Hi everyone,
This update is similar to the update of last week, I've been working around the clock to get as many "Quality of Life" improvements and fixes ready for Beta 22. I'm close to "feature locking", which means testing (which will be very intensive this time) and translation of the new strings in Beta 22.
Centralized Clockrate Controller V2
After the first version of the CCC was released I noticed very few players used the "rules feature". Although I still continued to get the question "What can I do against DDoS attacks?".
What I learned was that the current CCC simply was too complicated for most players. Very few players fully understood the activation and deactivation functionality and thereby avoided using it at all.
To fix this, Beta 22 will introduce a greatly simplified CCC. You no longer define activation and deactivation percentages, but instead simply set the clock rate you want the racks to switch to in case of a DDoS attack or a viral boost.
I hope this makes the CCC easier to use and easier to understand.
Improved Employees Menu
I've been able to put some hours into the Employees Menu. For a long time it has been missing a "multi employee actions" feature. The list was also incredible laggy late game.
The new menu introduces a couple of new features:
- Added icon next to speed to show if the employee is ready to be upgraded.
- Show if an employee is unseated.
- Remember the selected sorting order when re-opening the menu.
- Added mass action functionality allowing you to apply the following actions to multiple employees at once: remove from desk, fire, send home (1/3 days), start/stop training and release from manager.
- Greatly improved performance and removing lag when having more than 200 employees.
Employee Switcher
A brand new "Employee Switcher" will also be introduced in Beta 22. It will allow you to quickly cycle through your employees. The switcher will follow the order of your Employees Menu allowing you customize the sorting.
When changing employee, the switcher will automatically stay on the same tab if it's available for the employee type.
Paying a Bonus
In Beta 22 you'll be able to pay your employees bonuses. Paying a bonus will instantly increase your employee's mood to 100%. The price is based on a combination of the employee's salary and their current mood.
The bonus is meant as an alternative to sending your employees home in order to restore mood. Once a bonus has been paid you'll have to wait 30 in-game days before paying another bonus.
Ad Contracts Daily Payment
The number one question asked since Ad Contracts was introduced has been "why do I lose money when the finance overview says I earn money every day?". Most players never noticed that contracts was paid upfront and if you had a contract running for 7 days (for example) it would mean you'll have 6 days with no payments.
Beta 22 will change this and instead make payments happen daily.
I personally wasn't too happy with this change, as I liked the realism of having to take into consideration when contracts was paid out (I know a few of you agree with me). However, the frustration and confusion for new players simple wasn't worth it.
Scheduled Training Days
HR Managers will be updated too. Scheduled training days works identical with "Days Off" by simply allowing you define weekdays in which the employee should train.
Once a employee starts a training day this cannot be canceled (same as with days off). "Days Off" and ''Training Days'' cannot be scheduled to the same weekdays (obviously).
Limitations has also been added: Setting "days off" requires Intermediate Level. Setting "Training Days" requires Expert level.
Improved Queue System
The current production system for developers, designers, etc. allows you to switch between Repeater and Queue functionality. In Beta 22 those two functionalities will be combined into one: an ''Infinite Repeating Queue''. The queue size has also been increased to 10.
Components will remain in the queue after they have been produced. The blue background indicates which component is currently in development.
Minor changes
* Added the new 6-frames hand animations.
* Suppressed "office upgrade"-confirmation when renting the very first office.
* Show relevant Research category when clicking on "Research more" tips.
All the notes that are listed above are simply a preview of what's coming up in Startup Company. These new changes and items are not yet available in the public build of the game.
Do you have suggestions or ideas for the game?
Check out our Conflux board.
That's it for this week!
Best,
Jonas & Robert
