Hi All
I'm super happy to put Build 328 into the stable branch. This update adds some major quality of life fixes, some new icon graphics and other GUI indicators, dozens of minor bug fixes and some fixes to navigation.
Let's take a look.
Track editing
The headline feature is track edits. This update allow you to click and drag a track tunnel to extend or reduce it in length without having to sell and rebuild it. As such I think it offers a big quality of life boost and it has been asked for by several players so I'm really happy to add this. I also added in a new panel in the day 2 tutorial to teach new players this mechanic from the start.
Bigger build menus
Build 328 also brings what I think is another major quality of life improvement that you have asked for - a bigger and better building menu window.
Build menu pop ups (ie Infrastucture, Facilities, Utilties etc) will now expand to twice the height as before, meaning way less scrolling through when you want to find an object to build. The build menus are also spaced out more for ease of reading.
On top of that I have sorted out the order of the items so that they are grouped together far more logically and not in some random order as they were before. We also have a new set of icons bringing visual clarity to objects of the same type but different levels.
Finally, I have doubled the mouse wheel scroll speed in these windows and added smoother scrolling action. All in all, this update brings makes the game far more pleasant to play.
Navigational tweaks
I've heard of occasional staff navigation issues which I always take as my highest priority. This build has a series of fixes that address several problems and should really have resolved most if not all of these issues.
Misc
There are many other minor bug fixes and tweaks as listed below.
Thanks!
I really want to thank all the new players who picked up the game recently and left a nice review. I read them all and your support means a huge amount to a tiny developer like me. Its amazing how important the review score for a game is on Steam. It drives the all seeing algorithm and strongly affects how well a game does. Overcrowd sits at around 86% which I'm very happy about.
Once, it was higher, but some earlier bad translations (I was scammed by some phoney translators) dragged the score down. Of course, I have replaced those translations. I hope, maybe one day, to edge it back closer to 90%, so if you ever wanted to help the game succeed, that's the best way (aside from buying the game, natch!).
Finally thanks to everyone who helped test this over the past month or so in the beta branch, and for everyone who has been filing bugs - you have been such a great help :)
Coming soon
I'm now working on the next major update. This shouldn't be that far off, and it's going to focus on shops. You can expect a few report tweaks and some really nice looking new shops and adverts to quench your capitalistic thirst. We're edging ever closer to 1.0, so thanks for sticking around for the ride!
Changelog
Build 328 (changes since 306):
-prevent building tracks when there is non contiguous floor on the platform (1 cell left or right of track). This is a slight change in the rules to ensure there is always space to reduce or extend your track along a 3 cell channel beyond it's start/end. In very rare cases, some users may have deliberately been building concourse onto platform reserved cells beyond the end of the track. This was possible only by building up on those cells before building the track and was a loophole in the system and the cause of some unknown bugs in the past. This is no longer possible, so if you have done this, when you load a station that has this set up, you will notice that any track not conforming to the new rules will have sold itself. Sorry about that inconvenience, this is one of the only times I have permanently changed the building rules surrounding tracks in early access.
-prevent building impossible track layouts, when a room was in it's path. (may also prevent some prior builds)
-prevent build track if platform length not equal to track length
-prevent build track if rooms in path of platforms edges either side
-Bridges should function after editing track (ie can now be pathed over by staff and commuters)
-Cannot reduce a track past a bridge, preventing many issues and bugs
-Improved labelling of track distancing
-fixed crash when selling tracks
-fixed crash when reducing a track from one side less than 8 cells
-prevented bogus re-build action if length of track not being changed
-reduced size of sofa solid space to allow staff to squeeze past (has in rare cases caused confusion by blocking staff in staff room and being reported as bug)
-for very rare cases, saves with corrupted tracks will now remove the track on loading, allowing you to replace it rather than crashing when you hover over the track
-for very rare cases, saves with corrupted lifts with now remove the lift on loading, preventing the game from crashing when configuring tracks
-I received a crash bug report - game failed on load - however it contained no contact email or attached save game. Sadly this means I am unable to fix that error as the crash report is not enough to go on. If this was you, please resubmit the bug with the attached save and I will take a look!
