Update #5 v0.8.5 Progression System, Utilities, Mac Build & More!
We have been busy since our last update with our most game-changing update yet! We are introducing a new Utilities System (where you need to supply your hotel with water and electricity), new furniture, a Mac version, and a progression system that will change how you experience and progress through the game. There will also be a Creative Mode for people who just want to build to their heart’s content.
Progression System
We received plenty of feedback since the Early Access launch and, after extensive analysis, we have implemented a new Progression System. It works similarly to other research systems in games of the same genre. We wanted to help slow the game down in a meaningful way while giving the player more self-imposed goals and rewards.
Instead of just unlocking a giant group of furniture at each star level, the player will earn “Hotel Points” by having guests stay overnight and leaving positive reviews. These points can then be spent on unlocking new furniture items, facilities, or management tools. There are over 140 individual nodes to unlock which are divided into ‘tiers.’ You cannot unlock something from the next tier unless you have unlocked at least one node from your current tier.
We anticipate that this newfound Progression System will not only increase replayability, but will vastly improve the overall gameplay experience.
For players that just want to build creatively, we have also added the highly anticipated Creative Build mode where everything is unlocked and the money is unlimited! Creative Mode can be unlocked by completing the normal game mode and reaching star level five.
Utilities
To bring more challenges to both the management and design side of Hotel Magnate, we have added the Utilities System! This means that you will need to supply all of your electrical and water requiring objects with the correct utility. You will first need to place a Generator and a Water Pump, followed by water/electrical distributors, to distribute these utilities to objects.
Each type and quality of distributor has its own capacity value. Once its capacity is maxed out, it will not be able to supply anything else in its range. A distributor has a circular range around it that is divided into two. The outer section of its range has a higher ‘connection’ cost; this essentially means that objects further away from the distributor cost more to connect. Therefore, it is beneficial to keep distributors close to the objects that need them.
You don’t want to keep them too close, however, as guests will get annoyed if they find pumps or switchboards in their rooms or hallways. You must also ensure that these objects are maintained correctly or this could lead to some disastrous results, including upsetting your guests.
Mac Build
It has been a long time coming, but it's finally here! Hotel Magnate is now available on Mac! There were a few unforeseen challenges for us - such as getting the game notarized and approved by Apple - but we are very glad to say it is finally done! In the process of getting the game to Mac, we have also set up new methods for gathering information on game crashes and critical errors which should help us identify some of the rarer problems and issues that are harder to reproduce.
As the new Mac version is very new, there may be a few undetected bugs. We ask that, if you discover any bugs, issues, or have feedback, please use our in-game reporting system or talk to us on our Discord server so we can work to address it.
New Furniture
To accompany our new Progression and Utilities Systems, we have plenty of new art assets. We are very happy to once again be making new art assets/furniture for everyone to enjoy! As we have been working on our Art Style Guide and pipeline the last few months, the process should be a lot faster and we will hopefully see more assets coming out in the future.
The first lot of new assets are the Utility-oriented ones which include generators, pumps, distributors, and hot water boilers.
The second lot of furniture contains new shabby furniture to offer greater choice and variety earlier on in the game.
Languages
Following requests from players, we have added French and Portuguese translations to the game! These new language options and our existing ones (German & Chinese) are partially generated using a text translator, so there may be sections where the translation isn't 100% correct. If you encounter any issue like this, please report it either through our in-game reporting system or on our Discord.
Fixes
Due to the significance of this update, all previous savegames will no longer work.
Fixes:
- Fixed issue with guests not receiving food at restaurant
- Fixed issue with player-scaled freeform objects not retaining their adjusted scale after duplication
- Fixed some issues that might cause guests to sleep sideways on beds
- Fixed an issue where the preview object for a window/door wouldnt be shown when placing these items quickly
- Fixed issue where duplicating a room would erase some of the wall textures/colours
- Most windows now fit within the 1 unit grid (making them easier to place evenly), they now also snap better to grid
- Fixed issue where furniture wouldnt snap to wall if a window was present (furniture will now snap to the window as well)
- Furniture colouring, saved colours are now saved between sessions
- Fixed some issues were objects would randomly become unreachable
- Fixes to issue where everything becomes unclickable
- Fixes to issue where guests would walk through windows
Changes:
- Changes/Fixes to the smoothing of the camera zoom
- Made some of the smaller wall lights easier to select
- Increased the number required for dining/bar objectives
- Added a daily report to provide a summary for the days activities
- Added staff count/max staff available information to multiple locations in UI
- Removed the Gym Facility (was redundant as it doesnt require any staff or have any real function)
- ‘Removing wall’ tool now changes the colour of the wall to red to indicate wall selection (instead of white or black).
- You can now have multiple objectives active at the same time