Hey everyone!
I hope you're all doing well, and that 2025 is going as planned for you, because for me it's actually going better than expected. And that feels great, obviously!
I'm going to talk about the in-game changes but also the challenges I'm facing with Fortune Avenue and how I plan to overcome them, so here we go, buckle up!
Engine Update
This is probably the biggest change. Fortune Avenue's development started with Godot Engine version 4.2. And today we're moving to version 4.5. This update improves stability and rendering.
First off, the OpenGL rendering, for those who don't use Vulkan, is even better than before, and that's great news. The other change is gamepad support, as Fortune Avenue now uses SDL3. It's a proven library that handles all gamepads really well. So no more problems with buttons that don't match the display, or gamepads that trigger for no reason. You get it, you can't blame the controller anymore!
There are other changes too, like less stuttering when you load a game, and smoother rendering overall.
Network Layer
This is the main focus of this update. Fixing bugs related to the network layer. And there were quite a few. First, let's talk about the lobby which was both unstable, but when it worked, it went all the way.
I think you'll agree with me, but when you finish a game and click Play Again, and it doesn't work right from the lobby, forcing you to restart the game, that really kills the motivation. So I focused on that.
Now lobbies work every single time. There was actually a data re-initialization problem when you entered a new lobby. The game would try to validate players who were no longer in the match. This blocked the game from loading. So you had a degraded gaming experience.
The other change also comes from a lobby problem, this time, it was the ELO system acting up and preventing you from loading the game. You had to quit the game to get everything working again.
Another fix, still on the network layer, was preventing players from joining your game if you had already joined a lobby. You'll agree, that's quite a few fixes.
Other Changes
The volume of certain sound effects has been lowered, to avoid blowing your ears out obviously. But the most interesting change is that Fortune Avenue will now remember your lobby configuration.
So if you're used to playing locally with 2 human players and 2 AI players on hard mode, you'll just need to click Play to enjoy your game. That's a few clicks saved, but more importantly, less frustration.
Also, you asked me to be able to pause offline games. I added an in-game button that lets you change the game speed, and in offline mode there's the option to pause the game. Handy.
New Rendering Engine for Windows
Many of you have reported rendering issues on Windows. Visual artifacts that made the game unplayable. This problem doesn't occur on Linux, which is already something. Getting back to Windows, I've taken the time to add a compatibility layer for DirectX 12, which means that for Windows only you can now choose between DirectX 12, Vulkan, and OpenGL. Meanwhile on Linux you'll have the choice between OpenGL and Vulkan, which is more than sufficient since there are no rendering issues on Linux.
Internationalization
Many of you have asked me to support new languages. I thought the current languages would be sufficient, but I was wrong. And v0.47.0 adds two new languages: Swedish and Japanese.
Over time, and with the arrival of new players, I will continue to add new languages as needed.
Bug Fixes
These are mostly minor bugs, like not showing a confirmation popup when you want to quit a game you've already lost.
A minor bug with major consequences concerns the wheel of fortune. In online mode, against human opponents, if you win thanks to the wheel of fortune, the game freezes and no one else can play except you. That's fixed now, everyone sees that you've won and you get your ELO.
I also fixed quite a few small bugs related to the AI players in the game. The AIs couldn't cancel festivals, or repair properties whose rent was disabled. It wasn't a big deal, but having AIs that play by the same rules as you is definitely better.
Speaking of which, I took the opportunity to give them a little intelligence boost for festival selection, let me know how that goes!
And one last fix, AIs could send players to the ice floe even when they were already on the ice floe. The problem is now fixed, much better!
I thank you for continuing to give me so much feedback. It clearly helps me make the game more user-friendly, fun, and most importantly stable!
Don't hesitate to leave comments, I always enjoy reading them.
Until the next update, take care of yourselves
Xavier aka Binogure