I've just dropped a new version into the "Open Beta Branch". At the end of this post, you can see the changelog, but in short, it contains bug fixes, balance changes, and QOL improvements.
In the coming weeks, I will focus on the Scenarios/Challenges I've announced in my last News Post:
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/686680/view/4490746800993468607
I get more and more messages from volunteers who'd like to help localize the game. I'm happy about that! Please read this if you are also interested:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/686680/discussions/0/4510921146043834308/
This year I'm going to finish the game - but still, there is work to be done. I just would like to thank you again for all the support you gave me over the years - it means the world to me!
v0.9.9.11 Changelog since 0.9.9.09 (the last one that had a news post here)
New Features or Gameplay Changes
- I've tried to further optimize the position and size of the different screens so that on smaller screens the space is better used.
- The game-stopping notification balls now all have a light animation to attract the eyes of the player - so they can realize that they have to click on them for the game to continue.
- Trade offers are now limited to 10 years instead of 20.
- I've decreased how many computers your Fans buy from you by a lot. Still, it is very much worth having them - they can still buy multiple times more than all the other groups together - if you work for it. The amount of sales you were able to get from fans was disproportionate late-game - that also forced you to build more factories than now.
- The Game didn't prioritize the most profitable markets when serving customers - it only prioritized the most profitable products and factories. It's important when you don't have enough PP to fulfill the demand.
- I've created a new window, it is called the "LPDetailsWindow" and will show you your most important LP-related values.
- Now on the Computer Designer Screen when you hover over a hardware part the screen will tell you the name of that hardware part and how much PP its production costs.
- The window that appeared when you wanted to build a new site showed the monthly upkeep cost for your future site. Now it shows the daily cost instead - and it was increased (now it is daily 5k, not monthly 50k).
- I've nerfed laboratories significantly - research was too cheap with LVL5 labs.
- I've lowered the potential income coming from Personal Computers and Portables - they were way too dominant in generating profits.
- I've changed difficulty levels overall - so now the difficulty increase is smaller between the second and the third level - but in general, I made all levels a bit easier, too. I've also changed the names of the difficulty levels.
- There is a significant change in how the AI players price their computers. Now they put more emphasis on their earlier product prices.
BUG FIXES:
- The Computer Manufacturing price estimator didn't work properly since it was using real-time manufacturing cost data allocated from factory usage data - when there was no actual demand on the market at the moment. So for example, it didn't matter that you already had a factory when you were still not selling anything - the calculation showed 0 dollars for your future computer's cost. Fixed
- When two managers finished on the same day with a task and the first manager whose task result is reported was "Looking for Software Licenses" and set to repeat then it failed to repeat its task. Fixed
- The ordering arrows on the Accessoires List didn't function. Fixed
- There was a game-breaking bug when you reached a super high demand - frozing the game. Fixed
- The bubble help for the "Random Events" check box was the same as the "Survival Time" victory goal. Fixed
- On the Manager Hiring screen the hints for the different skill bars didn't appear only over the far sides of the bar. Fixed
- On the site view the "Build" button didn't change its text to "Upgrade" as it does on the Site Manager List. Fixed
- I've increased the size of the ordering arrows on the Research Queue screen because, on some systems with some resolutions, they didn't appear.
- When you reached the last illustration level of PCs then in the office you might have got managers working without computers. Also, there is a connected bug that happened when you released PCs without an OS - both fixed.
- The "Opens the Budget Screen" bubble help doesn't usually show up (when hovering over the '$' symbol at the top of the screen for Cashflow). A different large paragraph of text is what is normally seen (describing the cash flow chart). I had to move the mouse around a bit for it to show up.
- There was a serious bug in the game concerning computer design points. When you removed a hardware part (doesn't matter if it was copied from an earlier computer of yours or not) then the designer part refreshed the points of the computer (like performance or capacity), but the Release tab didn't and it kept using that not refreshed value when you started the polishment phase. It mostly caused issues in practice when you've copied a computer and then removed a part and started polishing it immediately - because when you added a new part tho then all the values were refreshed. Fixed
- "Unfortunately, this time we have gathered no new knowledge about marketing" - had a typo
- The Cashflow Window's anchor was set incorrectly - and therefore with some multipliers/resolutions it appeared just above the upper main menu bar (showing your balance and customer number etc.) and the window was flashing. Fixed
- The Trade/Gift Screen's buttons had misleading hints (they were kind of switched up). Fixed
- The player could see the Marketing Efficiency in the Alternatives tab - even before releasing the computer. Fixed
- SCD and CrystalPlatform had category issues that caused bugs with their visibility on MOBOs. Fixed
- There was a site buy/sell trick that enabled the player to get infinite money. Fixed
- The "your market should be bigger" notification ball appeared when you were already expanding. Since you cannot do more - it shouldn't appear during expansion. Fixed
- The Logistics Point Distributor Window had outdated hints. Fixed
- The "Your computer is Polished" voice didn't work after the last version. Fixed
- Random events showed the hint of a Winning Condition. Fixed
- The pop-up windows showing information about the next department levels on the Site Manager screen were showing incorrect department data when an update was already set (by hovering over the progress bar it was always showing factory data). Fixed
- When we sell a site the game does not update the logistic balance (at least not the ui) in the top left corner - only our money balance. Fixed
- The Cash-flow Window had to be repositioned.
- There was a text issue with the Random Event messages. Fixed
Have a lot of FUN, my friends!
Andris aka Progorion
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Holy! The game's text file is already longer than the first Harry Potter book... If you'd like to know more about localizations:
LINK
* Also thank you so much for the reviews, they help a LOT! *
Important! These images are from the Open Beta Branch version so if you'd like to have these features then opt-in to that version. Here is how you can do it:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/686680/discussions/0/4031350783733793401/
