Greetings citizens and tourists!
August's update takes Retroronto a little further into the past. One of the game's biggest environmental overhauls to date revisits the city's overworld, shifting much of downtown to better reflect Toronto during the mid-2000s. Using historical reference imagery, iconic buildings, streets, and landmarks have been adjusted to better match the era, reinforcing the game's retro identity while preserving a snapshot of a city that has changed dramatically over the past two decades.
Development this month also focused heavily on apartments and player customization. Homes now generate with a variety of wall colours, flooring styles, and furnishings, making each apartment feel more distinct from the last. To support this, a new hardware retailer, Wheelhouse, has opened its doors, allowing players to preview and purchase new flooring, wall colours, bicycles, and other useful items while laying the groundwork for future home upgrades and chore-related gameplay.
Alongside these additions comes a substantial number of behind-the-scenes improvements. Bicycles can now appear in different colours, bike locks and keys have been introduced, and several new item systems have been added to support future mechanics. Much of this work prepares the game for next month's larger home and chore update while expanding the flexibility of Retroronto's growing world.
Looking ahead, Retroronto will be showcased once again at the Canadian National Exhibition (CNE) later this month, where even more players will have the opportunity to explore the city and provide feedback. As always, thank you to everyone who continues to play, wishlist the game, and support its development. Every update brings Retroronto one step closer to becoming the Toronto life simulator it's always aimed to be.
🕹️ Play the demo: https://starspray-studios.itch.io/retroronto
📰 Read the full devblog: https://www.starspraystudios.com/devblog/retroronto-report-21
📣 Join the Discord: https://discord.gg/KyCAE4YRaS
CHANGES/FIXES:
- Changed Map to reflect 2000s era of Toronto, introducing more parking lots and changing a lot of existing buildings, including the hospitals
- Updated overworld collisions to reflect new map change, collisions are now a tilemap instead of a bunch of box colliders
- Streetcar's have been changed to an older model to reflect time period
- Fixed a bug where subsequent minigames would constantly spawn customers and never end
- Buying food from cashiers now asks for a confirmation before buying
- Fridges now have a new UI for players to navigate in and store items
- Some food items and they energy they give have been buffed
- Added a quick Exit toggle (ESC/B) for buying food dialogue
- Lights in the city now dynamically light up random windows on buildings at night
- Homes now generate an address when spawned
- Updated Berczy Park to reflect time period (dog fountain and general renovations weren't done until 2017) :(
ADDITIONS:
- Added/Updated some new home interiors that can generate different wall colours, floor tilings, floor colours, and bed colours. Will retain generation on repeat visits
- Added Randomized home locations, so that now players can find 3 different homes in randomized areas around the city
- Added 'Wheelhouse', a hardware store that sells the means to change home walls/floors, tool items for a later feature, and bikes
- Added bike locks/keys to lock your bike in the overworld for 'reasons'
- Bikes can now be different colours
- Added Paint Cans and Flooring Items, which change floors and walls inside rented homes
REMOVALS:
- Removed most bikes in overworld except for one near Union Station
- Removed a fair amount of misc buildings in overworld