-Bringing staff on shift who is essentially dead (i.e. was taken off shift when about to die) will not crash the game, staff will simply die that step
-Fixed rare crash when game autosaved in certain game modes when you had not earned any bonds ever
-Standardised costs when extending/reducing tracks
-Cannot reduce a track beyond opposite tunnel causing bogus costs and possible crash when extending to length zero that way.
-Certain objects will no longer flash for 1 step when you edit tracks
-reduced errant floor highlights when editing track length
-cannot reduce a track over a fence if a fence is on the platform
-cannot extend a track beyond floor on lower level (as impossible non contiguous track)
-improved tiling and retiling processes when editing track length
-fix a few outstanding crashes on track edits
-fix potential crash if staff sit on sofa while moving it in same step
-fix potential crash if dead rat finds itself on no ground and creates gas
-fixed crash introduced in v310 building various objects/entrances
-fix crash with reducing tracks into path of fences on platforms if fence was 1 cell adjacent to start position
-correct deselection of track reduction zones if then extend and zone over floor of different heights in path of track
-prevent unusual characters input on station/staff test input fields
-fixes another extending track crash if zoning outside map area.
-Prevents rare crash loading commuters saved exactly at point of boarding.
-Larger windows on build pop up
-Build icons grouped in logical order
-smooth scrolling in build menus
-double scroll speed in game windows
-incremental optimisation on draw scripts
-far side pavements have arrows pointing down to alert user if they are on lower levels
-Escalators not labelled moveable in hover info
-Cannot enter edit track mode if moving object
-Cannot reduce track beyond ceiling objects on track/platforms
-Adding missing Clock item in facilities build menu
-Reduced height of tunnel collision mask so accidental tunnel editing is less likely
-Corrected indicator selection mask with correct height
-Address potential rare crash when saving Lift with missing waypoint
-Can now build fences either side of track on tunnel cells (not just one one side)
-cannot leave fence on grass by building fence on tunnel cell, extending track and then reducing back past the fence
-Build menu icons correctly reset to unselected state after pressing cancel to close build window
-Selling tracks completely now functions correctly and uses correct sprites for pre tracks.
-selecting staff with keypad when in build object mode allows staff deploy correctly
-optimise staff deploy: Prevent lag if attempt to deploy to unreachable cell
-optimise staff deploy: Prevent lag if attempt to deploy to void
-optimise staff deploy when finding closest spot to solid in deploy
-Prevent Build objects on staff flag or staff
-Can elective deploy staff to water lvl 2 plant
-Correct plant height masks
-optimised perimeter ellipse/circle growth when you select a staff member
-Larger radius collision check for staff displacement so will less likely displace to solid area if you build object on them
-if you are able to build on a staff and there is no where to displace, take staff off shift
-if staff is walking in void (ie you deleted the flow in their path or where they are about to go) staff despawn. NB: I will be aiming to cause staff paths to recalculate should you build in their path or edit concourse to prevent this happening and to prevent staff navigating into an object you have built in a spot they already decided to go to very soon
-fixed flower staff direction
-improved collision mask for grabbing and editing tunnel length
-commuters become lost on concourse only
-Cannot sell floor with staff home flag
-Cannot sell floor with ceiling objects
-Staff will not walk through a wall if you delete concourse in their path
-Staff will displace themselves outside of solid objects if you manage to build one in their chosen route
-removed floor flashing (disco) radial effect to be replaced with expanding ellipse from target when you deploy staff
-If commuter says no way out/platform, will generate a need for that if missing to prevent navigation bug
-Tunstile lvl 1 masks load fully before commuters move to prevent commuters navigating through cell 2 on load
-Commuters will path correctly if making nav decision adjacent to a turnstile
-Commuters despawn faster if somehow stuck
-Escalator not marked as moveable on move field
-Faster staff ellipse on select/deploy
-Cannot over equip staff! Yup, turns out de-equip button also silently unlocked all tool slots on staff, but didn't display that correctly. It meant you could manually instruct staff pick up excess tools which then didn't display correctly. Fixed.
-Selling a track does not mark stairs/escalators/turnstiles that were pointing to it as unconfigured (and therefore no operational if an escalator) if they are still pointing to another existing platform.
