Patch 0.6.1
Hello everyone, it’s update time once again!
It took me a little longer than expected to get this patch out, mostly because I've been working on a major addition which I decided to exclude from this patch because it was taking too long to develop.
Regardless, this patch has a number of new additions, fixes a huge amount of bugs & addresses many issues left over from the porting process.
This patch should significantly increase stability across various machines as well as fix a number of stutter & performance issues.
In terms of new additions, this update focuses heavily on employees.
So lets get into what's new:
[h3]Employee Lounge[/h3]
Employees with nothing to do now have a place to chill out & recharge.
Like many things in this game, this new zone has been designed to be useful, but not entirely mandatory, especially in the early game.
Different employee types will interact with the Lounge in different ways.
For example, a builder or janitor with nothing else to do might go sit down in the Employee Lounge.
A nurse however, will only go relax if the Rec Center is closed & there are no injured customers. Or unless they’re very overworked.
Likewise, you won't find a well-rested lifeguard taking a break if there are customers in the pools.
[h3]New Employee Stats[/h3]
To complement the Employee Lounge, employees have some new additions:
New Stat: Rest
This stat shows how in-need of a break an employee is.
It functions differently for each employee, so you shouldn’t expect a receptionist to need as many breaks as a builder doing a lot of construction.
‘Rest’ is not as impactful as you might expect, a receptionist or barista can go a full 8 hour shift without needing a break, so don’t worry about your receptionist leaving a full queue of customers waiting while they kick their feet up. However the same might not apply for their next new stat..
New Stat: Bladder
Yep, even employees occasionally need to pee!
Employees will always prefer toilets in zones flagged as ‘staff only’ if any exist. But they will use any toilet if they have to, though they might not like it.
They will also try to time their bathroom breaks to not cause trouble. For example, receptionists will try to wait until their queues are empty before going & nurses will try to wait until there’s no injured customers. But keep in mind that after a while if they can’t find a good opportunity, when you gotta go, you gotta go.
New Trait: Weak Bladder
Watch out for this trait when hiring new staff. These poor employees need pee breaks more frequently than your average employee.
Choose their jobs wisely.
[h3]New Object: Coffee Machine[/h3]
Coffee machines are a new employee-exclusive object to go along with their new zone, although it can be placed in any zone flagged as ‘Employee Only’.
When an employee or manager uses the coffee machine, they gain a small but noticeable 'Caffeine' buff. While under the effects of this, employees gain a boost to their Productivity stat.
Meaning they move, swim & work faster until the effect runs out. However their 'Bladder' stat decays more quickly.
By selecting a coffee machine, the player can alter how strong they want this effect to be.
[h3]Upgraded electrical & lighting system[/h3]
While not particularly noticeable, there have been significant changes to the underlying framework of how lights & electricity works.
These changes reduce the performance impact of having many lights as well as allow for the addition of lights being shown accurately while being placed, rather than just displaying a bright circle.
Also, all lights are now able to have their color, saturation & brightness adjusted.
[h3]Daily Bonuses Overhaul[/h3]
Something that affects players in the late-game is that some of the bonuses gradually became overtuned to the point that they were impossible to complete.
These bonuses have been reworked or replaced with ones that don't gradually change over time.
There are a few more smaller changes which you can read about in the changelog below.
[h2]Full Changelog[/h2]
[h3]―Notable Changes―[/h3]
• New Zone: Employee Lounge
Employees now have a place to hang out when they have nothing else to do, or when they just need to get off their feet for a bit.
They will use any furniture & various recreational equipment inside the Employee Lounge.
A new buy menu tab has been added to list 'Employee Lounge' objects.
• New Object: Coffee Machine
The coffee machine is exclusive to employee/manager use only. It's the perfect addition to any Employee Lounge or any employee-only zone.
Employees that use it will gain a temporary buff to productivity.
Along with the Employee Lounge, employees have a few new additions:
• New Stat: Rest
Workers with physically demanding jobs may sometimes need a break.
• New Stat: Bladder
Even employees need to pee at some point! They'll use any toilet but will always greatly prefer ones in employee-only zones.
• New Trait: Weak Bladder
Employees with this trait will need to take pee breaks more often.
