Hello everyone,

Today we have probably our biggest update to date which is focused on balancing resources and money.

This update addresses two major issues of the mid to late game: 1) the player has too much money and 2) bonuses (e.g., Timmy's stash and Lost Items) become less valuable over time.

As part of this update, we have added a new currency in the game - Diamonds. We have also reworked income, penalties, Pixamal fame, and the way Pixamals unlock.

Players will now receive rewards for finishing quests, in addition to unlocking new features.

Finally, there are also new onboarding story scenes and quests to provide more rewards in the early game and help new players navigate more easily.

Our next update will add more story to the game, along with a few new features we haven't discussed so far - so stay tuned!

See below for full details of this update.

If you like what we are doing with this game and want to help us out, please consider leaving a positive review on steam to let other people know about our game. We would really appreciate it.

Diamonds

Diamonds are a new currency earned in the game alongside coins, and are spent on improving the zoo and making your job easier.

• You earn diamonds each day, with the amount increasing after the zoo reopens to visitors
• You now get diamonds instead of coins as a reward for recapturing escaped Pixamals, and for perfect weighing of food
• Diamonds sometimes appear in Timmy's stashes, and under debris
• Visitors sometimes give a reward of diamonds as a reward for lost items
• Pixamal feeders now cost diamonds instead of coins
• Building supplies now cost diamonds instead of coins
• Fence upgrades now cost diamonds in addition to the resources
• Staff cost a once off lump some of diamonds to hire (previously a recurring coin payment)

Coins

Alongside Diamonds, we still have coins which are used to purchase new Pixamals and decorate the zoo.

• Coins are earned each day, with the amount related to the Fame level of the zoo (previously to do with the number of happy Pixamals)
• The coins earned from bonuses (Timmy's stash, debris and lost items) also scale with Fame level
• Each unhappy Pixamal at the end of the day costs you 50% of your coin income (cumulative)
• Having escaped Pixamals at the end of the day cost you 80% of your coin income

Zoo Fame Level

The Fame level of the zoo has received an overhaul to put it more centre-stage in the gameplay. Fame level now drives most unlocks (excepting unlocks from completing quests), and impacts how many coins you earn each day.

• Pixamals now all contribute the same amount of Fame, making each species worthwhile having in the zoo
• When purchasing many of the same Pixamal, Fame is reduced by 20% for each duplicate in the zoo (i.e., first of a species 100% fame, second of species 80% of fame, 3rd - 64% etc)
• Decorations also add Fame points, but are cheaper and give less fame than Pixamals
• Fame earned from decorations reduces by 10% for each repeat type of decoration
• Pixamal mastery now adds a large boost of Fame points per rank - making it a valuable way to level up Fame
• Pixamals and decorations no longer unlock from Pixamal mastery, only from reaching a new Fame level
• Pixamals sometimes unlock as a reward for finishing quests

Story and Quests

We have added new scenes and quests to the early game to help with onboarding as well as improved some of the current scenes and quests.

• The scene where the zoo reopens now has new dialog and animations
• Added new scenes and quests to help guide players through building enclosures, and purchasing decorations
• Earlier quests have new goals, that encourage diversity of Pixamals and decorations
• Various changes have been made to the early story dialog
• Added a new story rewards UI that shows you which features have been unlocked on completing a quest
• Quests now all have resource rewards, such as Pixamal treats, coins, diamonds or building supplies

Existing Files

Obviously there are a lot of changes that come with this update, and I have done my best to support existing save games. Feel free to load your old save files, they should still work. I've tried to adjust money and diamonds for old saves to make the game feel as balanced as possible from that save point.

I would however suggest starting the game from the beginning, so you can see the new scenes, complete the new quests and ensure you have a more balanced gameplay experience.

If you do run into any issues with your save files, you can reach me directly on:
[email protected]

Other improvements

• Significantly less debris spawned in new areas
• Timmy's stashes sometimes include supplies like wood, stone, and steel
• Some days Timmy's stashes will have more than 1 non-junk item
• Lost Items will take less time for their owners to claim them
• Income breakdown shows the lost items found that day
• Orson now costs a large once off lump some of coins to Hire
• Clint now costs a small once off lump some of diamonds to Hire
• Bugfix for feeding animation when facing left
• Performance improvements for large zoos with many Pixamals

Feedback

We look forward to hearing more feedback from the community and continuing to improve Pixamal Zoo! Please submit feedback on Discord or on our Steam community page.

Thanks for the support,
Monkey Manuevers