City Game Studio News

[p][/p]

[p]Default version of the game, we want to make sure to have a chance to discover bugs and adjust the balancing, to give you the best game experience possible.

Access the Unstable branch on Steam by right clicking City Game Studio in your Steam library, and then select ‘Properties’. In the new window, select ‘Betas’. The Unstable branch should now be available for you to choose from.

Please leave any feedback you may have in the appropriate channel in our Discord, or in the subforum on Steam.

As always, remember to be considerate towards players not partaking in the Unstable, in case they want to avoid spoilers.

Please make sure to make backups of your save files before playing.[/p]

[h2]Changelog - rc4[/h2]
[h3]Misc[/h3]

• Removed a yield while loading scenes (fixed memory leak and other issues)
  
• Configuration files are now only written when changes are detected

[h3]Save Game[/h3]

• Redesigned the save game panel
  
• Added ability to name save games when duplicating
  
• Added ability to name save games when creating new slots
  
• The game now warns and asks for confirmation when overwriting existing saves

[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

• Fix a crash when updating a "green" game

[h2]Previously[/h2]
[h3]Rendering[/h3]

• Use higher resolution for platform sprites (1024px instead of 512px)

[h3]Platforms[/h3]

• Add the Steam Frame
  
• Balance the Nintendo Switch units sold
  
• Balance the PlayStation 5
  
• Balance the Xbox Series X
  
• Adjust the end of life of the first Steam Machine

[h3]Updates & DLC[/h3]

• Redesigned the game update interface
  
• Redesigned the game DLC interface

[h3]Interface[/h3]

• Added the GOTY award to the "Misc" filter in the shop menu
  
• Added a way to access the devkit panel from the bottom menu
  
• The email panel now uses more colors to help you manage messages
  
• When unlocking a new game engine component, added a button to navigate directly to the game engine update panel
  
• Added a grid overlay when furnishing studios

[h3]Custom-platforms[/h3]

• Add a copy-protection parameter to avoid the 1983 market crash

[h3]Quality of Life[/h3]

• The game now remembers the sorting filter when opening the game genre panel
  
• The game now remembers the sorting filter when opening the platform panel

[h3]Optimization[/h3]

• Reworked the tips thread to stop once completed
  
• Optimized startup time (39% faster on high-end computers, 55% faster on low-end computers)
  
• Replaced the `call` function with direct function calls (250% performance improvement)
  
• Optimized label refresh to only update visible labels
  
• Optimized the bouncing animation (switched from animation node to process)

[h3]Clean-up[/h3]

• Removed 108 unused textures
  
• Closed all open I/O operations

[h3]Modding[/h3]

• Add a new parameter when creating a new difficulty (copy_protection_costs)
  
• Add a new parameter when adding a new platform (copy_protection)
  
• Add a new parameter when adding a new platform (backward_compatibility)
  
• Add a new parameter when editing an existing platform (backward_compatibility)

[h3]Staff Panel[/h3]

• Added a new filter to display employees not assigned to any studio

[h3]Balancing[/h3]

• Added a new threshold for additional cost reduction on custom platform manufacturing

[h3]Misc[/h3]

• Add support for 3440 x 1440 resolution

[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

• Fixed fullscreen mode (Windows only)
  
• Digital store: Fixed an issue where updating the assigned studio for a digital store feature wouldn't update the in-development panel
  
• Fixed a rare crash when closing in-game messages
  
• Fixed achievement unlocking incorrectly when releasing games on competitor-made consoles instead of own consoles
  
• Fixed the progress bar for manufacturing cost reduction on released custom platforms not progressing correctly
  
• Fixed an issue preventing GOTY awards from being placed
  
• Added migration to update the count of GOTY awards won
  
• Fixed mouse wheel scrolling the page when adjusting sliders
  
• Fixed slider mouse input positioning issues preventing accurate adjustment

Hey everyone!

Thanks for being so many to still read me, it really makes me happy! And this week I kept my promises and even a little bit more!
Let me tell you all about it!

[h3]This Week's Recap[/h3]
Last week I promised to work on in-game notifications. And that's what I did. Now when you get info that a new component for your game engine is available, you can click directly in the notification to open the game engine panel! It's a detail, but it makes notifications a bit more dynamic, and that's beautiful.

It's been a while since I had to do it, so I spent a full day reworking the update and DLC interfaces. I like the result, I think it's more consistent with the rest of the game. You now see the three stages of game development, which makes everything much more readable.

I also got feedback from games with over 1000 employees. And if you didn't know, City Game Studio supports up to 1000 employees - beyond that, it's going to start lagging. But since I felt like it, and it makes you happy, I spent a few hours looking at what I could optimize so the game runs better when you have over 1000 employees. And the improvements are visible. In debug mode, which is slower than release mode, the game barely manages to reach 30 fps with 1500 employees, where before it had barely 7 fps. The gain is interesting, and these numbers should be taken with a grain of salt since I didn't test with the production version, but with a debug version, which is much slower. So I think you should be able to play with a bit over 1000 employees without too much lag with this version.

