Coffee Shop Tycoon News

Hello everyone, as part of the ongoing work to release v0.6, a new update is out for the BETA, this update includes a new area for the new coffee shop location, allowing you to progress the shop's missions.



The update also includes 7 new achievements, and descriptions for all the new items launching with this update.



The update is almost done, I have narrowed the remaining items to the following list, this list also includes some of the feedback I have received from players.

• Add introductions/tutorials
  
• Add option to sell company, recover value of all stocks plus money in bank
  
• Register stock purchase in expenses
  
• Add market balance campaign to store UI
  
• Add two more rival stores with rewards
  
• Add level restriction to AI trending
  
• Have stores trend affected by ownership
  
• Hide buildings in new location based on camera
  
• Bug fixes
  

The most time intensive items remaining are the introductions/tutorials for the new mechanics and the two additional rival stores, while all the other items are very quick and simple.

Based on the remaining items, it is likely that there will be one more update to the beta and then the update will be fully released.

I want to thank everyone for your feedback and making this a great project to work on, and as always enjoy your coffee.

Hello everyone! It’s been some time since I posted the last update, but I wanted to have something cool for you before that, and that day has come. V0.6 beta is live now! This marks a big step for Coffee Shop Tycoon and it’s been one of the most challenging updates so far, it adds a lot of new content and simulated AI companies which meant learning a lot of AI principles on the fly, but I am happy with the end result and I hope you are too.


So… why beta? Well it is simple, first I want to have more people playing this update to stabilize it and fix any possible bugs that I haven’t caught yet, and second, the update is currently 90% complete which means I still need to finish some work before I can fully release it to the world, but don’t worry, the beta is open for anyone, so if you want to try it out there is nothing stopping you. Instructions on how to opt into the beta at the end of this post.


I’ll start by talking about the rival AI companies, starting on this update, you will see a new button in game, this takes you to a screen with a list of other companies in the business of selling hot cups of heaven or “coffee”, as most people call it. These companies have their own dreams and goals and will try to survive as much as possible in the market, simulated companies will grow by selling coffee and trying to snatch those trends in the market before you do, they will also go bankrupt if they make bad decisions. If you play close attention you will see their net worth increase as time goes by and they level up or buy more locations.



As a successful Coffee Shop tycoon, you can buy stock from those companies, this will give you extra cash in your pocket when those companies decide to pay dividends. Among all the companies there are currently two strong rivals, Triton, and La boulangerie du parc, these two coffee shops are the top when it comes to pleasing their customers and they can end up being very valuable companies, if you decide to get rid of those rivals and be the only barista in town you can buy the full company, this will give you access to their logo and a cool reward.

Macarons from buying all stock from La boulangerie du parc

The rival companies will change with time as some go bankrupt and new companies emerge, so pay attention to the stocks you own as some of the companies might go bankrupt and you can lose your money if you don’t sell in time.



The second big addition is a new location! FINALLY! I know right? Well following the same train of thought, this has also been the most elaborate location of the game. The new location is called Akihabara and it is inspired by the real location in Japan, you will find your brand-new store between the lights of shiny buildings and restaurants. Along the new location I'm also adding many new items inspired by Japanese culture and increasing the level cap of the game. You will find new decorations, tables, and even a new working station. This location also includes new missions. One thing to consider is that on the beta version won't be able to go past the objective "Buy a new expansion" as I'm still working in that.




So, what is missing to fully release v0.6? To answer this question, I'll post a list of tasks I'm currently working on and that I believe are needed for calling this update complete.

• Akihabara Store expansion
  
• Tutorials/Story conversation
  
• New items' descriptions
  
• Tweaks on AI behavior
  
• Adding market balance campaign to store UI
  
• Achievements
  
• Some animations
  
• Two more main rival companies with rewards
  
• Add option to sell company (to recover value of all stocks plus money in their bank)
  
• Tweaks to lighting in Akihabara
  

The list might seem intimidating but many of those changes are very straightforward and don't require me to read a book on AI. Taking into account the holiday season and the list of work, I believe the full v0.6 update will be ready and released close to the third week of January. I will be updating the beta branch as I go so you will start seeing some of these things come to life before that date.

Thanks for the support and love for the game, I always appreciate any feedback bad and good, and I will keep trying to make this game awesome so everyone can have a good time. I will share an updated roadmap once this update is done so you can know what to expect from the coming months. If you find bugs in the beta, please post them in the pinned channel, as I will be fixing those while working on the update.



