Another Brick in The Mall News

[p]After shelving a bunch of prototypes and one quite advanced project over the past few years, we're working on a new game that shows promise but is not yet ready for an announcement, let alone a steam page...[/p][p]So after not releasing anything for a long time I decided to go back to Another Brick in The Mall as a distraction over the summer holidays. Well, with fresh eyes I was able to come up with solutions for some long standing bugs and issues and decided to do an update. [/p][p]Along with those fixes I thought I might as well implement the mechanics for Hotels as a new business and optional High Resolution Textures intended for modern monitors. Hope you enjoy them![/p][p][/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]Patch Notes[/p][p]
1.2.0
[/p]

• [p]Added: New Business: Hotels! (Motels really). Create a Hotel Lobby as a reception for your guests and Hotel Rooms for them to sleep at. Hotel guests will spend more time and money at your Mall. Hire Cashiers as receptionists and make sure you have a Maintenance Center nearby with Janitors to clean the rooms and change the bed sheets when your guests are gone. A garbage pick-up zone nearby will help things run smoothly. [/p]
• [p]Added: New objects: Hotel Bed, Hotel Shower Stall and Hotel Room Door. [/p]
• [p]Added: High Resolution Textures. Recommended for players with a QHD (1440p), UHD (2160p) or above monitor. You can switch to High resolution textures in the Video Options. [/p]
• [p]Changed: Builders now prioritize building doors over everything else to reduce to probability of having inaccessible work orders. [/p]
• [p]Added: A warning icon and tooltip over inaccessible work orders. [/p]
• [p]Changed: Builders can now come to work on foot if the main entrance is disconnected from your road network to prevent a potential soft lock in such a case. [/p]
• [p]Changed: Autosaves are now cycling through 5 different save names to help recover from mistakes/bugs. You now always will have an autosave from five in-game days ago. [/p]
• [p]Changed: Improved memory management. [/p]
• [p]Fixed: Glitchy building wall shadows. [/p]

[p]
1.2.1
[/p]

• [p]Fixed: An issue where the native resolution of the monitor could not be selected.[/p]
• [p]Added: An option to anchor the UI to screen edges on ultrawide resolutions (in Video Options).[/p]
• [p]Fixed: Cascading menus (when setting products for shelves) and tooltips being out of place on ultrawide resolutions.[/p]
• [p]Added: A failsafe in fringe cases where car traffic would come to a complete stop at intersections.[/p]
• [p]Added: A slight breathing motion to the mouth of sleeping hotel guests.[/p]

[p]
1.2.2
[/p]

• [p]Fixed: Staff showing up as clones in specific conditions.[/p]
• [p]Fixed: A potential crash when building Hotel Beds.[/p]
• [p]Fixed: A potential crash related to sound effects.[/p]
• [p]Fixed: Hotel Room being assignable without being unlocked.[/p]
• [p]Fixed: Hotel Room Door being buildable without being unlocked.[/p]
• [p]Fixed: Glitchy object filter on ultrawide resolutions in anchored mode.[/p]
• [p]Fixed: Incorrect text for the Union Vote notification in German language.[/p]

[p]
1.2.3
[/p]

• [p]Added: A new achievement for Hotels.[/p]
• [p]Fixed: A possible corruption of Hotel rooms' status.[/p]
• [p]Fixed: Dismissing notifications on ultrawide resolutions in anchored mode not working properly.[/p]
• [p]Changed: Lowered the maintenance cost for Hotel beds and shower stalls.[/p]

[p][/p][p]Many thanks to everyone who participated in the beta test, reported bugs and provided feedback.[/p][p][/p][p]Please note that if you have mods at full capacity in your current save, some will graphically show up as "out of texture space" due to the new sprites used for hotels.[/p][p]If this is the case for you, you can keep playing with all your mods without the new content: opt-in to keep using the previous build. In the game's Steam properties select the 'BETAS' tab and select 'Legacy1.1.4'.[/p][p][/p][p]You can help translate the update's new text to your language on Localizor: https://www.localizor.com/another-brick-in-the-mall[/p][p][/p][p]While I'll be back working on our new game for the time being, there will be more content coming for Another Brick in The Mall! I'll have some news hopefully before the end of the year.[/p][p][/p][p]Oh, and we'll be having a sale very soon![/p][p][/p][p]Have fun building![/p][p][/p][p][/p]

[p]So I was planning this update mainly to fix some long standing bugs and issues, but I thought I might as well implement the mechanics for Hotels too! Also, you can now choose to use High Resolution Textures (twice the standard resolution). Hope you enjoy them! [/p][p]See at the bottom of this post how to participate in the beta test. [/p][p][/p][p]Patch Notes