Oh, one last change that should make you happy. I added a grid when you place furniture in your studios. I tested it, and it's true that having a simple grid makes it easier to place furniture. It's crazy how a small change can bring so much comfort!

[h3]What's Coming[/h3]
I'm going to have to tackle it, and I think the coming week will allow me to start working on saves. I'm not talking about optimization, but about how saves work.

The idea is to have an auto-save that will allow you to create autosave files, which will be offered when you load your game. So, rather than having an auto-save that overwrites your save, you'll have an auto-save that creates a new save.

I still have work to do, because after the save system I'll have to work on the banker to enrich his proposals. I'll talk to you about it when the time comes.

Well, I'm already done, I'm really happy to be able to continue working on City Game Studio, already 9 years I've been working on this project, and I still have some great updates to offer you!

Thank you for reading me.
See you next week, in the meantime take care of yourselves
Xavier aka Binogure

[p][/p]

[p]Default version of the game, we want to make sure to have a chance to discover bugs and adjust the balancing, to give you the best game experience possible.

Access the Unstable branch on Steam by right clicking City Game Studio in your Steam library, and then select ‘Properties’. In the new window, select ‘Betas’. The Unstable branch should now be available for you to choose from.

Please leave any feedback you may have in the appropriate channel in our Discord, or in the subforum on Steam.

As always, remember to be considerate towards players not partaking in the Unstable, in case they want to avoid spoilers.

Please make sure to make backups of your save files before playing.[/p]

[h2]Changelog - rc3[/h2]
[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

• Fixed slider mouse input positioning issues preventing accurate adjustment

[h3]Updates & DLC[/h3]

• Redesigned the game update interface
  
• Redesigned the game DLC interface

[h3]Optimization[/h3]

• Replaced the `call` function with direct function calls (250% performance improvement)
  
• Optimized label refresh to only update visible labels
  
• Optimized the bouncing animation (switched from animation node to process)

[h3]Notifications[/h3]

• When unlocking a new game engine component, added a button to navigate directly to the game engine update panel

[h3]Studio[/h3]

• Added a grid overlay when furnishing studios

[h2]Previously[/h2]
[h3]Rendering[/h3]

• Use higher resolution for platform sprites (1024px instead of 512px)

[h3]Platforms[/h3]

• Add the Steam Frame
  
• Balance the Nintendo Switch units sold
  
• Balance the PlayStation 5
  
• Balance the Xbox Series X
  
• Adjust the end of life of the first Steam Machine

[h3]Interface[/h3]

• Added the GOTY award to the "Misc" filter in the shop menu
  
• Added a way to access the devkit panel from the bottom menu
  
• The email panel now uses more colors to help you manage messages

[h3]Custom-platforms[/h3]

• Add a copy-protection parameter to avoid the 1983 market crash

[h3]Quality of Life[/h3]

• The game now remembers the sorting filter when opening the game genre panel
  
• The game now remembers the sorting filter when opening the platform panel

[h3]Optimization[/h3]

• Reworked the tips thread to stop once completed
  
• Optimized startup time (39% faster on high-end computers, 55% faster on low-end computers)

[h3]Clean-up[/h3]

• Removed 108 unused textures
  
• Closed all open I/O operations

[h3]Modding[/h3]

• Add a new parameter when creating a new difficulty (copy_protection_costs)
  
• Add a new parameter when adding a new platform (copy_protection)
  
• Add a new parameter when adding a new platform (backward_compatibility)
  
• Add a new parameter when editing an existing platform (backward_compatibility)

[h3]Staff Panel[/h3]

• Added a new filter to display employees not assigned to any studio

[h3]Balancing[/h3]

• Added a new threshold for additional cost reduction on custom platform manufacturing

[h3]Misc[/h3]

• Add support for 3440 x 1440 resolution

[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

• Fixed fullscreen mode (Windows only)
  
• Digital store: Fixed an issue where updating the assigned studio for a digital store feature wouldn't update the in-development panel
  
• Fixed a rare crash when closing in-game messages
  
• Fixed achievement unlocking incorrectly when releasing games on competitor-made consoles instead of own consoles
  
• Fixed the progress bar for manufacturing cost reduction on released custom platforms not progressing correctly
  
• Fixed an issue preventing GOTY awards from being placed
  
• Added migration to update the count of GOTY awards won
  
• Fixed mouse wheel scrolling the page when adjusting sliders

Hello everyone!

Happy New Year, we're still in January so I'm allowed to say it, it's the law!
I know there's some really crazy stuff happening in the world, so I'm burying myself in work to avoid thinking about it too much. And the result is a new little version with quite a few changes!