-All refuse should destroy self if it finds itself on solid object. Hopefully no more unmoppable vomit.
-Load saved game sequence staging improved. Commuters no longer form impossible paths through walls at start of level leading to weird behaviour.
-Commuter status debug despawn rate altered to avoid for erroneous despawn.
-Commuter despawn removed from queues.
-If you manage to build object on a staff, (or, if a staff detect they are on a solid) they will displace nearby place in to the same room.
-Commuters despawn if they find themselves in a room
-Fixed staff being blocked over tracks if the bridge was on the join between carriages
-prevent possible crash when moving chair with staff on it
-cannot select staff if in any stage of object movement
-fixed possible crash with staff displacement.
-fix crashed when plants die due to new refuse on solid check introduced on 318.
-building single celled objects on litter will remove litter for easier play experience.
-New pavement tiles subterranean on far side
-Updated for consistency, build and procure buttons for: fuel 1,2, plants 1,2,3, wheelie lvl 1, rat poison, P.A. 1, power 1, fan 1,2, CCTV 1, capacitor, 1, alarm 1, turnstile 1, hand sanitiser 1, indicator 1,2, lights 1, 2, 3, bin 1,2,3, bench 1
-Updated track and pavement on map perimeter far side to make clear if under ground. To assist beginners in understanding track/entry placement
-Updated day 2 tutorial text to make clear the game is 2.5D
-Updated day 2 tutorial to include new extending/reducing track length functionality
-Fix extend track in tutorial crash
-Updated pond sprite to be more visible
-Updated statue sprite to be more visible
-Commuters say name of shop they want if it is not present (eg. "KIOSK?", rather than "NO SHOP" which caused some confusion ie they would say NO SHOP next to a kiosk, when they wanted to buy flowers but there was no flower stall, though the thought bubble always makes clear what product they seek)
-In all cases you can build on tiles that have litter on, but litter will destroy itself if it exists under solid navgrid
-Balance capacitor and power. Lvl 1 and 4 generators/substation produce somewhat more power. Substation more expensive
-Halved capacitor capacity. These are still very large in capacity and can supply your station with minutes of power if you run out of energy when full, so try them out if don't use them, but this may at least increase need for lvl 2 and 3.
-Plants renamed Lvl 1, Lvl 2, Lvl 3 for consistency
-Updated plant icons for consistency
-Updated air con icons for consistency
-Day 1 tutorial has larger wheelie
-Day 1 fix arrow position for buy litter
-Fix day 2 tutorial crash introduced in build 321
-Day 2 tutorial shows reminder on how to build entrance in
-Empty concourse bins/build wheelie tutorial goals triggered in normal play first time you have a full bin
-Fix possible placing light crash day 2 tutorial
-Fix only show completed tutorial pop up when tutorials complete in tutorial map room, not on first visit
-Tutorial staff no longer aged 88!
-Get a better star rating for tutorials
-De-spawn commuters who find themselves waiting on track more rigorously
-Statue position in tech grid corrected, so it is not hidden behind higher level objects in procurement tree (restart of network/map required)
-Commuters don't form goal for shops (and complain about if missing) if the shop is not unlockable yet. This turns behaviour may have rarely been causing spurious "no shop" complaints in stable branch or "kiosk?" in beta, before the kiosk was available.
-Updated all languages for all new features
-fix rare potential crash selling floor beneath shopping/waiting commuters
-reduced bench costs (requires network/station restart)
-increased CCTV radius
-improved procedural network generator so that end of lines should not run off grid/remain undrawn in rare seed permutations
-prevent rare unreproduceable track build error
-fix lvl 2 bench building in build 324
-commuters that say "NO WAY OUT" more robustly recreate needs
-if you change a turnstile/stair/target that a commuter is pathing towards they will despawn. While it may be slightly less realistic, this is just more robust and less bug-prone than attempting to recalculate routes. in most cases it is not noticeable.
-fix potential hard crash when building/cancelling building of two celled shops.
-added rebind support for keypad when numlock is on (ie numpad digits 0 - 9)
-Fixed potential rare crash when commuters using ATM when cost is too high