fixed pressing escape in a new game with the introduction window open and the UI not being loaded[/p][p]Changes:[/p][p]- Made bought and bankrupted companies cities trust disappear[/p][p]- Made Hub buyout price account for inflation[/p][p]- Increased Hub buyout price percent from 50% to 75%[/p][p]- Increased vehicle passenger load/unload speed[/p][p]- Removed Discover mode city timers with no lose condition[/p]

[p]Hi everyone![/p][p][/p][h2]The Launch[/h2][p]The launch is a success even though it experienced some issues. It is clear that we will be able to sustain ourselves and keep improving Worldwide Rush, which is fantastic! It took us roughly one year to reach this point, now let's see what happens in another year.

I am very glad to see how many people love the game. It is not for everyone, and that is okay. Now what is left is addressing issues and concerns so that those who enjoy it could enjoy it even more and hopefully attract back people who found it lacking. For now we will keep addressing issues with some minor balance changes.[/p][p][/p][h2]Feedback[/h2][p]There is so much feedback everywhere that it is a bit overwhelming. We are gathering everything and looking for trends, but it is too soon to tell what the main priorities are. We might fail to answer everyone, as we are only a two man team and our current priority is bugs, but all feedback will be considered. The best part is that people are finding exact issues that they find trouble with instead of being obscure. This really helps us to develop the full picture of the situation. Keep that coming![/p][p][/p][h2]Why Not Early Access[/h2][p]There appears to be a misunderstanding for some about Early Access titles and why Worldwide Rush isn't one. Early Access is for games that are not content finished and have unclear or unfinished game ideas. It can last from several months to tens of years, with huge changes entirely changing the genre.

Worldwide Rush is a finished game, which means that ten years from now you will be able to launch it and have the same experience. The only difference will be a huge amount of QoL additions with extra gameplay modes like cargo. But down to its core, you will be able to play the passenger transportation game you liked the first time. [/p][p][/p][p]Our idea with this game is to have a solid foundation and add extra. Think of it like a game as a service, but without microtransactions and paid DLCs. As long as it sustains us, we will keep adding what you ask for.[/p][p][/p][h2]Roadmap[/h2][p]Can't yet share our roadmap because of the feedback that is still coming. But I can talk about how I think it will look. Thank you for voting for features you would like to see. We will keep the poll open until the next Friday.

From the current poll results, it is clear that cargo is what people are asking for, followed by modding and multiplayer. Moreover, I can see the trend of cargo voters talking about modding and how important that is as well. So what if we make modding and add cargo as an official mod? My thinking is - if you can create a mod that adds entirely new gameplay with more features, then the modding system will be powerful enough to do anything with the game. Plus the benefits of an official open mod to debug for reference.

Funnily enough, the longest update to do is cargo, because of the vehicle's requirement.

QoL with further passenger systems improvements would go with each update. With this in mind, I can see the roadmap looking like this:[/p]

1. [p]Simple modding. In-game systems with tooltips to easily add mods such as new cities, vehicles, change gameplay rules. This would allow you to create, download, and edit mods in the game. This could possibly be done in two months.[/p]
2. [p]Advanced modding system with code injection allowing you to entirely change the codebase. Something like MonoMod integration.[/p]
3. [p]Cargo using modding tools. We will probably start vehicle creation in the coming weeks.[/p]
4. [p]Finally, multiplayer. But that is planning too far ahead.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Roadmaps like this would ensure relatively frequent updates. We will share our final plans and estimated dates in the next blogpost. Please let me know your thoughts![/p]

Bugfixes:
- Fixed the game freezing in load screen when having lower vehicles resolution