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Next Fest | Demo Update

[p]Hello pledgers and pawnbrokers![/p][p]First of all, thank you so much for playing the demo and sharing your feedback. Your support, bug reports, and suggestions have helped us tremendously.[/p][p]Today, we’re excited to share two big announcements.[/p][p][/p][h2]Official Release Date[/h2][p]We’re proud to announce that Pawnbroker Simulator will officially launch on March 11, 2026![/p][p]Mark your calendars - we can’t wait for you to step into the full experience and build your own pawn empire.[/p][p][/p][h2]Steam Next Fest + Demo Update[/h2][p]We’ll be participating in the upcoming Steam Next Fest, and to celebrate, we’ve pushed a demo update shaped directly by your feedback.[/p][p]Here’s what’s new:[/p][p][/p][h2]New Additions[/h2]
  • [p]4 Difficulty Options - tailor the challenge to your playstyle[/p]
  • [p]Skills & Knowledge Panel - track your progression more clearly[/p]
  • [p]Improved Synergy View - better visibility of item attraction and item types[/p]
  • [p]Physical Qualifications - display your earned qualifications inside the store[/p]
[h2]Improvements[/h2]
  • [p]Improved shoeprint placement system[/p]
  • [p]Brand new NextPad UI with 2 additional applications[/p]
  • [p]Separate hand models for male and female player characters[/p]
  • [p]Additional guidance notifications while following Uncle Barry’s instructions[/p]
  • [p]Various bug fixes and performance optimizations[/p]
[p][/p][p]This updated demo now better reflects the game's final direction, and your feedback continues to shape the experience.[/p][p]If you haven’t tried the demo yet, now is the perfect time — and if you have, we’d love for you to jump back in and see what’s changed.[/p][p]Thank you again for your support.[/p][p]Regards,
DevTeam[/p][p][/p][hr][/hr][p]Demo Version 0.8.0 [/p][p][/p][h3]New Features[/h3][p]Gameplay[/p]
  • [p]Added difficulty options to adjust the overall difficulty of the game. The options can be found in the game section of the settings window and in the starting sequence window.[/p]
[p]Localization[/p]
  • [p]Added Chinese store sign templates that will only be visible when the selected language is Chinese.[/p]
[p]User Interface[/p]
  • [p]Added “Disable All UI” shortcut (Default F3) to hide/show every UI panel in the game (except the pause panel).
    [/p]
[h3]Improvements[/h3][p]Gameplay[/p]
  • [p]Added a new shortcut to quip the NextPad (default Tab) and removed the NextPad option from the radial equipment menu. The old NextPad option is replaced with a free(hand) option. Now, holding down the "Q" key brings up the radial mode menu instead of the "TAB" key.[/p]
  • [p]Added support for pausing the haggle by pressing the “ESC” key. The customer will wait at the checkout until the player resumes the haggle. If they run out of patience while waiting, they will leave a negative review and leave the store.[/p]
  • [p]Added support for keyboard inputs while giving a haggle offer. Clicking the offer amount in the slider will activate the keyboard input field.[/p]
  • [p]Decreased the maximum step height of the player to prevent unnatural jumping heights.[/p]
[p]Placement System[/p]
  • [p]Added surface grid displayers to the counter showcases to display which surface of the showcase(inside or outside) is currently active. These surfaces can be controlled by opening or closing the showcases' lids. Also the input hint for opening/closing showcase lids will display the text “Switch Surface” instead of “Open Showcase” while placing an item.[/p]
  • [p]Added synergy icons to display shared types between items when they are placed. If the placed item does not share any types with nearby items, there won’t be any synergy icons.[/p]
  • [p]Added a full-stack option that will allow players to stack every single item they’re currently carrying. Pressing “R” will still cycle through the stacked items, but once the list is exhausted, the final item will also be stacked, leaving the player with no active placement. Pressing ‘R’ again will simply repeat this cycle.[/p]
[p]Cleaning System[/p]
  • [p]Added shoeprints to the store floor at the start of the game to make the store dirtier.[/p]
  • [p]Improved the showprint spawn positions. Now they will appear in places where customers walk.[/p]
[p]Appeal[/p]
  • [p]Removed the pink appeal area.[/p]
  • [p]Added appeal area particles that are shot from the store windows towards an item when placing it. The closer the item to the windows, the more appeal particles will be spawned.[/p]
  • [p]Added some information about the appeal to the “Fix the Store Sign” guide. Uncle Barry will now say “Cleaning the store, placing items near the storefront, having stylized walls... Many things affect the appeal so keep an eye on it!”.[/p]
[p]Qualifications[/p]
  • [p]Removed the qualification board.[/p]
  • [p]Added a qualifications courier npc which will appear after the first day of the game to deliver qualifications card to the player. When received by the player, this card will be placed on the checkout and the qualifications panel can be accessible via this card.[/p]
  • [p]When a qualification is acquired, the physical model of that qualification(license) will be delivered to the player in a box. This physical licenses can be displayed on a wall to receive special display boosts.[/p]
