v0.4.07 Post Early Access Launch: Performance Update, Rebalance and More

[p]Hi everyone! 👋[/p][p]Thank you so much to everyone who has bought and played Food Processing Simulator in Early Access. The response has been very enthusiastic, and we really appreciate all the feedback coming from early players, creators who made videos about the game, and everyone who tried the demo.[/p][p]Every suggestion, criticism, and bug report helps us understand how the game behaves in real play sessions, not just in our internal testing. During Early Access, we will be selecting which suggestions are feasible and consistent with the vision of the game. At the same time, there is room to try experimental ideas, whether they come from the community or from our own internal concepts.[/p][p]We are processing your feedback one by one, so please understand if your specific suggestion is not included in this update yet. For this patch, the focus is on things that could be improved in a relatively short time so that your moment-to-moment experience already feels better and smoother. Some larger performance topics are still being worked on and will be discussed in a future update.[/p][p]Here are the main changes in this post–Early Access patch, ordered by priority:[/p][hr][/hr][h3]1. Project Updates: Quick vs Contract, Force End Day, and Clearer Icons[/h3][p]We received a lot of feedback that many players prefer projects where the truck arrives on the same day (Quick Projects) instead of projects that require waiting several days (Contract Projects). To address this, we have made several changes:[/p]

[p]Force End Day information in the Project Menu
The Force End Day feature has actually been available in the Pause Menu. It lets you end the workday early if your stock is ready for a future Contract Project, so you can skip ahead to the day when that truck arrives.
The tradeoff stays the same: every day that passes causes all product that is not inside Cold Storage or a Container Truck to lose one grade level.
To make this feature more visible, information about Force End Day is now shown at the top of the Project menu, so players understand that this is a valid strategic option.[/p]
[p]Combination of Quick and Contract Projects after Tier 4
Once you reach Tier 4, each day will now offer two projects:[/p]
- [p]One Quick Project, where the truck arrives on the same day.[/p]
- [p]One Contract Project, where the truck arrives after a preparation period.
  This way, you can decide whether you want a short-term task with immediate action or a longer contract with different scale and pacing.[/p]
[p]Distinct icons for Quick and Contract Projects
To make things readable at a glance, Quick Projects and Contract Projects now use different icons. You can tell the type of project simply by looking at the icon, without needing to open the details every time.[/p]

[p][/p][hr][/hr][h3]2. Shelf and Cold Storage Rules[/h3][p]A bug allowed players to move shelves out of the Cold Storage area, even though shelves were originally intended to stay inside Cold Storage only.[/p][p]Seeing how players experimented with this, we have adjusted the behavior:[/p]

[p]You can now move shelves, but only within the Cold Storage area.[/p]
[p]Shelves can no longer be pulled out into other zones, but you gain more flexibility to rearrange them inside Cold Storage to match your layout and stock management needs.[/p]

[p]Some of the community ideas about using shelves for other purposes have been noted. Those ideas will be considered for future updates with proper design, rather than relying on a bug.[/p][p][/p][carousel][/carousel][hr][/hr][h3]3. Money Reward Rebalance[/h3][p]Many players felt that earning money was a bit too easy, which made progression jump ahead very quickly. In response:[/p]

[p]Project money rewards have been rebalanced to create a more suitable pacing.[/p]
[p]Experience gain remains the same as before, so your character level progression does not become significantly slower.[/p]

[p]The intention is to make the economic side feel slightly more grindy but still fair, so that buying new machines or expanding production continues to feel meaningful.[/p][p]From community discussions, raising machine prices was also mentioned. Instead of simply increasing machine prices, we want to exploring a different approach:[/p]

[p]Introducing an Operational Cost system for machines, separate from daily employee wages.[/p]

[p]Under this idea, owning and running more machines would come with ongoing operating costs, helping balance long-term money growth. Because this is still in the ideation phase, feedback on this concept is very welcome. Please let us know what you think about Operational Cost as an additional layer on top of salaries. Other ideas like upgrades is already on its way to sunk your money.[/p][hr][/hr][h3]4. Performance Improvements[/h3][p]We have made several performance improvements in specific locations and setups:[/p]

[p]Some areas and objects in the area have been optimized for better efficiency.[/p]
[p]Internal processing has been adjusted in a few places to reduce potential frame drops.[/p]

[p]There are still more performance improvements in progress that are larger and more complex. For this update, the focus is on optimizations that can be delivered quickly and have a noticeable effect for many players.[/p][hr][/hr][h3]5. Item Movement Animation Speed[/h3][p]The speed of item transfer animations has been updated:[/p]

[p]Animation speeds have been standardized, so actions that involve item movement now feel consistent with each other.[/p]
[p]Overall speed has been increased, making production lines look more active and responsive without losing readability.[/p]

[p]This should make watching your conveyor belts and machine transitions feel more satisfying and less sluggish.[/p][p][/p][carousel][/carousel][hr][/hr][h3]6. Mouse Icon Update[/h3][p]Some players reported confusion with the icons for left click, right click, and scroll in the UI.[/p][p]In response:[/p]

[p]Mouse icons have been updated with more vivid colors and clearer shapes.[/p]
[p]Instructions that show mouse inputs should now be easier to understand at a glance, especially for new players going through tutorials or learning new interactions.[/p]

[p][/p][carousel][/carousel][hr][/hr][h3]7. Fix for Missing Mouse Cursor When a Controller Is Connected[/h3][p]A number of players experienced situations where mouse or keyboard input did not work correctly when a controller was still connected and active.[/p][p]This issue has been fixed so that:[/p]

[p]Mouse and keyboard inputs are handled more reliably alongside controller input.[/p]
[p]Cases where the cursor failed to appear or could not be moved when a controller was present should no longer occur.[/p]

[p]If you still run into similar problems after this patch, please send a report so we can investigate specific setups.[/p][hr][/hr][h3]8. Machine Sound Fix[/h3][p]Previously, machine sound could be missing when starting from a New Game, and only worked correctly after doing a Load Game.[/p][p]This bug has been fixed:[/p]

[p]Machines now play their sounds correctly from the start, whether you begin from New Game or load an existing save.[/p]

[hr][/hr][h3]9. Truck Delivery Information: From Popup to Notification[/h3][p]Many players felt that the popup message for “truck successfully delivered” was too interrupting during busy moments.[/p][p]To reduce interruptions:[/p]

[p]The delivery confirmation has been changed from a popup to a screen notification that does not stop gameplay.[/p]
[p]During the Tutorial, this information is still shown as a popup so that new players do not miss important explanations about the delivery system.[/p]

[p][/p][hr][/hr][h3]10. Player Falling Fix[/h3][p]We solved the problem where player falling randomly.[/p][hr][/hr][p]Once again, thank you very much for your support, your reviews, your sharp criticism, and your creative ideas. All of this helps shape Food Processing Simulator step by step throughout Early Access.[/p][p]Please keep sending feedback through the in-game Bug Report Menu or the Steam Discussions. Everything is read, even if not every suggestion can be answered or implemented immediately.[/p][p]Enjoy optimizing your lines, keep those trucks on schedule, and see you in the next update! 🥗🚚[/p][p][/p][p][dynamiclink][/dynamiclink][/p]