[h3]This Week's Recap[/h3]
I was supposed to work on notifications, but I didn't do it the way I thought I would. Actually, I got tons of feedback over these past few days and it allowed me to prioritize essential elements that will greatly improve your gaming experience. First, the emails, I added colors to help you distinguish them better. It's not much but it makes a nice difference, thanks for the suggestion!

Then the devkits. Until now it was a somewhat hidden menu, but that was without counting on your feedback that pointed out this state of affairs. So now, sending devkits is part of the game's main interface, and it's much easier to find this essential panel when you're manufacturing consoles.

Other important details like the fact that the game will now remember the sort order of consoles and genres so you don't have to make the same gestures over and over again. But I want to tell you about the bulk of the work.

I spent a few days reworking the game launch. Actually, I came across feedback from 2019 that mentioned City Game Studio taking a long time to start. And when checking on my machine, it took about 15 seconds to launch. Let's just say an eternity, so I worked on that.

Instead of loading everything at once, loading now happens on demand. This might introduce some bugs, but that remains to be proven because I think I tested the changes thoroughly. I took the time to delete over a hundred textures that were no longer used, while reworking the management of a thread (there are still a few in the game) that was running all the time for no reason. And I also closed all the I/O that weren't properly closed, which could cause a small memory leak indeed. And with all this work, the game now launches in about 7.5 seconds on my machine.

I wanted to see what it would do on an older machine, and we go from 31.5 seconds to about 13.2 seconds on average. All without blocking the operating system. So it's a small victory and I'm pretty proud of myself for that!

[h3]What's Coming[/h3]
I still plan to rework in-game notifications to make them more effective. So that's not changing. But I also plan to work on the save system. Last time I worked on it I focused on optimization, meaning loading a game is faster than before. And today I'd like you to have a more modern autosave system.

I'll tell you more when it's done, and I don't think I'll have time to do everything in a single week.

So, in these uncertain times I wish you good health, take care of yourselves, for real! And if all goes well we'll catch up next week!
Xavier aka Binogure

[p][/p]

[p]Default version of the game, we want to make sure to have a chance to discover bugs and adjust the balancing, to give you the best game experience possible.

Access the Unstable branch on Steam by right clicking City Game Studio in your Steam library, and then select ‘Properties’. In the new window, select ‘Betas’. The Unstable branch should now be available for you to choose from.

Please leave any feedback you may have in the appropriate channel in our Discord, or in the subforum on Steam.

As always, remember to be considerate towards players not partaking in the Unstable, in case they want to avoid spoilers.

Please make sure to make backups of your save files before playing.[/p]

[h2]Changelog - rc2[/h2]
[h3]Interface[/h3]

• Added the GOTY award to the "Misc" filter in the shop menu
  
• Added a way to access the devkit panel from the bottom menu
  
• The email panel now uses more colors to help you manage messages

[h3]Quality of Life[/h3]

• The game now remembers the sorting filter when opening the game genre panel
  
• The game now remembers the sorting filter when opening the platform panel

[h3]Optimization[/h3]

• Reworked the tips thread to stop once completed
  
• Optimized startup time (39% faster on high-end computers, 55% faster on low-end computers)

[h3]Clean-up[/h3]

• Removed 108 unused textures
  
• Closed all open I/O operations

[h3]Bugfix[/h3]

• Fixed mouse wheel scrolling the page when adjusting sliders

[h2]Previously[/h2]
[h3]Rendering[/h3]

• Use higher resolution for platform sprites (1024px instead of 512px)

[h3]Platforms[/h3]

• Add the Steam Frame
  
• Balance the Nintendo Switch units sold
  
• Balance the PlayStation 5
  
• Balance the Xbox Series X
  
• Adjust the end of life of the first Steam Machine

[h3]Custom-platforms[/h3]

• Add a copy-protection parameter to avoid the 1983 market crash

[h3]Modding[/h3]

• Add a new parameter when creating a new difficulty (copy_protection_costs)
  
• Add a new parameter when adding a new platform (copy_protection)
  
• Add a new parameter when adding a new platform (backward_compatibility)
  
• Add a new parameter when editing an existing platform (backward_compatibility)

[h3]Staff Panel[/h3]

• Added a new filter to display employees not assigned to any studio

[h3]Balancing[/h3]

• Added a new threshold for additional cost reduction on custom platform manufacturing

[h3]Misc[/h3]

• Add support for 3440 x 1440 resolution

[h3]Bugfixes[/h3]

• Fixed fullscreen mode (Windows only)
  
• Digital store: Fixed an issue where updating the assigned studio for a digital store feature wouldn't update the in-development panel
  
• Fixed a rare crash when closing in-game messages
  
• Fixed achievement unlocking incorrectly when releasing games on competitor-made consoles instead of own consoles
  
• Fixed the progress bar for manufacturing cost reduction on released custom platforms not progressing correctly
  
• Fixed an issue preventing GOTY awards from being placed
  
• Added migration to update the count of GOTY awards won