It’s been one month since I last released a patch, so I thought I would update you on how alpha 10 is coming along.
New plot system and map layouts
I have overhauled the plot system, so instead of slowly expanding a rectangle, the game now generates pre-shaped plots with individual pricing, which you can buy upfront or take out a mortgage for.
The plots will be laid out differently depending on which map type you have chosen for your company. In addition, instead of picking between forest, city, tundra and desert you now pick the climate and environment individually: Cold, temperate or warm, and rural, town or forest.
Map layouts are now generated based on an input string, instead of just being completely random, so you can generate the same map as many times as you want, by reusing the input string.
Renting buildings and moving your company
In alpha 10 you’ll be able to rent in a larger building, as opposed to buying an empty plot and creating your building from scratch. This will help you a lot financially in the beginning and help if you’re having trouble getting creative on an empty plot. Depending on the building you're renting into, you’ll be able to rent out more rooms as you get tight on space.
Since buildings don’t just randomly generate themselves, alpha 10 will include a map editor where you can create maps with buildings, designate which rooms are up for renting and share them on the workshop.
If you decide you no longer want to rent or you can’t afford your building, alpha 10 will include the option of moving your company to a new map, whenever you want, making your current building available for new companies.
Roadmap
Other than polishing and debugging the new systems I’ve just described, I plan on rebalancing construction costs in alpha 10, to make sure expenses keep up with income, so making a million dollars will no longer be an instant win condition. I also want to rebalance employee skills and overhaul the hiring process, to make skilled employees the exception, rather than what you’ve come to expect from late game. If development doesn’t drag on for too long, I also want to overhaul the entire feature system, as this work will be necessary for adding software updates/expansions in alpha 11, but it could just as well be delayed until then. Finally, the much requested “multiple roles per employee” will be added, so you can have a programmer/designer or an artist/marketer/leader, etc.
Thanks for reading and thanks for your patience!