Happy Halloween folks! May your times be fun and only slightly haunted.
Here's another update!
Aliens incoming to the RoadHouse
I've added aliens to the roadhouse. Drunk aliens, that cause a real ruckus.
Before the aliens, customers would get angry. And if many customers get really angry, a bar fight breaks out, and that's something to be avoided.
But I needed another something to keep players on their toes. It was too easy to serve beers well, and if careful, avoiding unhappy customers causing troubles for you, the roadhouse manager.
So -- enter aliens! This is a new mechanic that adds some more pressure and chaos to your roadhouse experience. Each night they'll be a portal time countdown, and when it hits 0, an alien will pop in. These aliens are so drunk they run around and completely smash your furniture to bits, break your upgrades, and bash your customers in, generally causing a bad time for all involved.
But you aren't powerless: that's why I also added the Alien Drunk Tank Containment. You'll be able to upgrade this, to help with the alien menace. It's a limited time shield that will keep the alien contained around the portal. But watch out -- when the Alien Power Booze tanks run out, the shield will fail, the alien will be free, and your bar trashed!
Live AI Features Going to be DLC
AI. Some people love it, some people hate. Most gamers... just aren't a fan.
For a couple of reasons, I've decided to move two major live-service AI features to be optional DLC: the Tall-Tales and AI-powered Cocktail Creator.
Instead of integrating these in the main game as I planned originally, they'll now becoming down the road, as optional DLC. This way, those who are interested in these features can get'em, and those that aren't, will enjoy a lower price for RoadHouse Manager.
Running live AIs is costly, with ongoing fees, so it makes more sense for me to have these as add-ons.
Don't worry though: the non-AI powered Cocktail Creator is still gonna be pretty amazing. And now you won't need a network connection to play the game, so that's a plus, or worry about how long this poor indie solo game dev will be afford to keep the live service AIs serving up drinks.
General Update
The game is coming along great! But wow, being a solo dev sure is tough. I had to push the release date back.
Over the last few months, I shifted the design from more of a simulator to now more of an action game. Because that's just more fun, I've found in all the testing.
Unfortunately, my development funds are running down, so I'll likely have to go back to work for someone else and finish RoadHouse Manager part time. But the good news is I'm not doing this for money, I'm doing this to make a great game, and whenever release day comes, you can be assured it'll be a fun game worth your time, and cost you less than two happy hour drinks at your local.
Thanks for all your support! Look forward to seeing you all the roadhouse one day.