  • [p]Updated the qualifications window layout to better explain qualification details and state.[/p]
  • [p]Added qualification descriptions and improved objective descriptions to better describe the objective’s purpose.[/p]
  • [p]Changed the objective description of the Presentation Masterclass Certificate from “ Apply 24 different customizations” to “ Paint 24 different parts of your store using the Paint tool”.[/p]
[p]Tutorial[/p]
  • [p]Updated the voiceover “Already dealt with your first customer” that Uncle Barry says when the ‘Wait for a seller’ plays with the voiceover “Your first customer arrived! Wonderful!”.[/p]
  • [p]Added an objective to the Alarms guide that requires players to install an alarm on an item. For the purpose of the guide, installing the alarm will be free. The guide will activate when an item is stolen by a shoplifter.[/p]
  • [p]Added an objective to the Qualifications Guide that requires players to open and inspect the Qualifications Panel. The guide will be triggered when the qualifications board has been delivered to the player.[/p]
  • [p]Added an objective to the "Close Shop and Rest" guide that requires players to open and inspect the "Time Skip" panel. This guide will be triggered after a customer is dealt with between 9pm and 6am.[/p]
  • [p]Added an objective to the Bills guide that requires players to open the Pawny app on the NextPad and inspect the bills. The guide will be triggered when the first bill is delivered to the player.[/p]
  • [p]Added guide-specific notifications that pop up when a relevant guide starts. These notifications contain context-specific information about the guide.[/p]
  • [p]Improved fix the store sign guide by adding guide notification with a small description on how to fix it.[/p]
[p]User Interface[/p]
  • [p]Removed the "locked icon" shown above lockable doors/showcases to eliminate confusion. Now, a single icon will appear if a door/showcase is locked, and it will disappear if they are not locked.[/p]
  • [p]Added a new skill/knowledge info panel that replaces the old cues. This panel pops up at the top-left of the screen while executing relevant interactions like item examination or haggle. Details of the skills and knowledge that affects the active interaction will be displayed in this panel.[/p]
  • [p]Revamped the NextPad main screen to display widgets about bills, store appeal and store reputation.[/p]
  • [p]Removed the customer detail sliders from the customer panel.[/p]
  • [p]Added a new OKEI screen design to enhance the visuals and provide a clearer description of the OKEI products.[/p]
  • [p]Simplified the storefront customization window by hiding the unfocused elements. To fully display them, players need to hover them with the cursor.[/p]
  • [p]Added the description text "Select A Valid Style" to explain to players when the current storeboard style is not eligible for modification.[/p]
  • [p]Added a new skills and knowledge window to better describe the effects of the skills and knowledge.[/p]
  • [p]Added credits section to the main menu.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed the focus issues in the customizations window.[/p]
  • [p]Improved the placement of the not enough money tooltip in the haggle panel to improve its readability.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed the overlapping issue between control scheme UI and the name tag that displays the name of the currently focused object by not rendering the name UI when it moves inside of the control scheme UI area.[/p]
  • [p]Added pawn details tooltip UI that will be visible when looking at a box that contains a pawned item to display the pawn details.[/p]
  • [p]Added “TAB” shortcut to the name field in the starting sequence window to quickly move input focus to the surname area.[/p]
  • [p]Added the streamer mode options to the main menu that disables or enables the game music.[/p]
[p]Environment[/p]
  • [p]Added a couple of stores around the pawn shop to make the environment feel more lifelike.[/p]
  • [p]Added light sources to the counter showcases and the showcase shelf.[/p]
[p]Audio[/p]
  • [p]Added separate dialog volume slider to adjust the dialog volumes.[/p]
[p]Misc[/p]
  • [p]Added brand new female hand model. If a female model is selected in the starting sequence window, this female hand model will appear instead of the default male hand model.[/p]
  • [p]Updated every single hand animation because of the new hand models.[/p]
  • [p]Burglars can now steal boxes in the delivery area outside of the store. Boxes that contain key items(like checkout boxes) cannot be stolen.[/p]
  • [p]Added skin tone to the player's hands. Now, the color of the hands will be determined based on the selected character model in the starting sequence window.[/p]
  • [p]Added support for submitting the save file name by pressing the Enter key on the keyboard.[/p]
  • [p]Improved the default examination placement of the “Old Wall Clock” in order to place it further away from the camera to prevent it being overlapped by the item panel UI.[/p]
  • [p]Softened the foggy appearance of the windows slightly.[/p]
[p][/p][h2]Bug Fixes[/h2][p]Audio[/p]
  • [p]Fixed the audio spam issue while editing a slider in the settings window.[/p]
  • [p]Removed the default slider SFX from the Sound Volume and Music Volume sliders in the settings window.[/p]