• Upgraded electrical & lighting system
A significant number of changes & improvements have been made to the way light & electricity works. Some of these changes include:
- All lights are now able to have their hue/saturation/brightness adjusted
- Lights & cables are now purchased from within the utility grid menu
- Lights are now accurately displayed while being placed
- Selecting the 'Power Box' now shows more electrical details
- Reduced performance impact of having many lights
• Daily Bonuses have had significant changes
Previously, some daily bonuses became unachievable in the late-game due to overtuned scaling.
These bonuses have been replaced with more 'scaling-friendly' ones.
• Zone visibility toggle
Zones are now able to be displayed all the time. A new setting has been added to the options menu to toggle their visibility & opacity.
[h3]―Balance Changes―[/h3]
• Customers are now slightly less annoyed by crowds
• Customers are more patient when waiting in reception queues
• Removed some unnecessary traits from class trainers like Night Owl
• Rebalanced costs & time required to unlock various research techs
• Reduced the speed that builders gain 'Construct' & 'Fitness' skills
[h3]―Minor Changes & Bug Fixes―[/h3]
• Improved or re-drew many sprites
• Increased grass texture resolution
• Many small improvements made to Staff menu
• Added new emotes to help customers display their needs
• Builders now fully prioritize demolition over construction
• Improved NPC pathing
• Trainers are now correctly paid when duplicating classes
• Fixed object 'Duplicate' button
• Improved framerate while placing objects
• Fixed FPS Stutter when objects are placed
• Various improvements made to construction tools
• Wall-Mounted lights can no longer be placed on fences
• Fixed issue causing resumes to show incorrect skin tones
• Fixed some issues with setting employee 'Patrol' areas
• Fixed bug that prevents manager from manually cleaning some mess
• Fixed various 'Planner' related bugs
• Fixed issue causing reception/cafe queues to sometimes get stuck
• Fixed possible crash caused by hiring nurses before building an Infirmary
• Fixed bug causing nurses to sometimes ignore customers waiting in chairs
• Fixed a number of graphical issues
• Fixed employee 'Productivity' bar displaying incorrect amounts
• Fixed some issues in the graphs/statistics tab
• Many performance & code optimisations
• Additional minor bug fixes
It took me a little longer than expected to get this patch out, mostly because I've been working on a major addition which I decided to exclude from this patch because it was taking too long to develop.
Regardless, this patch has a number of new additions, fixes a huge amount of bugs & addresses many issues left over from the porting process.
This patch should significantly increase stability across various machines as well as fix a number of stutter & performance issues.
In terms of new additions, this update focuses heavily on employees.
So lets get into what's new:
[h3]Employee Lounge[/h3]
Employees with nothing to do now have a place to chill out & recharge.
Like many things in this game, this new zone has been designed to be useful, but not entirely mandatory, especially in the early game.
Different employee types will interact with the Lounge in different ways.
For example, a builder or janitor with nothing else to do might go sit down in the Employee Lounge.
A nurse however, will only go relax if the Rec Center is closed & there are no injured customers. Or unless they’re very overworked.
Likewise, you won't find a well-rested lifeguard taking a break if there are customers in the pools.
[h3]New Employee Stats[/h3]
To complement the Employee Lounge, employees have some new additions:
New Stat: Rest
This stat shows how in-need of a break an employee is.
It functions differently for each employee, so you shouldn’t expect a receptionist to need as many breaks as a builder doing a lot of construction.
‘Rest’ is not as impactful as you might expect, a receptionist or barista can go a full 8 hour shift without needing a break, so don’t worry about your receptionist leaving a full queue of customers waiting while they kick their feet up. However the same might not apply for their next new stat..
New Stat: Bladder
Yep, even employees occasionally need to pee!
Employees will always prefer toilets in zones flagged as ‘staff only’ if any exist. But they will use any toilet if they have to, though they might not like it.
They will also try to time their bathroom breaks to not cause trouble. For example, receptionists will try to wait until their queues are empty before going & nurses will try to wait until there’s no injured customers. But keep in mind that after a while if they can’t find a good opportunity, when you gotta go, you gotta go.
New Trait: Weak Bladder
Watch out for this trait when hiring new staff. These poor employees need pee breaks more frequently than your average employee.
Choose their jobs wisely.
