Watch the prototype in action:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A987YiYxCc
TL;DR
- New build system means you can build rooms in any shape
- Next official update might take a couple of months, beta probably within a month
- Game will cost $14 when next official update releases
All the juicy details
You might recall from the latest patch notes that I would try revamping the build system, and if you’ve followed me on twitter ( https://twitter.com/SoftwareIncGame ), you will know that my attempt has been successful.
I have finished a working prototype and I will be spending the next weeks replacing the current build system in Software Inc. with the new system. There is a lot of code to replace and a lot of stuff will no longer work, like the dirt system, so it might take a while.
The biggest hurdle, however, will be completely re-implementing pathfinding. To get it out of the door and get it tested as quickly as possible, I will release a version on the beta branch with broken pathfinding, which means everything will work, but employees will go straight to their destination through furniture and in some cases through walls. This way you can try it out and I might get some bugs fixed, while I finish the pathfinding system up. I expect the first release to happen in about 2-6 weeks.
This will of course push back what I had planned for alpha 6 to alpha 7. It’s important to note that this is an increase in the scope of the game, I will not slack off on the management aspect of the game. This addition will add to the development time of Software Inc., not take away from it. This also means that the final price of Software Inc. will go up $2, and it will increase to $14 when the new build system is released publically. This is in addition to the price increase I already had panned, which means it might go up to $16 when alpha 7 is done.
Some details about the new build system:
- You can now place walls individually, instead of a rectangle at a time, but walls have to be connected, you can’t have walls to nowhere like the Sims
- The grid is no longer forced, you can build however you want, I’ve put in some constraints on angles and sizes so it doesn’t break completely, like paper thin rooms
- Furniture can be placed anywhere and have any size and shape
- Doors and windows can be placed anywhere, as it slides along the wall when you place it, and it can now have any size, which allows for stuff like double doors
- You can split rooms by simply drawing a wall through them