Hi community, the 0.1 demo update is out now!
This update is the largest update to the demo we've made so far. We've added a lot of new content, and polished user experience of core mechanics as well. So you'll have plenty more to do on the demo version. Also, we are entering Steam Next Fest!
First personal property: Motel
Now you can buy your first personal property: Nate's motel. It has a lot of new furniture options, paint, etc.
It comes with dirty furniture, you'll have to get from this to this:
The personal properties will help separate worklife from business life. In your personal property you should be able to sleep, cook, and recharge batteries to come more focused to the office.
Port Overhaul
The port area has been improved overall, featuring traffic, pedestrians, and different facilities which in the future will be able to support your business logistics.
We also added Horizon Auto (top right building in the photo above). It's a fully functional dealership that features over 5 high end cars.
Rusty Office Improvements
Rusty Factory is now called "Rusty Office" (it was never a factory really). It will be where your business starts, and acts more of a hub where you scale your business and plan your expansions before moving to your downtown office.
Production mid-game will be delegated to warehouses, garages, and distribution centers which will be coming in future updates.
We added new furniture to match this "office vibe", so you can customize as you wish. For example, separators, and LED signs with the name of your company.
These separators are useful for splitting the office into server room, packaging room, employees room, generators etc. Also, new storage types, new paints that look better overall.
There will be more interconnected facilities coming in the future to scale your operations, like warehouses, distribution centers, and so on. So your business will own a giant logistics network all across the map, to own the distribution supply and support massive throughput (and profits). This will interplay heavily with the automation content we have planned. Stay tuned!
Dynamic Weathers
In addition to day/night cycles, we added dynamic weather effects. This is one of the many atmospheric improvements we've made in this update. As Pionero is set in a cold environment, weather will affect gameplay in different situations (more to come in future updates).
New property computer
We moved all of the business options from the "B" menu to the computer for immersion but also for simplicity, keeping all the management options together:
Hiring employees
Buying furniture
Buying property expansions
Sharing keys/managing permissions
Business license tree
... etc.
Also overhauled the license skill tree, with different colors for your different branches to differentiate better, overall better looking stuff. So you will have Energy, Products/Stock, Employees(automation), Expansions, etc.
Automation And Employees
There are many improvements to employees/automation as well.
We added the first employee that can deliver orders for you, which will be available early-game. You will have to give him the items you want, and the orders you want him to deliver. Later-game employees will be able to handle more orders, like assigning a van to them so they can deliver a large number of orders in one go.
Employees will only work on your facility during working hours. Outside of working hours, they will kindly leave through the door. They will come back at 6AM the next day.
Also, we've added that when employees finish a task you've assigned them and you happen to be outside of the facility, they will notify you via SMS. We will add in the future the ability to give some orders to them via SMS as well.
Also improved the supplies employee so he can buy items from both catalogs at the same time.
Economy adjustment
Previously, we felt money magnitudes were way off in prices and profits. For example, a coffee cost $35, a book $1200, etc. So we divided the whole economy by 5. Including prices, and account balances. So purchasing power remains the same.
Variable Market price
Now the price of items for sale will change as time goes by, sometimes upwards and sometimes downwards. You will have to keep your products synced to the market, as if too cheap you will be losing potential profits, if too expensive customers will leave bad reviews and buy less.
Patch notes
Major Features & New Content
New Personal Property: You can now purchase a room at the Nate Motel! This space supports new functional furniture including bathrooms, wardrobes (for clothing storage), kitchens, beds, and more.
Horizon Auto: A new luxury car dealership has opened at the Port, featuring new vehicles available for purchase in the demo.
Delivery Employee: A new staff member is available! You can now delegate deliveries.
Business Rebrand: Rusty has been transformed from a factory into an Office to better align with the lore. A dedicated warehouse factory will be introduced in the near future.
Custom Branding: A new 3D sign displaying your company name has been added inside the Rusty office.
New Items & Licenses: Your business can now acquire licenses for four new products: Flip Calendar, Headset, Dart Board, and Drone.
Packaging Update: Introduced the "Empty Box B1", a larger box required for crafting the Dart Board and Drone.
Dynamic Weather: Implemented new weather states, including rain, light snow, and cloudy skies.
Atmospheric & Visual Overhaul: Major improvements to the game’s atmosphere, including enhanced post-processing and lighting systems.
Economy & Balancing
Global Economic Adjustment: All prices and monetary values have been divided by 5. While your current balance is lower, global prices have dropped proportionally to create a more realistic and readable economy.
Property Limits: Players are now limited to one acquired property per type to prevent duplicate purchases.
Property Sales: Selling a property now requires typing "confirm" to prevent accidental sales.
UI & Experience (UX)
Optimized Catalogs:
Port products are now unified into a single catalog with categories.
Supply employees can now pull different items in a single order.
Improved the Item Catalog visually and added +/- 5 quantity buttons. Should help reducing tendinitis.
Interaction Overhaul: Improved aiming interactions for a smoother, more responsive feel. A small dot now appears in the center of the screen during close-range interactions.
Settings Menu: Added Mouse Sensitivity and Invert Y-Axis options. The settings interface has been visually improved.
Unstuck Button: Moved to the left-side pause menu for better visibility.
Improved handling: Should feel heavier and more realistic overall, less slippery.
New SkillTree/Licenses UI: For both character and business, the new skill tree is visually richer.
Character Deletion: Re-enabled the option to delete a character (Irreversible, 7-day cooldown).
World & Environment
Port Expansion: Improved the Port area with new streets and traffic.
Environment Fixes: Resolved numerous bugs in the Airport and general environment.
Office Upgrades: Added various new furniture items and paintings specifically for the Rusty office.
Map: Improved some map icons.
NPCs & Audio
Customer Interactions: Customers now greet you after ringing the doorbell and will say goodbye based on their mood and delivery time.
Audio Enhancements: Added ambient sounds to business delivery points and improved general UI audio.
Staff Communication: Employees will now text you via the phone app to update you on their status.
Visuals: Improved customer outfits and character models. Fixed several NPC voice lines.
Bug Fixes & Technical Improvements
Controls: Fixed an issue where the UI failed to detect released keys.
Animations:
Fixed bed animations causing misalignment or allowing movement while sleeping.
Fixed a bug that froze the player while refueling vehicles with a fuel can.
Furniture: Improved furniture editing and placement. Note: The bed is no longer available in the Rusty catalog.
Social: Inviting friends to your company now shows a list of players currently in your party.
Technical:
Fixed a bug where order item lists remained in English regardless of language settings.
The generator can no longer be refilled if it is already full.
Fixed missing company fonts and phone message display errors.
Localization: Added support for French, Portuguese (Brazil), and Portuguese (Portugal).