Go into your library, select Coffee Shop Tycoon, click on the settings icon and select Properties.



From there simply go to the beta tab and select beta from the dropdown.



Thank you for playing and enjoy your coffee!

Hello everyone, I wanted to give you an update on the upcoming version of Coffee Shop Tycoon, for those that follow Riff Studios on twitter this might not be news, but for all those who don't, here is a sneak peek of some new things coming to the game and the current state of the update.


Update v0.6 will feature a brand new location, with new challenges and items to personalize your store. The new location is inspired by the city of Tokyo Japan, so you can expect new items and ingredients appropriate to the region, yes, Matcha lattes will be a thing!
The new location is looking awesome and hopefully you will enjoy brewing some hot drinks surrounded by the bright lights of the city and the picturesque streets.



Light and other minor details still need some work, but we are close to finishing the new location. Let us know what you think of it.


The other big feature coming to the next update is rival stores, these are stores driven by AI that will either succeed or fail just like you, you will have the option of buying and selling stocks to make some revenue and eventually buy out the top Coffee shops in the world, unlocking cool rewards and new achievements. Here is a screenshot of what the UI looks like when interacting with a company.



Full details will be available once the update is released, but don't worry, a new update is coming and it is huge, thanks for everyone that has supported the game so far and as always, enjoy your coffee!

Hello everyone, as some of you know there is a big update coming that is still in the works, however I've been looking at bug reports and player feedback and I wanted to release an update to address most of the problems, specifically pathfinding. The last update completely changed the pathfinding system I was using in the game to be more dynamic and allow a deeper customization of your shop's layout, it also included a new AI system for your customers to identify when they were stuck. Unfortunately, as it happens with major system changes, there were some cases that the new system didn't handle gracefully, especially when your shop has many items around. This update fixes many pathfinding bugs and introduces systems to prevent having your shop completely broken because somehow someone managed to get stuck. Hopefully this will fix most if not all the pathfinding problems you have been encountering. This update also includes a fix for mac players hitting a pink screen.


Now for the cool announcements, the new location and the rival AIs are coming along nicely, I know some of you are dying to know what the new place is going to look like! I can't show you the final location yet but I can at least tell you this, the new location will be in...
......................
......................
Drum roll!
......................
......................
JAPAN!

Here are some sweet renders from Gaby, the artist behind all the cool new items you've seen on previous updates :)




Now if you think this looks cool wait until you see the new location!

The new location will include new missions and challenges that are tied to the new rival AIs, because admit it what will you do with all that money if you can't buy other companies and unlock unique items? Speaking of rival AIs, here is a gif showing two AI stores working. These AIs work using goal-oriented action planning so they behave differently depending on the current circumstances, for example an ongoing trend or running out of coffee.



We are looking forward to delivering an amazing update to you and getting near to what we consider a 1.0 version, here are some of the other major things planned for 1.0 and a rough outline of the future updates.

Update v0.6

• New location (Japan)
  
• Rival Stores
  
• Improved trending system
  
• Improved Du Latte Awards
  

Next updates

• Two more locations for a total of 6.
  
• Cloud Saves
  
• Steam Workshop support
  
• More Achievements
  
• Support for more languages
  
• Help Section
  
• Optimizations
  

We will continue working on the next update and we will keep you informed, if you would like more frequent updates follow us on twitter @RiffStudios as always keep playing and enjoy your coffee.

Hello everyone, the latest update is out! This update is not as content heavy as the previous update but it addresses one issue that was very evident every time new content was added to the game. I'm talking about the Store, in particular buying items for your shop.



The UI for the store was ok when the game was starting as there weren't many options to look at, now that there are over 60 items to choose from, navigating that menu has become a painful experience. The new update brings a redesigned store, where items are organized by categories. It also remembers the active category when closed so next time you open it again you can keep buying items on the same category without having to navigate to get there.



I also updated the look of the other sections of the store to match the new design which goes in line with the more recent interfaces of the game.





No update is complete without some bug fixing, so here are some of the bugs fixed on this update:

• One of the pumpkins not rendering with the correct material.
  
• Umbrella ignored selected style when buying.
  
• Minor bug fixes.
  

Next update is going to be a content heavy update, featuring a new store location, rival AI stores, new drink ingredients, and new objects for your store. I'm looking forward to sharing with you the exciting new things coming to the game. Until then, enjoy your coffee!