1.2.0
[/p]

• [p]Added: New Business: Hotels! (Motels really). Create a Hotel Lobby as a reception for your guests and Hotel Rooms for them to sleep at. Hotel guests will spend more time and money at your Mall. Hire Cashiers as receptionists and make sure you have a Maintenance Center nearby with Janitors to clean the rooms and change the bed sheets when your guests are gone. A garbage pick-up zone nearby will help things run smoothly too. [/p]
• [p]Added: New objects: Hotel Bed, Hotel Shower Stall and Hotel Room Door.
  [/p]
• [p]Added: High Resolution Textures. Recommended for players with a QHD (1440p), UHD (2160p) or above monitor. You can switch to High resolution textures in the Video Options.
  [/p]
• [p]Changed: Builders now prioritize building doors over everything else to reduce to probability of having inaccessible work orders.
  [/p]
• [p]Added: A warning icon and tooltip over inaccessible work orders.
  [/p]
• [p]Changed: Builders can now come to work on foot if the main entrance is disconnected from your road network to prevent a potential soft lock in such a case.
  [/p]
• [p]Changed: Autosaves are now cycling through 5 different save names to help recover from mistakes/bugs. You now always will have an autosave from five in-game days ago.
  [/p]
• [p]Changed: Improved memory management.
  [/p]
• [p]Fixed: Glitchy building wall shadows. [/p]

[p]

[/p][p]You can opt-in for the unstable build this way:
[/p]

• [p] In your steam library, right-click on the game and select properties
  [/p]
• [p] Select the 'BETAS' tab and select 'unstable - Test branch'
  [/p]
• [p] You don't have to enter an access code, click close.
  [/p]

Make sure Steam downloads an update and the version says 1.2.0 on the main menu.

[h3]
For the duration of the beta test, please post your feedback and bug reports in this thread:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/521150/discussions/0/601913251731725257/
Patch notes for minor patches/revisions for update 1.2 will also be posted in this thread.
Thanks!
[/h3]
[p][/p]

Here is a post-release update with extended modding limits, a much needed independent handling of floor tiles build orders, improvements to ultrawide mode and a bunch of bug fixes.

Scroll down for a Workshop showcase to make good use of the new modding limits!

Patch Notes

1.1.0

• Changed: Products/objects mods are now limited by texture space. On the manage mods menu the texture space is estimated and might not be completely accurate. Mods that could not be loaded will show up as a warning sprite in-game.
  
• Changed: You can now have up to 640 modded products instead of 128 (you will most likely be limited by texture space before reaching that number though).
  
• Changed: You can now have up to 108 modded floor tiles instead of 20.
  
• Changed: Orders to build floor tiles are now handled separately from foundations/objects orders so that build orders do not cancel each other.
  
• Added: You can now display the names of characters if they were generated from Twitch chat or modified, or display all names, from the Twitch tab of the options menu. You can also press N in-game to cycle through modes.
  
• Fixed: A possible corruption of fine dining restaurants.
  
• Fixed: Minimum size storages not getting deliveries.
  
• Fixed: Blocky UI in ultrawide modes.
  
• Fixed: Flickering zone panels in ultrawide modes.
  
• Fixed: Various scaling issues in ultrawide modes.
  
• Fixed: A possible crash when using fullscreen on high refresh rate monitors.
  
• Fixed: Customer status referencing random zones when going to non-retail businesses.
  

1.1.1

• Fixed: Scaling issues with the new floor tiles rendering (glitchy gaps and seams).
  
• Fixed: Glitches on various women haircuts.
  

1.1.2

• Changed: Masks are now only displayed on some characters during the outbreak event.
  
• Fixed: Using the letter N when renaming things would cycle through the names display options.
  

If you have bugs to report, please post in the appropriate Discussions: http://steamcommunity.com/app/521150/discussions/1/



Now seems like a great time to showcase some of the most prolific mod makers on the workshop and help you guys make good use of the extended modding limits!

Click the name of each creator to access all their mods for Another Brick in The Mall.

wooby6797 made 5 hilarious restaurant skins to bring some variety to your mall's catering businesses.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1901023548&searchtext=
JaY has a bunch of fun products and this amazing objects pack with a ton of stuff:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2261404874&searchtext=
BigAl56 has a ton of new floor tiles to make your Mall look unique and some new products too!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1998858236
brittpinkie has a lot of new products, including toys, accessories, home appliances, groceries and more!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1989116245&searchtext=
Kayla Silverfox also has a ton of new specialty products:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1996154253&searchtext=
Kosii made a bunch of clever mods to hack-in some decorative features:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2091829008&searchtext=
Finally, our own official objects pack adds a bunch of new objects such as new counters, statues, a claw machine and more:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1817022232&searchtext=
And of course the all-time favorite Mall Architect mod!
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1545725998&searchtext=


Obviously we couldn't list everyone, so head over to the Workshop for more products, objects, floor tiles, scenarios and over 1000 maps!


