Hey everyone!
Update 0.43:
Over the past two weeks, I've whipped up a new update and I want to release it on Steam tonight (already did it), so that someone can try it out over the weekend during the playtest. Right now, I'm trying to pay more attention to player feedback, while not forgetting the direction I originally wanted to take the game. Here is what came out of it:
1. Interaction with employees Now we can not only hire and fire employees, but also do a bunch of other stuff with them. Namely:
Praise
Scold
Send to training
Give a paid day off
Send on unpaid leave
Give a bonus
2. Workplace improvements Now we can buy someone a second monitor or a desk plant. Software subscriptions for employees have also been added. And an AI subscription: +15% to efficiency, but -50% to experience gained from projects.
3. Loyalty to the player (the PM) Did you ever refuse your employees when they asked for a day off? Or scold them when a junior messed up a project? Well, now they will start disliking you for it. An employee's loyalty directly affects their mood and efficiency.
4. Changes to client relations Previously, client relations grew simply when we completed projects for them. Now, you can grow client relations more deliberately.
Complete projects, earn loyalty points, and spend them on the client you like the most. Now every client is a mini-shop.
5. The most important thing — a new type of project. Tech Support. I plan to add other types of projects to make the game more fun. I started with what seemed to be the most understandable and straightforward: Support projects.
Step 1: Unlock the new project type with any client (buy it for 15 loyalty points).
Step 2: Take a new support project from the boss. Choose the strictness of the SLA and the contract duration.
Step 3: Hire a new employee.
Step 4: Clients call customer support and generate a certain number of tickets per day.
Step 5: Assign the appropriate employees to the tickets, close the tickets, and get a fat paycheck at the end of the week. Or get hit with penalties for overdue tickets.
Step 6: .....
Step 7: Profit.
6. And various minor tweaks. I adjusted the balance a bit, added several new sounds, removed collisions and employee shaking, and fixed a bug where the game would freeze after an hour. Basically, a lot of little things that affected the overall impression of the game.
There is one problem — the encyclopedia and the tutorial at the beginning are slightly outdated. I haven't had the time to deal with that yet, sadly. But I will definitely fix everything for the upcoming demo.
Thank you everyone for playing, sharing your feedback, and supporting the development! It really means a lot to me. Have a great weekend and enjoy the playtest!