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[wolf.b]

Thanks EuchreJack - I hope you enjoyed it a little. Your support means a lot.

[EuchreJack]

Interesting phenomenon: selecting Continue doesn't continue the current game, but some randomly generated game.  The day advances by one, but its different every time.

[wolf.b]

On the day of launch we played with the code a little regarding function between turn 0 to 1 - in hindsight, after a week of testing this wasn't the best idea. As a result it screwed up the save system as you said, by breaking Continue such that it doesn't continue the current game, but some randomly generated game with the day advancing by one. This issue has been fixed and a new build [v0.1.8.200804] has been uploaded. A massive thank you for this bug report, EuchreJack. I hope you'll consider joining our internal testing team, you caught us out.

[EuchreJack]

Sent a PM.

As I mentioned, its actually quite interesting, as it means your game can randomly generate starts at advanced stages.  It means you could offer the player an advanced start, where they're already in competition with another game rather than safely carving up Manhattan.

...although safety for a gang operating primarily in Manhattan will probably go down once you've implemented Law Enforcement.  There is a reason most gangs don't do business there.

[wolf.b]

Whilst we've identified the bug that caused this random "advanced start" state, you're right that it is a pretty cool feature to have and it's something we plan to introduce in Batch 3, so unfortunately you'll have to wait a while to see it for real. I've been wanting the concept for a while because it reminds me of a game start option for Sid Meir's Alpha Centauri (one of the greatest strategy games ever made). There was nothing quite like crash landing as Miriam of the Lord's Believers late in the game and having to fight for every scrap of resource you could find.

As to the notion of Law Enforcement - the implementation concept is a little challenging to explain. I wasn't planning on introducing any, save a few tiny mechanics during this phase of development. The game's scope is based on a 6 pillar design system. Each pillar representing a branch of gameplay mechanics. The first pillar is criminal gameplay, whilst the second is law enforcement. The answer has more depth to it, but I'll leave it at that for now. Suffice to say, it's intended one day down the road. That being said the community has been pretty vocal about getting at least some basic police mechanics in early and we are going to oblige them with some very rudimentary mechanics in Batch 2's build pipeline.

[EuchreJack]

One idea would be to have a flat number from 0 to 100 represent the law enforcement level in each city block, with that number also being the chance of getting arrested each day.  Create a simple system where gang activity or lack thereof causes increase and decrease, maybe throw in a few random events that skew it up or down, ignore for now what happens to the guys the get nabbed, and there you go.

[wolf.b]

NERDRAGE

v0.1.9 is coming soon.

It brings deliveries—not a huge mechanic on its own—but this is the last missing piece from our early prototype plan. In a sense, it's an end of an era for the project; and it's been a long road full of unexpected hardships first for Wolf and then for myself.

Our custom engine will see great many changes in 0.2.x, and many of the preparations started in 0.1.8 are finalized this patch.

[EuchreJack]

Mule train!

[wolf.b]

WOLF

There's not too much to report on my end this week. I've been busy with enrolling in university and some of the preparations that have come with that. However I have been expanding v0.2.2's GDD to include Price Localization at borough and city levels and designing a new Financials screen for 2.1's Wage build with better breakdowns of income and cost. As of this week I'm going to put quite a bit of time into some AI documentation to accompany these future build designs to help provide Nerd with a clearer roadmap on the choices to make with that area of development.

Meanwhile v0.1.9 is almost ready for internal testing. There are still some bugs to be fixed in AI before that can happen but we're very close. We are expecting a longer internal testing session with our testing community than usual as we'd like to make some additional changes during that time.

[EuchreJack]

Any idea on when/if drug dilution will be implemented? You know, that magic that turns 1 Kilo of cocaine brought into the country into 50 kilos of cocaine on the street?  Granted, most gangs are pretty low on the totem pole, but they're still cutting what they get.  Quality vs. Quantity, an age old product sales question.

[wolf.b]

It's definitely a case of when rather than if. Street Gangs absolutely dilute their products to increase quantity and it's something we will definitely be implementing. However it's not currently on the agenda. We've planned the first 4 Batches (currently finishing Batch 1) and it'll probably come around Batch 5 or 6.

[wolf.b]

Nerdrage

I've delayed 0.1.9 to make some adjustments to the save system. During the internal testing (thank you, our testers, awesome job) it became clear that they should have a higher priority. As much as it irritates everyone to still roll out patches rather slowly, I keep future-proofing the engine, as 0.1.x seems to be the appropriate spot to do it.

[wolf.b]

Wolf

Hello everyone, today is the 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY of U$E's development!!!

I want to give a special thank you to Anon E Moose for his work on the 1st prototype. Anon I want you to know that your faith in myself & my vision but more importantly your tenacity & determination to work towards bringing that to life mean a great deal to me, genuinely more than I can express in words. All I can offer you in return is my humble gratitude & sincerest well wishes for all your future endeavors.

Looking forward, I'm beyond excited about the future of our little game. Nerdrage has several weeks of holiday starting tomorrow & he plans to invest a significant portion of that time into the next 2 builds I'm told, which is very positive to hear. As someone who's traveled much of the world, as a hitchhiker no less, I can tell you it's hard to find someone willing to not only follow you to a far off destination but to make it their own calling in turn. That sense of shared destiny if I may be so prosaic, is a rare gift to find in the universe & I'm grateful for the serendipity in such a collision of fates.

Looking back on the past year, I would call it an exercise in patience & prudence on my part. Whilst I've been designing the game for almost 2 years, as you all know we've encountered many challenging delays over the 1st year. The fact that Nerd & I are still here & I would argue more committed than ever - is a testament I feel, to the team we have forged. Equally of importance to me is the friendship over our shared passion for the project, a gift I have been fortunate to find.

Last but not least, I know for a fact that I would never have found the confidence to commit my heart & mind to this undertaking without the warm support of our small community. To each of you that's been a part of this journey I simply say thank you. Thank you for your enthusiasm, thank you for your persistence & most of all thank you for your belief in what we are trying to create.

[wolf.b]

NERDRAGE

I'm back from my break and our development is back on track. My exploration of the save system is over for now, you won't need to restart the game every patch from now on (unless specifically warned about). This rework has many side effects like the ability to spawn gangs on different turns and during the game, which will be useful fairly soon down the road, so I feel that this delay of 0.2 was justified.

[MoonyTheHuman]

Glad to see this is doing well now. Less VB, more productivity.