1.0 is out, and launch is when you find out what your game actually does in other people's hands. You reported all of it with clips, save files and a lot more patience than we deserved. This patch is mostly us fixing what you found.
The Ones That Hurt Us Most
Chinese, Japanese and Korean text no longer shows black squares or garbled characters. Seeing that in screenshots on launch day was a gut punch. It is fixed, and we are sorry it shipped that way.
Loading a save made while you were walking out of jail no longer locks you inside the cell. You now start just outside the jail door. Free at last.
Fixed a rare case where the day got stuck at 21:00 and never ended. Saves made in that state now finish the day properly when you load them.
Joining a game no longer shows "Version mismatch" when you and the host have the same version. The message now tells you the real reason, such as a player name that is too long. Sorry to everyone who reinstalled over this. We would have done the same.
Players who join now always see employees hired in an earlier session. Before, those employees worked hard while being completely invisible. Ghost staff, unpaid in exposure.
Fixes
Items you buy from a vendor, like the shopping cart or hoverboard, now land on a clear spot on the floor instead of inside a shelf, another item or an NPC. If there is no free space near you, the purchase is cancelled and you get your money back.
Interactive screens stay responsive. The tablet no longer opens with dead buttons after using Unstuck or joining mid-game, and the day kiosk, register screens and ATM keep working after you walk far away and come back.
The casino and other special rooms now always get their key furniture, like slot machines and game tables. An empty casino is just a carpet with ambition.
Fixed a rare case where customers who arrived by car stood still and did nothing after you loaded a save.
Fixed a rare case where saving could fail after you went back to the main menu and started or loaded another game.
Objectives now count correctly. "Walk out of jail" counts when you leave the cell with a key even if no mall cop sees you, and "Roll a rival" counts as soon as a rival player joins instead of only after a lobby restart.
Player, store and team names now work in every language. Long names, emoji and special letters save and display correctly, a 32 character name in Chinese, Japanese, Korean or Russian is no longer dropped or cut short on Mall TV, and a name ending in an emoji no longer leaves a broken character behind.
New
You can now store cash in a Supply Cabinet. Drag your wallet onto the cabinet to deposit, or drag its cash pile onto your wallet to take some back. A picker lets you choose the amount both ways. Yes, this means a rival can no longer relieve you of your entire fortune in one hallway ambush.
You can now sell a vending machine you own. Look at it during the night vote and hold E. It pays half its price, half the value of the stock inside, and all the money you have not collected yet.
Interface
Every objective now shows a short line under its name that tells you what to do. We knew what they meant. That was the problem.
The day kiosk now shows "OPENING SOON" while staff walk in at 09:00, instead of "MALL OPEN" next to a clock that had clearly given up.
Employees from a rival team now have their own greeting. They no longer call you boss or cheerfully report what they are working on for the competition.
Balance
Your feedback on perks was loud and it was right. Several of them cost real money and gave back almost nothing you could feel.
Furniture and advertisement prices and their attractiveness values have been rebalanced across every store type. A few items were priced like they came with the building. They are not anymore, and what you pay now lines up with what it actually does for your store.
Brawler now adds 50%, 75% and 100% punch damage per level, up from 15%, 30% and 50%.
Fast Fists now adds 10%, 30% and 50% punch speed per level, up from 10%, 20% and 30%.
Bat Master now adds 10%, 20% and 30% weapon damage per level, down from 15%, 30% and 50%.
Window Dresser now boosts your displays and ads by 25% and 50% per level, up from 10% and 20%.
Barber now cuts stylist makeover costs by 25% and 50% per level, up from 10% and 20%.
Tidy Store now cuts litter in the stores you own by 15%, 30% and 50% per level, up from 10%, 18% and 25%.
Realtor now unlocks at Retailer I, the same rank where you can first buy a store. Before, it arrived one rank too late to be useful.
Store Expansion now unlocks at Storefront Boss I, after Realtor. Before, it advertised an earlier rank you could not actually use.
Manager stock orders are now capped at 100 per product.
What's Next
We are still reading everything. Keep the bug reports and the clips coming, especially the ones where something goes wrong in a way you did not think was possible. Those are our favorites, after the initial panic. Thank you for playing our mall.
Mall Rivals Team