"The feel of the Island, the emerging powers of the Etherals. An ancient necromancer named Roan noticed it. The undead hordes are gathering for something that has yet to come."
Hello Everyone!
Join us as we release a brand new build to the public branch which contains a multitude of fixes, features and fun! Shoppe Keep 2 is a little over a month old now and we would like to take the time to thank everyone who has been involved to support the project and the amazing community who have been active on Discord too.
The Bots are still on holiday in the premiere bot training- er, i mean relaxation camp, Botlins! We hope that they will return back to work within the near future!
So let's move on to today's update!
New Shoppe Architecture
The shoppe architecture has been updated to be brought in line with some of the town's housing architecture. This is something we had wanted to do for some time, but were unable to do it before the launch of the game in Early Access last month. A major benefit of this new layout is that it is being designed with the helper bots in mind. This means once the helper bots return they'll be able to become more accustomed to their environment and not get stuck in certain places.
Those of you who already have shoppes all ready to go will be refunded your muns for all of your items and the muns will be added to your vault. If you have unlocked any additional rooms, the money that you spent unlocking those rooms would also be refunded and the shoppe will return to a one room layout.
As Shoppe Keep 2 is in Early Access, these things may happen as significant changes are made during the development period, which can alter save data for games. We will be doing our best not to cause any major issues and re-reimbursing money for items was the best solution to avoid players having to start over again once this update went live.
Those of you who want to look at your shoppe layout and make any changes before playing the update can roll back to the Previous build branch in the beta tab, in Shoppe Keep 2 properties on Steam - and play the latest build from before the shoppe architecture changes.
If you really want to keep any items before the game refunds the worth of it into your vault, make sure to add any items to your inventory before loading your save with the latest build. Technically, you could add all items in your shoppe to your inventory, though this will vastly affect your carry weight and movement speed. So it is not recommended. But the work around is there for those who want to use this.
The Mercenary
The Mercenary returns to the Shoppe Keep world, with some changes to his mechanics. There are some players who do not want to gather materials by hunting animals and will likely find the mercenary very useful.
While you'll need to gather certain materials from animals to begin with, you can provide the Mercenary with these and eventually he'll be able to hunt the animals for you instead.
We hope that this means those of you who want to spend more time with the shoppe and less time adventuring are much happier and now have more freedom to play the way you want to.
Changes to Customers
There have also been some changes to customer behaviour. NPCs are now more intelligent and react more swiftly. Some of the changes will mean that their navigation has been updated - they'll also now remember an item if they did not like the price of it. Additionally customers will now make a decision on whether or not to buy an item more swiftly.
You can now talk to customers and sell them items tax free. You can also see how they rate your shop, letting you know specifics such as your decorations and if there is any trash they could see.
If you are selling items to them, keep in mind that if you try to get too greedy they will get angry which can negatively impact your shoppe's appeal.
Shoppe Textures
Shoppe texture changes from the management house have been switched off for now. This is because we are currently working on new textures to match the new shoppe design.
Strike System for Taxes
There's a new system which will change how players manage their taxes. This is a three strike system which will allow players to better manage their tax without the shoppe closing down when it hits the threshold.
If you exceed the threshold for tax in a single day you get one strike... if you do the same the following day, you get a second strike... but if you manage to exceed the tax threshold on the third day and don't pay off your tax, the shoppe will close.
This means that players can spend over two days running the shoppe without worrying about paying the tax.
Changes to Combat
We've also made just a few changes to combat - some enemies have now received an increase in speed. We have also nerfed the bow by making the player's movement slower when the bow is fully charged.
Additional Button in Main Menu to Locate Save Data
There is now a button in the main menu which will open up a window showing the directory of your save data. This makes it easier for players to find save data which may have issues and send them to our tech support team, or if players want to make back ups, this is another option too.
The full change log for today's update can be found below:
Build ChangeLog
Shoppe Remodel
- New shoppe design implemented. If an old save is detected the player is offered a refund on all items, displays and shoppe upgrades. The Shoppe will then be reset to a single room.
- Floor 2 of the shoppe has changed. You must have both level 1 central rooms unlocked + any right or left side rooms unlocked before the central level 2 area becomes available.
- Shoppe texture upgrade removed until we have a good amount of textures to choose from for the new shoppe
- Any furniture and items placed in the area where stairs are built when upgrading the store are automatically removed and refunded
- Lubrication added to shoppe doors. They shouldn't get stuck as often
- Shoppe builder UI upgrade
- Management house layout changed slightly
- Apparel billboard should properly appear now counting all types of apparel as one
- Shoppe base appeal increased to 35%
- Wall decoration visual modified to better fit the wall
Mercenary Added
- Bring the mercenary offerings from your hunts, then you can pay him to hunt for you! More time in the shoppe! Less blood in the wild. You can find the Mercenary by the unlocked blacksmith
Customers Get an Upgrade
- Customers now make decisions on whether or not to buy an item faster
- When customers don't like the price they will remember the exact item they did not like
- Customers won't buy items from displays that are not on the floor they are currently on
- New navigation plotted for customers inside the shoppe
- Interact with customers and offer them your wares, tax free! If you are too greedy their annoyance will rise and can affect your shoppe appeal. But if you have more charisma than the customer, your appeal will grow.
- Customers now talk more slowly and the dialogue visuals fade at a slower pace
Miscellaneous Fixes and Balance Changes
- Passing the tax threshold will no longer close your shoppe instantly. At the start of the day, if you have passed your threshold you will receive a strike. If you receive 3 strikes in a row then your store will close. Completing a day without a strike resets the strike counter.
- Level 1 alchemist now explains that he can not sell you the farm until you have upgraded the alchemy building.
- Eye shader reworked
- Performance upgrades
- Items not previously placed will show at 100% worth on the price gun
- Minimum movement speed modified
- Daggers and wands are now placed properly in the character model's hands
- Pitchfork is now considered a medium size weapon
- Weapon Rack takes only medium sized weapons now
- NPC Interaction gradient modified
- Gill fence and Steam inventory Mun sacks work again
- Armor and Agility of the Plate Armor set modified
- Fully charging your bow makes you move more slowly
- New trophy added
- Trophy Shelves moved around
- Wolves move faster
- On-screen notification added to let the player know when a new event starts
- New button in the main menu will open your Save folder
- For network sync reasons you now need to hold the button down when receiving or putting funds into/from the vault
- Updated progress bar on the cross hair
- Updated visuals for progress bar on the cross hair
- The town management price list shows % value of item prices
- 2 new bows added that require a recipe to be found for them before they are crafted
- Containers wont show durability
- Added a maximum number of displays allowed in the shoppe (200)
- Order chest visual changed in preparation for a new feature
Known Issues
- Reduced business experience earned from orders
- Some walls remain in the Shoppe when fully upgraded. However these can be by passed through the rear archways
As always, let us know if you come across any issues!
Thanks again for joining us on this Shoppe Keep 2 journey,
The Shoppe Keep Team