In case you are not aware, I announced a few weeks ago that I will be spending the whole month of September to polish and mostly balance the game - something that Tavern Tycoon sorely needs at this point.
I would like to use this opportunity to elaborate:
1. General Moneymaking: (60% Complete)
There have been many reports that Tavern Tycoon, in its current state, is too hard and somewhat impossible to win. While I am not sure about it being "impossible," I do agree that it is hard to make money and consequently win the level. My angle with this problem is by generally increasing the profit margin. I will spare the details as it is not finalized and I will try to share as much as I can about this issue.
2. Staff Wage and Perks: (40% Complete)
Staff in general is being rebalanced, and that means, skills, wage and the new perk system will play a vital role into your decision making. Some staff will move faster, some staff will get more tips, and some staff will heal faster and so on...
3. New UI: (70% Complete)
I have also been working on the new UI, primarly focusing on the usability and the asthetics. Here is a WIP of staff hiring panel:
Here is another WIP of selecting furnitures. Basically, you can now hover your mouse over any furniture, which will then show a white outline to show the selection. If you click on the furniture, it will display a small information panel above the furniture. In general, I am trying to move away from clicking "Relocate" and back and forth. Instead, an intuitive straight forward UI to do what you want to do.
4. Transition Animation: (90% Complete)
This is something I have been setting aside but I believe with the new UI, it was finally the right time to do so. Basically, I am adding smoothness to any transition of any in game transition. A good example would be opening up the zone panel or rotating furnitures before placement. Instead of instantly snapping, it will now transition smoothly, mostly with appropriate animations.
The general direction at the moment is to turn Tavern Tycoon into a Full release ready game now that all ten levels are out. I am not sure when that will happen, but it feels like the right time to begin polishing the game.
I expect most of the work to be public-release ready by the end of the month and hopefully be pushed down to the main build soon.