I wasn't planning on releasing an update, but I've discovered a potential issue and it's better to fix it now rather than later when the game is live on Steam. The problem was multiple currency/language support. NOTE this means saved games from version 1.68 won't be compatible with this new version. If you have preview access on Steam and wish to continue with your current saved game, I've created a separate branch alpha_1_68 that you can switch to.
The Stock Market is partially implemented in 1.7 but hasn't been test enough so is currently disabled. Having said that, 1.7 has two notable features.
One of the things I've been thinking about is late game repetitiveness. You're making 6 figures, run your own business and have reached your Wealth goal - why are you feeding yourself like a peasant? My solution to this conundrum - Home Services. These are services offered in the higher tier homes, such as a Personal Trainer or a Personal Chef. They help automate fulfilling your needs at the start of each week, but they're expensive. The question you have to ask yourself - is my time worth the cost? Could I make enough money at my high-paying job that would offset the cost of these services?
The second change is an overhaul of the events spawning system. Previously, events were completely random and you could end up with back-to-back Steam Sales and the like. With this new system, I can now set different parameters for event spawning. For example, I can say the minimum number of weeks between Celebrity Concerts is 6 weeks, and they only start from week 26 onwards. It also allows regular events like New Year Celebrations to happen at the same time each year. In the future I'll be able to add location-specific events based on holidays in that city (Thanksgiving in New York, Ocktoberfest in Munich, etc).
My apologies for the lack of video this update, but I thought it was important to fix the language support issue now rather than later.
Here's a full list of changes from 1.68 to 1.7:
- Added support for unicode characters
- Put coins in correct order in coin display
- Slightly reduced random weekend event frequency
- Overhauled location- and possession-based events manager
- Added New Year Celebrations at Town Hall
- Added Celebrity Book Signing at Library
- Added Travelling Circus at Large Park
- Income Statements now have same theme as their parent
- Added new Exchange colour theme
- Added Services functionality to home
- Added 4 different home services
- Implement cancelling home services if moving house
- Replaced Mansion and Penthouse default actions with luxurious versions
- Adjusted Mansion and Penthouse rental rates
- Reduced impact of low fun when net worth very high
- Slightly increased threshold for low needs events
- Reduced maximum work performance gain doing part time work
- Changed lose game progression to nervous breakdown
- Added number of hours deficient when placed on work probation