  • [p]Added an in-game SFX to the Sound Volume slider that will be played modifying the slider to better understand the sound volume.[/p]
[p]Behavior[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where placing showcases near the walls would make customers inspect that showcase from its staff area side. From now on, customers will only be able to inspect the showcase from the customer area.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where looking at the checkout item while the customer is grabbing it back, the item tooltips stays active in the background, causing the player to enter the examination mode after pressing F key.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where customers trying to leave the store would sometimes block those trying to enter.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where customers would clip into the “Marshall” sofa model.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where customers could grab items from an exhibition showcase.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where a thief would try to steal an item they cannot reach thus resulting them to trigger the thief states without actually stealing anything. From now on, they simply leave the store like a normal customer if they cannot reach the item.[/p]
[p]Store Sign Customization[/p]
  • [p]Fixed the issue where text colors wouldn’t match the selected colors.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed the issue where parts of the icons appeared invisible due to using the same color as their background.[/p]
[p]User Interface[/p]
  • [p]Fixed the incorrectly constructed ‘Average Attraction’ percentage text.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where in some cases, multiple icons appear above an item thus causing a UI overlap.[/p]
  • [p]Added tooltips to customer traits in the customer panel that pops up when the cursor hovers over them.[/p]
  • [p]Improved the save file names so that they display both in-game time and real time more clearly.[/p]
  • [p]Merged notifications for bills invoiced at the same time, displaying only one notification instead of one for each bill.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where the guide UI panel would overlap the store logo in the storefront customization window. While editing the storeboard, the guide panel will simply disappear and reappear once editing is finished.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed the autosave indicator display issue.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where the current offer text in the haggle window does not fit in its layout initially.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where loading a new game while the tutorial notification is active causes multiple tutorial notifications.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where the traits in the customer panel won’t be updated while haggling.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where after changing the language, some of the active elements(notifications and item attraction panel) wouldn’t be updated.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where the save time of a save file would be displayed in UTC time instead of local time.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where after loading a save file, the average attraction value would reset to the default value.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where sometimes the patience icon(hourglass) of a customer would stuck in the wrong rotation.[/p]
[p]Placement System[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where some purchased items cannot be placed after picking them up.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed the issue where sometimes the game wouldn’t allow canceling the placement for a newly purchased item.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where the “Exhibition Showcase” was allowed to be placed against a wall causing its lid to clip through walls.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where placing wider shelves to the narrow walls was allowed thus resulting in customers walking through them.[/p]
[p]Gameplay[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where a haggle success/fail panel would cause softlock.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where pressing the Space key while the haggle is in an ultimatum mode would allow the player to give another offer.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where it’d be impossible to interact with a box that was placed into a regular showcase.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where graphical glitches would appear in the storage shelf after a pledger redeems their pawned item.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where it was possible to initiate item examination after rejecting a seller.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where the auto-examination feature would be triggered each time an item was examined.[/p]
[p]Misc[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where “Orion’s Opus” would flip upside down during examination.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where the glass inside of the Showcase Shelf would appear/disappear based on the view angle.[/p]
  • [p]Fixed an issue where completing a deal after 6 o’clock would be accepted by the objective of 24/7 Trade Permit Licence.[/p]
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