Hello there, Landlords!
We're back with the highly anticipated Renovation Update, the second major update on our Early Access development roadmap (link). This time we wanted to address some of the most common complaints about the renovation mode and jobs related to it, including for example the ability to change furniture color variants. Of course as always, all of this is work in progress and we'd love to hear your feedback on the new additions and changes.
First of all, we'd like to start off by saying that this release won't require you to start over and you should be able to keep on playing on your current save files.
The other good news is that due to the release timing for this update, we've decided to include the Halloween themed content we've created as a part of the Renovation Update.
Now, without further ado, let's go over the most significant changes in more detail.
Item Color Variants
This has to be one of the most requested features by the community thus far: the ability to change the furniture's color scheme. It took us some time to implement this, as we already have quite a few items in the game, and we needed to go back and redo each one to support several different color variants. On top of that, as we looked through the pool of available items in-game we decided to add some (over 300!) brand new items to spice things up. We've specifically targeted the tags (more on that in the next section) that had the fewest items.
We've also had to take care of the items you've already placed in your properties, as some of them were already a variant of other items implemented as separate furniture. So these items will need to be replaced if you plan on changing their color variants.
We hope that with this addition you'll be able to unleash your creativity and design your apartments perfectly to your likings. And we can't wait to see some cool screenshots of your creations!
Item Tags
One piece of feedback that we've been hearing a lot since that game's launch, was that job clients wouldn't pay attention to furniture styles and how all items, walling and flooring choices fit together into creating one coherent design.
We've decided to tackle this issue by creating a set of 16 unique tags that describe the items: from the common ones like Modern or Vintage to the more niche ones, such as Zen or Rustic. Each item has at least one tag to label it and some of them will even fit into two or three different tags.
To tie it all up, we've added tag preferences for both the job clients and tenants that are taken by them into consideration when judging the apartment. Starting now, in order to get those juicy 5 star reviews you'll have to start paying attention to the overall style of your interior designs - so they fit your clients' whims.
Similarly, some tenants might have a preference for Cottage furnishing, while at the same time despising everything that has to do with the Military tag. This might be worth keeping in mind during your next Open House!
Item Placement Proximity
Another area that lacked depth in the game was the way the game looked at item placement. Previously, it didn't matter where exactly you put the plunger and whether it was even remotely close to the toilet; all that mattered was that it was placed in the correct room. With the new item placement proximity system, the game will now check where the newly bought items are placed in relation to other furniture and appliances.
For instance, placing a towel rack too far away from either the shower or the bathtub will result in a decor penalty. Likewise, to get the best score you'll need to make sure your microwave is placed on the kitchen counter and not just about anywhere on the floor.
We'd love to hear your feedback on these changes and your ideas for new (either positive or negative) proximity bonuses between certain item types that could be added into the game.
New Elite Contracts
As is tradition with a big update like this, we're back with a set of new and fresh Elite Contracts. This time we've implemented 6 new unique jobs, each introducing a new, unique residential building to make these jobs even more memorable.
Each of these Elite Contracts comes with custom item sets to add more variety to your interior designs. The new contracts will take you to a number of unique places: starting with the Beach House, through the Beauty Salon, ending with a lofty Private Investigator's Office.
New Tenant Archetype - Musician
Welcome the Musician, a new tenant archetype that is now available across all districts in Wondersville. This is probably the archetype that took us the longest to implement, and we've spent quite a lot of time working on the animations and all the sound effects related to it.
Musicians, unsurprisingly, like.. all things music related! They'll be happy to play the piano, drums, the guitar, and any other instrument you can hook them up with. Some might be so addicted to music notes they'll even go out of their way to play music video games on their computer. One thing is certain: get them what they need, and they will pay you back with beautiful harmonies!
Halloween Event (until November 18th)
Who doesn't like some pumpkin latte to spice up their autumn evenings? Well, apparently this one guy would go as far as to say that he loves it! Meet the one and only Count Dracoola, a mysterious individual who came from afar and settled down in an old, totally not suspicious, rundown mansion. Man that guy's cool! ːwinter2019coolyulː Um, anyway... word on the street is that he'll need help renovating the place to make it appropriately scary for anyone daring to snoop around the premises.
Since the job is a big one, we'll be running a community event to celebrate Dracoola's arrival where all you'll need to do to participate will be to share your design of the castle's interior. Let the spookiest creation win! Join our Discord community over at https://discord.com/invite/xXVgxdn to learn more!
Windows
Tired of that perfect spot for a shower being constantly blocked by an annoying window? Worry no more! From now on you'll be able to remove and build new windows in your properties as you please. This new feature is available through the Remodelling tab, the same one where you can build new walls and install door sockets.
Additionally all the windows related items (such as window curtains) will snap to the closest window now.
Sampler Tool
We've also found some time to add a cool quality of life feature, a tool for sampling objects and materials already placed in a given apartment. Now you won't have to waste precious minutes searching for that pesky red wallpaper that the client has used in their bedroom to match it. Simply press one button and voilà!
New Items
As we've mentioned above, we've gone through all the items we already have in the game, looked for the tags and item classes that could really use some more variety, along with browsing through all the awesome suggestions made by our community. In today's update you'll find over 300 brand new items, including furniture, wall patterns and floor options to play around with!
On top of that we've upgraded some of the old floor textures to make them more coherent with the newer patterns.
The Renovation Update marks the second major update on our roadmap. We're already gearing up for the next one, but to make the release calendar a bit more jam packed, we'll be releasing a smaller update with new features and content some time before the Landlord Update. In the meantime, we hope you enjoy the new version of the game and we can't wait to hear your thoughts!
Full Changelog
Features
- Implemented Furniture Color Variants.
- Implemented Item Proximity system.
- Implemented Item Tags system.
- Implemented Sampler Tool.
- Implemented Window building and bulldozing.
- Implemented snapping to windows for window curtains.
- Added an option to Exit & Renovate after Cleaning with Uncle Steve.
- Added an option to rename tenants.
Content
- Added a new tenant archetype: Musician.
- Added new Elite Contracts: Beach House, Military Barracks, Beauty Salon, Geek House, Train, Detective House and Dracoola's Castle.
- Added new residential buildings to host the new Elite Contracts.
- Added time-limited Halloween themed Elite Contracts.
- Redecorated the main menu for the duration of the Halloween event.
- Added 250 new furniture items (part of which are available only within the new Elite Contracts).
- Added 25 new floor patterns.
- Added 20 new wall patterns.
- Added a batch of new occupations for different tenant archetypes.
- Added a new poster commemorating the winning meme by @Kichi in our first official Community Contest.
- Upgraded old floor textures.
User Interface
- Changed the Preferred Furniture in jobs to be clickable, triggering a search request.
- Added budget entry popups next to the money HUD element.
General
- Tweaked the apartment highlight.
- Shrinked some of the single beds so they can be placed in smaller rooms more easily.
- Reworked some of the tenant crimes to avoid sensitive terms.
- Added skybox animation related to the day/night system.
- Fixed moving tables and similar furniture so the slotted items (such as chairs) will move as a group.
- Fixed the issue where some items could be placed on posters, which would cause further bugs.
- Removed the interior window sills from apartments so they don't collide with furniture anymore.
- Increased the player level cap from 70 to 75.
Jobs
- Upgraded job furnishing requirements so they now include new item types.
- Overhauled some of the old jobs' apartment starting states to make them more interesting.
Balance
- Added job pay scaling based on the player's level.
Thank you,
The Tenants Team