Want to create mods of your own?
Check out our Modding Guide, it has everything you need to know to get started.


Have fun building, everyone!

The original soundtrack for Another Brick in The Mall by David Gonzalez is now available on Steam!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1379440/Another_Brick_in_The_Mall_Soundtrack/

A great opportunity to enjoy the soundtrack outside the game and support an amazing musician!

The soundtrack will be available on other popular platforms in the near future.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

First things first: a huge THANK YOU to all our early adopters, especially if you submitted feedback, suggestions and bug reports, your support and help have been invaluable and we couldn't have made it without you!

Another big shootout to the modders: Head over to the workshop to enjoy their gigantic malls, fun new products, restaurant skins and more!

It's easy to forget which features were added during early access if you've been here from the start, and also easy to assume it's been that way forever if you're a new player. But it's been a long road and many staple features didn't exist at launch: objects rotation (veterans out there remember!) , offices, shoplifting or the shift planning tool, just to name a few!

Here is a timeline with some of the major features and content added during early access; a lot of them were due to your feedback and suggestions:


Now, what about Another Brick in The Mall's future? Well, we're not done yet!

Although our focus will shift towards a new project from now on, this won't be the last update to Another Brick in The Mall, so your suggestions, big and small, are still much appreciated.

Post 1.0 updates will focus on expanding modding capabilities and removing limitations in an effort to help keep the game fresh long after we're done, with new content from the community.

Official new content is not out of the question but less likely.

Although we fixed thousands of them with your help, some obscure bugs might still persist so your reports are still much needed, and your quality of life suggestions still much appreciated.

If you have bugs to report, please post in the appropriate Discussions for optimal support: http://steamcommunity.com/app/521150/discussions/1/

Here are the patch notes for version 1.0.4 (mostly bug fixes and restaurants, bars and coffee shops can finally open 24/7):

Patch Notes

1.0.0

• Changed: Balanced price and demand for some products.
  
• Changed: Updated the Abandoned Mall scenario to accommodate recent changes.
  
• Changed: The demand menu now shows the potential profit range per tier for retail products.
  
• Fixed: The Assign Products tool now works on whole objects instead of only the object's anchor.
  
• Fixed: Removing an object placed on outdoor floor tiles would turn the cell to foundations.
  
• Fixed: When ordering to build floor tiles, tiles of that type are correctly ignored and not rebuilt/billed.
  
• Fixed: When unlocking road entrances in succession the cost is now correctly based on unlocked entrances instead of connected entrances.
  
• Fixed: Transferred guards now keep their assigned patrol.
  
• Fixed: A few typos.
  
• Added: A 'special thanks' section to the credits.
  
• Changed: Updated translations with the latest Localizor data.
  

1.0.1

• Fixed: An issue where traffic jam at the main road entrance could degenerate and never recover.
  
• Fixed: Ampersand (&) is now ignored when renaming things to avoid text glitches.
  
• Fixed: A possible corruption of self-checkouts.
  
• Fixed: A possible memory corruption when removing shelves while they are being used.
  
• Fixed: A possible corruption of various machines (arcade, vending, etc...).
  
• Changed: Updated translations with the latest Localizor data.
  

1.0.2

• Changed: You can now open fine dining restaurants, bars and coffee shops 24/7.
  
• Changed: Patrons at bars and coffee shops now leave when waiting for a reorder and their satisfaction reaches 0.
  
• Fixed: Various instances where waiters could become corrupted.
  

1.0.3

• Changed: When letting go of the opening duration slider of a zone, the zone will now properly close if applicable.
  
• Fixed: Building foundations adjacent to outdoor tiles would not generate automatic walls.
  
• Fixed: The minimum/base salary being reset when loading a game.
  
• Fixed: Misaligned list box items on ultrawide screens.
  

1.0.4

• Fixed: People getting stuck waiting for a bus nowhere near a bus stop.
  
• Changed: Updated translations with the latest Localizor data.
  

One last thing: there might be a few new players on the Discussion boards in the coming weeks, asking about mechanics or strategies. Remember, not everyone has been playing the game for 3 years or watched Let's plays before playing: please be nice, and if you can, helpful :)

And now let's get to building!