The Demo Launches September 1st!
Posted by: That One Guy Loki from That One Game Studio
The day has finally come that the demo will be launching. After over a year of development and months of public playtesting we have made it. I'm excited to announce that Pocket Racer Shop Sim's Demo launches Tuesday, September 1st!
The wait is only 3 days.
I have been working heavily on refining the demo from all the playtest feedback. The biggest bit of feedback I received was around the multiplayer experience.
"Why can't we run the shop together?"
Well.... now you can.
Multiplayer Origins
Multiplayer was originally designed around a simple idea and that was allowing players to join each other's shops as just a customer. You could purchase stock from the store and race against each on the tracks in the shop. The important piece was that you could take your offline save and join your friend online with your whole inventory of cars you have been tinkering.
This by itself felt like a pretty solid idea but the feedback was obvious that this was not the normal experience players expected.
New Multiplayer Roles
To address the issues with multiplayer I added some new Shop Roles that players can be granted. The default is still shopper and when you host your session you can choose the default for joining players. In game you can also change this default at any point as well. Any joined players active or offline can also have their role updated while in game under your "Multiplayer" app.
There are currently 3 new roles to pick from depending on the level of permissions you wish to grant players.
Shopper
This is the original multiplayer experience of joined players only allowed to purchase items and race on tracks but cannot help run the shop at all.
I feel this permission is ideal for public lobbies or just quick race nights with friends.
Store Help
Players with this role are able to work the cash register, restock shelves, and help customers who need assistance. These players will still have to pay to open booster packs and cannot move furniture or buy new stock.
This role does not get any money from any store transactions but there is a new "Pay Player" interaction when looking at a player. If your buddy demands an outrageous hourly wage for stocking booster packs and fumbling the register then that's between you two.
Shop Owner
This last role is for the full cooperative shop experience. Joined players no longer use their private money but now have direct access to the shop's funds. They can move furniture, order items and help run the entire shop like it was their own. The only caveat is that their inventory is separate so any cars or parts they acquire they keep when they leave the session and are not shared with the host.
Three Days Until the Demo
Getting to this point has been a long road and I'm incredibly thankful for all the playtesters who have helped shaped the game to this point. I can't wait to get this game into the hands of more players to share what we have been building.
The demo launches Tuesday, September 1st.
And if you haven't already, be sure to wishlist Pocket Racer Shop Sim so you're ready when the demo goes live.
I'll see you Tuesday!
— That One Guy Loki
That One Game Studio