Hello everyone!
Another week comes to an end, and I've made great progress on v1.22. Actually, it's moving along faster than I expected.
However, I also had to work on some unexpected things, so let me tell you all about it!
Weekly Recap
This week, instead of pushing the unstable update on Wednesday as usual, I released it on Tuesday. The reason was simple: I wanted to start working on the studio layout copy/paste feature.
Release candidate 3 includes quite a few changes, particularly regarding console data adjustments. I've added the upcoming Nintendo Switch based on predictions from specialized websites, along with adjustments to other console data.
We've also fixed several bugs that were introduced with the studio director feature. Notably, there was an annoying bug preventing update cancellation. If you've encountered this issue, you'll be happy to know it's already fixed in Steam's unstable branch. There might be other bugs I haven't found yet, and I really appreciate your patience and understanding regarding all these issues.
What's Next
I've made significant progress on v1.22's flagship feature: the ability to copy studio layouts. All the underlying code is ready, and now I'm working on the interface. I already have a clear idea of how to implement this and have started working on it.
When furnishing a studio, you'll be able to use automatic furnishing for either a regular studio or a data center (servers). A third option will appear allowing you to copy an existing studio. When you select this option, the game will display a list of all your studios.
There are some limitations to note: you won't be able to copy a larger studio into a smaller one, and copying studios between different save files won't be possible.
Each preview card will show the studio's name, number of desks, number of servers, happiness level, productivity, surface area, monthly maintenance costs, and the total cost to copy this studio. I believe those informations should be sufficient for making informed decisions.
Once you've selected a studio, you'll confirm with another button, and the entire layout will be copied to your new building. This feature actually led me to make some deep modifications to various parts of the game.
I wanted to optimize the function since studios can be quite large. In doing so, I found a method that's 4 times more efficient than the current system for duplicating objects in City Game Studio.
4 times faster is no small improvement. If you're running a large company, you'll definitely notice the difference. I've implemented this algorithm in many other areas of the game: convention generation, game reports, game creation, annual financial reports generation. It's affected quite a few different systems. I'm still verifying that nothing has been broken, but I think by next week you'll be able to try this new version with all its improvements.
To sum up, while I've made good progress, it's not quite finished yet. I should be able to deliver this feature by next week.
That's all for now - I'll keep working on this. Meanwhile, if you have any suggestions or if you think these feature limitations might be problematic, please share your thoughts in the comments. As always, I read everything and try my best to address your needs.
See you next week,
Take care
Xavier aka Binogure