[h3]New Object: Coffee Machine[/h3]
Coffee machines are a new employee-exclusive object to go along with their new zone, although it can be placed in any zone flagged as ‘Employee Only’.
When an employee or manager uses the coffee machine, they gain a small but noticeable 'Caffeine' buff. While under the effects of this, employees gain a boost to their Productivity stat.
Meaning they move, swim & work faster until the effect runs out. However their 'Bladder' stat decays more quickly.
By selecting a coffee machine, the player can alter how strong they want this effect to be.
[h3]Upgraded electrical & lighting system[/h3]
While not particularly noticeable, there have been significant changes to the underlying framework of how lights & electricity works.
These changes reduce the performance impact of having many lights as well as allow for the addition of lights being shown accurately while being placed, rather than just displaying a bright circle.
Also, all lights are now able to have their color, saturation & brightness adjusted.
[h3]Daily Bonuses Overhaul[/h3]
Something that affects players in the late-game is that some of the bonuses gradually became overtuned to the point that they were impossible to complete.
These bonuses have been reworked or replaced with ones that don't gradually change over time.
There are a few more smaller changes which you can read about in the changelog below.
[h2]Full Changelog[/h2]
[h3]―Notable Changes―[/h3]
• New Zone: Employee Lounge
Employees now have a place to hang out when they have nothing else to do, or when they just need to get off their feet for a bit.
They will use any furniture & various recreational equipment inside the Employee Lounge.
A new buy menu tab has been added to list 'Employee Lounge' objects.
• New Object: Coffee Machine
The coffee machine is exclusive to employee/manager use only. It's the perfect addition to any Employee Lounge or any employee-only zone.
Employees that use it will gain a temporary buff to productivity.
Along with the Employee Lounge, employees have a few new additions:
• New Stat: Rest
Workers with physically demanding jobs may sometimes need a break.
• New Stat: Bladder
Even employees need to pee at some point! They'll use any toilet but will always greatly prefer ones in employee-only zones.
• New Trait: Weak Bladder
Employees with this trait will need to take pee breaks more often.
• Upgraded electrical & lighting system
A significant number of changes & improvements have been made to the way light & electricity works. Some of these changes include:
- All lights are now able to have their hue/saturation/brightness adjusted
- Lights & cables are now purchased from within the utility grid menu
- Lights are now accurately displayed while being placed
- Selecting the 'Power Box' now shows more electrical details
- Reduced performance impact of having many lights
• Daily Bonuses have had significant changes
Previously, some daily bonuses became unachievable in the late-game due to overtuned scaling.
These bonuses have been replaced with more 'scaling-friendly' ones.
• Zone visibility toggle
Zones are now able to be displayed all the time. A new setting has been added to the options menu to toggle their visibility & opacity.
[h3]―Balance Changes―[/h3]
• Customers are now slightly less annoyed by crowds
• Customers are more patient when waiting in reception queues
• Removed some unnecessary traits from class trainers like Night Owl
• Rebalanced costs & time required to unlock various research techs
• Reduced the speed that builders gain 'Construct' & 'Fitness' skills
[h3]―Minor Changes & Bug Fixes―[/h3]
• Improved or re-drew many sprites
• Increased grass texture resolution
• Many small improvements made to Staff menu
• Added new emotes to help customers display their needs
• Builders now fully prioritize demolition over construction
• Improved NPC pathing
• Trainers are now correctly paid when duplicating classes
• Fixed object 'Duplicate' button
• Improved framerate while placing objects
• Fixed FPS Stutter when objects are placed
• Various improvements made to construction tools
• Wall-Mounted lights can no longer be placed on fences
• Fixed issue causing resumes to show incorrect skin tones
• Fixed some issues with setting employee 'Patrol' areas
• Fixed bug that prevents manager from manually cleaning some mess
• Fixed various 'Planner' related bugs
• Fixed issue causing reception/cafe queues to sometimes get stuck
• Fixed possible crash caused by hiring nurses before building an Infirmary
• Fixed bug causing nurses to sometimes ignore customers waiting in chairs
• Fixed a number of graphical issues
• Fixed employee 'Productivity' bar displaying incorrect amounts
• Fixed some issues in the graphs/statistics tab
• Many performance & code optimisations
• Additional minor bug fixes